Mendocino County Today: Monday, Feb. 12, 2024

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MILD, mostly calm weather will continue today and early Tuesday. A round of moderately gusty wind and light to moderate rain remains on track Wednesday, mostly focused on the Humboldt and Del Norte coast. A stronger storm is expected Friday into the weekend. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): On the coast this Monday morning I have a cloudy 50F. Mostly cloudy today, partly sunny tomorrow then rain on Wednesday. If you look closely at the 10 day graph you'll see rain amounts & winds speeds are not dreadful for the bigger system forecast for this weekend. So far...

FORT BRAGG! LOVE IT OR LOVE IT MORE!

THERE ARE ALTERNATIVES TO DEMOLISHING THE PALACE

by Mike Geniella

A lot of effort is being put into a local campaign to show how decrepit the Palace Hotel, a downtown Ukiah landmark, has become. 

The historic structure's current condition is thanks to two owners - one from Marin County and the other a Ukiah motel operator - who over the past three decades have done little to protect the town's most significant historic building. The City of Ukiah has done a lot of handwringing and taken occasional public action over the decades, but it has aided the Palace’s sharp decline by a largely hands-off policy.

Demolition proponents now want to use $6.6 million in taxpayer dollars to tear down the Palace under the guise of a contaminated soil clean-up effort.

The advocates are the Guidiville Rancheria and a mystery group of local investors, whose public spokesman is Left Coast restauranteur Matt Talbert. After the taxpayer-funded demolition and cleanup, then the Guidiville/investment group wants to do their privately owned project, purportedly a faux Palace in its place. 

Despite the clamor, and the ghastly photos of how the interior of the Palace looks now, noted historic preservation architect Carolyn Kiernat of Page & Turnbull in San Francisco believes the Palace can be shored up, gutted, and recycled into a downtown centerpiece.

 The firm in 2022 assisted Ukiah financier Minal Shankar in preparing possibilities, but the deal was scuttled by current owner Jitu Ishwar, who apparently didn't get the dollars he demanded. Ishwar is the owner of another downtown eyesore within a block of City Hall – the Economy Inn.

Kiernat and Page & Turnbull have done fine restoration projects all over California, including the Ferry Building in SF. Kiernat provides this example of the recent transformation of the old Hotel Tioga in Merced, a building not unlike the Palace.

Kiernat said the Palace can be recycled into a new centerpiece for Ukiah.

“It’s possible. It’s been done elsewhere, and I know it can be done in Ukiah,” said Kiernat.

Regional contractor Tom Carter agrees. Carter did the restoration of the acclaimed Tallman Hotel and Blue Wing Saloon in Upper Lake, among other projects in the region including Sonoma County.

Carter two years ago combed the Palace and attempted to buy the building from the current owner Jitu Ishwar.

“The Palace Hotel can be restored” he wrote in published response Sunday to a series of photographs depicting the sad state today of the Palace’s interior.

“I had permission two years ago to examine the hotel for several weeks. I’ve done similar restoration work. I have the plans that were commissioned to begin the restoration. No one has said it would be easy but, it’s not as difficult as most people think,” wrote Carter.

Carter said there are many questions to be resolved. 

“That’s why it needs great cooperation between the owners, the City and most of all the Community,” he said.

Carter offered this advice:

“To the owners, stop looking at it and wondering how much money can be made and start looking at what you can put back into your community. After all, it’s the community that keeps your other businesses alive. To the community, project some optimism, get on board because time is running out.”

https://www.constructionspecifier.com/page-turnbull-reimagines-historic-calif-hotel-as-cultural-hub/

SAVE THE PALACE, UKIAH

Editor,

The Palace Hotel can be restored. Many great buildings all over the world in worse shape have been restored. I had permission 2 years ago to examine the hotel for several weeks. I’ve done similar restoration work. I have the plans that were commissioned to begin the restoration. No one has said it would be easy but, it’s not as difficult as most people think. Of course there are many questions to be resolved, that’s way it needs a great cooperation between the owners, the City and most of all the Community. To the owners, stop looking at it and wondering how much money can be made and start looking at what you can put back into your community after all, it’s the community that keeps your other businesses alive. To the Community, project some optimism, get on board because time is running out.

Tom Carter

Ukiah

JESS RIVER

On February 5th Jess River died peacefully in Vermont with her son, Dan, by her side. River was a woman of beauty, care, integrity, and humor. plus all the other healing attributes she generously shared whenever she saw a need. Oh, river, you graced us with your presence here for many years and influenced all for the better. songs, poetry, valentines, artwork, garden, social justice, mischief, heartbreak, fortitude...You were up for it with grace and grit. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. May you travel on wings of pure love. may all your beloved family and friends be eased by the gentleness of your love. May your memory be as a blessing.

* * *

DOBIE DOLPHIN: I once asked River how she got the name Jess River. I knew it wasn't her birth name as many of us changed our names back then, when it was easy. I may have some of the details wrong, but the story went something like this. She was traveling and was asked by an official for her name. She said River. He asked for her last name and she said it's just River, which turned into Jess River. When I think of River, what comes to mind are her poems, her beautiful voice, her sweet smile and her great sense of humor. I feel lucky to have known her. 

THE MAJOR as a young man

MORE VETS OFFICE RELOCATION PROBLEMS

To the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors,

Could I please get an explanation on several issues? The first one is why have we been told that the cost analysis for the move would be shown to us. The CEO’s office has told us several times they had it and would get us copies. Now we discovered that there never was one. How did this occur? Don’t the CEO’s people realize that they will get caught up in their lies? Was it legal to put these moves into action without an analysis? 

Why does it take until the end of March to get this on the agenda? It took a week and a half to toss us out of our 15-year office into the tiny cell-like rooms. I do not need to go into the problems that this has created. There will be a lot more problems/complaints if we wait till the end of March, or longer. Do you realize that the VSO office has been closed for the last two days due to our one VSR being out for medical reasons? This office needs another Veterans Service Representative as promised by several Board Members. I have received several calls from concerned Vets wondering why they cannot seek help. They assumed that I still had answers having been the VSO in the past. I advised them that I did not. The general feeling is that the board has turned their backs on them. The action of the board proves them correct. 

Our elected officials have blatantly lied to their constituents, i.e., “The move is being done because Air Quality needs space for storage” and “We will get you another Vet rep” all of which appear to be falsehoods. It appears that the decision was based on the desire to charge Air Quality Control rent money. So, the Vets were thrown under the bus for some rent? The VSO office is one of the few county offices that brings revenue into the county funds. All of you receive reports from the California Department of Veterans Affairs twice a year through your VSO on the money that is received from the state to our county because of the work the VSO did. It was around $119,000 last year. Was that even considered? Were those reports even glanced at? 

