Mendocino County Today: Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024

128 Closed | Ocean Glimpse | Showers | AV Village | Rainfall Totals | Lansing Street | Land Lines | Pygmy Owl | Sheriff's Report | Punx Phil | Ed Notes | Woods Guide | Dear John | Basically Adequate | Immigration Raids | Fire Grants | Russian Gulch | Captain Fletcher | Yesterday's Catch | Klamath Return | Aiyuk Catch | Woke Bowl | Frisco Thing | Lousy Predictions | Playboy 1976 | AI Jobs | Tasty CD | Unexpected Instinct | Leading Apologist | Hup 2 | Group Clarification | Kneading

HWY 128 IS CLOSED

As Nick predicted, HWY 128 is closed due to flooding at mile marker 11.6 to the Navarro bridge. As announced by county EMS.

— Chuck Wilcher

RAINFALL (past 24 hours): Honeydew (Humboldt Co) 6.36" - Manchester 5.44" - Leggett 3.88" - Yorkville 3.80" - Boonville 3.43" - Laytonville 3.34" - Willits 2.60" - Ukiah 2.33" - Hopland 2.25" - Covelo 1.63"

INTERMITTENT SHOWERS will continue through Friday. Mainly dry weather is expected Saturday with another weather system moving up from the south and bringing more rain and high elevation snow late this weekend. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A partly cloudy 49F this Thursday morning on the coast. The wind did not get going yesterday but the rain sure did with 3.12" for the last 24 hours & a storm total of 3.61". Showers today & tomorrow then maybe a break on Saturday. Another big system for Sunday but the focus is south of here so likely much less robust. 2023: Oct 1.82” - Nov 3.24" - Dec 7.73” - 2024: Jan 10.22” - YTD 23.01”

A GREAT TURNOUT for the Bonner’s trip photos and Lauren’s soup making!

Let’s do this again – let us know if you would like to share your trip photos and adventures before our monthly gatherings or if you have a cooking related demo or other ideas for our gatherings.…

— Anderson Valley Village February 2024 Newsletter

MONTHLY RAINFALL TOTALS for the 2023-24 rain season (Oct-Sep) thus far…

Boonville (24.56" total)

2023
0.76" Oct
3.28" Nov
10.02" Dec

2024
10.50" Jan

Yorkville (31.96" total)

2023
1.32" Oct
4.84" Nov
12.48" Dec

2024
13.32" Jan

AT&T ABANDONING LAND LINES IN MOST OF MENDO

Chuck Dunbar

AT&T Wants To Hang-Up On Us

Regarding the nefarious AT&T CPUC application 23-03-003 that seeks to end California landline phone service in their current role as Carrier of Last Resort: This is a big deal for many, many citizens, especially those of us in rural regions lacking decent cell service. Personal safety and the ability to contact emergency services are foremost issues. Following is some useful feedback on this disturbing, dangerous move by our “public utility”:

KRCRTV News, 1.29.24:

…On Tuesday, we spoke with the Utility Reform Network (TURN) who is against the proposal to get their side of things and figure out more details on the proposal and the next steps.Telecommunications Policy Director Regina Costa explained to us the complicated process it will be.

Costa said AT&T has given their testimony already and TURN will be giving their response by the end of February then AT&T will get a second chance to explain their reasoning again. After that what are like court hearings will happen where both sides will argue for and against, have witnesses say their statements, and be cross-examined and then a judge will ultimately determine the outcome.

Costa explained that TURN believes that even if AT&T is denied they will then try to make it a law. “We think that their application they haven’t been able to support it and we really think that their goal is to take this to the legislature to try and convince them to just put a bill through regardless of what the commission does, so you know this is kind of the preliminary round.”

Costa also said one of AT&T’s main arguments is that a lot of people don’t use landlines these days, “One of their arguments is not as many people are using landlines but the other side of the coin is you’ve got over a million Californians using landlines,” Costa continued, “you have a situation where they have actively tried to drive people away from using landlines by not maintaining their network and then when people call in to complain it will take you a long time to fix it but if you want to switch over to this service you’ll get it right away, this is the game that they have been playing for a few years now, they’re obligated to maintain those lines and they haven’t done it.” She said TURN is going after AT&T for that in another important hearing about service quality.

AT&T and the CPUC would like to hear from you if you’re affected by this. ..Costa mentioned that she believes those public hearings will be important. “I think the public hearings are vitally important and I think the commission will pay a great deal of attention to them,” Costa said. “What’s really important is that people get up and speak from the heart and speak from their real-life experience.”

If you want to find out more information on the letter, hearings, or the map showing the areas it might take place, you can check out the California Public Utilities Commission website.

* * * 

Bob Abeles (Boonville)

I’ve done some slogging through the CPUC website from which I have garnered these pertinent facts:

AT&T is applying for relief from COLR in most if not all of rural California. A comprehensive list is here: https://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/PublishedDocs/Efile/G000/M521/K479/521479757.PDF. Looking at page 9, all of Anderson Valley is on the list.

