Mendocino County Today: Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024

By AVA News Service on January 21, 2024

RAIN AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS will increase this afternoon and evening as another frontal system quickly moves toward the coast. Heavy rain and already saturated soil will increase the potential for more flooding tonight into Monday morning. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): On the coast this Sunday morning I have 1.77" of new rainfall bringing my total for the month to 6.81". Rainy but not so windy ( yet ) & 53F at 5am. The next round of weather arrives this morning & going into Monday. A flood watch is in effect tonight. We might get a break on Tuesday before more rain on Wednesday. Next weekend is looking mostly dry right now.

RAINFALL (past 24 hours): Leggett 2.36" - Laytonville 1.64" - Yorkville 0.96" - Covelo 0.74" - Willits 0.71" - Boonville 0.61" - Hopland 0.43" - Ukiah 0.20"

Northwestern Pacific RR over Outlet Creek (Jeff Goll)

UPDATE: RAIN AND NAVARRO FLOOD

As I write at 5:30 PM Saturday 1/20/24 my rain gauge shows 2.25" since midnight. The NWS Navarro gauge forecast has been revised several times, now showing crests reaching lower levels than when I posted two days ago. Now the river is forecast to crest at 11.5 ft. Sunday at 9 AM, which is down 4.2 ft. from the earlier forecast, and also peaking about 12 hours later. A second crest is forecast to reach 14.6 ft. Monday at noon which is down from the 22.8 ft. originally forecast.

Although the crests are well below the 23 ft. official flood stage, I can't say for sure that 128 will remain open because CalTrans will sometimes close the road during the night as a safety precaution, as it did on 1/14/24 in the early morning.

The Navarro mouth is flowing freely into the sea. There is no chance of sandbar-caused flooding just upstream from the Hwy. 1 bridge. It's high flow high water flooding further inland, like between Flynn Cr. Rd and Paul Dimmick Campground that is the potential problem. Also there is a higher likelihood of downed trees, slides and slipouts due to the saturated soils.

So my best advice is don't travel if you don't have to. If you must travel, please check the Caltrans Division of Traffic Operations website at https://roads.dot.ca.gov/?roadnumber=128&submit=Search

Or phone 1-800-GAS-ROAD and key in the road number for information about road closures and delays.

Stay safe.

Nick Wilson

NORBURY’S NEGATIVE RESULTS

On Thursday, January 18, 2024, at approximately 9pm, a Ukiah Police Department Officer was on uniform patrol in a marked UPD patrol vehicle, traveling northbound in the 1000 block of North State Street. The Officer heard a loud engine and screeching tires west of his location near Elm Street. As the Officer traveled northbound he looked to the west and observed a maroon, Chevrolet Tahoe traveling northbound through the intersection of Garrett Drive and Elm Street at an extremely high rate of speed.

The Officer continued northbound on N. State Street, and turned westbound onto Bricarelli Drive. The Officer again observed the Chevrolet Tahoe traveling at a high rate of speed northbound on Elm Street. As the Officer turned northbound onto Elm Street he observed the Chevrolet Tahoe run the stop sign (violation of 22450(a) VC) at the intersection of Elm Street and Empire Drive, turning eastbound towards N. State Street. Due to the high rate of speed the suspect was traveling, the Officer lost sight of the vehicle as he approached the intersection of Empire Drive and N. State Street. Shortly after losing sight of the Chevrolet Tahoe, the Officer observed headlights traveling northbound through the parking lot of Honey Fluff Donuts (1296 N. State Street). The Chevrolet Tahoe exited the parking lot onto Empire Drive and narrowly avoided colliding into the Officer’s patrol vehicle.

The Officer activated his overhead emergency lights and sirens in an attempt to conduct a traffic enforcement stop on the Chevrolet Tahoe, for reckless driving and the stop sign violation. The driver, later identified as Aaron Norbury, 38, of Redwood Valley, failed to yield to the Officer’s lights and sirens and traveled back westbound onto Empire Drive, then turned southbound onto Elm Street.

Norbury turned eastbound onto Bricarelli Drive then turned northbound onto N. State Street. The Officer repeatedly activated his sirens in an attempt to gain compliance from Norbury with negative results.

Norbury turned into the parking lot of the Raley’s Supermarket (1315 N. State Street) just north of the Speedway Gas Station (1301 N. State Street), then exited the parking lot on the north side of In-N-Out Burger (1351 N. State Street). Norbury accelerated rapidly northbound on N. State Street swerving all over the roadway displaying driving patterns of a subject operating a vehicle under the influence.

The UPD Officer requested the assistance from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) and California Highway Patrol (CHP) as he pursued Norbury. Norbury accelerated in an attempt to elude the Officer. As Norbury continued northbound, he passed Hensley Creek Road and the roadway took a slight right sweeping turn near Thurston Auto Plaza (2800 N. State Street). As the UPD officer approached Thurston Auto Plaza, he noticed the Chevrolet Tahoe and a white, Audi sedan had collided, causing the Chevrolet Tahoe to roll over the top of the Audi sedan, where both vehicles came to rest on the west sidewalk of N. State Street. Both vehicles had extensive damage.

The two Ukiah females were located inside of the Audi sedan with moderate to severe injuries. Ukiah Valley Fire Authority (UVFA) was requested to respond, as well as an air ambulance. The driver of the Audi sedan was transported to Adventist Health Ukiah Valley Emergency Room for treatment for her injuries. The passenger of the Audi sedan was airlifted to an out of County hospital after she had to be extricated from the vehicle. CHP assisted UPD and conducted the traffic collision portion of the investigation.

Norbury sustained minor injuries, consisting of small lacerations on his face, and he appeared to be heavily intoxicated. Norbury displayed objective symptoms of alcohol intoxication, to include red watery eyes, slurred speech, and a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting from his person. A search warrant was obtained for a blood toxicology on Norbury, which was executed at Adventist Health Ukiah Valley Emergency Room. After being medically cleared for incarceration, Norbury was transported to the Mendocino County Jail to be booked for the above listed charges. Due to Norbury’s prior criminal history and the severity of the crimes he committed during the pursuit, the UPD Detective Bureau will be seeking a bail enhancement for the suspect and is actively investigating this incident.

The Ukiah Police Department would like to thank the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, the California Highway Patrol, the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority, and Adventist Health Ukiah Valley personnel for their assistance.

UKIAH SHELTER PET OF THE WEEK

Meet Trudy, the Grande Dame of the Ukiah Shelter.

Trudy may be a senior, but she still enjoys getting outside and going for walks--in between napping! She appears friendly with other dogs but would prefer a mellow canine friend in her new home over a youngster with too much energy! Trudy is quiet and more than likely housetrained. Trudy is 10 years old and weighs 90 pounds. The Shelter is no place for a senior dog; please help us get the word out about Trudy so we can find her a warm, loving home ASAP.

For more about Trudy all our adoptable dogs and cats, head to mendoanimalshelter.com For information about adoptions, call 707-467-6453. Check out our Facebook Page and please share our posts!

AV UNIFIED NEWS

Dear Anderson Valley Community,

Lots going on! Don’t forget to sign up for the Saturday School on February 10. Ms. Triplett has lots of fun up her sleeve with the camp going to be held at the high school gym. This is a great opportunity for students from the elementary to pretend for the day what a day in the life at the Junior/Senior high could be like. Please include your student, if you think they would like to come. Please sign up in the elementary office.

At the elementary school, you will be seeing Miguel Rodriguez, our district painter, starting to work in the hallways. He will be painting the color scheme of the interior in sections over the coming winter months. We are excited for this transformation.

Are your elementary students talking about math? If so, let us know what they are saying about the new materials and any feedback. We appreciate the teachers‘ dedication to implementing the roll out!

Just a quick check in about dress code. We have a glamorized viewpoint by some students of gang culture. I want to remind everyone that no bandannas, hair nets, dangling belts, sagging pants, or logos on clothing related to drugs, guns, or other inappropriate items is strongly enforced.We don’t have much of this going on, but a few kids are trying to infect a viewpoint. Please shut that down at home before they come to school.

I want to remind everyone at the Junior/Senior High that there is help available for academics every day after school from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the library. Please have your student take advantage of this. We don’t want kids to get behind and we do everything we can to support them. I am grateful to Miss Malfavon for this support. We are so happy to have Miss Burger and Mr. Bautista on site with us at the Junior Senior High School. The students are enjoying those classes.

Our seventh graders won the attendance race, and they will be walking uptown for a special treat in the next couple of weeks. We appreciate the 7th graders and their families for their outstanding commitment to coming to school every day. There are so many studies that show that success is tied to being at school. Students that miss 10 days or more at school on a regular yearly basis struggle and often are the ones who have challenges graduating high school.

Please mark your calendar on March 13 for the district-wide College and Career fair dinner. The event is at the high school. It starts with a dinner at five and then numerous sessions to learn about different college and career opportunities. Call your office to make a free dinner reservation for your family.

On a final note, I just want to thank Gabriela Frank, and musicians Shane Cook and Dustin Carlson for their partnership in bringing extended music education to our campuses. The students at both campuses that are participating are very much enjoying this effort. It will continue next year.

You may have read there was a large reduction in the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in the Governor’s education budget. We are going to have to make some cuts, but we will do our very best to keep them away from things that directly affect students. One of the challenges in school district finance is that funds are highly restricted as to what they can be used for. What that means is even though you get the money from the State, you can’t always use it where you need it. You have to use it on the programs it is designated for. This is exceptionally frustrating when we are trying to provide core services such as small class sizes and in-person instructors in a rural small school setting. We are awash in afterschool program money and would much rather spend it on additional teaching staff during the day, but that is not allowed with that funding.

We will keep working at it, because the regulations and audit requirements are formidable. Leigh Kreienhop, our business manager and I, had a very interesting call with the General Accounting Office, which is a federal agency that is creating a congressional report on school districts’ use of ESSER funds. We were only one of four districts in the State that were selected. I was very pleased that we were interviewed along with representatives from LA Unified. It is important that the rural school system voice has a seat at the table, so that our kids get all the resources they need.

