A SERIES OF FIRES broke out Thursday afternoon near the Anderson Valley Grange. Burning on both sides of Highway 128, the blaze, reported at 3:30pm, spread rapidly into the hills near Prather Camp to the west, Vista Ranch to the east.
Traffic was stopped in both directions of the busy throughway. Fanned by the usual westerly afternoon winds, the fires, designated the Grange Fire by Cal Fire, spread rapidly as area residents were urged to evacuate.
128 was closed in both directions.
Power was lost for the entire Valley at 5pm when the fires destroyed power lines on 128. There had also been an earlier power outage in Philo.
By nightfall the two fires were burning west and east of 128. Together, they were the first major fires in the Anderson Valley in many years, consuming some 150 acres, including structures, until they were fully suppressed around 8pm. The CHP opened the highway to one-way traffic at 8:20pm.
Eight air tankers, two choppers, upwards of 20 fire engines and some 150 firefighters fought the fast-moving blazes in hilly terrain and 100-degree heat.
Dragging chains from a coast-bound truck and boat trailer, piloted by an oblivious male driver, is assumed to have started the fires in the Anderson Valley. This vehicle was stopped by Sheriff’s deputies near Albion where small roadside fires on Highway One had also broken out.
Power was restored to the Anderson Valley by 11:20pm. KZYX radio offices were threatened but the station was undamaged.
(Mark Scaramella)
NORM CLOW
Ruth and I are asking for prayers for our family and friends back in our home community of Anderson Valley, a small ranching and agricultural community on the California North Coast a hundred miles north of San Francisco. A massive wildfire has broken out right along Highway 128 that runs through the tiny towns of Boonville and Philo, our hometown, on its way from Sonoma County through the redwoods along the Navarro River to the Mendocino Coast. So far, it has expanded to nearly 150 acres, and has destroyed numerous homes and homesteads between Philo and Boonville, where it is now headed.
My close cousin Lindsay Clow has confirmed to me by phone that his late parents’ property, where he lives, has been destroyed along with the barn and outbuildings along the highway. “Norman, I’ve lost everything.” Right past there to the south, Vista Ranch, a rural subdivision has reportedly been destroyed. At last report, it was within a couple of miles from the main town of Boonville, where an evacuation center has been set up at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds in the heart of town. It will likely get much worse before it’s over.
Ruth has been talking to friends and family who are out of the path, getting as much updated information as she can. She can’t reach her sister in Philo, probably due to power loss, but who is likely not in danger barring any change in direction. Fire departments from all over Mendocino, Sonoma, and Lake Counties are likely arriving on the scene, as well as from Sacramento, three hours east. So, please pray for the good folks of Anderson Valley in all respects. Thanks. I’ll post more when I can. Following this from the Houston area is frustrating. I've also talked with my sister Janice in San Francisco and she is pretty nervous, too.
MOST GRANGE FIRE EVACUATION ORDERS LIFTED, HIGHWAY 128 OPEN ONE WAY
Fire personnel continue to battle a fire Thursday that was burning on both sides of Highway 128 in Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley. The Grange Fire initially prompted immediate evacuations in the area of Philo, but most of those orders have been downgraded as of Thursday night. Authorities say the blaze has scorched 80 acres and there is no containment.
by Mary Callahan
Fire officials have downgraded the size of the Grange Fire in Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley Thursday night.
According to updated assessments the blaze has scorched 80 acres, down from previous estimates of 150 acres, according to Cal Fire. It is 0% contained.
As of 8:30 p.m., Highway 128 is open to one-way traffic control. Total closures remain at Vista Ranch & Tumbling McD roads.
Most evacuation orders have been lifted, but as of 9 p.m. one still remained, MEN-3BON01-B. The zone is north of Highway 128, and to the south and east of Vista Ranch Road and west of Road 151 and Vista Ranch Road in the Philo area, according to Cal Fire.
Five other surrounding zones remain under evacuation warnings.
The Mendocino County Fairgrounds in Boonville has been set up as an evacuation center for people and livestock. Small animals can be evacuated to the Ukiah Animal Shelter at 298 Plant Road, in Ukiah, officials said.
The fire, which started off Highway 128 around 3:38 p.m. Thursday quickly spread, divided by the highway, as the afternoon wore on.
Air resources, some of which had been fighting the Acorn Fire in Lake County’s Upper Lake, were quick to arrive at the fire, pounding it with retardant to stop its progress while law enforcement personnel drove up rural roads to evacuate residents from the path of the fire.
Authorities reported that some people refused to leave their homes, despite reports that at least one structure has been destroyed, according to broadcast radio traffic.
Highway 128 was closed to facilitate evacuations and the firefight.
Initial reports suggested a vehicle fire spread to surrounding vegetation, starting the fire, though Cal Fire Capt. Leah Simmons-Davis at the agency’s Howard Forest Station near Willits would say only that the fire was under investigation.
(pressdemocrat.com)
ERNIE PARDINI:
Devastating fire today on 128 between Boonville and Philo. Frightenly close to where I live in Philo. I was working in Boonville and the highway was closed for hours making it impossible for me to get home. A lifetime friend, Lindsey Clow watched as his house burned to the ground. And all because some idiot pulling a boat behind him carelessly left the jack on his trailer hitch hanging down, periodically hitting the pavement, throwing a shower of sparks. He started a total of five fires before he could be stopped. Thank God, to the best of my knowledge, no one died or suffered any serious injuries.
Just wanted to add that the response by fire personnel from all over the county, the sheriff's department, the California Highway Patrol was nothing short of heroic, bringing the fire under control when it could very easily have spread through thousands of acres of woodlands. And a special hero's Salut to Amanda Hiatt, who tirelessly made trip after trip rescuing horses from the fire scene and adjacent properties.
Do you need assistance after yesterday’s fire. These people can assist you. Their building is in the old Mendocino Animal Hospital next to Tractor Supply in Ukiah. The AV Ag Dept has worked with this group they are helpful to anyone in need.
TEMPERATURES WILL DIMINISH below average in the interior this weekend, followed by slow warming early to mid next week. Coastal areas will remain cooler with occasional low clouds and patchy fog. (NWS)
STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): An overcast 50F this Friday morning on the coast. That is an odd fog bank along the north coast? Our forecast uses the word "clouds or cloudy" a lot more today, of course scattered with clear skies. A much cooler weekend appears to be at hand.
