Mendocino County Today: Thursday, May 11, 2023

Warming | Sunrise | Variety Show | Art Talks | Navarro Restoration | Help Scott | AVUSD News | Horticultural Position | Rocky Hills | Ordinance Repeal | Ordinances Expire | Violation Notice | Supes | Myth Busting | Not Alone | Partisan Endorsement | Hippie Retrospective | Valley Chat | Sunning | Witt Story | Transit Center | Comptche Fundraiser | Trail Manager | Yesterday's Catch | Wavy 87 | Beach Library | Game 5 | Kitty Swift | Mother | Mommie Dearest | Latinx Not | Use Caution | Trump Verdict | Female Shape | Vonnegut Encounter | Mendy Rudolph | Never Again | Ritual Deception | Nice | Woke Psycho | Miss Me | Fled Bakhmut | Unfinished Research | Change | Zap

HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING into the area will bring warming temperatures through the week. Widespread stratus clouds are in place across many of the valleys this morning. Most areas are expected to clear by the afternoon although some coastal areas may remain cloudy. Coastal stratus will diminish into the weekend as offshore flow increases. A gradual cooling trend and more stratus is expected next week. (NWS)

VARIETY SHOW ASSISTANCE REQUESTED

The Annual Grange Fundraiser is upon us this weekend and we could use some help with the front of the house:

Thursday 10AM

• set up chairs, getting them out of the chair room, placing them in rows and the rows of chairs have to be all zip tied together for fire code reasons.
• some sweeping and spot mopping of areas of the Grange

Friday after the Show, if you attend stay a bit to help sweep up after the popcorn and such has been blown to one side of the hall

• spot mop spills
• empty trash
• reset any chairs and such for Saturday performance

Saturday, if you attend or come back for a 10PM work party Prep For Pancake Breakfast The Next Am

• put chairs to side of hall, on racks
• sweep up after the popcorn and such has been blown to one side of the hall
• spot mop spills
• empty trash

Reset the Grange for Pancake Breakfast on Sunday am

o set up tables & chairs (blue ones)

o tablecloths on tables

o salt and pepper on tables

Do a bit on your way out the door, or stay for more, everything is appreciated.

We are a really small crew of "the usual" and some are out of town, so at the present there is a workforce of about 4 for all of these tasks.

---

ANDERSON VALLEY SENIORS! Wanna ride the bus to the 2023 Anderson Valley Variety Show? Sign up via the Senior Center before Friday night WITH a ticket purchased at AV Market or Lemons Philo Market! We’ll get you to the front door of the Grange just before the show with priority seating!

You must have a ticket to ride the bus! Call the Anderson Valley Senior Center for reservation (707) 895-3609. Tickets are $10 adults, $5 kiddos under 12. (Tickets also available at the door if you are driving yourself) See y’all at the Grange Friday &/or Sat May 12 & 13th!

NAVARRO RIVER, TWO MORE MENDOCINO COAST WATERSHEDS TO SEE SALMON HABITAT RESTORATION

Linda MacElwee, watershed coordinator for the Mendocino County Resource Conservation District (MCRCD), still receives numerous calls every fall as a bar of sediment builds up at the mouth of the Navarro River. She explained that the state used to open up this bar, which is created by low flows and big waves and blocks fish passage into the river. 

“What we have kind of come to understand is, we don’t want to open up that bar,” she said. “It means that we would be inviting fish into the system when there isn’t really sufficient flow to support them, even once they got in.”

The Navarro estuary has been a “black box” of research on salmon habitat, MacElwee explained. But this year, it was included in an $8.3 million grant proposal by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) pursuing floodplain reconnection and habitat restoration for Central California Coast (CCC) coho salmon and threatened California Coastal Chinook at three different rivers and seven different sites in Mendocino County.… 

mendovoice.com/2023/05/navarro-river-two-more-mendocino-coast-watersheds-to-see-salmon-habitat-restoration/

HELLO FRIENDS OF SCOTT AND SAFFRON,

As many of you know, Scott has just been diagnosed with Esophageal Cancer. He now has to undergo many weeks of both Chemotherapy and Radiation simultaneously to reduce the size of the tumor. He is currently unable to eat so he is on a feeding tube. As his oncologist Dr. Wang explained the cancer is vaguely Stage 3 and a PET scan will make more determinations.

Scott begins this rigorous treatment protocol on Monday and he will be needing full time care and assistance to do so. He'll be traveling back and forth from their home in Philo to Ukiah. Saffron is taking a leave of absence with her work and their sons Otto and Angus will be available to help them.

As many of us know this journey is hard and costly and many of Scott’s medicines will not be covered by their insurance and the travel costs to Ukiah and back will be extensive. The funds raised will help both Scott and Saffron navigate all the expenses and unexpected costs of these many weeks of treatment and travel and daily life needs.

Let’s all give these two beloved friends our support. Many of us have asked them what to do, how can we help them, and this is the best way along with our enduring love, care and prayers for Scott’s full recovery and remission.

It’s a hard road ahead but with all of us together we can soften the ride for the Fraser family.

Thank you all so much for your love and generosity.

AV UNIFIED NEWS & EVENTS

Dear Anderson Valley Community,

Just a reminder the Drug and Bullying Task Force Meeting is Today, Thursday, May 11, 2023, at 6:00 in the High School gym. We will have a nacho bar. Please attend. A speaker from the county is scheduled to come talk about drug information in the valley.

We also have an LCAP district-wide meeting at the high school library on 5/18 at 3:30. This is an important annual update and input meeting related to the changing goals of the last year of a three year plan. Many items have been added related to the new goals of the WASC report. I hope you will attend!

AVUSD celebrates our retirees and our unit members of the year. Congratulations to all! 

Not pictured retiree Jenny Moore, and classified members of the year Celeste Echeveria and Mimi Boudoures, but congratulations to them as well. We are losing about 132 years of amazing talent.

Elective scheduling for fall goes out on Friday. Please have your student check their email and respond to Mr. Howard. If you would like a parent/guardian scheduling meeting, please call the office at (707) 895-3496.

If you received the sports physical form, please return it with your student tomorrow. Please let us help your student play, by giving us permission to take them to their sports physicals if they are an AV Health Center client. Students, even if they have an appointment, will not be allowed to practice or play due to insurance requirements until they have completed the physical. We can take them during our appointment block. Let us assist!

We have some openings at the high school and elementary school. Call me if you are interested in knowing more!