I hope you have a happy and safe weekend.

Take care,

Louise Simson, Superintendent

AV Unified School District

JOHN TOOHEY:

Exciting News from the Junior High Basketball Front!

Hello, Panther Fans and Families!

We have some fantastic updates from our junior high basketball teams. First up, let’s hear it for our Boys A Team! They showed incredible skill and determination by avenging an earlier season loss and securing a victory against Willits!

This win clinched the consolation prize at the Eagle Peak tournament. Way to go, team!

But wait, there's more! Our Girls B Team made us proud by taking third place in our very own tournament in Anderson Valley. These young athletes displayed outstanding teamwork and sportsmanship, and their hard work paid off!

A huge thank you to all the players, coaches, and supportive parents who make these achievements possible. Your dedication and enthusiasm truly make a difference. Let's keep the spirit high and continue to support our young athletes.

Go Panthers!

AV EVENTS

AV Adult School January Open House and Registration Day
Sun 01 / 21 / 2024 at 12:30 PM
Where: Anderson Valley Adult School, 12300 Anderson Valley Way, Boonville,
CA 95415
More Information (https://andersonvalley.helpfulvillage.com/events/3789)

Explore Fiji with the Bonner's
Sun 01 / 21 / 2024 at 2:30 PM
Where: Anderson Valley Senior Center , 14470 Highway 128, Boonville, CA 95415
More Information (https://andersonvalley.helpfulvillage.com/events/3790)

AV Village Monthly Gathering: Soup Making with Lauren
Sun 01 / 21 / 2024 at 3:00 PM
Where: Anderson Valley Senior Center, 14470 Highway 128, Boonville,
More Information (https://andersonvalley.helpfulvillage.com/events/3745)

OPUS SOLOIST KACEY LINK HAS ARRIVED!

Opus Concert soloist just arrived in town in preparation for tomorrow's 3 PM Concert. Experience the captivating beauty of tango music like never before with Kacey Link, pianist and scholar who brings her extensive knowledge and passion to her every performance. With a program featuring classic and contemporary tango pieces, Link's virtuosic playing will take you on a journey to the heart of Buenos Aires, the birthplace of the tango. Her unique perspective and authentic interpretation of the music will leave you feeling inspired and moved.

Sunday January 21st, 3 PM at Preston Hall, Mendocino. Tickets online at symphonyoftheredwoods.org, in person at Out of this World in Mendocino, and Harvest Market in Fort Bragg.

Tea, coffee and cookies available when the doors open at 2:30 PM and at intermission.

More information at symphonyoftheredwoods.org

PLANNING IMPROVEMENTS

Editor,

Regarding the Planning and Building Permitting Process meeting.

I plan on attending this meeting. Some of the topics I would like to discuss are:

Failure to use an independent consultant to do a time study with regards to the recent fee increases. The new fees are exorbitant and not in accordance with state law which requires that Planning and Building cannot charge more that it costs the agency to provide the service. Having staff do the time study for permit applications and process was wrong. Staff knew that when they were proposing the fee increases that the increased revenue would help them get well deserved raises. This process was hardly objective and the result of which are fee increases from 50% to 400%. Exorbitant fees will result in less permit activity and will have the opposite effect and will result in less revenue because folks will not pay ridiculously high permit fees. A fair and objective time study conducted by an experienced consultant should have been done before presenting the fee increases to the BOS for approval.

If an applicant submits multiple Ag Exempt applications for the exact same building ( i.e. shipping containers, hoop houses, greenhouses) and the plans are exactly the same, why is PBS charging a plan review fee for each application when staff only conducts one plan review? In my experience as a building official, the industry standard for multiple applications for the same structure, is to create a “Master Plan” that is plan reviewed and the standard plan review fee is charged to one application, then a “Master Plan” administrative fee is charged for handling the paper for the remaining applications. State law requires that Planning and Building cannot charge more that it costs the agency to provide the service. PBS is not in compliance with state law under these circumstances.

Why does it take 6 months or more to review discretionary permits? A 10-page Administrative Permit review should take no longer than it did to prepare the application. (With the exception of the 30-day referral response for review for outside agencies)

The building permit reinstatement process used to be over the counter. Now a permit reinstatement request takes 2 – 3 days as the new policy implemented by the building official requires that the request is routed to a planner and a building inspector for review. Currently there is no way for the applicant or staff to track the reinstatement request when it is submitted and routed. PBS staff spent a bunch of money on a permit tracking software program called eTrakit. Why is this software not being used for permit reinstatement requests ?

PBS used to have a One Stop Permit process where applicants with simple permit applications such as garages, decks, carports, AG Exempt could make an appointment come in and EH, Planning and Building Staff were available to review the application, with the hopeful result in getting the permit issued the same day. The 2023 permit activity was substantially less than 2022, yet the staffing levels remained the same. Recommend offering this service again as there seems to be adequate staff availability.

In my experience, the permit fees assigned by staff are all over the map and very inconsistent. Recommend simplifying the fee schedule to reduce inconsistencies and to allow additional staff to fee out permits for issuance.

Changes to the Planning and Building Permit Process are possible if the deoartment head has the backing of the County Executive office and the Board of Supervisors coupled with clear direction, follow up and accountability for not following Board direction. If there is no accountability, then this Permit Peocessing meeting will be a waste of time

Scott Ward

Redwood Valley

PUTTING YOUR AFFAIRS IN ORDER 4-PART SEMINAR STARTS THURSDAY!

The Mendocino Center for Spiritual Living is sponsoring the next class of Putting Your Affairs in Order. The seminar begins on Thursday, January 25th at The Gathering Place at the Company Store (Fort Bragg) from 10am - 12pm. It has been over 3 years since Maggie Watson has done the class. Here is YOUR chance to gatherer the necessary information, record it and move the process along so that you can experience peace of mind, clarity and most importantly, a feeling of accomplishment and completion. If you could tell your loved ones that your estate was in fine shape; the legal documents were up-to-date and complete, the people involved (trustee or executor) know what they need to know and are empowered, and that you have noted where you wanted the "stuff" (ex.: Mom's special ring, a favorite army knife of dad's or a favorite painting) to go, would that make your day?

This seminar will be held on the following Thursday's from 10am to 12pm: February 1st, 8th, and 15th. A local attorney will explain the various options of estate planning and answer your questions. You will have opportunities in class to work in the book: A Graceful Farewell: Putting Your Affairs in Order. We will also complete an Advanced Healthcare Directive. Giving clear instructions prior to the time of need decreases the chance of you getting care you do not want and empowers your agent to do what you do want. Families have reported that a completed AHCD makes a huge difference emotionally also.

Maggie is a now CA licensed professional fiduciary and acts as power of attorney for finance and healthcare, executor, and trustee. She brings a wealth of experience that she will share in this class.

The fee for the 4-part Seminar is $125 per person. A partner can participate for with you for $195, this includes partner or friends. Prior registration is required to hold your space.

You will need to bring the book to each class. The book can be purchased at all Gallery Books in Mendocino, The Bookstore and Vinyl Cafe, Windsong stores and Racines in Fort Bragg. If you have questions about the class, please contact Maggie Watson at 397-1655 or e-mail maggie@mendocinofiduciary.com.

SEA RANCH FORUM

The Sea Ranch Forum Presents: ‘Candidates Forum for Assembly District 2 Primary Election’

When: Saturday, February 10th 3-5 pm

Where: Del Mar Center Hall, 40600 Leeward Road, The Sea Ranch

and over Zoom Meeting ID: 442 542 5533 and Passcode: 176035

What: This coming primary election will have an open seat for Assembly District 2 in the California legislature. There are seven candidates vying to represent our district, six Democrats and one Republican. The top two vote getters - regardless of political party - will be on the November ballot.

The Sea Ranch Forum is hosting a candidates forum so that coastal voters can get a chance to hear directly from the Assembly candidates and ask them questions in order to cast an informed ballot. All seven candidates have confirmed they will be participating in this event.

The Candidates are:

Cynthia Click, Michael Greer, Rusty Hicks, Ariel Kelley, Frankie Myers, Chris Rogers, and Ted Williams.

We ask people to send questions in advance to thesearanchforum@gmail.com.

It will be a hybrid event allowing candidates and the public to attend in person or remotely through Zoom. The Zoom link is: Meeting ID: 442 542 5533 and Passcode: 176035. The event is open to the general public and will be recorded for future viewing.

For more information visit: thesearanchforum.weebly.com

Linda C. McCabe, Chair

The Sea Ranch Forum

MIKE GENIELLA:

Legendary. Red Emmerson. Not as widely known as the late Harry Merlo of Louisiana-Pacific Corp. or Texas financier Charles Hurwitz who swooped in and took over venerable Pacific Lumber Co. But Emmerson is still standing, and so are a helluva lot of trees his Sierra Pacific Industries owns.

MORE THAN THREE CHEERS

Editor,

Three cheers for TWK’s snap-filled takeapart of Pickleball! Also Yearsley’s account of sneaking into a suburban Seattle Disaster Movie as a child of the early 70s! I had a similar experience, just sub Chicago and Towering Inferno (1974) in for Poseidon Adventure! (When OJ came on screen some people in the audience yelled “JUICE! JUICE!…”) OMG Angelo Pronsolino (1922- 2024): What a GORGEOUS Man! Greatest Generation indeed! Thanks for continuing to rankle the Grape People and their rapacious thirst! Guy Fieri is NOT Alice Waters! LOL ... Distressing that the AVA already congealing with the upcoming elections, wherever and everywhere!

Namaste, Dude!

David Svehla

San Francisco

ED NOTES

THAT GUN POLL ABC and the Washington Post claimed responsibility for said one in every four Americans had been threatened and/or shot at. That statistic translates as 83 million of us. Really? Only a tiny percentage of cops have ever been under fire and/or threatened with a firearm, and among the rest of us the shot at percentage is a lot smaller. No one has to pad the stats to defeat the hysterical, unsupported claim of the NRA that sensible gun control policies are the first step to an ultimate policy of gun confiscation. Locked trigger guards, a ban on military assault rifles, a much more rigid licensing process, and other badly needed controls are obviously called for in our frazzled society, and I speak as a guy who owns five guns, which have kinda, sort of, somehow accumulated over the years.