PUNCHY HAWKINS
On 07/24/2024, at approximately 12:01pm, Ukiah Police Department (UPD) officers were dispatched to the 200 Block of South Orchard Avenue in Ukiah. An employee from a restaurant in the area observed Justin Hawkins eat food and leave the location without paying. The employee confronted Hawkins about not paying for the food he ate and Hawkins punched the employee in the face. Hawkins pushed the victim to the ground and grabbed a wooden pallet to strike the employee with. The employee was able to grab onto the pallet and prevent Hawkins from seriously injuring him. Hawkins then fled the area on foot.
UPD Officers were searching the area for Hawkins, when another call came into UPD Dispatch reporting a robbery just occurred in the 900 block of North State Street. UPD officers learned Hawkins entered a gas station and grabbed a beverage. The store owner observed Hawkins leave the store without paying and confronted Hawkins outside the store. Hawkins punched the store owner in the face and again fled on foot. UPD officers checking the area were advised of this incident and officers checked the area of North State Street and located Hawkins walking northbound near the 1000 block of North State Street. UPD Officers detained Hawkins without incident.
UPD officers conducted their investigation into both incidents involving Hawkins and Hawkins was arrested for the above listed charges. Hawkins was transported to the Mendocino County Jail where he was booked and lodged.
Both of the victims in this case sustained minor injuries from being assaulted by Hawkins.
WILLIAM BRAZILL: Visitor from the west
ROB SOMERTON:
Hi, attached are a couple photos of a sailboat washed ashore in Mendocino.
Apparently the owner sailed it up last night, set anchor in the bay, and it broke loose overnight. Washing ashore.
The owner is currently waiting for high-tide, and a tug, to pull back out into open water.
And… she floats!
JIM SHEILDS
Greetings, Observer Fans and Subscribers,
My long-time colleague Bruce Anderson passed another milestone this week when he recorded his 85th orbit of the sun. That’s a lot of miles for an earthling. Anderson and I established our working relationship of exchanging news reports and columns many moons ago back in the early 1990s when they were transferred first via fax machines, and then a few years later by the then-modern day miracles called modems that were back-engineered by super-secret MIBs after being found at an alien vessel crash site on the grounds of the old state mental hospital in Talmage, now re-purposed as the City of 10,000 Buddhas. Indeed, those were the days, not too many cares in the world, and even if there were, nobody cared. I’m sure all of you stand with me in wishing Bruce the Happiest of Birthdays.
We’ll have more on this next week but Laytonville’s Long Valley Market opened earlier this week, and folks are damn happy about it. Quick, Huge Thank You to Haji Alam, the store’s new owner for keeping his word on everything he said he’d do, including hiring back the store’s former employees. It’s encouraging to be around people who believe in solving problems instead of creating them and causing hardship for the 3,500 folks who live in this community.
Here’s a slightly expanded explanation of what I wrote several days ago about Tuesday’s meeting where the Supes approved a pay raise for themselves plus a special provision setting out the process for determining future compensation adjustments.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the Board considered and approved a proposed supervisor salary raise that has two main components, plus a special provision that, take my word for it as a licensed, qualified Labor-Management Relations practitioner, will prove to be extremely problematical and fraught with all sorts of legal thorniness. 1. The first component is a two-step pay increase. Step one will occur in late September-early October when Supe pay increases to $103,008 from its current $85,500. The second step occurs in July 2025 when pay gets bumped to $110,715. 2. Following the July 2025 raise, Supe salaries will be automatically determined by what us labor relations practitioners call a “Me Too” clause or agreement.
Here’s the County’s version of its “Me Too” provision: “The Board of Supervisors compensation for services shall be increased or decreased commensurate with the terms and conditions in any future Department Head Association’s Memorandum of Understanding that are applied to all positions represented by the Department Head Association. Such applicable terms and conditions include, but are not limited to, cost of living adjustments (COLA’s), and provisions for compensation changes based on compensation surveys conducted on all positions, as identified in any future Department Head Association’s Memorandum of Understanding.”
Of course, the Supes still will be determining their compensation since they have to approve department head compensation. So that’s how this “Me Too” agreement works. It’s an indirect method for compensation benefits to flow to the Supes without appearing on the surface that they have control over all compensation-related matters.
The legal issues will arise over the interpretation of the phrase, “Such applicable terms and conditions include, but are not limited to, cost of living adjustments (COLA’s), and provisions for compensation changes based on compensation surveys conducted on all positions, as identified in any future Department Head Association’s Memorandum of Understanding.”
The specific legal language that will be fought over is, “Such applicable terms and conditions include, but are not limited to …” If you are wondering what exactly is meant by that phrase, the answer is no one knows because the “terms and conditions” are purposely not specified and are specifically “not limited.” Which is another way of saying that all the terms and conditions of compensation-related matters are unlimited.
Just wait until some of the creative minds in the county seat start interpreting the “Me Too” provision in 2025. It’s most likely going to prove to be a legal free-for-all.
Hasta Luego,
Jim
BUMPERSTICKER spotted in Ukiah: “Yeah, I may be old but your music really does suck.” It sure does, and since when does “music” vibrate every structure within the sound of its hyper-amplified thumps, or chant paens to murder and misogyny?
UKIAH MECHANIC ARRESTED ON $1M BAIL FOR FELONY CHARGES
On the morning of 07/24/2024, a Ukiah Police Department (UPD) Officer learned John McCullough had a $1- Million Dollar (bail amount) felony warrant for his arrest out of Lake County (CA) for [422(a)PC- Criminal Threats, 646.9(a)PC- Willfully, Maliciously, and Repeatedly harasses another person with threats, and 401(a)PC- Assisted Suicide]. The UPD officer was familiar with McCullough from previous law enforcement contacts and the officer knew McCullough to have a mechanic shop in the 700 block of North State Street in Ukiah.
Multiple UPD officers responded to McCullough’s shop and a bystander told officers McCullough was on his way to the shop now. UPD officers knew McCullough was associated with a certain vehicle and officers used the FLOCK license plate camera reading system to assist them in the apprehension of McCullough. UPD officers learned the vehicle McCullough was associated with was traveling in the area of North State Street. McCullough eventually arrived on scene at the shop and he was taken into custody by UPD officers without incident. McCullough was transported to the Mendocino County Jail where he was booked and lodged.
