Mendocino County Today: Monday 7/1/2024

Sprayed | Hot Week | Hollyhock | Fire Weather | Thursday Concerts | Tragic Murder | Sheriff Kendall | Heat Wave | Grand Opening | Meeting Highlights | Poppies | Barn Party | Yorkville News | Acanthus | Philo Rental | Ed Notes | Yesterday's Catch | Prop 47 | Unsung Heroes | Rural Schools | Smoke Break | Beavers Released | Claude Monet | Inside Heartwood | William Burroughs | Trump 2.0 | Mind Matter | Dem Enablers | Liston Punch | Wire World | Fringe Painter | NYT Stories | Media Decay | Kalki Avatar

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A VERY STRONG HEATWAVE remain[s] on track to bring Major to Extreme HeatRisk and near record break[ing] temperatures across the interior Wednesday through the end of the week. Heat [sic] very dry humidity will also enhance fire weather concerns, especially Tuesday and Wednesday. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): The weather word this week is HOT. Our forecast along the coast is for the mid 70's, but the temps depend on how far you are from the ocean. It will easily get hotter than the 70's the further inland you go. The cool down to follow looks to be about Sunday currently. 50F under clear skies today so far.

Our rainfall totals this season are:

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PG&E WARNS HIGH-RISK FIRE WEATHER WILL LIKELY FORCE POWER SHUTOFFS IN PARTS OF 8 COUNTIES

by Austin Murphy

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. warned Sunday afternoon that elevated risk of wildfire will likely force the utility to proactively turn off power for some 12,000 customers in eight Northern California counties, starting early Tuesday morning and extending through Wednesday.

As of Sunday, Sonoma was not among the affected counties, and Napa County stands to be only lightly affected by the utility’s Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) plans, officials said.

Those events occur when the PG&E decides to proactively turn power off to reduce the risk of wildfire in area where high winds might bring tree branches or debris into contact with live power lines.

A Red Flag Warning has been issued by the National Weather Service for portions of the Sacramento Valley and foothills starting late Monday, where northerly winds reaching 25-30 mph are expected to combine with high temperatures and low humidity.

PG&E announced in a Sunday afternoon release that 8,888 customers in Shasta County face proactive power outages. In Tehama County, 1,855 could lose power. In Colusa County 550 customers could lose power, as might 361 in Glenn County, 204 in Yolo County, 96 in Solano County and 49 in Lake County.

To find out if their location is being monitored for a potential Public Safety Power Shutoff, PG&E encourages customers to click on pge.com/pspsupdates.

Once the high-risk fire weather has passed, according to PG&E, it will work “quickly and nimbly to patrol and inspect lines to restore power for customers as soon as possible.”

(pressdemocrat.com)

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MURDER IN WILLITS

On Saturday, June 29, 2024 at approximately 11:07 am, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Communications Center began receiving calls from several residents in the area of the 5200 block of Blue Lake Road, within the Brooktrails Township in Willits. Callers were reporting a male subject causing a disturbance in the area, with the sounds of yelling and possibly fighting.

Sheriff's Office Deputies were not in the immediate area, and they arrived approximately 20 minutes after the initial calls to Dispatch. Upon arrival, and at the request of one caller, the responding deputies went to a house in the 5200 block of Blue Lake Road to check on the resident. Upon arrival at the residence, Deputies observed that the front windows appeared to be broken out, and there was apparent blood in and around the front of the house. Deputies checked the residence and located a female victim inside the living room who appeared to have suffered injuries likely caused by a violent assault. Deputies ensured there were no further victims or individuals in the residence and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and administered first aid while summoning emergency medical assistance.

The 77-year-old female victim succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced deceased at the scene. While deputies were at the scene, a vehicle arrived and the suspect, Michael Coleman, 41 of Willits was in the passenger seat. Deputies determined there was evidence that Coleman was involved in the violent assault and detained him at the scene without incident. Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Detectives were summoned to the scene to take over the investigation. Coleman was ultimately booked into the Mendocino County Jail on a charge of Homicide (187(a) PC) where he is being held on a no-bail status. This case is actively being investigated and will likely result in additional charges being requested through the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office. The final cause and manner of death is pending an autopsy and toxicology reports.

Investigators from the Mendocino County District Attorney's Office, Ukiah Police Department, Willits Police Department, California Highway Patrol, CalFire Prevention Law Enforcement personnel, the California Department of Justice Crime Lab in Santa Rosa, and Department of Justice Criminalists from Sacramento are all assisting with this ongoing investigation.

Anybody with information related to this investigation is encouraged to call the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Communications Center at 707-463-4086. Information can also be provided anonymously by utilizing the non-emergency tip-line at 707-234-2100.

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ON LINE COMMENT:

My dad and me were the first people on the scene. We live three houses down on Spring Creek and heard the shouting. My dad drove over to Roberta’s house. Mike was there waving an axe around, shouting about his dog. My dad then drove back, told my step-mom to call 911. I grabbed the shotgun and we drove back to Roberta’s. This all happened in the span of a couple minutes. When we arrived the door was open. We shouted for Roberta. Nothing but silence. My dad then went up on the porch opened the door and saw her deceased. Mike was sitting in the living room watching tv. He didn’t acknowledge our presence at any time. I tried my best to make sure my dad was safe and Mike didn’t leave the scene before law enforcement arrived. The responding officer seemed very unaware of the magnitude of the situation and was more interested in my shotgun and who I was. My dad had to tell him repeatedly that I was his son, not the suspect. After furiously gesturing that the suspect was inside the house, not me, he drew his weapon and started yelling for Mike to come out. Back-up arrived at or about the same time and we left the scene. Ukiah PD has been here twice today, and all statements have been made. This tragedy was, imho, completely avoidable. Mike has been a menace to our community for decades and it was honestly just a matter of time before he hurt someone. I just can’t believe it was Roberta.

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CALIFORNIA HEAT WAVE COULD BE THE START OF A BRUTAL MONTH

by Greg Porter

The heat wave expected next week may be a harbinger of things to come. As July progresses, the heat will expand over the interior western U.S., where places like Las Vegas, Phoenix and Fresno just recorded their hottest Junes on record.

Most of California is likely to see above average temperatures, save for coastal locations which will continue to feel the cooling impacts of a potent marine layer. While the state is likely to receive slightly below-normal precipitation in July, pockets of moisture-rich air will occasionally funnel their way into southern and eastern California, increasing the chances of thunderstorms, especially in the Sierra.

Bay Area weather in June has been pretty cyclical, alternating between 3- or 4-day periods of hot weather followed by several days of closer-to-average temperatures.

The contrast between the interior and coast was particularly stark. Concord, Santa Rosa and Livermore are on track to record their top 5 warmest June on record. Meanwhile, Half Moon Bay is tracking to have one of its top 10 coolest.

While California’s rainfall season is trending above average in many locations for the second time in a row, there has been little rain over the last 90 days and the wildfire season has gotten off to a fast start. According to CalFire, wildfires have already burned more than 112,000 acres across the state this year, a whopping 1,400% increase compared to this time last year. Grassland fires fueled by periods of low relative humidities and gusty offshore winds have been the main type of wildfire so far.

June temperatures were above normal for the majority of California, with pockets of cooler than normal temperatures along the coast. June precipitation was essentially nonexistent except for the far northern part of the state.