CHARLTON HESTON. Like he needed a gun where where he lived behind high security gates? I felt like opening fire on the old fool myself. Unlike a lot of these NRA fantasists, I don’t enjoy carnal relationships with my guns. I seldom even look at them, and I certainly don’t spend hours caressing them. Three of my gats I acquired serendipitously, two I deliberately purchased because I live 45 minutes from an on-duty cop. I need an effective deterrent until the law gets here.

WHY MY GUNS? The AVA, as every other remaining paper in the land — including the harmless ones — is often the object of hostile attention. We have received unwelcome visits from persons who might well have required extra incentive to leave. There have also been interludes when I felt it was only prudent to carry a self-defense unit with me when I visited certain unfriendly venues, or hiked alone deep into the hills.

BUT I DON'T HAVE any illusions about the efficacy of armed self-defense; if someone’s really out to do you harm, they’re going to get the drop on you. Which, not to be too tedious on the subject, makes the Bari-Cherney allegations that they were the objects of an attempted murder by federal cops and/or Big Timber so ridiculous. If organizations that large and powerful are out for you, they don’t use a mickey mouse pipe bomb to send you off to the Big Hootenanny in the Sky.

THE LIFE-THREATENING EXPERIENCES I’ve had over the years didn’t involve guns — Green Party meetings, for example — although in two episodes threats to use guns on me were issued. Promises, promises. When you really think about violence and its causes in our devolving country, it really doesn’t have much to do with the availability of weapons; if all we had were tweezers we’d still lead the world in random mayhem, although guns make the mayhem a lot easier.

OUR BASIC FACT of life in 2024 is a growing chaos, likely to grow much more violently unpredictable because, propaganda to the contrary, America isn’t a very happy place, and capitalism, as an economic, social arrangement is not the path to civic serenity, hence the widespread desire for guns and the illusion of safety thus provided.

A READER WRITES: “I had intended to write you on another matter — the new format of the front page masthead. The change saddens me. Would you not consider reinstating the motto, “A newspaper should have no friends”? Surely such a reinstatement would run no risk of causing you to be associated with anyone you would not want to be compared to? It is a fine motto, of which you can be justifiably be proud.”

THE PROBLEM with the “no friends” slogan is that along about 2001 I made a friend, my first one, and I can't tell how heartwarming it was, past tense, because the friend up and ran off, probably because of something I said. Or wrote. But what kind of friend flees at the slightest provocation, assuming the provocation was slight, which it must have been because I can't think of what it could have been. Easy come, easy go, as Diamond Jim Brady always said.

I AGREE, though, about the masthead. I liked the old “Be as radical as reality,” although reality has defeated me — I can’t keep up. Who can? It gets weirder out there every day.

“WAR ON THE PALACES, peace to the cottages,” the old anarchist slogan, continues to inspire me but an acquaintance recently caught me gazing wistfully at a copy of Architectural Digest, loudly denouncing me as “a closet bourgeoisie.” Actually, I was looking at a garden layout for tips on how to bring some order to my mini-jungle.

NO MATTER which of these slogans is worn on the paper’s front page, I can’t live up. I tossed “The country weekly that tells it like it is.” It still does, I’d say, but then that’s me saying it. Frankly, I like the old-time look because I like the old-time better than the new time, and the “radicals” I meet these days, well, the less said the better, I suppose.

HAVING A BABY ON THE NORTH COAST

Delivering her first child in rural Mendocino County, a mother-to-be hopes for the best while preparing for the worst.

by Kailyn McCord

On a cold February evening, sitting on the couch in our 28-foot travel trailer, my husband, Benjamin, and I read aloud to each other about how to deliver a placenta. A human placenta, generally speaking; specifically, my placenta.…

altaonline.com/dispatches/a46426342/chop-wood-start-fire-have-baby/

BIG RIVER MILL LETTER

(EXCERPT from a letter from Merna Brown Scott of Palo Alto, printed in the Mendocino Beacon on January 20, 1945. This letter was published two weeks after the Beacon reported that the Mendocino Mill, which had not operated since 1938, would be dismantled. Born in 1911, Merna, whose father worked at the mill, was the only child of Frank and Vernie Brown and grew up in the house on the northwest corner of Kasten and Ukiah streets.)

Band Head at the Mendocino Lumber Mill. Frank Brown, setter, in the foreground and Bob Hayter on the right. (Gift of Merna Brown Scott)

With the dismantling of the mill on Big River, come memories of my childhood. The mill was a dominant feature in the lives of all who lived in the town of Mendocino. It lay south of the town about a quarter of a mile from the bay and the ocean.

Perhaps my earliest memory of the mill was the sound of the whistle. As I snuggled in my bed, the 6:30 am whistle would blow, and I would hear my father’s departure. Half an hour later the day’s work began with another blast from the whistle. The mill had other sounds besides the whistle. If there were a good stiff breeze in the mornings we could hear the engines, the hum of the saws, the trimmer, the re-saw and the rhythmical flap of boards on the sorting table. All these sounds blended into a composition almost melodic and were accentuated by the whine of the crane.

I remember well, my earliest visits to the mill. First, a peek into the fire-room with its big furnaces, then across the way to the room that housed the mighty engines. It was an awe-inspiring sight to a little girl for sure. It seemed a mass of huge wheels going around and around. And many times it was there that jovial Louie Larsen joked with us and we could scarcely hear above the din of motors. Upstairs we had to walk along a platform of slats that never failed to scare me, then past the room where the large saws were filed until finally we stood before the carriage and the saw. The back and forth motion of the carriage held us spellbound. Each trip meant another slice of redwood.

As we grew older our visits to the mill became less frequent, but the mill was always there making overtones in our gay existence. Hours on the white sands at the mouth of Big river meant that eyes and ears were filled with the sounds and sights of the mill. I can plainly see and hear it now - the red mill against a background of dark evergreens and azure sky - at our feet the green salty water and clean white sand covered with beached driftwood.

Sad were the days when the mill closed. The depression came to the redwood industry and our lives were effected in various ways. As long as the mill stood, even though idle, there was always a hope that someday the wheels would turn again. But now, the mill on Big river will only be a legend - a part of the great saga of the redwood country. I am grateful that I knew the mill in its most productive years.

CATCH OF THE DAY, Saturday, January 20, 2024

RICO ACOSTA, Redwood Valley. Failure to appear.

CHANZIE COX, Antelope/Ukiah. Faiure to appear.

RUTILIO ESCOBAR, Novato. DUI.

JOHN IMUS JR., Ukiah. Under influence, parole violation.

MIGUEL SANCHEZ SR., Ukiah. DUI, probation violation.

TORREY THURMAN, Willits. Disorderly conduct-under influence, parole violation.

CAROLE BRODSKY:

I felt pretty much like this alligator last week getting an MRI of my brain and “orbits” (their word not mine), They put your head in a kind of plastic cage thing and of course no moving is allowed. I was in there for around two hours. The good news is everything is fine. I’m having crazy double vision but now that we’ve ruled out all the possible diseases and other scary stuff my neuro-ophthalmologist (who knew there was such a thing?) is confident that fancy glasses with prisms is probably all I will need. It’s been yet another in a seemingly endless series of stressful events. Glad this one looks to be ending on a happy note.

FRANKLY, I was horrified by life, at what a man had to do simply in order to eat, sleep, and keep himself clothed. So I stayed in bed and drank. When you drank the world was still out there, but for the moment it didn’t have you by the throat.

— Charles Bukowski

BE WELL

by Quincy Steele

As I read these books and hear these podcasts

perhaps it's what they say and it's all like that

Cave hunting near Philo

To Basketball Courts

And it rained

It rained

rain

It rained in my winters

So wonderfully rainy in my winters

So moist and wet and dripping from

The sky like the sky was everywhere

Spring when the mud was dry

Summer when the girls wore less

Fall when the Basketball floors squeaked

Those days when my body thanked me for exercise

thanks me no longer for work

It's so rainy and wonderful my winters

old now

And wish this life on anyone

Broken dreams apart

The snow

snow

Sit beside me

A winter's wind

from the North

The North calls me so cold

Come home dear

We'll send the wind after you

Sit beside me wind apart

Light through my eyes

Heavy soul light

There is always a headlamp

Cave hunting near Infinity

MEMO OF THE AIR: The Brave Little Toaster.

"Dear boys, bad timing. This morning I received the details of your travel plans in a document sent to me from a man named Brendan. Unfortunately I cannot receive you now. A neighboring village requires our urgent assistance due to an emergency, not to mention the recent arrival of a man-eating tiger in the region. I suggest you come in the spring, when you'll be safe with me. You must know how sad I am to experience this long separation. I hope you will eventually understand, and forgive me. God bless you and keep you, with Mary's benevolent guidance, in the light of Christ's enduring grace. All my love, Your Mother, Sister Patricia Whitman."

Here's the recording of last night's (Friday 2024-01-19) Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio show on 107.7fm KNYO-LP Fort Bragg (CA) and KNYO.org (and, for the first hour, also 89.3fm KAKX Mendocino): http://tinyurl.com/KNYO-MOTA-0576

I'd like to read your writing on the radio. Just email it to me. Or send me a link to your writing project and I'll take it from there. But if people in your story swear in evangelical tongues like a charismatic carnie I have to wait till after 10pm local time to read it, to protect other people's children from getting their mouths washed out with soap. That is literally the FCC's rationale for the Safe Harbor Rule.

Besides all that, at https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com you'll find a fresh batch of dozens of links to worthwhile items I set aside for you while gathering the show together, such as:

That time Winston Churchill popped out of his own pants in the pool. https://www.vintag.es/2024/01/winston-churchill-losing-swimming-trunks.html

Dan O'Neill and the Air Pirates. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXRLam5kfUU

"Come kick it with the robot man." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBL7IoQ8ePQ

And a full documentary about the band Kansas. It's a pretty good story of a very good band who came out of nearly literally nowhere. https://misscellania.blogspot.com/2024/01/kansas-miracles-out-of-nowhere.html

Marco McClean, memo@mcn.org, https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com

CALIFORNIA’S MAJOR NEW SEA LEVEL RISE REPORT

by Tara Duggan

A new scientific model provides more certainty about how much ocean levels could rise in California in the next 30 years and predicts slightly less rising in some scenarios than previously thought. But the predictions still show grave threats to California, where 70% of the population lives near the coast.

