Mendocino County Today: Friday, Feb. 2, 2024

Showers | Corvid | Pineapple Express | Campground Host | AVUSD News | Clow Painting | Agenda Notes | Also Bought | Ed Notes | Kruger Guilty | Assembly Candidates | Freeway Traffic | Exciting News | Open | Shattuck Statement | Addendum | Flush Not | Unity Dinner | Widow Help | Book Club | Merchant Meeting | Music Event | Date Night | Wrestling Eureka | Capital Summit | Apple Box | Name Changers | Generic Maga | Redwood Run | Yesterday's Catch | Forever Available | Cult Brain | Golden State | Niner Wines | Superbound | Controversial Bill | Lunch Counter | Zoom Bombs | Motel Neon | Sloppy Santos | Eastwoods | Be Well | Whale Heart | Abortion Law | Social Commitment | Targeting Dissent | Mass Deception | Empire Stupidity | When Old | Hell's Gate

SHOWERS, ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS AND SMALL HAIL are forecast through tonight as a cold upper level trough approaches the North Coast. Precipitation is forecast to diminish Saturday as drier offshore flow develops. Precipitation is forecast to return on Sunday, mostly for Mendocino, Lake and Trinity Counties. Wrap around precipitation may impact the higher elevations of Trinity County with heavy snow Sunday into Monday. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): On the coast this Friday morning I have a cloudy 48F with .58" of new rainfall. Today should look like yesterday with periods of sun then showers or thunder. Maybe a sprinkle on Saturday then a bigger system for Sunday (although less than our Wednesday event). Next week is a mixed bag right now, we'll see.

JIM SHIELDS WRITES

We have two Pineapple Expresses passing our way this week. Pineapple Express was the nickname airline employees, like I used to be and loved every minute of it, coined for winter tropical storms originating around Hawaii picking up moisture from the Pacific and then walloping the U.S. and Canada's West Coasts with heavy rainfall and snow. I worked graveyard and our last plane to unload was the first to arrive in the morning around 6am, the Honolulu to SFO flight. With Pineapple Express tailwinds accelerating it, the plane would arrive 30 minutes early. I worked for Western Airlines and our Meteorologists told us that a PE can carry up to 28 times more water than the Mississippi River. I have no idea how much water is in the Mississippi, but I know that PEs usually dump mega-inches on the West Coast. This first PE will continue until Saturday and as of this moment it has dropped 4.25 inches since 5am on Wednesday, Jan. 31. That pushed our season total to 32.19 inches of precip, which is about half of our annual historical average of 66.5 inches. We discovered during recent droughts that our ancient Long Valley aquifer recharges itself at 29 inches. Man, we get insanely high levels of rain here in the North County. Anyway, flood warnings have been issued for the Russian River near Hopland in the inland, and Navarro River near the town of Navarro on the Coast.

Hasta Luego.

WASTING SCHOOL RESOURCES ON YEARS-OLD COVID BOOKKEEPING

Dear Anderson Valley Community,

I am writing to you to share my frustration about one of the stupidest things I've ever seen in education in my 15 years, since I've been involved in it.

This week, school districts across the State received written notice of a requirement from the California Department of Education (CDE) that districts are expected to complete a report for years of expenses purchased with ESSER 4 and GEER funding, which was the Covid monies that were given to school districts during the pandemic. We have reported on these expenses annually and accurately. This funding purchased a variety of things from small to large including cleaning and sanitizing supplies, Chromebooks, hot spots, air filters etc… all the way to large expenses such as new air conditioning systems. The expenses were many and important, and we diligently reported on the expenses annually and passed our audits on those expenses. State guidance when the funds were dispersed was limited and reporting requirements were changing it seemed week by week.

Now, years later, CDE is asking all districts across the state to pull every single invoice that was spent for anything that was bought with the Covid money and then calculate demographically what children benefited from that expense in a broad range of categories including: Did they have a disability? Were they socio-economically disadvantaged? Were they English Language Learners? By CDE's own admission this will take every single district office across the state 152 hours to complete and it has to be done in March. More importantly, it has no direct benefit to kids today.

I am sharing this with you because I know the Anderson Valley Advertiser has an eclectic group of readers, and you know that I am not bashful for pointing out when things are inequitable to poor, rural, small school systems. I am hoping that someone that is connected to a good contact can help CDE realize what a disproportionate burden this is for small, tiny, rural school systems. We are not LA Unified with an accounting staff of 300 people. Every hour our district office staff takes away from our district operations completing unnecessary paperwork is an hour we take away from work that benefits our kids in the district today. The District has made huge growth post-Covid in refocusing our students on expectation and work ethic and improving facilities, and I don't need our accounting staff to be doing busy work for paper pushers in Sacramento. 

We have reached out to contacts far and wide down the State to activate our district lobbyists, Congressman Huffman's office has supported our request to look into it, and our trade organizations for school district administrators are fiercely protesting this ill-advised requirement. If you know anyone that has any influence with CDE, the Governor, or Assembly or Legislative members, this needs to be unwound. It gets even stupider that this report is supposed to be completed in the month of March and CDE hasn’t even released the template. 

I really wish California would reevaluate CDE structures and get their personnel out in the field and see what school systems with four or five people in a district office do before they mandate pointless, time-consuming, and probably never read reports that have no direct impact on the success and achievement of kids.

If you know somebody that can unwind this stupidity, now is the time to call.

* * *

Appreciating AV Bus Drivers; Honoring Top Students

A huge shout out to our amazing bus transportation staff for their stellar performance in such challenging weather conditions. We are grateful. As a reminder, if the bus stop sign is extended, Do not pass the bus. Your help keeping our kids safe is appreciated!

Congratulations to our Junior Senior High Students of the Month:

Sammy Guerrero, Samantha Escalera, Gryffin Chagoya, Giovanni Lopez, Samantha Flores-Bailon, Juan Vazquez, Cristian DeJesus-Gonzalez, Vianett Camarillo, Tamara Arguelles, Omar Anguiano, Abigail Jones.

Take care,

Louise Simson, Superintendent

AV Unified School District

NORM CLOW

This painting, "Flowers In A Window", that I did in October 2017 popped up today with some others in a "Facebook memory." 

I had given it to my late friend in Ukiah, Judy Pinto (Rena Estes' cousin) where she hung it in her dining room over a table holding some stunning flame glass. Judy always complimented my work, and said she wished she could afford to buy a piece. (I've never even thought about selling a painting, I just give some of them to friends.) So, I thought, gee, Judy, actually, you can, framed it, got her address from Rena, and put it in the mail to her. I'm so glad it gave her a lot of pleasure. It's really one of my best works, if I may say so, in my less-than-humble opinion.

COUNTY AGENDA NOTES

by Mark Scaramella

Our very, very busy Supervisors have posted an agenda for Tuesday, February 4, 2024 that is so devoid of substance that they may as well not meet. No action is proposed to be taken and no financial or revenue collection reports are listed.

Item 4a on the “regular agenda” is a generic placeholder for whichever department heads may choose to say something (or not — whatever), no specifics provided much less required. There’s a “discussion and possible action” of a new operations model for the County Museum and a review of a draft Community Action Plan for Redwood Valley that their own Planning Department says they don’t have time to staff and finish. 

