Mendocino County Today: Wednesday 2/28/24

Partly Sunny | Daffodils | VSO Returns | Senior Trip | Nelson Half-Mast | Blossom | Ukiah Win | Wildlife Job | Overtime Exhaustion | Drunk Driving | Willits Fog | Retain Landlines | Big Gust | Vote Madeline | Add Up | Ceasefire Resolution | Olive Oil | Yesterday's Catch | Kelseyville Name | Second Class | Never Lose | Gold Pumps | Fifth Recall | True Master | HST SF | Road Ragemobile | Alexei Navalny | Aaron Bushnell | Old Gladiators | Atlanta Protest | Paris 1908 | Peasant Uprisings | Barista

A MAJOR WINTER STORM is expected to bring extremely heavy mountain snow, foothill snow, strong winds, & widespread rain late this week and into the weekend. Dry conditions early next week with cold morning lows.

A VERY ACTIVE stretch in weather will begin tonight as a deep, cold trough digs in from the north. As the trough nears, a strong front, persistent moisture feeding in, and instability will bring periods of strong wind, heavy snowfall and thunderstorms with small hail into the weekend. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): I have 39F under clear skies on the coast this Wednesday morning. Get all of your pre-storm prep done today as we have a wet week ahead of us starting tonight. (check out the 10 day forecast chart) I see only moderate winds in the forecast so far.

SUPES CAVE: VETS OFFICE TO RETURN TO OBSERVATORY

by Mark Scaramella

Several dozen local veterans packed Tuesday morning’s Supervisors meeting to demand fair treatment.

Supervisor John Haschak tried to cool down the frustrated vets by telling them that he was going to host a meeting at the universally derided Veterans Service Office location on Dora Street on March 14 at 1pm. “Everyone’s invited,” chirped Haschak, “to see the progress that’s been made.”

Haschak didn’t provide the nature of the progress. One vet suggested that the progress was “lipstick on a pig.”

Supervisor Ted Williams said he was still waiting for the “original information the behind decision” to move the Vets office from the welcoming house on Observatory Avenue to the inhospitable offices at the Public/Behavioral Health building on Dora Street. “I side with the veterans,” said Williams. “I need to see the actual documents. I am perplexed as to why I haven’t seen them.”

Supervisor Maureen ‘Mo’ Mulheren said that she was working on upcoming agenda item, adding, “Some decisions were done rather quickly because of the Air Quality lease.” Mulheren said it would be “appropriate to bring all the information back to the Board and provide it to the public.”

The vets weren’t having it. A parade of vets and their supporters came to the podium to demand that the Vets office simply be put back where it was and that Air Quality be moved to the Dora Street offices, or some other equally suitable place.

The main themes the Vets speakers touched on were: We are not going away. You’re numbers don’t add up. There’s no justification for the move. There are better options for Air Quality. Why is this so complicated? You do not respect veterans… All the veteran speakers got nice rounds of applause from the crowd of attendees.

The highlight of vets presentation was, again, clearly exasperated Vietnam Vet Don Shanley: 

“I have addressed this board and the CEO before. I am a 50 year-plus resident of Mendocino County. I am also a combat wounded infantry Marine veteran of the Vietnam War. Thank you again for the opportunity to address your unfortunate decision to move the Veterans Service Office to Dora Street from their Observatory location where they had been for 15 years. I first addressed this board back in January. Now 49 days have passed and after numerous requests to staff and this Board, I have received no cost analysis data presented to the CEO and this board prior to the relocation decision. In fact, I was informed that there never has been a cost analysis. Now, here we are today, after being told by Chair Mo [Mulheren] that further discussion could not be on the February 27 agenda because she needed more time, more time to assemble information. She told me in a meeting on February 7 that she would get the relocation agenda item on the March 26 Board agenda. But then changed that to maybe it will have to wait until sometime in April. Burying this agenda item deep in layers of bureaucratic language and attachments, budget deficits, turnarounds, real estate consolidations and potential savings of $100,000, better access, employee safety… Oh please! Burying this agenda item with no timely explanation to the veteran community or County constituents was an ambush. An ambush to add further injury to the veterans' January eviction. An ambush disguised as a unilateral executive decision, hoping no one would notice until after the dozing-off aboard voted to approve this sneaky, deceitful deficit plan in total. The casualties are our veterans and their care and benefits. I simply don't understand why the CEO and this board are so stuck. They all admit they made a mistake. But now they want to stand on a decision with flimsy -- flimsy! -- non sequiturs, still with no understanding or empathy for the veterans. Zero understanding that the Observatory office is the critical tool for the success of the veterans services. No amount of square footage, wall posters, hanging plants, mood tea and macramé are going to transform this spiritless dead zone of the halls of Behavioral Health. The veterans of Mendocino County have paid their dues. They should not suffer the consequences of county fiscal malfeasance. Move VSO back to Observatory and Air Quality to Dora Street. End this senseless war on veterans. Act like caring adults, not children caught with their hands in the cookie jar. As my night patrol pointman, Corporal Houlin Longshank would whisper, ‘Hey. Hey. I smell something funny, Lieutenant. Something's not right. And it smells’.”

After the vets remarks Supervisor Williams again asked for the info that was used to make the relocation decision. He also claimed that the County was working on “hundreds of cost-cutting measures” (few of which have been disclosed and most of those are just versions of ‘we’re still working on it”) of which the VSO relocation was one. Williams asked, “Is there a compelling reason? This is just creating a fight that does not exist.”