Statewide, sea levels are due to rise by an average of 0.8 feet (9.6 inches) by 2050 compared to a baseline of 2000, according to the draft report. That is for what is considered “intermediate” level sea level rise, based on what is known now about likely levels of global warming in that period. Predictions become more difficult through the end of the century, when they are expected to rise by 3.1 feet at intermediate levels and up to 6.6 feet in a worst case. By 2150, they could go up by 6.1 feet or as high as 11.9 feet, though the authors say it’s difficult to have much certainty after 2100.

Released Friday by the California Ocean Protection Council, the new draft "State of California Sea Level Rise Guidance" is meant to help community planners and incorporates advances in science since the state’s last such report in 2018. The draft report was created in collaboration with a panel of scientists, mostly from California universities, and is based partly on new federal guidelines released in 2022. It is open to public comments until March 4, and a final version will be published likely in June.

“We have greater certainty and we’ve narrowed the range through 2050,” said Kaitlyn Kalua, deputy director of the Ocean Protection Council. “The longer-ranging scenarios are where there’s higher uncertainty and higher potential risk, which is challenging for planning.”

The various possible sea level futures for California are broken down into five categories: low, intermediate low, intermediate, intermediate high and high, depending on expected rates of global warming.

Sea level rise is due to vary within the state because of different influences such as tectonic activity, which gives the Humboldt Bay region the fastest rate of sea level rise in the state, predicted to reach 1.2 feet by 2050 at intermediate levels in the new report.

In San Francisco, the intermediate rate of sea level rise is predicted to be 0.8 feet, like the statewide average, and 0.6 feet in Alameda, the new predictions say.

In the last report, a “high” statewide sea level rise in 2050 was projected at 1.9 feet while the new draft report predicts 1.2 feet in the high scenario.

“It can be a reflection of a little bit of a slower acceleration than we thought,” said Laura Engeman, coastal resilience specialist at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography and a cochair of the science task force that contributed to the draft report. “There’s just more information about where we are in our climactic cycles. Sea level rise is not a linear process.”

But the slight change is not cause to celebrate. Even at around 1 foot of sea level rise by 2050, the potential and frequency for flooding will be much higher and would occur throughout the year, said Engeman.

“As sea levels increase, what is today’s king tide will be every month’s high tide,” said Engeman. Waves that would normally reach 10-15 feet become 11-16 feet with an extra foot of sea level rise, she added.

“For much of the Bay Area, anything over a foot of sea level rise is a major challenge,” said Warner Chabot, executive director of the nonprofit San Francisco Estuary Institute. “Sea level rise is the Bay Area’s No. 1 climate change threat, especially to underserved, disadvantaged communities. This state report clearly validates that threat.”

Chabot noted that the state’s most recent budget proposal included almost $3 billion in cuts to climate resilience, including $184 million in coastal resilience programs.

The new report also went into detail about how groundwater levels will rise along with sea levels, which can spread contaminants in the soil and threaten underground infrastructure. It could also make levies that are being planned to hold back flooding ineffective, said Kristina Hill, an associate professor at UC Berkeley and director at its Institute of Urban and Regional Development.

“Those conventional adaptation strategies to prevent flooding aren’t going to work,” said Hill, who was on the science task force advising the report. “Those levies will keep the waves out, but they won’t stop the groundwater from rising.”

The most recent science around climate change gives communities more granular knowledge about how to plan for the future, said Engeman.

“Between now and 2050 is a critical time for planning,” she said.

And, she said, there’s still a chance to stave off the worst predictions.

“The hope is that as a global society we mitigate our global warming temperature increases,” she said. “If we did that, the high sea level rise scenarios would likely get dropped.”

In San Francisco, the intermediate rate of sea level rise is predicted to be 0.8 feet, like the statewide average, and 0.6 feet in Alameda, the new predictions say.

In the last report, a “high” statewide sea level rise in 2050 was projected at 1.9 feet while the new draft report predicts 1.2 feet in the high scenario.

Chabot noted that the state’s most recent budget proposal included almost $3 billion in cuts to climate resilience, including $184 million in coastal resilience programs.

The most recent science around climate change gives communities more granular knowledge about how to plan for the future, said Engeman.

“Between now and 2050 is a critical time for planning,” she said.

And, she said, there’s still a chance to stave off the worst predictions.

“The hope is that as a global society we mitigate our global warming temperature increases,” she said. “If we did that, the high sea level rise scenarios would likely get dropped.”

(SF Chronicle)

49ERS FANS EXHALE AFTER TIGHT WIN OVER PACKERS

by Megan Fan Munce

Extreme tension turned suddenly to joy at Levi’s Stadium on Saturday night as Dre Greenlaw’s interception sealed the San Francisco 49ers’ 24-21 playoff victory over the Green Bay Packers.

Fans exhaled. They cheered. They whooped. They wondered about their blood pressure.

This was no romp — it was a gritty, hard-fought game in the rain, the type the 49ers had rarely had to tough out this season.

“That was scary, too close,” said Suzanne St. John-Crane, 53, of San Jose. “Our defense needs to find our mojo again, but I’ll take it. I’ll take the (win). Brock Purdy is like frickin Joe Cool (Joe Montana) all over again; he just doesn’t get rattled.”

She would far rather have had a blowout, but in a tough game, “it’s all the sweeter when we get that win,” she said. “At that interception I thought I was going to lose my voice. That was beautiful, that was cherry on top.”

At times, she said, she felt like she was going to have a heart attack.

Plenty of people had a similar feeling after the 49ers’ postseason opener, judging from a postgame Reddit reports.

“I need some blood pressure meds after that one,” one fan wrote.

“I just aged 10 years and probably suffered 3 strokes,” another wrote.

Sam Montgomery, 50, a lifelong fan from Fairfield who attended the game, also expressed relief that the 49ers were able to hang in when it mattered.

“I love a blowout — who doesn’t like a blowout, because there’s nothing to really think about,” Montgomery said. “But this is great for them to come back from behind and win.”

Cindy Chanhnoy, a Dallas Cowboys fan from the Central Valley, got her hoped-for revenge against the Packers (who beat the Cowboys in a playoff game last weekend). But the game “wasn’t what we expected,” she said. “The Niners came back and won, and we were surprised. … (Brock) Purdy did what he had to do; the whole gang came through. We honestly thought we weren’t going to make it.”

Abel Somsack, a lifelong 49ers fan who had not been to a playoff game at Levi’s before, is ready for the NFC Championship Game, which will be played at Levi's Stadium next Sunday. The 49ers will play the Detroit Lions or Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“I’m so happy I might buy tickets for the next game,” he said. “It was up and down, but I was still confident in my team. I think it was the two weeks of being off — I think it was rest. … I was a little nervous when we got into the fourth quarter but as soon as they missed the field goal, I knew we were going to win. I stood up almost the whole game. I’m not going to have a voice left.”

Some fans had foreseen that Green Bay would be tough.

“The Green Bay Packers have a lot of young ones, a lot of rookies,” Chanhnoy said before the game. “They’re ready, they’re on fire. I hope the Niners can stop them. Cowboys fans were shocked by their plays and their unstoppable drive.”

Somehow, some way, the Packers were stopped. It wasn’t pretty. It poured rain.

And by the end of the game, the rain — both real and metaphorical — had stopped.

(sfchronicle.com)

‘EVERYBODY BRING IT’: How 49ers, Brock Purdy gutted out their last-gasp drive

by Ann Killion

Brock Purdy’s winning drive won’t go down in San Francisco 49ers’ lore like the Joe Montana-to-Dwight Clark Catch that started everything, or Montana’s John-Candy-in-the-stands Super Bowl winning drive. Not in a divisional game against a much lower seed.

But, oh boy, was that late-game drive ever needed.

It won the game. Put the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game for the third consecutive year and fourth time in five years.

And taught them that they could actually come from behind.

“We needed a win like that,” defensive end Nick Bosa said. “We haven’t come from behind in a while. It helps you get more battle tested.”

All season, the 49ers have been front runners. Dictators of the pace. Pilers on of the points. They have not mounted a comeback and most of the season they haven’t needed to. But in the four games that they found themselves trailing in the second half, they couldn’t manage to claw back. They lost those games.

On Saturday night against Green Bay, the stakes were markedly higher. The 49ers were going to have to figure out how to make a fourth-quarter comeback or else their season was going to end. Their Super Bowl window was going to shrink dramatically and their hopes and dreams would be crushed.

With 6:18 left to play, down 21-17 and with new hope following a missed Green Bay field goal, the 49ers offense took the field. And Trent Williams, the great left tackle who has never played in a Super Bowl, spoke to his teammates.

“I just told them that with six minutes left this might be the last time we get the ball,” he said. “And if we don’t do something with it this might be the last time we’ll be in this huddle together.

And they brought it. Twelve plays later, the 49ers scored the winning touchdown; the 24-21 victory was sealed with linebacker Dre Greenlaw’s second interception of the game.

Many of the players conceded, their major emotion was more relief than joy.

“That took everything,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “That’s as grimy as it gets.”

Purdy needed a win like that. He is the newest member of a proud quarterback lineage: Montana groomed a fan base to expect come-from-behind wins, to believe that no game is ever over until the last second ticks off the clock. Steve Young had his own share of comebacks. Purdy needed to figure out how to overcome adversity and an overall lousy day at the office and put together one shining drive that would erase mistakes and change fortunes.

“You’re down and you’ve got to find a way,” Purdy said. “It’s the fourth quarter, and this is the NFL, and we’re in the postseason now, so this is it. This is our season. To finally have a win like this and pull through, it’s huge for all of us.”