The rest of the “regular agenda” is just inconsequential place holders. (CEO report (if done), Legislative Platform, Supervisors reports…

On the “We Don’t Much Care/Please Don’t Bother Us With This Crap” agenda, there’s the usual boilerplate of consent agenda items. One of the consent items is to raise the amount of money being handed over to the SF law firm of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore (LCW) from $850k to $900k. (LCW has already been hired for an initial $100k to handle the County’s defense in the lawsuit filed by abruptly fired Auditor-Treasurer Chamise Cubbison.) In the attached materials we read that “The County entered into a $50,000 Purchasing Agent Agreement with Liebert Cassidy Whitmore (LCW) for litigation services for ‘Grewal v. County of Mendocino’ on March 4, 2020. This lawsuit has been dismissed and this [additional] amount will cover final bills.” It’s not clear what that means. Harindar Grewal is Mendo’s former Ag Commissioner who sued the County for wrongful termination a few years ago. That case has been limping along ever since with delays and depositions and delays and filings and delays and changes of attorneys and delays. It’s possible that the dismissal is the result of a settlement. It’s also possible that Grewal lost his case. We will try to find out more about this case in the next few days. Whatever the result, the County and its liability insurance carrier is apparently out at least $900k in defending itself plus any settlement amount. Whatever the outcome, the Board is expected to rubberstamp the additional legal charges LCW wants.

There a few of the usual “retroactive” rubberstamps totaling well over $8 million. Ho hum, what’s another million or two or eight here and there? (Previous boards have expressed disapproval of such retroactive consent agenda items, but staff has never stopped proposing them in ever-larger amounts knowing that the Supervisors don’t care about these items that effectively eliminate the Board’s role in financial matters since these board members can be relied on to say nothing as they casually pass these retroactive Consent Agenda items en masse without the slightest question or objection. 

In County conflict of interest news, we see that the Human Resources department is going to pay the Renne Public Law Group (SF) an additional $160k for “employer-employee relations services” on the consent agenda, despite the newly contracted-for Interim County Counsel being an employee of Renne Public Law Group.

There’s nothing on the agenda, regular or consent, about the controversial and unworkable relocation of the Veterans Service Office to the Public Health Building despite calls from veterans and their advocates that the move be reagendized. Nor is there anything about the long-delayed disbursement of millions in Measure P funds to the local emergency service organizations that the Board promised it to, although we heard Thursday that Supervisor Haschak says the first tranche will be delivered to the Fire Safe Council and the Fire Districts in the next week or two. Only a year late, assuming it actually occurs. (Local fire agencies better keep a close watch to see if the County withdraws or withholds any earlier existing funding for emergency services while pretending that they’re turning over the Measure P money they promised.)

ED NOTES

Without the Potter Valley diversion, water for large areas of Sonoma County and northern Marin would have to be rationed, and may have to soon be rationed anyway given the rate of development in both northern Marin and Sonoma County, the whole diversion show made possible by an old mile-long tunnel about the dimensions of a large culvert hand dug by Chinese labor at the turn of the century. 

The tunnel connects a portion of the Eel River to Potter Valley dug through an intervening ridge. The water flows into an ancient but functional power plant originally installed to illuminate Ukiah, the water spilling into the headwaters of the Russian River which, way back, was mostly dry in the summer months.

Sonoma County thinks its deal with PG&E to keep the Eel’s depleted waters flowing south for Sonoma County’s ever-accelerating growth is swell, which it is looked at from the perspective of pavement, strip malls and cookie cutter housing tracts. For the Eel, it’s always been bad news because the Eel needs more summer water if its once-lush fisheries are going to have any chance for re-birth.

Nobody cares whether or not one or all Mendocino County supervisors support the present arrangement because, as per ancient custom, Mendocino County is only marginally involved in water allocations. Sonoma County owns in perpetuity almost all the water stored at Lake Mendocino, much of which flows from the Eel River diversion upstream at Potter Valley. 

SoCo grabbed the water back in 1955 when the Coyote Dam was built. Their supervisors knew at the time that Sonoma County was short of water for development; only Mendocino County supervisor Joe Scaramella objected to what amounted to a giveaway of the ever more scarce and valuable waters diverted through Potter Valley’s old power station, into the upper Russian river, down into Lake Mendocino behind Coyote Dam and south to the suburban hell of contemporary Sonoma County.

As it becomes more and more obvious that demand for water is greater all the time while the actual supply of water remains the same, Sonoma County wants to take even more acre-feet out of the Russian River annually.

Factor in a large number of water thieves the length of the Russian River and pell mell development in northern Marin and everywhere in Sonoma County, both the Eel and the Russian rivers are in ever more danger of total death as fish habitat.

The Russian River is already a sort of help yourself quarry for sand and gravel operations from Healdsburg to Santa Rosa while south of Santa Rosa, the Russian serves as leach line for Santa Rosa’s accident prone sewage treatment system, which accounts for the river's Tidy Bowl-like hue as its flushes through west Sonoma 

ONE OF THE MANY SIGNS that Western Civ is winding down, is the automatic charge these days in divorce cases and custody disputes that one or the other parent is a pervert who has molested his or her own children. If not the actual parent conducting the pervo-rama, it's the new wife or the new boyfriend preying on the kids.

One of the reasons these kinds of hideous accusations have become routine is that most judges don't demand proof. The judge sits there nodding off as demonstrably false charges are routinely now made against each other by parted love birds. 

I'll never forget this case I sat in on at Ten Mile Court in Fort Bragg. A Coast guy named Stanley Scott was packed off to state prison by Judge Lehan for having sexually molested his daughter when she was four years old. This guy’s estranged wife claimed that Scott had also molested his son, but that charge had been dismissed. 

Scott's ex-wife intensely wanted her ex maxed out. The couple and their attorneys, with the kids looking on, went vindictively on and on and on. Assistant District Attorney Mark Kalina recommended a mid-term sentence of six years in the state prison for Mr. Scott. The Probation Department, apparently doubting the charges, recommended 60 months of probation.

Prosecutor Kalina said Scott had “engaged in substantial sexual behavior with his two minor children. It's in the best interest of the minors, the family, the community, and even the defendant to send him to state prison.” 

Scott's attorney, Richard Petersen, got up and said, “I'm now going to have to whack away at the mother to show that she is unfit to have these children.”

Scott himself, conceding that he was depraved, told Judge Lehan that “Going to prison is going to make me more of a bitter man. She [his wife] is vengeful. There was this nice house we put together and she feels like she got kicked out because of this situation. She thinks she can move back in the house if I get sent to prison.” 

The matter was continued for 90 days for a “diagnosis” and “recommendations.”

I hadn't seen the evidence. I didn't know the family. But I've always wondered why were the Scott children, who were little kids, permitted to remain in the courtroom while their parent’s insanity played out? 

I even doubted that Mr. Scott had molested his own children until he said prison would improve him. But everything we know about family relations indicates that the sexual violation of their own children by the child’s natural parents is very rare. 

The Scott children, forced to witness this travesty were violated twice over. Wherever they are, I hope they've made relatively serene lives for themselves in a country where children are still fed into Moloch's insatiable maw.

BLAST FROM THE PAST: Grower of the Week 

On September 8, 2000, deputies from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office were investigating a crime in the Leggett area. As deputies drove past a residence on Highway 271 they noticed marijuana plants growing around the house in plain view. Deputies completed their duties and returned to the residence where they contacted a subject who advised he was growing six marijuana plants. Deputies gained consent to walk through the yard and surrounding area to search for more marijuana. While walking a path deputies located a trailer house which had several more marijuana plants growing around it. Dameon Osburn (age 29) exited the trailer and Deputies spoke with him regarding the marijuana which was growing around his residence. Deputies gained consent to search the surrounding area and located approximately 40 marijuana plants growing in various sites around the trailer. Deputies eradicated the plants and gained Osburn’s consent to search the trailer. Located inside the trailer were scales, packaging material, evidence of marijuana processing and concentrated cannabis. Also located was a pair of nunchakas. Osburn was arrested and lodged in the Mendocino County Jail on charges of cultivation and possession of marijuana for sales, possession of dangerous weapons, and possession of concentrated cannabis. Osburn is currently being held on $10,000 bail. (— Sgt. Matthew Kendall)

KRUGER GUILTY

A Mendocino County Superior Court jury returned from its deliberations late on Wednesday to announce it had found the trial defendant guilty of four out of the five domestic crimes from last August that he was charged with committing.