Mulheren called on CEO Darcy Antle who replied, “Yes, we can bring it back later this afternoon under item 4c” (the Deficit Plan item).

Supervisor McGourty suggested that County veterans office staff “should meet with vets on their own turf. We should consider the option of sending them out to their own place.”

One of the VSO reps pointed out that they used to do that but now, because of low staffing, they can no longer do it while still staffing the offices in Ukiah and Fort Bragg.

Hours of closed session later when the “Deficit Plan” agenda item finally arose, which included the proposed ratification of the VSO office move to Dora Street, Board Chair Mulheren immediately asked her colleagues if they agreed to simply move the VSO back to Observatory where they had been and where the vets had demanded. After some perfunctory “they meant well” style remarks about the staff’s botching of the move, it was unanimous. 

The remaining veterans in the audience applauded.

Mulheren then suggested that staff would begin arranging for the VSO to return to their Observatory location at some as yet unspecified date.

It was clear that there never really had been any justification for the move and CEO Antle was unable to provide the rationale she had promised earlier in the meeting. Staff had nothing to offer to defend the move. So there was nothing left to do but rescind the move and find some other, as yet unspecified, space for the Air Quality department.

At one point, Supervisor Haschak, the leading advocate for trying to make a few pathetic cosmetic improvements to the obviously bad idea, seemed like he just woke up after a deep sleep. “If the veterans want to stay in Observatory then they should,” said Haschak as if he was only now hearing the complaints. “We’ve spent lots of staff time for these moves. But if the vets don’t like it, then I’m all for giving them what would best serve their needs.”

He could have said that two months ago.

Two months of unnecessary thrashing around and hard feelings, only to return to where they started. 

The only people who deserve any applause in this fiasco are the veterans themselves. 

MENDOCINO COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT LOWERS ITS FLAGS IN MEMORY OF JUDGE DAVID NELSON

Presiding Judge Keith Faulder has ordered the courthouse flags to be flown at half-mast beginning February 27, 2024, and will remain at half-mast through March 1, 2024, to honor the memory of Retired Judge David Nelson. Judge Nelson passed away on Saturday February 17, 2024, surrounded by his loved ones.

Judge Nelson was appointed to the Mendocino Superior Court bench in 2003 by Governor Gray Davis. He was a strong advocate for collaborative justice courts that work with individuals with substance use or mental health disorders who become involved in the criminal justice system.

Judge Nelson presided over Adult Drug Court for many years and was instrumental in creating a non-profit foundation, Friends of Drug Court, to support sustained sobriety and recovery for individuals who successfully completed these court programs. He served as Presiding Judge in 2014 and 2015and retired in 2016.

Judge Nelson was known for his warmth, intelligence, and civic mindedness. He was involved in many community activities in and around Ukiah. His passing is a loss for the Mendocino community.

Upon learning of Judge Nelson’s death, Presiding Judge Faulder stated, “Judge Nelson was a friend and a mentor. He was kind, compassionate, strong, and intentional. He lived the words he spoke.”

(Superior Court Presser)

NORCAL BOYS SOCCER: Ukiah scores 3 goals in 2nd half to blow past Chico, set up rematch with Cardinal Newman

by Gus Morris

The best boys soccer season in school history continues to reach new heights.

Fresh off winning its first section title in program history, Ukiah opened the CIF Division 3 NorCal playoffs with a 4-1 win over visiting Chico on Tuesday, rolling the seventh-seeded Panthers with three goals in the game’s final 10 minutes.

Adrian Vasquez scored twice in rapid succession in the 70th and 73rd minutes to break a 1-1 tie and open the floodgates for second-seeded Ukiah (17-3-4) before Alex Higadera punched home a penalty kick in stoppage time for the exclamation mark.

The win sends Ukiah into the Division 3 semifinals, where they’ll host No. 6 Cardinal Newman (23-2-2) on Thursday for a chance to play in the NorCal regional championship Saturday. The Cardinals upset No. 3 Hollister 3-1 on the road in the first round and previously lost to Ukiah 2-0 in nonleague play back in early January.

Ukiah head coach Shane Huff wasn’t thrilled with his team’s play on Tuesday but liked their improvement in the second half. He expects a fierce battle in the rematch with a spot in the NorCal regional finals on the line.

“We just weren’t sharp enough, the entire game, but especially the first half,” he said. “Better in the second half with energy but not like we were in the NCS. We were on it, we were committed and we worked and we were disciplined (in that game), and tonight we were a little bit loose and lax. So, hopefully we shake that off and refocus and come ready against a really good Cardinal Newman team who’s going to be excited to come back and play us, and want to play us.

“It should be a fun environment and a great crowd,” he added of Thursday’s game, which is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. “We know Newman’s quality, they’re well coached and they have some great players, so it’s going to be a really fun game and an exciting game for both teams and the players.”

He also warned his players after the game that if they repeated Tuesday’s first-half performance in the semifinals, they’d be in for a long night against the Cardinals.

Maybe suffering from a bit of an emotional hangover after Saturday’s coronation as the North Coast Section Division 3 champs in front of 1,500 people, the Wildcats came out with low energy against the Northern Section Division 1 runner-up Panthers. Chico drew first blood in the 11th minute on a goal from leading scorer Nathan Carlson, the first goal Ukiah has allowed this postseason.

