Mendocino County Today: Sunday 3/10/24

Showers | Cellphone Search | Ed Update | AV Parks Future | Executive Pay | Eel River | AVUSD News | DUI Guilty | Hendy Free Day | Bird Rescue | Pet Furby | Walking Away | Yesterday's Catch | Marco Radio | Girl Power | Doxxing Scandal | Window Seat | Oily Ads | Mature Now | Stemwinder Joe | Your Problem | State Media | What If | Daylight Stretching | Boingy Baxter

RAIN AND WINDY CONDITIONS this morning will taper off through the afternoon as snowfall persists in northern Trinity County. Another shortwave will bring a weaker front into the area early Monday afternoon through Tuesday. Additional rainfall, mountain snow and wind are expected across the CWA. Unsettled conditions will lead into a warmer and drier period late week. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): Happy Spring Forward you sleepyheads! I have a cloudy 44F with .44" more rainfall from yesterday morning rains. Rain later today & tonight then dry on Monday. More rain Monday night into Tuesday morning then dry well into next week.

THEFT AT PAUL BUNYAN THRIFT STORE in Fort Bragg

A well known thief and serial trespasser was caught on camera pocketing an employee of Paul Bunyan thrift store’s cellphone. 

The person in question, Electra (Beard) has a no trespassing order from the thrift store meaning she is not allowed on the premises. The police that were assigned to the case made it their top priority and a manhunt ensued. Electra was apprehended but no phone was produced. Another employee proved their heroism by tracking the cell phone, and its location put it somewhere on the property line of Chase bank. After trawling the bushes for some time a wider search brought the muffled tracking ding into earshot and the phone was located in the depository box of the bank. The bank has been closed, so says a note on the door and finding someone to help open the depository continues. 

(Jennifer Leos)

THE EDITOR REPORTS that he's freshly out of Marin General Hospital due to complications of complications, too tiresome to describe but enervating for sure, meaning it will be a couple of days before he's back up to his half-speed. Much gratitude to all of you for sticking with us in this difficult time.

HOSPITALS are not restful. Every few minutes, round the clock, someone is coming to take blood, dump more stuff in the IV, take your temperature, and so on, which I suspect is mostly the work of lawyers to prevent suits against the hospital. But everyone is so accommodating only a churl would complain. They fixed me up, although I feel I paid a price. Off to bed!

MENDOCINO COUNTY IS CONSIDERING turning over AV Parks to as yet Unidentified Third Parties.

AVA READERS COMMENT ON EXECUTIVE PAY RAISE PROPOSALS

[1] Every year. They do this every year just about April so they can make it effective in July. Every year, regardless of the budgetary situation. If they were REAL leaders, they would turn down these insane raises and direct the $ to be put back into their departments. But instead the costs will become layoffs of staff and higher fees to the public for services. Insanely irresponsible.

[2] Are you saying these public officials can’t possibly make it on close to $200,000 base pay (and some over that). and therefore must have a pay raise in a time of budgetary crisis? And is it really okay that the accounting covering these “expenses” is not only confusing, but suspiciously inconsistent? Wow.

[3] SARAH KENNEDY OWENS: Yes, but of course they don’t see it that way. Inflation and all. Oops, that’s right, inflation affects everyone, especially those of us not on the county payroll but who pay their salaries. Just saying it sounds sooo ungenerous – even thinking about depriving those hard working people of salary and perks in the $300,000 to $500,000 a year range! And Carrie Shattuck was just reporting the tip of the iceberg. There is a lot more what I call unreasonable, extravagant and just highway robbery under there. Yikes.

JEFF GOLL: The free-flowing South Fork Eel River in Northern Mendocino County is a healing salve. 

AV UNIFIED NEWS

Dear Anderson Valley Community,

Just a reminder that Monday is a non-school day for students. It is a professional development day. You may wonder what happens on those days, and it’s one of the few times a year when we can get all certificated site staff together to work on common initiatives such as learning how to teach the new math curriculum, Improving our PLP and advising process, discussing our LCAP goals, and writing our vertically aligned Junior/Senior High guides for the WASC report. We appreciate your understanding and we will see your student first thing Tuesday.

There is still time to sign up for the College and Career fair dinner on Wednesday at 5 o’clock. This is a wonderful evening where students from sixth grade to 12th grade and their families can attend a variety of informational sessions related to college enrollment and potential careers. Bring the family for tri-tip dinner.

CalFire will be coming with a fire truck and a bulldozer and they are actively seeking graduates for employment. Call the high school office to make your family’s dinner reservation at 895-34896 or email mbenitez@avpanthers.org. Other colleges and industries include:

• Mendocino College- Rm 6
• IBEW Local 551- Rm 1
• Hotel Hospitality- Rm 2 (only first session/pending)
• ATS-Rm 5
• Fire Department- Rm 9
• Fish and Game- Rm 10
• AV Health Center- Rm 7
• US Navy- Library
• Caltrans- Room 14
• COPE Health Solutions- Rm 19
• US Army- Library Conference Room
• Cal Fire- Cafeteria
• Mendo Dual Enrollment- Rm 13
• Mendo Redwood Company- Rm 8
• How to Build a Resume Workshop- Gym
• CSU/UC Systems:English- Rm 15
• CSU/UC Systems:Spanish- Rm 11

Students receive extra credit by attending! 

