Mendocino County Today: Thursday, June 1, 2023

Clearing | Howard Creek | Allen Cooperrider | Trashman | Book Trap | Huff No | Pamela Elizondo | Before Weeds | Ralph Humphrey | New Deputies | Study Club | Mona Larry | Heroes & Patriots | Ed Notes | Flaming Arrows | Gas Money | Water Meeting | Report Competition | Trail Issues | Walk Home | Educators | Gaming Compacts | Costco Roll | Forest Service | Yesterday's Catch | Urban Refuge | Gun Fraud | Parking Meters | Baby Pictures | Troublingest Woman | Castro Theatre | Feelin' Groovy | Tooth Drops | Debt Deal | Ecocidal Crimes | Kill Plants | Comey Makeover | Closet Note | Ukraine | Westoration | Nutbush

BREEZY NORTHERLY WINDS and clearing coastal stratus can be expected today. Ridging will begin building in on Friday, and inland high temperatures will reach above average values through the weekend. A cutoff mid to upper low will bring increasing shower and thunderstorm chances Sunday through much of next week. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg):

Rainfall totals season to date: 2022 Oct .18” Nov 3.55” Dec 9.23” 2023 Jan 10.58” Feb 4.41” March 11.75” April 2.10” May 1.71” YTD 43.51”

An overcast 49F on the coast this Thursday morning, lingering fog or ? Mostly clear skies & breezy is our forecast into the weekend. We now have a stronger hint of rain for early next week, we'll see?

SID COOPERRIDER: 

It is with great sadness that I report that my father, Allen Cooperrider, passed on Monday May 22nd. A special thanks to John Canflield, Turtle Creek Fire Brigade and the CVFD for helping us get him transported to Ukiah Valley Hospital via Reach Helicopter. Unfortunately he suffered a stroke that he could not recover from. Allen passed away at 8 PM surrounded by his family.

The good part is, we worked together in the garden in the morning, played our usual three-handed pinochle game before I went to get ready for work.

He did what he wanted right up to the end.

He was a writer, a gardener, a biologist, a thinker, a fun-lover. He was modest, brilliant, funny, a great husband and father and so much more. Allen and Els were together 60 years. This is especially hard for Mom (Els) right now.

SENIOR CENTER DIRECTOR RENEE LEE WRITES:

A certain individual keeps dumping his personal trash into the cans at the AV Senior Center. When approached by a board member he claims he donates to the Senior Center every month (which he doesn’t) and thinks that entitles him to do dump his trash. I know this person is better off than most, but maybe that’s why, because he does stuff like this. I can’t call him out by name because I am not 100% certain it’s the person that I think it is but… I don’t know, does anyone have any ideas?

HUFFMAN VOTED NO

In a Wednesday afternoon press release, San Rafael Democrat, Jared Huffman, announced his plan to vote no, joining a cadre of far-right Republican defectors and a handful of progressive Democrats united, uneasily, in opposition to the bill.

It passed the full House late Wednesday on a 314-117 vote.

Huffman called it “a bad deal and a terrible precedent.”

“While Republicans’ egregious hostage-taking accomplished very little debt or deficit reduction, the temporary social service cuts they demanded fall unconscionably on vulnerable Americans who are struggling just to have food to eat,” he said in a written statement.

Huffman also pointed to a number of environmental-protection rollbacks included in the agreement reached by President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the Bakersfield Republican.

Mostly, Huffman was concerned about the precedent established by one political party insisting on significant concessions in order to pay the nation’s bills by raising the federal debt ceiling — something that has been done 78 times since 1960.

“Once you normalize extreme hostage taking like this, there’s no going back,” said Huffman, whose coastal district runs from the Golden Gate to the Oregon border. “MAGA Republicans succeeded in holding America hostage under threat of default in order to extract unrelated demands, and they now have a template.”

(pressdemocrat.com)

PAMELA ELIZONDO 

July 30, 1943-Nov. 11, 2022

Pamela Elizondo née Davis was born on July 30th, 1943 in Sacramento, California, and passed away on November 11th, 2022 in Laytonville, California, aged 79. 

She is survived by her three sons, Tobin Elizondo, Darian Elizondo, and Cyprian Elizondo. As well as her Siblings, Gwen Winter, Gina Milbourn, and Ben Davis Jr.

She attended Sonoma State University, having graduated in 1975 with a Degree in Behavioral Psychology. But she will be remembered by the community and those who knew her best for her perennial candidacy in the Northern Californian sphere of politics.

In her home of Mendocino County in particular, her legacy will be carried on, and her legacy thoroughly remembered in those wearing T-Shirts espousing her platform of “Non-violent Revolution” and her “Five Simple Changes.”

Her proudest accomplishment by far would be her 2016 Senatorial bid, in which she won 90,000 votes against the sitting Vice President, Kamala Harris. Always a woman of great conviction, those who knew her best, and held her dear would always be greeted by her campaign slogan, “Marijuana farms, not arms for gasoline!”

Just days before her passing the United States Library of Congress admitted her 2004-2022 platform to their archives. 

She left us as she lived with us in our own Mendocino county, with her independent lifestyle and her convictions. And I take great comfort in the fact that my Grandmother will be greatly missed, as she parted from this Earth that she held so very dear to her.

