Mendocino County Today: Friday, June 30, 2023

Interior Heat | Noyo Pond | Fireworks Shows | Arena Weekend | AV Scene | Nesting Season | Funeral Fund | Summer Biking | Farm Stands | Swehla Selected | Water Forum | Another Hospital | Last Sunlight | Ed Notes | ALRFD BBQ | Moderate Us | MAC Director | It's Friday | Keep Listserv | Sport Auto | Buried Treasure | Arena Shoreline | Name Change | Yesterday's Catch | Laytonville Skatepark | 1928 Sterling | MyCitations | Beauty Decision | Reasonable People | Tequila Substitute | Confederate Flag | Viva War | Private Sign | Farmworker Rights | Easy Friend | Bar Question | Slam Job | Conversation | Ukraine | Solitude

INTERIOR HEAT will increase through Saturday, with triple digit temperatures for some interior valleys. The entrenched coastal low clouds will begin to show weakness by later Friday, followed by periods of clearing through the weekend. Inland temperatures will slowly lower throughout next week as the ridge progresses east and attempts to weaken. Winds will be breezy in isolated coastal regions and interior ridges through the weekend. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A foggy 52F this Friday morning on coast, the fog bank is barely hugging the shore. The NWS forecast is now calling for morning clouds with afternoon clearing for the next week. Now THAT'S a stretch. It does look like the coast should have mostly clear skies for the fireworks this year, this Saturday night I think?

YESTERDAY'S HIGHS: Ukiah 100°, Yorkville 99°, Covelo 97°, Boonville 92°, Fort Bragg 60°

WHERE TO WATCH FIREWORKS

Fort Bragg Independence Day Fireworks:
Date: Saturday, July 1, 2023
Location: Todd Point, Fort Bragg, CA 95437

Point Arena Fireworks Extravaganza:
Date: Saturday, July 1, 2023
Location: Arena Cove, 810 Port Road, Point Arena, CA 95468

Fireworks Extravaganza at Ukiah Speedway:
Date: Saturday, July 1, 2023
Location: Ukiah Speedway, 1055 N. State St., Ukiah, CA 95482

PINT ARENA INDEPENDENCE DAY WEEKEND 2023!

Fireworks Saturday July 1 & Parade Sunday July 2

The most highly anticipated event on the South Coast – the Point Arena Street Fair & Fireworks Extravaganza -- will occur Saturday July 1, 2023! 

Join us for food, fun and the largest display of fireworks in the region! Festivities kick off at 4:00 pm with food, bands, arts and crafts, kids’ activities, and live music.  The Fireworks Extravaganza by Pyro Spectaculars will explode into the night sky starting at dark!

STREET FAIR & FIREWORKS INFORMATION

We’re looking forward to the return of the Point Arena Arena Street Fair & Fireworks Extravaganza on Saturday July 1 at 4pm at Arena Cove!! The following info will help you make the most of the event:

EVENT: Gates open at 4pm. Admission is $10 per person, 12 and under is free. This is a cash-only event. The City will have a small “ATM” onsite, but it’s best to bring cash with you. There are ATM’s at Redwood Credit Union and the liquor store.

PARKING & ROAD CLOSURES: Parking is $10 per vehicle, which includes a shuttle ride. Parking is available at City Hall, Point Arena High School, and Iverson near Main Street starting at 4pm. Limited parking is available at the "rock wall" at Arena Cove but vehicles are required to wait until pedestrian traffic has cleared Port Road after the fireworks. Once that lot is filled, Port Road is completely closed to vehicular traffic except emergency vehicles and shuttle buses.  There is absolutely no parking on Iverson & Port Roads!

MUSIC: One of the highlights of the event, this year’s live music includes Finians Call; Boonfire; Funkosaurus; and Aaron Borowitz and the Golden Chanterelles.

KIDS: We'll have a bouncy house, rock painting, face painting, games, light-up toys, candy and more!

FOOD: Vendors will have fish tacos, tamales, burritos, frybread, gyros, Chinese, clam chowder, pizza slices, and other delicious items!

DRINKS: Vendors will have sodas, boba, water, and lemonade. Beer, wine and hard cider will be available.

ARTS & CRAFTS: Vendors will be selling hand-made art, jewelry, clothing, and children’s toys.

PETS/ANIMALS: Leave your pets at home; there will be no entry to the event with animals. Please do not leave dogs locked in cars during the event.

SAFETY: No weapons. No alcohol. No drones. Backpacks are allowed for blankets and jackets.  Water is allowed, but please no glass bottles. Stay away from the bluff edge. It is advised to bring flashlights, jackets and walking shoes. Expect heavy traffic at Iverson / Main post-event. Emergency responders and law enforcement will be on site.

Have Fun And Enjoy The Show!!!

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MAIN STREET INDEPENDENCE PARADE

The Point Arena Independence Parade steps off on Main Street at high noon Sunday May 2, 2023.