It was particularly huge for Purdy, who — for most of the game — bore little resemblance to the player who had been in the MVP conversation most of the season. He seemed tentative, indecisive, off-target. He admitted to not being sure what to do about the rain, starting with a glove then abandoning it.

He threw near interceptions on a few plays. He kept checking down, but missing his checkdowns. He finished with 23 completions on 39 attempts for 252 yards and a pedestrian passer rating of 86.7.

But Purdy’s final stats don’t matter. Because his final drive was what will be remembered.

After Williams exhorted his teammates to bring it, Purdy found Jauan Jennings for a seven-yard reception. Then a run by Christian McCaffrey followed by a Purdy scramble for a first down. A short pass to McCaffrey. A pass that George Kittle dropped. A pass over the middle to Brandon Ayuk. A deep pass to Chris Conley that might have been the best ball Purdy threw all night. An eight-yard pass to Kittle. Another McCaffrey run. A pass for no gain. A Purdy scramble for nine yards down to the six-yard line. And then a handoff to McCaffrey for the touchdown.

“Obviously, for me as a quarterback, it was huge for confidence,” Purdy said. “For us to finally have a win like this was huge for all of us.”

It was certainly huge for Kyle Shanahan. The statistics on his comeback futility as a head coach were tossed about all night, on the game broadcast and social media. And though the numbers being cited fluctuated (0-30 when down by 7 or more after three quarters, 0-38 when down by 8 or more, 1-32 when down by 3 or more) the message embedded in the different numbers was the same: Shanahan can’t coach his team to a comeback.

“This season we basically blew everyone out,” Kittle said. “So what better time to learn how to win a gritty game than in the playoffs? I would love to win every game by three or four touchdowns. That would be awesome and a lot less stress in the fourth quarter.

“But to apply pressure in a dire situation and come out on top, that’s huge for the confidence of the football team.”

It might not have been the most epic comeback in 49ers history. But for this group it was a critical moment. An experience.

“If we’re ever in that situation again,” Warner said, “we know that we can look each other in the eye.

“And know that we can get it done.”

(sfchronicle.com)

49ERS GAME GRADES: Ugly win over Packers earns return to NFC title game

It wasn’t pretty and the outcome wasn’t secured until the final minute, but the San Francisco 49ers came away with a 24-21 divisional-round playoff defeat of the Green Bay Packers that put the team in the NFC Championship Game for a third straight season.

This unit rated the worst on the team -- until that final drive. The offense clearly suffered after losing WR Deebo Samuel in the first half and QB Brock Purdy was entirely pedestrian, until he needed to excel. Purdy missed receiver after receiver — blame the weather, credit the Green Bay defense — and finished 23-for-39 for 252 yards. His 86.7 rating matched his fourth-lowest of the season. Jajuan Jennings (five catches, 61 yards) filled in ably for Samuel. Christian McCaffrey had 128 yards total offense and scored twice, including the game-winner with 1:07 to play. The 49ers didn’t reach the red zone until their final drive.

Consider this one as Exhibit A in the Bend But Don’t Break Department. Three times the 49ers’ defense flexed enough to force field-goal attempts — and the last of those, a 41-yarder with 6:18 to play — was missed by Anders Carlson. Dre Greenlaw’s final-minute interception (his second of the game) sealed the win and replaced his goal-line stop in Week 18 in Seattle in 2019 as his career highlight. But the 49ers allowed a 100-yard rusher for the first time in 51 games (Aaron Jones, 18 carries, 108 yards), didn’t sack Jordan Love (21-for-34, 194 yards, two TDs) and didn’t force a Green Bay punt until the fourth quarter.

That sigh of relief you might have heard was the Niners’ Jake Moody realizing that he wouldn’t be the rookie kicker facing an offseason of questions after a critical miss. Moody’s 52-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter made the game-winning TD possible and, perhaps only temporarily, erased the memory of his having a field goal blocked at the end of the first half (his third missed kick in two games). The kick return team will spend a little extra time reviewing assignments after being gashed for a 73-yard kick return that set up a Green Bay go-ahead TD.

Kyle Shanahan finally has a fourth quarter to remember. That 0-30 record when trailing by five or more entering the fourth quarter stat that flashed on TV had to have some fans reaching for the Pepto — and changing plans for the second Sunday in February. The final drive was masterful as the 49ers finally looked like themselves, but until then little seemed to be working. Until then, Packers coach Matt LaFleur — three times an underling to Shanahan on other NFL staffs — had the upper hand offensively.

Rest or rust? Try relief. What had looked for most of the night like it might be an epic faceplant on the order the 13-2 49ers losing to Minnesota in the 1987 divisional round, instead earned a spot in franchise lore alongside the Steve Young-to-Terrell Owens TD against Green Bay 25 years ago. It’s on to the NFC Championship Game for the NFL-leading 17th time since 1980.

(sfchronicle.com)

CAN THE MAGA SHREW BE TAMED?

by Maureen Dowd

Maureen Dowd has a cold.

Hmmm.

Not quite the same ring as “Frank Sinatra Has a Cold,” Gay Talese’s legendary 1966 Esquire profile of the crooner.

Nonetheless, I did catch a cold in arctic Des Moines. So on caucus night, I stayed in my hotel room watching TV and munching on Cheez-Its, flipping between wins and losses in Hollywood and Iowa.

There wasn’t any custom Louis Vuitton on display in the frozen tundra of Iowa, but there were some parallels — beyond the abysmal turnout for both shows.

The Emmys did a tribute to “The Sopranos” and James Gandolfini. Donald Trump, who loves to style himself as a tough mob don, facing down a RICO charge, recently bragged about a character reference he’d gotten from Sammy (the Bull) Gravano, once a hit man for John Gotti.

“Succession,” which collected a bouquet of Emmys, is a scorching dynasty drama — the kind we have seen in both the Trump and the Biden clans. Accepting his awards, the show’s creator, Jesse Armstrong, referred to its inspiration, Rupert Murdoch, the cynical Aussie who created the rainforest of disinformation in which Trump has flourished.

“This is a show about family,” Armstrong said, “but it’s also about when partisan news coverage gets intertwined with divisive right-wing politics.”

Flipping back and forth, I couldn’t help thinking that Trump was at the wrong celebration. He shouldn’t be swanning around Iowa, flinging puerile insults at his rivals and gabbing about “nonliquid gold,” as he called corn. He should be in Hollywood, attending the Emmys as a bombastic reality TV star who leered at beautiful actresses and rated them on a 1-to-10 scale. (“From the midsection to the shoulders, she’s a 10,” he once told Howard Stern about Halle Berry. “The face is a solid 8, and the legs are maybe a little bit less than that.”) Trump shouldn’t be in the heartland, triumphantly ramping up a plug-ugly presidential campaign. He should be peacocking around the Peacock Theater, looking like a gilt statuette himself.

Even after four years of Donald the Menace in the White House, I am still gobsmacked that he could be on his way to another stint as the leader of the free world. But given his landslide in Iowa, we must accept it, no matter how ludicrous it seems.

So we’re stuck with two narcissistic, circa-80 pols in a race most of us don’t want.

One of them has been cut off from a lot of media coverage because of fears about his deteriorating performances. The other has been cut off by some media outlets over fears about his deceptive performances.

The media has been avoiding falling into Trump’s quicksand of mendacity, but it still struggles. How can it be fair without airing all the crazy garbage he spews?

He puts you in an impossible situation. Interviewing him, some say, is like interviewing a stand-up comic. You’re not asking him questions; you’re feeding him lines.

This dilemma was in evidence on Monday night, when MSNBC refused to carry Trump’s victory speech at all and CNN cut away from the 25-minute remarks after 10 minutes. Fox News, of course, played it all.

Rachel Maddow said her network’s decision was “not out of spite.” It’s not personal — it’s strictly business, as Michael Corleone said. MSNBC’s business model, after all, is flaying Trump 24 hours a day.

Mark Thompson, the new C.E.O. of CNN, is taking a different route, trying for judicious coverage. Give a representative sample; don’t take Trump in his entirety. Try to capture, rather than censor, his character. Take Trump for as long as it’s justified by news value, but no longer point the camera at him and let it run.

CNN took Trump’s rant after court in New York on Wednesday live, even though he was attacking Judge Lewis Kaplan as “nasty” and “a Trump-hating guy,” smearing E. Jean Carroll some more and lamenting “election interference.” Afterward, Jake Tapper and Elie Honig rebutted his vitriolic babble.

But there is still debate within CNN, according to The Times’s Michael Grynbaum. On a conference call Thursday, an executive pushed back against Thompson, arguing that the network gave Trump too much time for the court diatribe.

Here’s the reality people don’t want to accept: Trump is likely to be one of two candidates who will be the president in 2025. Even if we despise the things he says, we’ve got to hear them. If he engages in disinformation, we need to call him on it.

The Emmys now have an ingenious device: They display the stars’ ancillary thank-yous — to management teams, for instance — on a navy blue chyron at the bottom of the screen while the winners talk. The idea is to get shorter, more heartfelt (and less boring) acceptance speeches.

Maybe we should just run a chyron under Trump at all times: No, the election wasn’t stolen …. No, your opponents aren’t “vermin.” … No, migrants are not “poisoning the blood of our nation.” … No, Jan. 6 was not “a beautiful day.” … No, presidents should not have “total immunity” because, as we know, crooks can be president.