A quote from the CPUC fact sheet https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpuc-website/divisions/news-and-outreach/documents/pao/pphs/2024/a2303002-a2303003-pph-fact-sheet_final.pdf:

What might happen if AT&T withdraws as a COLR? An area without a COLR could mean that there would be no landline telephone company serving that area and that there could possibly be no landline telephone access for customers in that area. If AT&T’s proposal were accepted as set forth in its application, then no COLR would be required to provide basic service in your area. This does not necessarily mean that no carriers would, in fact, provide service in your area—only that they would not be required to do so. Other outcomes are possible, such as another carrier besides AT&T volunteering to become the COLR in your area, or the CPUC denying AT&T’s proposal.

No joke. This is serious.

SHERIFF’S OFFICE BRASS PERSONNEL NEWS

by Sheriff Matt Kendall

January has been a busy month at the Sheriff’s Office. As the new year began, Undersheriff Darren Brewster retired after 34 years with us. 

Darren began his career in 1990 as a corrections deputy in the Mendocino County Jail. He was later assigned to the patrol division where he worked the North and Central sectors of the county. Darren served as a field training officer and was assigned to the major crimes unit as an investigator. Darren successfully worked a large variety of cases including narcotics, human trafficking, and murder for hire.

Darren was promoted to the rank of sergeant where he supervised personnel in the North and central sectors of Mendocino County. Darren was promoted to Lieutenant and served as the Major Crimes Commander. Darren was appointed to Undersheriff in 2000 and served in that role for four years. Darren served our county nearly his entire adult life and will be greatly missed. 

To fill this position, I was able to appoint a new Undersheriff, John J. Magnan who accepted this appointment and was sworn in on January 22.

John served 12 years in the United States Air Force as an Air Policeman before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office. Over nearly three decades John served in several different positions including dispatch, deputy sheriff, detective, and sergeant, overseeing several divisions in his career. John rose to the rank of Lieutenant where his final assignment was as a Lieutenant in a contract city where he carried out the duties of Assistant Chief. John retired from Riverside County and moved to the Mendocino Coast due to the incredible beauty of our region. John came to work for us as the Sheriff’s Office and initially served in the role of court security, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant where he served in the Mendocino County Jail. I consider us very fortunate to have a person with his knowledge and experience serving Mendocino County. 

Our Jail Commander, Captain Joyce Spears will be retiring in March of this year. Captain Spears has served Mendocino County for nearly 36 years and rose from the rank of Corrections Deputy to sergeant, lieutenant in charge of many aspects of the corrections division, and finally in the role of Captain, serving as the jail commander. Captain Spears’ experience and leadership has served us well and she will be greatly missed. 

Our Patrol Captain, Greg VanPatten was re-assigned as the jail commander from the patrol division and is working with Captain Spears coming up to speed on the Corrections side of the Sheriff’s Office. Captain Van Patten has over 25 years with the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office. During his career he has served in the role of patrol Captain for nearly a decade. Previous to this assignment Captain Van Patten served in roles including patrol deputy, detective, Detective Sergeant. and Detective Lieutenant. In his role as Jail Commander, Captain VanPatten will be overseeing jail operations as well as the build of the Behavioral Health wing of the Mendocino County Jail. With his deep experience in leadership and management we are in good hands moving forward. 

To fill the Patrol Captain position, I promoted Lt. Quincy Cromer. Captain Cromer began his career with the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office as a dispatcher, and has risen to the rank of Captain, serving in many roles, including dispatch, patrol, detectives, Patrol sergeant, Search and Rescue coordinator and Administrative Lieutenant.

We are also promoting Lieutenant Eldon Johnston from the rank of Sergeant to Lieutenant in the Corrections division. Lt. Johnston has served our office for over 26 years. During this time he has worked as a corrections deputy, sergeant and training officer overseeing many aspects of the jail. Lt. Johnston’s experience and understanding of our corrections division is unmatched. 

Our staffing numbers continue moving up steadily in the Corrections Division while our patrol numbers remain low. We have recently graduated two deputies from the police academy and currently have staff attending the police academy as well. 

As we continue into 2024 I am hopeful we will have a safe and productive year and remain thankful for the experience and knowledge our personnel bring to service in our communities.

ED NOTES

I KNOW this is naive, but I wonder at the image calculations of the two corporate-owned political parties. Who are their ads aimed at? With millions of people now registered as independents, why are the dark forces funding, for example, a sleazy character like Adam Schiff, and spending millions on his tv ads? 

OF THE THREE Democrat candidates for the U.S. Senate, Barbara Lee has the best record, and simply on the basis of her solitary vote against the Bush Gang's war on Iraq ought to be elected over the principle-free Schiff. Katie Porter is also a decent Democrat you could vote for without feeling suicidal for having done it, but watch Schiff get the nod. 2024 just might well wrap it up for America. The Schiffs of the country have US just about dead. 

(AS TOTAL WAR looms in the Middle East, it was the original U.S. invasion, based on the Bush Gang's Big Lie that Saddam Hussain possessed "weapons of mass destruction" which has since ignited the entire area.)

THE CANDIDATES for the local state offices seem to hire the same public relations firms. Their ads feature the candidate with his/her husband and their 2.2 children, plus a big, shaggy family dog, prompting me to wonder at the degree of family pathology hidden behind that tired perfection.

THE ASSUMPTION of these political ads is that we’re all so stupid that these portraits of family perfection in a country where intact, traditional family units are in the minority are somehow grounds for a vote. They must work somehow or candidates like the odious Schiff, who gets money from a virtual Who's Who of evil hunks of money, wouldn't bother. 