July Temperature Outlook

July will start with a multiday heat wave due to a strong ridge of high pressure building over the Pacific Ocean. Inland valleys can expect several days of triple-digit heat next week. It’s still unclear how warm coastal areas will get, uncertainty that will persist throughout the month.

“There’s a small area for near-normal temperatures just along the coast of California, including the Bay Area, and that’s kind of the result of these cold sea-surface temperature anomalies working their way down along the coast as the summer progresses,” said Cory Baggett, a meteorologist with the Climate Prediction Center.

Interior parts of the state will see above-average temperatures through much of July, with at least a few stretches of triple-digit heat and excessive heat advisories. The month will feature fewer periods of alternating hot and cool weather. A large ridge of high pressure over the interior Southwest is expected to expand and strengthen in July, locking in the heat for the interior valleys of California.

Above average temperatures are favored for most of the interior parts of California in July, with near average temperatures expected along the coast thanks to a strong marine influence.

The forecast is more uncertain along the coast, largely due to the cool sea surface temperatures and a large upper-level low pressure system in the Gulf of Alaska. That low pressure system has been spinning off fast-moving storms into the Pacific Northwest. Models have struggled to accurately forecast these storms, which have impacted weather conditions for much of the western part of the country.

“This upper-level low in the Gulf of Alaska is really causing havoc with the forecast, sending these little pieces of energy from the polar regions into the central part of the country,” said Baggett.

These storms affect the alignment of upper-level winds, which in turn impacts how much of the Bay Area will remain under the influence of the cool marine layer. Cooler conditions along the immediate coast will continue in July, keeping temperatures in places like Half Moon Bay and Pacifica at or below normal.

July Thunderstorm And Fire Weather Outlook

A very warm Gulf of Mexico has already sent several moisture-rich air masses into the Southwest this year, kick-starting the monsoon season a bit early. New Mexico and Arizona will continue to see bursts of humid air, increasing the chances of thunderstorms.

The atmospheric pattern in July will bring an increased likelihood of both wet and dry thunderstorms in the mountains. This is due to the clash between moist tropical air, the interior ridge of high pressure, and energy from the Gulf of Alaska, with all of this activity gradually becoming more focused over the interior western U.S and shifting precipitation chances away from California.

However, the majority of California, including the Bay Area, is unlikely to tap into much of this moisture. The lack of precipitation and heat will continue to dry out fuel sources as the month progresses.

Most fires this season have been surface-level grassland fires, but as more vegetation types dry out, the risk of larger forest fires will increase.

(SFgate)

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TELEMETRY TECH, CONSOLIDATION PROGRESS, AND BOARD ELECTIONS—Highlights from the Redwood Valley Water District Board Meeting

by Monica Huettl

At the recent board meeting on June 20, 2024, the Redwood Valley County Water District discussed the need for volunteers for a new well monitoring project and announced that three board seats will be open for election this November. General Manager Jared Walker and Board President Adam Gaska highlighted efforts to adopt advanced telemetry technology to improve water data collection. The meeting also covered progress on consolidating with Ukiah Water, budget planning, infrastructure improvements, and securing funding for key projects. Other updates included water availability for agricultural customers and developments regarding the Potter Valley Diversion facility.…

mendofever.com/2024/07/01/telemetry-tech-consolidation-progress-and-board-elections-highlights-from-the-redwood-valley-water-district-board-meeting/

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LOCAL ICON, GREGORY SIMS, will be leaving the valley and this is a chance for his friends to gather and give him a royal send off. BYOB and a potluck to share at High Shams Ranch. Judy’s Barn Party, July 20th at 6 pm until who knows when! Don’t miss out on the fun. Mark your calendars now. Call: 621-4244 if you need more information.

(from the Anderson Valley Village July 2024 Newsletter)

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YORKVILLE NEWS

Yorkville Community Benefits Association, June 2024

It is Finished! The Yorkville Community Benefits Association (YCBA) is so excited to finally say "it is done!" After many years of fundraising and another two to get the building built, the new fire station is actually completed, we can say it loud and proud!

We'd like to thank all of you, the Anderson Valley Volunteer Firefighters Association and the Community Foundation of Mendocino County for all your love and support of this fabulous endeavor.

The Ice Cream Social raises approximately $18,000 towards Yorkville volunteer fire fighting resources each year. The ENTIRE community steps up to help make the Social a huge success. Look for future opportunities to add the final touches and necessities that the new fire station will need to finish her off.

Did you know that Yorkville is becoming a Firewise community? Every year, devastating wildfires burn across the United States. At the same time, a growing number of people are living where wildfires are a real risk. While these fires will continue to happen, there are things you can do to help protect your home and neighborhood as well as your family’s safety. The NFPA Firewise USA® recognition program was designed to help people learn about wildfire and how they can make their homes and neighborhoods safer. It’s based on research that shows how to prepare homes to withstand embers and prevent flames or surface fire from igniting the home and its immediate surroundings, by working in an area known as the home ignition zone (HIZ).

This is the home and everything around it within 100 feet. Firewise USA is a voluntary recognition program that provides a framework to help neighbors get organized, find direction, and take action to increase the ignition resistance of their homes and communities from wildfire. Lisa Bauer and Chief Andres Avila are working with the Mendocino Fire Safe Council to begin the evaluation and application process. You’ll be hearing more from them and your Fire Safe area road shed coordinator.

We’ll also be posting more information at the Post Office and we’ll have a booth at the Ice Cream Social to answer all your questions in person. Let us know if you’d like to help, participate or would like more information news@theycba.org.

Check out more on Firewise communities here: https://firesafemendocino.org/firewise-usa

Spring Fling and the New Fire Station Celebration

What a beautiful day June 15th was. The sun was out, temperature was perfect, the sky was blue, it was a marvelous day for a party. We celebrated the opening of the new Yorkville fire station with 120 of our Yorkville neighbors and friends. The festivities were all focused in and around the new station. The building was built with 100% participation from this amazing community, from fundraising, to digging ditches, to painting, doing electrical work, to getting dirty in the concrete, and then on to celebrating with that champagne toast. 100% of this is because of you, the Yorkville community and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Festivities included fabulous tacos, delicious burgers, amazing salads, a wonderful cake and homemade cookies. We spent the afternoon eating, socializing and dancing on the brand new concrete apron, to the awesome live music provided by Dean Titus and Boot Jack 5.

We would also like to acknowledge some additional financial support from the Anderson Valley Volunteer Firefighters Association and the grants that we received from the Community Foundation of Mendocino County. It truly takes a village. A Squeaky Clean Yorkville Starting this summer the Yorkville Community Benefits Association will be responsible for picking up trash along one mile of Highway 128 from the Hill ranch to the front gate of Summer Wind vineyards. In Yorkville we can make anything into a social event, so join us for the fun. We usually gather around 9:00 am and walk along the highway, in teams of two, with our bags and grabbers. Many hands make light work, it only takes and hour or so and our neighborhood looks great again, we’ve had a nice walk and we have all shared the latest current events along the way.  We’ll be selecting a date for the next pick up towards the end of summer. If you are interested in helping, contact Curtis Frost curtis.frost@aatdata.com to get on to the contact list.

Are you getting the latest fire news? It is, unfortunately, fire season once again. Are you connected to the local sources for fire information? May we recommend an app for your phone called Watch Duty? It gives current general information on fires in the communities you would like to have information about. Just go to the App Store or the Google Play Store and download it onto your phone.