Why do we even need to get this issue on the agenda/calendar? Mo Mulheren stated that to move us out an agenda was not needed, so why is an agenda item needed to move us back? How can all of you continue to support this extremely unethical way to conduct your business? The right thing to do would be to reverse the decision and move the VSO back into the building on Observatory Ave., Now. If not, the problems will continue to multiply. 

As a Veteran and a tax-paying voter, I would like answers to these questions. Real answers this time, please. 

Carl Stenberg 

USCG BMC ret; 

VSO Mendocino County ret

Ukiah

MADELINE CLINE STANDS UP, but then sits right back down.

by Mark Scaramella

If bland and vague political slogans written by out-of-county consultants with no substance or backup are your thing, you’ll love First District Candidate Madeline Cline’s latest campaign flyer. 

In her latest flyer Cline says, “We need someone who will go to bat for our families, farmers, and small businesses.”

Yet, we have heard nothing from Ms. Cline about what “going to bat” will involve. 

Cline says that she has “worked on issues related to natural resources, public safety, and housing in the State Assembly,” but oddly fails to name one of those “issues” or describe what the result of that “work” was.

Cline claims to be an “advocate for farmers and small businesses in the local policy making process,” but she declines to say what she advocates. The only thing she’s on record of “advocating” is for the Regional Water Quality Control Board to go easy on the wine industry’s sediment dumping. Also, since when a Mendo a politician says “farmer” they mean wine grape grower. So, again, what has she advocated for besides those proposed sediment regs?

Cline brags about being a “member of Soroptimist International of Ukiah.” Their slogan is “Helping women and girls live their dreams.” What can a Mendo Supervisor do along those lines? 

Ms. Cline notes that she is on the Mendocino County Fish and Game Commission, appointed by Supervisor Glenn McGourty. But McGourty not only endorsed her opponent Trevor Mockel, but donated $500 to Mockel’s campaign.

Then Cline goes deep and heavy by claiming that she is “bringing local farmers, businesses, and community members together to STOP PG&E from stripping Mendocino County of our water resources.”

Ms. Cline has not held any meetings on that subject. Although she has attended some of the Potter Valley Project meetings, she hasn’t said much, nor has she authored any position papers on the subject.

Ms. Cline concludes, “As our Supervisor, Madeline Cline will stand up to PG&E and make sure our community has access to long-term, sustainable water sources that allows our local families, farmers and fish to thrive.”

Which sounds nice. But since much more experienced Mendolanders both in and out of the wine industry have been aggressively dealing with the PG&E diversion problem for years with very little to show for it, we doubt the 26-year old Ms. Cline’s attempts at “standing up” to PG&E will change anything. PS. She doesn’t mention the other 800-pound gorilla in the Potter Valley Project Picture: the Sonoma County Water Agency. What Mendo needs more than someone to “stand up” to PG&E, is someone who will stand up to the Sonoma County Water Agency, like John Pinches tried to do a few years ago, but couldn’t get even one of his colleagues to agree with him.

CANNABIS EXCLUSION ZONE DENIED

Letter to the Editor #1

Redwood Valley and Willits citizens’ attempts to form Cannabis Prohibition Zones denied by Board of Supervisors – against the will of the people. 

A large group of Concerned Redwood Valley Citizens, in an attempt to form a Cannabis Prohibition District close to downtown Redwood Valley, met with the Mendocino County Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors in May and July of 2023. We paid a filing fee of $5,804 and spent over two years waiting to be scheduled on the agendas to be heard in order to defend our right to form this District under Mendocino County’s Cannabis Ordinance 20.119.020. At the Planning hearing, it was reported that all minimum criteria established by the BOS to form this District had been met. At both meetings, numerous long-time Redwood Valley residents and vineyard owners spoke on how the influx of new large cannabis grows are negatively impacting our quality of life in the Valley and our concerns, first and foremost, of the strain on our local water supplies. Many other concerns were cited via 33 submitted letters. Our application was denied by a 3-2 vote. In favor were our 1st District Supervisor Glenn McGourty and 4th District Supervisor Dan Gjerde. Dissenting were Supervisors Hashack, Mulheren and Williams. A second request to form a Prohibition District from a Willits neighborhood was also denied by the Board of Supervisors a month after ours. They also paid a filing fee.

Our concerns with this process and the ultimate outcome are many. Despite our repeated emphasis that our concerns were over water, safety and the environment, the BOS reduced our concerns to basically one of smell only. Numerous parties spoke on behalf of the growers, yet we are hard pressed to find one who lives in this neighborhood. The three Supervisors who voted against us do not live in Redwood Valley. The two property owners and one manager of the grow sites operating within our proposed Prohibition district do not live in this neighborhood. Two allegedly are from Sonoma County. We guess those of us who reside here do not know what is in our own best interest and it doesn’t matter that we bought our properties with the desire to enjoy peaceful lives in a beautiful rural area, free from “Commercial” industry. We question why commercial industry endeavors are not made to be located and run in commercial or industrial zones? Why were local residents who have lived here and paid property taxes for decades not given notice or a voice regarding proposed changes to our beautiful area? What we are going through here in Mendocino County is sadly happening in many other Counties throughout California. It is all a huge failure that is profiting few and damaging our beautiful State and its resources. For local Redwood Valley residents, many of whom have lived here for decades, this denial was a slap in the face and far from a democratic process we expected and hoped for going in. We felt largely dismissed.