At the elementary school, work continues on the interior painting. Thank you Miguel! Flooring will be installed in the summer. We are trying to get our plans for the kitchen out of DSA, but they are running a little bit slower than usual. Our hope is to be able to remodel the kitchen over the winter break in December, but that is depending on when we get the permit out and the bid package in. The parking lot resurfacing, new flooring, and new side fence will be installed in June. We are also in the process of designing a large shade structure/sports court for the outside playground. Our hope is that this would provide relief from the heat, and if we can figure out a curtain system, a place for PE when the weather is poor. We cannot afford a full multipurpose room at this time but there is one of these structures at Potter Valley that includes lights and a fully striped basketball court and it is quite popular. These structures have been submitted previously through DSA, so the permitting process is a bit easier. More news to follow. This is pending budget availability, but it is looking good at this point.

The preliminary submission date for the track and field to DSA is April 19. We anticipate that it will take four months to address the permit process. Once that happens, it will be necessary to advertise and complete the bidding process. Being the eternal optimist that I am, I am hopeful we can start groundwork in November 2024. I would like to thank Donald Alameida for his steady hand in managing all of our district projects. I can drive people crazy with my dreams and he is a partner that totally keeps pace! I also would like to thank the staff in the district office that continues to process more and more documents and payables related to the construction process. We don’t have the luxury of a big staff, they just get it done. I appreciate Leigh, Vero, Angelica, and Sara’s efforts.

Tardiness and absenteeism continues to hurt the district financially and instructionally. Please get your students to school on time. If they aren’t here, they can’t learn it and it holds everybody in their grade level back. There are also huge financial implications for every day a student misses. I know sometimes family events come up and that is understandable, but we have some students that are chronically late or don’t come. Never quite seen anything like it in my other districts —something’s got to change! We love your kids and everyone does so much better together, when we’re all here together.

Last thing, don’t forget to set your clocks forward. Allow a little extra time for your student to get to school on Tuesday because they will probably be dragging a bit in the morning for a few days. 

We appreciate all of your care and collaboration. See you Wednesday at the Career Fair!

Sincerely yours,

Louise Simson, Superintendent

Anderson Valley Unified School District

DRUNK DRIVER CONVICTED

A Mendocino County Superior Court jury returned from its deliberations late morning on Thursday to announce it had found the trial defendant guilty as charged.

Defendant Daniel Ignacio Arancibia, age 28, of Willits, was found guilty of driving a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration .08 percent or greater. 

The jury also found true a high blood alcohol allegation alleging that the defendant’s blood alcohol concentration was .15 percent or greater.

The California Vehicle prohibits drivers of motor vehicles from driving with a blood alcohol concentration at or above 0.08 percent, regardless of whether the driver is actually intoxicated or his or her driving ability is actually impaired.

The law enforcement agencies that participated in the trial were the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, the Willits Police Department, and the Round Valley Tribal Police.

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

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

FREE ENTRY TO HENDY WOODS STATE PARK FOR LOCAL RESIDENTS

On the Second Sunday of every month in 2024, the Hendy Woods Community is covering the Hendy Woods State Park’s Day Use fee ($8) for local residents from the following communities: Yorkville, Boonville, Philo, Navarro, Comptche and Elk (know your zip code).

Enjoy a free visit to the park on us and stroll the old growth redwood groves and beautiful meadows, hike the trails, and unwind along the river!

Note: Day use is from 8 AM to sunset

KLUTTZ TO SPEAK ON BIRD RESCUE

Peregrine Audubon - Ashton Kluttz Of Sonoma Bird Rescue Center To Speak

Ashton Kluttz of the Sonoma Bird Rescue Center will be presenting on Tuesday, March 19 at 7 p.m. at the Ukiah City Council Chambers.

Did you know The Bird Rescue Center, located in Sonoma County, sees roughly 100 patients (birds) a year from Mendocino County? Our work has never been more important in this climate change-driven era. Come learn about The Bird Rescue Center and hear behind-the-scenes stories of Bird Rescue and unique avian observations from Ashton Kluttz, executive director of the Bird Rescue Center in Santa Rosa. 

Kluttz completed her BA in Environmental Studies at Washington College (MD). She began her tenure with Bird Rescue in 2010 and her career as a wildlife rehabilitator in 2009 with The Marine Mammal Center where she served in the Stranding Department. 

Striving to provide the best care for our local wildlife, she obtained her Registered Veterinary Technician certification in 2018, has co-authored a chapter on towhee care currently included in a wildlife care book for facilities around the world, and served on the board for the California Council for Wildlife Rehabilitators that provides community, protocols, and information to all California wildlife facilities. 

Under her direction, Bird Rescue has forged stronger relationships with other wildlife and education facilities and within the community. She has come to appreciate individual species’ behaviors and could discuss their quirks at length. In her spare time, she catches up with her family on the East Coast and enjoys taking photos of food on her dogs’ noses.