The great teamwork and hard work approach by UPD officers kept the citizens of Ukiah and Mendocino County safe while displaying the core values of the Ukiah Police Department; Safety, Professionalism, and Community Service.
As always, our mission at UPD is to make Ukiah as safe a place as possible. If you would like to know more about crime in your neighborhood, you can sign up for telephone, cell phone, and email notifications by clicking the Nixle button on our website; http://www.ukiahpolice.com.
LOCAL EVENTS (this week)
VIRTUE DESPERATION, FORT BRAGG
Change Our Name
July Teach-In
July 25, 2023
https://citizensforhealing.org
Change Our Name’s monthly Teach-In will be at the Fort Bragg Library Community Room, 499 E Laurel St., Fort Bragg, on Wednesday, July 31, at 7 p.m.
Envisioned as a program to educate attendees about the issues involved in the name change and to hear neighbors’ ideas, the teach-in will last about one hour and will feature a speaker and a question and answer/discussion period.
Speakers will be:
Ginny Cooper is a a retired math teacher. Her current pursuits are quilting, playing on her computer, and learning about the history of this country and about the systemic racism that plagues us all.
Mikael Blaisdell has had a long career in the software industry, founding two companies as well as serving on both for profit and non-profit corporations for many years. He made his home in Fort Bragg in 2020 and served a term on the 2022-2023 Mendocino County Civil Grand Jury. He is also the Vice President of the Point Cabrillo Light Keepers Association.
In addition, FBHS senior Abilene Kamstra will read her second prize winning essay on the subject: “Fort Bragg High School Should or Should Not Change Its Name” and receive her $1,000 prize.
For further information:
https://www.changeournamefortbragg.com
This approximately one hour program is free and open to all.
This program is neither sponsored by nor affiliated with the Mendocino County Library/Museum.
$500 match for next year contest
We are fundraising now to offer prizes for next year’s essay contest and we start with a $500 match from one of our supporters. Every dollar you contribute now will be matched up to a total of $500. Contribute now through GoFundMe:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/bfw7h-change-our-name
or by mailing your contribution to Change Our Name P.O. Box 1643, Fort Bragg, CA. 95437
All contributions are tax deductible.
https://www.nativeartsexpo.com
https://www.changeournamefortbragg.com
FROM THE ARCHIVE (March 26, 2003):
GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER
by Bruce Anderson
Put yourselves in the shoes of Jeff and Patti Winnie, parents, working people, long-time residents of Willits, property owners, no criminal history. One day about six weeks ago the Winnies' 18-year-old daughter Monica brought her new boyfriend home to meet the folks. “Dad, Mom, I'd like you to meet Neal Beckman. He's 35 and I just love him to death,” which turned out to be what happened.
Mr. and Mrs. Winnie worried that Mr. Beckman, at 35, was much older than their 18-year-old Monica. They also wondered about the devil's horns Mr. Beckman had tattooed onto his forehead. The man didn't seem to be upwardly mobile, but what 18-year-old listens to Mom and Pop about affairs of the heart? Besides, the Winnies reminded themselves, young people are different these days. Everything's different these days. Just because a 35-year-old man adorns himself with devil's horns doesn't necessarily mean he won't be wholesomely devoted to an 18-year-old girl. Heck, the two of them just might settle down and raise a bunch of little tattoos and live happily ever after.
The Winnies’ optimism about their daughter's boyfriend lasted about two days.
“I found out that he was not such a nice guy,” Mr. Winnie says. “He wasn't up here at our house hanging out, he was up here hiding out. I told him he had to leave, and that’s what my wife and daughter were doing that night, taking him to Ukiah and the hell outtahere.”
The Winnies live up in the hills south of town and are thus remote from the latest postings on Willits' social register. They had no idea that their smitten daughter's new swain was at the top of the Don't Go There roster. The Winnies' friends informed them that Mr. Beckman was a kind of a kamikaze, meaning he rests up in jail for those brief periods when he's not in jail for one man assaults on the outside world.. Although he's a little guy, the Winnies learned, Beckman was extremely violent, making up for what he lacked in physical heft with whatever weapons were available to him. If no weapons were available to him, he made some. Beckman was especially partial to the manufacture of homemade bombs.
How much 18-year-old Monica knew about Beckman, or could know about the Beckman personality type at her age and experience level is unclear. Whatever he may have lacked in social skills, he definitely wasn't boring, and the young do tend to gaudy excitements. Moreover, as most of us learn along the trail, usually the hard way, love is literally blind. Deaf and dumb, too. It is, therefore, unlikely that young Monica had her boyfriend pegged as a homicidal maniac.
Meanwhile, Mom and Dad Winnie, now fully informed as to the psycho-social history of their house guest and prospective son-in-law, began to have visions of their home going up in flames as Monica's beau shot it out with the cops, using his hosts as human shields for his apocalyptic exit.
“We went out for dinner one night,” Mr. Winnie says, pain and woe in his voice. “That was it for me. I wanted him out. I’ve never seen a guy act so bad in public or in private. He had to go. I just didn't want him to take us with him.. I just want to go through life and not be in the limelight. And then this happens.”
Mrs. Winnie adds, “I knew he'd been in trouble before. But I thought it was minor stuff. Drugs. That kind of thing. And then after all this happened, we found out that he was legally 5150 and on Social Security disability for being anti-social and so forth. He behaved himself reasonably well while he was at our place. When we found out that he was wanted, that was it for me. He had to go.”
So, on Friday evening March the 7th, Beckman went. Mrs. Winnie and her daughter Monica got out the family car and drove him to Ukiah. Beckman said he wanted to be dropped off at a Ukiah motel where he'd be staying. Mrs. Winnie drove, Monica rode in the passenger seat, the man who came to dinner in the back seat.
Mrs. Winnie, still disbelieving of the wild events she was about to witness, won't forget what happened next.