(Zane Andrew Elizondo; via the Mendocino County Observer)

VIA NICK WILSON: 

Nationally reknowned drummer Ralph Humphrey of Fort Bragg has died at the age of 79 after a long fight with cancer. His April 23 death was announced in an official post from the Los Angeles College of Music, where Ralph was co-founder of the Drum Department and a long-time teacher there.

Ralph played with local institutions like the Mendocino Music Festival Big Band and the Mendocino Film Festival as well as numerous local bands. 

Ralph had "an amazing career with not just Frank Zappa’s Roxy era but also Don Ellis, Al Jarreau, Manhattan Transfer, Barbra Streisand, José Feliciano, Wayne Shorter, teaching at the Los Angeles Music Academy, working in the film and television industry." said Zoot Marimba in a forum post: https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/.../former-zappa-drummer.../

Ralph's Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/ralph.humphrey.104

In one of his last Facebook posts, on April 16, Ralph wrote:

"Well, I haven't made the (last) couple (NAMM) shows due to Covid and my own illness, which has now got the best of me. I am entering hospice care and I have my entire family around me, along with many friends. ... So, what I can say about impending death is that it can be done with grace, gratitude, joy, and acceptance. Giving up teaching and playing has been one of the hardest, however. Thank you to all for giving me the pleasure of experiencing music with you. Music is a gift and I have had so many of those gifts. 

I hope you all have the joy of life and the pleasure of love."

Here is more biographical information from https://oxgaps.org/ralph-humphrey/

"The music industry has lost another gem with the passing of Ralph Humphrey, the iconic American drummer on the 23rd of April 2023. Being best known for his work as a drummer with Frank Zappa, Humphrey is a legend who impacted and influenced the music industry in many ways. His passing has left a massive void that will never be filled. 

"Ralph's early work with the Don Ellis Big Band and Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, among others, gave him the knowledge and expertise to become a respected figure in the music industry. He maintained an active career in the recording industry, playing for a variety of motion picture and TV projects, including popular shows like American Idol, The Emmys, and The Simpsons. He also played on record projects for mainstream artists like Barbara Streisand and Bette Midler. "

"Ralph Humphrey is not only a drummer, but a music educator, writer, and composer as well. Born on the 11th of May, 1944, in New York City, he began playing the drums at the age of ten. In the 1960s, he was involved with the Don Ellis Big Band, where he learned about the intricacies of rhythm and music theory. His work with Frank Zappa’s Mothers of Invention later contributed to his broader exposure and recognition in the music industry.

"Humphrey’s work influenced many drummers worldwide.... He taught drumming in various schools and was accepting private students, imparting invaluable musical skills and knowledge to the younger generation. He is known for his innovative playing style, using different time signatures, odd accents, and complex polyrhythms to mesmerize his listeners. His contribution to the drumming and music industry, in general, is immeasurable. He wrote several books, including “Rhythm and Meter Patterns,” which is still widely used by modern drummers today. "

THE MENDOCINO COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE is pleased to announce that Deputy Isaac Sanchez and Deputy Sierra Rogina were sworn in as Deputy Sheriff Coroners on May 30, 2023. 

Deputy Rogina was raised in the Ukiah area and Deputy Sanchez was raised in the Philo and Boonville area. Deputy Sanchez and Deputy Rogina both have ties to Mendocino County and have started their careers in public service by joining the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office. 

Deputy Rogina and Deputy Sanchez attended the Santa Rosa Junior College Basic Police Academy and graduated on Wednesday May 24, 2023. They will both begin their 18-week training program with the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office and will be working on Patrol throughout the County during their training programs. 

If you or anyone you know is interested in becoming a Deputy Sheriff with the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, please visit www.mendocinosheriff.org and select ‘Careers’ on the top right banner.

MENDOCINO STUDY CLUB WAVES GOODBYE

by Katy Tahja

On a sunny afternoon in May the "Ladies of the Afternoon," the Mendocino Study Club members, gathered to bid adieu to 115 years of local history as they have voted to disband the club.

At a lovely meal in Preston Hall with the club’s traditional china teacups for refreshments the remaining members and guests attending shared scrapbooks and their favorite memories of Study Club activities over the years.

Starting in 1908, for the next 115 years the ladies of the afternoon have made many contributions to the cultural life of the village. The club was organized “…for the highest intellectual and spiritual development of its members through avenues of study or works that seem profitable.”

These ladies first adopted the Bay View Magazine, a mail-order adult education home study program from the Great Lakes area, to give themselves a framework to expand their educations and to learn about the world. The club motto was "They fail, and they alone, who have not striven." They later expand their world view further in 1910 by joining the Federated Women's Clubs and remained members of this larger group for 60 years. As it grew, The Mendocino Study Club took on more community service goals as well as educational goals.

They supported Red Cross drives, raised funds for Veterans Hospitals after WWI, and raised money to provide college educations for local women to become teachers. Funding for upkeep of cemeteries was generated. Meeting rooms moved and changed with the times. Dollars were raised with bake sales, vaudeville presentations and plays.

In the 1930s The club helped provide food, clothing and dental care for destitute families. In the 1940s they helped with Civil Defense activities, had a military hospitality house and supported draft registration for WWII. They contributed money to buy Bibles for serviceman in the area and baked them cookies. The first streetlights in town were paid for by the Mendocino Study Club.