Sincerely yours,

MENDOCINO BOTANICAL GARDENS: Fabulous full-time job opportunity! This Horticultural position will provide care and maintenance to a vast array of plant material within a designated area of the 47-acre Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, specifically, the glorious Perennial Garden and Display House. Learn more at https://www.gardenbythesea.org/about/employment/horticulturist/

SUPERVISORS UNANIMOUSLY REPEAL ILLEGAL PUBLIC RECORDS ORDINANCE

by Jim Shields

Since the Board of Supervisors meets on Tuesdays, the same day the Mendocino Observer goes to press, I only have time to let you know that on May 9, the Board voted unanimously to repeal the Public Records Ordinance that was approved last year.

As most of you know, for the past two months I’ve written a series of columns, drawn from legal briefs I’ve prepared, outlining how County Ordinance 4705 (so-called Public Records Act Ordinance) violated the California Public Records Act, as well as a seminal California Supreme Court decision rendered a couple of years ago.

Here are some of the comments that I made at the meeting via zoom.

I’m assuming that everything will go according to plan and that County Ordinance 4705 (so-called Public Records Act Ordinance) will be repealed today.

The root of the problem is there is this digital divide now existing that creates this gap between old school paper records and electronic records.and databases..

That’s the issue where the California Supreme Court in a May 2020 unanimous opinion [National Lawyer’s Guild v. City of Hayward], concluded after a comprehensive review of the CPRA’s text, structure, and history, that “just as agencies cannot recover the costs of searching through a filing cabinet for paper records, they cannot recover comparable costs for electronic records. Nor, for similar reasons, does ‘extraction’ cover the cost of redacting exempt data from otherwise producible electronic records.”

Subsequent to this Ordinance’s repeal, requesters of public documents who paid illegal fees should be compensated without any argument from the County. If the County refuses to make requesters whole for paying unlawful fees, then litigation will occur and the County will lose that lawsuit without question, and then would have to pay requesters attorney’s fees also. Of course those are our tax dollars that the County would be wasting, but I don’t believe that will happen.

So, the dispute is now settled in Mendocino County, I want to thank Supervisor John Hachak for his support and assistance, especially in circulating my legal briefs and case citations to his Board colleagues and County Counsel.

I also want to thank Supervisors Ted Williams and Mo Mulheren for doing the right thing by joining with 3rd District Supervisor John Haschak to take action to strike down the illegal ordinance. I also want to thank Supervisors Glenn McGourty and Dan Gjerde for voting to repeal the Ordinance and making it a unanimous decision.

The Board also agreed with my recommendation to reimburse members of the public who were charged illegal fees prohibited by the Public Records Act.

County Counsel Christian Curtis said, “I don’t agree with Mr. Shields that the prior ordinance wasn’t legal. However, the Board may decide that the amount of fees in question [for obtaining documents], simply aren’t worth any potential litigation over that issue. So I think I may ask to work to work with Risk Management and then possibly bring forward a plan to the Board to address that issue.”

I’ll have more on this later.

NOTICE OF BROWN ACT VIOLATION

May 10, 2023

TO: Mendocino County Board of Supervisors Chair Glenn McGourty <bos@mendocinocounty.org>

CC: County Counsel Christian Curtis <curtisc@mendocinocounty.org>, District Attorney David Eyster <eysterd@mendocinocounty.org>

Dear Chair McGourty,

This letter is to call your attention to what I believe was a substantial violation of a provision of the Ralph M. Brown Act, one which may jeopardize the finality of the action taken by the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors.

On May 5, 2023, four Supervisors issued similarly worded endorsements of one specific candidate, Trevor Mockel. Mr. Mockel noted that the fifth Supervisor (Mr. Gjerde) would be issuing a similar endorsement soon. These endorsements were an unprecedented, clear and improper attempt to influence the upcoming election in the County over which these Supervisors have authority for a position that is officially non-partisan.

This action violated the California Open Meetings Law, aka, the Brown Act. 

According to the League of California Cities, “A majority [of a public body] is prohibited from using ‘a series of communications of any kind, directly or through intermediaries, to discuss, deliberate, or take action’ on business within its subject matter jurisdiction outside of a meeting. … A series of private meetings (known as serial meetings) by which a majority of the members of a legislative body commit to a decision or engage in collective deliberation concerning public business violates the Brown Act’s open meeting requirement.” 

Therefore, the simultaneous issuance of similar endorsements by all five Supervisors of one political candidate, Trevor Mockel, on a single day, May 5, 2023, constitutes a prima facie illegal serial meeting in violation of the California Brown Act. 

As you are aware, the Brown Act creates a legal remedy for illegally taken actions — namely, the judicial invalidation of them upon proper findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Accordingly, we request that the issuance of these endorsements be formally corrected and cured by being retracted and withdrawn at the next available, properly noticed and agendized board meeting and that the Supervisors acknowledge their violation and issue a formal statement for the record that such violations will not be repeated in the future. 

As provided by Government Code Section 54960.1, you have 30 days from the receipt of this demand to either cure or correct the challenged action or inform me of your decision not to do so. If you fail to cure or correct as demanded, such inaction may leave me with no recourse but to seek a judicial invalidation of the challenged action pursuant to Section 54960.1, in which case I would also ask the court to order you to pay my court costs and reasonable attorney fees in this matter, pursuant to Section 54960.5.

Respectfully yours,

Sincerely,

Mark Scaramella

Anderson Valley Advertiser, Box 459, Boonville, CA 95415

SUPERVISOR MULHEREN (appropo to nothing): Oh my goodness Mendocino County loves a conspiracy theory. I’m a born and raised Mendo kid and this has always been the case. I just recently told someone that ”It’s not as dramatic as it looks” and it truly isn’t. But controversy sells newspapers so I’ll just be over here continuing to myth bust. LMK if you have questions and I’ll get you an answer if I don’t know it off the top of my head. And my cell phone is public information so feel free to text me if I miss a message on social media. 707-391-3664.

TED WILLIAMS ON LOCAL MEDIA Wednesday morning on KZYX with Karen Ottoboni (verbatim): "News reporting. Democracy depends on accurate journalism. And one of the biggest struggles is, as you know, I read news. And I say, Hey, wait, I was there. That's wrong. That's not what happened. And that's been the biggest eye-opener for me. If I had not been there I would probably believe what I'm reading and I would think, Wow, this is a really dysfunctional place. How can these clowns be making such bad decisions? The reality is there are competing interests. A lot of regulation. They may have the same goal in mind but how they get there has to follow a strategy. I think KZYX does a good job of reporting. Sarah [Reith] tries. Doesn't get it 100%, nobody can. But in good faith she tries to share the truth of what's happened. And I'm very thankful for KZYX. There are other sources where it's just fiction. It's not personal for me. But I'm starting to see the long-term impact. If you have a public that doesn't trust their representatives to look out for their interests, you start to erode the whole public process and the decision-making process and you have electeds responding to, to dispel rumors, rather than fighting for public interest. I'm thankful for KZYX. But I'm concerned that as media has gone online and corporations have gobbled up local papers, the public doesn't have a lot of credible information to go on."