“It was about 9pm when we got to Ukiah. My husband had asked Beckman to leave. We both wanted him gone. I was giving him a ride to a motel. I am the one who wanted to stop at Wal-Mart. I made two stops. I stopped at Albertsons and bought vanilla ice cream and jujubes for Jeff. then I went to Wal-Mart. After we left Wal-Mart we were going to take him to a motel and leave him there. He was in the car when I went into #Wal-Mart. Monica was in the front seat and he was in the backseat. When I came out of Wal-Mart after doing what I needed to do, he was in the front seat and Monica was gone. So I went back into Wal-Mart to find Monica and that’s when my two nieces handed me Monica’s purse and said that she was being arrested. My two nieces were coming out from shopping at Wal-Mart. They handed me Monica’s purse and said that Monica said to give you this because she was being arrested. Shock number one for me. So I put Monica’s purse in the car and I went to find where they were holding her in the store. And then it got worse from there — a lot worse. As bad as it can get. I had no idea that he had a gun. Or a knife.
“I was trying to find my daughter in Wal-Mart. None of the Wal-Mart employees would tell me that the police had already taken her outside to put her in a patrol car. She was in the back of the patrol car when the shooting happened. It was her patrol car that Beckman tried to get the gun out of. So everything happened right in front of her. In a small area. When the shooting started I was about three feet from the back of my car, walking towards it. I watched the first two shots from Beckman at the policeman, and then the guy from the store, Mike, who was escorting me out to my car, kind of grabbed my arm, and I turned around, and I heard two more shots. I ran back inside Wal-Mart to call 911.”
Sgt. Marcus Young of the Ukiah Police Department and a Ukiah High School police cadet named Julian Covella had driven to Wal-Mart to take Monica Winnie into custody. Mrs. Winnie, thoroughly fed up with Beckman and Beckman-related events, which now included her daughter being marched off in handcuffs to a Ukiah PD cruiser, began to walk back to her car, reconciled to a long night of retrieving Monica from the County Jail. As she approached her car in the Wal-Mart parking lot, she saw Beckman, his hands in his pockets, walking towards Sgt. Young.
Young yelled at Beckman to stop and to take his hands out of his pockets. Beckman took his hands out of his pockets but in one hand he had a pistol and in the other hand he had a knife, a big knife. Beckman then emptied his pistol at Young from a few feet away. Young, shot several times, fell.
Brett Schott, a Wal-Mart security guard, rushed to Young to help him. Beckman tried to shoot Schott but he'd emptied his Smith and Wesson six shooter at and in Sgt. Young. His gun was empty so he grabbed Schott and stabbed him numerous times before Schott too fell
Beckman then opened the police car door where his Monica sat handcuffed in the back seat and tried to wrench the shotgun from its rack. The police cadet, 17-year-old Cavella, jerked Young's handgun out of Young's holster and placed it in Young's still functioning left hand. Young rose to a crouch and emptied his gun into Beckman, who was still trying to get Young's shotgun loose.
Beckman's body remained in the cop car for nearly an hour while a small army of cops and emergency services people tended to Young and Schott. Monica, seated a foot from Beckman's corpse, sat silent vigil.
Monica and her mother were taken into custody. Mr. Winnie was at home in Willits, oblivious of his family's big night in Ukiah. Wal-Mart shoppers came and went. Mrs. Winnie, as astounded as everyone else at these events, was finally allowed to go home, although she had to get a ride back to Willits because the family car had been impounded by the police.
The following Tuesday, a task force consisting of a dozen or so officers, arrived at the Winnies home in the hills southwest of Willits.
“They came in with guns pulled,” Mr. Winnie recalls, “after banging on the door. There must of been a dozen of them. It looked like a SWAT team coming into my house. City of Ukiah Police Department with the district attorney’s investigator. Frank Rakes. Once they got in they were pretty civil. They locked me in handcuffs because I have swords and stuff in my living room and that made them nervous. My wife was home. So was my son. They said they found bomb making supplies in my house, but I reload my own shells so that accounts for the so-called bomb making materials. I also had a sawed-off shotgun in my locked safe. What can I say? It was in there, but a friend had given it to me and I thought I'd use it for spare parts. It was inoperable anyway. I had a hose clamp holding the stock to the barrel of the thing. And they took an SKS rifle I had because it's now illegal. Which I did not know. It was stolen from me once in fact and I got it back from the police department. And they took me off to jail.
“They put me into a holding tank at the County Jail about 11 am. I got out at 9 that Tuesday night. although I posted bail at 7:15. My bail was put at $15,000. I was charged with possession of a sawed-off shotgun the SKS, which is not legal anymore, I guess.I was storing the sawed off shotgun for a friend. We had it be locked in my safe. Neither one of us knew what to do with it. and that’s where it was. I opened the safe for them. Ordinarily, nobody gets in my safe except Patty and me.
“The Ukiah paper had it all screwed up. We cooperated fully with the police, but the paper said the police had to have a search warrant to search my car. That’s not right. I was down at the evidence building where they had my car where I signed a paper saying that they could check my car. I walked around my car and told them what property was mine, what was my daughter’s, my wife's, what was my sons, what was Beckman's. There was this little bitty black bag on the seat. Detective Rakes asked me who the bag belonged to. I said I didn’t know, ask Monica. Monica said she didn't know, and they opened it up and apparently there were some M-80s or something taped together with a fuse down them. Rakes said that the things were considered to be pipe bombs. I said whatever you guys need to do. A little while later Rakes came out and said that they had to call in the bomb squad from Chico or some place and we could leave.The next morning they came pounding on our door.
“Monica has been charged by the Ukiah Police Department with shoplifting and theft. They took her over to the Sheriff’s Department and booked her for grand theft and burglary. We don't know what the additional charges are about; something that Beckman arranged, probably.”
Beckman had been in trouble much of his life. At age 17, he busted into an old man's house in Willits, stabbed, beat and robbed the old guy who soon afterwards died of a stroke. Beckman was sentenced to the California Youth Authority for that one and from YA went on into adult prison where he is alleged to have been affiliated with the ethnic discussion group called the Aryan Brotherhood.
Mr. Winnie looks back at the week that was.
“It was dumb of me to keep the sawed-off in my safe. I should have stripped it for parts a long time ago. That’s why I kept it. I was stupid to have hung onto the thing. I was gonna strip it for screws and parts, then put the barrel at the bottom of my burn pile. I never got around to it.”
Mrs. Winnie sighs. “It was a pretty scary week.”
* * *
Ed note: A Willits man wrote in to say he'd been Beckman's teacher. “He was dangerous even as a kid, but there were at least two other kids who were at least as psycho as Neal.”
MARSHALL NEWMAN: From Ebay, another AV artifact. A different Weise's matchbook.