There is also Nixel. Stay safe and informed before, during, and after a critical event in your community. Receive alerts for severe weather, criminal activities, severe traffic, missing persons, or local events. Everbridge Nixle keeps you up-to-date with relevant information from your local public safety departments and schools. Want to opt-in to receive alerts?

Text your Zip code to 2888777 Also, the Mendocino Fire Safe Council has many ways to stay connected on their website: https://firesafemendocino.org/links-with-critical-information.

A great resource for anything fire.

Empowering Yorkville Students

2024 2024 was an amazing year for our graduating seniors from Yorkville. This year we had a total of 4 deserving recipients of the YCBA Scholarship. Each applicant is granted a $1000 scholarship to be used for continuing education after high school, whether that be a four-year university, junior college, or an accredited trade school.

This year's recipients will continue on to a variety of very different educational goals. Kellie Crisman will be continuing on to Cal Poly Humboldt after graduating with high honors from Anderson Valley high school. Kellie's passion is nature, majoring in Wildlife Biology.

Alan Aguilera will be continuing his education at Mendocino college with a focus on becoming a professional firefighter through their Fire Science program. Alan has been a dedicated and enthusiastic cadet and firefighter for the Anderson Valley Volunteer fire dept, responding from the Yorkville station.

August Spacek will be continuing his education, guided by his love of anything mechanical, he’s planning on attending Santa Rosa Jr. College, with the end goal to become a professional diesel mechanic. Gus has also been training and responding with the AV Fire dept. from the Yorkville station.

Jack Spacek, August’s twin brother, will be continuing his education at Cal Poly Humboldt to major in applied fire science. Congratulation everyone. We wish you the best!

Brewfest 2024

The YCBA continues to volunteer with other valley charities and non-profits to run the Brewfest, hosted by the Anderson Valley Brewing Company. This year, the Star Wars-themed event boasted over 80 breweries, and several thousand attendees. We run the front gate operation, welcoming event goers, and doing the nitty-gritty of checking IDs and tickets. We are fortunate to receive a portion of the proceeds from the event as a donation, each year. If you like beer, it’s a great event to volunteer for.

It’s not too early to start planning for our 32nd annual Ice Cream Social, held this Labor Day, Sept. 2 at the Community Center. Think about baking creative cakes for the cake walk, hosting a unique experience or dinner for the Silent Auction, donating books you are finished with for the Book Sale, trying your luck at winning this year’s beautiful quilt, or coming to volunteer with your neighbors to work a shift the day of the event. A good time is most certainly had by all. Most importantly, we invite you to Join us for Live Music, hamburgers and hot dogs piping hot off the grill, an enormous Book Sale, fresh and exciting salads and outrageous baked goods. We’ll be dancin’ around the Calk Walk floor and learning all about cool nature stuff with the kids.

Once again, the educators from the Galbreath Preserve will be bringing lots of interesting things for all ages to experience. Labor Day Monday, September 2nd 11:00am to 4:00pm. For more information, reach out to Lisa at lisa@theycba.org

The 2024 Quilt is amazing! You can get your quilt tickets now. Contact Tina at news@theYCBA.org. Tickets are $2 each, 3 for $5 or 12 for $20.

A lovely artistic masterpiece quilt has created and donated to the YCBA thanks to the Yorkville Ladies Sewing Circle and Terrorist Society. This will be the 32nd year of their creative collaboration and generous donation. You’ll also be able to purchase tickets at the Social and the Apple Fair, but why wait when you can get them now.

Have you heard the buzz about our community heating and cooling center? In these days of extreme climate change, our weather has been so bizarre, we've had snow all the way down to the highway and we've had some 115° temperatures in the summer. We know that some of our neighbors don't have the capacity to warm themselves or cool themselves adequately at the extreme ranges of these events.

In the coming months, we will be remodeling the community room to make it a heating and cooling center for the community, among other new uses. The center will have an air conditioner and/or a heater and will offer free Wi-Fi and a place to stay warm or cool for at least a portion of the day. Look for announcements this summer.

Please Visit our Website The YCBA | PO Box 222 | Yorkville, CA 95494

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MARY ZEEBLE:

We have an apartment for rent off Highway 128 in Philo.

It's an easy walk to to Lemon's Market as well as the Navarro River and Indian Creek.

Studio Apartment $1000 month

The apartment has a full bathroom and kitchen.

There is also shared free laundry.

Included in the rent are ALL monthly utilities: electricity, water, heat, & propane.

Move in is first month rent and security = $2000.

There is a large shared garden, a greenhouse and picnic area, as well as hiking trails.

Beautiful views of the redwoods nearby and killer sunsets!

There is plenty of parking on the property for you and visitors.

Looking for respectful long term tenants who are quiet and stable.

A $15 credit and background check will be done. Equal Opportunity Housing.

No drugs. No smoking. Small dogs ok. Cats ok. Room for goats & sheep.

philorental@gmail.com - or text 415 550 9090

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ED NOTES

SATURDAY NIGHT for the weekly family dinner. The Giants vs the Dodgers on the big screen TV, the stands an ocean of Dodger blue although the game is in San Francisco. It's the 9th inning with the game tied at 7-7. The Giants have the bases loaded with one out. Safety squeeze? Suicide squeeze? Steal home? Imagination? Of course not. The Giants don't score. I'm so uninterested in the outcome I didn't bother looking it up, but the Dodgers won. Nothing interesting happens in baseball anymore. Hitters are larded up with batting gloves, gloves for base runners, shin guards and stuff I don't recognize. Pitch counts. Throwers rather than pitchers. Outfielders who can't go back on fly balls. Electronic umpiring. Warriors basketball still gets my attention but not very often. I'm down to one sport — 49er football.

HOW ABOUT a political primer on this glorious Sunday afternoon as the sun sets on our dying country? That, and some Trotsky?

The situation. In a time of rolling, unaddressed catastrophes, the Democrats and the Republicans are the twin towers of No Hope; the Libertarians are the no taxes, more guns wing of the Republicans; the Natural Law Party a ballot reminder that we live in a country teeming with screwballs; the American Independent Party would run Tim McVeigh for governor if he was still around; and half of eligible voters don't vote because they're unrepresented by any existing political party and nauseated at the candidates the two major parties foist off on US.

What to do? Wield your votes as protests, which this newspaper will do by voting pretty much straight Green, although the Mendo Greens long ago folded out of the sloth and unseriousness characteristic of Mendo pwogs generally, an arrogant posse of poseurs who have retreated to the Biden wing of the Democrats where they've always belonged.

Why vote Green then? Wacky and soft as they are, they at least want good things for most people so long as the effort doesn't cut into their personal good times. Incredibly, and against all the evidence, the Greens have magically become “far left” in the soft right corporate media, as if the geriatric flower children who comprised the old Mendo Greens active membership are lobotomized Lenins!

The first, and so far only, Green-pwog political activity in Mendocino County consisted of getting an advisory dope measure on the local ballot. An advisory pot measure! (Don't forget your muffs and castor oil, pwoggies.) And that was it for the Mendocino County Greens.