WILLIAMS doesn't dare cite the AVA as his media problem, and won't cite specifics because he doesn't have any. I wish he would hold up just one example of where he and/or his colleagues have been misrepresented so we could all group on it to determine if Williams and/or his dynamic colleagues have been reported on inaccurately or unfairly. 

THE 5TH DISTRICT SUPERVISOR cites KZYX and the prophylactic Ms. Reith as truthfully relaying his views and the views of his four colleagues not because (1) Philo semi-public radio and Ms. Reith would never, ever criticize, even elliptically, Williams or the functioning of the clearly dysfunctional supervisors because KZYX and Ms. Reith don't do criticism. For adult give and take, you've got to go to Boonville's beloved weekly, or to Laytonville where Jim Shields of the Observer, who also watches the supervisors, will confirm that the supervisors are dysfunctional in a uniquely passive way, voting as a Yes Bloc on almost every issue as they make one huge fiscal blunder after another. 

WILLIAMS, and he has plenty of company, doesn't know the difference between whining and complaint. Whining has no particulars. A complaint has them.

HERE YA GO, TED: TRUE OR FALSE?

Failure to deal with non-reimbursable mental health and drug-addled residents as Measure B called for, choosing instead to overpay for the Whitmore Lane demolition and rebuild for more much than a new facility would cost.

Picking a pointless nearly $400,000 fight with the Sheriff over computer independence and potential liability for ordinary budget overruns.

Failure to set up a budget line item for Sheriff’s overtime so that overtime can be managed and planned for as incidents occur, instead threatening the Sheriff with personal liability for overtime.

Failure to enforce Measure V, promoted strongly by Supervisor Williams, to reduce standing dead tree fire hazards/”nuisance,” even with County Counsel’s formal opinion three years ago that Mendocino Redwoods was clearly not exempt from nuisance laws.

Failure to revise the proposed use-permit-based pot ordinance with a two-acre limit after the Board’s use-permit proposal was withdrawn in the face of a pending local initiative, leaving the County and well-meaning applicants in permanent limbo.

Failure to plan or budget for their ill-considered consolidated Auditor-Controller-Treasurer Tax Collector office despite voting it into existence with no plan or analysis.

Failure to convene their Public Safety Advisory Board despite its incorporation in County Code about two years ago.

Failure to follow voter approved advisory Measure AJ which was supposed to allocate the majority of pot tax revenues to Mental Health, Roads, Emergency Services and enforcement. 

Failure to set up permanent emergency operations center so that disasters can be responded to quickly.

Failure to develop a single project to submit for grant funding related actual water storage or conservation to mitigate future drought.

Wasting over $100k on a “strategic plan” that a large percentage of County employees described as “a waste of time” while saying they are operating on an “austerity budget.”

Failure to set up a re-established water agency in a timely manner despite drought emergency — the $330k consultant only delivered a “work plan” after which no one has any idea what will happen or when or how much more it will cost or what authority it will have.

Failure as County Water Agency to impose water restrictions or gaging requirements on local water agencies during last year’s drought.

Failure to provide monthly departmental budget and status reports to the Board and public.

Wasting $4 million on a Crisis Residential Treatment Center, spending $5 million to build the equivalent of a $1 million four-bedroom house.

Failure to staff positions which the Board itself says are revenue generating positions both general fund-funded and grant funded.

Failure to codify a Mendo version of Sonoma County’s vacation rental restrictions to ease housing shortage for locals.

Failure to require itemized permit status reporting to see if permits are taking unreasonably long to process and why.

Failure to consolidate Mendo’s five dispatch operations into two — Police and Fire/Ambulance — while keeping nine costly, redundant dispatch positions on the night shift when fewer calls come in.

Wasting almost $400k on an unnecessary Board chamber “remodel.”

Failure to plan for the significant impact of the new courthouse on affected county offices: District Attorney, Public Defender, Probation, Sheriff.

AND Failure of all five Supervisors to bring up any of these failures for an agendized discussion in an attempt to redress them.

PRETTY SURE it was Williams who is responsible for our "non-partisan" supervisors lockstep endorsement of Mr. Mockel, the phantom of Redwood Valley. The reason for this unprecedented attempt by the supervisors to influence a pending election? Williams and his colleagues, without exception, are partisans of the two elected state reps, the ineffable state officeholders, McGuire and Wood. Mockel functioned as an aide to McGuire and has been anointed by the local Democrat Party to succeed McGourty as 1st District supervisor, and here come the five "non-partisan" supervisors, in flagrant violation of the Public Meetings Act and election tampering, with a public, partisan endorsement of a Democrat insider. 

THE AVA filed a Brown Act Violation Notice on Wednesday alleging that the supervisors' serial, public endorsement of Mockel is a violation of the law. Our formal complaint was sent to Glenn McGourty, as chairman of the board of supervisors; County Counsel Christian Curtis; and DA David Eyster. 

YEARS AGO, Keith Faulder, now a Superior Court judge, filed an equivalently irrefutable Brown Act violation against the Point Arena school board, only to see it go unacted upon by the harried and in-way-over-her-fraught-head, DA Meredith Lintott. We're confident Eyster will act on this one if it comes to it because it has significant implications for county functioning. If the supervisors can get away with this kind of election tampering, the precedent would be unsettling, even in a One Party county like ours.

HIPPIE RETROSPECTIVE

Back To The Land!

I am one of the artists participating in an upcoming exhibit at the Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah. The Museum describes the show as follows:

In the late 1960s and into the early 80s, a crowd of newcomers made their way to Mendocino County. They were attracted by affordable land and a strong desire to live life in their own way and in greater harmony with nature. That often meant homesteading, growing their own food, living communally, or exploring alternate spirituality and drugs. This exhibition reflects on that movement and its lasting legacy through the diversity of art made by over 30 back-to-landers. All programs are included with Museum admission. Admission is free for Museum Members, Native Americans, and Active Military.

Opening Reception: Friday, May 19, 5-7:30 pm. Be the first to see our newest exhibition. Meet many of the artists while enjoying period-themed refreshments and music from Will Siegel and Friends with Les Boek, Steve Baird, and Ellie Siegel.

Click to access GHM-Somethings-Happening-Here-Postcard-Front-v2.pdf

Click to access GHM-Somethings-Happening-Here-Postcard-Back-v4.pdf

We have over 30 artists in the exhibition including Ada B. Fine, Leslie Campbell, Doug Browe, John Chamberlin, Nancy McHone, Bob Comings, Linda MacDonald, Julie Beardsley, Dan Roberts, Robin Rule, Jacquie Lolich, Jerri-Jo Idarius, Laura Fogg, Jo Britton, Adriane Nicolaisen, Tigerlily Jones, Eagle Rose, Yoli Rose, Ann Maglinte, Judy Hope, Doug Volz, Carmen Goodyear, James Dahl, David Dart, Don Rodriques, Tom McFadden, John Cunnan, Kat Emerson, Kathy Shearn, Cassie Gibson, Leona Walden, Steve Caravello, Jan Hoyman, Robert Ross, and Christopher Crookedstitch.