Defendant Arnold Adriaan Kruger, age 55, of Ukiah, was found guilty of two misdemeanor counts of domestic battery and two misdemeanor counts of malicious vandalism.

The jury found the defendant not guilty of one misdemeanor count of child endangerment.

The law enforcement agency that investigated the crimes and developed the witnesses and evidence used at trial was the Ukiah Police Department.

The prosecutor who presented the People’s evidence at trial was Deputy District Attorney Joshua Hopps.

Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Keith Faulder presided over the three-day trial.

Judge Faulder will also preside over the sentencing hearing now scheduled to take place on February 5, 2024 at 11 o’clock in the morning in Department A of the Ukiah downtown courthouse.

Finally, if you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, it’s important to seek help from a trusted friend, family member, local law enforcement, or other professional organization. The National Domestic Violence Hotline provides confidential assistance from trained advocates and can be reached at all times by dialing 1-800-799-7233.

(Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office)

LEW CHICHESTER (Covelo)

In December when there was a well advertised public event with CalTrans all the various candidates for this assembly position were invited to Round Valley for a meet and greet, question and answer session, at the American Legion Hall. Three showed up: Ariel Kelley, Rusty Hicks and Chris Rogers. All three are capable and intelligent. I tended to think that Chris Rogers was the more genuine, least Teflon coated politician type, but they were all OK. Interesting that Ted Williams, the most local candidate and a current Mendocino County Supervisor, didn’t show up. I bet he has never been here, and if elected to the state assembly, will never come.

WHAT A SURPRISE, THE ENDORSEMENT OF THE WINE BUREAU

Dear Constituent,

I have exciting news to share - the Mendocino County Farm Bureau has endorsed my campaign for Supervisor!

One of the key reasons I am running for Supervisor, and why local farmers and ranchers are supporting my campaign, is that I acknowledge our need for reliable water sources. I will be an advocate for sustainable water use practices and a balanced approach to the use of groundwater resources. We need to be investing in climate and drought resiliency efforts to make sure we are capturing as much water as possible and using our water resources efficiently. I am a strong advocate for increased water capacity by maintaining the Potter Valley Project, protecting Lake Pillsbury, expanding the storage capacity of Lake Mendocino by raising Coyote Valley Dam, and additional water storage projects throughout the county.

Agriculture is a key part of our regional identity and heritage in Mendocino County. I have long been an advocate for our local agriculture industry and I am honored to have the Farm Bureau's support as we enter this final stretch of our campaign for Supervisor.

Sincerely,

Madeline Cline

THE CANDIDATE THE SUPERVISORS DON’T WANT YOU TO ELECT

Dear Editor, 

It’s been very interesting, over the last several years, how our rights and freedoms have been trampled upon. Most have sat silently while our Constitutional rights have been ignored by our Representatives and free speech is no longer free. Anyone going against their narrative is somehow unamerican and an enemy. The word Patriot (lover of one’s Country) is now a bad word and protecting our gun rights makes us violent people. We’re divided by political party, medical status, gender and on and on. What happened to being People of the United States and standing together regardless of opinions? 

Division is the goal. A divided population will be so busy fighting among themselves rather than the establishment, that is creating the narrative, that they can continue to write, pass and enforce unconstitutional laws without much attention. That is exactly what is happening in America. We are one of the last free countries in the world. Our forefathers fought for our freedoms, that we should remain free. 

We all need to come together as People and not as our opinions. Neighbors are no longer neighborly. Respect and decency are no longer common. Protecting and looking out for one another is a thing of the past. Hatred and greed fuels the fires of violence against one another. 

It starts locally. We the People need to hold our elected Representatives accountable. They get elected and forget that they are Public Servants for the People whom they are supposed to be representing. 

Some have commented that I am tough on the Board of Supervisors. I am. Expressing my dissatisfaction consistently about the functioning of our County, giving input about the direction and things that need to change. I have nothing against them personally. I am critical of the job they are doing or not doing, as is the case much of the time. It is our job as taxpayers to know how and where our money is being spent and to give input of such. 

Being a watchdog (one who serves as a guardian or protector against waste, loss, or illegal practices) for the past several years I have found the access to financial documents and records deplorable. Public Record Requests are supposed to be fulfilled within ten days, fourteen days maximum. Most of the requests I make take months to be completed. I have three requests currently open, from November, December and January. Until recently almost all of my requests were “unpublished,” meaning that the public could not see what I was requesting. I inquired to the CEO about them being published vs. unpublished and was told it’s up to the departments to make that determination. I thought that was odd and asked her what the County policy was, she told me she would get back to me. She never did, but they’ve been published ever since. Hence the lack of transparency that plagues the County.

What exactly they are hiding is precisely why I am running for the Board. Having access to our records and personnel is crucial to initiating change, which we are in desperate need of, as well as, stronger leadership. We need a Board that is not afraid to express different opinions and make tough decisions. As you are probably aware, we do not have that now. 

Having attended, in person, almost every meeting for close to two years has given me insight to the dynamics and dysfunction of our County and current Board. I’m always encouraging people to come to the Board meetings and see how our County operates. Most ask me “how can you sit through those meetings?” Dedication and who else is doing it, is my response. Someone needs to do it. Besides Mark, here at the AVA, and a few other publications, in the County, there aren’t a lot of people that follow the Board of Supervisors. 

As the saying goes “follow the money.” That is exactly what I’ve been doing and intend to keep doing. As the AVA stated recently “a sure fire way to know who to vote for is to figure out which candidate is opposed by the supervisors…actually feared by the local political blob…” That would be me. They do not want me in this Supervisor seat as I intend to be transparent as glass and expose the corruption in this County. I am not accepting any special interest donations or endorsements. I cannot be bought and I have no fear. 

Vote for change, elect Carrie Shattuck on March 5, 2024.

votecarrie2024.com

DON’T FLUSH ‘FLUSHABLE’ WIPES

Important Notice About Your Sewer

Many homeowners and some commercial establishments commonly take for granted one of most efficient mechanisms for removing human waste byproducts, namely the Toilet. When one considers the simple, yet intricate pipe works, the holding tank, the pumps, and the working effect of gravity, it is important to note that this is an appliance that we cannot safely live without.

The care and maintenance of wastewater disposal toilets and the connecting downstream collection system is straightforward if pursued with regular inspection and observance is paid to what is disposed of “down the drain”. A toilet is not a solid waste disposal unit and items other than human waste and toilet paper can place the system in peril and a need for corrective action becomes immediately a critical component in one’s daily routine.

Gualala Community Services District (GCSD) maintains the wastewater collection and treatment system that serves the town of Gualala along the Highway 1 corridor. GCSD utilizes what is known as a STEP (Septic Tank Effluent Pumping) collection system. Each customer of GCSD has a septic tank on their property. Routine maintenance of pumps, septic tanks and pipelines are performed on a routine schedule. Experience has shown that the major impediment to a fully functioning waste disposal system is the disposal of baby wipes, cosmetic wipes, paper towels, toilet wipes, antibacterial cleansing wipes, “Q-Tips, and other non-biodegradable products. 

These items do not readily decompose and are the number one reason GCSD is called out after hours. When these items enter the waste stream, they can cause damage to pumps, cause pipes to clog, or possibly cause a sewer spill. GCSD is usually notified by the customer or notification can be accomplished with system alarms. Upon arrival to a reported issue, the wastewater operators will survey the area and if necessary, will pump down the septic tank and inspect the pipe and pumps within the tank. This call out effort is costly to the district, and when considering that the situation could have possibly been avoided with proper customer disposal practices.

Gualala Community Services District is considering creating an ordinance to determine a method of cost recovery for time and materials from property owners who are determined to dispose of these types of products down the drain, which necessitates the district to send a wastewater operator to respond and take corrective action unnecessarily. If you would like more information or to discuss any issue, please contact the General Manager at (707) 785-2331. 