While Supervisors Gjerde and McGourty supported our request, they were outvoted by Supervisors Hashack, Mulheren and Williams, again none of whom live in Redwood Valley. The main outcomes of our hard work to gather signatures, raise funds and submit these applications were three-fold. First, the Board basically asked the Cannabis Department if the permits for the grows in question could be fast-tracked for approval. This despite one having been busted for growing illegally resulting in numerous SUVs and a helicopter swooping into the neighborhood unannounced, definitely a nuisance. Next, the Board ordered Code Enforcement to go out and inspect all our residential properties for illegal grows based on an aerial map the growers submitted. It was asserted by the BOS and the attorneys for the growers that it is presumably all the other small grows that are causing the problems. This despite testimony and letters provided to the contrary; that it is the two new big grows which are causing the most concern to nearby neighbors, and were specifically the impetus for us to request a Prohibition District. Finally, the BOS is now talking about amending the Opt-Out chapter of the Cannabis Ordinance to do away with citizens being able to collect signatures and submit an application on our own behalf directly to the Planning Department. A request would first have to go to a Supervisor who would then determine whether it should be considered. Why? It wasn’t too long ago that the BOS passed an ordinance that expanded the allowable size of cultivation sites to 10% of a parcel’s size. This action was repealed by the BOS after a grass roots referendum by concerned citizens collected approximately 6,000 signatures against it. Big monied growers, some from other Counties have been allowed in, paying cash for large local Ag parcels and have been allowed to grow with the County’s blessing while their permits have not been approved but only “under review”. This has been happening since approximately 2017. They are using resources and causing nuisances with little to no regard to the impact they are having on nearby long-time local residents.

Our applications and the combined $11,608. filings fees paid to the County was a Win-Win for these new growers who again do not reside in this area. We are very concerned about where Mendocino County is headed with regards to Cannabis and how certain Supervisors are attempting to squelch the voices of we, the people. We encourage anyone who would like to learn more about how Cannabis in this County is not working, to google Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall’s interview with the Epoch Times. It speaks volumes as to the pitfalls and perils of promoting this type of “Commercial” industry. We did not ask for it in our neighborhoods and we do not want it. 

Respectfully submitted by Concerned Redwood Valley Citizens (CRVC)

Christine Boyd, Cynthia Grant, Star Gilley, Frances Owen, Richard Sagan, Cyndi Barra Woskow, Michael Woskow and others.

Redwood Valley

ED NOTES

IN A SORT of cosmic way, though, this year's Super Bowl, even more than previous years, perfectly reflects where we're at, which seems to be where the accumulating catastrophes will explode in the November election of those dual titans of destruction, Biden and Trump.

TODAY, however, I'm taking in the big show whole and live, from the dueling anthems to the arms industry fly over, scolding myself for denigrating an occasion that brings so much happiness to millions of struggling, anxious citizens.

A GUY on the tv news said he'd maxxed out his credit cards to buy a ticket but still only had five thou when he needed at least nine thou to get in. “This is my last shot,” he said, as he was cut off by the verbal bubble machine doing the man-in-the-Vegas-street interviews.

THE YOUNG GUYS playing today's game seem much more vivid and individualized than most professional jocks. You get a sense of who they are from the numerous stories about them and even more from their often lively live interviews. They're fun.

THERE'S A WONDERFUL short story by Dave Eggers called “The Comebacker” about a baseball player who astounds the sports world by speaking eruditely on a variety of unexpected subjects unrelated to baseball in post-game interviews. Eggers' story includes a riff on the team minder who monitors ballplayers to stick to the tried and true script. “I'm just happy to be here, and whatever I can do to help the team I'm here to do.” But the Comebacker — baseball for a ball hit straight back to the pitcher — breaks the mold, and becomes a sports sensation.

NOT THAT ANY of the Niners are likely to suddenly depart from football to denounce the IDF's on-going assaults on Gaza's civilian population, but within the confines of sports world the Niner players often say interesting, unexpected things. Nick Bosa said about Kansas City's offensive linemen, “They hold a lot.” And Christian McCaffrey said the fire alarm in the Niner hotel “went off on purpose” at 6am. George Kittle says all kinds of joyously funny things, and Brandon Aiyuk explained his miraculous bounce-off catch against the lions as the good luck brought to him “when a ladybug landed on my shoe.” 

I'M WRITING three hours before kick-off. As a fan since the early Niner days at Kezar Stadium in SF, I always want the Niners to win, but I'd never dare bet against the great Patrick Mahomes, KC's magic man quarterback. …

WELL, call me the prophet. Mahomes pulled off another miracle. Great game, though, interesting throughout. 10-3 at the half. Interesting psycho-breaks on the Chief’s bench as Whatsherface's boyfriend flipped out on his coach, the unhealthy looking Andy Reid, a famous glutton, and it seemed like the whole team was screaming at their running back.

ENERGETIC half-time show with a lot of people running around shouting “Baby, baby, baby.” Nice for us old people that there’s only one lyric these days. Only three or four shots of Whatsherface. Moody kicked a 55-yarder as I knew he would. Purdy played well, Shanahan's game plan consisted mostly of McCaffrey. Jauan Jennings was the game MVP, I thought. Mahomes got a lot of pressure from the Niner D all of whom played well. Ads were especially moronic even by ad standards these days, and got seriously in the way of the game, forcing the players to stand around a lot, sweat drying, game rhythms wrecked.

FINAL SCORE, 25-22 Chiefs.

FRED GARDNER WRITES: Loss of Greenlaw has me worried. First pro football game I saw was from the upper deck at Ebbets Field. The 49ers destroyed the Brooklyn Dodgers. I remember my dad saying that a left-handed quarterback (Frankie Albert) was very unusual. In the opening game his alma mater Erasmus lost to Manual Trades by 60-0 (approximately). Saw another game that year, Brooklyn vs. the Cleveland Browns with Otto Graham, Dante Lavelli and a great fullback named Marion Motley. I will never forget Motley carrying three men into the end zone. Also, Lou Groza’s field goals all landed in exactly the same part of the upper deck. He played tackle, too. His brother or cousin Alex played basketball at Kentucky and was caught up in a point-shaving scandal. Sid Luckman’s cousin lived a few doors down from grandma’s house on Georgia Avenue in Brownsville. He was the only kid whose parents didn’t forbid him from climbing on the roof when a Spaldeen had to be retrieved.

JOHN REDDING

If you want to know what suck feels like, play for Kyle Shannahan. He is a fake imitation of his father.

Kudos to Purdy and especially the Defense who surpassed all explanations. Spagnolu, the Chiefs defensive coordinator, proved he could out coach Kyle Shannahan when it mattered most. Spags blitzed at the crucial times and there was zero resistance.

God Bless the players. Finding it hard to feel anything good about the coaches.

No more high expectations by me. I saw the real deal, Coach Bill Walsh. Coach Shannahan, you are no Bill Walsh. Oh dear, I plagiarized that. Tough you know what. lol. Sigh.

PS. There are many good examples of empty statements that come across as, at first glance, profound. “Love means never having to say you're sorry.” “Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life.” One that popped up recently “Today is the youngest you will ever be for the rest of your life.” (attributed to James Carville but plagiarized, a Democrat core value, from Eleanor Roosevelt.)

