Mendocino County Today: Friday 4/19/24

Warm | Big River | PG&E Drone | Young Athletes | Skip Dining | Overdose Prevention | Soda Jerk | Most Stolen | Sales Tax | Willits Hills | Budget Recommendations | Cuckoo Nest | Fee Hearing | Ed Notes | Cash Please | Save Palace | Guarachi Art | Save Tracks | Fringe Festival | About Race | Trestle | Women’s Chorus | City Folks | 1906 Earthquake | Shocking Calamity | Yesterday's Catch | Cows | Wine Guide | Rat Bastard | Warriors Demise | Pop Duran | Chromium-6 Limit | Boob Tube | Texas Crazy | Depression Migrants | Grapes of Wrath | Samson Option | Eat | Israeli Response | Sixth Extinction

ABOVE NORMAL afternoon temperatures will continue across the interior valleys into early next week. A weak cold front will bring a slight chance of light rain and drizzle to the North Coast on Saturday followed by breezy northerly winds on Sunday. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A partly cloudy 46F on the coast this Friday morning. At 4:50am the fog has reached Pt. Arena & is heading our way, but will we see it today? Dry skies prevail in the forecast with rain chances for next week gone now.

CHRISTINA JONES:

Drone from PG&E was just flying around my electric pole and then down to my house looking at the electric connection, and hovering right by my house. It zoomed away when we discovered it. Couldn't figure out what the noise was!

This was unannounced, and this feels very illegal. If this happens to you and you don't like it, here is a number to call: 1-800-743-5000.

ANDERSON VALLEY TRACK AND FIELD, Coach John Toohey reporting:

At the Coastal Mountain Conference track meet in St. Helena, freshman Eric Velasco set personal bests in the shot put with a throw of 24 feet 11 inches and the 100 meter dash with a time of 13.8 seconds. Freshman Jaciel Vasquez excelled with a second-place finish in the 800 meters at 2:24.8, closely missing first by 0.7 seconds, and set a personal record in the 400 meters at 1:01.5. Sophomore Aster Arbanovella achieved personal records in the long jump (13 feet 6 inches), 100 meters (14.2 seconds), and 200 meters (32.8 seconds). Emily Soto, also a sophomore, set a personal record in the 800 meters with a time of 3:48. Ananda Mayne competed in both the 1600 and 800 meter races.

FOR THOSE WHO DON'T ALREADY KNOW, this organization is here to help. 

Follow, donate, visit, and pick up essential supplies.

MCAVHN will be in Boonville on 4/19/24 to provide overdose prevention - including free Narcan, testing strips and many other services. They will be located at AV Health Center parking lot from 11am-2pm, and across from the Redwood Drive In downtown from 2-4:30pm.

BUILDING BRIDGES GETS GNARLY (GNARLIER)

4:00 PM April 18th, '24 Ukiah California Mental Health Update

It’s getting gnarly at Building Bridges Homeless Resource Center. Some insane asshole is going around tossing partly full big gulp cups of soda on the assigned beds of others! Upon arriving yesterday at 7:30PM, had to take off the sheets and covers and turn it all around, so the wet portion was near the bottom of the bed. Staff said that they would have to actually see evidence on one of the security cameras to be able to do anything about this sort of problem. Now, I realize that there are many insane people on the planet earth. And I realize that postmodern America does not generally care, because mental illness is regarded as a personal problem, or a family concern. Then again, it has been obvious for millennia that this whole world is mad. (The current American presidential election is a good example of what being crazy is all about.) Okay, now I will go on YouTube and listen to yogic bhajans, not being identified with either the body nor the mind, because only ParaBrahman is ultimately real. Contact me if you wish to donate money, or offer a fully subsidized living situation. Toodles.

FORT BRAGG CITY COUNCIL - Council considers sales tax measure for November election

by Megan Wutzke

During the April 8 Fort Bragg City Council meeting, the council discussed adding a potential sales tax ballot measure of .375% for the November 2024 general election. The council also held public hearings on outdoor dining and required fire sprinklers. 

According to City Manager Isaac Whippy, the general fund forecast shows that the city will be in deficit within five years. To increase revenues, the city is considering adding a ballot measure in the upcoming general election in November 2024 to add a .375% sales tax. This tax would bring the total sales tax to the cap of 9.25% and would generate approximately $800,000 annually. 

Since tax increases are usually not popular, the city will have a contract with the Lee Edwards Group for public outreach services and ballot measure preparation. The city will also hire FM3 Research to poll the public on attitudes toward the proposed tax increase. 

Many restaurants moved tables outside during the COVID-19 health emergency and set up outdoor tents. The city also waived parking requirements and capacity fee charges. However, with the local COVID-19 health emergency no longer in effect, the city needed to codify outdoor dining into the Inland Land Use and Development Code and the Coastal Land Use and Development Code. After giving direction to the city staff in June 2023, the council reviewed and approved the proposed ordinances. 

Before 2015, the FBMC Chapter 15.06 Automatic Fire Sprinkler and Alarm Systems stated that when the cost of remodeling or repairing an existing commercial building exceeds $75,000 within 36 months, the business must install an automatic fire sprinkler system. In November 2023, the council changed this ordinance to $150,000 to reflect the construction cost better. However, during the meeting on Monday, the council changed this amount to $120,000, deemed a more accurate reflection of construction inflation from 2015.

(Ukiah Daily Journal)

THE CEO’S ‘BUDGET RECOMMENDATIONS’ 

by Mark Scaramella

CEO Darcy Antle’s “budget recommendations” to be discussed at next Tuesday’s Supervisors meeting are unintelligible gibberish. 

First she starts off declaring that there’s a “$15m: FY 2024/25 Budget Deficit as of 4/23/24” which is “Based on current expense projections” (but which she declines to explain), and “Does not include CIP (Capital Improvement Plan). Assuming no additional General Fund appropriations.” Which is not only NOT a “recommendation,” but not a valid assumption since next week’s agenda goes right ahead with “additional General Fund appropriations.” 

Then CEO Antle says that the County has “$79m: Non-Discretionary revenue” which is “$2.8m lower than 23/24.” Adding: “$2.2m between Federal, Sales Tax, and TOT,” which may mean that $2.2 million of the $2.8 million reduction is in those tax categories, or maybe not; it’s not clear. And, “$650k from higher obligations.” Which, besides NOT being a recommendation, is totally meaningless.