The only true left person the Greens managed to run for state office was Peter Camejo, a smart, jolly little fellow and former Trotskyist. For those of you unfamiliar with Commie World, the Trots, as they are known in the seething world of left cults, are inspired by Leon T, the second genius after Lenin produced by the Russian Revolution. Trotsky was a good friend of Diego Riviera and Frida Kahlo, with whom he slept (Frida, not Diego). He was murdered in Mexico City in 1940 by an agent of Stalin wielding a hand ax. Communists hate each other much more intensely than they hate capitalism. Stalin hated Trotsky because Trotsky pointed out that Stalin had merely transferred state power from the Czars to a bunch of killer-bureaucrats — imagine an armed Caltrans with powers of summary execution. Trotsky lost out to Stalin in an internal post-Lenin power struggle and spent the rest of his life on the lam where he organized a new communist international aimed at a less bureaucratic form of Leninist-style socialism. (Lenin wanted Trotsky to succeed him, not Stalin.)

Lots of lefty American 60's students were attracted to Trotskyism because their parents had either been communists affiliated with the Stalin-dominated American Communist Party or simply because the Trots, and Trotsky himself, tended to be smarter and more fun than the old Communist Party types.

The late Pete Camejo, famously honored by Governor Reagan in the late 1960's as among the most dangerous young people in the state, gave up revolution after the early 1970's to make a lot of dough as a “green” stock broker, moved from an East Bay proletarian neighborhood out to the petit bourgeoisie East Bay suburbs. Pete and his Old Trots had simply grabbed control of the top end of the Green Party's lethargic state stalk and installed themselves as the state Greens. Good. If he hadn't, that election would have been even more dispiriting than it was.

Here in Boonville, the Greens erected a “Camejo for Governor” sign at the junction of the Boonville-Ukiah Road, and another one up near Philo. The signs say, “Worthy of your vote.” Let's parse this condescending statement. Worthy of your vote. Says who? Says the person who's convinced he knows who is worthy and who isn't, and implicit in that assumption, ladies and gentlemen, we had the Mendocino Greens in full unshakable hubris.

But if you need more convincing that these pretentious lame-o's manage to make the objectively evil major parties look at least plausible, check the Greens turgid party platform, which is to the political right of the Democrat's 1948 platform and well to the right of many contemporary urban Democrats.

Of course the Greens couldn't call their party platform a party platform. No. That would imply they're like other people when, as we know, the Greens are far, far ahead of the rabble in what they call “consciousness.” So, instead of a platform, the Greens offered us the “Ten Key Values of the Green Party,” much of which consists of child-like appeals for people to be nicer to each other. Anyone opposed to niceness? (Guess I'm the only one but, yeah, I'm extremely wary of niceness. Watch your back around Nice People, I say. Especially politically active Mendocino Nice People.)

The ten key values are naive and sanctimonious, and clearly the work product of the spiritually and intellectually constipated.

Take “Ecological wisdom,” for one Green key value. The presumption is that it hasn't occurred to non-Greens that it's a good idea, survival-wise, “to live in ways that respect the integrity of natural systems.” And blah, blah, blah of bloodless principles Trump himself would endorse and which are said a lot better in the Bill of Rights anyway..

At the mere mention of “green” and “ten key values” — especially in tandem — every nutball in the state comes running. And that's the prob. They've all come running while everyone else has run off in the opposite direction. And this is what the corporate media call “the far left”!

Nevertheless, the Green Party, pretty much a pathetic collection of political milk monitors, is ballot-qualified but does offer a longshot chance to do serious harm to incumbent Democrats.

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CATCH OF THE DAY, Sunday, June 30, 2024

GABRIEL CHAON, Ukiah. Attempted car theft, conspiracy, probation violation.

MICHAEL COLEMAN, Willits. Murder.

CARLOS CRUZ-BARRERA, Ukiah. DUI, false ID.

BRADLEY DANIEL, Ukiah. DUI, child neglect.

MICHAEL DEJESUS, Willits. Lewd lascivious acts upon child under 14, oral copulation with person under 14.

MATTHEW FAUST, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs. (Frequent flyer.)

MATTHEW HILL, Ukiah. Vandalism, probation violation.

SARAH LEAKE, Ukiah. DUI, child endangerment.

MARC MAXXUM, Leggett. DUI.

SIXTO RAMOS-O’CONNELL, Ukiah. Burglary, controlled substance for sale.

EMIL REDZIC, Ukiah. Tear gas, domestic violence court order violation, county parole violation, resisting.

ASHTYN TAYLOR, Ukiah. Attempted car theft, conspiracy, probation violation.

RYAN WHITMAN JR., Albion. Under influence, probation revocation.

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SHERIFF KENDALL:

Believe it or not this [Sacramento’s failure to reform Proposition 47] isn’t a liberal or conservative thing in sacramento. We have several democrat leaders who are 100% on board with this attempt to fix the failed legislation. Those are the legislators who are actually listening to their constituents.

They may take a beating from their party. And the fact the leaked emails show the Governor was negotiating for this to come forward but not until 2026 tells me he knows it needs to happen but doesn’t want it during his term. Word on the street is he would be forced to admit many of his policies didn’t work.

Strangely I think that could lend some credibility to him but I doubt he sees it that way.

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A ‘LIFELINE’ FOR CALIFORNIA’S RURAL SCHOOLS IS ABOUT TO EXPIRE.

Why is it stalled in Congress?

by Carolyn Jones

Rural schools in California already struggle with declining enrollment, staffing shortages and wildfires. Now they’re facing the possible loss of money they’ve relied on for more than a century.

The Secure Rural Schools program, which brings extra money to counties with large swaths of untaxable public land, faces an uncertain future in Congress as it awaits renewal. Despite bipartisan support, the program has yet to pass on its own or as part a larger funding bill. If it doesn’t pass, it will expire.

“This money is an absolute lifeline,” said Jaime Green, superintendent of Trinity Alps Unified in Trinity County, where more than 70% of the land is owned by the U.S. Forest Service. “If it doesn’t get renewed, thousands of people in rural communities will lose their jobs, thousands of children will be harmed. It’s mind boggling to me that we’re in this position.”

Since 1908, the federal government has compensated counties that have large tracts of U.S. Forest Service land, making up for lost tax revenue. The extra money goes toward schools, roads, public health and other services that ordinarily would be paid for through local property taxes or timber revenues. More than 700 counties nationwide, including 39 in California, receive funds. Last year, the amounts varied from $4.1 million in Siskiyou County to $30,000 in San Luis Obispo County. Even Los Angeles County got some – $1.4 million, thanks to the Angeles and Los Padres national forests. Overall, the program has doled out $2.4 billion nationwide over the past decade.

In its modern incarnation, the Secure Rural Schools program has to be reauthorized every three years. The most recent round of payments in May – $33.7 million for California – will be the last unless Congress votes to extend the program by Sept. 30.

“It doesn’t look like a lot of money on paper, but when you look at the communities it serves, it’s crucial,” said Kindra Britt, spokesperson for California County Superintendents, which advocates for superintendents who oversee the state’s 58 county offices of education. “Since 1908 this has been a safety net for rural schools and now it’s disintegrating.”

Rural School Funding ‘Not A Red-Blue Issue’

The program used to be funded independently, but for the past 20 years or so it’s been attached to larger bills. Finding a home for the program has been a challenge. Earlier this year advocates tried to incorporate it into a defense bill, but that didn’t pan out. The House version of the bill is currently attached to the Farm Bill, but some say it’s a longshot it will stay there. Nonetheless, its sponsors continue to lobby for its survival.

“Everyone agrees this is a good program. This is not a red-blue issue,” said Noelle Ellerson Ng, associate executive director of the School Superintendents Association in Washington, D.C. “But Congress has never been more polarized or unproductive, and it’s also an election year. This isn’t flashy, it’s a relatively small amount of money, and it’s just been hard getting it the attention it deserves.”