The parade forms at the Point Arena High School Parking Lot on Lake Street beginning at 10am. Registered entrants will receive their parade position. Unregistered entrants are welcome to join the parade following the registered entrants. The Parade leaves the parking lot at 11:45am, proceeds to Main Street, and holds until the parade begins.

The official parade begins at noon at the intersection of Main Street and School Street and proceeds down Main Street to Port Road. Because the parade route requires the closure of Highway 1, the parade must conclude by 1pm.

Have A Safe And Enjoyable Independence Weekend!

HEAVEN WON'T LOOK THIS GOOD

RACCOONS--DO NOT TRAP NOW

We are right in the middle of nesting season for raccoons, foxes and all wildlife right now until the end of August. If you trap something, you will most likely leave a litter of babies or young ones to starve to death, and then stink up your house for months. Parents will take their babies on a 'walk-about' when they are old enough to be independent. They take them far off and return to their home territory without them. Be patient and humane, wait until they leave before closing up any entry places.

Ronnie James <ronnie@mcn.org>

A GOFUNDME SITE TO HELP WITH QUINN'S FUNERAL EXPENSES

Hey everyone. I’m putting together a go fund me for Quinn’s funeral. Anything you can donate will help tremendously. Quinn had lots of love to give. So let make his funeral the best we can. Thank you so much for your support (Lance Fabian)…

https://tinyurl.com/Quinn37

THE FOURTH ‘R’

Dear Anderson Valley Community,

Incoming fifth graders at Anderson Valley Elementary are only working on the “4rs” during summer school–reading, writing, arithmetic, and Road Biking.

Retiring teacher, Sid Frazer, led his class in their academics and then taught them the safety rules, maintenance, and joy of bike riding. Lead teacher, Charlotte Triplett, suggested the activity remembering the stored equipment that used to be part of the ASP bike club prior to Covid.

The bikes and helmets were received from a generous past donation and were a huge hit with the students, many of whom do not have a bike at home.

A fun and healthy time was had by all! Thank you Mr. Frazer and Mrs. Triplett!

Louise Simson, Superintendent

Anderson Valley Unified School District

707-684-1017

POP UP FARM STAND SATURDAY

Along with our normal farm stand hours we will be hosting a pop up on Saturday featuring former Wickson chefs, Rodney and Alexa, who will be preparing some delicious rice bowls made with Filigreen produce! 

The farm stand is open Friday from 2-5pm and Saturday 11am-4pm. Pop up is on SATURDAY from 11:30 until soldout. For fresh produce we will have: kale, lettuce, carrots, beets, radishes, cabbage, broccoli, herbs, and the first summer squash. We will also have dried fruit, tea blends, olive oil, dried flower bouquets, and some everlasting wreaths available. Plus some delicious flavors of Wilder Kombucha!

All produce is certified biodynamic and organic. Follow us on Instagram for updates @filigreenfarm or email annie@filigreenfarm.com with any questions. We accept cash, credit card, check, and EBT/SNAP (with Market Match)!

(Velma’s Farm Stand, Anderson Valley Way, Boonville.)

* * *

BROCK FARMS FARM STAND

Open Tuesday-Saturday, 10-7ish,

closed Sunday and Monday.

* * *

SUMMER DINNER SERIES — A Monthly Farm-to-Table Charity Dinner Series with Chef Scott Baird

Proceeds from the dinners will be donated to the scholarship fund at Boont Tribe Community School.

This summer Boont Tribe Community School will be hosting a monthly farm-to-table charity dinner series. Proceeds from the dinners will be donated to the scholarship fund at Boont Tribe Community School. Our school has complete curricular freedom, designing lessons that meet each child’s needs. Our classrooms offer caring individual attention to each of our students, but our tuition-funded school can be a financial burden to some of our beloved families.

The meals will be prepared by Chef Scott Baird, with donated local bounty from the coast to the shallowest end of the valley. Dinner will be served at twilight at a long family style table. The four-course feasts will be at either the Win Win Ranch in Philo or Stoney Bottom in Boonville.

Dates: June 10th, July 15th, August 19th, September 16th & October 21st

Seating will be limited to 20 very lucky guests.

Local wines will be served throughout the dinner.

$80 per person

Contact Seasha for tickets: 707-533-5094

BETH SWEHLA has been selected as one of the 2023 California Agriculture Teacher Association's Teacher of Excellence

THE EXPERTS WEIGH IN: Environmentalists, Engineers, and Lawyers on the Future of the Potter Valley Project

by Monica Huettl

On June 21 the Russian River Water Forum held a Technical Briefing on Water Supply and Fisheries in both the Eel and Russian Rivers. Experts covered the declining fish populations in affected waterways, the nuances of the Russian River watershed, and indigenous water rights in the area.…

mendofever.com/2023/06/30/the-experts-weigh-in-environmentalists-engineers-and-lawyers-on-the-future-of-the-potter-valley-project/

ANOTHER HOSPITAL NEEDED

To the Ukiah City Council:

I read in the paper that the City Council was meeting to discuss the General Plan for Ukiah.