In seeing that the town had no library, and the county was not going to fund such, the Study Club members started what is now the Mendocino Community Library. For many years, the ladies collected, purchased and housed books, and operated the library in various locations in town. The library never had a home of its own until its present home, the property across from the Art Center was secured by the Mendocino Study Club.

The club, in an effort to beautify the town, provided flower boxes, two of which, in front of the Mendocino Beacon building and Mendosa's, still exist 80 years later. They spearheaded the effort to get the historical buildings marked with signs in the village. By the 1960s they had old telephone poles placed along Heeser Drive to keep people from driving on the headlands. When restrooms were constructed on those headlands they had trees planted around them to camouflage them. The club contributed funding towards the purchase of the Kelley House as a museum. Another significant project the Study Club accomplished was to get the federal government to designate all offshore islands and rocks along the coast of California as a National Monument. Study Club created a map to these monuments.

Any activity that supported senior citizens was endorsed including the early support of Sherwood Oaks in Ft. Bragg and helping to secure it as a licensed senior care facility.

Much of their fundraising went not only to civic improvement, but to personal improvement as well. A large portion of funds raised were given as scholarships every year to graduating high school seniors going to college, and women who were returning to college to finish their education. The Country Christmas bazaar craft sales they offered were legendary as homemade quilts, sweaters, aprons, children's gifts, ornaments, baked goods and jams and jellies were sold.

Times changed. Women's lives became more complicated with work outside the home and opportunities for joining ladies for afternoon tea and good deeds diminished. With the blossoming of internet media learning opportunities, and the Covid pandemic, membership became further reduced. After careful consideration the remaining members decided to disband the club due to a lack of support and diminishing energy of those who remained.

In closing the doors of this community institution, the members looked at the best way to disburse their savings that reflected the Study Club goals. Several grants were given to other non-profits at the luncheon. Scholarship funds will continue to be awarded through the establishment of an endowed fund held by the Mendocino Community Foundation, The expansion of the Fort Bragg Library will be supported with a donation to that institution in honor of Janet Barnes and Ruth Sparks, who were instrumental in getting the expansion project going. Recognizing the circle of life both the Mendocino Coast Senior Center and the Mendocino Childrens Fund received grants to help the youngest and oldest in the community. The Study Club scrapbooks, written records, and china teacups will go to the Kelley House Museum.

Mendocino Study Club is proud of its contributions to the cultural life around Mendocino. It provided proof that women can get together and make a difference. Nobody in Mendocino today can escape the veritable good works of the Mendocino Study Club over the past 115 years. One club member, now passed , was lovingly referred to as a "Velvet Bulldozer." She appeared to be a sweet little old white haired lady, but when she and her fellow club members got a bee in their bonnets and decided something needed doing they collectively were a force of nature. They did not stop until the good work was done.

That's what the Mendocino Study Club would like to be remembered for-whatever the cause they MADE things happen for the good of the community. Mendocino will miss them.

It should be noted that the current retail establishment called The Mendocino Study Club on the corner of Ukiah and Lansing Streets is not in any way associated with the Club itself. It happens to be one location where the Study Club met and housed the library from years ago.

ARTIST LARRY FUENTE WITH MONA, HIS CREATION

HEROES AND PATRIOTS this morning

On Thursday, June 1, at 9:00 am, Pacific Time (12:00 pm EST), our guest at "Heroes and Patriots Radio" on KMUD will be CMD CMSgt Dennis Fritz (Ret.) 

As Director of the Eisenhower Media Network, Fritz led a group of high-ranking former national security experts in releasing an open letter to the White House and Congress in the form of a full-page New York Times ad that ran on May 16 urging diplomacy over increased war and weapons in relation to the war in Ukraine. 

The letter dovetailed with a Foreign Relations Committee hearing on U.S. policy and Russia. Signers of the letter plead, “We’ve never been closer to nuclear warfare.” 

DENNIS FRITZ 

Dennis Fritz, Director of Eisenhower Media Project, is a retired Command Chief Master Sergeant in the United States Air Force. 

While on active duty, he served as the principal senior advisor to 4-star Commanders at two major commands (Pacific Air Forces and Space Command, including NORAD). One of the Commanders he advised was the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard Myers. 

He was also the principal advisor to Commanders at two large Air Force flying wings (Yokota Air Base, Japan and Andrews Air Force Base, home of Air Force One). 

Dennis also held several positions at the Pentagon on the Air Force Staff and the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force’s Legislative Affairs. After active-duty retirement, he served in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, as a contracted staff member.  

He earned a B.S. in Management from National-Louis University and a M.S. in Public Management from the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy. 

Areas of Expertise: 

1. Afghanistan and Iraq Wars pre-invasion Policy Planning documents 

2. China and North Korea threats 

3. OSD Policy Planning 

4. National Security issues and policy development 

5. Department of Defense Wounded Warrior Case Management Policy and Advocacy Expert 

6. Veterans issues 

KMUD 

Our show, "Heroes and Patriots Radio", airs live on KMUD, on the first and fifth Thursdays of every month, at 9 AM, Pacific Time. 