UKIAH SHELTER PET OF THE WEEK

Furby is a shy dog who will need help with leash work, socialization with other dogs, and building her confidence. She came to the Shelter as a stray with an unknown background, but we're assuming she's never lived indoors. 

Furby arrived at the shelter with a nasty ear infection that resulted in a burst eardrum. Our clinic did a great job fixing her up and she feels much better — but she's still a bit hand shy around her head. Our wonderful volunteers are working with Furby, introducing her to a harness and taking her on walks. Patience will be needed in Furby’s new home, and we know that patience will be rewarded. Furby appears to prefer men, and will need to meet any potential canine housemates before being adopted. Furby looks be a Great Pyrenees mix. She’s a year old and 85 beautiful pounds.

For more about Furby and all our adoptable dogs and cats, head to mendoanimalshelter.com. For information about adoptions and to set up a meet and greet with one of our great dogs, call 707-467-6453. You can begin the adoption process on our website by filling out our Adoption Application. Check out our Facebook Page and please share our posts!

WALKING AWAY

Editor,

My March 6 AVA arrived today and I read the news about suspension of publication. As I've subscribed for what must be over 30 years, it's been one hell of a run, one that I'll look forward to until the end of April. To borrow an often used term: Thank You for your service! 

I"m already an online subscriber which has many positive points, but there's still something about a newspaper between my fingers. That might explain why I still receive a hard copy of the Sunday New York Times, although the quality and quantity has gone down over time and I read most of the general and political news online anyway. 

Long ago, my Wife Gayle was a reporter and editor for the old Contra Costa Times under Dean Lesher and except for some old newsroom friends, that world is complete gone, except for maybe a very modest pension check. 

Hopefully, you'll run a special last issue and maybe later a “best of” book. Or you do a Life Magazine thing and publish something now and then. But at 84, maybe walking completely away might be a better idea. 

I also think you or one of your friends should host a goodbye event: happy hour, hike, an evening reading, etc. It's a bit of a schlep from Genoa NV to Booneville, but I might make the trip. I think you wrote that you're 84 and yes we all grow old. I'd still like to meet the Man - the Legend as a bucket list item. :)

Best Wishes and to Better Health!

Gratefully – 

Eric Brink 

Genoa, Nevada

CATCH OF THE DAY: Saturday, March 9, 2024

JONATHAN CISNEROS, Ukiah. False personation of another, failure to appear.

VANESSA ELIZABETH, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs, probation revocation. (Frequent flyer.)

VICTORIA FALLIS, Covelo. DUI with blood-alcohol over 0.15%.

LEONEL FLORES JR., Kelseyville/Ukiah. DUI with priors, domestic battery, domestic abuse, cruelty to child-infliction of injury, controlled substance.

ALVARO GONZALEZ JR., Santa Ana/Ukiah. DUI, controlled substance.

DEMETER MCFADIN, Ukiah. Indecent exposure, public nuisance.

JESUS MORA-SOLORIO, Clearlake/Ukiah. DUI.

JONATHAN ORTIZ, Ukiah. DUI, controlled substance, hypodermic needles, suspended license for DUI, failure to appear, probation revocation. 

NIA RICH, Ukiah. Domestic battery, protective order violation.

CHERRI ROBERTS, Ukiah. County parole violation. (Frequent flyer.)

DESTINY TURNEY, Ukiah. Battery, controlled substance, failure to appear.

MEMO OF THE AIR: Call me AI

"Who'll be my role model now that my role model is gone? He ducked back down the alleyway with some roly-poly little bat-faced girl. All along, there were incidents and accidents. There were hints and allegations..."

Here's the recording of last night's (Friday 2024-03-08) Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio show on 107.7fm KNYO-LP Fort Bragg (CA) and KNYO.org (and, for the first hour, also 89.3fm KAKX Mendocino): https://tinyurl.com/KNYO-MOTA-0583

Coming shows can feature your story or dream or poem or kvetch or whatever. Just email it to me. Or include it in a reply to this post. Or send me a link to your writing project and I'll take it from there and read it on the air.

Besides all that, at https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com you'll find a fresh batch of dozens of links to not-necessarily-radio-useful but worthwhile items I set aside for you while gathering the show together, such as:

The actual The Who recording /Who Are You/. Keith Moon, drummer, mugs constantly, whether drumming or background singing or whatever. This is just before he died, though there are theories that he never did, nor Marilyn Monroe, nor Fyvush Finkel, and they’re in a spaceship. https://laughingsquid.com/the-who-recording-who-are-you-1978/

Slug humiliates a Venus flytrap. (via Tacky Raccoons) (You might have to click the sound on.) https://twitter.com/AMAZlNGNATURE/status/1763694059711844407

This woman reminds me of when I'm raking across the radio channels on a long drive and I stop on different stations and amuse myself by imitating what the people sound like. NPR, for example. On my own show, the whole time, on top of reading the material as well as I can, I'm making fun of how I sound to myself in my headphones. I'm not kidding about that. That's really what I'm doing... unless I'm really tired, in which case I'm more like a player piano. https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/1b4tqav/10_popular_tones_used_in_voice_acting/

Funk No. 1. - Tokyo Groove. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K8dNctci1Y

And husbands, too, like Premarin. "It makes your wife pleasant." http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/comments/husbands_too_like_premarin

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

"MARIN DEMOCRATS" MEMBERS WHO PUSHED FOR CEASEFIRE RESOLUTION WERE DOXXED AND HARASSED. The Group Voted Thursday for Additional $500 for Investigation – Cheap!