So, I think, Hell's Bells, I can create a statement that will make you pause and think. 

“Tomorrow is the first day when you will be older than today.”

Ponder that imponderable.

S.F.’S BID FOR SIXTH TITLE FALLS SHORT IN OT

By Chronicle Staff

The San Francisco 49ers came up just short in their bid for the first Super Bowl title in 29 years.

The 49ers fell to the Kansas City Chiefs 25-22 in overtime Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in a game filled with fumbles, big defensive stops and outsize performances from unlikely sources for San Francisco.

But the 49ers couldn’t stop Patrick Mahomes from driving the Chiefs downfield with two minutes left to force overtime, and he again made them pay in the extra session, connecting with Mecole Hardeman for a three-yard touchdown to secure back-to-back titles. The 49ers received the kick to open OT but settled for a Jake Moody field goal.

Moody, the 49ers rookie kicker whose inexperience was a source of unease for fans these playoffs. He drilled kicks from 55 yards and 52 yards, two of the five longest field goals in Super Bowl history. The latter one, with just under two minutes remaining, would give the 49ers a three-point lead with two minutes left — too long for Mahomes.

For now, Brock Purdy’s fairytale career, going from last pick in the 2022 draft to MVP candidate, will stop short of joining the likes of Joe Montana and Steve Young as quarterbacks to lead the 49ers to a Lombardi Trophy.

Purdy’s final line: 23-for-38 for 255 yards and a touchdown. Mahomes was 34-for-46 for 333 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

An unlikely star for the 49ers was Jauan Jennings, a 2020 seventh-round draft pick who threw a 21-yard touchdown pass on a trick play to Christian McCaffrey and caught another one for 10 yards. 

Brock Purdy made big play after big play after the 49ers received the kickoff in overtime, driving to the Kansas City 9-yard line before settling for a 27-yard Jake Moody field goal. The 49ers lead 22-19. Then it was Patrick Mahomes' turn.

Swifties are calling on Taylor Swift to break up with Travis Kelce, 34, due to his violent behavior towards coach Andy Reid during the Super Bowl. The Kansas City Chief tight end was seen grabbing and shouting at the 65-year-old coach on the sidelines amid a challenging game against the San Francisco 49ers. This incident follows prior instances of Kelce’s on-field tantrums, including spiking his helmet in December, which led former Chiefs' wide receiver Dante Hall to label him as “spoiled.” Kelce’s latest outburst appears to stem from frustration over not being included in a crucial red-zone play in the second quarter, where tight end Noah Gray was chosen instead. “Any man that acts like that, likes to yell at anyone and everyone. Even Taylor Swift,” commented Sabrina Reed Fountas on Twitter. 

49ERS GAME GRADES: The Super Bowl was theirs to win, but Niners fell short

by Mike Lerseth

The San Francisco 49ers’ 25-22 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVIII is a gut punch to the franchise that will forever be remembered for missed opportunities and a missed extra point.

OFFENSE: C

At some point, you had to know those 49ers drives that turned into field goals (three of them) would come back to hurt them. The only Niner who seemed to get going was Jauan Jennings, whose 15 minutes of fame stretched into a couple of hours as he joined Philadelphia’s Nick Foles as the only players to catch a TD pass and throw one in the Super Bowl. Brock Purdy (23-for-38, 255 yards, one TD, one sack) was good, but not great. Christian McCaffrey piled up 160 yards from scrimmage (80 both rushing and receiving), but needed 30 touches to do so. Deebo Samuel was kept in check (41 total yards) and George Kittle was just short of being invisible (two catches, 4 yards).

DEFENSE: B

The inevitability of Patrick Mahomes becoming Patrick Mahomes finally surfaced on the game-winning drive. The 49ers couldn’t keep him from converting a 3rd-and-6 (13-yard completion) and a 3rd-and-1 (19-yard run) before he threw the game-ending TD pass. The impact of losing LB Dre Greenlaw to a noncontact Achilles injury can’t be overstated. Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce, so irritated early that he nearly knocked over head coach Andy Reid, finished with game highs in receptions (nine) and receiving yards (93). The Chiefs, whose first four possessions lasted 15 plays and covered 87 yards, finished with 79 plays and 455 yards.

SPECIAL TEAMS: F

No S.F. fan will ever again take extra points for granted. Jake Moody’s blocked PAT was a reason the game went into overtime and arguably the reason San Francisco is not in possession of Lombardi Trophy No. 6. This unit had been stellar early in the game as Moody kicked a short-lived Super Bowl-record 55-yard field goal and Mitch Wishnowsky’s first two punts were better than 50 yards and his third was downed at the 1-yard-line. Then rookie Darrell Luter Jr. was hit on the ankle by a Kansas City punt, the Chiefs recovered the loose ball and scored on the next play. Moody’s missed extra-point try came with 11:22 to play in the fourth quarter.

COACHING: B

Kyle Shanahan certainly didn’t get conservative with his decision to go for it facing a 4th-and-3 from the Chiefs’ 15 in the fourth quarter. The Niners converted it and scored two plays later on Jennings’s catch. Jennings was involved in what until then had been the play of the game when Shanahan called for a lateral-and-pass that went from Purdy to Jennings to McCaffrey for the game’s first touchdown.

OVERALL: C

Shanahan gets another year — at least — of hearing that he can’t win the big one. Moody gets to spend his first offseason as a pro hearing about all the kicks he missed down the stretch. And the 49ers, once the belle of the Super Bowl ball with a 5-0 record, are most decidedly championship-game bridesmaids now, having lost each of their past three appearances.

(sfchronicle.com)

ASSIGNMENT: UKIAH - HOUSEHOLD RULEBOOK, NFL-STYLE

by Tommy Wayne Kramer

The American household suffers from a lack of rules. The average family has only vague notions of improper behavior, and consequences are rarely defined. 

Rather than hazy misunderstandings about proper behavior, proper decor and proper home maintenance, all of which lead to miscommunication, intra-spousal rules and regulations ought to be clarified. 

This would be in the best interests of all concerned, especially husbands. Households should be run like the NFL. In football rules are clear and are enforced. Penalties are plain to everyone. 

A defensive tackle is caught offside? The ref wags a no-no finger at him and issues a five yard penalty 

When an offensive lineman gets caught tugging rather too vigorously on the elbow of a defensive lineman, the result is another penalty, another loss of down. 