THE STAGING of these done-deal “debates” like the one coming up in Ukiah among the candidates for state Assembly draw mostly local middle of the road extremists affiliated with the Democratic Party for a couple of hours of the pure tedium that seems to reassure them that nothing in the way of progressive change is possible. I've never heard so much as an interesting sentence from a Northcoast Democrat. 

THE NORTHCOAST'S active Republicans are widely viewed even by other Republicans as so purely 5150 they do well to simply avoid mass conservatorship. I wish the local Republicans would do more in public, though, because they're funny as hell, looked at from the comic perspective. 

READING the day’s police reports all these years, I’m still struck by the pure incompetence of Mendocino County’s criminal class, all of whom, in the course of a year, are eventually arrested late at night doing something so flagrantly dumb that they ought to simply surrender themselves annually at the nearest jail. 

HERE'S how it goes around here: Sometime shortly after midnight, the typical, drug-soaked low level offender and his girlfriend, climb into an ‘88 TransAm and go out on a midnight mission. The vehicle is without a muffler or current registration. A tail light is out. It might as well have a 50-foot neon sign fixed to its roof pulsating in vivid reds, whites and blues — “Major Felonies Are About To Be Committed By The Occupants Of This Vehicle.”

INSIDE their felony wagon, Mr. and Ms. Typical Mendo Crook toss a couple of five-to-life bags of crank in plain view on the back seat. There's an unregistered handgun or an illegally short sawed-off shotgun under the driver’s seat.

IT'S A WEEK NIGHT as the couple sets forth. The driver and his “old lady,” a grandmother at 35, are the only motorists out there besides a small army of cops with nothing to do except an occasional domestic violence call. (This country seethes beneath its battered exteriors.)

GIVEN the visuals presented by the Trans Am, the couple is soon stopped by half of local law enforcement's late night shift. In court, the crook says he thought the white powder was sheet rock dust, that the guns belong to his cousin whose name he’s forgotten “but I think he lives up on Spy Rock,” that he had no idea the TransAm was stolen, that he and his girlfriend were embracing, not fighting. The guy’s indignant as hell at being in jail and even more indignant that nobody, “especially my Public Pretender,” will assist him or give him a fair deal. The public pretender and the DA agree to sentences of 3-5 for both miscreants who get out in 18 months and repeat all of the above.

JIM WOOD'S GUIDE TO WHO NOT TO VOTE FOR

CONGRESSMAN HUFFMAN to John Sakowicz: 

”Welcome to my spam filter john. I should have put you there a long time ago. You've really lost it.”

CRAIG VOTES

Okay, I'm Voting!

Hello everybody, Please know that even though I have nothing whatsoever to be grateful for in Mendocino County, I have not yet completely thrown in the towel on postmodern America. I am voting! Barbara Lee for U.S. California senator, Yukon tribal vice-chairman Frankie Myers for the district two state assembly seat, because we need an "Earth First!er" and not another Healdsburg ex-mayor to represent the rugged north coast, Yes on the money for mental health, homelessness, and everything else that the Jarvis-Gann middle class is against, Yes on charging a buck by the DMV to ensure that abandoned vehicles continue to be removed, and I am casting one vote for Mo Mulhern (even though her challenger is gung ho to make positive changes), because I like her general attitude, and according to the local press, nobody is going to accomplish anything really amazing in the morass of city and county government. By the way, how is the woman doing who took the money and moved to San Diego? I believe that you are getting my point here. Is it not?

All of this said, I will now walk around in the Ukiah downpour, because I love both the redwoods and the rain, chanting the Hare Krishna mahamantram, identified with the Immortal Atman as opposed to the body-mind complex, and wondering how the federal housing voucher got terminated in spite of having a housing navigator, and sufficient time which was supposed to be added to the termination date, following two hospital and skilled nursing facility stays. At least I've secured a dental appointment in Windsor, CA in March to have a molar steel crowned with the insurance paying for it. Social security money is due in tonight. Life at the Building Bridges Homeless Resource Center is basically adequate. ~The End~

Craig Louis Stehr

MENDOCINO COUNTY FIRE SAFE COUNCIL ANNOUNCES THIRD ROUND OF MICRO-GRANT FUNDING

The Mendocino County Fire Safe Council (MCFSC) is excited to announce its third year of Micro-Grants for local Neighborhood Fire Safe Councils (NFSCs) and fire departments. These grants, from $2,000 to $10,000, support local projects that enhance wildfire preparedness and resiliency across Mendocino County. This year, there is a total of at least $100,000 available, made possible through a generous $50,000 matching grant from PG&E Corporation Foundation.

Local collaboration and proactive planning remain integral to effective wildfire preparedness, and MCFSC’s Micro-Grants are meant to encourage this. Beyond the financial assistance, they spur local coordination, organizing, and action, and stimulate volunteerism towards community safety while strengthening relationships within and between Neighborhood Fire Safe Councils (NFSCs) and fire departments. 

Fire departments and Mendocino County NFSCs that have formed before March 1, 2024 are eligible to apply for Micro-Grants. Neighborhoods who want to establish a local Fire Safe Council are encouraged to visit firesafemendocino.org/starting-a-neighborhood-fire-safe-council/ to learn more.