Multiple confirmed Democratic Party registrants restricted from controversial March 7 meeting via new, time-limited, second check-in. And: Update on LORA request for Connolly's February Israel trip

by Eva Chrysanthe, Marin County Confidential

Late last year, I referenced a doxxing/spy scandal that made international news, but which was barely covered by local media in the Bay Area, even though it involved one of our region's most powerful and respected institutions. The scandal was broken by Israel's Ha'aretz, and NYC-based The Forward, and it involved the now-deceased Bay Area billionaire Sanford Diller and San Francisco's Jewish Community Federation illegally funding an Israeli spying operation ("Canary Mission") that had doxxed, threatened, harassed, and deported academics merely for criticizing Israeli policy.

That illegal funding was particularly grievous as it involved a foreign country impinging upon the First Amendment rights of U.S. citizens. Perhaps unsurprisingly, neither the FBI nor the Department of Justice demonstrated any interest in even investigating the Diller/JCF funding. (If you're powerful, is it ever really a crime?) Instead, the JCF issued a short notice of contrition to the public, the matter was swept under the rug, and Canary Mission was allowed to continue its campaign of doxxing and harassment.

As it turns out, Marin County had its own mini-doxxing scandal, this one directed against members of "Marin Democrats" (Marin's DCC club) who managed to get a ceasefire resolution on the group's March agenda. According to a Marin County registered Democrat who attended the Marin Democrats March meeting, the pro-ceasefire members' contact information was released to pro-Israel groups, which in turn harassed and threatened the pro-ceasefire members over email.

That there were significant concerns about doxxing and harassment was confirmed through interviews with multiple elected members of Marin Democrats, and through the publicly noticed agenda, which showed an action item for funds to investigate the doxxing incident.

But who, specifically, was harasssed — and by whom? How extreme/mild was the harassment? Answer: No one is talking! And good luck to registered Democrats trying to get into that meeting if they weren't already at least marginally linked to Marin County insiders.

"Double Secret Probation!" Will Get You Every Time:

I was alerted to the ceasefire aspect of the agenda last Sunday when a young father in Central Marin suggested I register for the Marin Democrats March 7 meeting, which was to be zoom-only on the night of President Biden's State of the Union speech. I immediately registered, and promptly received a confirmation that my registration was successful. The confirmation I received on Sunday ( which asked for a donation) did not indicate that any other action was necessary to attend. A subsequent email showed only a button to click should I wish to cancel my RSVP. 

But on Thursday evening, when I tried to clink on the link to join the meeting, I was informed that zoom access was only possible if I had electronically RSVP’d by 2:00 pm that afternoon. It appears that this same-day, timed check-in even for confirmed registrants was specific to this particular meeting; it did not appear to have been required at previous Marin Democrats meetings.

Despite that, the meeting turned out to be significantly larger than normal, in large part due to interest over the ceasefire resolution and doxxing investigation. How did that happen despite the additional barrier?

Many Democrats who were linked to elected members of Marin Democrats received more specific instructions about the same-day check-in requirement. Others who did not receive that additional instruction — but who still had direct contact information/links to members — were able to flag their locked-out status directly, and were granted access. But many who did not have those insider connections were left out.This is simultaneously a very Marin County phenomenon and, even more sadly, a very Democratic Party phenomenon.

I had intended to listen to the meeting during my bicycle commute home from Marin Civic Center, where I had been fact-checking details provided in an email from Marin County's Registrar of Voters, Lynda Roberts, regarding the primary election gate-SNAFU at Civic Center. (More on “Grate-gate!” later.) By the time I finished the ride home, my fingers somewhat numb from the cold, I received a series of Marin Democrats bot-generated texts polling my perceptions of the completed meeting from which I had been restricted. I admit that I was less than charitable in some of my responses to the bot.

Reconstructing The Meeting:

The Marin Democrats, under the direction of longtime Marin Democrats member and Chair Pat Johnstone, didn't merely restrict multiple Democrats who had registered for the Thursday meeting. They also declined to make a recording of the meeting, thereby ensuring that those who had been locked out were unable to catch up on what they'd missed. (If you're a regular reader of this column, you'll notice there's a pattern here.)

Thus began a series of calls to leadership of Marin Democrats to attempt to piece together what, as one attendee suggested, may have been a defining moment for the group in terms of the stark divide just on the ceasefire vote (not to mention the ill will amongst members following what was assumed to be a betrayal of private information.) Among others, I reached out to Chair Pat Johnstone, Vice Chair Paul Cohen, and Secretary Steve Burdo. I also contacted members Lisa Bennett and Frank Egger.