The legislators who sponsored the bills, Sen. Mike Crapo, a Republican from Idaho, and Rep. Joe Neguse, a Democrat from Colorado, did not answer questions about the bills, despite repeated attempts to reach them.

In the House, the bill is currently in the forestry subcommittee of the Committee on Agriculture, where it’s awaiting a hearing. Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a Republican whose district includes much of northeastern California, is hoping the program will pass in the Farm Bill, which legislators will likely vote on in September.

“As a supporter of the Secure Rural Schools program, Congressman LaMalfa worked to include an extension of the program in the House’s 2024 Farm Bill,” said Alexandra Lavy, a spokeswoman for LaMalfa. “This was one of many bipartisan initiatives included in the House’s bill, and Congressman LaMalfa will continue advocating that it remains in the final version of the bill.”

“Since 1908 this has been a safety net for rural schools and now it’s disintegrating.”

Kindra Britt, Spokesperson For California County Superintendents

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, a Democrat representing southwestern Washington, is a cosponsor of the bill. She said Congressional bickering should not threaten services as fundamental as education.

“Our rural schools didn’t cause the dysfunction in federally managed assets, and I refuse to let our children bear the consequences,” Gluesenkamp Perez said. “The Secure Rural Schools program is an investment in the equality of our children’s opportunities, and I refuse to allow partisan politics to undermine it. Rural schools are already enduring painful cuts.”

Impact On Rural Students

Green, the Trinity Alps superintendent, has been to Washington, D.C., seven times to lobby for the program. He’s passionate about the issue because he remembers what happened in 2016, when the bill lapsed and his district lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The district had to cut back on basic building repairs, and the following year a mold outbreak forced the closure of the elementary and high school. Some students went to school in portables for nearly four years, until the mold could be removed.

Losing that money was gut-wrenching for the entire community, he said.

“Are you going to fix a roof or feed a kid?” Green said. “Those are the kinds of decisions we were forced to make.”

Bode Gower, who’ll be a senior this fall at Ukiah High School in Mendocino County, has also been to Washington, D.C., to lobby for the program. He worries that his school will lose popular extracurricular activities like Model United Nations and Native American Youth Club without the Secure Rural School funding. In rural areas, sports and clubs are especially important because there’s not much else for teenagers to do, he said.

“Are you going to fix a roof or feed a kid? Those are the kinds of decisions we were forced to make.”

Jaime Green, Superintendent Of Trinity Alps Unified In Trinity County

Gower even started a coalition of Northern California rural youth to advocate for school funding. The group has more than 70 members.

“Rural communities are often overlooked because we don’t have the ability to influence policy to the extent that urban areas do,” Gower said. “But we need to give rural youth a chance to succeed. These cuts directly impact young people in rural areas.”

Need For Permanent Funding Source

Jeff Harris, superintendent of schools for Del Norte County, said the Secure Rural Schools program not only needs to be renewed, but needs to become permanent — possibly endowed through a trust fund. It’s impractical to fight for its renewal every three years, and it’s impossible to budget for because the amount varies, sometimes greatly.

This year, Del Norte got $570,000 through the program. That would have been enough to hire a few teachers, but Harris was reluctant to spend the money on ongoing expenses because he didn’t know if it would be renewed. So he put it toward facilities.

“It’s frustrating, because we can’t plan anything year to year,” Harris said. “If the money was consistent, it’d be a game changer. It would go directly to kids.”

Like most rural communities in California, Del Norte has limited options for raising money. Approximately 80% of the county is public or tribal land, which means the county can’t collect property taxes on it. Home values are relatively low, so the property taxes the county does collect are low, as well. And things tend to be more expensive in rural areas. Construction costs are a third higher than in other areas, Harris estimated.

“We’re not a business, we can’t just raise prices,” Harris said. “We’re at the mercy of what the state and federal government give us. It shouldn’t be this political hot potato every three years — it’s about educating kids.”

(CalMatters)

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BEAVERS RELEASED INTO CALIFORNIA RIVER FOR THE FIRST TIME IN OVER A CENTURY

by Amanda Bartlett

A family of seven beavers slipped out of their kennels and curiously glided across the marshy waters of the South Fork Tule River deep in the southern Sierra Nevada earlier this month. It marked the historic comeback of a native species that was once abundant in the 71-mile California tributary and surrounding meadows but has been absent for over a century.

Plans to bring the beavers home were set in motion by the Tule River Tribe nearly a decade ago as it sought to improve drought conditions and conserve water on its land, forming a partnership with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The agency received nearly $2 million in funding from the state budget in 2022 for a multi-year beaver reintroduction plan that made waves with the first release of another colony in Plumas County last October and is paving the way for a widespread return of the semi-aquatic rodents that have long held a contentious reputation.

“Our past is one where we treated these animals and others as varmints, as nuisances, and our culture over time ran them off the landscape,” Charleton H. Bonham, the director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said in a news release. “That can’t be our future.”

Beavers are endemic to Northern California, and research from historical ecologist Rick Lanman proved the species’ roots in the state when he discovered a skull from a beaver that had been living in Saratoga Creek circa 1855. Pictographs of beavers estimated to be between 500 and 1,000 years old can also be seen at Painted Rock next to the South Fork Tule River on the 55,356-acre reservation.

However, their population was practically wiped out during the fur rush in the 1800s, when maritime traders converged in the Bay Area and California’s Central Coast to harvest the valuable, chestnut-colored fur from the species, as well as otters, seals, mink and other mammals. By 1912, fewer than a thousand beavers were left in the state.

The impacts on the state’s wetlands were palpable as the species dwindled, no longer able to manage the retention of waterways, slow floods and connect streams to floodplains in the way they once had. But state officials are now recognizing those benefits and the beavers’ roles as nature’s ecosystem engineers. Not only do they mitigate drought impacts, but they can also help stop or slow the spread of wildfires in addition to supporting climate change resiliency.

The tribe saw the historic paintings of the beavers joined by coyotes, frogs and other wildlife as a reminder of what their land could look like again. They hope the presence of the animals will better conserve their drinking water supply – about 80% of which comes from the South Fork Tule River – while CDFW biologists are eyeing the potential of improved habitat conditions for endangered amphibians and birds that live in the area. That includes foothill and southern mountain yellow-legged frogs, western pond turtles, least Bell’s vireo and southwestern willow flycatchers.

“I’m very happy to see [the beavers] come home and it’s going to be wonderful to watch them do their thing,” Kenneth McDarment, a Tule River Tribe member and past tribal councilman, said in the news release. “People will be educated even more by seeing the work that they do and the benefits they bring to the environment. My hope is to have the beaver throughout the reservation and all the watershed that we have.”

The initial release on June 12 included three adult beavers, one subadult and three kits. Two other beavers were brought to Miner Creek on the same reservation about a week later, and more will likely be reintroduced in the coming months and years to help reestablish the population.

CDFW biologists will continue to monitor the beavers’ behavior in the coming days. For now, the field team reported, the family group has been sticking together at the release site on Eagle Creek.

(SFgate)

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INSIDE HEARTWOOD, NORCAL'S MOST ISOLATED, LEGENDARY WELLNESS RETREAT

They don't make mountain sanctuaries like this anymore

by Ashley Harrell

On a sunny afternoon in rural Humboldt County, I’m cruising an unpaved road through the hills, headed for what has to be the most remote wellness retreat in all of California: Heartwood Mountain Sanctuary.