Robert Ross <rross@mcn.org>

FAL ALLEN ON THE HISTORY OF THE AV BREWERY

AV Historical Society’s Third “Valley Chat” – Fal Allen presents “The History of the AV Brewery”

Greetings from the Anderson Valley Historical Society Board. We want to be sure everybody knows about our next Valley Chat event. Come meet us in the Rose Room just next to the Little Red Schoolhouse Museum on Anderson Valley Way on Sunday, May 21, when Fal Allen, Brewmaster of the Anderson Valley Brewing Company, offers a talk (with photos!) on “The History of the AV Brewery.” It’s been a long, colorful road from the Brewery’s beginnings to our current fine establishment and world renown brand, and Fal knows the story. Then, if you like, add some memories of your own. As always, we’re hoping for an entertaining storytelling circle. The doors open at 3:30 pm for socializing and snacks, and Fal’s presentation commences at 4:00 pm.

Food, drinks and admission are all free.

This will be the third event of our inaugural monthly Valley Chats series. If history is any guide (and we’re the Historical Society, after all), you can look forward to more presentations coming your way. Our first event, held in March, was a blast, as Bill Kimberlin shared stories, highlighted by videos and photos, about his career in the film industry. We had a lively crowd and a great time. And Bill Holcomb, who hosted our April event, sharing memories of his early days in Anderson Valley, filled the Rose Room to capacity! We’re sure that Fal’s storytelling session will be just as active and entertaining. Come on over and bring your friends! 

Jerry Karp

AN OPEN LETTER TO BRUCE MCEWEN

Hi:

I am writing you this email from my school email address: it will be shut down by the end of this coming summer, as I am currently a high school senior and will not have much use for it. I would appreciate a response handled with care and with all deliberate speed for that reason.

Admittedly, Bruce McEwen, in a twisted sort of way, your article about my uncle and his wife reminded me of Haunted by Chuck Palanhiuk, one of my favorite books. I am not above the occasional stroll on deuxmoi.com <http://deuxmoi.com/> or r/PublicFreakout. However, in the time since 2015, much has changed. The two people you shamed on your website now have a young child, whose parents are easily traced to this article, a google search away. The gentleman in your article, my uncle, is currently homeless: what your article failed to mention was a history of childhood trauma, suffering, and poor decision-making on his part that led him down this path. It is no longer a question of if he will die, but when. He may already be: he is oftentimes missing. I know what it's like for your father to die: mine did when I was fourteen, and looking at your most recent articles, I may assume yours has as well. It is an experience I wish on no one.

My cousin is about seven now. He does not have a relationship with his father: in the aftermath of this waking nightmare, this article does not have to be what remains. Every day, as many children in America currently are, he is becoming more technologically literate. It is only a matter of time before he opens Pandora's Box. You, and only you, have the power to remove it, and allow me and my family to explain this part of our family's mythology to him. Beyond that, you have the power to say two words that may undo years of personal sadness it has caused for me: "I apologize".

I dabble in comedic writing myself: my final work for the school newspaper will be a list of the best places on campus to take a poop. And I can tell you, with all certainty, beyond what's "politically correct" or not, that your article just isn't very funny, either. It seems like everyone smokes or sells weed now: half my grade has medical cards. Take a walk through Washington Square Park and you'll see what I'm talking about. It's dated, and this is not the justice-served, police-worshipping hill you want to die on.

Thank you for your time,

Bella Witt (via internet)

ED NOTE: This is in apparent reference to:

Anderson Valley’s Beverly Hillmuffins

THE EXCITEMENT BUILDS

MCOG & MTA have partnered with LSC Transportation

Mendocino Council of Governments (MCOG) and Mendocino Transit Authority (MTA) have partnered with LSC Transportation Consultants to explore potential new locations for a transit center in Ukiah, CA.

LSC Transportation Consultants, in partnership with MCOG and MTA, are currently working on the Ukiah Transit Center Feasibility Study. The study includes an analysis of six different potential transit center site locations in Ukiah, a public outreach effort, and some initial schematic transit center designs. Ultimately, the feasibility study will pave the way towards a modern facility in a central location for passengers to transfer between MTA and interregional bus services.

The study is currently in the public outreach phase and community members are encouraged to visit the project website at https://www.mendocinocog.org/ukiah-transit-center. Once there, please take the survey, watch the virtual workshop video, and review the current Technical Memorandum (Tech Memo). This first Tech Memo provides a summary of transit center needs, possible locations, and an overview of existing MTA and other transit services.

MCOG and MTA are looking forward to hearing what the community thinks about a new transit center in Ukiah, and are committed to improving transit services for Ukiah, Mendocino County, and beyond.

For further information, contact MCOG project manager Loretta Ellard at lellard@dbcteam.net or 707-234-3434.

COMPTCHE VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT BBQ CHICKEN DINNER, June 18, 2023

This Father’s Day, June 18th, will see the resumption of the annual Chicken Dinner fundraiser for the Comptche Volunteer Fire Department. With 1400 pounds of chicken on the grill, macaroni salad, garlic bread, baked beans, Caesar salad and a large selection of pies it’s a great way to spend Father’s Day at Firehouse Park, just south of Comptche corners on Flynn Creek Road.

Just how long these dinners have been being held goes back a breath shy of 60 years. In 1967 a fundraising dinner was held for the three year old fire department sponsored by the Comptche Area Fire Auxiliary also known as “The Fire Ladies.” The price for an oven fired chicken dinner with all the fixings and dessert back then was $2.50 and was served in the Comptche Grange Hall.

By 1972 400 people showed up and ate every bit of food available. A raffle, plant sale, bake sale and a Country Store were later added to the event. Attendance grew every year and the Grange Hall was crammed to capacity even with picnic tables outside and by 1998 600 people were fed in four hours. Finally in 2009 the event was moved to Firehouse Park next to the fire station on Flynn Creek Road and every year it still kept expanding.

For more than 30 years community members of all ages have created a quilt as the grand prize for the Chicken Dinner raffle. These quilts are consistent prize winners at the County Fair and quilt shows with dozens of community members contributing squares. No meal on Father’s Day would be complete in Comptche without buying the one dollar lucky raffle ticket to win the handmade quilt or many other raffle prizes.