(NY Times)

KISS MY COUNTRY ASS

Tearin' down a dirt road, rebel flag flyin', coon dog in the back
Truck bed loaded down with beer and a cold one in my lap
Earnhart sticker behind my head and my woman by my side
Tail-pipe's poppin', the radio's rockin', "Country boy can survive"
If you got a problem with that, ha, ha, you can kiss my country ass

Well, I love turkey calls, overalls, Wrangler jeans
Smoke nothin' but Marlboro reds
Tattoos up and down my arms
And deer heads over my bed

My Granddaddy fought in World War II
But my Daddy went to Vietnam
And I ain't scared to grab my gun
And fight for my homeland
If you don't love the American flag
You can kiss my country ass

If you're a down-home, backwoods redneck
Hey come on, stand up and raise your glass
But if you ain't down with my outlaw crowd
You can kiss my country ass, aw yeah

Aw, yeah

Well, there's a whole lotta high-class people out there
That's lookin' down on me
'Cause the country club where I belong
Is a honky tonk till three in the mornin'

Don't wear no fancy clothes, no ties or three piece suits
You can find me in my camouflage cap
My T-shirt and cowboy boots
If that don't fit your social class
You can kiss my country ass

If you're a down-home, backwoods redneck
Hey come on, stand up and raise your glass
But if you ain't down with my outlaw crowd
You can kiss my country ass

Well, I'm a front-porch sittin', guitar pickin', moonshine sippin'
'Backer chew spittin' country boy from the woods
And I love fried chicken and blue gill fishin'
And outlaw women and I wouldn't change if I could, no

I ain't tryin' to start no fight but I'll finish one every time
So you just mind your own damn business, stay the hell outta mine
If you got a problem with that
You can kiss my country ass

I said, if you got a problem with any of that
You can kiss my natural born
Redneck to the bone
Ever lovin' country ass

— Blake Shelton, Rhett Akins

YOU HAVE TO BE REAL OLD TO UNDERSTAND THIS PHOTO

THE DEATH OF SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

by Dave Zirin

Growing up, I waited for Thursdays the way the other kids in school yearned for Friday. On Thursdays I knew Sports Illustrated would be waiting for me in the mail. I’d snatch every copy as if it were the last piece of bacon at a breakfast buffet, jump face first on my blue comforter and dive in. Sports Illustrated accounted for a large percentage of all the reading I did as a kid.

It bewildered teachers why I wouldn’t open up The Canterbury Tales or The Adventures of Tom Sawyer but would read every word of a 5,000 word opus by Frank Deford about a high school football coach I didn't know existed or turn to Peter Gammons to learn exactly why my New York Mets hero Dwight Gooden had lost his fastball. Then there was the “illustrated” part: Photos by legends such as Walter Ioos, Jr. brought the games alive for me in bracing color that popped off the page. This was all back when ESPN was just a trailer and a satellite dish. Tom Sawyer couldn’t hope to compete

These writers were my version of “the great works”: They were literary, acerbic, and, for me, total catnip. Sports can make for storytelling gold, and it’s no coincidence that some of our finest writers also lent their talents to writing about sports. For people from George Plimpton to David Halberstam to Ralph Wiley, writing about these games we play, including writing for Sports Illustrated, was where they sharpened their craft and even made their names.

Sports Illustrated was where I also learned about how issues of race, sexuality, class, and gender intersected and invaded the games we love. The legends of greats such as Muhammad Ali or Billie Jean King were only burnished when presented through the eyes of these writers. This is not to say that there weren’t blindspots, or articles so dated they make you cringe, but that was part of it as well. Even when SI faceplanted, it put issues on the table, and the magazine was taken seriously.

When I worked with SI, briefly writing an online column, I was dancing on air. It felt like wildest dreams fulfilled. That my time there did not work out was fine with me. I was proud to just have my name in the mix with the alums of the mag who had made so much magic.

That is why it is an absolute tragedy to hear on Friday that 70 years after its first iconic first cover which featured future baseball Hall of Famer Eddie Matthews, Sports Illustrated may be dead. We are not talking about another reduction in talent or a decline in quality. (Layoffs have plagued the magazine in recent years. Then there was the recent scandal where it was revealed Sports Illustrated was using AI-generated stories and fake bylines and eschewing journalism for poorly worded drek around which to frame ads.) We are talking dead as a doornail, dead as a roasted San Diego Chicken. A corporation called Authentic Brands Group, bought SI in 2019 for $110 million, has laid off all the writers and editors.

Authentic Brands Group, it must be said, is a chilling name in an inauthentic age where brands are more valuable than human beings. ABG has reportedly ended its agreement with another umbrella company called Arena Group to publish the mag. Sports Illustrated for Kids is also being killed off. According to A. J. Perez at Front Office sports, Arena told SI employees in a Friday email that it had been “notified by Authentic Brands Group (ABG) that the license under which the Arena Group operates the Sports Illustrated (SI) brand and SI related properties has been officially revoked by ABG. As a result of this license revocation, we will be laying off staff that work on the SI brand.”

Unionized staff has reportedly been given 90 days’ notice. Non-union workers were to be fired immediately.

The union, known as the Sports Illustrated Guild, wrote on X : “We have fought together as a union to maintain the standard of this storied publication that we love, and to make sure our workers are treated fairly for the value they bring to this company. It is a fight we will continue.”

The timing of the loss of Sports Illustrated is terrible. This week we learned that the NFL, which already employs journalists via the NFL Network, is aiming to buy a piece of ESPN, throwing the independence of “the WorldWide Leader In Sports” into doubt. We desperately need a national, well-funded, and trusted sports media, that doesn’t have to answer to the professional sports leagues themselves. Sports has always been about far more than just sports. Today it’s billion-dollar, taxpayer funded urban development projects whose impact is felt well beyond the stadiums themselves. It’s fights over the appropriate posture during the national anthem and militaristic cheers for the next war. It’s corruption that demands to be ferreted out. It’s issues of marginalization and oppression and how they reflect or are fought in this influential world. It’s a cabal of billionaires in charge who prefer to do their business in shadows.

Sports Illustrated used to spotlight the darkness. Now it is just a feature of the night.

The news of SI’s demise comes the same week news broke that the chair of Sinclair Broadcasting – the right wing media empire – is purchasing the legendary Baltimore Sun newspaper with clear plans to gut the paper under the leadership of right wing flame thrower Armstrong Williams. The stories of SI and the Sun are different but also the same. Just as I grew up waiting on Sports Illustrated every Thursday, generations of people have depended upon the Baltimore Sun for the latest on local politics, police corruption, and the treasured sports franchises of the city.

Now the Sun will be a paper, if Sinclair’s history is prologue, aimed at attacking the city itself. Expect divide and conquer politics, a war on truth that will benefit the wealthy who believe they should live above scrutiny, or “total immunity,” to borrow a Trumpian phrase.

What’s happening in Baltimore is a reminder that the American press as a whole is greatly endangered. What’s happening to SI is a reminder that sports journalism in particular is, as well. An independent press in the world of sports has never been more needed. It has also never more been in doubt. I am sad the chapter is closing. I’m also sad for my son who looks forward every week to getting Sports Illustrated for Kids. This was the year he was graduating to the actual mag. Yes, SI is not what it was, but a thin gruel is preferable to an empty bowl. As a kid I never could have imagined that the mag would go away like this. Now I can’t imagine what could, in this media environment, possibly replace it.

“NOT ONE of the first six US presidents was an orthodox Christian. Most of the founders were Deists, who doubted that Christ was a god and equated God with ‘the power behind nature, as discerned by science.'”

– Robert Sherrill

"AUGUSTUS OWSLEY STANLEY III (January 19, 1935 – March 12, 2011) was an American audio engineer and clandestine chemist. …

He was a key figure in the San Francisco Bay Area hippie movement during the 1960s and played a pivotal role in the decade’s counterculture. Under the professional name Bear, he was the soundman for the rock band the Grateful Dead, whom he met when Ken Kesey invited them to an Acid Test party. As their sound engineer, Stanley frequently recorded live tapes behind his mixing board and developed their Wall of Sound sound system, one of the largest mobile public address systems ever constructed...."

THE CASE FOR ‘FRISCO’: History weighs in on S.F.’s controversial nickname.

by Peter Hartlaub

The most San Francisco tweet in history was written in 1928.

That was the year of the first great Frisco war, when more than 20 Chronicle readers spent three weeks intensely debating whether locals should ever use the word on the paper’s letters to the editor pages.

“It is extremely offensive to me … to hear San Francisco called ‘Frisco,’” Joan Woodbury wrote on Oct. 4, 1928. “If I had my way, we would have an electric sign over the Ferry Building saying, ‘This is San Francisco — Not Frisco,’ so that the newcomer would be duly reprimanded when he entered our portals.”

The shared history of Frisco is a wild ride, with heavyweights including Herb Caen and Emperor Norton seemingly on one side and Jack London and the Hells Angels on the other. But as the years pass, nuance gets lost and myths get amplified. And when you track the endless battles to the source, the truth becomes clearer. So I’ll just say it:

It is 100% OK for a San Francisco resident to use the word “Frisco.”

The previous sentence raised some heavy emotions for about half of you. Come along for the ride anyway. While I maintain that “San Fran” is an abomination, Frisco is as firmly embedded in the San Francisco story as high housing prices and Willie Mays. And when traced to the source, most “never-use-Frisco” arguments completely fall apart.

In the beginning there was Frisco, and it was good.

The name first appeared in The Chronicle in the newspaper’s second month of publication. The city of San Francisco was just 14 years old, and the day before it had suffered a March 8, 1865, earthquake.

“It seems to be the general opinion that the shake of yesterday morning was about the roughest by which ‘Frisco has ever yet been visited,” the Daily Dramatic Chronicle reported. “Certainly we don’t think the crazy old buildings along our part of Clay Street could stand any very considerable increase in the agony.”

In the decades that followed, the word Frisco graced hundreds of headlines, a racing greyhound named “Frisco Lad,” the police department’s baseball team and a very problematic quartet of traveling musicians best left in ancient history called the “Frisco Minstrels.”

The first sign of strife arrived in 1912, when rail stations in St. Louis and the Midwest began shortening the names on departure signs and baggage tags from “San Francisco Railway” to “Frisco.” San Franciscans found this both confusing and overly familiar, and lodged official complaints. The U.S. Secretary of Treasury responded with a written order banning further use of a word that lacked “distinctiveness and dignity.”

But even as this was happening, Frisco was thoroughly embraced by locals. The journalism of the time, entertainment and even sheet music was filled with Frisco references. Two songs written by local composers, “Frisco You’re a Bear” and “Show me the Way to Frisco,” came out in 1910.

The problem was clearly with outsiders calling it Frisco.

Anti-Frisco crusaders point to two very strong allies in history: Caen and Norton. But the roles of both fall apart under deeper scrutiny.