Since I turned off Highway 101 and headed inland from Garberville, about 200 miles north of San Francisco, there have mostly been long, grassy expanses punctuated with oak trees, marijuana farms and one general store. In front of the store, dogs dozed peacefully in the middle of the narrow, two-lane road.

“If you booked a room thinking we were ‘on the way’ to anything, or are just ‘passing through,’ on the highway and need a place to stay, you will be frustrated,” a correspondence from retreat staff accurately explained.

The long drive through the Emerald Triangle’s rural heart is part of the adventure when visiting Heartwood, and that was fine with me. I had been looking forward to this legendary NorCal experience for some time.

I first heard about Heartwood from my massage therapist, Terra Pearson, who lived there for a year in the mid-2000s while studying the holistic arts at what was then called Heartwood Institute, an accredited residential massage school. During that time, she slept in a forest tent (and a cabin in winter), ate delicious and healthy food, gave and received bodywork nearly every day, and connected with people who were “committed to living from an open-hearted place.”

“It transformed my life,” she told me.

The 200-acre, clothing-optional mountain oasis served as a massage institute between 1982 and 2006, and then as a permaculture center, farm-to-table cooking school and wellness retreat from 2008 until 2017. But activity around the property slowed during the pandemic, and in 2022, current owners Bennett Dorrance Jr. (a Campbell Soup heir) and his wife Delphina started trying to sell the place.

In the meantime, Heartwood remains open for overnight stays and group events. And for someone curious to experience Heartwood before a new owner buys the place and begins another chapter, the time is now.

Upon arrival at the welcome center, a kind staff member in tie-dyed pants — Lucy Jo Stone — offers to show me around in an all-terrain vehicle. As we roll along the forested mountainside past yurts, bungalows, cabins and “cabinettes,” along with a camping area, a temple, a lodge and a spa complex (“all the major groovy things,” Stone says), I start to feel like I’ve arrived at hippie summer camp heaven.

We don’t encounter any other humans, and apart from two campers who showed up unexpectedly, I am the only guest, Stone informs me. Five staff members live onsite, she says, and occasionally, people rent living spaces longer term or come to Heartwood as part of an artist-in-residence program. Stone arrived eight years ago thinking she’d stay a couple of months, but this magical mountain can be a tough place to leave.

When Stone takes me inside the lodge, a log structure where students used to gather for meals, she waxes nostalgic.

“At mealtime, there would be a big circle of people singing and surrounding this organic, lovingly made food,” she says. The place has always been clothing-optional in public spaces, she tells me, but one time, the kitchen staff showed up naked beneath their aprons. Stone was in charge of bookkeeping and insurance matters at the time, and she promptly kicked everyone out of the kitchen.

Shenanigans aside, it’s sad for her to see the place empty. “I wish the right person would come and buy it,” Stone says.

Although the property is mostly quiet, Heartwood absolutely teems with wildlife. On our short tour, we see a fox, a deer and several oversized rabbits. After Stone drops me at my accommodation — a small bungalow on the edge of a forest, at the end of a dirt road — I encounter a wild turkey.

The little bungalow is well-kept and cozy, with natural paints and earth-tone everything, along with organic Egyptian cotton sheets atop the lofted bed. I’m looking forward to cuddling up with a book later on, but first I must visit the spa.

I don the resort robe and wander up the mountain along a forest path and over some wooden stairways, admiring the wildflowers at the flanks. Upon reaching the spa, I take a cold shower and then melt into the hot tub, relaxing for a while and enjoying the striking views of the verdant countryside. After another cold shower, I enter the oversized sauna equipped with a large Himalayan salt block and a window overlooking a vast mountainscape.

As I lie down across the warm cedar planks, I feel unburdened, peaceful and incredibly lucky to have found such a serene escape. The blissed-out vibes follow me to dinner, which I prepare for myself in the communal kitchen near my bungalow. Heartwood no longer has any food service, so I’ve packed myself some soup and mint tea.

When I’m done eating, I wash my dishes and recycle my soup can, careful to conserve water and “live lightly on the earth” as a guest manual and property signs request. My night’s sleep is as restful as they come.

In the morning, I set out on a hike around the property, making stops at some of the highlights. I spy on the pool, which was slated to open soon for the summer; it features a diving board and a heart design at the bottom. I poke around a breathtaking hexagonal temple that a volunteer built for Heartwood in the mid-1990s and relax beneath a distinctive gazebo where massage students once congregated.

Before heading out, I ask staff members if they have photos of the massage institute’s glory days. They provide me with a large box filled with mostly black-and-whites but also a few color shots. They show people smiling and practicing massage techniques, doing yoga, playing musical instruments and holding hands in a circle. Some of the women have long braids down their backs, and the men seem fond of going shirtless and wearing small denim shorts.

Several shots feature Heartwood founder Bruce Burger teaching polarity therapy — a holistic practice aiming to balance the body’s energy. Burger and several partners started Heartwood Wholistic Health Institute in Santa Cruz in 1978 and began offering education in every form of massage, along with specialty courses in things like psychic development, hypnotherapy and herbology.

Soon Burger’s wife Chela became pregnant, and the couple had concerns about the impacts of local pesticide use. They decided to move their operation to rural Humboldt County, where artists, engineers and other back-to-the-landers had begun settling in the ’70s.

The property that would become Heartwood had formerly served as a ranching and hunting lodge, and in 1982, Burger and his wife purchased it for $550,000. A few years later, Burger transitioned out of ownership and into an instructor role, teaching polarity therapy for more than three decades. “Heartwood was a utopian educational environment,” Burger told SFGate.

He’d love to see the property continue to serve as a place of healing, and that’s also the goal of the current owners, according to Heartwood executive team member Nathan Wise.

While the intention is still to sell Heartwood, it’s currently off the market. In 2023, it was listed at $3.5 million, which included the land, all the structures, a 40,000-gallon cistern that feeds the entire property, and all the equipment to maintain it.

The Dorrances turned down a couple of offers because they didn’t like what the potential buyers had in mind, Wise told me, and they’re in talks with the Eel River Wailaki, a local Indigenous group. They’re determined to pass the place on to someone who will make a positive difference for the planet, he said.

On the long drive home through the mountains, I find myself dreaming about returning to Heartwood during its limbo period and bringing as many friends as possible. I won’t lie — I loved having it all to myself. But a place this special is meant to be shared.

(SFgate)

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TRUMP 2.0 PLAN A ‘DOOMSDAY SCENARIO’ FOR CALIFORNIA

Project 2025, the ambitious conservative blueprint for a Republican presidential administration’s first 180 days in office, would assail California’s ability to provide abortions, fight climate change and protect its immigrant community.

by Raheem Hosseini

Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, wants the American public to be alarmed as he is.

In March, the North Bay representative was in a Congressional Progressive Caucus briefing requested by several liberal organizations raising an alarm about Project 2025, the 920-page action plan for a second Donald Trump term.

Prepared by the Heritage Foundation and a multitude of conservative organizations, the 2025 Presidential Transition Project calls for swift, sweeping action from the next Republican president before his opponents have time to mobilize, and describes its mission to expand executive authority, dilute congressional oversight and replace hundreds of thousands of federal employees in siege-like terms.

“Our goal is to assemble an army of aligned, vetted, trained, and prepared conservatives to go to work on Day One to deconstruct the Administrative State,” project director Paul Dans, one of 17 former Trump administration officials who produced the document, writes in the introduction.