Then the CEO says that there’s a “$94m: General Fund Ask,” which probably means that the budget requests from each budget unit add up to $94 million while the discretionary revenue is only $79 million. Why doesn’t the CEO at least point out whether she agrees with the $94 million “ask”?

The CEO then says that the “Initial deficit offset recommendation: $2.5 - 4.15M” is based on “Up to $3.2M – County Retirement reserve to offset changes in actuarial assumptions.” We’re not sure what that means either. But it may mean that “up to” $4.15 million of previously budgeted contributions to the retirement fund may be avoided because they have changed some “actuarial assumptions.” This could mean that they now assume that County retirees will not live as long as they used to, thus saving some pension outlays. But who knows? Whatever it is, it’s voodoo money.

There’s also “$650K - ITSF Holiday (carried forward from 23/24).” We have no idea what an “ITSF Holiday” is. The CEO doesn’t bother to explain.

Then there’s a “$300K – CalFire Dispatch budget adjustment based on forecasting.” Also not explained. It could be that the Calfire Dispatch operation in Willits for Fire and Emergency Services may cost a little less than it used to — but there’s no explanation about what those “forecasts” are based on.

The CEO also claims that they will “Research and maximize EMS funding.” More gibberish.

The most promising info bit in the “budget recommendations” is the CEO’s intent that May 7 the Budget Workshop will address “Property Tax reports: Total Valuation, Discovery process.” However, given the depressing history of this subject and the glaring emptiness of next week’s presentation, the odds of this aspect of the May 7 workshop producing useful numbers or forward progress are minimal.

We see nothing in next week’s “budget recommendations” that amounts to anything remotely resembling an actual budget balancing recommendation. 

This is all very standard for the CEO. Put a title on a PowerPoint slide that implies some green eyeshade analysis and proposals with dollar values attached, but instead provide only bait and switch, offering a shiny new Ferrari but delivering a junked Yugo without a transmission. 

Time and again the Supervisors bend over backwards to pretend that these useless budget presentations have value, using them as a pretext to drift into more vague gibberish themselves about how tough it all is and, in Supervisor Williams’s case, retreating into “the broader issues” while scoffing at better tax collection because “All properties perfectly assessed with taxes fully collected will not solve the structural problem described above.” 

Of course, nobody proposed perfection nor that tax collection alone would “solve the structural problem.” What we said was that collecting taxes due would not only be fair to the County’s honest taxpayers, but would make a major dent in the deficit, and, combined with whatever remaining cuts might have to be made, would close much of the current gap. Williams poo-poos our proposals, but has not offered a single specific budget closing recommendation.

Apparently, these two dozen or so overpaid senior officials in the CEO’s office and the Supervisors chambers who collectively cost local taxpayers well over $2 million a year are incapable of even putting specific budget balancing recommendations on the table. Meanwhile, taxes continue to go uncollected and expenses, a number of which are retroactive, continue to be routinely approved, many on the consent calendar.

For example, Agenda Item 4d: “Approve Agreement with Theron Chan, M.D. in the amount of $45,000 to provide medical oversight, direction, and guidance for the Public Health Department as the Interim County Health Officer, effective upon signature through July 31, 2024; authorize the Public Health Director or designee to sign any future amendments that do not increase the maximum amount; and authorize Chair to sign same.”

Summary: “Mendocino County Public Health (PH) requires a County Health Officer (CHO) to provide medical oversight, direction, and guidance for the Public Health department. The CHO shall guide and direct the implementation of control needed in times of epidemic outbreaks of communicable diseases, biological or chemical incidents, and/or natural or manmade disasters. The CHO shall also serve as a liaison between PH and the community physicians. These services are all requirements as they pertain to the majority of the programs within PH. … The previous CHO [Chief Health Officer Dr. Andy Coren] retired as of January 31, 2024, therefore, PH is seeking approval of the proposed Agreement with Dr. Theron Chan, M.D. to provide services as the interim CHO. Dr. Chan has previously provided critical assistance as the Deputy CHO during the COVID-19 pandemic and is familiar with the programs within PH, as well as County processes. Through the proposed Agreement, Dr. Chan will provide critical services, medical expertise, and professional oversight to carry out the required services as the interim CHO.”

Dr. Chan may be a very capable doctor. And he’s cheaper than his predecessors. He may even be “familiar with County processes.” (Although if he really was, he’d be running the other way.) But where will the $45k come from? “Budget amount was not budgeted and BHRS Fiscal plans to account it for Q2 using the savings from the CHO position, this will be funded by Intergovernmental Transfer Funds.” Oh! There you go! No problem! 

The CEO also proposes Item 4e: “Adopt resolution and approve Memorandum of Understanding between the County of Mendocino and the Mendocino County Association of Confidential Employees for term of July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2026; and authorize Chair to sign same.”

How much is this baby (that dates back to July of last year) worth? “Approximate $199,000 with salary and benefits.” And where will the $200k come from? “Increases will impact various budget units; County Counsel, Human Resources, Executive Office, Auditor’s Office and Retirement.” There you go. Get the rubberstamp.

Funny how they can be so precise in recommending various spending items but seem incapable of comparable specifics when it comes to budget balancing.

The Board may seem completely out of it when it comes to budget stuff, but they’ve been hard at work on some other important stuff that deserves mention. 

Take Consent Calendar Items 3c, 3d, 3f, and 3g, for example. Supervisor Maureen Mulheren has proposed: “Adoption of Proclamation Recognizing April 22, 2024, as Earth Day in Mendocino County (Sponsor: Supervisor Mulheren)” And: “Adoption of a Proclamation Recognizing April as Fair Housing Month in Mendocino County.” And: “Adoption of Proclamation Recognizing May 5, 2024, as Mendocino County Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People (Sponsors: Supervisor Mulheren and Sheriff Kendall).” And: “Adoption of Proclamation Recognizing April 2024 as Sexual Assault Awareness Month in Mendocino County and April 24, 2024, as Sexual Assault Awareness Day (Denim Day) in Mendocino County (Sponsor: Supervisor Mulheren). (Sponsor: Supervisor Mulheren).”

The assumption is that these intractable problems are the result of Mendolanders being insufficiently aware of how bad sexual assault is, of how important Earth Day is, how poorly Indigenous woman are treated, and how unfair the housing situation is. Mulheren’s empty awareness proclamations may make everyone feel better, but do nothing to actually improve things. 