I wonder if you might add to the agenda bringing another hospital to our area. I’m thinking maybe Kaiser. It would give people a choice, and bring in more doctors and staff. The doctors would need housing, which would help the economy.

Kaiser has its own insurance which would benefit the college employees, the teachers, as well as businesses.

I’m sure there is open land available that would have access from the freeway.

Something to think about.

Thank you,

Donna VanWyhe

Ukiah

ED NOTES

THE GREAT DEBATE. The Fort Bragg Name Changers continue to malign Lindy Peters, the logical guy to moderate the argument between Professor Swerling and I, but the Name Changers claim, with their apparent powers of clairvoyance, that Lindy wouldn't be fair, and that base that claim on Zwerling's claim that Lindy wasn't fair with him. 

WHO SAYS ZWERLING doesn't have a sense of humor? Among other alternatives, he suggests state senator Mike McGuire as moderator! And Kendall Smith!

I BELIEVE LINDY'S version of events, and by golly here's Lindy himself to explain Zwerling's hostility: 

“Let me attempt to set the record straight. Several months back, a man named Phil Zwerling wanted to meet with me at City Hall and try to convince me to get on board with changing the name of Fort Bragg. I took up his offer and cordially met with him in the conference room. He was adamant the name had to be changed. And right now.! I explained it was complicated and possibly expensive and that there were more pressing issues currently facing the City Council than to spend time and energy on this divisive issue.. we even had a few laughs. I liked him. I also informed Mr. Z I was personally opposed to the idea of the name change but the voters should decide not me or the Council. But as an olive branch, I offered him an opportunity to voice his opinion on my TV show “ What’s Goin’ On”. He jumped at the chance but then wanted “ someone from the other side” to be there too and debate with him. I explained to him that my interview show is one-on-one but that I, Lindy Peters, the moderator, would take the opposing position because that is what good journalists do. He agreed. But when I began to challenge his extremely opinionated claims on camera his only defense was to constantly interrupt me when I retorted his arguments. Every time. And he began raising his voice. I could not control him. Finally I said “You keep interrupting me every time I try and repsond. Tell you what. Go ahead and speak your piece. I’ll just sit here and listen but then once you are finished? I get to respond without YOU interrupting ME. Deal?” He said okay and I let him speak. Then I said, “ Are you done? Is it my turn? Can I respond without interruption? “. He nodded. I didn’t get :30 into my retort and he loudly and rudely interrupted me mid-sentence. So I ended the interview, told him I never had to do that before and scolded him by saying his East Coast pushiness doesn’t play well in laid-back Mendocino County. I guess in his mind that is anti-semitic? Who knows. I was going to try and make this debate idea you had Bruce into a fun event and raise some money for the Humane Society. There were going to be both sides of the debate represented this time so no need to play devil's advocate as moderator. These two never even gave us the chance to explain the format or give assurances of neutrality. So now I’m the villain? I guess if they get their way and change the name it won’t be Marco McClean’s AVA suggestion of LindyPetersville.”

REMEMBER BILL AND DONNA FAIT? Nice people. She worked at the Redwood Drive-In, he was a school bus driver for the Anderson Valley schools. A devoted Christian, Bill wasn’t offended by his community nickname, “Bible Bill.” He is also remembered for a peculiar episode one afternoon near Navarro when Bill, with a busload of little scholars, suddenly pulled over to place an emergency call back to the bus barns. The Devil had suddenly appeared and was now riding shotgun on Bill’s bus! Worse, Beezlebub seemed poised to assault Bill and take off with a busload of innocents! A substitute driver was hurriedly dispatched, but by the time the new driver appeared, Bill’s righteousness had beaten back this sneak attack by the sulpherous fiend, and all was well.

BILL AND DONNA left Boonville to become Church of Christ missionaries to the Ukraine. The Faits visited Boonville from Ukraine while Bill recovered from a surgery to remove what he described as “a tumor the size of a grapefruit,” which was flourishing in the orchard of Bill’s lower intestinal tract until it was discovered by a trio of Russian doctors that Bill describes as “super-competent.” The extraction was performed at a state hospital near Marivpol, a port and steel mill city of 400,000 on the Azob Sea where Bill and Donna represented their church. “Marivpol is called the ‘Miami of the Ukraine’,” Bill told me before adding that he’d heard the Azob had frozen over this winter so their Miami isn’t likely to be confused with ours any time soon. Bill was a veteran of 11 years driving an Anderson Valley school bus before he retired and headed out to the new Russian frontier, which they’d left years before today’s catastrophic fighting had commenced. I hope they’re well and prospering and unmolested by you know who, who never sleeps and is omni-present.