Rios Munoz finally kicked the hosts into gear with a gorgeous goal from 30 yards out that tied the game at 1-1 in the 22nd minute, which was where the score stood at the half.

An animated Huff could be heard across the field as he tried to motivate his players during their halftime huddle. Whatever message he delivered worked wonders.

Ukiah completely flipped the script in the second half and from the 51st minute on only barely allowed Chico to cross midfield while applying constant pressure on the offensive end. From the 54th minute until Vasquez’s go-ahead goal in the 70th, Ukiah had nine good looks at goal, each chance closer than the last.

“I think they were hoping they could hold on and before we got the second one they were cramping up and falling over because we were making them chase side to side,” Huff said of Chico. “But once we got that second goal, I think they were like, ‘Darn it,’ because they were already getting tired.”

Vasquez broke the 1-1 tie from close range on a tap-in off a cross from Samuel Fausto. He then made it 3-1 with a strike from the top of the box minutes later.

“We weren’t forcing it as much as we did in the first half and played in front of them and when the opportunity was there, we just took it,” he said of Ukiah’s play in the second half.

To cap off the night, Higadera, a senior, was taken down in the box in extra time and converted the penalty kick for his first goal of the season. The officials whistled the end of the game moments later.

It’s been a whirlwind last few weeks for Ukiah after finishing as a disappointing runner-up in the North Bay League-Redwood. They were kept from winning their third straight league title with a 1-0 loss to Elsie Allen at the start of the month and then ended the regular season with a 2-2 draw against league champion Analy. But since then, they’ve played their best soccer of the year, outscoring opponents 8-0 en route to capturing their first section title.

“It’s been fun,” Munoz of the historic run, the longest in program history. “Obviously we had our ups and downs in the preseason and during league, but we learned from most of those mistakes and kept getting better.”

(pressdemocrat.com)

FULL TIME WILDLIFE RESCUE POSITION IN SONOMA

Calling all animal lovers,

Non-profit, Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue is currently hiring a full-time seasonal position to help support "Baby Season". This position is a full 8-hour day, 5 days a week. We will start the right candidate ASAP to begin their training. The position would end by October 1st. The days of the week are Saturday-Wednesday (weekends are required with no exceptions). The rate of pay is $16 to $20 per hour, depending on experience and work ethics.

Please email our Executive Director, Doris Duncan at scwrdoris@scwildliferescue.org or text her at 707-486-0226 for more information and insight to how you can help our local wildlife.

CONGRATULATIONS To Every Students Against Drunk Driving Student Coordinators Marissa Alvarez And Anahi Anguiano!

For the 2 1/2 years since I have joined Anderson Valley Unified, I have heard constant memories of the alcohol education program “Every 15 Minutes” that used to be a gold standard of alcohol awareness education at Anderson Valley Junior Senior High School. In the “old days”, it was a community endeavor that brought together students, parents, law enforcement, and fire life safety. It is with great pride and pleasure that I congratulate Marissa Alvarez and Anahi Anguiano and their 15 student volunteers on their senior project achievement today. It’s BACK!

The two seniors successfully coordinated an alcohol-related crash scene reenactment complete with fire life safety extraction by the wonderful Anderson Valley Fire Department and Ambulance team under the leadership of Chief Andres Avila.

The day began with the Grim Reaper accompanied by California Highway Patrol Officer Marin, pulling students every 15 minutes from their classrooms as a potential accident victim. Officer Marin would read the student’s obituary outloud as students exited the classroom with the Reaper.

When the students had been removed to a holding area, the drama shifted to the staged crash scene complete with a deceased teen, a critically injured patient and a student arrested for causing the accident. The first responders acted out a crash response drama and the injured victim was transported in a helicopter by CalStar 4 as students watched the process. The crash vehicles were provided by A-1 Towing.

This was no small feat. The amount of community and agency support that rallied around these students, including fire and safety personnel, the helicopter team, parents, and a local d.j. to provide the event sound, was truly remarkable. Last week, on a very tight turn-around, Caltrans stepped in and coordinated a site inspection to make sure the helicopter could land on the softball field. More than 15 students participated in the reenactment which was viewed by the full high school student body. A reflection assembly will conclude the activity on Wednesday.

It is always amazing to me what students can do. One of the students’ mother had participated in the program when she attended Anderson Valley High School, and understood the preventative value of the reenactment. This was a tremendous effort by the students, fire and life safety agencies, parents, and volunteers to make an impactful choice-shaping event.

The district wishes to express our sincere thanks to the law and fire enforcement, flight crews, medical, towing, and safety partners that made this possible. We are very proud of Anahi and Marissa, and celebrate their achievement.

Louise Simson, Superintendent

* * *

Yes, yes, yes! Congratulations, Marissa and Anahi, and to all who participated, including the high school spectators. I’ve had the opportunity to be present for two of these presentations during my time working in Anderson Valley. Today was just as successful as the others. I had the opportunity to be present while the students were preparing and then after school while they had their retreat. It was so refreshing to observe the students having fun and working towards something important and positive. Certainly a day that validates why I love my job!

Thank you,

Kathy James 

LANDLINES = LIFELINES

by Beverly & Marvin Dutra

We attended the CPUC Hearing in Ukiah on February 22nd concerning AT&T’s plan to abandon landlines and Lifeline service in California. The Supervisor’s chambers and the overflow room were packed as was the hallway.