A Denim Day Proclamation! Hooray! Great work! 

MEMO OF THE WEEK

To: Honorable Board of Supervisors 

FROM: Darcie Antle, Chief Executive Officer 

SUBJECT: April 23 2024, Fee Hearing 

Pursuant to County Policy No. 47, Master Fee Schedule Policy, on a date approved by the Chief Executive Officer, or designee, for a request for fee modification outside the normal fee hearing process, the Board conducts a Public Hearing and acts upon all fee requests submitted by the department. The Department Head, or a Representative must be present for the Public Hearing. 

Upon adoption by the Board of Supervisors of the resolution of the Master Fee Schedule, (Exhibit X), or amendment to the resolution of the Master Fee Schedule, the Executive Office shall post the original Master Fee Schedule, (Exhibit X), or amendments to the Master Fee Schedule, (Exhibit X), on the County’s website. The Executive Office shall update the Master Fee Schedule with the last revised or adopted date and Resolution number for fees that have been adopted, modified, or changed on an annual, or no more than semi-annual basis. 

The proposed fee changes reflect the ongoing efforts of all departments and offices to meet full cost recovery, per Board direction. The proposed changes are projected to bring an overall reduction of $210 thousand in cost recovery fees in the following departments: The Cannabis Management Unit will bring in increase of $58 Thousand, County Counsel will not see a measurable change, and Environmental Health will be reducing fees by $268 Thousand. 

Fees that are being reviewed for adoption and/or revision can be found on the April 2024 Proposed Fee Change Memo. 

ED NOTES

ALL WE KNOW at this point is that two young guys are setting up in the Anderson Valley to build tiny homes, and we hope they will be successful in meeting the growing demand for affordable living spaces.

MENDOFEVER.COM: “Body Found in Clear Lake Sparks Death Investigation”

ED NOTE: Dead bodies will do that.

A READER WRITES: I saw Mike G’s facebook entry on your ongoing medical woes, and apparently Mike Sweeney did too. He emailed me and said he’s worried about your condition and would like to offer his services as an in-home medical attendant. Says he has several innovative techniques for throat ailments. He'll be here tomorrow. If some guy shows up at your front door in a white smock and stethoscope it’s probably him. Said he planned to take care of the problem quickly, so you wouldn’t continue to suffer.

ED REPLY: All the way from New Zealand? How kind of him. Mikey never struck me as the sentimental type, but then I didn't peg him as a car bomber either. Of course our mutual innocence was early in our relationship which, as you probably know, became strained. 

WE'RE getting calls from people who want to buy extra copies of our last print edition. Our chief of distribution says, “If it's just a few, they can just have them, if they want to pick them up. I don't want to mail any after the last shipment at today's first class rates.”

PASTE-UP! Anybody who's been around a newspaper will remember that paste-up meant printing out long columns of marching gray on a pre-cyber machine, rolling the backs of the cols with a hot wax roller and slapping them up on special newspaper size backing paper, ensuring as you went that all of the columns were sequential, pages 1-12 and the jumps were where they should be. 

THAT HAND PROCESS wasn't easy. It required spatial gifts, among other abilities, especially the ability to remain calm in a hectic human context. Getting these waxed pieces onto the page in coherent order was not easy. Without mentioning the names of people who prefer not to see their names in print, the ava was lucky in the women who quickly mastered the task, and later even a man also managed to figure it out.

TEN YEARS or so ago, manual paste-up segued into electronic paste-up, not that we had a choice because the printers, also with no choice but to obey cyber-dictates simply to stay in business, had also gone electronic, the whole newspaper assembly process going technologically backwards, in my lonely opinion, since Gutenburg. 

USED TO BE in America, itinerant newspaper men toted their own little press town-to-town to write their newspapers and print it, all in one simple process in one room. When they wore out their editorial welcome, off they went with their press and opinions to the next town. 

THESE DAYS, with the great luxury (cough-cough) of modern tech, to produce and distribute a newspaper the size of the Boonville weekly requires about a dozen people and massive pieces of equipment. 

AS ALWAYS unprepared for techno-change, or any change at all as we went about our monk-like routines in Boonville, but suddenly faced with finding someone who knew the new electronic paste-up technology, we ran to Torrey Douglas, a gifted graphics person, who said, "Renee Lee. She can do it."

AND RENEE LEE has done it ever since, not ever missing a single issue while, of course, being underpaid. I could heap on the superlatives but I can't think of any adequate to praise this unusually capable person, but Renee has been a rock of reliability since she joined us in 2014, probably and understandably apprehensive about the company she was about to keep.

IMAGINE arriving home after a long day herding elderly cats at the Senior Center to open your computer to a cascade of 36,000 words that must be organized as a print newspaper and ready for the printer the next morning. This huge task was often complicated for Renee by the failure of the cyber-program Renee's dependent on. It would suddenly, inexplicably balk, and Renee, faced with a deadline to get the 'files' to the distant printer by virtual sunrise, miraculously managed to get it done, week after week after week and not a single missed deadline!

I KNOW of at least two other jobs Renee pulls off while wrestling with our publication, all of which this remarkable woman accomplishes while making all of them look easy. I hope she knows that we never for an instant took her remarkable skills for granted. Without her, we would have had to retire in 2014.

RESTORE THE PALACE

Editor:

I would like to see the City Of Ukiah take a clear position supporting the restoration of the Palace Hotel, along with some concrete steps in support of that position. Lacking that I can only conclude that the City Council wants it torn down and that the City is actively working to bring about that end for this historic structure. It surely looks like that is what they want.

If you should ask, "why does someone from Boonville want to have a say in this?" I would say that I have made Mendocino County my home since 1973 and that Ukiah, with all of its faults, is my County Seat. I shop in Ukiah, I am entertained there, I eat lunch and dinner there, I pay taxes there, bank there, and I get my hair cut in Ukiah. Ukiah is not what I would like it to be, but it is what it is, and I would like it to be better. Hence my position on the Palace.

As I have said before: I think that preservation of older buildings is important because they give our society as a whole a sense that there is some shared history that we are a part of. On an individual level I think that we gain a sense of ourselves as a part of a whole when we can see and appreciate our history.

Ukiah - would you please step up to the plate here? Or throw a Hail Mary pass? Without the Palace Hotel Ukiah will be less. Make this old building modern — a new building will only be modern, a new building will be lacking the history of the Palace.