(Gualala Community Services District Public Service Announcement)

ELEANOR COONEY IS ORGANIZING THIS FUNDRAISER.

This is a call for help for the widow of my dear friend and erstwhile coauthor Daniel Altieri. He and I wrote three internationally bestselling novels set in T’ang China back in the late 80s and early 90s.

A little over three years ago, on September 10, 2020, Dan died, four months after radical emergency open-heart surgery. He had struggled to recover, and his wife put everything she had into caring for him. Alas, he went from believing he’d made it and was on the road to full health to knowing his days were down to just a few. He’d been flown by helicopter from his home in northern California to a hospital in San Francisco, where they at first thought they could perform another surgery on him and implant an L-VAD (Left Ventricular Assistance Device). But he went into kidney failure shortly after he arrived, and they deemed him too frail to undergo the procedure. He died a couple of days later. He was 74, had always been athletic and healthy, an exerciser and a non-smoker, and came from long-lived stock. His death was a shock and a tragedy, to me and to his widow.

The writer’s life can be fickle. Despite the great success of the China novels, that was a while ago, and Dan was pretty much destitute when he died. His widow gets his extremely modest Social Security benefits. She struggles to pay her rent, eat and just survive. She wants very much to work, but doesn’t drive, due to vision problems, and her home is in a rural place with no real public transportation. She is not at all computer-savvy, does not even have a smartphone. The internet revolution left her behind.

Here's what your donation will be used for: To help her pay her rent for the next several months, buy firewood (it's been a COLD winter, and the wood stove is her only heat), and if possible, perhaps down the road, get much-deferred and acutely needed dental work, for her health and so that she can get a job. For now, though, we are concentrating on rent.

She also wants to honor Dan’s writing and get to a point where she can organize his unpublished work and perhaps even publish some of it posthumously. She has a strong social conscience, and wants to be of service to humanity in these troubled times. Any amount would help. Every cent will go to Dan's widow, and you will have my great gratitude.

You can learn more about Dan and his work here: www.courtofthelion.com

SILENT BOOK CLUB IN BOONVILLE

Folks keep asking if they have to be silent at the Silent Reading Book Club. Of course you can talk — about books mostly (and other things, if you like). Some folks might want to read quietly, some might want to share book titles or a great turn of phrase. This is not a school library. No one will shush you (unless you’re very, very annoying). Just bring your reading material of choice and come along for the ride. It’ll be bookishly fun. And have I mentioned that the Distillery’s tequila is beyond the pale?!

FORT BRAGG TO HOLD QUARTERLY DOWNTOWN COMMUNITY MEETING

The City of Fort Bragg is hosting a quarterly meeting for downtown merchants on Saturday, February 3, 2024, from 9 AM to 11 AM at Town Hall located at 363 N. Main Street. All business owners, merchants, and property owners in downtown are invited to attend.

This meeting is an excellent opportunity for participants to join the conversation and become involved in the revitalization efforts of downtown. These efforts include walking tours, murals, and public art, as well as learning about upcoming events in the area, such as the Whale Festival.

The focus of this meeting will be on gathering feedback regarding special event planning for the upcoming year. Representatives from West Business Development Center and the Mendocino Coast Chamber of Commerce will be in attendance. Coffee, tea, and pastries will be provided to attendees.

(Fort Bragg Presser)

DATE NIGHT AT THE MENDOCINO COUNTY MUSEUM!

Behind the Scenes Tours

Saturday, February 10, from 6 – 8 p.m. 

This special Date Night at the Mendocino County Museum, is an open house style event kicking-off the Museum’s spring Behind the Scenes Tours. Visitors are invited to tour areas rarely open to the public, including the Museum collection’s storage facility, and see special exhibits and artifacts new to the collection. View the new exhibit, ‘In the Field: Exploring Botany in Mendocino County,’ try your hand at field sketching at the Daffodil Station, and create a nature inspired Valentine.

Enjoy rose scented Italian Sodas and chocolate treats provided by The Friends of the Museum. Roots of Motive Power will open the Engine House for tours.

For this special event, Adults $9, children 17 and under $3.

The Museum will host additional guided Behind the Scenes Tours on:

These additional tours are included with regular admission. Space is limited, so be sure to call ahead and make a reservation early as you will not want to miss this opportunity to explore!

To reserve a space, email museum@mendocinocounty.gov or call 707-234-6365.

Note: This program is recommended for adults and children aged 8 and over.

For more information visit www.mendocinocounty.org/museum or contact the Mendocino County Museum at museum@mendocinocounty.gov or 707-234-6365.

WEST CENTER TO HOST CAPITAL SUMMIT 2024

Meet & Greet in Ukiah with Local Financial Lenders

FORT BRAGG, Calif. – February 1, 2024 – On Tuesday February 13 at 10:30AM West Business Development Center will host a 90-minute Capital Summit at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center, located at 200 South School Street, Ukiah. Every business needs capital to get started and grow: it’s literally the lifeblood of a business. Without adequate financing—through microloans, commercial or alternative lending, or investment capital—most entrepreneurs cannot start new businesses or grow their existing companies.

This in-person, no-cost event will be an opportunity for local entrepreneurs and business owners to network with each other and meet financial lenders who service Mendocino and Lake Counties. In addition to learning about business loans offered by traditional and alternative lenders, attendees will also learn about the no-cost training and advising services offered by the West Business Development Center. Mike Sholin, Director of Client Services at West Center, said, "We encourage the public to attend this important community event. It's a great opportunity to meet nine different organizations, in one place at one time, all interested in supporting our local businesses."

The event will open with a welcome and introductions from Mike Sholin and will be followed by 3–5 minute presentations from each of the lenders that include: Savings Bank of Mendocino, Umpqua Bank, Redwood Credit Union, Tri Counties Bank, Creser Capital Fund, Economic Development Financing Corporation, Vocality Community Credit Union, Arcata Economic Development Corporation, Community Development Services, and the SBA District Office. Creser Capital focuses on building the next generation of Latino entrepreneurship, so Spanish speakers are encouraged to attend. During the following Q&A session attendees are encouraged to ask lenders their specific financing questions.

The public is invited and refreshments will be served. To register for the event, go to www.westcenter.org/trainings/capitalsummit. 

For more information, please contact Mike Sholin, Director of Client Services at mike@westcenter.org or call 707-964-7571.

(West Business Development Center is a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) funded non-profit business development center that provides reliable no-cost confidential counseling and relevant training programs to entrepreneurs throughout Mendocino and Lake County. West Center hosts the Mendocino Small Business Development Center and the Mendocino Women’s Business Center.)

A BLAST FROM A FEW YEARS BACK (not the distant past, but not recent, either). A full lug cardboard apple box from Gowan's Oak Tree.

(Marshall Newman)

FORT BRAGG NAME CHANGE TEACH IN

Change Our Name Fort Bragg Invites the public to a Teach-in on Tuesday, February 13 at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 363 North Main Street, Fort Bragg.

Envisioned as a program to educate attendees about the issues involved in the name change and to hear neighbors’ ideas, the teach-in will last about one hour and will feature three speakers and a question and answer/discussion period. Speakers will be: Susan Savage, Alexander Brittain, and Lorna Dennis.

This program is free and open to all.

For further information: changeournamefortbragg@gmail.com

RUN IN THE REDWOODS 5k returns Saturday, April 6th, 2024

Crescent City. Join Redwood Parks Conservancy (RPC), California State Parks and the National Park Service for the annual Run in the Redwoods 5k fun run and walk on Saturday, April 6th, 2024 in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. Support the parks you love and enjoy a fun day out in the redwoods! Following the run, stick around for food trucks, live music, activities for kids and more. Registration is $40/person and includes a limited edition t-shirt or $25/person for just the registration fee. Kids under 12 are free! A virtual option will be offered for those who want to support our parks from wherever they call home.