KELLEY’S GIRL
by Katy Tahja & Karen McGrath
The Kelley House Museum loves a good history mystery, and recently we had a query about a redwood sculpture named ”Kelley’s Girl.” The correspondent said all he knew was that his parents had purchased the statue in Mendocino in the early 1970s. Did Kelley’s Girl have something to do with Mendocino’s Kelley family, or did the museum have other information about it?
At first, no one knew what to make of the few facts presented. There were no mermaids in the Kelley family, as far as we know! But gradually, with the help of creative digital newspaper searching, a very interesting story emerged. It turns out the piece was sculpted by a local wood artist named Stanley R. Kelley, a dapper gentleman who is still part of our community. He was also the architect and builder of the famous Round House that stood for 30 years on Caspar Beach.
Back in October of 1973, Kelley’s large and graceful mermaid carving was stolen while on display in front of Gallery West, located at the west end of Main Street, where Mendocino Sandpiper is now. A few days later, the sculpture, valued at $700, was found near Pearl Drive by a Fort Bragg resident looking for mushrooms. However, the lower part of the mermaid’s tail was broken off and missing.
It was still a wonderful statue, though, so Kelley did some trimming around her “knees” and he showed it, along with other works, at the Mendocino County Historical Museum in Willits, where it went by the title “Madonna.” Later he mounted it on a concrete pedestal, and it became for a few months a central feature in the garden at the Mendocino Hotel (later closed in to create the Garden Bar).
Perhaps that is where Doug Colton and his wife first encountered the five-foot sculpture. Wherever they saw her, they loved her, and decided to take her home with them to Reno, Nevada. The statue’s March, 1974 departure from the coast even merited a short article in the Mendocino Beacon, which is where we found the details that solved the mystery.
We sent the newspaper clipping to Perry Colton, who was overjoyed to know the story behind one of his most prized possessions. He provided us with a faded snapshot of his smiling parents standing on Main Street with their new acquisition, and another photo of the art piece displayed in his home. To make the story’s ending even happier, the artist will be getting in touch with the Colton family to talk more about “Kelley’s Girl.”
(We would love to answer your questions abut Mendocino. Contact info@kelleyhousemuseum.org and we’ll use our extnsive files, databases and expertise to do just that. The Kelley House Museum is open from 11am to 3pm Thursday-Monday. Walking Tours available throughout the week. Visit the website to schedule a tour.)
CATCH OF THE DAY, Thursday, July 25, 2024
RICHARD CAUCKWELL, Ukiah. Failure to appear. (Frequent flyer.)
BHAKTI DILLENBECK, Ukiah. Shoplifting, disorderly conduct-alcohol/ (Frequent flyer.)
CHRISTOPHER GARCIA, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, paraphernalia, parole violation.
RICARDO GARCIA-GARCIA, Ukiah. Domestic violence restraining order violation.
JUSTIN HAWKINS, Guerneville/Ukiah. Robbery, assault with deadly weapon not a gun.
SYLVESTER JOAQUIN JR., Covelo. Suspended license for DUI, paraphernalia, parole violation.
PRESTON KEYSER, Fort Bragg. DUI.
CODY MENDEZ, Ukiah. Probation revocation.
ANDY NAVARRO JR., Rohnert Park/Ukiah. Failure to appear.
ROBERT ROGERS, Nice/Ukiah. Parole violation.
DAMIAN SANCHEZ, Hopland. Resisting.
SYDNEY SHACKMAN, Ukiah. Burglary, probation revocation.
“IN THOSE DAYS there was no money to buy books. Books you borrowed from the rental library of Shakespeare and Company, which was the library and bookstore of Sylvia Beach… On a cold windswept street, this was a lovely, warm, cheerful place with a big stove in winter, tables and shelves of books, new books in the window, and photographs on the wall of famous writers both dead and living.”
— Hemingway
THE FOLLOWING is from a story about dam removal on the Klamath: “I think in September, we may have some Chinook salmon and steelhead moseying upstream and checking things out for the first time in over 60 years,” says Bob Pagliuco, NOAA marine habitat resource specialist. … Klamath Dam Removal Project On Track to Open 420 Miles of Salmon Habitat This Fall
I HOPE I'm not mis-remembering Ernie Branscomb's observation that restoration of Northcoast fisheries depends on a lot more than repair of this or that stretch of habitat, but also depends on everything else that prevents the return of fish, from the health of the oceans to streamside polluters and water thieves.
ESTHER MOBLEY, What I'm Reading
Madeira, the Portuguese island that produces some of the world’s greatest dessert wines, is facing economic and environmental pressures that threaten its grape growers’ future, writes Barnaby Eales in Wine-Searcher. I had no idea that the island’s banana trade has now surpassed its wine industry in revenue.
As recently as a year ago, it felt difficult to find a winery in Napa or Sonoma counties that welcomed walk-in visitors for tastings. But that trend appears to have reversed, at least on the Sonoma side, reports Peg Melnik in the Press Democrat, with many more wineries waiving the appointment requirement — possibly in response to Wine Country’s low visitation figures.
In the New Wine Review, Jason Wilson argues that the root of the California wine industry’s present downturn is its “reliance on the sales of poor-quality, bulk wines,” and writes that California wineries have been ignoring consumer preferences.
A brush fire in Napa this week damaged the city’s only distillery, possibly resulting in a loss of revenue of over $1 million, reports the Chronicle’s Annie Vainshtein.
WHAT UNEXPECTED INCIDENT WILL THE PARIS OLYMPICS BE REMEMBERED FOR?
by Scott Ostler
This is not a doom forecast, merely a recognition that glitches, problems, scandals and goofs are an Olympic tradition. Even the ancient Olympics (beginning in 776 BC) dealt with issues such as performance enhancing drugs (animal testicles) and bribery. The emperor Nero bribed his way to a gold medal in chariot racing.
In the modern Olympics, incidents range from the deadly terrorist attack at the ’72 Games in Munich, to a group of young men busted for roasting weenies in the Olympic cauldron at Lillehammer, Norway, in 1994.
Stuff happens. Here’s a sampling of such stuff at past Summer Olympics.
1896, Athens: The first blown budget. The entire Greek organizing committee resigned two years before the Games when spending was already three times over the budget. Women were banned from competing because, as modern Olympics founder Baron Pierre de Coubertin declared, their inclusion would be “impractical, uninteresting, unaesthetic and incorrect.” Hope the Baron had a comfortable couch.