Tom McFadden

Boonville

DOUGLAS ROY JOHNSON: This is a drawing by Patty Guarachi of fox gloves that she gave me years ago that I have always loved.

SAVE THE TRACKS

Editor: 

State Sen. Mike McGuire touts his Great Redwood Trail as being environmentally viable and says it will help the economy in Mendocino and Humboldt counties. This couldn’t be further from the truth. He wants to abandon the railroad line and replace it with a trail that will never generate the money an operating railroad can with both freight and passenger trains. He wants to spend more money on developing the trail than it would take to reopen the existing out-of-service line from Sonoma County to Willits. Talk about a waste of taxpayers’ money.

The railroad was engineered and built, with great effort, more than 100 years ago to accommodate trains and railroad operations. McGuire wants to trash this valuable asset of precise alignment of constant grades with tunnels and bridges to use as a recreational trail for a few users per day.

By not having the railroad reopened, all the freight and passenger traffic must depend on Highway 101, giving Caltrans an added excuse to widen the highway, let alone cause increased air and tire pollution from vehicles.

Michael Strider

Santa Rosa

POINT ARENA’S ALMOST FRINGE FESTIVAL 

This Saturday, The Almost Fringe Festival is to be found all over the city of Point Arena (Sat 4/20/24, starting early at the Cove and Lighthouse, circling back to the Cove with live music in the late afternoon). 

Come out to see the giant kites play in the wind at the Point Arena Light Station with your families and dogs, and explore the lighthouse while you are there. Eat, shop, listen to poetry and music, watch dance, performance and see art all over Main Street all day Saturday! See a Cult Classic movie at Arena Theater for 420 (Cheech & Chong's Up in Smoke, 7pm). Or head down to listen to live music and stay watch the sunset at the Cove. Fun for all ages!!

WE TALK, YOU LISTEN

Subject: Change Our Name Teach-In

Talking About Race

“Talking About Race in Fort Bragg” will be the topic of the April Change Our Name Teach-In at the Fort Bragg Library Community Room, 499 E Laurel St., Fort Bragg, on Friday, April 26, at 7 p.m.

Tackling the fraught topic of race relations will be LimaSierra Wooten, an Army brat, artist and activist from Florida. She relocated to Fort Bragg in 2016, contributing to representing less than 1% of individuals identifying as Black or African Americans living on the Mendocino Coast.

Wooten, who grew up mixed raced and has been in interracial relationships, understands the challenges and struggles of biracial families and interracial marriages.

She will be in dialogue with Change Our Name Chair Philip Zwerling, with lots of time for audience discussion. Topics may include: Why talk about race at all? How do we talk about race without being racist? What can each of us do about race relations? Is there racism in Fort Bragg? What is white privilege? What is the role of racial trauma?

Discussing a controversial topic requires civility and respect for the opinions of others. This program is free and open to all.

For further information: changeournamefortbragg@gmail.com

A local grass roots non-profit, Change Our Name Fort Bragg is dedicated to an educational process that leads to changing the name of Fort Bragg so that it no longer honors a military Fort that dispossessed Indigenous people or Braxton Bragg, an enslaver and Confederate General. who waged war against our country.

This approximately one hour program is free and open to all.

Discussing a controversial topic requires civility and respect for the opinions of others.

This program is neither sponsored by nor affiliated with the Mendocino County Library/Museum.

INLAND VALLEY WOMEN’S CHORUS to Celebrate its 30th(!) Anniversary with a Community Songfest

Inland Valley Women’s Chorus turns 30 this year! The chorus will celebrate this remarkable occasion with a community SONGFEST. Everyone is invited! It will take place on Saturday, May 4, 2-5 pm, at Holy Trinity Church (Mary and Martha Room), at 640 S. Orchard Avenue, Ukiah. Cake and munchies will be provided. The event is free, but a small donation to benefit Project Sanctuary and offset costs is encouraged.

During the SONGFEST, we will sing some of our tried-and-true harmony favorites interspersed with easy-to-learn singalongs.

Inland Valley Women’s Chorus (IVWC) is a group of women who love to sing together. Our repertoire comes from a variety of traditions and includes songs about women, peace, justice, harmony with nature, healing, and inspiration. Some are familiar, some international. Many pieces have been written by the group’s own members, friends, and contemporary song-writers.

The chous was founded by Judy Fjell in the fall of 1993. Several of the founding members are still singing in the chorus! Madge Strong has been the director since 1997.

During many of its thirty years, IVWC has hosted either a yearly concert or a chorus invitational, as well as a Winter Solstice Community Sing for Peace. The chorus has also sung many times over the years for various organizations and events, from Project Sanctuary and elder care facilities to Women’s History Day, World AIDS Day, and Martin Luther King Day. During the pandemic years, we managed mainly with Zoom and an occasional gathering in a park. Now, we are singing together mostly for our own joy and inspiration at our weekly meetings, summer potlucks, and our annual retreat.

IVWC sings together in person every Thursday from 6—7:30 pm at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 640 S. Orchard (Mary & Martha Room) in Ukiah. If you have an interest in joining IVWC, contact Madge at 707-459-1493 or mstrong@willitsonline.com.

Please join our SONGEST to celebrate our 30th Anniversary with us! 

CITY FOLKS CALL US...

City folks call us rednecks

And I suppose that's ok

We live life the way we want to

And it's pretty apt to stay that way

We live in houses we built ourselves

That some would consider a shack

The American flag is hanging out front

And there's a horseshoe pit out back

We drink strong coffee in the morning

We drink beer in the afternoon

We drink hard liquor on the weekends

And at midnight we howl at the moon

We buy our clothes at Cabela's and walmart

Our groceries at the discount store

We raise all our own vegetables

And the kids don't even know we're poor

We drive big 4x4 trucks

That sit way up off the ground

With a gun rack in the back window

And a box in the back for the hounds

We like our women kinda sassy 

And we prefer them a little bit stout

They have to know how to skin a buck

And clean a rainbow trout

We all work six days a week

And we're up at the crack of dawn

On Sundays we watch football and Nascar

Right after we mow the lawn

We don't need a lot of money

For us to be happy and content

Time is what we value most

And how that time is spent

There's no need to feel sorry for us

We're as happy as can be

As long as we've got meat in the freezer

And a big screen color tv

— Ernie Pardini

REMEMBERING THE 1906 EARTHQUAKE IN MENDOCINO AND HUMBOLDT COUNTIES

by Kym Kemp

On this day, 118 years ago, the ground beneath Northern California shook with a ferocity that would etch April 18, 1906, into the pages of history as one of the most devastating natural disasters the United States had ever witnessed. The Great San Francisco Earthquake reached far beyond that city and crumpled buildings in Humboldt and Mendocino counties as well.