Where: Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, 127011 Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, Orick, CA 95555

When: Saturday, April 6th. Registration at 7:30am. Race at 9am.

Who: Everyone!

What: A 5k fun run and walk through the beautiful redwoods followed by food trucks, live music and more! Virtual option will be offered for those who want to support from afar.

Registration: $40/person, includes a limited edition t-shirt or $25/person for just the registration fee. Kids under 12 are free!

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/run-in-the-redwoods-5k-walk-fun-run-tickets-781089368327?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

Redwood Parks Conservancy supports events and programs, coordinates volunteers, raises funds, and helps to welcome over one million visitors annually to Redwood National and State Parks. Learn more at redwoodparksconservancy.org.

RPC’s Mission: Redwood Parks Conservancy fosters understanding, enjoyment, and stewardship of northern California’s coastal public lands by providing support to the agencies, the National Park Service, California State Parks, and U.S. Forest Service, entrusted with their care.

CATCH OF THE DAY, Thursday, February 1, 2024

TIFFANY BAIRRINE-HART, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

THOMAS BRADEN, Nice/Ukiah. Parole violation.

JORDAN CAMPBELL, Willits. Probation revocation.

SERGIO CERVANTES-RODRIGUEZ, Ukiah. Shoplifting, resisting.

NORMAN FAZENBAKER JR., Fort Bragg. Parole violation.

BENJAMIN GAYSKI JR., Willits. Vandalism, false report of crime.

JONATHAN SANGSTER, Ukiah. DUI.

ROBERT SEARS, Yreka/Ukiah. Vandalism, paraphernalia, no registration, no license.

SHAWN SPILLER, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

REFUGIO TORRES-HERNANDEZ, Covelo. Failure to appear.

JIVE-O MUTHA LEADS THE WAY

Sitting here on public computer #1 at the Mendocino Public Library in rainy Ukiah, California, listening to the Param Guru Swami Sivananda chant the mahamantram: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HGfUWcZ-0g

I am identified with the Divine Absolute, and not the body nor the mind. I am available for spiritually sourced direct action to destroy the demonic. I am interested in leaving the Building Bridges Homeless Resource Center and going forth. I am seeking others for a global spiritual direct action team, doing the most amazing things with the most incredible Jivan Muktas.

Craig Louis Stehr

AMANDA MARCOTTE

MAGA media has been stoking hatred of both Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift for a while now.

For the older white reactionaries who make up the bulk of the Republican base, the couple is a focal point for their outrage at younger white people for being more open-minded and progressive than their elders. The rage has gone into overdrive with the two hooking up, however, as if these young lovers have no right to be together. It's another way the MAGA media operates by cult logic. High control groups often take a negative attitude toward romantic autonomy. Leaders will tell disciples who they are and are not allowed to date. They often escalate to picking spouses for members or forcibly breaking up their relationships. So it's no surprise that attitude is being projected outward, onto these celebrities in a very public romance. 

Last year, for an investigative report on the impact of social media on right-wing conspiracies, one woman I spoke to about her conspiracy theorist husband brought up the NFL in our interview. "He tried to convince me that the NFL was run exactly like the WWE, in that it was entirely scripted," she said of her husband, who she was already planning to leave. She brought this up, she said, because it illustrated how these political conspiracy theories are rarely self-contained. Her husband was enmeshed in a web of delusions that reached into every corner of his life. 

BETWEEN 1848 and 1967, California produced more than 106 million troy ounces of gold from these 351 gold districts. 

This total was far greater than that for any other state and represented about 35 percent of the total United States production.

IF THE 49ERS PLAYERS WERE WINE, WHAT WOULD THEY BE?

by Esther Mobley

During last weekend’s NFC Championship game, the San Francisco 49ers behaved much like a fine wine. They started off awkward and tightly wound. But after a little decanting, they began to open up, showing excellent depth and energy, leading into a very sweet finish.

I may be the newspaper’s wine critic, but with our hometown team heading to the Super Bowl, I can no longer resist the temptation to write about football. A confession: My true allegiances lie with the Jacksonville Jaguars, a fandom that I married into. But I’ve been rooting for the 49ers all season (well, apart from our Nov. 12 matchup), and not only because I had Deebo Samuel and Christian McCaffrey on my fantasy team. This 49ers team is so much fun to watch on both sides of the ball, and I was riding the emotional tidal waves alongside all of you on Sunday as I watched them come back from that 17-point deficit. 

So, since the Chronicle won’t send me to Las Vegas to report from the Super Bowl, I’ve decided to investigate an aspect of the game that really doesn’t get enough attention. 

If each of the 49ers star players were wine, what would they be?

Brock Purdy: cru Beaujolais

Like the Niners’ starting quarterback, Beaujolais was once irrelevant, the backup option when you didn’t want to shell out for the wine from its much more famous neighboring region, Burgundy. Now, Beaujolais has earned respect in its own right for its light-bodied red wines made from the Gamay grape — but, compared to Burgundy, and like Purdy, it’s still affordable.

George Kittle: orange wine

The 49ers tight end is a little wild and funky, with a very distinctive style. The same could be said for skin-contact whites, which, like Kittle’s Zenni ads, seem to be everywhere in the Bay Area these days. 

Deebo Samuel: Champagne

Despite being sidelined by injuries, Deebo was one of the 49ers’ stars this year, scoring 12 touchdowns during the regular season. You might say the wide receiver is like a great Champagne: You don’t have it with every meal, but when it’s there, it always steals the show.

Nick Bosa: Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

Napa Cab is chiseled, powerful and brawny, much like the celebrated defensive end. Also, it’s an extremely expensive wine, though, to be fair, it would be difficult to spend $34 million a year on it.

Christian McCaffrey: Barolo

Barolo, the tannic red wine made in Italy’s Piedmont, is the undisputed finest example of its type — its type being the Nebbiolo grape. McCaffrey, too, is the undisputed finest example of his type — his type being NFL running backs. The best Barolos are routinely among the highest-scoring wines, consistently earning perfect 100-point ratings from various critics, which makes them a fitting comparison for the player who just surpassed Jerry Rice’s record for scoring the most touchdowns in a single 49ers season.

Brandon Aiyuk: vintage Port

That ladybug that landed on Aiyuk’s shoe before Sunday’s game was a sure sign that luck was on his side. How else to explain his miraculous off-the-helmet catch? The wide receiver doesn’t have a game-changing play every week, but when he does, it’s memorable. He’s like a vintage Port in that way: Not every year is vintage-worthy — in less stellar years, the wines go into multi-year blends — but when the season’s conditions are just right, you get a wine for the ages. 

BILL WOULD LET THERAPISTS, SOCIAL WORKERS DECIDE WHEN TO CONFINE MENTALLY ILL CALIFORNIANS

by Ryan Sabalow

A mother’s hug was on California Sen. Aisha Wahab’s mind when she authored a controversial state bill that would allow social workers and therapists to decide when to confine someone against their will so they can be treated for mental illness.

Wahab was once a member of the Hayward City Council, and she’d just voted to create a local program that would send medical and mental health professionals to certain 911 calls, in an effort to reduce police officers interacting as much with mentally ill people. 

After the vote, a woman came up and embraced her. The woman, Wahab said, was the mother of a large Black man with autism, who often wore headphones. He doesn’t speak and gets agitated in tense situations. The mother told Wahab she was terrified of her son getting hurt or killed if police — instead of mental health professionals — were ever called to detain her son. 

“The problem here,” Wahab told CalMatters in an interview, “is that the individuals that are actually trained in this science, in this profession, in this industry, are not empowered enough to make the best decision for the people they work with the most.” 

That’s the rationale behind Wahab’s Senate Bill 402, which passed out of the 40-member Senate Monday. Republican Sen. Janet Nguyen of Huntington Beach cast the lone “no” vote. 