1900, Paris: The long jump finals were on a Sunday, and two American competitors were under orders from their American colleges to boycott Sunday competition. One of the guys competed anyway, won the gold, and was punched in the nose (accounts vary) by the other.
1904, St. Louis: American marathoner Fred Lorz crossed the finish line first, but was soon DQ’d for covering 11 miles of the course in his manager’s car. The gold medal defaulted to another American, Tom Hicks, even though he was carried for part of the race by his trainers, who also boosted their guy with a cocktail of sherry and strychnine (technically legal), causing him to collapse and pass out at the finish line.
1908, London: American John Carpenter won the 400 meters but was DQ’d for blocking another runner, a move legal in America but not in Britain. A second race was ordered, but two Americans declined to run, in solidarity with Carpenter, so a British runner was declared the winner without a race.
1912, Stockholm: The bombshell dropped months after the Olympics, when American track superstar Jim Thorpe was stripped of his two gold medals after reports that he had played professional minor-league baseball three years previously. The report surfaced well after the International Olympic Committee’s 30-day statute of limitations for reporting violations of the amateur code, but officials broke their own rule and repoed Thorpe’s medals.
1920, Antwerp: The Olympian ideals of world peace and brotherhood took a hit, as the French-dominated IOC banned Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary and Turkey for their roles in World War I.
1924, Paris: Germany was again barred from the Games. Has anyone ever explored the possibility that the Germans started World War II because they were mad at being uninvited from two Olympics?
1928, Amsterdam: Women finally got to compete in track and field and gymnastics. However, after false reports circulated that the 800-meter run ended with several women staggering and falling from exhaustion, the IOC decided that women were too frail for distance running, limiting their races to 200 meters until 1960.
1932, Los Angeles: Swedish equestrian dressage competitor Bertil Sandstrom was stripped of his silver medal for clicking his tongue to encourage his horse. Sandstrom insisted that the sound was made by his creaking saddle. This remains the gold standard for Olympics excuses.
1936, Berlin: Adolf Hitler’s extravaganza turned out to be the greatest con job in history, the host country hiding its hideous Nazism behind a cheery, folksy, Disneylandish façade.
1948, London: In what was dubbed “the Austere Games,” athletes were housed all over town in makeshift quarters. In what sounds like the premise of a Benny Hill sketch, many of the female athletes were assigned to rooms over the Victoria Coach Station, a notorious red-light district. At the Opening Ceremonies, a heat-marred debacle, a huge flock of pigeons was to be released when a cannon was fired, but the cannon got stuck in traffic and many birds died while waiting in their hot coop.
1952, Helsinki: The Soviet Union ramped up state-sponsored training in order to challenge U.S. Olympic domination, bringing the Cold War to the Games, political sportswashing at its best.
1956, Melbourne: Peace and brotherhood again took a hit, as eight nations boycotted, for three different reasons. A water polo match between the Soviet Union and Hungary, weeks after the Soviets violently suppressed the Hungarian Revolution, turned into the infamous Blood in the Water match.
1960, Rome: In the men’s 100 freestyle swim final, video footage showed American Lance Larson touching just ahead of Australian John Devitt. But this was the last Olympics before electronic timing and touchpads. After a convoluted review, Devitt was declared the winner.
1964, Tokyo: Dawn Fraser, Aussie swim superstar, carried her nation’s flag in the closing ceremonies, but limping and with a hangover. The night before, after hard partying, she tried to steal an Olympic flag from the Emperor’s Palace, leading police on a merry chase and diving into a moat before being captured. The cops let her slide, but Australian officials slapped Fraser with a 10-year ban. It was academic, since her career was over.
1968, Mexico City: Protestors did not fare well. Ten days before the Games opened, 2,000 university students marched in protest of Mexico’s authoritarian government. Troops opened fire, killing at least 300 of the unarmed protesters. Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos were evicted from the Olympic village after their black-glove protest on the medal stand. Critics of their protest gave birth, perhaps, to the Shut Up and Dribble movement.
The 1968 Mexico City Games featured U.S. athletes Tommie Smith, center, and John Carlos raising their fists in a Black Power salute during the playing of national anthem after Smith received the gold and Carlos the bronze for the 200-meter run.
1972, Munich: Terrorists kidnapped members of the Israeli Olympic team and murdered 11 of them. So it was small potatoes when the Soviet men’s basketball team was given three chances to in-bound the ball, finally beating the U.S. team in what might be the biggest robbery in Olympics history.
1976, Montreal: Cheating goes hi-tech. A Soviet modern pentathlete was caught using an epee with a secret button that registered an electronic hit even when no hit was made. More cheating! After superstar American swimmer Shirley Babashoff was beaten by powerful East German swimmers in four races, she pointed out that her burly foes were clearly juiced. The media dubbed her Surly Shirley, and it wasn’t until years later that East Germany’s systematic doping program was exposed.
1980, Moscow: The U.S. sat this one out, boycotting for political reasons. We missed what some called the Chemists’ Games because of rampant doping, which went largely unpunished but led to much tougher anti-doping measures.
1984, Los Angeles: American superstar Mary Decker was the heavy favorite in the 3,000-meter run, but in the final collided in traffic with British runner Zola Budd, and down went Decker. Mary cried foul, but officials absolved Budd, and years later Decker conceded that the fateful crash was her own fault.
1988, Seoul: Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson won the 100 in world-record time, then flunked his post-race drug test (steroids) and was stripped of his gold medal. History would show this to be a very juicy race, as five other sprinters in the eight-man field were caught doping at one time or another. American boxer Roy Jones Jr. beat the stuffing out of his South Korean foe, outpunching him 86 to 32, but the judges voted 3-2 to award gold to the punchee. One judge said he voted for the South Korean out of sympathy, and three of the judges were found to have been wined and dined by South Korean officials.
1992, Barcelona: Charles Barkley put a slight smudge on the Dream Team’s basketball gold medal by elbowing a skinny Angola player in the neck during a 68-point U.S. win.
1996, Atlanta: A pipe bomb exploded in Centennial Park, killing one and injuring 111. A security guard, Richard Jewell, was a hero at the scene, became a suspect, and before being cleared was hounded mercilessly by the media.