On a field goal attempt, a 375 lb defensive lineman breaks both legs of the 160 lb. kicker 10 seconds after the play has concluded. Referees deliver swift and sure punishment that includes repossessing the lineman’s car and garnishing his salary. 

But in the American family much is left to conjecture. Does it violate the rules to leave an empty coffee cup on the kitchen counter without rinsing it out? Regulations should be more clear and penalties more obvious. 

If the NFL was in charge of your home: 

OFFENSE #1 Drive car all week with Check Engine light ON. 

PENALTY: Confiscate car keys, provide offending spouse with MTA schedule of bus routes. 

OFFENSE #2 Improper folding of kitchen towels 

PENALTY: Enroll offending spouse in Origami paper-folding classes at Mendocino College. 

OFFENSE #3: Stop in at Forest Club Friday after work for one beer, without calling home. 

PENALTY: Cold leftovers for dinner. 

OFFENSE #4: Have multiple beers at Forest Club, not home til 9 o’clock. 

PENALTY: Sleep on couch. 

OFFENSE #5: Bring three new “friends” back home from the Forest Club, plus a 12-pack. 

PENALTY: Change locks on doors. 

OFFENSE #6: Loud, excited yammering about fall fashions in latest Vogue Magazine during late inning bases-loaded situation in World Series. 

PENALTY: Time is Called! Banished to garage until game is over. Repeat offenses result in banishment until season is over. 

OFFENSE #7: Accidentally drive car head-first into tree near garage causing $9,000 in damages. 

PENALTY: If offending spouse was distracted while applying makeup, confiscate driver’s license. If spouse was merely intoxicated, call Matt’s Tree Service in Ukiah to remove stupid tree from yard. 

OFFENSE #8: Leave cap off tube of toothpaste. 

PENALTY: Brush teeth with Preparation H for one week. 

OFFENSE #9: Accidentally put son’s six pet snakes through washing machine and dryer; take tearful responsibility, conduct solemn backyard burial service. 

REWARD: $500 cash from delighted spouse. 

OFFENSE #10: New beverage stains on white silk living room couch. 

PENALTY: If stains are from wine, ban drinking in house except kitchen and bathroom. If beer, suggest easy cleanup with moist paper towel. 

OFFENSE #11: Run motorcycle engine parts through kitchen dishwasher. 

PENALTY: Demand Harley Davidson trade-in for baby blue Vespa. 

OFFENSE #12: Spouse spreads thick layer of peanut butter on toast, and using same knife but without wiping off the blade! sticks it in jelly jar, stirs it around, then covers toast, leaving contaminated Skippy residue in polluted jelly jar. 

PENALTY: New, separate pantries and refrigerators, with combination locks. 

OFFENSE #13: In spring cleaning fit, vintage fishing tackle box with grandpa’s lures and hooks is tossed into trash along with junk. 

PENALTY: Offending spouse must row boat on all future fishing trips. 

OFFENSE #14: Following hot shower, slather generous amounts of Chanel eyelid cream on face, chest, arms, legs and butt. 

PENALTY: Repay misspent eye cream with double the amount of Vaseline Xtra Moisturizing Hand Lotion 

Speaking of the NFL 

By the time you read this I’ll be at the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. My plan is to meet Taylor Swift and give her a big kiss. 

Next day I’ll have my lips surgically removed so I can sell them on eBay. 

(Tom Hine writes these columns but makes TWK take blame.)

SO YOU'RE 90: WHAT'S NEXT: MY LONGEVITY

by Gregory Sims

My seventies weren't terrible-even with the beginning of my eighties I was showing off for Clarissa and she was impressed but didn't appreciate my bragging. But after a while problems developed which suggested various anomalies including cancer and its treatment. And I decided I didn't want to go through that. I told Dr. Fan in the presence of some family that I would choose an early exit rather than going through a plethora of debilitating treatments. But she informed me of a different approach that utilized aspects of the natural defenses of the body and took away the harmful aspects of testosterone and allowed estrogen to surface. Then she suggested some user-friendly medications. That was more than five years ago.

During that time I've also developed my own method of meditation after being in Clarissa's meditation group and through other resources. But rather than share my entire exploration I found it possible to have a much more positive approach to life which includes a certainty that spiritual growth involving a unity of bodymind helps me deal with insecurities I encounter as an aftermath of childhood trauma. "But how to come out of this condition and actually migrate thither? All that he could think of was.to let his mind descend into his body and redeem it, and treat himself with ever-increasing respect."( p. 196 Higher Laws in Walden-Henry David Thoreau)

So when I joyfully recounted my feelings with my extended family as "heaven on earth" in last week's message, much of that perspective and that joy has developed through a gradual growth using writing, teaching and realization that the strength and paths of peace comes through exploring and sharing basic physiological sensitivities manifesting through kindness growing into loving compassion.

Anyone who knows me becomes aware of how slow and spotty this growth process is in me, including friends, family and significant others. What makes it so slow is the necessity of including the feelings of others in the process rather than being preoccupied with my own state. So early on in these writings, though I've found a path which I'm now sharing. It is likely that when I leave this world I will do so not far into midstream.

I do believe that as we grow older if we are attentive to available avenues of growth we can become wiser and kinder (if we don't give up on ourselves out of discouragement). The issue of discouragement is real. And it doesn't come as a thundering self-judgment. More commonly we follow a path which is not of our own choosing. Rather we buy into what seems to be more socially acceptable approaches that often don't pan out. Explore yourself and find something that works for you. I will do the same. There have been a number of crucial intersections in my life and I'll share one with you in closing.

I was participating as a student learning of the diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems using brain wave technology. Being close to noon we broke for lunch and I went to a nearby Safeway Market looking for a sandwich when I got a phone call from my son. He told me the terrible news that they again lost the embryo of their emerging child. They were devastated. After he hung up I earnestly prayed: "If you change this so their child can be born I will follow you throughout my life". I said it out loud and the instant I spoke the last word the phone rang again. It was my son saying: "It wasn't the embryo, it was a blood clot on the floor." Their healthy child is now in high school. Hence my secular spirituality.

Certainly I can easily choose to realize the chance nature of this occurrence. Why would I do that?

CATCH OF THE DAY, Sunday, February 11

TIMOTHY BANUELOS, Ukiah. County parole violation.

JADIN BIRDWELL, Willits. DUI.

TIMOTHY BURLESON, Ukiah. Suspended license.

NEESHKIN COLEMAN, Tracy/Ukiah. DUI, leaving scene of accident with property damage, pot possession for sale, no license, evasion.