Last year, five fire departments and eleven NFSCs received Micro-Grants for a range of impactful projects such as installing water tanks and reflective address signs, brush clearing, fuel-reduction, a vibrant community event, a fire-prevention trailer, a hydrant system, Knox locks, defensible-space Home Assessments, and other endeavors.

Preference will be given to projects demonstrating significant contributions to wildfire safety, preparedness, and resilience. A portion of the funding will also be reserved for NFSCs that are actively working toward Firewise Community status. Successful proposals are also expected to generate shareable content such as photos, quotes, or stories, be led by individuals with relevant experience, and ideally leverage volunteer time and collaboration with other local groups or fire departments where applicable. Proposals that would qualify for funding from other sources are discouraged. 

Applications will be accepted from March 1 to March 31, 2024, with a limit of one application per organization. Award announcements will be made by April 30, 2024, and all projects must be completed by April 31, 2025. 

Applicants are encouraged to thoroughly review the Micro-Grant Guidelines before submitting an application. These can be found at firesafemendocino.org/2024-micro-grants. For inquiries or to receive the Guidelines and Application Form by email, contact Eva King at king@firesafemendocino.org. 

This funding opportunity has been made possible by the Mendocino County Fire Safe Council and its dedicated members and donors, with special appreciation to PG&E Corporation Foundation for their significant funding contribution. 

The String Creek Fire Safe Council received a Micro-Grant in 2023 to purchase a strategically located water tank for emergency fire-suppression.

CAPTAIN AT THE MOUTH

by Jeff Burroughs

Charles Fletcher, or Captain Fletcher as he was often called, was a sailor who was the first to settle at the mouth of the Navarro River sometime in the early 1850s. He ran a ferry service for years where he had a dugout log boat for travelers, and a swim for their horses. Later he built a flat boat to better accommodate his passengers, and the tired, wet horses.

Captain Fletcher was a man of what we often call pioneer stock. Adventurous, independent, strong-backed and above all a character. Fletcher was all of these and more. He stood tall at a whopping six foot six and weighed in at nearly 250 pounds.

Fletcher built his home at a point very close to the pounding surf of the Pacific Ocean — at his back lay miles of untamed wilderness along the banks of the pristine Navarro River. But, as all good things usually do, this solitary Eden disappeared with the coming of the seeking masses. The first to arrive were the small families, ranchers, farmers and homesteaders. Later came big business, logging, mills, and money giants.

Being that Fletcher was the old pioneer of the Navarro, he was often looked upon for advice, counsel and the lending of his hunting rifle. Hunting rifles were a scarce commodity in those early years. The practice of neighbors borrowing his hunting rifle became an annoyance beyond which even a gracious old pioneer could stand; it became a source of contention so much that he came up with a solution to the problem that would remedy the constant knocks at his door and the lack of deer meat in his cooler.

Fletcher wrote a letter back east to one of the large gun manufacturers and ordered what is known as a rifle blank. A rifle blank consists of a long section of barrel and the appropriate pieces to construct a gun that meets the needs of the owner. The only thing one wouldn't get is the material for the wooden stock which Fletcher would have to carve out himself. When Captain Fletcher was finished putting together his custom rifle it weighed over 30 pounds and was six feet long. 

Word got out about the Captain’s new gun and it wasn't long before the first neighbor was knocking at his door. This was the moment the old captain had been waiting for. 

The neighbor came in with hat in hand and asked “May I borrow your rifle, Captain?” to which the Captain said, “Why sure, it's right over there leaning against the fireplace.” The neighbor smiled and moved swiftly towards the new rifle, smug in the fact that he would be the first man around town to have used the old Captain’s new rifle. 

But as he grabbed hold of the heavy rifle barrel and went to yank it up to his closer examination, a sickening “CRACK” sound came from his arm as the huge gun hadn't budged from its spot. A sheepish grin fell over the neighbor's face with a glint of agony and pain streaking through his veins. The old captain hid his amusement behind the shadow of his smoking pipe. 

The neighbor, using both hands this time, heaved the heavy rifle up onto his shoulder, his knees buckling slightly from the weight, tipped his hat and left out through the door a bit wobbly legged, the look of uncertainty all over his face. The captain broke into a mighty grin and coughed out a puff of pipe smoke as he leaned forward in a belly laugh.

Then the old man lifted himself up from his easy chair and proceeded to walk outside to see how his neighbor was getting on with the rifle. As he peered out through the window he noticed that a crowd had gathered around the neighbor and the old man’s rifle. Everyone was admiring the gun and an argument started over who was going to be the first to fire it. 

The argument was soon settled and the original neighbor having won out, proceeded to load the gun and head for the nearest fence post on which he could rest the rifle and shoot at some target. With half the town following behind him, the neighbor came to the fence post, crouched down a little and took aim at an old bucket a few yards away. The air became deathly quiet as everyone began to ease into a crouch trying to get the same position as the shooter. There was a flash of powder and a mighty roar from the rifle blast. Immediately came the sounds of fleeing footsteps from the townspeople, as well as barking dogs and babies crying from cribs a mile away. When the smoke cleared there was no sign of the neighbor or anyone else for that matter.