The 2023 event is priced at $20 for adults 12 and up, $10 for kids 7 to 12 and under 6 free. Come enjoy the afternoon between noon and 4 p.m at 8491 Flynn Creek Rd. Two bands will provide music throughout the event.

Email comptchevfd@gmail.com or visit our Facebook page for more information.

Please leave your pets at home!

MEMO OF THE DECADE

Now Hiring - General Manager

The Great Redwood Trail Agency (GRTA) is recruiting for a General Manager to oversee and manage day-to-day operations of the GRTA and assist with implementing the vision of the Great Redwood Trail.

The Great Redwood Trail will be a 320-mile, world-class, multi-use rail-to-trail project connecting California's San Francisco and Humboldt Bays. The trail will be constructed along the former rail corridor of the North Coast Railroad Authority. The General Manager will lead the newly created agency and help establish this world class rail trail.

Salary: $120,000 to $140,000. 

Great Redwood Trail Agency

419 Talmage Road, Suite M, Ukiah, CA

(formerly the North Coast Railroad Authority office)

thegreatredwoodtrail.org

CATCH OF THE DAY, Wednesday, May 10, 2023

CURTIS BETTENCOURT, Fort Bragg. Under influence.

ROBERT BRINSON, Fort Bragg. Failure to appear.

HUNTER CASEY, Fort Bragg. County parole violation, bringing controlled substance into jail.

DEREK CLEEK, Willits. Failure to appear.

RONALD HOEL JR., Redwood Valley. Controlled substance, paraphernalia, parole violation.

ROBERT HRBAC, Fort Bragg. Sodomy-victim under 10 yeas of age, continuous sexual abuse of child.

RYAN LEFTWICH, Brooksville, Florida/Piercy. DUI.

ERNEST LOVETT, Le Grand/Ukiah. Grand theft, burglary tools, paraphernalia.

CHESHIRE MAIAVA, Fort Bragg. Stolen property, burglary tools, saps/similar weapons, offenses while on bail.

JASON MILLS, Fort Bragg. Criminal threats.

DIANA QUINTANILLA, Oakland/Ukiah. Probation revocation.

ELIZABETH REYNOSO, Disorderly conduct-alcohol, paraphernalia, parole violation.

ANGELA RIVERA, Ukiah. DUI, Controlled substance for sale, under influence, vandalism, getting credit with someone else’s ID, suspended license, ammo possession by prohibited person, resisting. (Frequent flyer.)

JOSE RODRIGUEZ, Redwood Valley. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

PEDRO SALDANA, Boonville. Assault with deadly weapon not a gun, battery with serious injury, controlled substance while armed with loaded firearm, grossly negligent discharge of firearm, loaded handgun not registered owner, probation revocation.

ALEX SANCHEZ, Fort Bragg. Probation revocation.

SETH SMART, Ukiah. Domestic battery.

WAVY AT 87

Last night at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco Wavy Gravy’s 87 birthday, the aging New Age audience in the smoke-free auditorium woke with the sounds and sights of Woodstock when Wavy and the Hog Farmers fed 400,000 hungry rock ‘n’ rollers. Not so many at the birthday bash, but all amazed by Taj Mahal who shuffled on and off the stage, still a master of the guitar, unafraid to sing the blues when peace and love infused the Herbst and at the end of his set the immortal Taj played an instrumental for the birthday boy who sat in the front row, didn’t take the stage or say a word though his soul soared above the space and reminded me of human goodness that refuses to die.

— Jonah Raskin

WARRIORS RISE AND THRIVE, Lakers leave cranky, Hollywood celebrates! Bring on Game 6

by Scott Ostler

Heading to Los Angeles for Game 6 of this Western Conference semis, down 3-2, the Golden State Warriors seem to be warming to the challenge.

Before Wednesday night’s Game 5 at Chase Center, Kim and Khloé Kardashian were spotted in the women’s restroom of the media center, literally putting on their game faces. After the Warriors' 121-106 win, Draymond Green went all buddy-buddy with Matthew McConaughey outside the Warriors’ locker room.

Even the Hollywood stars are jumping on the Warriors bandwagon?

All right, all right, all right!

So the Warriors might be taking reinforcements with them into the heart of Hollywood, where the stars fight for courtside position like elbow-throwing rebounders.

The Warriors will need all the help they can get, as they try to take Step 2 in the monumental task of coming back from a 1-3 series deficit. Wednesday, the Warriors looked like world-beaters in swatting away the team that oddsmakers like to wind up in the NBA Finals.

But this is a series where teams change personalities like the Kardashians change partners — often, and dramatically.

“The pressure is on them to protect their home court,” said Stephen Curry of the Lakers, but what does Curry know about pressure? To Curry, pressure is what he puts in his tires. All through these playoffs, and going back his whole career, Curry in the playoffs seems to channel Magic Johnson’s old favorite saying this time of year: “I strive on pressure.”

Following Curry’s lead, the Warriors strive on pressure. Stats of past performance don’t really mean diddly in the playoffs, but it’s worth noting that during the team’s current nine-season run of excellence under Steve Kerr, the Warriors in the playoffs are 8-0 in elimination games (including Wednesday), and they are 4-0 in elimination games on the road: at Oklahoma City in 2016, at Houston in ’18, at Toronto in ’19, and in the first-round series at Sacramento this season.

This series is wildly unpredictable, with dramatic mood swings and plot twists, but Wednesday the Warriors, more than any time in the playoffs so far (considering the circumstances), did not look like an aging team clinging desperately to the dying embers of their legacy.

They looked young and revved up, and their challenge will be to take that pep and fire into the heart of Hollywood. They seem ready, on and off the court.

Kerr has quietly but unequivocally called out the Lakers for flopping. First he referred to it as “gamesmanship,” then he broke out the F-word: flopping! The Lakers responded. Before Wednesday’s game, Lakers’ coach Darvin Ham declined to engage, brushing off a chance to respond to Kerr’s charges. But during the game, in a time-out sideline TV interview, Ham got a bit chippy.

“We don’t teach flopping,” Ham said. “We teach our players to play downhill and attack the paint and be forceful.”

The truth is that those two activities — flopping and attacking the paint — aren’t mutually exclusive. And no NBA coach has to teach flopping. Lakers guards Austin Reaves and Dennis Schröder could teach flopping as a college course.

“That’s not even a part of our game,” LeBron James said Wednesday. “Our game is to attack, attack the paint. We don’t mind physical contact.”

Clearly the Lakers are annoyed. And one cool thing about the NBA playoffs is that as any given series gets deeper, players and coaches start to get on one another’s nerves.

How would you like to go against Draymond Green six games in a row? Think his energy and verbal stylings and complaining about calls might start to wear thin? And how many times can Curry undress you on defense before you grow frustrated at trying to swat a mosquito to with a soda straw?