The bill would expand those who can issue 72-hour involuntary confinements to psychiatrists, psychologists, clinical social workers, licensed marriage and family therapists and clinical counselors. In each county, a behavioral health director would have discretion to choose which professionals could initiate involuntary detentions. 

Under current law, police officers, members of mental-health crisis teams, those in charge of treatment facilities and county-designated officials are allowed to decide when someone is such a danger to themselves or others that they need to be placed against their will in a mental health facility or hospital for a 72-hour mental health evaluation. 

In most cases, police end up initiating what’s known as a “5150” hold, named after a section of California’s legal code. Hospital emergency rooms are often where a mentally ill person is taken for initial assessment and treatment. 

Wahab says community organizations that work with marginalized groups and immigrant populations increasingly have mental health professionals on staff who interact with mentally ill people and their families, so they know best when someone is starting to spiral out of control. They should be able to decide if someone needs to be placed into mandatory care — and without involving police as much in the process, said Wahab, an Afghan immigrant and a former board member of the non-profit Afghan Coalition. 

In the 2020-2021 fiscal year, 120,402 adult 5150 holds were issued across the state, according to a report from the California Department of Health Care Services. 

Patients with behavioral health diagnoses accounted for one in five of all emergency room visits in 2021, according to the California Hospital Association. One Fresno hospital saw 6,100 patients last year for psychiatric holds, most of which police initiated, according to the bill’s legislative analysis. 

Each state has a law that allows a mentally ill person to be detained for a period of time, but who can issue the holds and the rights of the person being held vary widely, according to researchers. For instance, at least 14 states allow social workers to issue holds. 

The California Police Chiefs Association announced Monday the organization was supporting the bill, citing the benefits of more trained professionals interacting with the mentally ill instead of relying so much on officers. 

“In many situations where an individual presents a danger to themselves or others, there will be a need for law enforcement, but it remains important to pass legislation like SB 402 to expand mental health professionals’ role during those events,” Alex Gammelgard, the association’s president, told CalMatters in a written statement. 

But disability rights activists oppose expanding involuntary confinement for the mentally ill. Last year, they objected to a bill Gov. Gavin Newsom signed that expanded who could be confined against their will to those whose substance abuse disorders were so severe they couldn’t care for themselves. 

With this latest bill, the activists argue that it would discourage people from seeking help if they know the social workers and therapists they are interacting with have the power to lock them up. 

In testimony earlier this month before the Senate Health Committee, Debra Roth, an advocate for Disability Rights California, also brought up logistical concerns. 

“We don’t see how they’re going to transport a person who does not want to go to the hospital, to the hospital,” she told the committee. “And we think law enforcement is going to get called, and that’s how it will play out in real-time.” 

Sen. Caroline Menjivar, a Democrat who’s a former domestic violence crisis therapist and emergency medical technician from Van Nuys, had similar reservations, though she eventually voted for the bill. 

“Some of the concerns for me are the unintended consequences in terms of what happens in real life,” Menjivar told the committee. “If a therapist then puts me on a hold, do I then wait on the sofa? Who comes in? … Does the therapist then drive this individual to their local ER?” 

Wahab countered that the bill doesn’t prevent police from being called to detain someone, though the hope is they may not be needed. 

“As for nonprofits, they can simply get a grant and retrofit a vehicle, a bus, a van, something like that,” she told the committee.

(CalMatters.org)

HE INVESTIGATED NEO-NAZI ‘ZOOM BOMBS’ IN THE BAY AREA. THEN HE BECAME THEIR TARGET

by Raheem Hossain

Santa Rosa Press Democrat reporter Phil Barber investigated the “Zoom bombs” hijacking government meetings with hate speech. Then a person or persons began using his name to spread antisemitic conspiracies.

Phil Barber was at the standing desk in his home office when he received a phone call about the other Phil Barber.

The longtime Santa Rosa Press Democrat reporter had just published a 2,100-word article about government meetings falling prey to antisemitic “Zoom bombs” — coordinated attacks by unidentified individuals using online conferencing platforms to bombard the meetings with hate speech.

Barber had covered the phenomenon before, but this was his in-depth analysis tying various threads together: unsuspecting public officials, opportunistic hate-mongers and an open question of how to stop the trolling without abandoning the pandemic-popularized technology that brought more people into their government process.

The individual who phoned Barber informed him that, at the previous night’s Novato City Council meeting, he became part of the story.

Barber found a link to a recording of the Sept. 26, 2023, meeting, a hybrid affair held in person and on Zoom. About three and a half hours in, a caller introduces himself as “Phil Barber … a journalist that covers extremism and antisemitism … with my publication, the Press Democrat.”

Under the guise of exposing bigotry, the caller lies that a local Chabad center will screen a 2008 conspiracy documentary blaming Israel for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The impostor is subtle enough that Novato Mayor Susan Wernick simply thanks him for his remarks.

The next eleven callers are more explicit. Two impersonate rabbis and claim to engage in pedophilia. One pretends to be a transit advocate recommending Jewish people be put on trains. Another makes up a nonprofit that turns Jewish people into soap. Some callers think they’re being funny; others sound angry as they accuse the council of oppressing white people.

The spectacle ends when an exasperated Wernick closes public comment and apologizes to the audience.

Barber had seen this scenario play out before; he’d just never been pulled into it.

“It was weird,” he recalled. “I don’t want to downplay the effect that the hate speech has on the people who have to hear it, but just hearing someone taking the trouble to ‘own me,’ for lack of a better term, was a little comical.”

Barber notified his editors and moved on. Less than a month later, it happened to another Jewish journalist. And then again to Barber — this time in another state.

The Real Phil Barber

After several years piecing together a living from freelance writing and editing gigs, Barber joined the Santa Rosa Press Democrat in 2003. The married father of four, who cut his teeth in the niche publishing world of pro football fandom, joined an industry in decline.

Print media was hemorrhaging advertising revenue to the internet, and Barber, like countless newspaper journalists of the era, navigated the ensuing layoffs and ownership changes like in a game of musical chairs where each removed chair represents a job that isn’t coming back. He went from covering the erstwhile Oakland Raiders to writing about every sport, penned a column for a few years and, when the pandemic hit, left the sports desk to help cover the most life-altering public health crisis in a century.

Barber initially felt like a pretender trading press boxes and locker rooms for city halls and courtrooms. He couldn’t name all five members of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, he would quip. But he quickly demonstrated an affinity for general news coverage, churning out more than 300 stories in under three years and becoming his newsroom’s authority on Native American issues, as well as on the history and legacy of forced sterilizations at a closed state hospital. His temporary reassignment started to feel more like a calling.

“I kind of fell into this new role and embraced it,” Barber said. “It’s really all over the map, which I love.”

Around the same time, the North Bay geography was feeling the incursion of far-right extremism.

Barber found it simmering in local opposition to masking guidelines and vaccine mandates, as the area’s holistic wellness community found common ground with anti-government forces. It appeared when Barber and his colleagues confirmed area residents had flirted with joining the Oath Keepers militia or donated to 2022’s Canada convoy protests. It even fell from the air in the form of antisemitic fliers that Barber linked to a wannabe Petaluma influencer turned propagandist.

That individual, a failed rapper named Jon E. Minadeo II, became something of a side beat for Barber.

Minadeo was part shock jock, part conspiracy bro, pumping out content in which he used a video chat service to ambush strangers — many of them underage girls — with racial slurs and antisemitic falsehoods.

“What really put me in continual coverage of it (extremism) was when we realized that this guy in Petaluma was the creative hand behind these antisemitic flyers that were passed out all over the country,” Barber said of Minadeo. “I did quite a bit of reporting on him.”