Only Egger and Cohen were willing to speak with me at any length. Bennett responded with a series of minimal text messages that did, however, convey that she voted yes on the ceasefire item. The rest did not respond.

Frank Egger Shows How It's Done:

I called the home of 85-year-old Frank Egger, the seven-term (now former) mayor of Fairfax, and a friendly older woman answered the phone. Rather than hang up on me, she expressed moderate optimism that Frank would take my call. (In the background, I could hear Egger say, "Who is it?" to which she responded playfully, "A writer." Old School Marin: Egger took the call despite that detail.)

Egger, at 85, is whip-smart, and unafraid to answer questions. During our call, he issued the facts of the meeting with no pauses. He said the ceasefire resolution required a 60% majority, it didn't have the necessary 17 votes to approve, with 28 members present. (It is said that Burdo abstained.) Egger explained that the additional monies for the doxxing investigation were only to determine where the private information was sent from, and where it went. He said he voted for the ceasefire resolution.

Specific to concerns about restricted entry to the meeting, Egger acknowledged that he had been contacted by Democrats who were unable to get into the meeting because of the timed, same-day check-in requirement. Egger was explicit in stating his desire to see the meetings return to an in-person format, and notably did not recommend that it should be in-person only.

For the rest of the call we talked about Egger's involvement in the anti-war and anti-nuclear movements. This included marching in what he describes as the first anti-Vietnam War protest in Marin (1968 in Mill Valley). Egger later organized a 1969 march in Fairfax, and was elected to Fairfax Town Council the following year. Imagine trying to pull off an election win after organizing an anti-war march in today's more conservative Marin County.

Brief Historical Context:

Egger's efforts were historic, but they were not the first anti-war, 1960s protests in Marin. An April 17, 1963 article in The Daily Independent Journal shows that Mr. and Mrs. Othell Mallouf and another couple from Mill Valley were involved in "withholding portions of their federal income tax in protest over the billions spent by the United States for arms." Bookmark the name Othell Mallouf, because there's more to be said about him, including his WWII heroism, allegations that he was a Communist, his ardent support for Marin City, for racial integration, and much more. Mallouf, like his contemporary Bruce Risley, is part of a buried history of pre-1965 progressive activists in Marin who first took root in Marin City, and whose muscular bread-and-butter advocacy merit attention. But they existed in a particular moment. The wealth of Marin County in the immediate post-war era could never match today's uber-wealthy techno-aristocracy, its power made gargantuan through the military industrial complex and "security" state.

Marin Democrats First Vice Chair Paul CohenAlsoAnswers The Call:

Like Frank Egger, Marin Democrats Vice Chair Paul Cohen actually answers the phone. Cohen was reluctant to discuss the agenda's investigative action item in any detail other than to state that they voted for money to further investigate the distribution of private emails. He stated that he did not vote for the ceasefire resolution, as he considered it "performative" and did not believe that it would change any minds in Washington DC or anywhere else. I questioned that, as much of politics is performative, and occasionally the performative is necessary. (For example, a ceasefire resolution would signal to younger voters that we at least acknowledge the generational shift – not just in how Israel is perceived, but how the Democratic Party itself is perceived.) To Cohen’s credit, it was a dialogue, albeit one in which we frequently talked over one another.

When asked about how the vote broke down, Cohen said he was "not prepared to put that out." I then asked him if a recording of the meeting had been made; he said there was no real reason to do so – it was a meeting of a political party, and not a local or state government meeting.

Cohen did not dismiss my concerns about the restricted access to the meeting. He continually stated that my questions should be directed to Chair Pat Johnstone. I stated that I have found Johnstone to be generally averse to questions. Cohen said that I should email Johnstone directly through the Marin Democrats main email and cc Cohen, graciously providing his email address. (I followed his instructions to the letter on Friday morning, and I still haven't heard back from Johnstone.)

One interesting note is that in defense of not voting for the ceasefire, Cohen brought up Representative Huffman, and stated that Huffman's position on Israel is "nuanced." I disagreed with this assessment, even though I had once used the same term to describe Huffman's stance on Israel/Palestine. What I should have said, after the DSC-PSC meeting with Huffman following the sit-in, is that Huffman's position is performatively nuanced.

This is a developing story, and will be updated. One thing I am left wondering — after being unable to reach the members who were alleged to have been harassed — is whether their non-answer indicates that there may be a larger investigation ongoing.

Update on Legislative Open Records Act Request Re: Damon Connolly’s February Israel Trip:

You may recall that this column covered “Fail-Up” Assemblyman Damon Connolly's trip to Israel last month, about which neither Connolly nor any of his staff issued any public statement or even marginally disclosed. Because I had received no response from Connolly despite multiple requests to his office and constant bird-dogging of his twitter account, I submitted a Legislative Open Records Act request for trip receipts and other documents/records related to the trip. On Wednesday, March 6, 2024, I received a response from Lia Lopez, Chief Administrative Officer of the California State Assembly, which includes the sentence:

"In regard to your request for records relating to payments related to the trip, we have no responsive records."