On the other side, LeBron is a noble opponent, but he’s a teammate of Draymond on the NBA’s all-crybaby team. When this series is all over, both teams will hug it up, but right now, the veneer of collegiality is wearing thin.

So expect the fellas on both teams to be edgy Friday.

The Lakers no doubt resent how the Warriors have stolen a bit of their game plan. Not the flopping, but the part about attacking the paint, playing downhill, as opposed to searching endlessly for the outside shot. They’re doing that by Green being aggressive going to the hoop, and by running high pick-and-rolls that allow Curry and Andrew Wiggins and others to bust down the middle of the Lakers’ defense.

And the Warriors are playing stout defense, an area in which they have improved since Green shifted into a higher gear, and Gary Payton II became a starter and a high-minutes guy.

There’s not much on the line Friday. The Lakers are facing an epic collapse and a possible end of their LeBron Era. The Warriors are facing the possible end of a dynasty.

All right, all right, all right!

(sfchronicle.com)

M-O-T-H-E-R (Mother’s Day is this Sunday)

— Howard Johnson

INDIGENOUS IDENTITY

Editor: 

I dislike the term Latinx. I appreciate the intention of making gendered labels less sexist, but the term has deeper problems. Those of us to whom the term is applied are racially mixed and share an Indigenous genetic and cultural heritage paired with the culture and genetics of Spain. In my childhood we were called Mexican or one of several slurs, then Hispanic, then Latino. Latino recognizes the Latin roots of both the Spanish and Portuguese languages.

The characteristic that distinguishes us from our European relatives is our Indigenous heritage. The term Latino acknowledges only a dead European language as our personal identifier. But it isn’t our Old World heritage that marks our faces and sets us apart.

The Spanish were brutal enslavers. They reportedly worked 8 million people to death in the mines of Potosi, killed another 3 million on Hispaniola and virtually emptied northern Mexico to mine the rich mineral deposits, killing millions more. Native women were requisitioned as breeding partners. The Portuguese acted no better.

I think we need a different term that embraces our New World roots, not defining ourselves by Old World enslavers. Native American is already taken, maybe Indigenous American. Latinx isn’t it.

Elden McFarland

Healdsburg

TRUMP ISN'T THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL ABUSER

What a great day for women. What a sad day for America.

by Maureen Callahan

A jury of six men and three women found Donald Trump liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll.

Think about that jury composition for a moment. Think about how little time they took — just three hours — to reach a verdict on Tuesday.

So much of this is reminiscent of Harvey Weinstein: An infamous New York character on trial in his native New York City, seated before an overwhelmingly male jury that nonetheless understands the nuances of sexual assault, the reasons women don't go to the police immediately, a jury that places credence in contemporaneous reports — even in cases that may be years or decades old.

Trump arguably thought so little of this trial that he never showed up.

Now he's been ordered to pay Carroll $5 million in damages.

He'll appeal, of course. But what is undeniably a victory for women everywhere is also a defeat, because there's no law or rule that says anyone found liable of sexual abuse cannot run for president, or be president.

Amazing, isn't it? Women running for office have incredibly high bars to clear, while men accused of sexual abuse, assault or rape have no problem at all.

And it's been ever thus.

Everyone in D.C. and the national media knew about JFK and covered up his execrable behavior, including getting a teenage White House intern named Mimi Alford drunk and taking her virginity on his wife's bed.

'Short of screaming,' Alford wrote of that encounter in her memoir, 'I doubt I could have done anything to thwart his intentions.'

Ted Kennedy left Mary Jo Kopechne to die in a shallow pond, alone in a car he drove off a bridge, and years later ran for president, cheered on by the Democratic party and the news media.

Bill Clinton was credibly accused of rape by Juanita Broaddrick in 1999 and she was dismissed as a fabulist. Paula Jones was written off as poor white trash looking for a payout. Monica Lewinsky was smeared as a slut who went to D.C. to get her 'presidential kneepads' — a quote attributed to her that was later found to likely have been made up by the Clinton war machine.

And Trump used the same misogynistic tactic the Kennedys and Clinton used to rid themselves of inconvenient women: Call your female accuser crazy.

'It's the most ridiculous, disgusting story,' Trump said of Carroll in his deposition. 'It was just made up. I know nothing about her. I think she's sick. Mentally sick.'

What's sick is a culture that chooses to believe women only when they're accusing the other guy, not the guy they voted for. I can't tell you how often I'd hear liberal women claim that then-New York governor Andrew Cuomo, accused of sexual harassment by multiple women, was the victim of an orchestrated witch hunt by Republicans.

Or that what he did was bad, but not as bad as Trump. So why couldn't we keep him?

To which I always say: Why should women abide any of it? Treating women with respect and decency isn't a high bar to clear. Making women fear for their careers or reputations or financial security should also be considered an act of violence — a hidden one that often leaves no evidence, can be difficult to prove, and can make women sound, yes, crazy.

Hysterical. Overreacting.

Sexual abuse, assault, rape — none of this is partisan. It should never matter whether the accused is a Republican or a Democrat.

The only side we should be on is the side of women.

Consider that Joe Biden has his own troubles here, troubles that much of the mainstream media ignores, or writes off as Russian disinformation, or as possibly problematic but the lesser of two evils — the supreme evil being, of course, Trump.

Set aside '10 percent for the big guy' or any of the Hunter Biden stuff. By April 2020, eight women had come forward to say Joe Biden had subjected them to unwanted physical contact or had made inappropriate comments. One accused him of sexual assault in 1993.

Multiple photos and videos of Biden grabbing women and young girls, sniffing their hair from behind or placing his hands on their shoulders — a power move, one meant to display dominance and possession — went viral.

And all were dismissed as the unfortunate behaviors of an old man from another time, as if any of these actions were ever okay.

When the diaries of the President's daughter, Ashley, were discovered and went viral in July 2022, the media didn't ask about the explosive contents. Instead, they asked who had discovered and leaked them and when was this person or persons going to be charged with a crime?

The relevant passage from a diary the president's daughter has never denied was her own:

'Was I molested,' the author writes. 'I think so — I can't remember specifics but I do remember trauma. Hyper-sexualized @ a young age . . . I remember being somewhat sexualized with Caroline; I remember having sex with friends @ a young age; showers w/my dad (probably not appropriate).'

Imagine this as Ivanka Trump's diary. The media would be on everlasting fire with righteous indignation.

But Old Joe gets a pass on this allegation from his own daughter.

This is where America's at: Two severely compromised elderly men as frontrunners, one assuredly our president — again — in 2024.

Neither one can weaponize sexual abuse against the other. We know that the media won't dare question Biden, who at least has a woman on the ticket.

This is what women are meant to accept as progress in 2023 — tokenism. It's infuriating.