Real people, real stories, real concerns. Two minutes per person to speak. It was obvious that the company’s plans were not popular. Many drove 3 to 5 hours to attend the meeting and express their displeasure.

Below is the letter we are sending to the CPU. We encourage you to write or E-mail soon.

CPU Public Advisor’s Office 

505 Van Ness Ave 

San Francisco, CA. 94102 

Telephone 1-866-8 49-8 390 public. advisor@cpuc.ca.gov

Refer to applications A.-23-03-003, and AZ.-23-03-002.

You can also contact Peter Pratt, Senior Policy Analyst. CPU Communications Division. Ask for a copy of the 23-03-003 Joint Consumer Advocates Public Participation Handout (below). 415-703-2627 or peter.pratt@cpuc.ca.gov. Worth reading.

* * *

To Whom It May Concern:

AT&T asserts that “landline technologies are obsolete,” but the continued functioning of our aged lines, our landline, refutes that claim. During recent significant storms our landline performed perfectly, giving us help for road clearance, medical and emergency services, business and social needs.

Our experience with cell phone service in Anderson Valley is a parade of failed calls, broken voice reception and messages received three days late. As with the rest of Mendocino County, here in Anderson Valley the topography means cell service is erratic, sporadic and essentially unreliable. AT&T has not installed broadband to much of the area, nor have they given us a completion date for same. Storms, and other natural disasters cut power and cell phones become useless. Landline services may be “obsolete,” but in rural, mountainous areas they work when the “new technologies” do not. Copper-based landlines are vulnerable but when maintained they are both functional and crucial.

AT&T writes that landlines are “Sapping resources that they would prefer to be expanding their state-of-the-art broadband network.” Such expansion should not be on the back of long-time paying customers, especially rural seniors. They assure the Commission that other providers “will step up to support landlines.” What evidence do they provide that another provider would want to do this when AT&T does not want to? None in the market are as large, powerful, or with the strong financial resources needed. In good faith, would AT&T warrantee this assertion by offering to back up the new company? What disclosures are being offered to these interested “providers”? As the hearing later revealed AT&T had already pulled a lot of resources away from landline maintenance and repair, to the detriment of customers.

These applications must be denied until a provider with strong financial resources is actually in place and can guarantee quality service and maintenance. They should also possess the ability to install new copper lines where necessary. These applications must be denied until AT&T provides their “state-of-the art” broadband networks into more of Northern California’s mountainous areas. Until they can provide the above they must be held accountable

AT&T asserted that we landline users are “a few remaining customers.”

Of the 7 million landlines in California, 5 million of them are in Northern California. That number is not “a few.” Is AT&T obfuscating by mixing urban and rural populations, or different areas of the state? Where have they actually placed functional broadband? Is it in privileged communities with a more lucrative market and is there an equity issue?

The February 22, 2024 Ukiah CPUC Hearing gave plenty of clear information about how copper 1andlines are valued for lives as well as livelihoods.

Although not the purpose of the Ukiah Hearing, public comments and complaints provided clarity about the consequences of this self-serving corporate decision. Many of the complaints would never have been expressed if proper upgrades and maintenance had happened. One story after another validated what had been done or not done. 

Such things as 1) not maintaining equipment so that customers were led to think that the alternative cell system (AT&T state-of-the-art) was a viable alternative so they gave up their landlines, 2) refusing to install new landlines, thus contributing to serious safety issues in our area, 3) and electing to do few upgrades and proper maintenance.

The company should be required to upgrade and repair lines they apparently ignored. Frequent reports of static on lines, especially in wet weather, would disappear with new lines. Will the CPUC be asking for increased rates to subsidize repairing same for the new provider? Customers faithfully paid their monthly bills, but were cheated of service. Was public funding also involved in some way? AT&T was not up-front about their new business tactics.

During the hearing both the AT&T representative and lawyer stated that landlines “were not being taken away” and alluded to the same “possible providers” in company literature. The company must provide documented guarantees that a service provider will be on the end of “the line that is not being taken away.” We were personally told that “your landline is not being taken away.” Smoke and Mirrors! Maybe, but who will be on the other end of that line? And, the promise of a “6 week continuance” is insulting.

AT&T states that another provider “can provide” service. That language must be changed to a provider “is in place, will provide, and is capable of providing.” Otherwise, this is an uncertain and weak promise.

At the Ukiah Hearing the public was speaking the truth. A public utility should never place its profits before the people it is supposed to serve. If the “state-of-art” broadband or cell service is in such great demand then it be put in place before releasing them from these obligations.

As currently presented, please deny the request by AT&T to escape the default landline phone service provider (COLR/carrier of last resort) and/or to relinquish its Eligible Telecommunications Carrier Designation.

At the very least, move their closure date to 2030 or 2035, so that they can put in adequate cell and broadband service to Mendocino County.

Sacrificing people for profits is not something the CPUC should honor or facilitate. Please protect the vulnerable public. This is an equity issue, especially for seniors, as well as being one that can be life threatening.

PS. AT&T quotes from application…

Application A.23-03-003: Joint Consumer Advocates Public Participation Hearing Handout

What is this proceeding about?

• At least one telephone company in your area is legally required to provide access to phone Service to anyone in its service territory who requests it. This is known as the Carrier of Last Resort (COLR) obligation which ensures that everyone in California has access to reliable phone service. AT&T is the designated COLR in your area.