Barber reported that Goyim TV, a limited liability corporation Minadeo had registered with the California secretary of state, was mentioned on the leaflets found in Bay Area neighborhoods claiming the pandemic was a Jewish conspiracy. The Anti-Defamation League in New York credited it with nearly 500 propaganda incidents in 43 states in 2022, an exponential surge in activity compared with the previous year.

Barber even tracked Minadeo down and interviewed him from the passenger seat of his Acura while Minadeo chain-vaped and accused Barber of ruining his life.

In December 2022, Minadeo moved to Florida, where he was jailed for 24 days in November following a littering conviction. Minadeo had become the Sunshine State’s problem. Or so it seemed.

Impostor Syndrome Redux

Carla Hill first noticed the advent of Zoom bombing at the same time that Zoom and other conferencing platforms went from private sector luxuries to public sector necessities. While those early pandemic campaigns largely targeted virtual classrooms and were organized on Twitter and 4chan, the targets and the plotting ground shifted in late 2022.

That’s when Hill, research director at the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, determined that one group was behind most of the attacks on local government meetings: the Goyim Defense League, a California-started hate group that produces antisemitic literature and online content through Goyim TV, the streaming platform registered by Minadeo.

The GDL (its very name is intended to mock the Jewish Defense League and Anti-Defamation League) also spun off the City Council Death Squad, which shares and promotes clips of Zoom bombings on social media. The squad boasts under 500 followers on far-right social media site Gab, though Hill thinks the people participating in the meeting ambushes number in the dozens. And the individuals leading the charge number even fewer.

Aside from Minadeo, who hosts an online program in which he plays clips from Zoom-bombed meetings and produces bonus episodes if he reaches certain crowdfunding goals, there’s Harley Ray Petero Jr. of Modesto, whom the ADL credits with starting the City Council Death Squad.

Squad members, who have also posed as ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt and Gabe Stutman, news editor of the Jewish News of Northern California, claimed to have disrupted a dozen meetings in as many cities last month, seven in Washington state. Hill says the ADL has documented more than 130 incidents nationwide since August.

Hill says the group tends to zero in on municipalities that make a point of standing up to its antics, creating a dilemma playing out in real time: confront the bigots and risk more abuse, or endure them and hope they move on. Either way, the loser is clear, said Hill: “The community is the victim.”

Like Barber, Stutman first heard he had been impersonated from someone else.

On Oct. 4, Berkeley City Council Member Susan Wengraf, who the previous night had introduced a special resolution condemning hate speech in response to an antisemitic Zoom bomb that hit the council in September, emailed Stutman asking if he really had signed up via Zoom to deliver public comment.

“And it was not me,” Stutman said.

While Stutman had experienced harassment for being a Jewish journalist, this was the first time he knew someone had attempted to impersonate him. He didn’t have to wait long for it to happen again.

Later that month, he received a message on Facebook from an acquaintance he met years ago while studying in Nepal, asking if he really had said horribly racist things at the Oct. 23 Seldovia City Council meeting in Alaska.

“At that point I knew this was definitely a widespread phenomenon,” said Stutman, whose late father, Edward Stutman, prosecuted suspected Nazis for the federal government. “I have no idea how frequently this is happening. But my guess is if it’s happening in Seldovia, Alaska … it’s probably happening in a bunch of different places.”

Gabe Stutman and Barber, who commiserated with each other on social media about their shared predicament, briefly considered legal action. But Stutman said he thought that could make them bigger targets.

“I don’t know. What can I do?” he said. “It’s just so sad on their part, and despicable and pathetic.”

Cities across the country are facing similar questions.

Shifting Front Lines

To the extent that it can be said that a pandemic that killed more than 1 million Americans produced any positives, open-government advocates point to the proliferation of conferencing platforms, which expanded access to working, older and disabled people who previously couldn’t attend in-person meetings.

“This was really a silver lining that came out of it — better access to your local government,” said Walnut Creek City Council Member Kevin Wilk, whose East Bay city was among the first wave of Zoom bomb targets. “And essentially there is the loss of that type of communication because we don’t want to be a public platform amplifying hate speech. And it’s a shame.”

At least 17 California cities have had their meetings Zoom bombed, and nine have paused or eliminated remote participation because of the attacks, according to an unofficial tally by the League of California Cities. These are just the cities the statewide association has heard from, however.

Morgan Hill, Healdsburg, Sebastopol, Livermore, Fresno, Modesto, Ceres, Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara are among the cities missing from the league’s list even though all have been Zoom bombed, and some have halted virtual testimony, either permanently or temporarily.

And while the California State Association of Counties couldn’t provide its own estimate for the state’s boards of supervisors, a spokesperson said via email that “all counties have experienced some level of disruption in public meetings.”

Walnut Creek made the reluctant decision to end remote public testimony in October.

“We felt, given the fact that Walnut Creek was really ground zero (for) where this started and it wasn’t ending — five months in and it wasn’t ending — we just said, ‘That’s it, we’re going to just cut it off now,’” said Wilk, who has been singled out for abuse as the city’s first Jewish council member. “And I’ve seen more and more cities” taking that step.

Some cities have experimented with compromise measures, like moving or reducing the time allotted for public comment, or limiting virtual testimony to agendized items, allowing officials to more aggressively shut down hate speech without risking First Amendment legal challenges.

The Iowa City City Council took the latter step after an Oct. 17 meeting in which five callers made antisemitic statements. One of them used Barber’s name and again promoted the 9/11 conspiracy movie as well as Goyim TV. The impostor’s remarks were so inflammatory that a reporter with the Iowa City Press-Citizen picked them up in a story about the meeting and attributed them to “Philip Barber, as he identified himself via Zoom.”

When Barber heard that someone had assumed his name for a second time, he saw it as less an affront to his reputation than an indication he was ticking off the right people — and developing the right sources.

“I guess I have a few friends in this space now who are concerned about this as well,” he said.

Wilk, who met Barber at a League of California Cities session that he hosted on responding to the bigotry, sees this as an unfortunate consequence of good journalism.

“I really respect the job that he’s been doing, because you definitely make yourself a target when you start taking on some of these neo-Nazis,” Wilk said before correcting himself: “I can’t even call them neo-Nazis; they’re basically just Nazis.”

Even though Barber has been targeted twice that he knows of, the reporter said he has no plans to change his approach to his work.

“Honestly, it hasn’t affected me very much,” he said. “I’m bothered by the fact that … they’re basically trying to shut down a pretty valuable public forum, and also that people listening in for legitimate reasons have to hear those messages. That’s important to me. The fact that they used my name, I don’t even think anyone in those two places really noticed.

“(I) almost certainly will be writing about it again.”

He already has. A couple of weeks after the Iowa City incident, Barber took a screen shot of a post from the California chapter of White Lives Matter that claimed he was behind antisemitic remarks at city council meetings “all across the country.”

“The kids at White Nationalist Middle School are doing pranks on journalists, supported by this doomed platform,” Barber wrote in sharing the post, in effect trolling the trolls and taking a swipe at X (formerly Twitter), which under Elon Musk has granted “verified” blue check marks to WLM California and other far-right accounts.

As for Minadeo, he didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.

On Thursday he posted his 524th episode on the Goyim TV site. In between Nazi salutes for each $5 donation he received, Minadeo promoted his antisemitic fliers, talked about working with the City Council Death Squad, and discoursed on his favorite topic: white victimhood.

“Struggle’s what makes you great. Struggle’s what makes you European,” he told his viewers. “So don’t ever back down. Don’t ever quit. Because sometimes — there’s times when they’re gonna be dark. You might lose friends. You might lose family. You might lose a job. You might lose a house. You might lose a lot of shit, right? But this is what the sacrifice is, right? For our people.”

Stutman, who also reported on Minadeo before he left California, said Minadeo appears to have attained a kind of celebrity that previously eluded him.