Old Captain Fletcher could see his rifle sitting all by itself leaning on the fence post, so he casually walked out to the fence and with one hand easily lifted the rifle up onto his huge 6’6” frame and walked back into his house.

Captain Fletcher never had to worry about anyone wanting to borrow his hunting rifle ever again.

(The late Bob Lee of Ukiah deserves credit for this story.)

CATCH OF THE DAY, Wednesday, January 31, 2024

JAKE COOPER, Willits. DUI-alcohol&drugs, controlled substance, paraphernalia.

MANUEL GONZALEZ, Willits. Assault with deadly weapon not a gun, DUI, resisting.

MICHAEL MENDEZ, Ukiah. Drinking in public, false ID, probation revocation.

MICHAEL OLVERA-CAMPOS, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs. (Frequent flyer.)

ANJEL OROPEZA, Las Vegas/Ukiah. DUI, concealed dirk-dagger, possession of deadly weapons by person confined or transported to custody, disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs.

PEDRO SALDANA, Boonville. Probation revocation.

WATER IN KLAMATH DAMS RELEASED

by Sage Alexander

In January, water held behind massive dams on the Klamath River began to be released in preparation for dam removal. The river has been reconnected where the Copco 1. reservoir once was for the first time in over a hundred years with the return of these flows, called the drawdown phase.

“I was super impressed, especially with Copco reservoir. It looks like it’s just going to be amazing salmon habitat,” said Regina Chichizola, executive director of Save California Salmon who was there Sunday. She was surprised how quick the river found channels; she said she was watching the Klamath find itself again. 

Water was released through a tunnel Jan. 11 at a gate at the base of iron gate. A concrete plug was blasted out at J.C. Boyle on Jan. 16, which drained in around 16 hours. On Jan. 23, a concrete plug was blown out at Copco’s reservoir. 

The water releases were timed during winter, when many of the most sensitive animals like endangered salmon are out of the main stem of the Klamath and winter flows would help the sediment move along, according to the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, the entity responsible for dam removal. The KRRC estimated there is 17-20 million cubic yards of sediment behind Iron Gate, JC Boyle, and Copco No. 1, with five to seven million cubic yards expected to go downstream in January and February. 

Mike Belchik, senior water policy analyst for the Yurok Tribe, said the sediment is acting largely as expected and watched the water darken as flows from upriver dams reached him. 

“Nothing we’re seeing is outside of prediction, but there are going to be impacts,” he said, noting a predicted lowering of suspended oxygen levels. Now, when the sediment from upriver dams reach iron gate. suspended sediment is more significant. 

The reservoirs may refill periodically during winter runoff and need to be drained again, though there are drought conditions right now. Iron Gate’s reservoir has partially refilled from upriver water releases. 

“We get lots of spring runoff. We’re draining them so slowly, they could refill and then we’ll have to let them drain again. And so for that reason, we don’t expect to get underway with any sort of deconstruction of the dams themselves until May or June,” said Ren Brownell, public information officer for the KRRC. 

This first phase is expected to be completed in February, with water quality expected to improve in March. The EPA and KRRC have estimated that it will take between 18-24 months for water quality to improve to pristine conditions; Chichizola pointed out that sediment is preferable to the toxic algae that bloomed every summer in the reservoirs that produced Microcystin that biologists estimate will all but vanish when the reservoirs are removed. 

Dam removal is on track for Fall of 2024, marking a success for decades of tribal and grassroots advocacy to restore conditions on the river, particularly for salmon. The reservoir is already being planted by the Yurok Fisheries Department’s Revegetation crew to get native plants established. 

For Chichizola, she said that removal goes beyond the hope for the return of the salmon and the connection with people, and noted the mental health of communities along the Klamath. 

“To know that we were able to make this kind of change. I think it’s gonna give a lot of hope to especially the younger people in our community,” she said, in the face of climate change. 

The salmon population in the Klamath hit abysmal counts in 2023, and Chichizola said she is hopeful for a rebound in a few years based on dam removals on other dams. 

Previously, Copco No. 2, the smallest dam was removed to make way for these flows. 

Brownell noted that the non-native fish that live in the reservoirs are expected to all die. She encouraged people to stay out of the reservoir, noting that 2 sightings have been reported of wildlife stuck in the thick, soupy mud. She encouraged people to call California Department of Fish and Wildlife if they see stuck wildlife and not get themselves stuck. 

(Eureka Times-Standard via Ukiah Daily Journal.)

AIYUK’S MIRACLE CATCH in the NFC Championship Game where Brandon Aiyuk dove to catch a ball that bounced off the defender’s facemask.

Aiyuk: “Before the game, a ladybug landed on my shoe, and y’all know what that means. That’s all I can say.” 

George Kittle: “I saw the replay and I was like, ‘Ha! Just how we intended it, off the guy’s facemask and right to BA [Brandon Aiyuk],’ Dang, Brock’s [Purdy] good at football isn’t he?” 

Brock Purdy: “It was an ‘opportunity ball.’ In that moment I’m looking at it like, ‘We need a play.’ I’m not going to be stupid and just throw the ball up. BA is one-on-one. I’m going to take that up. Especially in this kind of game, we needed that kind of play. People can say what they want, but I was giving my guy a shot and it worked out.” 