WHILE we’re wondering whatever happened to….. Whatever happened to Catfish Jack (Chauvin), Boonville’s harmonica player extraordinaire. Ebullient dude never without a smile. Jack became Catfish Jack in the days he and his family operated a fish market in Oakland patronized by some well-known blues musicians who would come into the store and ask, “How’s the catfish, Jack?” Which, in these days of surname reconfiguration, was soon amended to, “How’s it going, Catfish Jack.” Which stuck. (www.catfishjackmusic.com)

JULIA BUTTERFLY and her followers believed they could talk to trees and the trees talked back. I’d never tried to communicate with the poplars at my place before I got my old friend Ricky Owens to lop a few troublesome branches from some of my poplars. But no sooner had Ricky completed his surgery I noticed, in a post-op look at one of the trimmed trees, what appeared to be raw eggs splattered on its trunk. I stared at the stuff oozing from the base of the poplar, thinking at first that it might have been left by an upchucking drunk stumbling outside for air after an editorial conference. It seemed to come from within the tree itself — tree blood unlike any tree sap I’ve ever seen, and which had apparently resulted from tree trauma sustained during Ricky’s tree trimming. Looking upwards with all the piety I could muster, I apologized to the tree and promised never to molest her/him again.

WHAT with the announcement of a vitamin-fortified mineral water for canines, which will go for $2.95 per two-liter bottle, dog people have taken their anthropomorphic indulgences all the way into deep decadence. A 19-year-old kid hangs himself in the Mendocino County Jail. Silence from the public. But harm a dog and here they come, in force, the anthromorphs. Dogs are generally considered to be well down the evolutionary ladder, not that they should ever be mistreated just because of their unevolved state of being. But lots of creatures are unevolved. Look at Republicans, for instance. But the point is that lots of people in this country are a lot crazier than their pets when it comes to assigning proportionate value, not to mention proportionate resources.

SPEAKING of the animal kingdom, we have a cat problem at ava headquarters. Cats just keep showing up, and we’ve made the mistake of feeding a couple, who have since morphed into…. I don’t know, at least ten. So today I asked the lady at Farm Supply how to at least neuter some of them before we try to foist them off on friends. $200 to neuter a female, less for a male but not much less. Help!

MEMO OF THE DAY

Would you like to moderate a debate?

To: Jason Godeke <godekejason@gmail.com>

Hi Jason,

Bruce Anderson, editor of the Anderson Valley Advertiser, would like to debate me about the Fort Bragg name change issue in a public forum at Town Hall this summer. He called for such a debate on the front page of The Advertiser last Monday.

Bruce had suggested Lindy Peters to moderate the debate but given Lindy’s oft stated opposition to the name change I could not accept him as moderator.

However, both Bruce and I would be happy to have you as debate moderator. To my knowledge you haven’t taken a public stand on the issue but remain interested in the subject and in various recommendations from the Name Change Commission.

Bruce and I seem to agree on this format:

1) we agree to be civil to each other (e.g. no name calling, etc.)

2) usually the proponent of a measure goes first so Phil would get 10 minutes to argue for the name change, Bruce would get ten minutes to argue agains the name change, Phil would get a 5 minute rebuttal and Bruce would get a five minute rebuttal, then we would take questions for 30 minutes at which time we each get 3 minutes to answer a question and each of us can also respond to any question directed to the other debater, then we reverse and Bruce gets 5 minutes to sum up and then Phil gets five minutes to sum up.

So, why would you undertake such a thankless task?, you might ask.

Well, for one thing we will use it as a fundraiser for the local Humane Society, charging a few dollars at the door and donating all the money raised to the Humane Society.

For another thing, it could be beneficial to the city to air these issues and raise the level of discourse.

What do you think?

Best,

HERE’S SETH

Mendocino Art Center has announced the hiring a new Interim Executive Director, Seth Charles. Charles joined MAC in 2022 as the Ceramics & Artist in Residence (AIRs) Coordinator and was named in June of 2023 by the Board to lead MAC forward with its Strategic & Business Planning for 2024-2025 while keeping current programs on track.

Charles holds a BFA degree from the University of North Florida and an MFA degree from Central Washington University. He has been a professor of visual art at State College of Florida and Central Washington University and has lectured and led workshops around the country.

His work has been shown in numerous national and international exhibitions and is held in public and private collections. His creative work, teaching, and administrative experience have already attracted new students to several classes.

Charles is a resident of Mendocino and welcomes community members to come to see him at the MAC. For more information, visit his website: sethcharles.com.

He succeeds Martin Betz, Interim Executive Director from 2022-2023, who has returned to his home in Southern California to become Executive Director of the Claremont Lewis Museum of Art in Claremont, California.

Betz’s leadership at the Mendocino Art Center helped craft a new direction in the post-COVID world. He worked with the staff through a necessary down-sizing. Betz also created a team of dedicated people, including Seth Charles, who is now keeping the MAC’s ongoing programming alive and helping to ensure its future.