About 5:12 a.m., the residents of Humboldt and Mendocino were jolted awake by a 7.8 quake which caused serious damage even though the epicenter was the Bay Area. In Humboldt County, from Shelter Cove to Eureka, buildings swayed violently, chimneys toppled, and storefronts crumbled.

The Humboldt Times reported,

At Shelter Cove, the people are panic stricken over the many shocks they have had at that place today. Aaron Boots of Briceland came from there late this afternoon and reported that the severe shock at 5 o’clock, with the help of the ocean waves, washed about twenty acres of land near the wharf into the sea, leaving a deep depression. The wharf road from the top of its bluff to the warehouse is completely destroyed by a huge slide, making it impossible to reach the wharf even on foot and what is the fate of the tons of freight stored at the warehouse will not be known for some time. The damage to the company at the Cove is estimated at over 1,000 to rebuild the road so it can be used to haul the freight out. Many shocks have been felt at the Cove during the morning hours and a chasm over a foot wide was made a few feet from the hotel. The roads are blocked with fallen trees everywhere out this way.

Mendocino County saw landslides and road blockages that isolated communities for days. The quake slammed Fort Bragg hard and caused a devastating fire.

According to the Fort Bragg Advocate,

The fire which wrought so much havoc was started at the time of the earthquake by the overturning of a coal oil stove belonging to Mrs. Bieber in the residence of E. C. Foushee on McPherson Street. Mrs. Bieber had been ill during the night and having lighted this stove to heat water and when the shock came the stove was upset. Mr. Fouchee rushed into the room and did his best to smother the fire but his efforts were futile and he only succeeded in scorching and burning his hands in a frightful manner, and came very near being caught and burned to death. From there the flames spread rapidly and soon the entire block was a seething mass of flames. The fire then leaped across the alley way between that and Franklin street and was encroaching on the property fronting Main St when the fire company succeeded in getting a hose to the National City steam schooner, lying at the wharf, and with the water and liberal use of powder the fire was conquered.

One of the most enduring impacts of the earthquake was on the infrastructure. In the years following the disaster, both counties undertook significant efforts to rebuild roads and buildings with more resilience in mind. These efforts not only helped in the immediate recovery but also paved the way for modern emergency preparedness programs that are in place today.

See also: Ellin Beltz's webpage April 18, 1906 Earthquake - Ferndale, California

BAD DAY AT BIG RIVER

by Molly Dwyer

On October 15, 1879, the Beacon reported that Mendocino had been “…thrown into a state of excitement hitherto unparalleled by the occurrence of a shocking calamity….Two of our most esteemed citizens were atrociously murdered and a third wounded within four miles of our town, their comrades narrowly escaping death.” The victims had been deputized to track down rustlers. Cattle had disappeared from a herd belonging to the Mendocino Lumber Company, and the slain men rode into a trap set by killers who became known as the Mendocino Outlaws. 

The tragedy began when Constable William Host rode into Big River Woods for evidence. He discovered the remains of a half-buried steer, and the following day, Host returned with two deputized lawmen to investigate further. They spotted tracks and followed them to an encampment where four men lounged around a fire eating breakfast, beef curing in plain sight. Also in plain sight, resting against a redwood, were Winchester rifles, pistols, and abundant ammunition. 

The host had no warrant. He feigned ignorance of the area, inquiring if the men knew another good place to set up camp. The Mendocino Outlaws weren’t fooled: they knew who Host was and prepared to wait for him, for their real motive was to rob him of the taxes he would be collecting. Back in Mendocino, Host deputized a posse and set out the following day with seven men. Among them rode 31-year-old James Nichols, a veteran of the Civil War from Ellsworth, Maine. He had come west after the fighting and taken employment in the logging industry, working his way up to superintendent at the Mendocino Lumber Company. 

Nichols wasn’t the only Maine native in the posse. Thomas Dollard came from Ellsworth, too, and he and Nichols were likely childhood friends. Dollard had left logging to join another Maine native, Henry Jarvis, to open a thriving merchandising venture on the corner of Kasten and Main Street. 

Perhaps as they rode, the men chatted about business or the rumor of Dollard’s engagement to Katherine Carlson, “One of Mendocino’s most popular young ladies.” She was the 19-year-old daughter of Charlie Carlson, a big Swede who owned one of the most respected hotels in Northern California. His twin daughters, Katie and Bessie, did everything in tandem, including running the hotel’s popular dining room. 

According to Lyman Palmer’s “History of Mendocino County,” the posse abandoned the first camp. They tracked the bandits along Big River Ridge until they located a second camp deep in a ravine about a mile from the first. They worked their way down a steep precipice and dismounted to investigate. William Wright was in the lead. He bent over the ashes of an abandoned fire. According to Palmer, his final words were, “They must have stopped here last night.” 

The outlaws, positioned in the burnt-out trunk of a massive redwood, fired from the opposite side of the gully. Wright took a bullet to the back of his neck as dozens of shots rang out in rapid succession. Only four of the posse made it to cover. Among those who didn’t were Dollard and Nichols. Dollard took a bullet to his thigh, returning fire as he fell back. Hit twice more, he rolled to the bottom of the ravine, where he managed to crawl under a log in the creek. Nichols took a bullet to his shoulder but made it to his horse. He and another man got away and rode for help. By the time help arrived, however, Dollard was dead, and Wright was close to it. 

Nichols and Wright were brought to the Carlson Hotel to have their wounds looked after. Wright had taken a second bullet near his heart and remained “helpless and speechless.” He died the first night, his body removed to a room over the post office where Dollard had been taken. Nichols survived, perhaps because he was nursed back to health by the Carlson twins. 

Two well-armed parties set out that same evening, and the next day, more men joined the hunt. Within a week, the governor offered a reward: $300 for the first and $200 for each subsequent killer. It took a manhunt of 61 days over much of Northern California before the shooters were found and brought in. 