LUIS FIGUEROA, Hopland. Marijuana cultivation, renting to distribute controlled substance.

JOSE GUTIERREZ, Nuevo/Willits. Disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs.

SHEILA OWENS, Ukiah. Attempted burglary, probation revocation.

MICHELLE PHILLIPS, Ukiah. Domestic battery.

HUMBOLDT COUNTY PRESIDING JUDGE Gregory Kreis Facing Formal Inquiry Into 19 Counts of Alleged Misconduct, Including Drug and Alcohol Use, Sexually Inappropriate Behavior and Anti-Semitic Remarks

https://lostcoastoutpost.com/2024/feb/7/presiding-judge-gregory-kreis-facing-formal-miscon/

SUMMING UP THE ASSEMBLY RACE

Editor,

The race for State Assembly is a little different this year. Or maybe a lot different with a candidate from Los Angeles who just moved up here, Rusty Hicks, who has raised more money and mailed more flyers than any of the other candidates.

The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported that Hicks is funded by people “clustered in Los Angeles and Sacramento.” He is endorsed by the California Labor Federation, overruling their Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake County chapters that endorsed Chris Rogers. Their president, Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, is a former assembly member from San Diego. And Mr. Hicks is endorsed by Governor Newsom, who does not usually endorse anyone in district elections.

The one common thread here, I think, is water, water that we have and that Southern California wants. As does Newsom, who is pushing hard to build a tunnel in the Delta to send water south. I never heard of Mr. Hicks before he suddenly showed up with a lot of money and a lot of aggressive campaigning. I question if we have someone who wants to represent our district, or someone who may have a whole other agenda.

By the way, Cynthia Click has dropped out of the race. She is actually from the Garberville area. No one I know in Willits knows her. At campaign forums her main issue was marijuana. Michael Greer, the lone Republican, is a lot older than any of the other candidates, slow on the draw but refreshing compared to the professional candidates running against him. However, he told everyone that he is Mormon, a member of the LDS church. Anyone talking about his religion is giving notice where he is coming from.

Frankie Meyers sounds intelligent and articulate but his main issue, other than tribal, is dams, and wanting them taken down. Chris Rogers, former mayor of Santa Rosa who was born and raised in Sonoma County, also came across smart and pleasant, but he hasn’t said a lot about anything concrete. As for Ariel Kelley, yesterday the Press Democrat did a front page story on some multi-millionaire developer from Sonoma County who is pouring a huge amount of money into her campaign. And Ted Williams doesn’t seem to be campaigning at all.

By the way, add to your check list of campaign flyer necessities (family, shaggy dog) firemen in full gear standing in front of fire trucks talking earnestly to the candidate. We’ve gotten three so far.

Bernard Kamoroff

Willits

BILL KIMBERLIN

I saw this in an antique store and acquired it. I am always looking for things either Greek or Roman, but here on the West Coast most of the things I see are Asian. This is a representation of Deidamia who was a figure in Greek mythology made famous by the fact that she was at one point married to Achilles, and gave birth to a son for the Greek hero, Neoptolemus.

CRAZY

by Usher

I'm crazy, so crazy

I'm crazy about you

I'm crazy, so crazy

About you (crazy 'bout you, baby)

.

What kind of love is this

That keeps me hypnotized?

Can't' get you off my mind

Don't ever let it end

Let it go on and on and on

'Cause you know it turns me on

.

So whisper in my ear, just what I want to hear

'Cause no one can love me like you do

Ooh, that's why I'm

.

I'm crazy, so crazy

I'm crazy about you

I'm crazy, so crazy

About you (crazy 'bout you, baby)

.

I'd like to take this time

To tell you how I feel

To let you know the deal

So baby, let's make plans

I want you to be my only girl

'Cause you know I'll be your man

.

So whisper in my ear, just what I want to hear

'Cause no one can love me like you do

Ooh, that's why I'm

.

I'm crazy, so crazy

I'm crazy about you

I'm crazy, so crazy

About you

.

I'm crazy about you

About you

I'm crazy about you

About you

.

I'm crazy, so crazy

I'm crazy about you

I'm crazy, so crazy

About you (crazy 'bout you, baby)

.

So crazy

Crazy about, about you

So crazy

You want to be my girl, I'll be your man

So crazy

Drive me out my mind, crazy, crazy

So crazy

I'm so crazy

HORSE CRAP, MOMENTUM, & THE SUPER BOWL

by Louisa Thomas

Both the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers seem to believe that they have a quasi-mystical force on their side. They aren’t necessarily wrong.

On January 28th, after the San Francisco 49ers won the N.F.C. Championship game, against the Detroit Lions, the 49ers’ tight end George Kittle came to the postgame press conference with something he wanted to say: “Why do analytics people say that momentum isn’t a real thing?” Kittle mentioned a conversation he’d recently had with the ESPN personality Pat McAfee. “He was like, ‘All these people are telling me that momentum’s not real.’ And that’s just the biggest load of horse crap I’ve heard of in my entire life.”

For evidence, Kittle could point to the third quarter of that night’s game. When the quarter began, the Lions were up 24–7. The 49ers kicked a field goal on the opening drive, then the ball went back to Detroit, who, in the first half, had been moving downfield almost at will. The Lions got into 49ers territory and then, on fourth-and-two, tried for a first down instead of attempting a field goal. They failed.

On the next drive, the 49ers’ quarterback Brock Purdy threw a long pass that hit a Lions player, Kindle Vildor, in the facemask and bounced into the hands of the 49ers’ receiver Brandon Aiyuk, for a fifty-one-yard gain. Purdy found Aiyuk for a touchdown three plays later. The sound of the crowd swelled through the stadium. The 49ers could sense it. The Lions could sense it. Fans watching the drama unfold through television screens, even thousands of miles away, could sense it. Momentum.

“You could just kind of feel an energy,” Kittle went on. “We go down and score. ‘All right, this is huge.’ Turnover. I was, like, ‘Ah, man, all bets are off now.’ Bang bang.” The final score was 34–31, San Francisco.

Afterward, the 49ers’ head coach, Kyle Shanahan, described the players’ mind-set at halftime. The vibe, he said, was “We’re not going out like this. Guys didn’t want today to be the last day.” In the second half, Shanahan said, “We were able to get the ball to bounce the right way.” A headline in the San Francisco Chronicle declared, “49ers Are Going to the Super Bowl Thanks to a Force That Can’t Be Measured.”