Responding to more than a year of community listening and planning, MAC now navigates its post-pandemic changes, and its Board is grateful for the leadership of Martin Betz and now of Seth Charles.

The Interim ED role provides MAC onsite leadership until the Board can conduct a full search for a permanent ED. The Board is grateful to the community and to the Community Advisory Council for their continued support of MAC’s planning and transition.

In response to his new position, Seth Charles said, “I am honored to have the opportunity to help lead the Mendocino Art Center, which has long served as the cornerstone of our local arts community on the North Coast and beyond.”

He continued, “It empowers me to bring my nonprofit leadership experience to this role as we work towards our goals of continued growth and sustainability while continuing to expand as an inclusive community gathering space. MAC truly is the place where art happens.”

SAVE THE COAST LISTSERVE

Editor,

Mendocino is very vulnerable in that the listserv is the only way to get timely local news. For instance, recently, we learned of a possibly rabid dog that had bitten someone unprovoked. We got the description of the dog, including its bright-orange collar, and that may have kept someone else from being bitten (doubly important because the dog was seen just across the street from the community center and its programs for children).

This past winter, people checked the listserv to find out from others what the conditions were on 128/20/1, right up to the minute — trees down, snow/icy roads, and all. (This information helped me to decide to stay in Cloverdale overnight at one point; a friend of mine hadn’t checked and wound up in a ditch alongside 128 with two kids in the car.)

Radio stations don’t perform these functions well and aren’t reliable sources; it may take half an hour or an hour of listening to get one tidbit of information — that’s if it ever arrives — and it’s limited to people who are able to listen to the radio for updates, on its schedule. The Beacon and Advocate have deadlines (Friday afternoon) almost a week ahead of publication (Thursdays), so that’s no help in urgent situations at all. The listserv is readily available on all devices that can deliver email (as opposed to some websites), and it’s there whenever you look at it.

Where are we supposed to get this information otherwise? There is no place. Commercial entities, like Facebook and NextDoor, collect our data and sell it, aren’t local enough, and aren’t accepted by a fair number of people in this pretty sophisticated population. Craigslist doesn’t have a local readership, and scammers prowl it.

The listserv is critical to local nonprofits and commerce — people announce jobs offered (from two-hour jobs to full-time), businesses advertise sales, people their yard/estate sales, places for rent, art exhibits and theatrical performances, fundraising events to support all the nonprofits (volunteer fire, the arts center, the Community Center) that pretty much run this place.

The listserv is a place to form a sense of community, say when announcing a death or asking for help for someone in need. People find caregivers, wheelchairs to borrow, petsitting jobs, gardeners — new friends!

I really don’t like the argument that we’re all paying taxes for the school system (and voting on bonds), so therefore the school district owes the community this — too transactional, and each voter makes his/her/their own decisions about what they want to support. But a closely related argument, with a different spin, can easily be made, which is that the elders (and let’s face the demographics head-on, this is a community full of elders) are looking out for and taking care of the next generations by supporting the schools, and it would be nice if that feeling of caretaking and watching out were reciprocated in the form of the listserv. More and more elders here are isolated due to sight and mobility problems, or maybe because they’re full-time caregivers for a spouse, and the listserv is a way for them to continue to take part in the community. It’s the connective tissue for everyone, the way the schools form a community primarily for parents and children. The comments made at the recent school board hearing indicated even more clearly the need for this connective tissue — the school board members didn’t seem to understand just how critical this resource is; my guess is they haven’t been keeping up with it!

When we first bought our house and wanted to become part of the community, the listserv was critical.

I don’t think this whole community should be torn up because a few men can’t stop calling each other names and misbehaving. Some of the loudest complainers are the very people causing the problem! And anyone can block the abusers, so no one has to be exposed to them.

MUSD Board: Please keep the listserv going; it’s essential to Mendocino.

Jean Arnold

Mendocino

BURIED MONEY

Editor,

This guy I know went up north to do a little work on someone's land. There had been three partners but one shot another in a fight over weed and money. So one was dead, the second in prison and the third mentioned he was thinking of selling the acreage. The guy told the owner he'd like to be considered and soon bought the piece of land and moved on to it.

One night he was in the house, heard some motorcycles drive by, jumped on his bike, and followed them out to the back forty. 

“What are you doing?” he said. “This is private property, get off my land!”

The woman in the group said, “Hold on, we're looking for some buried money, $450,000. We got a map from “Chester” in prison.”

“Well, it's my land now,” the guy said. “You have to leave.”

“We'll make you a deal,” the spokeswoman said. “When we find it we'll give you half.”

He thought about it briefly and agreed. They dug for hours, couldn't find anything, and left. The next day he went all over that section of his land with a backhoe and found nothing.

A few weeks later the bikes roared past his house again and he followed them to the digging grounds. “What the fuck!” he said.

“We have a better map,” she said.