Is the only way they could claim that they have no responsive records regarding the payments (receipts!) is if Connolly paid for the trip himself and it was non-official business? For example, if it were a personal holiday?

If so, that would be a remarkable claim on Connolly's part: A holiday trip to a country engaged in what can credibly be described as an ongoing genocide, wherein Connoly shook hands with Isaac Herzog, currently accused of war crimes. As you might imagine, I am not satisfied with the response from the State Assembly, and will continue to pursue answers.

REPORT EXPOSES $11 MILLION DARK MONEY AD CAMPAIGN BY BIG OIL IN CALIFORNIA

by Dan Bacher

SACRAMENTO - In January 2024, the Campaign for a Safe and Healthy California (CSHC) released a report revealed that more than $11 million in ads were funded by Big Oil in 2023 in an attempt to undermine a new law (SB 1137) that helps protect California communities from toxic oil drilling.

Chevron gave nearly $6 million to a third-party, Californians for Energy Independence, an “Astroturf” group, which then fronted the ad campaign, the report said.

The report also reveals how the California Independent Petroleum Administration (CIPA) and the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) fund extensive ad campaigns fronted by groups that masquerade as "coalitions."

At the helm of the Western States Petroleum Association is President and CFO Catherine Reheis-Boyd-Boyd, the former chair of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative to create faux “marine protected areas” in Southern California at the same time that she was pushing for new offshore drilling in state waters.

Some of the oil companies identified in the report that have spent millions on dark money ad campaigns or deceptive lobbying efforts include: Chevron, Valero, ExxonMobil, BP, Phillips66, Tesoro and Marathon Petroleum, according to CSHC.

This table, included in the report, shows more than $11M in dark money expenditures related to the most recent ad campaign:

“This cynical campaign hides the true source of funding from Big Oil as it attempts to deceive California voters about the clear public health benefits of making existing oil and gas wells safer by meeting tighter health and environmental requirements within 3200 feet of neighborhoods, schools, daycare centers and healthcare facilities, and keeping new wells from being built in these areas,” the group stated,

The CSHC coalition is calling for transparency to ensure voters know exactly who is paying for the deceptive ads.

"Though we expect this kind of big money bullying and deception from Big Oil, we will not tolerate it," said Martha Dina Argüello, Executive Director, Physicians for Social Responsibility- Los Angeles. "We know first-hand the devastating impacts of oil drilling near homes on the health and well-being of communities and the families that reside in them – it's a danger to public health, plain and simple."

"That's why we are sounding the alarm to tell voters the truth about Big Oil's campaign of deception – they are hiding in the shadows behind phony front groups," Dina Argüello added.

Just last year, while spending tens of millions of dollars on a signature gathering campaign, Big Oil was caught blatantly lying to voters and tricking them into signing a petition to stall and delay a new law that finally gave California neighborhoods similar public health and safety protections from toxic oil drilling that other oil producing states enjoy, according to CHSC.

"We are asking voters to see through Big Oil's fraud and vote to KEEP THE LAW (SB 1137) that requires existing wells within 3,200 feet of homes, schools, day care centers, parks, healthcare facilities and businesses to meet important health, safety and environmental requirements. Keeping this law will also prohibit new wells from being built in the same buffer zone," argued Dina Argüello.

"This isn't the first dirty trick by Big Oil and it won't be the last," said Chris Lehman, Campaign Manager for CSHC. "But this report will help expose them and their toxic campaign so that voters understand what's at stake in 2024 – and for many California communities, especially communities of color, this can be a matter of life or death. Our campaign does not need to hide in the dark with dubious campaign tactics like Big Oil. We will work with California political law enforcement and compliance experts, as well as media outlets, to do our part to make sure voters know the truth and Big Oil cannot dodge campaign disclosure laws." 

"KEEP THE LAW" Campaign endorsers “include public health groups, community and faith organizations, and environmental justice leaders from across California, working to hold oil companies accountable for creating a public health crisis, especially for communities of color.”

For more information about the campaign, please visit their website at: www.CAvsBigOil.com 

Big Oil spent $25.4 million lobbying in California in 2023

But funding Dark Money ad campaigns is just one of the 8 methods Big Oil uses to influence California offices. The oil and gas industry spent more money on lobbying in California in 2023 than any other year on record besides 2017.

Big Oil spent $25,445,606 on lobbying in California in 2023 and $25,445,606 in 2017, according to the research team at Sunstone Strategies in their “Crude Truth” newsletter.

The group analyzed the California lobbying filings of every registered oil company in California, in putting 2023 trends into the context of industry lobbying for the past 20 years dating back to 2004. While in an earlier report on oil spending I used the raw data on fossil fuel spending from the filings on the California Secretary of State’s website, the newsletter used a slightly different methodology.

“Topping the lobbying spending charts in 2023 was Chevron, the second biggest oil producer in the state and the leading crude oil refiner. Trailing at number two: its trade association, the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA),” wrote Sunstone Strategies.