So while Trump has been found liable in civil court, nothing has changed.

'Grab them by the p---y' activated women's marches and demonstrations. Now it's a punchline, Trump so emboldened that he doubled down in his deposition here. When asked about the infamous 'Access Hollywood' tape and whether he believed what he said, Trump replied, 'Well, historically, that's true with stars,' adding that he considered himself a star.

'If you look over the last million years, I guess that's been largely true. Not always, but largely true. Unfortunately or fortunately.'

Fortunately?!?

Carroll's attorney Roberta Kaplan offered a great detail in her closing argument: One of the friends Carroll disclosed to contemporaneously, the writer Lisa Birnbach, testified that when she took Carroll's call she had been in the kitchen with her two young children. Birnbach left the room so they wouldn't hear the word 'rape.'

'The fact that she left the kitchen, by the way, is a very telling detail,' Kaplan said. 'It's the kind of detail you don't make up.'

Indeed. It's specific. Vibrant. Hard to discount.

Carroll's case was also helped by the detailed testimony of two other women who claimed that Trump sexually abused them.

Clearly the jury found much of that testimony credible. Trump, after all, has been accused of sexual assault, harassment and rape by at least 25 women over decades.

Carroll's victory is significant. It's doubly gratifying that a male-majority jury found him liable.

But will it matter?

Or will this verdict serve as rocket fuel not just for Trump's campaign but for a culture that still retreats to its corners, choosing to selectively believe women when it hurts the other guy — and not the women who have truly been harmed?

My guess is the latter. My hope is that we grow up.

(dailymail.co.uk)

DAVID MARKS: In 1978, I was having dinner in East Hampton. I noticed Vonnegut having a light meal. Now, I never approach people and ask for an autograph, but I loved Vonnegut, and my junior high English teacher claimed to be a 1st cousin. An in, I thought. I went over, awkwardly told him how much I admired his writing, to which he graciously thanked me. Then the question. My English teacher told me she was his cousin. He said yes, and asked I say hi. When I did, my teacher was mortified. I don't think they were related at all.

MENDY RUDOLPH was an extraordinary basketball referee who brought joy and excitement to the game during his remarkable career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Born on March 8, 1926, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Rudolph's passion for the sport shone brightly on and off the court.

With his infectious smile and unwavering enthusiasm, Rudolph quickly earned the respect and adoration of players, coaches, and fans alike. His natural ability to connect with people, coupled with his exceptional officiating skills, made him a beloved figure in the basketball community.

Throughout his NBA tenure, which spanned over two decades, Rudolph officiated an impressive 2,112 regular-season games and 261 playoff games, including thrilling NBA Finals matchups. His calm and composed demeanor, coupled with his keen knowledge of the game, made him a reliable and trusted referee.

Beyond his contributions as an official, Rudolph was also a champion for the rights and well-being of referees. He played a pivotal role in establishing the National Basketball Referees Association (NBRA), fostering a supportive and empowering environment for his fellow officials.

Rudolph's positive impact extended far beyond the court. He dedicated himself to mentoring aspiring referees and instilling in them the values of integrity, fairness, and professionalism. His guidance and mentorship helped shape the next generation of basketball officials, ensuring the continued growth and excellence of the sport.

Mendy Rudolph's incredible career was punctuated by numerous accolades and honors, including officiating in the NBA All-Star Game on eight occasions and being selected as an official for the prestigious Olympic Games in 1964 and 1972. His contributions were celebrated in 2007 when he was posthumously inducted into the revered Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Though his time was tragically cut short by illness, Rudolph's legacy continues to inspire and uplift. His infectious spirit, love for the game, and dedication to fair play serve as a reminder of the joy that basketball brings to countless lives.

Mendy Rudolph's name will forever be associated with happiness, passion, and the enduring spirit of the game. His memory lives on as a shining example of the positive impact one person can have on the sport they love.

(Hancock)

THE DEBT CEILING DEBATE IS A MASSIVE DECEPTION ON THE AMERICAN PUBLIC

by Richard D. Wolff

Future historians will likely look back at the debt ceiling rituals being reenacted these days with a frustrated shaking of their heads. That otherwise reasonable people would be so readily deceived raises the question that will provoke those historians: How could this happen?

The U.S. Congress has imposed successive ceilings on the national debt, each one higher than the last. Ceilings were intended to limit the amount of federal borrowing. But the same U.S. Congress so managed its taxing and spending that it created ever more excesses of spending over tax revenues (deficits). Those excesses required borrowing to cover them. The borrowings accumulated to hit successive ceilings. A highly political ritual of threats and counterthreats accompanied each rise of the ceiling required by the need to borrow to finance deficits.

It is elementary economics to note that if Congress raised more taxes or cut federal spending—or both—there would be no need to borrow and thus no ceiling on borrowing to worry about. The ceiling would become irrelevant or merely symbolic. Further, if taxes were raised enough and spending cut enough, the existing U.S. national debt could be reduced. That situation has happened occasionally in U.S. history.

The real issue then is that when borrowing approaches any ceiling, the policy choices are these three: raise the ceiling (to borrow more), raise taxes, or cut spending. Of course, combinations of them would also be possible.

In contrast to this reality, U.S. politics deceives by constricting its debate. Politicians, the mainstream media, and academics simply omit—basically by refusing to admit or consider—tax increases. The GOP demands spending cuts or else it will block raising the ceiling. The Democrats insist that raising the ceiling is the better choice than cutting spending. Democrats threaten to blame the GOP for the consequences of not raising the debt ceiling. They paint those consequences in lurid colors depicting U.S. bondholders denied interest or repayment, Social Security recipients denied their pensions, and government employees denied their wages. The unspoken agreement between the two major parties is to omit any serious discussion of raising taxes to avoid hitting the debt ceiling. That omission entails deception.

Here are some tax increases that could help solve the problem by avoiding any need to raise the debt ceiling. The social security tax could be applied to all wage and salary incomes, not only those of $160,000 or less as is now the case. The social security tax could be applied to nonwage income such as interest dividends, capital gains, and rents. The corporate profits tax could be raised back to what it was a few decades ago: near or above 50 percent versus the current 37 percent rate. A property tax could be levied on property that takes the form of stocks and bonds. The current property tax in the United States (levied mostly at the local level) includes land, houses, automobiles, and business inventories, while it excludes stocks and bonds. Perhaps that is because the richest 10 percent of Americans own roughly 80 percent of stocks and bonds. The current property tax system in the United States is very nice for that 10 percent. Another logical candidate is the federal estate tax which a few years ago exempted under $1 million of an estate from the tax, but now exempts over $12 million per person (over $25 million per couple). That exemption makes a mockery of the idea that all Americans start or live their lives on a level playing field where merit counts more than inheritance. The U.S. could and should go back from that tax giveaway to the richest. There are many more possible tax increases.