“George Kittle is one of my favorite players, so I’m going to be a little sad if he just dunks all over me,” the sportswriter Bill Barnwell told me this week when I asked him about Kittle’s comments. Barnwell is the analytics person most closely associated with the argument against momentum. Ten years ago, he wrote a two-part essay, “Nomentum,” for Grantland, in which he laid out philosophical objections to the word’s overuse and presented a series of studies that questioned the significance of momentum.

Momentum, Barnwell found, didn’t reliably carry over from the regular season to the postseason. Teams that surged at the end of the season were not reliably more likely to win the Super Bowl than teams that had got off to a hot start. Momentum also didn’t appear to carry over from week to week or minute to minute. Looking at data from games in the National Hockey League, he found that teams which scored late to force overtime were not more likely to win that game. In football, he found that stopping a team on downs—as the 49ers had done, in the third quarter, against the Lions—did not create any measurable momentum. The team that then received the ball was not more likely to score on the following drive than if the opposing team had punted to them instead.

Barnwell dug deep. He read academic papers from decades before. He conducted more studies. He scrutinized the ways that commentators, coaches, and fans used the word “momentum” to see whether he could find any consistent patterns. He learned that a Cincinnati Bengals quarterback named Virgil Carter had used computers to analyze reams of data and had come to some of the same conclusions that Barnwell did—in 1970.

The problem with momentum, in Barnwell’s view, was not that it doesn’t exist. He actually had no idea whether it existed—and, these days, he’s willing to concede that it probably does. (“I’ve heard very few players who say, Yeah it doesn’t exist,” Barnwell told me. “I can’t think of one.”) The problem was that it isn’t well defined. In physics, momentum is a measure of mass in motion: the product of a particle’s mass and velocity. In the analysis of football games, though, the concept seems to abide by no rules. It is “an arbitrary, abstract idea that you can mold into just about anything you want to tell the story you’re looking to tell,” Barnwell wrote in “Nomentum.” That makes it a poor basis for play-calling—such as whether to kick a field goal on fourth-and-two instead of trying to get a first down—and a poor basis for criticizing the plays a coach decides to call. Teams generally win or lose football games because of some combination of sound decision-making, good execution, and luck, not because they are carried by a mystical force unleashed by a dropped pass or a goal-line stop.

Barnwell sounded right to me. But so did Kittle, to be honest. It was a load of horse crap: not only does momentum exist, it is fundamental to the game. Statistical analysis can tell you what has happened, and probabilities can tell you what is likely to happen, but momentum describes the experience of what is happening, both for players and for the crowd. It’s a shared feeling, a sense of being swept into events as they unfold. It’s connected to confidence, with its attendant rush of dopamine, and to joy. And everyone knows what demoralization feels like, on the other side.

The tricky thing, the thrilling thing, is that this feeling is unstable, and its effects are unpredictable, and likely unmeasurable. Some people seem to wilt under pressure. Others—probably most of us—have good moments and bad, rising and falling in unsteady fashion. And some people are Patrick Mahomes.

Mahomes, the Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback, didn’t have the best regular season, by his standards. But, when the playoffs arrived, he became his dominant self again. Mahomes has yet to throw an interception since the regular season. He’s been completing more passes, throwing more touchdowns, and running more effectively. In the A.F.C. Championship game, against the Ravens, in Baltimore, he comfortably connected on thirty of his thirty-nine passes for two hundred and forty-one yards and a touchdown. The game never seemed in doubt. The Chiefs didn’t need a force that can’t be measured. They just needed Mahomes.

But the Chiefs tell their story as one of momentum, too. Their story starts not in Baltimore, nor during their previous playoff-game win against the Miami Dolphins. Their tale begins on Christmas Day, shortly after a loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. It seemed demoralizing at the time, but now the Chiefs say it inspired them. They won the next two games, the final games of the regular season. “We carried that momentum in the playoffs,” Mahomes said a few days ago. He inspires so much confidence—and so much respect on the part of his opponents—that he seems to be momentum itself.

How’s this for a swing? Mahomes has led eighteen potential game-tying or go-ahead drives in the fourth quarter or overtime and converted twelve of them. He’s 4–2 in the playoffs in games when the Chiefs have trailed by ten points or more. The last time the Chiefs faced the 49ers in the Super Bowl, in 2020, he led the Chiefs back from a 20–10 third-quarter deficit; the Chiefs scored twenty-one points in under seven minutes, as Mahomes, after a miserable start, made a series of spectacular throws. If I had to place a bet on Mahomes vs. momentum, I would bet on Mahomes.

IN PRE-SUPER BOWL SEGMENT, AARON RODGERS SAYS QB PLAY IS 'S—T' IN MODERN NFL

by Grant Marek

In a pre-Super Bowl NFL Network segment about franchise quarterbacks, Jets quarterback and former Cal Golden Bear Aaron Rodgers had one word to describe the quality of quarterback play in the league over the last two years: "S—t."

Only nine quarterbacks started every game for their team in 2023, and as NFL Network correspondent Andrea Kremer pointed out in the segment, "the 2022 and 2023 seasons had the most different starting quarterbacks in league history." That elicited the s-bomb from Rodgers, who then smiled and looked directly at the camera. But the four-time MVP went on to say injuries to top players aren't the only issue (Rodgers, coincidentally, tore his Achilles tendon in the first game of the season and missed all of 2023).

"It takes time to learn the position, it's the most important position in sports for a reason," he told Kremer. "You need an ownership to have the patience to go through the growing pains of a young quarterback who's struggling because he doesn't have enough guys around him. Coaching staff to be able to develop him, make sure the scheme fits the quarterback. 

"The offensive trends have gone to the [49ers head coach Kyle] Shanahan style of offense, which is very scheme driven. The more scheme driven it is, the less it's on the quarterback. And it's just the evolution of the game. You see it at a younger level, too. These quarterbacks in college now are looking over to the sidelines for the play. I think that is not helping the quarterback position, because those offenses are really run a lot in the NFL."

While at Cal from 2003-2004, Rodgers played for Jeff Tedford — the Bears' winningest coach — who ran a pro-style offense with spread concepts that required Rodgers to read defenses and not rely on a pre-snap check-in with his coaches on the sideline.

"Aaron is wistful when he says that," 49ers great Steve Young said later in the segment. "Because Aaron lived in a more sophisticated time. We have lost the art because of the nature of the game."

Young steered clear of "s—t" quarterback play being the reason for the lack of franchise quarterbacks in the league and instead said it's simply because of how difficult it is to play quarterback at a high level in the NFL.