Norton, the quirky failed rice importer who named himself Emperor and printed his own money, has been declared as a pioneer of the Frisco resistance. In his 1939 Norton biography, author David Ryder reported that the Emperor decreed anyone “heard to utter the abominable word ‘Frisco’” be guilty of “high misdemeanor” and forced to pay a $25 fine.

But modern Norton scholars doubt the accuracy of this oft-repeated lore, and The Chronicle archives back them up. There was no anti-Frisco movement during Norton’s reign from 1859 until his death in 1880. How convenient this decree — never reported during his lifetime — surfaces nearly 60 years after his death and a decade after the first published reports of any Frisco controversy.

Caen, on the other hand, indeed made fun of Frisco in much of his early work. The San Francisco Chronicle columnist went so far as to name his 1953 book of essays “Don’t Call it Frisco.”

But while still in the first half of his career, Caen started walking his position back. In a 1965 column he wrote: “Adolescence is believing that ‘Frisco’ is a racy nickname for a city; senility is automatically saying ‘Don’t call it Frisco’; maturity is figuring it doesn’t matter all that much.”

During Caen’s final columns in the 1990s, when readers were still sending Frisco items, he fully defended use of the word. One of Caen’s last Frisco mentions before his 1997 death was written Sept. 6, 1995: “The toughest guys on the old S.F. waterfront, neither rubes nor tourists, used to call it Frisco, and no effete journalist would have tried to correct them, either.”

I think Caen, later in life, was recognizing something that I’m just figuring out. And it’s why after nearly a century of fighting, I think we can put the debate to rest.

When you see Frisco battles in opinion columns and on social media — I started the latest scuffle with a (perfectly valid) complaint about “San Fran” — the split tends to happen between the working class and the swells. In that first 1928 debate, the haughty tone of the anti-Frisco crowd felt like it was coming from people using their college degrees as weapons.

To this day, go to the remaining working class zones in San Francisco, and you’ll find Frisco. I’ve eaten at Frisco’s Family Deli in Visitacion Valley and Frisco Fried in Bayview. Frisco Tattooing in the Mission District and Frisco Limo in SoMa have both been around more than 25 years.

The local Hells Angels chapter still wears “Frisco” on their jackets and their bikes. Rappers near and far, from San Quinn to RBL Posse to E-40, comfortably drop Frisco in their lyrics.

The internal Frisco fights detract from the real debate: whether people outside San Francisco should use it. I think this one should be filed under “reciprocal arrangements.” Just as I don’t feel familiar enough to call Philadelphia “Philly” or Chicago “The Chi” in front of a native of either city, I’d expect the same courtesy when tourists come to town.

But my current policy is to give everyone the benefit of the doubt on Frisco, and no one shame.

I think often about another Chronicle letter, written in 2014, during the most recent Frisco newspaper wars. It came from San Francisco resident Robin Winburn, who once corrected her father for using Frisco, then quickly regretted it.

“My dear dad, who served in the Navy in World War II, got a bit misty-eyed. He gently told me that he was shipped to the Philippines from Frisco. He said Frisco was a term of endearment used by all the Navy boys who roamed the city with excitement and affection, their last pleasure before heading into the Pacific side of the war.

“I have no problem with anyone who calls our city Frisco.”

I don’t either. The roots of Frisco — in the ports, saloons, motorcycle shops and housing projects — are traced to the heart of the city, and the people who built it.

“Frisco” is the name of rappers, bikers, limousine drivers and soldiers going off to war. “Frisco” is the name of artists, makers, creators of delicious sandwiches and badass tattoos. “Frisco” is the city of people who never hit it rich, but still felt like they had a home here.

Frisco isn’t offensive. It’s the best of San Francisco, in one word.

(SF Chronicle)

TALKING TO THE MOON

I know you're somewhere out there
Somewhere far away
I want you back
I want you back

My neighbors think I'm crazy
But they don't understand
You're all I had
You're all I had

At night when the stars light up my room
I sit by myself

Talking to the Moon
Try'na get to you
In hopes you're on the other side
Talking to me too
Or am I a fool who sits alone
Talking to the Moon?
Oh, oh

I'm feeling like I'm famous
The talk of the town
They say I've gone mad
Yeah, I've gone mad

But they don't know what I know
'Cause when the Sun goes down
Someone's talking back
Yeah, they're talking back, oh

At night when the stars light up my room
I sit by myself

Talking to the Moon
Try'na get to you
In hopes you're on the other side
Talking to me too
Or am I a fool who sits alone
Talking to the Moon?

Ah, ah, ah
Do you ever hear me calling?
Oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh (ah, ah, ah)
'Cause every night
I'm talking to the Moon

Still trying to get to you
In hopes you're on the other side
Talking to me too
Or am I a fool who sits alone
Talking to the Moon?
Oh, oh

I know you're somewhere out there
Somewhere far away

— Bruno Mars

THIS POIGNANT PHOTOGRAPH from 1922 captures Annie Oakley at 62.

Born on August 13, 1860, in a log cabin near the village of North Star in Darke County, Ohio, Phoebe Ann Moses, better known as Annie Oakley, developed her sharpshooting skills at the tender age of eight. By turning fifteen, she emerged victorious in her first shooting competition. In 1885, Annie became part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, earning the moniker "Watanya Cicilla" (Little Sure Shot) from fellow performer Sitting Bull (1831-1890).

Annie's marksmanship prowess transcended live performances, as she made a notable appearance in the eleventh commercial motion picture ever produced—Thomas Edison's “Little Sure Shot of the Wild West” in 1894.

Annie Oakley imparted her shooting expertise to over 15,000 women throughout her life. She fervently believed in the importance of women mastering the use of firearms, considering it not only a means of physical and mental exercise but also a crucial aspect of self-defense. In her own words, she expressed the desire to witness every woman handling firearms as naturally as they do babies.

In the latter part of 1922, Annie Oakley faced a severe setback due to an automobile accident, resulting in a substantial injury that required her to wear a steel brace on her right leg. Despite this obstacle, she returned to the stage after a year and a half of recovery, showcasing her skills and setting new records.

Annie's health experienced a decline in 1925, ultimately leading to her demise on November 3, 1926. She found her final resting place in Brock Cemetery in Greenville, Ohio. The grief following Annie's passing was so profound that her husband, the renowned marksman Frank E. Butler (1852-1926), succumbed just eighteen days later on November 21, 1926, having ceased to eat. Frank was laid to rest beside Annie.

In recognition of her lasting legacy, Annie Oakley was posthumously honored in 1984 with induction into the National Cowgirl Museum Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas.

42 Comments

jim barstow January 21, 2024

Although it wouldn’t have surprised me if it were true, the banned book list is fabricated. In fact, some of the books are on a “recommended list” put out by the Florida Dept of Education. Things are bad in Florida but not quite this bad. How about marking it as a cartoon? There is enough misinformation out there already.

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- Bob A. January 21, 2024
  
  This particular list might be suspect, but rest assured that book banning is alive and well in the good old USA. It should come as no surprise that Florida leads the nation in this execrable practice. PEN America has compiled a searchable list of titles banned from school libraries (a total of 1557 individual titles) https://pen.org/2023-banned-book-list/ .
  
  Reply
- Casey Hartlip January 21, 2024
  
  When I saw that list I said BS right away. Fake news.
  
  Reply
Kirk Vodopals January 21, 2024

I don’t see the 49ers making it to the big bowl based on last nights performance. Third down conversions were seldom. The secondary practically gave the game away. Our team doesn’t seem to function in the rain, but Green Bay didn’t have the same issues. Luckily the big game is in Vegas.
We only watched the second half, but my wife and daughter complained of how boring the game was. I agreed. I watch probably three football games a year and that is typically two too many. Go Niners!

Reply
- Bruce Anderson January 21, 2024
  
  Agree. They looked terrible, offense and defense. Never been a big Shanahan fan and yesterday I thought his play calling was terrible. Purdy was rain-crippled, on defensive pressure on Love, defensive backs terrible. The linebackers were the only defense. Bright spot? Moondy.
  
  Reply
  - Lazarus January 21, 2024
    
    The Packers seemed to tire late in the 4th, particularly the defense.
    And the final interception of the game was a cross-body pass. Coaches and others claim that is an invite to bad things happening.
    I figured the 49ers were going to lose after the first Packer drive.
    Shanahan’s handling of the clock at the end of the 1st half was weird.
    And then there’s his rep for choking late in big games…
    Regardless of next week’s game, the Ravens will likely win the Super Bowl.
    Game, Set, Match.
    Laz
    
    Reply
  - Casey Hartlip January 21, 2024
    
    Totally agree that Shanny was playing ‘not to lose’ rather than how they’ve played over the past month. Also the pass rush was lacking. Boss and Young never got there.
    
    We’ll see how Detroit plays away from that friendly crowd and on real grass. I think Niners will be ready. It should be a great game.
    
    Reply
- Stephen Rosenthal January 21, 2024
  
  Playing the blame game, most of it must go to Shanahan, followed closely by the defensive line.
  
  Although improving in recent weeks, Green Bay’s run defense is still in the bottom half of the league. So what does Shanahan do? Pass, pass, pass. Yeah, the Packers were down a few members of their starting secondary, but in the pouring rain? The 49ers were effective when they ran the ball. It might also help if hard-hitting running backs Mitchell and Mason would be on the field for at least 1 snap (hint: they weren’t).
  
  As for the defensive line, is it just me or is Bosa one of the most overpaid players and Chase Young one of the most overrated in the game? Neither came close to pressuring the quarterback let alone a sack. Bosa, the highest paid defensive player in football, has now gone 5 straight playoff games without recording a sack. The primary job of a defensive end is to pressure and sack the quarterback. Chase Young, the other defensive end, was acquired mid season from Washington for a low level draft pick and, based on his lackluster performances in a 49er uniform, I can see why Washington dumped him. It would be a huge mistake for the 49ers to offer him big $$$ to re-sign.
  