• AT&T is asking the CPUC to allow it to decide whether you can get AT&T telephone service, even if there is no other telephone provider in your area who is obligated to provide service.

• AT&T is asking the CPUC to change the rules and remove the safety net that guarantees access to affordable, quality phone service.

How could this affect me and my community?

If the CPUC grants AT&T’s request: ;

• AT&T could decide to not provide service to you as soon as six months after the application is granted.

• You could be required to pay more for telephone service, receive lower quality service, buy phone service as part of an expensive “bundle,” or depend on cell service (which is not reliable or available in some areas.

• If you live in a Mountain Community you may not be able to maintain a landline as emergency backup for when there are outages due to cell phone network being damaged or destroyed by winter storms, wildfires, or other severe weather events.

• If you are a Lifeline customer or Deaf and Disabled Telecommunications (DDTP) customer, you may not be able to obtain those services. As a COLR, AT&T is legally required to provide low-cost telephone service to low-income households through the LifeLine program.

• If you have special medical equipment or other technology (such as a fire alarm or security system), it may no longer function,

What can i do about it?

Join a Public Participation Hearing and share with CPUC leadership how you and your community rely on and benefit from your telephone service, especially if you subscribe to Lifeline or DDTP services,

(*The Public Advocates Office at the California Public Utilities Commission (Cal Advocates), The Utility Reform Network (TURN), the Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT), the Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC), and the Tahoe Energy Ratepayers Group (Tahoe ERG).

SURPRISE: WHY YOU SHOULD VOTE FOR MADELINE CLINE 

Editor,

We have an opportunity to elect a person running for First District Supervisor who will be a bright light in leading our County government to an era of responsibility, sound fiscal policies and long range planning. Madeline Cline is young, energetic, focused and knows how to find the best answers to thorny problems on the Board’s agenda. And, I guarantee you she WILL read the agenda and do her research before she enters the Supervisor’s chambers. 

She knows our County employees are valuable, and through fair wages, the County will be able to draw the talented workforce necessary to have functional County offices to serve the public. Madeline has invested time talking with County employees and understands that staff is an asset to County operations. 

When I was in college, I thought the instructors’ job was to teach us a lot of “learning”. But what became apparent, they were really preparing us how to find the answers and build knowledge through research. Madeline Cline has a bachelor's degree, has worked in Sacramento, and knows how to advocate in that arena for the benefit of Mendocino County. Look! There’s a lot of money out there to be had for underserved communities like ours, but we need someone representing us who will go to whatever lengths it takes to make sure we are getting our share. She understands the necessity of looking at what benefits Mendocino County as a whole, not just the First District. 

Madeline has run a very successful, clean supervisorial campaign that reflects her integrity and work ethic. She has attended meeting after important meeting, had numerous neighborhood gatherings to meet voters and raise funds, notified the public through social media about upcoming items on the Board’s agenda that might be of specific interest to them, and spent her Sundays walking the precincts. Madeline believes in “retail politics” (a term coined by Chris Matthews of “Hardball”), meaning one handshake at a time. Through all these one-on-one conversations, she knows the issues Mendocino County residents are concerned about and values their input. Madeline has strong support from many corners of the community and is bringing folks together. 

She was born and raised in Mendocino County and nurtured by parents who encouraged her leadership skills and community involvement at a young age. The issue of her youth has been brought up as a distraction by “older folks” touting other candidates. Senator Mike McGuire is one of our successful politicians who started on the political path when he was about the same age as Madeline. The list of those taking on political responsibility in their later 20’s is long, including members of Congress and the California State Legislature. By being engaged and employed by policy makers in Sacramento, she is already ahead of the game. 

I am looking forward to watching Madeline join hands with other elected officials to make our County more economically viable, environmentally protected with secure water sources, safer through lobbying for changes in lax laws coming from Sacramento, and less lawsuits which are draining our County’s focus and monetary assets. I have faith in her abilities and urge others to support Madeline Cline in her campaign for 1st District Supervisor. 

Matha Barra

Redwood Valley

THE FORT BRAGG CITY COUNCIL CEASEFIRE RESOLUTION PASSED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE!

WATCH: https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/grassroots

Our public comments begin at 40; Fort Bragg City Council vote at 1:28 with Lindy Peters

Laurel Krause

at the Allison Center for Peace

Fort Bragg

BOONVILLE BARN OLIVE OIL

Releasing our olive oil always feels like such a huge accomplishment because it is such a strange process. Back on November 27th, we harvested 2.75 tons of olives the Monday after Thanksgiving. Even with a crew of about 20 people and a mix of electric rakes and human powered rakes, we were all pretty exhausted by the end of it. 

The olives get milled the same day they are harvested to ensure peak quality, as olives start to oxidize the moment they are harvested. The oil then sits in barrels for a few months to allow for solids to settle and the flavor to mellow a bit. Our oil was in barrels for 3 months and was bottled on February 21.

Nacho heading off to the mill…

Last week Friday, Nacho picked up our olive oil from where it gets milled and bottled, about 45 minutes away in Hopland. He had a moment of appreciation for the fact that the 7 and a half bins of olives only turned into a single pallet of olive oil. For us that means 704 bottles from about 500 trees that are managed for a mix of production, privacy, and beauty.