“No, I want you off my land,” the guy said.

“Same deal, you get half,” she said.

“Oh, okay,” the guy said and they started digging.

They still couldn't find the money and when they were done he said, “That's it! Don't come back.”

They left and didn't come back, but the guy is mindful that the murderer gets out of prison in 2025.

Name Withheld

Redway

CALIFORNIA CITY NAMED FOR A CONFEDERATE GENERAL Will Not Put Name Change On November Ballot

by Hailey Branson Potts (June 2020)

The City Council of Fort Bragg, a small Northern California city named after Braxton Bragg, a Confederate army general and slave owner, decided that it will not place a town name change on the November ballot.

The decision came Monday night in the coastal Mendocino County town of 7,400 after more than three hours of public comment at the first in-person City Council meeting amid the coronavirus outbreak. Instead of a ballot measure, Fort Bragg Mayor Will Lee will appoint an ad hoc committee with two City Council members and residents to discuss options for the city’s name.

“We cannot ignore the hundreds of comments that were given to us in two weeks’ time, and especially so much [from] the young people that have come to us ... They’re teaching us old folks a lot, and it’s impressive,” Lee said.

The Fort Bragg City Council earlier this month agreed to consider several options, including choosing another famous Bragg to honor. The debate comes amid a national reckoning with racism after the death of George Floyd, a Black man, in police custody in Minneapolis, and a national movement to tear down Confederate statues and namesakes associated with white supremacy, slavery and colonialism.

Fort Bragg was founded in 1857 by Lt. Horatio G. Gibson, who established a military post to control the Native American population in Mendocino County. Gibson named it after Bragg, his former commanding officer in the Mexican-American War. As the story goes, Bragg never set foot in the town.

Bragg led the Confederate Army of Tennessee. A recent biography of the general, who resigned his post under pressure halfway through the war after decisive losses and is regarded as an unsuccessful military leader, is subtitled “The Most Hated Man of the Confederacy.”

The town’s name has been challenged before. In 2015, after white supremacist Dylann Roof shot and killed nine Black worshipers at the Emanuel AME church in Charleston, S.C., the California Legislative Black Caucus asked city leaders to consider a name change. They declined.

On Monday, scores of people weighed in at the City Council, standing behind plexiglass and wearing masks to protect against the coronavirus, and calling in via Zoom. The agenda included more than 350 pages of comments.

Some, whose families have lived in the city for decades, said the name, to them, represented home, not a long-dead Confederate general, and that they did not want to see it changed. Others suggested changing it to honor the Native American people who lived in the area long before the fort and city were established.

City officials estimated it would cost more than $271,000 to change the name. Fort Bragg’s economy relies upon tourism, which has taken a severe hit because of the pandemic. The city already has cut staff.

On Monday, City Councilmember Tess Albin-Smith said she was pained by the division amid the discussion over the name change and whether it would “free residents from the albatross and embarrassment of being named after a Confederate general who owned slaves.”

“This is where we do agree: I’m happy to say not one of the comments expressed approval of racism in any way, shape or form,” she said. “Not one had the desire to celebrate the town’s namesake ... Nobody expressed the desire to celebrate the existence of an army dispatched to this area for the purpose of subduing Native Americans.”

“No one had any conviction that changing the name of our town would solve racial equality either locally or globally. It would simply disassociate us with a racist,” she added.

She said she supported rededicating the city to another famous Bragg, having no celebrations or monuments to Braxton Bragg, and the creation of a multiethnic task force.

“My fear is that not supporting a name change will label us racist. But I hope we can rise above that, and I would not want to be divided and judged for my comments tonight,” she said. “We should engage in careful dialogue to decide the best action. Let us not be shanghaied into a rash move for being labeled.”

Sierra Wooten, a Fort Bragg resident and spokesperson for MendoCoast BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color), said she preferred to see a task force of diverse voices over a ballot measure on the name change. The city’s name, she said, ideally could be used to teach people about the ugly history behind it. She envisions an educational center and murals, among other things.

“The racism and hate is still here. Changing the name isn’t going to change everything,” Wooten, who is Black and Mexican American, told The Times. Javier Silva, a member of the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians, asked the council to listen to tribal members who “never ceded this land.”

“I don’t agree with the name,” he said. “I don’t like the name myself, but I just want it to be a reminder that this was a place of oppression, not because of Bragg, not because of that, but because of the Native Americans that were here, the first peoples here. .... We have never been given a voice, and when we have gotten a voice, it’s never gone anywhere.”

Hailey Branson-Potts is a Metro reporter for the Los Angeles Times who joined the newspaper in 2011. She grew up in the small town of Perry, Okla., and graduated from the University of Oklahoma.

(LA Times, June 2020)

CATCH OF THE DAY, Thursday, June 29, 2023

JOHNNY AZBILL, Covelo. Loaded handgun-not registered owner, ammo possession by prohibited person, felon-addict with firearm, probation revocation.