Two and a half years after the attack, James Nichols joined Henry Jarvis in the general store and married Katie Carlson. Their daughter, born the following year, was the beautiful Edith Nichols, the apple of Auggie Heeser’s eye. But that’s another story. 

(This article was originally printed in the Mendocino Beacon on February 7th, 2013. The Kelley House Museum is open from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM, Thursday through Monday. If you have have a question for the curator, contact curator@kelleyhousemuseum.org to make an appointment. Walking tours of the historic district depart from the Kelley House regularly; for a tour schedule, visit www.kelleyhousemuseum.org.)

CATCH OF THE DAY, Thursday, April 18, 2024

JOSE ANAYA-BELTRAN, Santa Rosa/Ukiah. Failure to appear.

KADIE COPLEY, San Francisco/Ukiah. Probation revocation.

WILLIAM FRANKS, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs, drinking in city parks, probation revocation.

ALLYSSA HANN, Vacaville/Ukiah. Burglary, grand theft, stolen property, forged driver’s license, false ID, conspiracy, failure to appear.

MIGUEL MARIN, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

CATHERINE MOORE, Willits. DUI. 

KRISTO OUSEY, Ukiah. Parole violation.

MELODY SCROGGINS, Ukiah. Contempt of court, failure to appear.

EARL VOGT III, Clearlake/Ukiah. Burglary, stolen property, grant theft, conspiracy.

NAAZBAH YAZZIE, Ukiah. DUI, child neglect.

GUSTAVO ZAZUETA, Redwood Valley. DUI with prior suspended license for DUI, no license, controlled

ESTHER MOBLEY, WINE GUIDE: 

In Wine Spectator, Aaron Romano gives a major megaphone to Napa Valley wineries who are frustrated with the county’s regulations around construction, tasting room permits and vineyard development. “There is a growing concern that the county is not supporting its biggest economic draw,” Romano writes. I found this lengthy article puzzlingly one-sided, providing no perspective from the sizeable contingent of Napa Valley residents (including wine industry members) who are anti-development. In my mind, it fails to meet one of the basic mandates of journalism, to present both sides — something especially important when the subject is as contentious as land use in Napa.

Conn Creek Winery, located in a prominent spot on Silverado Trail in Napa Valley, was “quietly” sold to Third Leaf Wines, an investment company that owns other brands in the U.S. and abroad, reports Cyril Penn in Wine Business. It’s the latest property that its previous owner, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, has recently offloaded, along with Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and Patz & Hall.

Paso Robles estate Halter Ranch has opened a new tasting room in, of all places, Texas! Gabriel Romero has details in MySA. 

BREAK UP THE WARRIORS, STEPH CURRY INCLUDED

by Drew Magary

Let’s go back to the summer of 2019, a more innocent time in our nation’s history. None of us knew what a KN95 mask was. White collar workers actually traveled for business rather than spending all day having to mute a Zoom mic anytime they had to fart. Donald Trump was a gentle, widely beloved president rather than the half-assed orchestrator of a failed revolution. And the Golden State Warriors were still really good.

I was in Oakland that June, hanging around the Lake Chalet to profile Stephen A. Smith for GQ. Stephen A. was there to record an episode of “First Take” on location, in the lead-up to Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Raptors. The Warriors were coming off of winning three titles in the four years prior, and had already snatched home court advantage back from Toronto by winning Game 2 on the road.

Warriors fans, their sense of entitlement now at its apex, were primed to celebrate yet again. Chief among those fans was MC Hammer, who was a guest on “First Take” that day because really, what else did he have to do? Hammer came out onto the set that morning in a tie and popped collar, sporting the biggest goddamn watch I had ever seen: a Diesel wrist trophy with roughly eight faces that could have survived a month at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Stephen A. proceeded to ask Hammer very serious questions about the Dubs’ future, and the hip-hop icon proved a shockingly good foil. He even brought up the Pullman Porters while firing off his takes! Truly, u could not touch Hammer’s insights. Until he said this:

“Not only is our bench deep, it is QUALITY.”

That was deeply untrue, and would in fact prove lethal when then-Warrior forward Kevin Durant, already nursing a calf strain that had kept him out for the beginning of the series, had his Achilles tendon go SNIZZZZAP! in Game 5. The Warriors would go on to lose all three Finals games at Oracle, and the title with it. Kawhi Leonard and the Raptors simply proved 2 legit for Golden State.

Fast forward five years, and now a lot of other teams can make the same boast. Despite adding a fourth title to Curry’s resume just two years ago, the Warriors’ dynasty collapsed Wednesday night in a desultory 118-94 play-in loss to the Sacramento Kings. Dynasties never end in dramatic fashion, nor did it this time around. This Dubs loss featured multiple passes to nowhere, balls dribbled off of rogue feet, Klay Thompson missing every single shot he attempted, Sacramento getting 700 offensive rebounds, and Harrison Barnes — Harrison f—king Barnes! — nailing clutch shots for the Kings. These are not the Warriors you’re used to seeing, and that’s because they suck now.

Now, I’m prone to overreacting to any significant Warriors win or loss, not unlike the New York Post’s back page after the Yankees lose a homestand in May. But even more learned hoopheads could have told you that this collapse was a long time coming. The Warriors tried to smoothly transition out of the Splash Brothers era by working players like Andrew Wiggins, James Wiseman and Jordan Poole (the worst player in the history of mankind) into their core, only for that core to reject them like a bum kidney transplant. And now the core itself is a shambles. Klay is no longer himself, and never will be again. Draymond Green can no longer summon the energy to elbow opponents in the ballsack when his team needs an emotional lift. The bench is neither deep nor quality. And poor Steph Curry is too small, and now too old, to bail them out every time they’re stuck in the mud.

Worst of all, they’re not FUN anymore. The Dubs have been both face and heel throughout their run this century, but they were never boring. I could always count on them to move the ball around without it ever touching the floor, to make 3-pointers from impossible distances, and to turn every third quarter into the money sequence of a Godzilla movie. I’m old enough to have seen 1990s basketball with my own eyes, so I will always be grateful that the Warriors ushered in a new era in which scoring in the triple digits was not only possible, but necessary.

But they suck now. You are what your playoff seeding says you are, and that team I watched Wednesday night was very much a No. 10 seed, and maybe an NCAA 10-seed at that. Put this roster in Charlotte Hornets uniforms — which could be a reality for many of these players a year from now — and their lack of qualifications would have been obvious. These Warriors had no business making the official playoff field. And they never will again, so long as owner Joe Lacob sees fit to keep huffing the smoke still emanating from his dynasty’s ashes.