“The two combined spent $18.1 million in 2023 — more than 71% of the industry’s total $25.4 in expenditures for 2023. Aera Energy, California’s top oil producer and a former joint venture of Exxon Mobil and Shell, placed in a distant third for 2023 lobbying spending,” they said.

However, in the fourth quarter, “WSPA and Chevron exchanged the number one and number two spots as the top lobbying spenders. Their expenditures totaled $2.8 million, accounting for over 60% of Big Oil’s quarterly spending total. Trailing in third was ExxonMobil, spending over $243,000 in lobbying for the quarter.”

The report also revealed that the state’s five major refiners, including Valero, PBF Energy, Marathon Petroleum, and Phillips 66, spent over $2.5 million on 2023 lobbying and influence activities.

Since 2009 I have documented how WSPA and the oil companies wield their power in 8 major ways: through (1) lobbying; (2) campaign spending; (3) serving on and putting shills on regulatory panels; (4) creating Astroturf groups; (5) working in collaboration with media; (6) sponsoring awards ceremonies and dinners, including those for legislators and journalists; (7) contributing to non profit organizations; and (8) creating alliances with labor unions, mainly construction trades. 

MITCH CLOGG:

Used to be Joe Biden's State of the Union speech would be called a stemwinder. Used to be you needed a key to wind your pocketwatch. Then somebody made one that you wound and set just by pulling out the stem. It was a welcome and well-received advance, and it quickly got used to describe a public speech that wound up people's approval and expectations. 

Last night, Biden showed them that "old man" did not necessarily mean "impaired man" or "senile man." He is neither, and I applaud his vitality. 

It's true the prospects for 2024 and beyond are unimaginable should The Narcissist win. I have a Psychology textbook that makes me smile when I read its description of the narcissist. It makes me smile at how precisely and accurately it describes Donald Trump. It was written in 1970, when Trump was a young Brooklynite looking to take over the profits-über-alles business from his father and grandfather - liars, crooks and racists all. Read "Fred Trump wiki" if you want to see why I should use so slanderous a word or why Donald is the sort of person he is. He woulda hadda be a saint to rise above that background.

We should all stay in a cold sweat at the mere prospect of Donald having his way, but we should warm ourselves A little at the prospect of this being a seminal year in which the off-balance Republicans are given their walking papers all the way down to your local dogcatcher.

That, too, is scarcely (yet jubilantly) imaginable. 

STATE TV SLOBBERS OVER STATE OF THE UNION

Could state media in the GDR, Soviet Union, Maoist China, or Pinochet's Chile have reviewed a leader's speech as breathlessly as Joe Biden's State of the Union? Listen before you answer

by Matt Taibbi

After Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Thursday night, ABC tossed back to set. Chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl was already out of breath, ready to make sexy time, as his colleague Borat Sagdiev would say. 

“This is probably the largest, if not one of the largest audiences President Biden will have before the election come November,” Karl began. No shit. Because they can’t risk letting him campaign before then.“Now our chief White House correspondent, Mary Bruce… I’m curious what you're hearing from your sources. Did he do what they wanted them to do?”

This is what Mary Bruce said:

“I can tell you the White House is very happy right now. I bet there are a lot of high fives going on right now…. The White House feels that he nailed this, that he put his critics on their heels at every turn… I think the overarching message coming out of this speech was really, game on… And the tone of it was just so classic Biden! It wasn’t polished, lofty rhetoric. It was folksy, it was personal. He was funny at times… He repeatedly put Republicans on notice. He sparred with them in the room in a way I don’t think we’ve ever seen before…”

The White House feels he nailed this? Real talk, if the job is to instantly relay the White House’s opinion on the White House’s speech, why do we need ABC? Why not cut right to a levitating Jake Sullivan head declaring, “PEOPLE OF EARTH! YOU ARE ENTHRALLED!” At least MSNBC has the sense to just cut out the middleman and hire Jen Psaki. Sorry: MSNBC had two former White House communications directors on to give reaction instructions. 

“He started with World War II. And the Civil War. And rooted the threat facing our nation from ‘my predecessor’ in those two epic battles,” gushed former George W. Bush mouthpiece Nicolle Wallace. “Then he quoted Ronald Reagan. It was like a punch in the face to every Republican in the room… A punch in the nose! It’s why by the end, Lindsey Graham slouched in his seat, arms folded, like it was John McCain up there.” Like it was John McCain up there? Huh? Who’s that meant to impress? 

“I’ve been a part of, I don’t know, maybe nine or ten of these…” explained Biden spokesperson Psaki. “They almost always start on the economy because that’s what you’re trying to speak to your audience about, people who are sitting at home, and it’s rare for it to start on something else.”

Translation: We usually start with the economy because that’s what voters care about. But I’m about to praise him for doing the opposite. Psaki went on. “This was… democracy, intertwined with kind of the power and speaking against authoritarian dictators like Putin. That’s a choice and that’s a choice the president makes. It’s not like they just give him a speech and he says, ‘Sounds great. I’ll deliver this.’ He made the choice to bookend this on democracy.”