Of course, there are strengths and weaknesses entailed in raising every tax, positive and negative consequences. But the exact same is true of raising the debt ceiling and thereby increasing the U.S. national debt. Likewise cutting spending has its pluses and minuses in terms of pain and gain. There is no logical or reasonable basis for excluding tax increases from the national debate and discussion about raising the debt ceiling and thereby the national debt.

It is rather the shared political commitments of both major parties that require and motivate the exclusion. There is no reason for U.S. citizens to accept, tolerate, endorse, or otherwise validate the debt ceiling deception perpetrated against us.

Nor is the debt ceiling deception alone. The previous national debate over responding to inflation by having the Federal Reserve raise interest rates provides another quite parallel example. That debate proceeded by debating the pros and cons of interest rate increases as if no other anti-inflationary policy existed or was even worth mentioning. Once again elementary economics teaches that wage-price freezes and rationing have been used against inflations in the past—including in the United States—as alternatives to raising interest rates or alongside them. U.S. President Nixon in 1971 used wage-price freezes. U.S. President Roosevelt used rationing during World War II. But the government, Federal Reserve, major media, and major academic leaders carried on their recent policy debates as if those other anti-inflationary tools did not exist or were not worth including in the debate.

Wage-price freezes and rationing have their strengths and weaknesses—just as tax increases do—but once again the same applies to raising interest rates. No justification exists for proceeding as if alternative options are not there. The U.S. national debate over fighting inflation was deceptive in the same way that the debate over the debt ceiling is.

Nor is the deception any less if it is covered by a claim of “realism.” Those who grasp elementary economics enough to know that tax increases could “solve” the debt ceiling issue become complicit in the deception by invoking “realism.” Since the two major parties are jointly subservient to corporations and the rich, they rule out tax increases on them. It thus becomes “realistic” to exclude that option from the debt ceiling debate. What is best for corporations and the rich thus gets equated to what is “realistic.” It is worth remembering that throughout history ruling classes have discovered, to their shock and surprise, that the ruled can and often do quickly alter what is “realistic.”

The debt ceiling deceptions favor corporations over individuals and the richest individuals over the rest of us. In our thinking and speaking too, the nation’s class structure and class struggles exhibit their influential power. The mainstream debt ceiling debate deceives by lying by omission rather than commission.

(This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute. Richard Wolff is the author of Capitalism Hits the Fan and Capitalism’s Crisis Deepens. He is founder of Democracy at Work. CounterPunch.org.)

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Do a remake of Hitchcock’s 1960 classic thriller “Psycho”, but with Norman Bates and his “Mother” as virulently “Woke” hacking up people with butcher knives and straight razors because they’re worried about “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion”. Norman’s “Mother” hacks up a Christian woman staying in cabin 1 because she’s “Transphobic”. Norman and his “Mother” are always ranting about how unfair society is to stuffed Dead People, 

Norman refuses to turn on the big sign of the Bates Hotel because he is worried about Climate Change.

“Psychopaths and narcissists aren’t ‘mentally ill,’ they’re just horrible people, and they get worse with age, not better.” 

— Aimee Terese on Twitter

WAGNER BOSS FUMES THAT RUSSIAN BRIGADE ‘FLED’ BAKHMUT AREA, ALLOWING UKRAINIANS TO SEIZE TERRITORY

by Tim Lister & Olga Voitovych

While Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin has frequently poured scorn on Russia’s Defense Ministry and its leadership, he has not previously accused Russian units of running from battle and allowing Ukrainian forces to recapture territory.

But in another expletive-laden tirade released on the same day that the Kremlin commemorated victory over Nazi Germany, Prigozhin said one Russian brigade had abandoned its positions south of Bakhmut, leading to many casualties among his fighters. 

In comments Tuesday, Prigozhin said “one of the units of the Ministry of Defense fled from one of our flanks, abandoning their positions. They all fled and [laid] bare a front nearly 2 kilometers [1.25 miles] wide and 500 meters [1,640ft] deep.”

Prighozhin said that the “72nd brigade f***ed up three square kilometers (1.1 miles) today, on which I had about 500 people killed. Because it was a strategic bridgehead. They just ran the hell out of there.”

Prigozhin also blamed another private military contractor, known as "The Blue Torch," for the reverse, saying it “scattered just like the 72nd Brigade did.”

“Instead of fighting, we have intrigues spinning all the time. We have a ministry of intrigue instead of a Ministry of Defense. That's why we have an army running,” Prigozhin added.

The 72nd Brigade (or Separate Motorized Regiment as it is sometimes called) is part of the Russian military’s Western Military District.

As for soldiers fleeing, Prigozhin said: “That's not the soldiers' problem. It is the problem of those who manage them and who set the tasks. The fish rots from the head. A soldier leaves the trenches because it is not necessary to die [as] useless. A soldier may die, but a soldier should not die because of the utter stupidity of his leadership.”

The Ukrainian military has confirmed that its forces have made gains south of Bakhmut – a dramatic turn of events in an area where gains and losses have usually been measured in several feet.

The Ukrainian Third Assault Brigade, which has advanced in the area, spoke of eliminating dozens of Russian soldiers, and released video showing its tanks, supported by infantry, overrunning Russian trenches.

It claimed to have captured several depots with enemy ammunition, mortars and more than one armored personnel carrier.

The commander of one battalion in the Third Assault Brigade described the advance as a strategic foothold. If confirmed and held, the Ukrainian advance would relieve the pressure in resupplying units still in Bakhmut and potentially open Russian units in the southern part of the city to attack from two directions.

Some background: In an explosive, expletive-laden rant last week, Prigozhin appeared in front of dozens of his dead soldiers and blamed Russia’s military leadership for “tens of thousands” of Wagner casualties.

In late April, he threatened to withdraw his troops from Bakhmut if Moscow didn’t provide more ammunition. Prigozhin later backtracked on his threat after receiving promises of more ammunition.

(CNN)

CHANGE

The Morning of the Fall,
Eve sprang from her sleep
And sprinted to the lake.
The crescent moon held a spoon of darkness
Above the warning dawn. Watching, the woods breathed
Orange and wild lilac and she plunged
And pulled into the cold depths. Water grasses played on her pendent belly,
Stirred the being within, and as she rose
The sun rose too.
The world was suddenly alight,
Water, trees, even the stars, as they withdrew  in purple,
And she stroked to shore
To lie in the brilliance and listen
To the morning: lapping, sucking, splashing, whistling,
Rustling, roaring, singing…
Her long, black shadow made a path
Flowing over the rocks and trunks before her
As she strode back,
Up into the trees.

— Ellen Taylor