"Patrick Mahomes to me is the king today. Because he can play the violin one play, read the defense, decipher through Indiana Jones, find the treasure, get the ball out. Next play: stiff arm, sprint around, you've got the jackhammer. He's out there just creating. That's the job today, and there's just very few humans can do it."

Kremer asked Young if he thinks a team can win a Super Bowl without a franchise quarterback.

"We're going to find out," he replied.

“THERE WILL NEVER be any revolution in America,” said Isadore. Nitikin agreed. “The people are too clean. They spend all their time changing their shirts and washing themselves. You can’t feel fierce and revolutionary in a bathroom.”

— Eric Linklater, Juan in America

THE TWILIGHT GLOOM in the place does seem to be lifting. Nelson cups his hand behind the flame and blows out the candle. The waitress brings their bill hand-written on the back of a menu card torn in half. $11.48. “I hope you have the right change because with the power out I can’t get into the cash register to make any.” Nelson looks into his wallet and has one one and the rest twenties. The ATMs only dish out twenties, encouraging consumers to spend faster. New bills, too. He hates how big Jackson’s face has gotten, and the way it’s off center. His expression is more wimpy. They’ve turned this old Indian-killer into a Sensitive New Age Guy. It looks like play money.

— John Updike, Nelson and Annabelle

BILL KIMBERLIN:

This photo won some kind of Nature Photo award and it is obvious why. It suggests a story or at least a question. My old boss, George Lucas, would probably say it fits into a category called, "Narrative Art". He is currently building a billion dollar museum featuring Narrative Art in Los Angeles after getting thrown out of San Francisco and Chicago. Had it not been for Covid, it would be open by now.

ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Biden is in no worse shape than Woodrow Wilson was in his last two years in office. Democrats should have thought twice before they went after Trump with their baseless, stupid impeachments & lawfare tactics. They showed the public how it's done; anything goes, and no mercy to your opponents. But they thought it would work only one way, against Trump. They’re finding out it works both ways, and payback is a bitch.

HE WAS A LOW-SLUNG, smallish figure, neither markedly stout nor thin, inclining, if anything, to the latter. The square-cut tunic seemed always a bit too large for him; one sensed an effort to compensate for the slightness of stature. Yet there was also a composed, collected strength, and a certain rough handsomeness, in his features. The teeth were discolored, the mustache scrawny, coarse, and streaked. This, together with the pocked face and yellow eyes, gave him the aspect of an old battle-scarred tiger. In manner — with us, at least — he was simple, quiet, unassuming. There was no striving for effect. His words were few. They generally sounded reasonable and sensible; indeed they often were. An unforewarned visitor would never have guessed what depths of calculation, ambition, love of power, jealousy, cruelty, and sly vindictiveness lurked behind this unpretentious facade.

— George Kennan on Stalin

MARCO SCHOOLS AL

Al Nunez (Coast Chatline):

If our president so great why does he allow illegals to vote? Because he is fraudulently trying to steal the election. Shouldn't the voting be done by the American citizens of the United states? that knows what's best for America. Illegals don't have a clue what's going on in America but only know they are here because of Biden handouts so they will vote for him. Something is not right about that is all I can say.

* * *

Marco here, 

Al, I want you to hear this in the warm, friendly voice you know from the times you and I spoke, in person, years ago at the radio station. I'm moved to write to reply to this and other things you've written lately. I'm not criticizing you; I'm telling you things I know that I think it would help you to know too:

1. The president has nothing to do with what you're blaming him for. In the United States, only U.S. citizens are eligible to vote in federal elections, such as presidential, congressional, and senate elections. States have their own laws about who can vote in state and local elections; even so, in most cases, only U.S. citizens are allowed to vote in these elections.

I repeat: Non-U.S. citizens, including permanent residents (green card holders) and individuals with other types of legal residency status, are not eligible to vote in U.S. elections. No non-citizen is voting for president. One must be registered to vote, and non-citizens cannot register to vote.

2. Everyone in the U.S. who is not full Native American Indian is either an immigrant or descended from immigrants. That's almost all of us, including you, including everyone who's using the subject of immigration as a wedge to further their own religious and political aims.

3. No human being is illegal. Everyone has a right to exist.

Further, Al, I don't know where you're getting the bad information that's got you concerned about these things, but whether it's from radio or television or the internet, somebody with deliberate bad intent is trying to trick you, to make you unknowingly help them trick more people. There are many ways to lie in media that make it sound like it's the truth. Just because media agencies or weblog writers or someone famous on Facebook says something with great angry confidence doesn't make it true. Angry confidence can be a red flag marking someone with bad intent.

As an experiment I fed ChatGPT some of the things you've written lately and asked it what might be good to say to you about this. Here's exactly what it wrote:

"Blaming a single individual, such as the current president, for a surge in immigration to the U.S. is often an oversimplification of a complex issue. Immigration patterns are influenced by a variety of factors, including economic conditions, political instability in other countries, natural disasters, changes in immigration policies, and global events.

"While the policies and rhetoric of a president can have some impact on immigration trends, it's important to recognize that immigration patterns are influenced by many factors that are beyond the control of any single individual or administration. For example, economic opportunities in the U.S., conditions in immigrants' home countries, and the presence of established immigrant communities can all play significant roles in shaping immigration flows.

"Immigration is a longstanding and complex issue that spans multiple administrations and requires comprehensive and nuanced solutions. Blaming any single president for a surge in immigration oversimplifies the issue and detracts from the need for thoughtful, evidence-based policymaking and cooperation across political divides to address the root causes of immigration and ensure fair and humane treatment of migrants."

* * *

Marco here again, Al. My feelings about this are not complicated at all. I love America. My bio-father's parents came here in the 1930s fleeing Nazi Germany exactly the way many people today come here fleeing trouble in, for instance, Central America. My mother's grandparents came from all over Europe. My wife Juanita's blue-eyed redheaded milk-white-skinned mother came from American Indians, immigrants from Ireland, and black slaves. Juanita's father was a black man from Texas which, before it was a state of the U.S., like much of the southwest, including California, was part of Mexico and before that Spain and before that any number of names given by people who came to the Americas tens of thousands of years ago from Asia, and hundreds of thousands of years ago from Africa. There is no race but the human race.

Here's the poem at the base of the Statue of Liberty. Read it out loud and see how you feel. It always makes me cry on the golden door part, it's so wonderful, so hopeful, so just and wise and right, I can't help it.

Emma Lazarus wrote:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"