KMUD simulcasts its programming on two full power FM stations: KMUE 88.1 in Eureka and KLAI 90.3 in Laytonville. It also maintains a translator at 99.5 FM in Shelter Cove, California. 

We also stream live from the web at https://kmud.org/ 

Speak with our guest live and on-the-air at: KMUD Studio (707) 923-3911. Please call in. 

We post our shows to our own website and Youtube channels. Shows may be excerpted in other media outlets. 

Wherever you live, KMUD is your community radio station. We are a true community of informed and progressive people. Please join us by becoming a member or underwriter. 

ED NOTES

AT&T SUMMARILY cut off our land line service Wednesday afternoon. The Major, who seems to enjoy jousting with PG&E and AT&T, took over. He was bounced from one non-responsive, broken-English-speaker to another for two-and-a-half hours until an Americano came on the line to concede, “The problem is probably on our end.” The several previous phone reps were certain we hadn't paid the bill, but it took that long to discover the prob. “We probably can have it fixed by Friday,” the Americano said.

ANDERSON VALLEY’S GRAVEYARDS are permanent home to a few of California’s first settlers who took on Mexico so they could appropriate the vast estates of the Spanish and Mexican grandees for themselves. Henry Beeson, 1829-1914, was one of Anderson Valley’s pioneers and a Bear Flagger. He is buried in the Babcock Cemetery, also called the Rawles Cemetery, one of the first pioneer burial grounds in the valley. (The Indians? Uh, well, like, I think they went to Fort Bragg, then Covelo.) The Babcock is secreted in an old apple orchard looking east to the high school, which is about a quarter mile away. A majestic grove of old growth redwoods marks the west side of the Babcock/Rawles. Beeson was a private with the Mountain Riflemen, meaning he preceded the Gold Rush and was among the first Americans to settle in California when California belonged to Mexico. 

BEESON easily survived the Bear Flaggers skirmishes with Mexico and, with California firmly annexed to the United States, made a home for himself where the state Calfire station sits today just south of Boonville. Beeson was considered the finest saddle maker in the area, his work so prized it drew customers to the Beeson place from all over the state. Henry Beeson was an older contemporary of later settlers — many of them from Missouri — who fought on the losing side in the Civil War. 

THE GRAVE of the old Bear Flagger is only a few steps from Anderson Valley’s first white woman. Rhoda Crouch (?) who was born in 1805, arrived in Boonville in 1852 and died five years later in 1857. The stories these oldest of the old timers could tell us!

HURTLING past all the wars since California was admitted to the union, we find…

GERALD L. BABCOCK, SP 5, was born here November 18th, 1948, and died in Vietnam on the 3rd of July 1973. His brother, Robert Lee Babcock, was born May 14th 1950, also a veteran of Vietnam, died in Santa Rosa in a traffic accident. Both brothers are interred in their eponymous final resting place. The Babcock family was a pioneer Anderson Valley family after whom the Babcock Cemetery was called prior to its Rawles designation. 

RAY EUBANKS marched off to World War One, the war to end all wars, and came home to marry Katherine Eubanks, a daughter of the pioneer Brown family. Ray Eubanks was born November 20th 1900, and died April 7th 1989. 

THERE ARE GRAVES of men in all six of the Anderson Valley cemeteries who fought in the Civil War, the Mexican War, the Spanish-American War, World War One, World War Two, and the “police action” in Korea, a police action that often involved battalion-strength combat in sub-zero weather, and the Vietnam War. I think I remember seeing a grave in the Evergreen Cemetery of a man who may have fought in the American Revolutionary War.

ALL CEMETERY HISTORY credit goes to Val Hanelt whose database is a masterful work of complicated research that Val first published in November of 2016. “This database is a work in progress and is constantly being updated. Its information can be accessed on two sites: Findagrave.com and Mendocino County Indexes.”

I STILL REMEMBER, probably thirty years ago now, reading a startling quote boxed off on the front page of Monday’s Ukiah Daily Journal: “They can’t read. They can’t write. They can’t think well and they’re very angry. It’s time to do something about it school-by-school.” That was Phil Boynton, a Ukiah High School history teacher, complaining about students who arrive at the high school “without basic learning and social skills.” 

IT HASN’T IMPROVED, Phil, and the internet has made the country crazier, with young people wed to their magic phones, on which they can, and millions do, dial up all the crazy-making evil of the world.

THAT SAID, the few young people I see on a regular basis are smart and seemingly sane, despite the social-political context they’re making their way in.

WE GOT A LAUGH out of Supervisor Maureen Mulheren’s recent Big Ideas of how to save some County money: “All costs are up and the Board and the Executive Office Fiscal Team are trying to find ways to save money, one way to reduce our expenses is to spend less money on vehicle expenses such as gas and maintenance. Are there ways your department could help reduce costs? Let me know! ‘We’re reducing vehicle miles by 20%. Before you grab the keys, ask yourself: Can I combine a trip with a co-worker? Can I combine multiple outings? Can this be a virtual meeting?’” (Mark Scaramella)

DRILLING A TEST WELL at the Masonite Site, New Water Meters — Highlights from the Redwood Valley County Water District Board Meeting

The Redwood Valley County Water District Board met on Thursday, May 18, 2023 with all members present. Topics discussed included update on the Masonite test well site, ag water price rise, consolidation of the water districts, Russian River Water Forum; fire hydrant flushing.…

mendofever.com/2023/05/31/drilling-a-test-well-at-the-masonite-site-new-water-meters-highlights-from-the-redwood-valley-county-water-district-board-meeting/

ADAM GASKA (campaign facebook post, April 18, 2023):

I attended a meeting at the Mendocino County Farm Bureau office Friday [in April] where we heard a presentation by Louisa Morris, project manager for The Great Redwood Trail. She is going out into the community, giving these presentations and getting feedback what the hopes and hesitations are surrounding the project. 