HUNTER CASEY, Fort Bragg. Metal knuckles, paraphernalia, county parole violation, resisting.

CHEYENNE CHRISMAN, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol. 

EDUARDO FELIX-TREJO, Redwood Valley. Narcotics for sale.

TAWANA HENRY, Ukiah. Disobeying court order.

PAL MAY, El Cerrito/Laytonville. DUI.

GERALD MILLER, Ukiah. Domestic abuse.

LILLIAN SAYAD, Willits. Vandalism. 

RICHARD STRAZI, Fort Bragg. Under influence.

JALAHN TRAVIS, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, probation revocation.

HERBERT UCACOSTA, Fort Bragg. Probation revocation.

MONIQUE VALADOR, Fort Bragg. Parole violation, paraphernalia.

BRIAN WILLIAMS, Ukiah. Parole violation, resisting.

SKATE PARKS ARE FINE!

Editor,

My son Milo and I went jade hunting in Covelo last weekend. We did really well because Milo has a really good eye! On the way back to Highway 101 we took a right at Dos Rios and took the back way up to Laytonville. I got two Anatolian shepherds from a lady named Jesmina who lives out that way and one of her neighbors also has one. So we went to see if any of our dogs' siblings were around. We headed to the Laytonville skateboard park to skate and visit Rolo and his wife.

When we got to the skateboard park we realize Milo's skateboard was in his mother's car. Oops. Luck would find Rolo there at the park with an extra skateboard ready for Milo. The park looks good and they have done more improvements and even made some nifty drink coasters in the shape of the skate park.

Just as we got there about eight teenagers from all out around Laytonville showed up and Milo got to skate with some other kids. Rolo told me that he wishes more people knew about this cool little skate park. So everybody: There is a skateboard park in Laytonville! It is just west of Chief Drive In! Come skate!

Jonah Raskin is coming up from San Francisco soon to visit and hang out in his old community. He is super busy which is great and really good for him. Jonah invited my wife and myself to a dinner at one of his friend's from Sonoma State University. We had a very nice dinner with a bunch of really smart university professors. Cool beans! I especially like the physicist — she is super interesting.

I'm just checking in. Derek is fine, Keith is fine. Jonah is fine. Shungi (my father in law) is 94 now and has a new knee and lives in Osaka and he is fine too. 

Okay, quit fooling around and finish this letter.

Best to all,

Oaky Joe Munson

Monte Rio

PS. Piss on the county government and don't forget winos suck water, lots and lots of water and other things too.

OK, FINE

Editor,

There is a way to ask the court to lower the fine, set up a payment plan, give you more time to pay, or do community service instead. This is sometimes called an "ability to pay determination."

In some courts, you can now use an online program, MyCitations, to make your request. In Assembly District 2, Mendocino, Humboldt, and Trinity Counties currently use this option. All courts will use MyCitations by June 30, 2024. With MyCitations, you can submit your request online and upload any proof the court needs of your financial situation.

The MyCitations tool allows people to look up their citation, answer simple questions, and submit a request to the court. An important alternative to appearing in person, this new option saves the public and the courts significant time and resources. The tool is currently available in English and Spanish (additional languages available soon).

I hope you find this information useful. Please share it with anyone who is struggling to pay their traffic fines.

Best,

Jim Wood,
Assemblymember, 2nd District

Healdsburg

HISTORY LESSON

Editor: 

The history of Western civilization depicts a struggle between opinions and objective thought. The Dark Ages illustrated how dogma’s authoritarian nature made the masses vulnerable to physical and intellectual oppression. Democracy, unlike convention, requires dispassionate deliberation and selflessness based on appropriate behavior. Both approaches to governance reap results, but authoritarians try to control their followers’ thoughts and behavior. Democracies allow their followers to listen and decide whether to comply, whether they like the idea or not (seat belts).

If someone tabulated an opinion’s degree of correctness, they probably would never surpass the results of a coin flip. And yet that doesn’t stop politicians from utilizing them for personal gain. After all, pandering to compulsive knee-jerk voters is politically beneficial. Sadly, that tactic only benefits the morally corrupt who like to stoke fires of discontent.

Once an ideology is adopted, ideologists strive to destroy rational behavior to protect and promote their source of power. Wars and crusades have been waged to prove which belief was better; lives upon lives sacrificed to validate an unprovable idea. Reasonable debates cause disputes but not necessarily wars. Diplomacy is usually the first tactic; wars are the last. Ideologues utilize fear, accusations and lies to promote hatred; reasonable people would never stoop that low.

Tom Fantulin

Fort Bragg

ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Somebody spotted a Confederate Flag attached to a paving truck on I-91 [Connecticut] & called it in. Needless to say the State Police was notified and and the Capital Region Hate Crime Task Force was mobilized. Other agencies as well sprang into action. An investigation was conducted. Turns out the crew, 2/3 of whom appear to be black, found the flag discarded on the side of the road and stuck it on one of their trucks … just for laughs apparently. The State Police did not find it funny and the flag was ordered removed. No arrests were made, but we are assured the investigation continues.