So here is what I suggest: blow it up. Klay is a free agent this offseason. Let him walk. Draymond, whose upper lip and lower lip have never touched one another, has three years left on his deal (ugh). Trade him away in a salary dump for a crummy draft pick and a whoopee cushion. Let head coach Steve Kerr retire so that he can finally rest his crippled back.

And trade Steph.

I don’t like that last part any more than you do. Steph isn’t the most interesting fella in the world, but he’s a civic treasure and the most important player in Golden State franchise history. I can easily see owner Joe Lacob keeping Steph around for the final two years of his deal and turning these Warriors into a glorified Big3 team. A nostalgia act. But if Lacob cares about winning, and about securing more Larry O. trophies to hump, he’ll cut the cord now. It’ll suck to put an official end to this incarnation of the Warriors, but it can’t suck any more than what I just saw Wednesday night. The Western Conference is already rife with ascendant talents in Victor Wembanyama, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Ant Edwards. These Warriors aren’t gonna compete with any of that, not to mention the defending champion Nuggets, with the compost bin that is their current roster. They need to reload, and they can’t do that while clinging to ghosts.

The decline of this team began five years ago, that day I was chilling with Hammer on the shores of Lake Merritt. It has now reached its terminal phase. The longer they try to keep this going, the further they get from ever mattering again. 

End this.

(SF Chronicle)

The only good thing that my father ever did, was that he once picked up a magazine and recognized who I was.

- Roberto Duran

CALIFORNIA SETS LONG-AWAITED DRINKING WATER LIMIT FOR ‘ERIN BROCKOVICH’' CONTAMINANT

California regulators adopted a drinking water limit on toxic hexavalent chromium, a chemical compound made infamous by the movie “Erin Brockovich."

by Doranda Pineda

California regulators voted Wednesday to establish a drinking water limit on hexavalent chromium, a toxic chemical compound made infamous by the movie “Erin Brockovich.”

The rule is the first in the nation to specifically target the heavy metal, known as chromium-6, and is expected to reduce the number of cancer and kidney disease cases from long-term ingestion, state officials say.

The proposal was unanimously passed by the State Water Resources Control Board, though it needs approval from the Office of Administrative Law to take effect.

The standard could inspire other states to adopt their own. More than 200 million Americans are estimated to have the chemical compound in their drinking water, according to an analysis of federal water testing data by the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization.

Until now, California combined its drinking water standard for chromium-6 with the less toxic trivalent chromium, an essential nutrient. California’s new limit on chromium-6 is 10 parts per billion — about 10 drops of water in a swimming pool.

 “I know there's mixed feelings about this decision today... that we should be at a lower standard," board member Sean Maguire said before the vote. "But I do want to take a step back and look at California as compared to the rest of the nation, and I think here we are actually leading the way.”

Community members and health advocates worry California’s limit doesn’t do enough to protect public health from the metal. They want the state to adopt a drinking water limit closer to the public health goal of 0.02 parts per billion, the level scientists have said does not pose significant health risks.

“This really leaves a lot of California communities unprotected from that really potent carcinogen,” said Tasha Stoiber, senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group.

The board is required by law to set a limit as close to the public health goal as is economically and technologically feasible.

Some public water providers warned that with the new standard customers will pay more for water and the financial burden will disproportionately fall on disadvantaged communities. And some chemical industry groups have said the limit is not based on the most recent science.

The new limit will cost public water systems $483,446 to $172.6 million annually to monitor and treat water exceeding the standard, according to state water board estimates.

Cástulo Estrada, board vice president of the Coachella Valley Water District and utilities manager for Coachella city, said the limit would have “unprecedented” impacts on residents and customers. He said all six of the city of Coachella's wells have chromium-6 above 10 parts per billion and that installing technology to lower levels to the limit would cost an estimated $90 million. “That would increase monthly bills.”

Ana Maria Perez, a Monterey County resident, urged the board to set a lower limit that would protect communities with chronic water contamination. “We have been waiting for a chromium-6 limit that protects our health," she said in Spanish. "It's not fair that many people must get sick.”

Water providers will need to start testing for chromium-6, which is naturally occurring and produced in industrial processes, within six months of the effective date, anticipated in October. If water tests above the limit, they will need to submit a compliance plan within 90 days and comply within two to four years, depending on how many customers are served.

Chromium is naturally occurring in soil, plants, animals, rocks and more, and can leach from soil into groundwater. It comes in various forms, including chromium-6, and is used in electroplating, stainless steel production, leather tanning, textile manufacturing and wood preservation, which all can contribute to drinking water contamination, according to the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

While scientists have known for decades that inhaling chromium-6 can cause lung cancer, it was uncertain for a long time whether ingestion could cause cancer, too.

Studies by the National Toxicology Program changed that. Rodents that drank water with high levels of chromium–6 over two years developed intestinal and oral cancer, results showed.

Some researchers have criticized the studies, saying the chemical concentrations the rodents were given were thousands of times higher than what U.S. drinking water supplies would have.

The California environmental health hazard agency is updating its public health goal for hexavalent chromium, which was finalized in 2011 at 0.02 parts per billion. At that level, the lifetime risk for cancer is one-in-one-million, an amount generally accepted by health experts.

Studies on the health impacts of ingesting chromium-6 through drinking water are limited, said Maria-Nefeli Georgaki, an environmental health specialist who has studied the health effects of ingesting chromium-6. But, she added, a maximum of 10 parts per billion is an important start that should then be “adjusted according to both the public health issues that arise, and the new research data, at specific regular intervals.”

Water staff must review standards every five years. But during Wednesday's meeting, Darrin Polhemus, deputy director for the water board's drinking water division, said they are constantly reviewing standards.

In 2014, the state adopted a limit of 10 parts per billion but it was overturned in 2017 for failing to consider whether the rule would be economically feasible.

The standard is the latest chapter in a decades-long fight to regulate the chemical that gained notoriety with the 2000 movie “Erin Brockovich,” which won Julia Roberts the Best Actress Oscar. In the 1990s, Brockovich helped investigate groundwater contaminated with chromium-6 that was sickening a Southern California community. Residents eventually won a $333 million settlement with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. for contaminating their water.