THE SUPERWOKE BOWL

by Scott Ostler

The Woke Bowl — San Francisco 49ers vs. Kansas City Chiefs a week from Sunday in Las Vegas — is already a disaster for roughly one-third of America.

The Chiefs represent Taylor Swift, the Trump-scorning girlfriend of tight end Travis Kelce, himself a left-winger vaccinated so many times that his arm has more chips than a bag of Doritos.

The 49ers, to those who slurp at media outlets like Fox News, carry the banner of the poop-smothered city that makes the Sodom-Gomorrah metroplex look like “Mayberry R.F.D.”

But this Super Bowl, for many a clash of two teams with odious overtones, has suddenly taken a much darker turn.

Thanks to a host of right-wing news sources with a wide collective audience, everyone with half a brain (but no more) is convinced that the Democratic Party and the NFL have joined in a conspiracy to assure that the Chiefs beat the 49ers.

Major right-wing media influencers, and even a presidential hopeful, are uniting to spread the word of this devious plot, the purpose of which is to provide Swift an even greater platform from which to rock the 2024 vote in favor of Joe Biden.

“I wonder who’s going to win the Super Bowl next month,” Vivek Ramaswamy smirked recently, pushing and legitimizing the theory that the fix is in. 

Oh, this sneaky plot is real, and we will see proof on Super Sunday. Either the Chiefs will win, a clear demonstration that the Super Bowl was rigged, or the 49ers will win, proof that the sinister left-wing plot was foiled by brilliant counter-operatives on the far right.

Until the final gun, though, it’s going to be a tough day for those on the far right.

San Francisco has become the poster city for the dystopian doom loop (also the name of a ride at Great America, I believe) unleashed by Democratic leadership in major cities. No 49ers live in San Francisco, and none has expressed any political opinions, but the uniform doesn’t lie.

Did you see California Gov. Gavin Newsom on the 49ers’ sideline before last Sunday’s NFC Championship Game at Levi’s Stadium? And, recently saluted at a 49ers’ game: Dr. Harry Edwards, the radical sports sociologist who led an Olympics protest in 1968 that was a spiritual predecessor to Colin Kaepernick’s kneel-down social-justice protests of 2017.

Many right-leaning Americans will never forgive or forget how the 49ers almost ruined America’s sport and the country itself with those silent pregame protests. And now there is a rumor that former 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh, recently hired by the Chargers, will bring in Kaepernick as his quarterbacks coach!

Also on the 49ers’ sideline last Sunday: Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, a reminder that the Bay Area music scene has long been a thorn in the side of right-wing America. War-protesting Joan Baez, Creedence Clearwater (“Fortunate Son”), Green Day (they mocked Trump in a nationally televised New Year’s Eve appearance), the Smothers Brothers (anti-war activists).

Look, San Francisco represents the radical left coast and all its liberal lunacy, and the 49ers represent San Francisco.

That said, Kansas City is catching up quickly, woke-wise. The Chiefs’ beloved quarterback Patrick Mahomes participated in an NFL video for Black Lives Matter in 2020, and he has supported movements to end voter suppression in the Black community.

The big troublemakers right now, though, are Travis & Taylor, whose influence is huge and growing. Separately, each was a pain in the far right’s tush, but together they are a dangerous force.

Kelce was one of the few white NFL players who joined the kneel-down protests. He is an active BLM supporter, and has spoken publicly in support of social justice.

Swift, who actively encourages voting, is expected to attend this SuperWoke Bowl, jetting back from her concert tour stop in Japan. So the game telecast will feature frequent cut-aways to Tay-Tay cavorting in a luxury suite with Kelce’s family.

TV’s fixation with Swift at Chiefs’ games has become a colossal irritant to many fans. She is so, so … I don’t know, you know? What does she have to do with the game? Such a distraction from the real football, from stuff such as camera shots of team owners awkwardly high-fiving future heirs and flunkies, shots of shirtless louts waving “D (fence)” signs, low-angle closeups of “cheerleaders.”

So the radical right is desperate to thwart the conspiracy by the NFL/Democrats to fix the big game. But, how? The righteous righties can’t tinker with the scoreboard, because only Democrats know how to cheat by rigging machines. Can’t bribe the refs, the NFL surely has them locked up tight.

How the right will foil the plot is anyone’s guess, but they must find a way. Otherwise, Swift will entice people to vote, and if people vote, democracy is screwed. 

By the way, don’t believe every crazy thing you hear. There might be a rumor that the Democrats will run Swift as their presidential candidate. Are you kidding? A president who is a preening pop celebrity who spends hours a day on their makeup and hair, whose only qualification for office is the power to draw crowds of adoring, hypnotized followers. Let’s not get sucked into that kind of silliness.

We live in a world where everyone wants to measure things. Where we can track everything by percentages. Where we want to crunch human emotion and organic ideas into numbers and coding. Stick them into a computer and spit out a graph, a chart, a data set. In that world, momentum isn’t real, team chemistry isn’t real — all that’s real can be revealed on a computer screen.

But that’s not what sports is about. It is not what continues to make sporting events the most compelling, unpredictable drama we currently have in our overly digitized, datafied world. Sports is about humans rising to the challenge, about emotions propelling action or clouding judgment, about singular moments in time.