The meeting was mostly attended by landowners, farmers, ranchers that have land adjacent to the North West Pacific rail as well as 2 Calfire chiefs and sheriff Matt Kendall. 

The concerns we had were fire, property damage, trespass, access to maintain the trail and for first responders, increased cost for insurance or losing the ability to get insurance, continued state funding for ongoing maintenance, law enforcement's ability to respond to issues on the trail.

Fire is an obvious concern. The more access by people, the greater the exposure to ignition. Whether intentional or accidental, almost all wildfires are caused by people. Giving people access to areas, especially remote ones, increases the risk of wildfire. 

Increased access can also lead to an increase in trespassing and vandalism. 

The rail goes through many areas where there is no public access. If someone gets hurt, first responders are going to want to get to the person as soon as possible. This means they will have to go through private property for a quick response. This also makes access for maintenance problematic. 

Many landowners along the trail in Ukiah have seen their premiums go up because of the increase in claims and fires along the trail. The ranch I manage on Laughlin has already suffered fires that damaged our fencing. Insurance doesn't cover fencing. Our premiums have risen. If we start having more fires, we may be dropped all together. Just clearing and building a walking trail is not enough for an effective fire break. Fire fighters like a two lane road for adequate clearance and access for fire engines. 

Our sheriffs office is already stretched thin. Places like Covelo have a 50 minute response time. Adding more areas to respond to is only going to stress those resources even more. 

The construction plan put forth says the trails construction is going to be more than a billion dollars. This doesn't even account for maintenance. Mendocino County is already underfunding our roads. We should be spending $60 million a year and spend $6-7 million. We definitely do not have the money to upkeep the trail. 

I think the idea of a trail is a good one but I have concerns and hopes. I hope we can have rail service again. SMART is planning on restoring service to Cloverdale by 2027. Maybe they can be enticed to continue into Mendocino county north to Willits. As the state is pushing us to decarbonize our economy, we need alternatives to support that change. Rail service for goods and people would be a big help for our community and region to be less reliant on cars and trucks. 

I started a petition to stop the Surface Transportation Board from rail banking the rail from Willits to Cloverdale. If it is rail banked, the trail could be built on top of the ballast which likely be a death knell for a return of rail service to Mendocino county. 

I hope that while the Great Redwood Trail Agency (GRTA) is doing environmental impact reports and CEQA for the trail, they include the impacts of the amenities a long the trail that are touted as possible economic benefits. Camping, food vendors, and developments along the trail would require minor and major use permits which will require EIR's and CEQA. If the GRTA could shoulder some of that work, it would make it much easier for land owners along the trail to take advantage of the opportunity. 

While I see that the trail could bring opportunity, the biggest issue I have with it personally is I don't see it as a priority. Mendocino county is struggling to meet its basic obligations primarily because it lacks the money. The county general fund is looking at $18-19 million dollar general fund shortfall. I realize that the way these things work is the money appropriated for the GRT cannot be easily reappropriated for things like road maintenance or increasing wages to competitive levels. This money isn't free, though. This is our tax money. Our local leaders have a responsibility to give feedback to the state that we would prefer to prioritize funding that enables us to provide basic services before taking on extra projects that add to our future liabilities that require funding that we don't have.

JIM SHIELDS WRITES: Got a kick out of your comments on the preciously PC “creative writing professor” slinging her bullshit to AVHS students, the vast majority of whom, most likely, are incapable of crafting a simple declarative sentence where subject and verb agree. How about conjugating a sentence? Get serious, dude. Another ongoing scholastic scam is that our K-12 schools are developing legions of “critical thinkers.” I realized the game was up and all was doomed when the educrats put the teachers out to pasture and replaced them with “educators.” Fortunately, my P.E./History teacher dad and Kindergarten teacher mom are R.I.P. And so it goes.

GOVERNOR NEWSOM SIGNS GAMING COMPACTS WITH THREE MENDOCINO COUNTY TRIBES

On Wednesday Governor Gavin Newsom announced that he has signed tribal-state gaming compacts between the State of California and the Cahto Tribe of the Laytonville Rancheria, the Manchester Band of Pomo Indians of the Manchester Rancheria, and the Sherwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California.

A copy of the Cahto Tribe of the Laytonville Rancheria compact can be found here.

A copy of the Manchester Band of Pomo Indians of the Manchester Rancheria compact can be found here.

A copy of the Sherwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California compact can be found here.

(Governor’s Office Presser)

FOREST SERVICE IS HIRING DIRECT HIRE CANDIDATES

Willows, Calif. - May 31, 2023 - The Mendocino National Forest offices in Willows, Chico, Upper Lake and Stonyford, California are seeking to fill up to 29 positions in Natural Resources, Administration, Transportation, and Recreation. We are seeking qualified candidates who are eligible for special hiring authorities and available to interview immediately. Please respond by June 17th, 2023, although positions will remain open until filled. Apply online.