Huffman, chair of the Congressional Freethought Caucus, took special interest in proposals to dissolve the country’s long history of separation of church and state. He is equally troubled by other detailed strategies to impose a federal abortion ban, militarize the border, outlaw transgender identity and hollow out the Environmental Protection Agency, among other recommendations.

“Put it all together and it’s just jaw-dropping,” Huffman said. “It’s all just a wrecking ball.”

Including for California.

Project 2025 urges numerous collisions between a reelected Trump and the nation’s most populous state, which responded to the first Trump presidency with lawsuits, legislation and one constitutional amendment to defend its ability to combat climate change and protect immigrants, transgender people and abortion-seekers. The wish list for a second Trump term would test, erode and — in the case of abortion — topple those bulwarks, say legal scholars, attorneys and Democratic politicians.

“Everything we’ve done would be undermined,” said state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, who has authored legislation to communicate abortion options in the state, shield providers serving patients outside California and allow Arizona providers to practice in California. “If there is a national law criminalizing abortion, it will override everything that California has done. There is no protection that we can offer.”

“It’s pretty much a doomsday scenario,” said Rabia Muqaddam, a senior staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights. “It’s a deeply frightening vision of the future that’s presented in this document, but it’s also not that far from reality.”

It’s a vision that could touch California in various ways, from sending the Department of Justice after progressive prosecutors to allowing industrial logging in protected forests to treating trans-friendly schoolteachers like sex offenders, and universities and Silicon Valley companies as agents of China.

But the expansive social and economic policy agenda is most explicit about its plans for California with regard to abortion, climate change and immigration. Here’s why critics say those plans could be hard to stop and why the state’s conservative leaders are reluctant to discuss them:

Abortion

Reproductive health care defenders like Muqaddam are most concerned about Project 2025’s designs for a Victorian-era purity law called the Comstock Act, passed in 1873 to prohibit the mailing of “indecent” literature, including material on abortion. Project 2025 contends the long-dormant statute (which it references through a footnoted url) applies to abortion medication, used in nearly two-thirds of all U.S. abortions last year.

“They could use something like that to basically create a national abortion ban without going through Congress,” Muqaddam said. “There aren’t a lot of barriers to prevent an administration from doing this kind of thing.”

Trump, convicted in New York last month of engaging in a criminal conspiracy involving hush-money payments to an adult film star, has made conflicting statements about his abortion stance lately. But in an April interview with Time, he indicated he would permit Republican-controlled states to monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute people who violate abortion bans, which exist as a result of Trump making good on an earlier promise to appoint Supreme Court justices who eventually overturned Roe v. Wade.

Even without a revived Comstock Act, a Trump presidency could constrain California’s reproductive health care agenda through federal funding levers.

Project 2025 calls on a Republican administration to withdraw $200 million in annual Medicaid funding from California for requiring private health insurance to cover abortion, and to pressure the state to start providing detailed abortion data to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “as a condition of federal Medicaid payments for family planning services.”

Muqaddam considered such goals “very achievable.”

“There are numerable tools that an administration hostile to reproductive rights can use to restrict those rights,” she said. Most of that work, as it did under the first Trump presidency, would happen under the rulemaking powers of the Department of Health and Human Services, which can establish new grant conditions and remove others in pushing Project 2025’s antiabortion agenda.

The heaviest toll will be on people who traditionally lack access to health care and the resources to travel, Muqaddam said. “That will be despite the efforts of California and other states.”

Environment

Project 2025 calls on a Republican president to revoke California’s authority to set stronger motor vehicle emission standards than the federal government’s and to disallow other states from opting into them, as 17 states and the District of Columbia have done. Trump sought to do this in his first term, but his EPA’s revocation was still being litigated in federal court by the time he left office and President Joe Biden’s EPA reinstated it.

California received its first waiver to regulate emissions from 1969-model-year passenger cars and heavy-duty vehicles in 1968, two years before the passage of the Clean Air Act, and has obtained more than 100 waivers and authorizations for various emission-control programs since then, according to a 2022 Harvard Law article.

The reason for California’s special permission comes from its undesirable air quality status, said Bill Magavern, policy director at the Coalition for Clean Air, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that grew out of the anti-smog movement of the early 1970s.

“Because California had the worst pollution — and we still have the worst pollution, and we’re actually far away from those national air standards — that’s why we were granted the authority to go further than the federal government,” he said. “If we did have air in California as clean as the rest of the country’s, we might lose the authority.

“I wish we had that problem.”

Six of the 10 most polluted U.S. cities are in California, according to the American Lung Association.

As the state Air Resources Board noted when it was battling the Trump administration in federal court in 2019, the state’s authority under the Clean Air Act has been reaffirmed and even expanded multiple times by Congress, and no waiver has ever been rescinded.

Magavern said the state remains on firm legal footing should there be another legal challenge, but acknowledged the right-leaning Supreme Court tossed another 50-year legal precedent when it overturned Roe v. Wade in 2021. “Who knows what actually would happen?” he said.

Magavern made his comments before the high court on Friday reversed a 40-year legal doctrine known as Chevron, and stripped federal agencies of their authority to adapt the broad brushstrokes of policy into specific regulations. Critics of the ruling, including a broad coalition of civil rights, consumer safety and environmental groups, assailed it for turning over the granular work of governing from policy experts to federal judges with little to no experience in climate science, public health or any number of disciplines.

Immigration

As part of its goal to arrest and deport the roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the country (including about 1.85 million in California), Project 2025 calls for greatly expanded detention capabilities that can imprison 100,000 “alien detainees” per day, the participation of police and military personnel, and financial penalties for jurisdictions with sanctuary policies.

California became one of these jurisdictions in 2017 — the same year then-President Trump used his executive powers to slash refugee admissions, boost immigrant arrests, cancel protections for Dreamers and immigrants displaced by natural disasters, and ban immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries.

The California Values Act, signed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown, prohibits local law enforcement agencies from asking people’s immigration status or sharing information with federal immigration authorities.

Kevin R. Johnson, dean of the UC Davis School of Law and an immigration law expert, said he doubts a reelected Trump could override California’s pioneering sanctuary law by deputizing local law enforcement, as he has indicated he would do. But Johnson said the state will struggle to fend off other incursions.

For instance, a Trump administration could conduct enforcement operations and operate deportation camps in and around California without the state’s permission.

“If the president, under the powers bestowed by Congress, decides that we’re going to increase detention to remove people … there’s very little the states can do to resist,” he said.

This includes Trump’s campaign promise to launch the largest deportation project in the nation’s history, which Johnson said recalls the current record-holder with the now-racist name: “Operation Wetback,” an Eisenhower-era military roundup of 1 million Mexican immigrants in 1954.

Johnson, who has been studying immigration policies and trends for decades, said Trump’s agenda “harkens back to some of the darkest chapters of U.S. immigration history,” like the Chinese exclusion laws that spanned the 19th and 20th centuries and the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.

“In talking about immigrants poisoning our blood, he brings back memories — horrible memories, really — of language directed to Jews in Hitler’s Germany,” Johnson said, referring to a speech Trump gave during a December campaign rally. “It makes me sad to be watching this happen.”

California’s Silent Right

Asked about Project 2025’s plans for California, a Trump campaign spokesperson sent a nonresponsive statement. The California Republican Party, which changed its primary rules to help Trump but has yet to endorse him, didn’t respond to requests for comment. Neither did California MAGA, a statewide group supporting a second Trump term and directing online visitors to the Trump campaign’s merchandise webpage.