  But a win is a win and let’s hope for better weather conditions next week. I’m glad Purdy put the poison pens of the idiots of the national media (who continue to not let facts get in the way and recognize his abilities) back in their sheaths, at least for another week. That last drive reminded me of Montana’s “The Catch” game. If I recall correctly, Joe didn’t have a particularly good game until then, but that play changed everything and none of the bad will ever be remembered because of it.
  
  Reply
Lazarus January 21, 2024

I thought it would be easy to Google banned books in whatever State. But I had to do some digging to find anything that even resembled a list.
There’s a nationwide library-banned books org., and Gov. Newsom has signed a ban against bans in California. That did not surprise…having some awareness of his political ambitions, etc.
Laz

Reply
- Chuck Dunbar January 21, 2024
  
  “…Gov. Newsom has signed a ban against bans in California. That did not surprise…having some awareness of his political ambitions, etc.”
  
  Or, credibly, I believe, he truly feels and knows that book banning is not to be done for reasons of freedom of thought and choice.
  
  Reply
  - Stephen Rosenthal January 21, 2024
    
    Don’t believe much of anything a politician does is for the greater good, but I agree with you about this.
    
    Reply
    - Chuck Dunbar January 21, 2024
      
      Yes, same for me, am much more cynical than I used to be, but this one I get…
      
      Reply
  - Lazarus January 21, 2024
    
    Yeah, and Mar-a-Lago is only worth 18 mil…
    But be well,
    Laz
    
    Reply
    - MAGA Marmon January 21, 2024
      
      “Any Republican that wins, or is close to winning, will be attacked by the Radical Left Democrats, Lunatics all. The difference is that I WON in 2016, and did millions of votes better in 2020, more votes than any sitting President in history (Gee, I wonder what happened?). There is more energy and spirit now, after watching how bad Crooked Joe Biden is, than either of those two races! MAGA2024”
      
      -Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
      
      MAGA Marmon
      
      Reply
      - MAGA Marmon January 21, 2024
        
        Ron DeSantis just dropped out and is now endorsing President Trump.
        
        MAGA Marmon
        
        Reply
        
        The Shadow January 21, 2024
        
        The $130 Million Dollar Man
        
        Reply
        
        Harvey Reading January 22, 2024
        
        You left out the “t” in MAGAt.
        
        Reply
      - Chuck Dunbar January 21, 2024
        
        BEWARE
        
        A MAGA Marmon’s lurking near
        Hovering close instilling fear—
        This creature’s bold and big
        His dark purpose all so clear
        
        Let’s all Elect Donald Trump—
        Lead us down a vicious path
        Only later comes our sad lament—
        Facing history’s cold cruel wrath
        
        Reply
        
        Bruce McEwen January 21, 2024
        
        Jane Goodall was on CNN today corroborating Harvey Reading’s assessment that we’re no different from chimpanzees— which Carl Sagan noted years ago with the 99.78 % the same DNA as chimps formula…hey, the Trumpitude is in ya’sll’s genes.
        
        Reply
        
        Bruce McEwen January 21, 2024
        
        Amoral trumpitude
        
        Reply
  - Harvey Reading January 21, 2024
    
    Neither thought nor choice is held in high regard in backward Wyoming…the state that produces a whopping percent-and-a-half of the US beef supply…but the welfare cow farmers are revered as gods.
    
    Reply
- Stephen Rosenthal January 21, 2024
  
  https://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooks
  
  Reply
Justine Frederiksen January 21, 2024

Can someone please identify the football players in the black-and-white photo for me?

Reply
- Jim Mastin January 21, 2024
  
  I believe that’s John Brodie on the left and Y.A. Tittle on the right.
  
  Reply
  - Justine Frederiksen January 21, 2024
    
    Thank you! I can tell my father-in-law he was right.
    
    Reply
- Stephen Rosenthal January 21, 2024
  
  Yeah, Brodie and Tittle. I’m old.
  
  Reply
- Merry January 21, 2024
  
  masthead recommendation
  
  ‘Tis strange — but true; for truth is always strange;
  Stranger than fiction; if it could be told,
  How much would novels gain by the exchange!
  How differently the world would men behold!
  How oft would vice and virtue places change!
  The new world would be nothing to the old,
  If some Columbus of the moral seas
  Would show mankind their souls’ antipodes.
  
  George Gordon Byron (Lord Byron), Don Juan, Canto the Fourteenth, Verse 101 (1823)
  
  Reply
  - Merry January 21, 2024
    
    Canto 1 1818
    
    Reply
- Mark Scaramella January 21, 2024
  
  Why I remember those guys….
  https://theava.com/archives/34248#10
  
  Reply
Sarah Kennedy Owen January 21, 2024

According to PEN America, Collier County, Florida has over 300 titles banned in school libraries. Among them:
For Whom the Bell Tolls (Ernest Hemingway)
Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy)
The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
Beloved (Toni Morrison)
Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison)
The Color Purple (Alice Walker)
Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Ken Kesey
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Stieg Larsson)
These are powerful and disturbing books, but teenagers want to know what’s going on. They are almost adults and keeping things from them promotes instability and maybe even a lack of a sense of reality that could lead to mental illness.

Reply
- Chuck Dunbar January 21, 2024
  
  Yes, for sure, we should welcome and honor great books like these–make folks aware, make them question, make them think. Deepen their young–or old– souls.
  
  I’ve read most of these, the most recent, For Whom the Bell Tolls, a truly great novel of war and love and friendship.
  
  Reply
  - Sarah Kennedy Owen January 21, 2024
    
    Exactly. Questioning and discussion. Unfortunately many young people are so attached to their screens they are missing out on the depth of meaning of these and other books. But not at least having a chance to read them makes no sense to me.
    
    Reply
Steve Heilig January 21, 2024

“Frisco used to be cool, but that’s all over now, man.” – Jack Kerouac, c.1959

Reply
- Chuck Dunbar January 21, 2024
  
  “Oh, man, it’s really over now, Jack, more than you could imagine. If you could only come back and visit us– take a look.”
  
  Reply
  - Sarah Kennedy Owen January 21, 2024
    
    I haven’t been to SF (is it ok to call it that?) in several years. Used to go often and lived there in the early to mid 70’s. A student like me at the time could afford to live there, barely, but it was sure worth it. So much to see and do.
    
    Reply
    - MAGA Marmon January 21, 2024
      
      Want To Call It Frisco? Ask The Hells Angels
      
      “The nickname Frisco’s appeal to motorcycle types is partially due to the simple fact that it’s short, and its six large letters easily fit on the back of a leather jacket. According to Wayward Angel, a 2008 memoir by George Wethern, a former vice president of the Hells Angels’ Oakland chapter, “Cities with long names were abbreviated.” San Bernardino became Berdoo. San Diego was Dago.”
      
      https://www.buzzfeed.com/williamalden/want-to-call-it-frisco-ask-the-hells-angels
      
      Strobe lights beam creates dreams
      Walls move, minds do too
      On a warm San Franciscan night
      Old child, young child, feel alright
      On a warm San Franciscan night
      Angels sing leather wings
      Jeans of blue Harley Davidsons too
      On a warm San Franciscan night
      Old angel, young angel, feel alright
      On a warm San Franciscan night
      
      https://www.google.com/search?q=san+franciscan+nights+lyrics&client=opera&hs=AXS&sca_esv=600299551&sxsrf=ACQVn08FKemn2VqGzavJvLVHLYgPcGl1Lg%3A1705885737299&ei=KcCtZbzDEaSwptQPsuudwAI&oq=San+Franciscan+Nights+lyrics&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiHFNhbiBGcmFuY2lzY2FuIE5pZ2h0cyBseXJpY3MqAggAMgUQABiABDIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeMggQABgWGB4YD0j-b1DWGViIX3AFeAGQAQCYAYUBoAHDCKoBAzAuObgBAcgBAPgBAcICChAAGEcY1gQYsAPCAg0QABiABBiKBRhDGLADwgINEC4YgAQYigUYQxiwA8ICDhAAGOQCGNYEGLAD2AEBwgITEC4YgAQYigUYQxjIAxiwA9gBAsICChAuGIAEGIoFGEPCAgUQLhiABMICCBAAGBYYHhgKwgIHEAAYgAQYDcICCBAAGAUYHhgN4gMEGAAgQYgGAZAGEroGBggBEAEYCboGBggCEAEYCA&sclient=gws-wiz-serp
      
      Marmon
      
      Reply
Mazie Malone January 21, 2024

Re; Can we ever make amends ???
The answer is yes…….
Will we …..
That is yet to be seen and unlikely systemically speaking…

Happy Sunday…. ❤️

mm 💕

Reply
Bruce McEwen January 21, 2024

The Blake Shelton song about the ass- kisser fits DeSantis: the craven son of a botch is kissing the ass of the jerk who insulted and ridiculed him through his whole campaign—whew, at least we dodged that fountain of empty promises and erstwhile leaky vessel of hope… !

Reply
- Call It As I See It January 21, 2024
  
  Yea, I guess if you’re a Libtard you make them your Vice President!!!!!!!!!!!! 12 exclamations, as you requested.
  
  Reply
Dick Whetstone January 21, 2024

Annie Oakley is displaying an excellent example of gun safety with her trigger discipline.

Reply
Craig Stehr January 21, 2024

Sitting in the common room at Building Bridges Homeless Resource Center in rain soaked Ukiah, California tonight, identifying with the Immortal Atman (the spiritual glow which lives in the savarupa, or center of the chest), reading about how completely insane the United States of America has become politically, how this lost “experiment with freedom and democracy” has tragically become. And then there is the bottomless abyss of homelessness. I’ll take a fully wired fully subsidized central Ukiah living situation, to destroy the demonic, and I don’t even care if it returns this world to righteousness. This is your opportunity to get real with me.
Craig Louis Stehr (Email: craiglouisstehr@gmail.com)

Reply
Donald Cruser January 22, 2024

Wyoming is cowboy country but, the real money in Wyoming is in coal, gas, oil, uranium, and electricity. Why-oh-why did I ever leave Wyoming?

Reply

Mendocino County Today: Sunday, Jan. 21, 2024

42 Comments

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