REPUBLICANS push war with China while sometimes acting as skeptics on Russia warmongering, Democrats push war with Russia while sometimes acting as skeptics on China warmongering. This creates the illusion of opposition while giving the war machine everything it wants.

Which happens to be the job of the two-party system: creating the illusion of having a democratic choice between two opposing parties while ensuring that both parties advance the same overall agendas.

— Caitlin Johnstone

A PATH TO LIBERATION THAT'S STILL EVOLVING 

by David Bacon

On the Sakuma Brothers farm, over two hundred angry Mixtec and Triqui farmworkers stopped work in 2013, over the firing of a coworker. They needed a spokesperson to present their demands, and Ramon Torres was an unlikely choice. He wasn't indigenous. He was originally a city boy, raised in Guadalajara and the son of a construction worker. And he didn't speak the workers' indigenous languages. But he did speak Spanish, he was a blueberry picker like they were and lived in the labor camp with everyone else. Most important, he'd shown a willingness to stand up to the supervisors.

It was a fortuitous choice.  Torres proved to be capable and dedicated.  The workers repeatedly voted him president of their strike committee, and later their union, Familias Unidas por la Justicia, over the next four years.  Finally, in 2017, they convinced Sakuma Brothers Farms to sign a pioneering collective bargaining agreement.  Torres helped bargain the contract, and is still president of their union. 

Two years into the bitter struggle Torres was fired.  He tried to eke out a living on other farmworker jobs in the area, at the same time spending countless hours strategizing with the Sakuma workers.  Then he made another unlikely choice.  He became the lead organizer of the first farmworker-based farming co-operative in the Pacific Northwest.…

https://davidbaconrealitycheck.blogspot.com/2023/06/a-path-to-liberation-thats-still.html

THE OLDER I GET, the more I find that you can only live with those who free you, who love you with an affection that is as light to bear as it is strong to feel. Today's life is too hard, too bitter, too anemic, for us to undergo new bondages, from whom we love. This is how I am your friend, I love your happiness, your freedom, Your adventure in one word, and I would like to be for you the companion we are sure of, always. 

— Albert Camus

IF YOU'RE NOT WITH US, YOU'RE MAGA

All but a few are deplorable now.

by Matt Taibbi

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. had a town hall Wednesday night. In it, he was asked about Donald Trump, and said he was “proud that President Trump likes me.” Guess what all of the headlines are about this morning.

It’s been going on for so long that it’s hard not to laugh at this point, but the campaign press’s latest effort at expanding the definition of a “Deplorable” is coming hard and fast via coverage of the RFK, Jr. campaign. “If you’re not with us, you’re MAGA” has been a central propaganda concept for years, and they’re really hammering it with this candidate.

Nowhere was this more plain than in a recent Atlantic slam job on RFK Jr., titled “The First MAGA Democrat.” Written by John Hendrickson, my former online editor at Rolling Stone, it’s a litany of all things objectionable, offensive or troubling ever said or done by RFK, Jr., minus any explanation of why large numbers of people who know all of this might be pissed enough to vote for him anyway. This felt like the money paragraph: 

His most ominous message is also his simplest: He feels his country is being taken away from him. It’s a familiar theme, similar to former President Donald Trump’s. But whereas Trump relies heavily on white identity politics, Kennedy is spinning up a more diverse web of supporters: anti-vaxxers, anti-government individuals, Silicon Valley magnates, “freethinking” celebrities, libertarians, Trump-weary Republicans, and Democrats who believe Biden is too old and feeble for a second term.

That’s a long list. I tripped up on “anti-government individual.” Who is that? I’ve met 2nd Amendment activists planning for final showdowns in their driveway, and Julian Assange supporters who dislike governments for other reasons, but I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered “anti-government individual” as a generic category. John went on to explain the pathology of the Kennedy supporter…

racket.news/p/if-youre-not-with-us-youre-maga

UKRAINE, THURSDAY, 29 JUNE

Wagner mercenaries will no longer fight in Ukraine after chief refuses to sign contracts with Kremlin

Wagner fighters will no longer fight in Ukraine after the mercenary group’s chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, refused to sign any contracts with the Kremlin, according to the head of the Duma defence committee, Andrei Kartapolov.

Kartapolov said that a few days before the attempted rebellion, Russia’s ministry of defence announced that “all [groups] that perform combat missions must sign a contract” with the ministry, Tass news agency reported.

According to Kartapolov, Prigozhin did not sign the contracts and was informed that “Wagner would not take part in a special military operation.”

“That is, funding, material resources will not be allocated,” the deputy added.

— The Guardian

THE SECRET of a good old age is simply an honorable pact with solitude.

— Gabriel García Márquez, ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’