State Sen. Brian Jones, R-San Diego, and Assembly Member James Gallagher, R-Chico — the minority leaders in the state Legislature — declined to be interviewed. Rep. Vince Fong, R-Bakersfield, who recently assumed former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s congressional seat, didn’t respond to interview requests.

At least two conservative organizations from the state signed onto Project 2025’s advisory board — the California Family Council in Fresno and the Pacific Research Institute in Pasadena. CFC President Jonathan Keller, whose group opposes transgender rights, stopped responding to emails after initially offering to provide a statement. PRI spokesperson Tim Anaya said the free-market think tank was focused on economic policy, not social issues such as abortion or immigration.

A Project 2025 author with Sacramento ties — former Trump State Department official and Pepperdine University public policy professor Kiron Skinner — didn’t answer emails.

Mike Madrid said it’s clear why some of his party’s biggest names and organizations are silent on Project 2025.

“It’s a manifesto of right-wing fantasy — that doesn’t play in California. Hell, most of it doesn’t play in Alabama, but this is what the MAGA movement is,” said the longtime Republican strategist, who has been urging the GOP to reject Trump for years. “The more people know about this nationally, the more they know the Republican Party has become an extremist party.”

Huffman has made it his goal to communicate what he has learned about Project 2025. He launched a congressional task force this month in partnership with the organizations that first briefed him and his colleagues, including the American Civil Liberties Union, Center for American Progress, Interfaith Alliance and the Southern Poverty Law Center. He said the task force has two missions: education and preparation.

“I really believe that if they know what’s coming — if they know what’s in this blueprint of Project 2025 — they’re going to reject it,” Huffman said of the American public. “But it will be tougher this time, because the Supreme Court is worse, the federal judiciary is not great and the Trump administration is going to be smarter and even more cold-blooded than they were the last time around.”

(SF Chronicle)

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THE LAST TIME….

To the Editor:

For endless months we have listened to commentators bellow about the Republican Party being utterly, indisputably broken. It is. But from the first moments of the Biden-Trump debate, it’s been clear to me that my Democratic Party is also pitifully broken.

To all of President Biden’s close friends, allies, aides, operatives and advisers, I ask this: If your loved one or dear friend were engaging in seriously destructive behavior — and you did absolutely nothing to name that destruction and challenge the loved one to deal with it — you would be termed an “enabler.” That is exactly what all of you are. And if the enabling continues, our country’s future will be on your consciences as surely as it should be on the conscience of our current president. It is time for you to engage in some tough love.

If Mr. Biden refuses to step aside, I will vote for him. There is no choice. But this will be the last time I vote as a Democrat. Many of us who are sick at heart over these enablers and their apologists will begin looking at third-party candidates rather than entrusting this beloved country to our once-beloved party any longer.

Lynn Anderson

Moab, Utah

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THE LISTON PUNCH

Ever wondered if Sonny Liston was a harder puncher than George Foreman? Both were tremendous punchers, but guys who faced both, like Chuck Wepner, said Sonny made George feel like Mr. Friendly. Getting hit by Foreman was like being struck by an extremely strong man, but getting hit by Liston? That was like being hit by a bat. Wepner had 70 stitches, a broken cheekbone, and a broken nose from Liston. According to his sister, Sonny was almost 50 years old, born in 1920! A photo from that time period even shows Sonny in a zoot suit in a St. Louis newspaper from the 1940s.

The fact remains, Sonny Liston was born in Deep South Arkansas, and Tobe Liston used Sonny as an unpaid farm animal, regularly whipping him until Sonny ran away from home. Johnny Tocco, who trained Liston, Foreman, and Tyson, said Sonny was the strongest of them all. When Johnny asked Sonny about the deep scars on his body, Sonny said they were from bad dealings with his father. Sonny was made to plow the field after the mule died and ran away from home at age 12.

Even George Foreman admitted that Sonny was the only man to make him back up and return to boxing. George Foreman said the most dangerous thing he did in his life was to box Sonny Liston. Sonny had an industrial-sized wheelbarrow he would take off running to the summit of the hill with, while Foreman could only manage one load for every three of Sonny's.

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WE'RE ALL LIVING SEASON 5 OF ‘THE WIRE’

The oft-criticized last season of the acclaimed series, a satire in which institutional America is totally overrun by fraud, now looks ahead of its time

by Matt Taibbi

When The Wire came out on HBO in 2002, I was blown away by the TV series that reinvented the cops-and-robbers story as a clash of competing criminal bureaucracies. While the contemporary Lost was supposed to be a cheery metaphor about the afterlife, The Wire was a true story about life after the death of the American city, where players on either side of the dope trade in zombie Baltimore needed toughness, moral fiber (“A man must have a code”), and wit to survive in urban purgatory.

A longtime Baltimore Sun reporter, creator David Simon had a little Melville in him, crafting his epic so close to truth he risked having it downgraded to great journalism. Every detail not only could happen, it probably did (many of the subplots were based on true stories, with actual characters appearing as human Easter eggs). But when the much-anticipated last season came out in 2007, a show that required no suspension of disbelief was rewritten as an absurd satire in which an improbable fraud infects the police, journalism, politics, and the courts at once. A beyond-fan, I was confused by what I thought was a silly, cynical, and needlessly angry spoof. Some die-hards agreed, with the Washington City Paper decrying plot twists that seemed “disloyal both to the real world of journalism and to the world of The Wire.”

This week, though, when the hit the media put on Joe Biden after his debate performance reminded me of a Wire drug assassination, I rewatched the last season and realized Simon — who long ago became one of the most humorously abusive and unlikeable trolls on social media — was right all along…

racket.news/p/were-all-living-season-5-of-the-wire

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"I live life on the margins of society, and the rules of normal society don't apply to those who live on the fringe," Tamara de Lempicka once said. She always considered herself an exceptional, privileged person and took pains to create and maintain a close relationship with the highest aristocratic circles of her time. De Lempicka was a regular at literary salons where cocaine, hashish and alcohol flowed freely. Her bisexuality reflected in many of her works. The artist's paintings leave no doubt as to their celebration of the female body in all its potency and solidity, and in their depictions of love and attraction between women. A dazzling example of Lempicka’s multifaceted work "La Tunique rose (La bella Rafaëla)" presents a rich tableau balanced by piercing lines and sumptuous curves, the model's figure highlighted by dramatic chiaroscuro and the pop of silky color against exposed skin. The luxuriant model is Rafaëla, one of Lempicka’s most famed muses and lovers. Tamara met Rafaela and in a year,she painted 7 portraits of her. This painting is known also as "La bella Rafaëla".

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MONDAY'S LEAD STORIES FROM THE NYT

• The Major Supreme Court Cases of 2024
• Nothing to See Here? White House Portrays Biden’s Debate Performance as a Blip
• French Far Right Wins Big in First Round of Voting
• Youngest Pandemic Children Are Now in School, and Struggling
• Hurricane Beryl Threatens the Caribbean as a Category 3 Storm

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THE DUMBING DOWN of America is most evident in the slow decay of substantive content in the enormously influential media, the 30-second sound bite (now down to ten seconds or less), lowest common denominator programming, credulous presentations on pseudoscience and superstition, but especially a kind of celebration of ignorance.

— Carl Sagan

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DOWNRIGHT INSPIRATIONAL, CRAIG