2000, Sydney: U.S. sprinter Marion Jones was the darling of the Games, winning five medals, including three gold, and earning much sympathy for having to rail angrily against steroid aspersions. Seven years later, during the BALCO scandal, Jones admitted to juicing and was stripped of six medals, including one from the 2004 Olympics.
2004, Athens: Greecian fans were in an uproar of indignation before the Games started, after the country’s two biggest stars, a male and a female sprinter, hopped onto a motorbike to flee from doping testers, crashed, and were DQ’d for violating anti-doping protocol.
2008, Beijing: Nobody ever felt comfortable, considering the air pollution, and the Chinese government’s shaky rep on human rights, treatment of migrant workers, overspending on the Games, censorship and state-sponsored doping.
2012, London: Eight badminton competitors, from China, South Korea and Indonesia, were bounced out of the Games for throwing matches in order to obtain more favorable draws.
2016, Rio de Janeiro: Overshadowing all the scandalous corruption and overspending of the host country, U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte became the poster goat of the Games. He and three other American swimmers told a tale of being held up by robbers posing as police. It turned out they invented the story to cover for running afoul of bar bouncers after committing minor vandalism and peeing al fresco.
2020, Tokyo: Money talks. At the height of the COVID pandemic, 80% of Japanese citizens wanted the Games canceled or postponed, but the IOC plowed ahead — in 2021 — resulting in empty stadiums and hollow victories.
2024, Paris: Poop in the Seine? May that be the biggest snafu.
ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY
I’ve been to a shooting where someone took a shot to the liver. Not really much external bleeding. Internally, yes. He was dead in minutes. I had a guy who was stabbed. We treated him for one stab wound. Turns out he had maybe 12-13. I never found them. Piss poor primary survey on my part. He lived. Shit happens that is stranger than you can imagine. Believe it or not everything is not some grand conspiracy.
JEFF BLANKFORT
Ralph Nader, who entered the 2000 presidential race to provide Americans long disgusted by the offerings of the Democrat-Republican duopoly with someone worthy of the office to vote for, still towers in every respect over the assortment of political opportunists who have competed to serve the directors and profiteers from US imperialism in most Americans” lifetime, (although the decades long Democrat Party shill and Israel apologist, Thom Hartmann, heard weekdays on KZYX as well as on some Pacifica radio stations, still blames Nader for Al Gore’s defeat in 2000).
If Genocide Joe Biden, who Hartmann compares with FDR and is quite a few years younger than Nader were to debate him over Biden’s actions and statements re Gaza, his performance vs. Trump, by comparison, would have been viewed as a stunning success. That comparatively few, if any other websites and no mainstream publications will have republished Nader’s commentary on the US-backed genocidal war being waged by Israel against the people of Gaza, is arguably, in itself, confirmation of what Nader has to tell us. He can be heard Saturday mornings on KZYX from 5 to 6 AM.
Bud Cort, describing the first time he met Groucho Marx: “I had just gotten off the plane from New York City, and I had hair down to my shoulders and a beard. I took a cab up to his house in Bel-Air, and the minute my fist connected with the door, the door opened, and there stood Groucho. He looked at me, his mouth flew open, he gasped and he slammed the door in my face. [Another guest, who knew Bud, opened the door and brought Bud in to introduce him to Groucho]. Groucho said, 'I'm sorry. I thought you were Charles Manson'.”
On Marx: “He was definitely one of my heroes. He inspired me so, still does. He gave me a lot of love, something I'll cherish forever. He also gave me his tooth, but that's another story.”
Cort lived as a house guest for many years with his dear friend Groucho Marx. He also was close friends with Orson Welles and Ruth Gordon, his co-star in “Harold and Maude” (1971)
“She entered a room like an apology. Tiny and startlingly delicate, she moved with steps that were short and brittle, and she appeared to be so fragile that you feared she would shatter if you touched her.
“The first image that comes to my mind is this: She sits in her accustomed place in the living room of the house in California she shared with her husband Alan Campbell. In her lap is the ever-present dog, a yapping brown poodle. Beside her on the sofa are her reading glasses, and in front of her is a large ashtray filled with the remains of the cigarettes she smokes constantly. Cellophane from a discarded Chesterfield package catches fire and the flames go unnoticed while she complains of the dearth of talent to be found in the pile of books of every size and subject that crowd the top of the coffee table. One of those days of everlasting and monotonous sunshine is drawing to a close, and Alan has made Scotches for the two of them while I sip No-Cal soda, feeling somehow guilty and unforgiven for being a teetotaler.”
—From Wyatt Cooper’s excellent piece on Dorothy Parker in ESQUIRE, July, 1968.
“IT’S AN IRRITATING REALITY that many places and events defy description. Angkor Wat and Machu Picchu, for instance, seem to demand silence, like a love affair you can never talk about. For a while after, you fumble for words, trying vainly to assemble a private narrative, an explanation, a comfortable way to frame where you’ve been and what’s happened. In the end, you’re just happy you were there — with your eyes open — and lived to see it.”
— Anthony Bourdain
A German peddler active in the Netherlands in 1905 would have been typical of the time when peddlers played a significant role in the local economies of villages and cities. Peddlers were traveling merchants who sold various products ranging from textiles, household items, tools, to foodstuffs. They often traveled on foot or with horse and cart through different regions to offer their goods to the local population.
In the early 20th century, the Netherlands was still a country where itinerant trade played a crucial role, especially in rural areas where fixed shops were not always present. Peddlers brought a range of goods to remote locations, ensuring people had access to essential and luxury products.
The presence of a German peddler in the Netherlands in 1905 reflects the historical trade relations and economic interactions between the two neighboring countries. It was also a period when industrialization and technological advancements were beginning to influence daily trade practices, but traditional forms of trade such as peddling were still widespread.
I forgot to read the matchbook and apparently cannot remember my AV history. It is “Wiese’s.” Apologies to all.
The billboard cracks me up.
Cat ladies, oh a fierce force has been awakened now. This will be fun!
Cats can to be trained as kittens to ride on your neck, no holding necessary. This cat is being held in place, and likely would rather be somewhere else.
Yep. Cats held in place, in my sad experience, don’t hesitate to claw and scratch. My wife picks up our lovely cats, holds and kisses them for mere seconds, then puts them down quickly to avoid injury. They walk away, clearly disgusted with this PDA
I respectfully and vehemently disagree.
I’m pleased to hear that Vance recently claimed to have nothing against cats–that would have been the last straw, a catastrophe for sure.