Career Opportunities Available: Tribal Liaison; Forestry Technician (Recreation); Equipment Operator; Laborer; Recreation Management Specialist; Visitor Information Assistant; Administrative Support Assistant; Recreation Manager; Biological Technician; Archaeologist; Wildlife Biologist; Hydrologist; Silviculturist; Forester.

We’re accepting applications for forestry-related forestry aids and technicians during these weeks:

• June 5 through 12, 2023
• June 26 through July 3, 2023
• July 17 through 24, 2023
• August 14 through 21, 2023
• September 18 through 25, 2023

CATCH OF THE DAY, Wednesday, May 31, 2023

SILVIA ACOSTA, Lakeport/Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-under influence. 

JASON FRYMAN, Willits. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, resisting-threatening officer, probation revocation.

YULIA HORLACH, Garberville/Laytonville. DUI. 

CHOLE MAGENO, Miami, Arizona/Ukiah. Concealed weapon in vehicle, loaded handgun not registered owner.

RUBEN MAGENO, Miami, Arizona/Ukiah. Fugitive from justice.

LAWRENCE MARSH, Covelo. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

ISIDRO MURO, Covelo. DUI with priors, suspended license, for DUI.

WILLIAM NIEMEYER, Fort Bragg. Disobeying court order.

WILLIAM OWENS, Ukiah. Controlled substance, parole violation. (Frequent flyer.)

SILVESTRE RODRIGUEZ-ALVAREZ, Ukiah. Protective order violation.

ABIMAEL SERNA-CASTILLO, Ukiah. Marijuana sales, vehicle registration alteration, offenses while on bail.

JALAHN TRAVIS, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

A COUPLA FREE BEERS…

Further! Have returned from a visit to Adventist Health in St. Helena. Met with a surgeon who is going to remove the pacemaker, because it isn’t doing much good (the heart is performing at 20% of its capacity), and she will put in an ICD, which will have much more spark plus function as a fibrillator and shock the heart muscle to resume a normal beat in the case of cardiac arrest. No hurry here. She’ll be away the month of June; will give me a July appointment. Returned to Ukiah and dropped into the Ukiah Brewing Company during happy hour. Quaffed two pints of Orr Springs IPA. A couple that is sometimes there and chats it up with me at the bar, graciously paid for my beers, saying that the wished to contribute to everything going well for me! Next, dropped by Safeway to ensure that food would be had last night at Building Bridges Homeless Resource Center. Arrived back at the shelter just in time to take an evening cool shower, eat the Safeway deli food in back at the BBQ outside tables, brush the teeth, and fall asleep. Awoke feeling quite good, and got to Plowshares for the free meal. As often is the case, am at my urban refuge on computer #3 tap, tap tapping away. All things change, and all things remain the same. It is what one identifies with that makes all of the difference. 

Forever Yours, 

Craig Louis Stehr

PARKING METERS NEED TO GO

Editor,

Parking meters are a 1960s solution to bolster city revenues. The idea that people have to pay to park on city streets is out of date. No one has spare change and trying to navigate dozens of different card-enabled solutions in different locales is frustrating. In addition, the small amount of money collected is likely offset by the cost to enforce the meters and maintain the hardware.

Paying for the privilege to come downtown and see a movie, shop or have a meal puts the city core at a disadvantage compared to businesses outside of that area. Getting rid of the meters is a step in the right direction for economic development.

Paid garages can stay as a paid service. Bonds were likely raised to build them and at least they offer some protection from the elements. But let’s keep the idea of the 1960s cars for our wonderful “classic car” shows, not paying to park.

Edward Zimmerman

San Rafael

I ASKED FOR WATER

Oh, I asked her for water, oh she brought me gasoline

Oh, I asked her for water, oh she brought me gasoline

That's the troublingest woman, that I ever seen

Oh the church bell tollin', oh the hearse come driving slow

Oh the church bell tollin', oh the hearse come driving slow

I hope my baby, don't leave me no more

Oh tell me baby, oh when are you coming back home?

Oh tell me baby, oh when are you coming back home?

You know I love you baby but you've been gone too long

— Howlin' Wolf

THE CASTRO THEATRE IN 1970

Although it’s very grand by today’s standards, the Castro Theatre was a regular neighborhood theatre, showing first- and second-run mainstream films, until San Francisco preeminent art film exhibitor Mel Novikoff leased the theatre from the Nassers in 1976. Novikoff’s vision was to restore the faded palace to splendor and present classic repertory, series and tributes.

It was during Novikoff’s management that the Wurlitzer organ presently in the theatre was installed by the Taylors, a family of local organ enthusiasts who were looking for a home for their instrument. In 1979 Ray Taylor and his sons Dick and Bill began assembling an all-Wurlitzer pipe organ—a monumental undertaking. 

The console came from a theatre in Detroit. Their labor of love was rewarded in 1982, when the theatre’s electronic Conn organ was retired and the Mighty Wurlitzer was played for a live audience for the first time.

ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Remember the song “Feelin’ Groovy’, by the group Harpers Bazaar’, from back in the day? FEELIN’ GROOVY! Do you think people dosed on Tranq & Fentanyl stumbling around Kensington in Philadelphia are “Feelin’ Groovy’? Fentanyl appears to kill you, Tranq turns you into a Zombie, then kills you. If some of the 60s icons (and a little later) who promoted drug abuse — Ken Kesey, Tim Leary, Jerry Garcia, Lou Reed, Allen Ginsburg, Gregory Corso, Andy Warhol’s crowd — could come back now and take a look around, would they be ‘Feelin’ Groovy’? But Marlin, Kesey & Leary were all about hallucinagenics, that’s all. Maybe. But Corso & Garcia died heroin addicts, ‘Feelin’ Groovy’ to the end. TPTB don’t seem too determined to stop the inflow of fentanyl that is killing roughly 2000 young people per week in the USA. It’s coming across the Mexican border, & Sec. Mayorkas appears to be under orders to keep the border wide open.

DEBT RELIEF LEGISLATION

How To Kill a Deal

No deal ever holds
When one side tells the other,
“Boy, we sure fooled you.”

— Jim Luther

SOMEDAY the leaders of ecocidal corporations will be put on trial for their crimes against our planet, and their defense that they did it to generate profits for their shareholders will be treated the same as war criminals saying they were just following orders.

— Caitlin Johnstone

JIM COMEY'S HIP NEW MEDIA TOUR

The man who was Director when the FBI's reputation began a steep national nosedive resurfaces for a TV makeover.

by Matt Taibbi

I’ve seen softball interviews and shameless on-air dissembling before, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything like the quadruplicate tongue bath laid on unrepentant former FBI chief James Comey yesterday by Willie Geist, Jon Lemire, Katty Kay, and Eugene Robinson on Morning Joe. 

Comey came on set dressed in a sheer black jumper that recalled an Austin Powers extra or the after-hours garb of Arthur Miller or Saul Bellow, signaling his new persona as the author of a mystery novel called Central Park West.

I bought this book, which chronicles the adventures of crackerjack Hoboken-based federal prosecutor Nora Carleton. Recreation-wise, reading Jim Comey channeling a female protagonist is somewhere between a tooth cleaning and watching a fawn die on the side of the road (“This is so fucking hard, she thought. School loans, no life, no sleep…”). It’s neither a crime nor unexpected, but Comey sucks donkey balls as a writer. If I decided tomorrow to write detective novels, you’d see my first effort — in the highly unlikely event someone published it — would be terrible too. Famous politicians and scary law enforcement officials like Comey, however, not only get instant wide release, they enjoy a craven ritual in which real detective writers line up to tell them how brilliant their debuts are. 

“A nonstop thrill ride!” gushed Jeffery Deaver. Colleagues agreed:

• Memorable characters… gripping plot… a truly outstanding debut… announces a bold new talent. — Harlan Coben

• A great read… he delivers it with the addictive style of an expert storyteller. — Michael Connolly

• Reeks of authenticity… [A] debut publishers dream of. — Ian Rankin

On Morning Joe, poor Willie Geist was given the job of delivering the inevitable “We’ll plug your shitty novel later — but first, some questions that might actually generate traffic” intro:

“Joining us now, former FBI director James Comey, he is the author of the new crime novel, titled Central Park West… Good morning. It’s good to see you. We’ll talk about your new career as a novelist in just a moment. But… many Republican lawmakers [are] saying the FBI, the organization you once led, needs to be defunded. What's your reaction to that?”

Comeybot returned an answer: “It’s just a continuing series of attacks on the rule of law. They’re taking a flame thrower to DOJ and to the FBI.”

Geist in an apologetic tone brought up Special Prosecutor John Durham’s report, which suggested “steps were missed.” Willie, shame on ya, lad, you joined Kissinger and Pol Pot on the infamous “mistakes were made” club:

“GEIST: Do you acknowledge perhaps that some mistakes were made along the way?

COMEY: Definitely. And they were found four years ago by the Inspector General. So there’s nothing new in this new document.”

This isn’t true. There’s a lot that’s new in the Durham report, including details damaging to Comey. Specifically it contains reports from both “Australian Diplomat-1” (Erica Thompson) and Alexander Downer, the ostensible original sources of the tip that led to the opening of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane probe of Donald Trump. Here’s how Comey characterized that moment in his book A Higher Loyalty:

“In late July, the FBI learned that a Trump campaign foreign policy advisor named George Papadopoulos had been discussing, months earlier, that the Russian government had emails damaging to Hillary Clinton. Based on this information, the FBI opened an investigation to try to understand whether Americans, including any associated with the Trump campaign, were working in any way with the Russians.”

These “discussions” were supposedly with Downer and Thompson. Durham interviewed both diplomats, who said they never claimed any “mention of the hacking of the DNC” or “the Russians being in possession of emails.” Downer said Papadopoulos “made no mention of Clinton emails, dirt or any specific approach by the Russian government” to the Trump team. The whole thing was bunk. 

I feel a little bad saying this about Willie and company, but if this had been a channel called WFBI, the interview wouldn’t have gone differently. 