“He has his little niche where he’s famous, which is what he’s always wanted to be,” Stutman said. “That’s his strange lifestyle choice. Maybe it’s worked out for him; I don’t know. I don’t think it has.”

(Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

THE TALENTED MR. SANTOS

by Andrew O’Hagan

A man in perpetual flight from reality, George Santos invents stories about himself with no regard for believability.

When masquerading as someone else, one should never be sloppy. One must become a master of the alternative facts. Dress, for instance, as the other man would dress, practice his diction, and know his history as well as you know your own. The guide in these matters should probably be Tom Ripley, the hero of Patricia Highsmith’s creepy novels, who brings something supernatural to his manic overidentifications. Ripley is the king of prep. Excited by the possibility of ordinary doubt, he stuffs his characterizations with a level of detail so fine it begins to tickle speculation. In Ripley Under Ground, while impersonating the dead painter Philip Derwatt, he adopts the artist’s stoop, the artist’s whiskers, and the artist’s way of seeing the world, if only to darken it. “I cannot understand your total disconnection with the truth of things,” a tenacious collector and skeptic later says to Ripley at his house in France. When we read this remark, we know the collector must die.

Fiction appears to have had some sort of mad purchase on the world of former Republican congressman George Santos. A man in perpetual flight from reality, he invents short stories about himself that double as shortcuts, getting him to where he wants to be with no foundation having been laid for believability. The most moving thing about Santos’s lies is how many of them could be disproved in seconds. He doesn’t care about the truth, and it may be that his lack of prep is consonant with the radical style in populist politics today, which runs on the idea that everything can be brazened out, everything can be believed, as long as one subscribes to the use of a magical verbal currency in which statements are beyond proof and somehow truer than truth.

Santos hoped—rather sadly, when you think about it—that he could build his own story and that the details would simply fall into line. That’s how it’s done, and it usually works. The Trumpian audience knows what it wants, and its need for the right message can be relied upon to destabilize the most basic considerations of reality, which will duly be written off, in any case, as a parade of liberal constructions. Even Ripley, in his duskiest imaginings, could never have hoped for a life so denuded of accountability, but nowadays one might travel quite far (all the way to the White House, in fact) by proclaiming false things about oneself while accusing the fact-checkers of political bias.

BE WELL AND AN EARLY SPRING IN BURGUNDY

by Quincy Steele

My mother took opiates

prescribed by her doctor

.

As my father took cocaine

prescribed by his lost brother

.

My mother's spirit was

expressed through a dirty window

.

My father's spirit was

expressed through a dirty mirror

.

So what is left

Is expressed through a

dirty window

.

Reflected back from

a dirty mirror

.

And yet

There remains affection

Adoration, and humility

.

What remains is human

What remains is Love

What remains is life

.

What remains is honoring

my parents spirit

.

So that I know what it is

to be drugged.

THE HEART OF A BLUE WHALE

Weighing in excess of 1,300 lbs (±600 kg), it is the size of a small car. The gigantic heart beats 8-10 times per minute, and each heartbeat can be heard from over 2 miles (3.2 km) away.

More details/photos: https://bit.ly/48RYjf7

(Royal Ontario Museum)

THE RIGHT-WING REPUBLICAN WAR ON WOMEN, CHILDREN AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH MARCHES ON

by Jim Hightower & Laura Ehrlich

Last week, the Journal of the American Medical Association released a study on the number of rape-related, forced-pregnancies since the horrendous Supreme Court decision to roll back reproductive rights for women. Since the end of Roe, there have been 65,000 rape-related pregnancies (and births) in the 14 states with total or near-total abortion bans. *Over 45% of those rape-related, forced-pregnancies (26,000) were in Texas. *

"But what about the children! We must save the babies!" the right-wingers cry.

It's never been about "the babies," has it? Ask Kate Cox. Last December, this 31-year-old woman with a non-viable pregnancy had to go to court to fight for her right to terminate the pregnancy and fight for health. After Kate took* four trips to the emergency room*, each time with pregnancy related complications (but complications that were not severe enough for state of Texas to deem her life in danger, even though doctors did), Texas Attorney General (and rabid Trump supporter) Ken Paxton said that anyone who helped Ms. Cox terminate her pregnancy would be prosecuted. Kate fled the state to terminate her very much-wanted but non-viable and life-threatening pregnancy. After her return, the Texas Supreme Court ruled against Cox, stating that she would not have qualified for a medical exemption to the state’s cruel abortion laws.

If this were really about "the children," those states with total or near-total abortion bans might actually want to help children in need. But no: those states are denying a $40 a month federal stipend to feed hungry children in their state during the summer (when hungry kiddos are unable to get any meals at school).

And in case you didn’t know, there is actually a corporate control element to denying reproductive care to women and birthing people. Hightower wrote about it back in 2013, when Wendy Davis took a stand in the Texas legislature.

Then there's a surprising funding source that surreptitiously supports the no-abortion zealots: Corporate America. The involvement of these super-rich entities has drawn practically zero media coverage, and you certainly won't see corporations up front at rallies or proudly listing their brand names as sponsors of anti-choice groups. But who do you think financed and helped organize the hundreds of legislative, gubernatorial, and congressional campaigns of current officeholders who're now pounding women with the harshest, most oppressive, and goofiest laws against reproductive rights and equality?

“There are people who are by nature autonomous, in that they are incapable of relating to other people. They do on the surface, but there's no inner commitment to another person, or other people, or to society. … There's a particular withdrawal I've noticed in the seventies from social commitment, of feeling any responsibility to the society in which you live, and the time in which you live. I find it boring as hell. One of my best lines is ‘There's no such thing as an inescapable corner with two people in it.’ You have escaped into the other person, from your solitary self.” 

— Tennessee Williams

TARGETING DISSENT

Editor: 

In 1930s, in the former Soviet Union, there was a campaign to solidify Josef Stalin’s power. This campaign, named “the great purge,” basically was a series of show trials that led to the elimination of thousands of Stalin’s opponents. Between 1955 and 1957, a similar movement happened in China (the Sufan movement) in which Mao Zedong imprisoned and killed thousands of his political opponents.

In our time, we need to take a closer look at anyone who wants or promises to unleash prosecutorial actions against his rivals or political dissent. Threatening to use the federal government to go after people who criticize him would set a dangerous precedent. Would any of us want to live in a country where political dissidents, whistleblowers or journalists go to jail because they criticized a leader?

It is of utmost importance that we as a nation pay attention to this danger and not to fall for demagogic slogans. Let us not forget that once democracy is lost, it is very hard to get it back.

Pirouz Fakhraei

Windsor

WITH ROUGHLY 3,000 personnel stationed in Jordan, 2,500 in Iraq, and 900 in Syria, US troops have become ripe targets as Israel’s war in Gaza rages. In effect, they have become bits of surplus pieces on the Middle Eastern chessboard and, to that end, incentives for a broader conflict. The Financial Times, noting the view of an unnamed source purporting to be a “senior western diplomat” (aren’t they always?), fretted that the tinderbox was about to go off. “We’re always worried about US and Iranian forces getting into direct confrontation there, whether by accident or on purpose.”

President Joe Biden has promised some suitable retaliation but does not wish for “a wider war in the Middle East. That’s not what I’m looking for.” A typically mangled response came from National Security Council spokesman John Kirby: “It’s very possible what you’ll see is a tiered approach here, not just a single action, but potentially multiple actions over a period of time.”

Rather than seeing these attacks as incentives to leave such outposts, the don’t cut and run mentality may prove all too powerful in its muscular stupidity. Empires do not merely bring with them sorrows but incentives to be stubborn. The beneficiaries will be the usual coterie of war mongers and peace killers. 

— Binoy Kampmark

WHEN YOU ARE OLD

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

And bending down beside the glowing bars,
Murmur, a little sadly, how Love fled
And paced upon the mountains overhead
And hid his face amid a crowd of stars.

— William Butler Yeats