— Anne Killion

CALIFORNIA’S LOUSY REVENUE PREDICTION TRACK RECORD

by Dan Walters

A review of recent state budgets and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s newly released 2024-25 budget proposal reveals truly monumental errors in revenue estimates by his fiscal advisors, particularly personal income taxes.

The stark differences between estimates and reality, if continued, will affect the state budget’s solvency for at least the remaining years of Newsom’s governorship. 

Newsom’s latest budget acknowledges that income taxes, which are mostly paid by those in upper income brackets, are $44 billion less than previously projected for the three-year “budget window” from 2022-23 through 2024-25. But the shortfall is actually billions of dollars more. 

When Newsom and the Legislature enacted a 2022-23 budget in June 2022, it assumed that income taxes would bring in $129 billion. Later, that projection dropped to $122.8 billion and Newsom’s latest budget set it even lower at $101.8 billion, as state officials close the books on that fiscal year. 

The 2023-24 budget adopted last year projected $118.2 billion in income tax revenues, but it’s since been revised to $113.8 billion. And Newsom’s newest budget assumes that income taxes will bring in $114.7 billion for the fiscal year 2024-25, a $4 billion drop from last year’s assumption. 

Over the three-year period, Newsom pegs the revenue shortfall at $44 billion, but it’s more likely $51 billion if one begins with the original numbers from 2022-23 — when Newsom famously bragged about the state’s having a $98 billion surplus. 

“No other state in American history has ever experienced a surplus as large as this,” Newsom said as he unveiled a $300-plus billion budget that the Legislature eagerly adopted with a few tweaks. 

Newsom’s budget for 2024-25 assumes that the freefall in income tax receipts will end and revenues will actually pick up a bit next year. However, the Legislature’s budget analyst, Gabe Petek sees continued revenue weakness and pegs the three-year shortfall at $58 billion. Their differing projections are the main reason their estimates of the overall budget deficit are $30 billion apart. 

Although Newsom’s budget was unveiled just two weeks ago, income taxes — the largest single source of state revenue — are already falling behind. So far in January they are running $3 billion behind the new budget’s assumption. 

This is no small matter. Newsom will revise his budget in May, and he and the Legislature will enact a budget in June that will be based on a revenue figure of some kind. Legislators will be tempted to adopt a rosy figure from Newsom rather than Petek’s lower number to minimize how much spending must be reduced to close the gap. It will particularly affect state support for K-12 schools, the state’s largest single budget obligation, which is largely determined by a revenue-based formula. 

However, if the Legislature does go for a higher revenue number, as it has it years past, and it proves to be as off the mark as other recent estimates have been, the effect will be traumatic for programs that depend on state financing. 

Newsom blames the seven-month delay in the deadline for filing 2022 income tax returns, from April 2023 to November, for masking the sharp drop in revenue, and that contributed to the huge disparity. However, he and the Legislature could — and should — have been much more conservative in their guesswork. 

The record of errors implies that either the administration’s methodology for projecting revenues is faulty or it has been consciously adopting rosy numbers to make the state’s fiscal situation seem better than it really is. Newsom’s much-trumpeted but bogus surplus proclamation in 2022 invites skepticism about what he is telling Californians now. 

(CalMatters.org)

ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Ten Jobs That AI Will Replace:

1) Tech jobs (i.e., coders, computer programmers)

2) Media jobs (i.e., advertising, technical writing)

3) Legal industry jobs (i.e., paralegals, legal assistants)

4) Market research analysts

5) Teachers

6) Finance jobs

7) Traders

8) Graphic designers

9) Accountants

10) Customer service agents

LARRY LIVERMORE: 

This CD appeared on the ledge outside my window last week. No, I don’t know what band it is; this is on the 14th floor, and no one has access to the ledge except the pigeons who hang out there, so I assume it belongs to one of them. But that’s not the weirdest bit. When it first appeared, it had what looked like it had one small bite taken out of it. Since then, every day a little bit more of it gets eaten away. I could see a pigeon taking a nibble to check it out, but would he keep coming back for more? Or are all the neighbourhood pigeons (there are many) coming round for a sample? I can't imagine a CD being too tasty, but then I've never been a pigeon, so who am I to judge?

ADMIT IT. You aren’t like them. You’re not even close. You may occasionally dress yourself up as one of them, watch the same mindless television shows as they do, maybe even eat the same fast food sometimes. But it seems that the more you try to fit in, the more you feel like an outsider, watching the “normal people” as they go about their automatic existences. For every time you say club passwords like “Have a nice day” and “Weather’s awful today, eh?”, you yearn inside to say forbidden things like “Tell me something that makes you cry” or “What do you think deja vu is for?”

Face it, you even want to talk to that girl in the elevator. But what if that girl in the elevator (and the balding man who walks past your cubicle at work) are thinking the same thing? Who knows what you might learn from taking a chance on conversation with a stranger? Everyone carries a piece of the puzzle. Nobody comes into your life by mere coincidence. Trust your instincts. Do the unexpected. Find the others. 