Because we have such a large mix of olive trees, each variety is at a different stage of ripeness when harvested. Less ripe green olives add spiciness while the more ripe purple olives are smooth and buttery in flavor. The flavor of the oil changes a bit from year to year. The 2023 harvest is a mellow and smooth olive oil with a bit of a grassy & peppery finish. 

We're excited to share the November 2023 harvest with you!

– Gideon and the Boonville Barn Team

Get a bottle of olive oil

Boonville Barn Collective Olive Oil is made from olives harvested from the 500 olive trees on our family farm. The grove contains over 25 varieties of olives, including both Spanish and Italian types. Originally planted as a test plot for UC-Davis to determine the best varieties of olives to grow in our region of California, we choose to mill all the olives together as our production is quite low! The 2023 harvest produced just under 100 gallons of oil and was harvested and milled on November 27, 2023. 

CATCH OF THE DAY, Tuesday, February 27, 2024

ANTHONNY AGUILAR, Ukiah. Under influence, probation revocation.

RANDALL CANEPA, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, causing fire of property, probation revocation.

TINA CORNWALL, Ukiah. Under influence, controlled substance.

SAMUEL DALSON, Covelo. DUI causing bodily injury.

RICARDO GARCIA-GARCIA, Ukiah. County parole violation.

SHANNON KIDD, Ukiah. Paraphernalia, parole violation. (Frequent flyer)

JUSTIN LOUDERMILK, Ukiah. Vandalism, resisting.

JAMES LOWE, Ukiah. Controlled substance, no license, county parole violation, conspiracy.

AARON MUDRICH, Ukiah. Parole violation.

MATHEW PASZAK, Reno/Ukiah. Assault, battery with serious injury.

JENNIFER PIFER, Redwood Valley. False ID, bringing controlled substance into jail.

ANONIO THOMAS, Ukiah. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

TOBIAS WOOD, Ukiah. Felon-addict with firearm, resisting.

NAME CHANGE KELSEYVILLE

Editor: 

The group Citizens for Healing wants to change the name of Kelseyville to Konocti due to atrocities Andrew Kelsey committed against Native Americans in the early days of California (“What is in a name?” Feb. 18). An opposing group, Save the Name of Kelseyville, believes the name change won’t make a difference. The reality of past events can’t be altered, but the community can refuse to tolerate what Kelsey’s name represents. Names are not neutral; they are directly connected to power and privilege.

For decades, many people were unaware of the atrocities suffered by Native Californians, Black miners, Chinese laborers and others whose bodies and labor were appropriated for profit. Books like “California, a Slave State” by Jean Pfaelzer provide the untold stories of people who lived through slavery and appropriation from the mid-1800s to the present. The cat is out of the bag. Stories cannot be untold, events cannot be undone, but we can take steps to right historical wrongs.

Elizabeth Evans

Santa Rosa

CURRENT GOP WISDOM

Trump Republicans
Never Lose an Election
Unless it’s stolen

— Jim Luther

CALIFORNIA GOV. NEWSOM FACES ANOTHER RECALL THREAT: ‘WE WILL DEFEAT THEM’

by Alden Vaziri

California Gov. Gavin Newsom faces his fifth recall attempt as a citizen-led group of conservative activists launched a fresh campaign on Monday to remove him from office. 

Organizers with Rescue California plan to serve the governor with recall papers, citing concerns such as the state’s budget deficit, public safety and immigration.

“Over 400 Californians of every political persuasion and from all walks of life, have joined together to serve as official proponents of this Recall,” Anne Dunsmore, the director of the latest effort, said in a statement. 

Serving Newsom with the recall papers represents the first step of a potentially prolonged and costly process before the issue is put to California voters. 

Newsom, who successfully beat back the only recall attempt to make it onto the statewide ballot in 2022, dismissed the latest endeavor in a statement shared on his social media platforms.

“Trump Republicans are launching another wasteful recall campaign to distract us from the existential fight for democracy and reproductive freedom,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “We will defeat them.”

The organizers of the latest effort said they’re aiming to thwart Newsom’s presidential ambitions. While he has denied White House aspirations and has actively supported President Joe Biden’s reelection bid, Newsom’s fundraising and campaign activities have widely fueled speculation about a potential candidacy.

 “This may be our last opportunity to rescue and restore our state, while we highlight for the rest of the country the destruction Newsom has left in his wake,” Dunsmore said.

To secure a spot on the statewide ballot for a recall, a petition must gather valid signatures equivalent to 12% of the voter turnout in the previous gubernatorial election. For the current initiative, the group must collect approximately 1.38 million verifiable signatures by May to be eligible for the November ballot.

Despite the long-shot effort, Newsom’s campaign press secretary Nathan Click said in a statement that the governor’s office is taking it seriously.

“These Trump Republicans are targeting Gov. Newsom because he is out there defending democracy and fighting for the reelection of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” Click said. He’s not going to be distracted from that fight.”

Click added, “Democracy’s on the ballot, and he’s going to keep fighting.”

(SF Chronicle)

THE SAN FRANCISCO HOTEL THAT HUNTER S. THOMPSON FEARED, LOATHED AND LOVED

by Christian Baba

Around noon on a cold January day in 1973, Rolling Stone magazine’s book editor Alan Rinzler walked down the hall of San Francisco’s Seal Rock Inn, knocked on the door of Room 305 and braced himself. It was dark and cold and the man on the other side of the door was not expecting company.