Comey since 2016 has been a one-man misinformation campaign, and almost never called on it. Durham confirmed the FBI knew by late January, 2017 that none of ex-spy Christopher Steele’s assertions used in a secret surveillance warrant could be corroborated:

Comey kept this from Congress in a key “Gang of Eight” briefing on March 15, 2017, hid it from the public in “bombshell” testimony soon after that sent Russiagate madness into overdrive, and has tried to sell a slew of related untruths since. He insisted Steele was funded by Republicans, said in 2018 “I still don’t know for a fact” the ex-spy was funded by Hillary Clinton, and denounced a congressional memo about FISA abuse as “dishonest,” though he later admitted it, saying FBI behavior was “unacceptable.” Comey half-stonewalled Inspector General Michael Horowitz, refusing to re-accept security clearance so his memory could be refreshed, and refused to cooperate at all with Durham. It increasingly looks like the hulking ex-Director was the key figure driving years of politicized investigation and fake news, but the new line is he was just a passive spectator, as “mistakes were made.”

Geist asked if Comey thought it was true the “mistakes” had been fixed.

“I think so,” Comey monotoned. “But in complex investigations, there are always going be mistakes. It doesn’t mean the FBI isn’t competent, honest, and independent.”

Last week it came out that the FBI improperly searched Americans using FISA more than 278,000 times in 2021. An unsealed Foreign Intelligence Service Court (FISC) filing showed that of those 278,000 occasions, 19,000 came in connection with one congressional campaign, and the FISC found only “eight identifiers had sufficient ties to foreign influence activities to comply with the querying standard.” Does that sound “fixed,” or like an epidemic of illegal searches?

One could have expected the Morning Joe crew to ask, especially since the 278,000 warrantless “foreign” searches involved George Floyd protesters as well as people like January 6th rioters. No luck. Lemire shifted to PR mode, asking Comey if he thought “attacks” on the Bureau had affected “morale,” “recruitment,” or “their ability to get the job done?” 

Comey ingested this setup like an aquarium Orca gulping a fish (“It’s a hard time”), then sat with mouth open for more. Geist complied by tossing out an evergreen: is a potential Donald Trump return to the White House a “danger”? 

“I think,” Comey said, “he poses a near-existential threat to the rule of law.” 

If someone has not created an “existential threat” counter for MSNBC somewhere on social media, I hope it’s coming. 

Poor Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post appeared to stumble in search of a way to ask about FISA without bringing up the 278,000 warrantless searches number. He asked “whether that is a, is a process, that whole process is really in keeping with, uh, the way we, the way our government is supposed to work,” and if “you have any, any, um, any view of how that court works and, and its value.”

Comey: “It works very well. It’s incredibly valuable.” He added, “There’s work that our government has to do against spies and terrorists that has to be done in secret.” Also 278,000 Americans, but, again, who’s counting? 

Geist asked if Comey had any regrets about the Clinton emails investigation. “Oh, plenty of regrets,” he said, “but no regrets about the way the decision was made.” 

“Plenty” seemed a good prompt to follow up, but Willie moved on to Central Park West. “What sent you to the world of novels?” he asked, trying to sound sunny. 

Comey put his almost-person face on, smiled a little, and recounted his auteurspiel. “You can write narrative,” his editor supposedly told him. “You should try this.” (I would love to put that editor on a polygraph.) Last night Comey repeated the performance on CNN. Like his MSNBC counterparts, Anderson Cooper before helping plug the novel asked this penetrating question:

“COOPER: When you see the former president, now the frontrunner again for the Republican nomination… how big a threat is that?

COMEY: A very serious threat. To the rule of law, almost an existential threat.”

This stuff makes Central Television USSR circa 1982 seem like a Don Rickles roast. Will it never end? Are there no deep state boots they won’t lick? Gah!

UKRAINE, WEDNESDAY, 31 MAY

The US will send $300 million worth of additional weaponry and equipment to Ukraine, focusing the latest military aid package on air defense systems to help Kyiv fend off Russian aerial attacks.

Russia pledged to continue to improve its air defense system in the wake of the Tuesday drone attack on Moscow. Ukraine denied any direct involvement. 

The Kremlin said the "situation is rather alarming" in the Belgorod region. At least one person was killed and six injured in strikes on the Russian territory, officials said. 

Ukrainian officials say Russian forces have stepped up shelling in the Kupyansk area of Kharkiv, where the front lines have moved little since last autumn.

THE ATTEMPT TO LIVE without the rest of nature, to conquer the world, to rationalise and remake it from the top down and bottom up: this began here, in ‘the West’. So here’s a thought: the alternative needs to come from here too. We started the revolution, so we need to start the restoration. We understand the Machine better than anyone, because it’s in us. We unmade the world. Now we are going to have to remake it again.

We Western people: we have to learn how to inhabit again. We have to learn how to live sanely in our lands. How to write poems and walk in the woods and love our neighbours. How to have the time to even notice them. How to take an interest in the parts without detaching them from the whole. How to remember that the Earth is alive and always was, and that no ‘culture’ which forgets that can last, or deserves to.

Beyond ‘the West’ there might just be another way of seeing. An older way. Beyond the West, we might find Europe. We might find Albion. We might find Cockayne, or Dogger Bank. We might find the mind that painted the cave walls. We might find hunters and clear rivers and countries and saints and spirits and painted churches. We might find shrines and pilgrim routes and folk music and fear of the sea. We might find ourselves again.

— Paul Kingsnorth