—Timothy Leary

MEET THE WASHINGTON POST’S LEADING APOLOGIST FOR ISRAELI GENOCIDE

by Melvin Goodman

Ruth Marcus is the Deputy Editorial Page Editor for the Washington Post, and a regular oped writer for the paper. Marcus is an attorney, who decided to remain in journalism rather than practice law. She identifies herself ideologically and politically as a liberal and as a Zionist. In her most recent oped (“U.N. court’s ruling on Israel and Gaza is a perversion of justice”) she referred to herself as a “proud Jew,” who was no supporter of the “Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ultra-Orthodox and settler allies.” Her oped, however, is an apology for Israel that accepts virtually every Israeli argument against accusations of genocide in Gaza.

Marcus falsely argues that Israel has “taken extraordinary steps to prevent civilian casualties and otherwise mitigate the suffering of innocents.” The facts on the ground argue the opposite. More than 70 percent of Gaza’s homes have been destroyed and more than half of its buildings have been damaged or destroyed. Much of the water, electrical communications and health care infrastructure that made Gaza function is beyond repair. Only a handful of Gaza’s 38 hospitals can accept patients. Two-thirds of Gaza’s school buildings have been damaged or destroyed, as have several churches and more than 100 mosques.

The brutal bombardment that caused this destruction is consistent with the remarks of an Israeli military officer who warned recently that “Whoever returns here, if they return here after, will find scorched earth. No houses, no agriculture, no nothing. They have no future.” Official Israeli statements and the actions of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) demonstrate the intention to ensure that Gaza will never be habitable again. Even worse, the Israelis have destroyed shelters, even those they have directed Palestinian civilians to occupy, and they have destroyed more than a dozen Gaza cemeteries.

Marcus takes issue with the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which charged that “some of the acts…committed by Israel in Gaza appear to be capable of falling within the provisions of the [Genocide] Convention.” Marcus attacks the Court for focusing on “a few statements by Israeli officials in the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7” that were consistent with genocidal intent. In fact, there are numerous examples of such statements at every level of Netanyahu’s administration, the Israeli government, and an Israeli society that treat the Palestinians as less than human. This has been true for the past fifty years, starting with Prime Minister Golda Meir’s dismissal of Palestinians as “roaches.”

Marcus also claims there have been Israeli efforts to “mitigate civilian harm by warning them through leaflets, radio messages and telephone calls of impending attacks,” and its “facilitation of humanitarian assistance.” Marcus couldn’t be more wrong. What is particularly sinful is the Israeli efforts to cut off electricity, water, fuel and food to a trapped Palestinian population of 2.2 million, and to attack the very shelters that they have been told to occupy. The blockade itself is consistent with the war crime of collective punishment.

Marcus’s claims of Israeli warning is belied by a particularly savage attack in October, when the Israelis used 2,000-pound bombs that killed and wounded nearly 400 civilians in an effort to kill a senior Hamas commander. An Israeli spokesman acknowledged that no warning was given because “that would have allowed” the commander to escape. The IDF killing of three Israeli hostages who were trying to escape Hamas demonstrated that the white flag of surrender and raised hands mean nothing to Israeli soldiers.

Marcus echoes the Israeli representative to the Court who claimed there was “scant evidence” of genocidal intent in comparison to the ICJ’s finding regarding Myanmar’s treatment of the Muslim Rohingya, which took two years of “meticulous collection of evidence.” I would argue the opposite. It’s our knowledge of Myanmar and the Rohingya, Rwanda, Bosnia, and Armenia that compel us to compare Israeli savagery. If we merely research and study the problem for the next two years, there may be no Gaza to examine and many more Palestinians who have been killed or placed in refugee camps that have existed since the original Israeli displacement of Palestinians 75 years ago.

One of Marcus’s most bizarre comments is that “Killing civilians…undermines [the interests] of Israel.” If so, how does one explain the killing of so many innocent civilians and children. Even Marcus acknowledges that the Genocide Convention requires “both acts and intent.” And the acts must cause “serious bodily or mental harm,” and the deliberate “inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” That is exactly what we have been witnessing on a daily basis for the past four months.

The last line of Marcus’s oped is particularly egregious. She argues that Israel is being treated differently for the same reason that “necessitated the existence of a Jewish state to begin with.” In other words, she echoes the standard Israeli response that any criticism of Israel is simply another form of anti-semitism. Sadly, we are witnessing a text book case of genocide.

‘THE FIX IS IN’

by Matt Taibbi

Last week on this site, I published, “Is the Electoral Fix Already In?” and held a livestream on the subject that same night. I wanted to make sure I clarified something mentioned on the livestream.

I asked former Department of Defense official and current Georgetown Law professor Rosa Brooks if she was involved with the “loose-knit network of public interest groups and lawmakers” reported on by NBC News in its January 14th article, “Fears grow that Trump will use the military in ‘dictatorial ways’ if he returns to the White House.” Brooks was the co-founder of the Transition Integrity Project profiled in the article, a “loose” group that got a lot of press in the summer of 2020.

One of the only people mentioned by name by NBC as a participant in the new group is Mary McCord, former acting head of the National Security Division at the Justice Department and also a Georgetown academic, serving as director of the Institution for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law. Brooks not only said she was not part of the group reported on by NBC (“Nope”), but added, “I am not sure there even is a ‘group,’ as such — just various people and organizations that occasionally coordinate or at least touch base, but often don’t do either.” Having mentioned it on the air, I thought I should put that answer in print. Thanks. Stay tuned for a story on different subject, momentarily.