Rolling Stone spent a year bankrolling Hunter’s exorbitant bar tabs as he covered the general election of 1972, in the hopes that the weekly dispatches would turn into a book. Months later, there was no book. Most of the time, there was also no Hunter: “I have a powerful aversion … to working in offices,” he once said. 

So in a last-ditch effort to finish what would become “Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail ’72,” the then-upstart magazine rented Thompson a room at Seal Rock Inn to better monitor his progress. Sitting at the end of Geary Street with windows facing a roaring ocean, the Inn is less of an office and more of a makeshift abbey. Hunter agreed to the stay, but hardly expected his editor to show up at the door.

Thompson looked Rinzler up and down before inviting him in. Alan was accompanied by a large paranoid poodle, but he also brought with him 40 pounds of supplies: two cases of Mexican beer, four quarts of gin, a dozen grapefruits, one IBM Selectric typewriter, a few reams of paper, a hefty mass of firewood, and as Thompson later said, the most important ingredient of them all: “enough speed to alter the outcome of six Super Bowls.”

An extended stay

Built in 1959, Seal Rock Inn has been continuously managed and maintained by three generations of the Elam family, with grandson Robert Elam currently at the helm as general manager. “We like to say we fell into this business by accident,” Robert told SFGATE.

Originally intended as a commissioned project for the Elam family’s construction business, fate intervened when the inn’s initial buyers defaulted on the property.

 “We were just builders,” Robert said. “We were going to build it and hand it off … but they never fully paid us and handed back the keys within 18 months.” Ownership was left in the hands of Larry Elam, Robert’s father.

From the start, the inn was a modest family affair, with Larry running the place, and his wife managing the front desk. Another local family, the Psarras, owned the connecting restaurant for 46 years. This family-run atmosphere was an extension of the neighborhood it served. The western edge of the Outer Richmond is sleepy and residential, a far cry from the typical nightlife San Francisco has to offer.

While an unnatural setting for a hotel in a major city, these same features make it a natural space for the arts. “The family has always been supportive of artists,” Robert told me, before emphasizing how much the inn values “discretion and privacy.”

Over the years, the Seal Rock Inn became a haven for many artists, musicians and writers drawn to its unassuming charm. The official guest ledger remains strictly private, but Robert was willing to concede Thompson’s stay was no secret: “He’s one of those figures that transcends it all.”

Gonzo in San Francisco

Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Thompson struggled for years to make it in print journalism with more established papers across the country, bouncing between odd jobs and butting heads with every boss he had. He moved to San Francisco in the mid-’60s, which, in his telling, was “a very special time and place to be a part of. … Maybe it meant something.” 

Thompson found a home near the Haight, where an estimated 100,000 young people flooded a 25-block radius to take part in what history ultimately termed the countercultural revolution. In San Francisco, Thompson found home. 

 “No explanation,” Thompson said, “… no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world … whatever it meant. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, and we were winning.”

After a few short fiction stories in underground magazines across the Bay Area, Thompson secured a story for The Nation magazine covering a then little-known motorcycle gang called the Hells Angels. He spent a year embedded with the group, offering a firsthand account of outlaw life to read from the comfort of your armchair. Thompson’s apartment at 318 Parnassus Ave. became a common rendezvous for the gang, where they’d talk and drink and fight and do God knows what else into the early hours of the morning.

“If you look closely,” one map reads, “you can still see patched bullet holes in the building.”

These days, a routine scroll through YouTube, Vice or even the New York Times might offer a glimpse into the unseen and unseemly. But at the time, to embed yourself so deeply into a story, often one so wild that the truth was hard to define, was radical. Critics called this journalism style gonzo.

After the success of his work on the Hells Angels, Thompson attracted the attention of Rolling Stone, which was eager to move beyond music journalism and provide its young readership with unique voices that reflected the moment. With Rolling Stone, Thompson published his best-known work, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” a drug-fueled screed about the promise and failures of American counterculture. It was a raucous commercial success, and it led to his next major assignment: covering the 1972 American presidential campaign.

Fear and loathing and voting

As a result of 26th amendment passed in 1971, the presidential election of ’72 was the first time citizens under 21 could vote, which unlocked a significant new voting block. Peter Richardson, a former professor and author of the Thompson biography “Savage Journey,” told SFGATE that San Francisco-based Rolling Stone “really thought that if they could get in there and reach young people, they might be able to move the needle.”

The country was deeply divided, and young Americans felt overwhelmed for good reason: an escalating war in Vietnam, stubborn inflation, racial tensions, a backlash to outdated cultural norms, and then a backlash to that backlash. Young Americans needed someone to explain what it was they were seeing, and Hunter S. Thompson was uniquely positioned for this role. For one, he was popular, especially among the youth, and, as Peter Richardson notes, “he was an outsider.”

Rolling Stone was a fringe media outlet that didn’t fall under the banner of the typical Washington press corps, which afforded Thompson an unusual degree of freedom. Just because Thompson was covering the White House didn’t mean he was going to leave his opinions on the South Lawn. 

 “Unlike most other correspondents,” as Thompson put it, “I could afford to burn all my bridges behind me.”

If the president lies, the traditional rules of journalism dictate you report on that lie and (maybe) find facts to counter it, but ultimately present it neutrally, letting the public make their own decisions at the risk of spreading misinformation. For Thompson, it was these “built-in blind spots” of objective journalism that “allowed Nixon to slither into the White House in the first place.” A stark claim from Thompson, given that to him, Nixon represented “that dark, venal and incurably violent side of the American character.”