Really? Psaki knew that? She was reporting that Biden wasn’t handed a speech that he then read because he does whatever he’s told? Or is that just what the White House and therefore MSNBC would say? Psaki’s words came just as the network cut to a shot of Biden turning to the side to revealing a seeming crayon-drawn, color-coded chart of the House chamber that resembled Mr. Potato Head:

“I don’t know, Lawrence [O’Donnell] may know,” Psaki went on, in strategic deferral to the “journalists” on the panel. “Someone may know historically when democracy has been such a prevalent part of this.” 

“After 9/11,” said Wallace. 

“After 9/11,” agreed Psaki. 

“Yeah!” said Rachel Maddow. 

This wasn’t State TV? Not ORT or “Voice of Zaire” or Deutscher Fernsehfunk? Really, if it had been, what would be different? If anything, predecessors would have been more restrained, not sinking to: “Rachel, this was classic Mobutu: folksy, funny at times.” “Exactly, Nicolle. Every bit the nation’s helmsman, but still the son of a cook...”

Even Marcos or Suharto might been creeped out to watch where MSNBC went politically. “I thought it surpassed my expectations and it transcended my expectations,” Chris Hayes exclaimed. Often the sole male on set, Chris is brought out like the gimp from time to time now, his job apparently being to add slavish excess:

“We know what’s happening here. ‘I’m running against the last guy…’ There was no sort of false, I don’t know, sort of papering that over… The caricature of the President of the United States has gotten so over the top in the conservative media, and I even think out in the public, in the outer perimeter… of Americans who do not pay very careful attention to politics that this guy is just ludicrously doddering and incapable… And then you see that you’re like, ‘Wait a second, wait a second, wait a second, wait a second’.”

“Even out in the public,” their opinions of the President are “over the top.” Do you sense the theme? One commentator after another not only lined up to lavish maximalist plaudits on Dear Leader (“Just astonishing,” said Lawrence O’Donnell; “What an incredible moment,” added Mika Brzezinski; “He really ate his Wheaties tonight,” swooned Lindsey Davis on ABC), but like Psaki and Hayes, repeatedly congratulated him for going against public opinion. 

“He started with Ukraine and I thought, wait, wait, wait, wait. He’s running for president. What’s he doing?” asked Maya Davis on The Nightcap with Stephanie Ruhle. “Then it became very elegantly clear that he was starting with this theme of democracy in the context of his sub theme, which was history…”

“Because he’s also underscoring: I may be older but I’m wiser,” agreed Ruhle.

Like Psaki, both hosts were wondering, “What’s he doing?” because polls keep showing the public strongly disagrees with administration policy and performance on Ukraine (and Gaza, for that matter). Along with immigration and the economy, these are big reasons Biden’s approval rating has been at Trump-after-J6 levels. Typically this is when we see politicians try to turn things around by announcing new measures to counter public sentiment. In this case, apart from a vague promise to make billionaires pay more taxes, the bulk of Biden’s speech was a massive double-down on plans to keep spending on unpopular military commitments abroad. 

For this, for saying “I’m wiser” and choosing to bypass themes “people who are sitting at home” might care about, the entire Beltway pundit corps lined up to give the PornTube tongue-bath that continues through this weekend. If Scott Boras got to go back in time to represent Babe Ruth, he’d have sounded understated compared to Hayes or O’Donnell or Joe Scarborough’s “Biden really brought it home” morning-after review. There is nowhere left to go, rhetorically, for the American political TV commentator: they’ve taken this thing as far as they can go without invoking the supernatural. 

Not even Fox in the runup to the Iraq invasion was this craven. At least then, there was emphasis on trying (through lies about WMDs and other manipulations) to convince the public to stand behind Bush administration policy. The message now is that the public is wrong and must be ignored, for the sake of democracy. Whether the president is right or wrong, politically smart or not, we’re to understand his words will in any case inspire these hilariously ostentatious ass-kissing ceremonies. The message: you’ll eat what you’re fed and love it, just like we do. At least that part of these broadcasts is real. Whatever all this tastes like to you, to them it’s really delicious. Really, really delicious. They mean it. God, do they mean it!

SHORT WINTER DAYS bumming you out? Try Daylight Stretching Time (DST), the newest, grooviest way to beat the darkness.

Say you live near the latitude of Seattle, where December sunrise/sunset is roughly 8am/4pm. That 8am sunrise is okay but that 4pm sunset is totally bumming us out, right? Wouldn't you rather the sun set at 8pm instead? Well, Daylight Stretching to the rescue!

Here's how it works: your proprietary DST timepiece will run 50% faster during the day to squeeze in those extra 4 hours. Instant 8pm sunset! Simple. Genius. (You're welcome, you deserve it!) And don't worry about tomorrow because your DST clock will automatically slow its roll (50% again) through the night so you get that super-sweet 8am sunrise the next day (and the next, and the next).

It's all super complicated, what with different latitudes and seasons, but the scientists and engineers at DST Labs have totally figured it out. And here's the beauty part: Daylight Stretching is totally flexible. You can have whatever sunrise/sunset you want, all year long! Just punch in your desired times and let Daylight Stretching do the rest.

Daylight Saving is so yesterday, start Daylight Stretching today.

(mk)