(AP)

WHERE’S GEORGE ORWELL TODAY? TEXAS!

by Jim Hightower

If you think the GOP’s Congress of Clowns represents the fringiest, freakiest, pack of politicos that MAGA-world can hurl at us — you haven’t been to Texas. It’s widely known, of course, that Ted Cruz, Greg Abbott, and most other top Republican officials here are obsequious Trump acolytes. Thus, Texas is infamously racing against Florida to be declared the stupidest, meanest, most-repressive state government in America, constantly making demonic attacks on women’s freedom, immigrants, voting rights, public schools, poor people, and so on. But I’m confident Texas will win this race to the bottom for one big reason: GOP crazy runs extraordinarily deep here.

We have a county-level layer of ultra-MAGA cultists constantly pressing the state’s far-right officials to march all the way to the farthest edge of extremism — then leap into absurdity. Therefore, the party officially supports abolishment of labor unions, elimination of the minimum wage, privatization of social security, legalization of machine guns, and … well, you get the drift. Now, though, local mad-dog Trumpistas are pushing their party straight into the abyss of autocracy by declaring war on H-E-B.

What’s that? H-E-B is a Texas chain of supermarkets beloved in communities throughout the state. “Beloved,” because the stores fully embrace the rich diversity of all people in our state, has affordable prices, values employees, and supports community needs.

Nonetheless, county Republican zealots screech that H-E-B violates their party ideology by accepting food stamps, opposing privatization of schools, and (horrors!) sponsoring some LBGTQ pride events. So, they’re demanding official condemnation of the grocery chain for — GET THIS — “advocating for policies contrary to the Republican Party of Texas platform.”

Yes, violating the party platform is to be criminalized. It’s the reincarnation of Orwell’s *Nineteen Eighty-Four*: Be MAGA… or else.

HAPPY 85TH BIRTHDAY GRAPES OF WRATH

"Today marks the 85th anniversary of the publication of John Steinbeck’s epic tale of the American frontier, “The Grapes of Wrath.” “Its power and importance do not lie in its political insight but in its intense humanity, its grasp of the spirit of an entire people traversing a wilderness, its kindliness, its humor, and its bitter indignation,” Clifton Fadiman wrote, in 1939. “ ‘The Grapes of Wrath’ is the American novel of the season, probably the year, possibly the decade.”

ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Israel’s population is less than 10 million, Iran’s stand at 90 million. Obviously with these odds Israel couldn’t wage a sustained war with Iran. Most of the Islamic World, Shia & Sunni, cannot abide 8 million Jews living on a little strip of land barely the size of New Jersey on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean. Nor is it only Jews. Christians have largely been driven out of Lebanon & Jordan, and are routinely murdered in Pakistan & Afghanistan. How many Catholic churches are being established in Islamabad or Riyadh? The answer is 0; Muzzies want it all from the River to the Sea. So let the black hearted f#kkrs try to push Israel off its historic Jewish Homeland. I for one am glad they have the Samson Option. This is a guarantee what happened 1939-1945 wont happen again. Its reminiscent of a scene in the film about the Bielski Brothers, Jewish partisans hiding out deep in a Polish forest in 1943. One woman lifts her Mauser rifle and exclaims “One way or the other, this rifle guarantees I’m not going into the camps." Israel’s nukes guarantees the same thing.

ISRAEL’S STRIKE WAS SMALLER THAN EXPECTED, and So Was Iran’s Reaction

The relatively limited scope of the attack, as well as a muted response from Iranian officials, may have lowered the chances of an immediate escalation, analysts said.

by Patrick Kingsley

The relatively limited scope of Israel’s overnight strikes on Iran, and a subdued response from Iranian officials, may have lowered the chances of an immediate escalation in fighting between the two countries, analysts said Friday.

For days, there have been fears that a forceful Israeli response to Iran’s attack on southern Israel last weekend could prompt an even more aggressive riposte from Iran, potentially turning a tit-for-tat confrontation into a wider war. Foreign leaders advised Israel to treat its successful defense against Iran’s missile barrage as a victory that required no retaliation, warning against a counterattack that might further destabilize the region.

But when it finally came early on Friday, Israel’s strike appeared less damaging than expected, allowing Iranian officials and state-run news outlets to downplay its significance, at least at first.

Iranian officials said that no enemy aircraft had been detected in Iranian airspace and that the main attack — on a military base in central Iran — had been initiated by small unmanned drones that were likely launched from inside Iranian territory. The nature of the attack even had precedent: Israel used similar methods in an attack on a military facility in Isfahan early last year.

By sunrise, Iranian state-run news outlets were projecting a swift return to normality, broadcasting footage of calm street scenes, while officials publicly dismissed the impact of the attack. Airports were also reopened, after a brief overnight closure.

Analysts cautioned that any outcome was still possible. But the initial Iranian reaction suggested that Iran’s leaders would not rush to respond, despite warning in recent days that they would react forcefully and swiftly to any Israeli strike.

“The way they present it to their own people, and the fact that the skies are open already, allows them to decide not to respond,” said Sima Shine, a former head of research for the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, and an Iran expert.

But, she added, “We have made so many evaluation mistakes that I am very hesitant to say it definitively.”

In a miscalculation that set off the current round of violence, Israel struck an Iranian embassy compound in Syria on April 1, killing seven Iranian officials including three senior commanders.

For years, Israel had mounted similar attacks on Iranian interests in Syria as well as Iran, without provoking a direct response from Iran. But the scale of the attack appeared to change Iran’s tolerance, with Iranian leaders warning that it would no longer accept Israeli strikes on Iranian interests anywhere in the region. Early on April 14, Iran fired more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel, causing little damage but shocking Israelis with the scale of the attack.

Even if Iran does not respond in a similar way to Israel’s latest strike on Friday, it could still react forcefully to future Israeli attacks on Iranian assets in Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East, Ms. Shine said.

That possibility became more pressing early on Friday, after the Syrian authorities said that Israel had again struck a site in Syria, at roughly the same time as its attack on Iran.

Israel did not claim responsibility for the strike, in line with its policy of not commenting on such attacks. But if the attack harmed Iranian interests, and if Iran attributes the attack to Israel, it remains unclear how Tehran will respond.

“The question is whether they will stand by their red line,” Ms. Shine said. “But what exactly is the red line? Is it only high ranking people? Is it only embassies? Or is it every Iranian target in Syria?”

(nytimes.com)