(SFgate.com)

FULL PICTURE OF NAVALNY

Editor,

As I read the obituaries of Alexei Navalny and the coverage of his death, I’m reminded of how strange it is that Western leaders have for years portrayed this man as an activist fighting for democracy and freedom. Rarely are Navalny’s nationalist and racist tendencies mentioned.

The obituary printed in the San Francisco Chronicle, “Jailed activist was Putin’s fiercest enemy,” Feb. 17, 2024, failed to mention that he once recorded a pro-gun rights video describing Muslims as “cockroaches” that needed to be exterminated. He was also a supporter of the far-right Russian March rally and an endorser of the “Stop Feeding the Caucuses” campaign which opposed financial aid to ethnic minorities. In 2021, Amnesty International stripped Navalny of his prisoner of conscience status, citing “hate speech” he had failed to denounce.

“His courage will not be forgotten,” President Joe Biden said last week about Navalny. Meanwhile, Biden continues to pursue the extradition of Julian Assange, a fighter for justice and freedom of speech, who has a court hearing in London this week facing possible extradition to the US. In the flurry of news about Navalny, we cannot forget Assange.

Yasmine Mortazavi

Oakland

ED NOTE: This letter seems suspect. Have us country bumpkins been had by Russkie AI tricks? I'd never read anything like this about Navalny.

I WATCHED the uncensored video of US airman Aaron Bushnell self-immolating in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington while screaming “Free Palestine”. I hesitated to watch it because I knew once I put it into my mind it’s there for the rest of my life, but I figured I owe him that much. 

I feel like I’ve been picked up and shaken, which I suppose was pretty much what Bushnell was going for. Something to shake the world awake to the reality of what’s happening. Something to snap us out of the brainwashed and distracted stupor of western dystopia and turn our gaze to Gaza.

The sounds stay with you more than the sights. The sound of his gentle, youthful, Michael Cera-like voice as he walked toward the embassy. The sound of the round metal container he stored the accelerant in getting louder as it rolls toward the camera. The sound of Bushnell saying “Free Palestine”, then screaming it, then switching to wordless screams when the pain became too overwhelming, then forcing out one more “Free Palestine” before losing his words for good. The sound of the cop screaming at him to get on the ground over and over again. The sound of a first responder telling police to stop pointing guns at Bushnell’s burning body and go get fire extinguishers.

He remained standing for an unbelievable amount of time while he was burning. I don’t know where he got the strength to do it. He remained standing long after he’d stopped vocalizing.

Bushnell was taken to the hospital, where independent reporter Talia Jane reports that he has died. It was about as horrific a death as a human being can experience, and it was designed to be. 

Shortly before his final act in this world, Bushnell posted the following message on Facebook:

“Many of us like to ask ourselves, ‘What would I do if I was alive during slavery? Or the Jim Crow South? Or apartheid? What would I do if my country was committing genocide?’

“The answer is, you’re doing it. Right now.”

— Caitlin Johnstone

MOST FIGHTERS LIKE EACH OTHER. I guess the old gladiators felt the same way, even though one of them was going to die. Fighters know each other's problems, hopes, tough times. They feel for each other even as they bang away.

— Jack Dempsey

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES, Dec. 1, 2023:

A Protester Self-Immolates Outside The Israeli Consulate In Atlanta

by Colbi Edmonds

A protester self-immolated on Friday afternoon outside of the Israeli Consulate building in Atlanta, in what the police described as “likely an extreme act of political protest.”

A security guard tried to intervene but was unsuccessful, officials said. The demonstrator sustained third-degree burns to the body, and the guard was burned on his wrist and leg. Both were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, where the protester was in critical condition.

Officials did not identify the demonstrator, but said in a news conference on Friday that the person appeared to be acting alone and that a Palestinian flag was “recovered at the location and was part of the protest.” The fire chief, Roderick M. Smith, said there was evidence of gasoline being used as an accelerant.

The city’s police chief, Darin Schierbaum, said that officials did not believe there was “any nexus to terrorism.” The building, in the Midtown area of Atlanta, houses the consulate and several other offices.

“It appears to have been focused outside the building. I’m not aware of an attempt to enter the building,” Chief Schierbaum said, adding: “I have met with the consul general. The staff is safe. All the residents of this building are safe.”

The Atlanta F.B.I. said it was aware of the incident and coordinating with local law enforcement. Chief Schierbaum said he was not aware of any credible threats against the building.

“It is tragic to see the hate and incitement toward Israel expressed in such a horrific way,” Anat Sultan-Dadon, consul general of Israel to the Southeastern United States, said in a statement on Friday. “The sanctity of life is our highest value. Our prayers are with the security officer who was injured while trying to prevent this tragic act.”

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

The French Revolution happened because peasants were starving while the elite lived in luxury. That had been several previous peasant uprisings that failed, this was not a one time thing, it was a series of revolts that got bigger and bigger until one finally worked. Respectfully, I do not see US citizens rising up en masse against their national government any time soon. They live in comfort, and aren’t going to take up arms because it costs more than it used to, to buy groceries, I think that the Texas Border Crisis could eventually escalate into a full-blown Secession Crisis, but again, I don’t see that happening soon, more as a possible threat for some point down the road.