I think she’s petting it.
Looks very relaxed.
Many, many young and older women–for a myriad of good reasons–will decide to vote for Harris. Women and people of color may well be the decisive factor in sending Trump to a second loss and out to pasture.
The largest followers of Christ are “women of color” and the atheist are more likely to be liberal white men. Trump has the Christian followers and Kamala has the atheist followers. We will see
What? Black women may have faith in their religion, trust me, they have no faith in trump.
Christ is non-European.
Christ is Arab, Jewish, Middle-Eastern.
Trump doesn’t have the Christian followers, he has the Christian nationalist followers. Real Christians are disgusted by him. He is thoroughly un-Christian.
Chuck,
I find your use of the term “people of color” offensive.
Many “people of color” have been in the US for generations, don’t they deserve to be treated like everyone else?
Would you like to be thought of, or called “person of color”? Because you know, it’s not the same as being called a millionaire, or good looking, or cat person.
Please do not give me the argument they call themselves “poc”. It’s disgusting.
It’s a common term, often used proudly by such folks. I take it you are a white person, unless I’m mistaken, trying to see everyone as just a person. That’s not a bad thing in some ways, and I wish we could all get there, but we are not. Not sure why you call it disgusting that people of color often call themselves just that.
I watched Kamala Harris give her position on Gaza last night on Fox. Her prepared statement came after a personal meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Her position was the same as Biden’s except she articulated the position much better than Biden ever has. Most importantly, Harris came across as being the current President, not the VP. The old saying is true, “Power is not granted, or inherited; it is taken.” It appears Harris has done exactly that, and President Biden has suddenly become irrelevant. Boy that was quick.
Not really. Biden was never anything but irrelevant, except to banking interests. He’s half of why I never voted for the Obama regime. Biden has always toed the ruling-class line, especially when it comes to Zionist atrocities, including land theft.
Where is the pictures of CNN and MSNBC hosts who have been caught pushing Democratic lies and working with Biden justice system to conceal facts unfavorable to the Biden’s?
The esteem editor is a Libertarian in Democrat clothing! This is the garbage that is the media today.
C’mon Bruce, wow me with some bullshit about this comment. Or better yet have your webmaster silence me.
Huh? That CNN and MSNBC are extensions of the Democratic Party isn’t news to me, and I haven’t voted for a Democrat since McGovern in ’72. I’m voting for Cornel West because his views reflect mine.
“I’m voting for Cornel West because his views reflect mine.”
Tax evasion and deadbeat daddyism?
Citation please.
https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/green-party-candidate-cornel-west-owes-half-million/story?id=102293692
Hmmm. Taxes don’t bother me but men should man up to support their children. I might have to go over to Jill Stein, a political lateral move anyway.
Your paper sure has a hard time reporting that news about the media and Democrats. In most cases you have repeated the lies. Who the hell cares who you vote for? Your paper’s actions speak louder than words.
Your one saving grace is the Major. Mark at least reports with common sense.
For a guy who calls it like he sees it, you don’t see too good.
Maybe I see better than you give me credit for. But than again, calling out your obvious BS just takes about one or two reads of ED Notes.
You two might want to research the billionaire John Malone, if you still think CNN is an extension of the Democratic Party. Allowing trump to lie so much during the debate without any pushback was a bit glaring.
Why do I need to research John Malone? Liberty Media, of course you want distract.
That doesn’t change the fact that media has been caught in lies.
You don’t like Trump, we get it. Don’t vote for him.
I want distract?
If trump can beat the media and the puppet for the managerial class it will be truly remarkable.
Wait, are you saying trump is for helping the poor and the middle class? I grew up in the north east. As a young child I knew what a scamming grifter and general scumbag trump was. He was often in our news, and never for anything good. How people who seem to distrust and dislike Manhattan elites, have decided this is their guy, is one of the most jaw dropping things I’ve ever witnessed. He does not like the lower classes, and that includes every one of us posting on this website.
I’m hoping I just misinterpreted your comment. If that’s the case, I apologize.
If we’re going to judge these leaders by their morals we are screwed but based off his last term served I’d say the economy was great and the poor people everywhere agree. Honestly the economy is all that matters to poor people, that’s why they flock to this country and if the moneys not flowing nothing else matters. We can blame the current cost of living on Covid but most people look at an incompetent president. I work in agriculture where most people make 20 dollars per hour or less, they are currently working 7 days per week.
I’m impressed you know and get input from poor people everywhere about the economy while trump was POTUS. I think I may vote for him now. Well, most especially because of the boys in the girls bathroom revelation that you shared earlier.
That is a solid argument.
You haven’t made a single point to consider changing my mind. Something about growing up with scammers and manhattan elites, being a Reddit expert. Idk man but I’m definitely scared of you.
https://consortiumnews.com/2024/07/26/a-standing-ovation-2/
I am ashamed, and angry.
I’m with you on this one, Harvey. A standing ovation by much of Congress for this murderer–“ashamed and angry” is the right response for US citizens.
“THESE are the talking bobbleheads at Fox”
Oh really…
Perhaps 30% of the photos in the Fox News hit piece are either people currently at Fox News or did decades ago.
Some Greta Van Susteren, for example, has hawked their wears at Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, and others. She is currently full-time at Newsmax.
Then, several photos are years or even decades apart of the same person.
Some of them never worked at Fox News at all.
For anyone who follows media personalities, the photo is amateurish and crude.
It’s not a good look…
Have a nice day,
Laz
I’m pretty sure it’s just a meme. It’s not trying to be journalism.
I don’t get the “Meme” thing. I’ve seen this crap peddled for decades. However, unfortunately, a large portion of the populace who don’t know believes it.
Be well,
Laz
I should have added that a ‘Meme by definition is typically humorous in nature.
I see nothing humorous in the “Meme.” if that’s what it is. It is untruthful, and it wreaks of racism. If “People of Color” were used in the same presentation, there would be hell to pay, here and elsewhere.
Thank you,
Laz
I’m on Reddit which has an audience that skews much much younger than AVA, please trust me when I say it’s really just a meme. Memes I see on Reddit pop up here all the time, maybe the editor is finding them on Facebook or twitter. They’re not meant to be taken too seriously. Finding humor in it or not depends on which way one leans, politically. AVA has posted many right leaning memes as well, if that’s any consolation.
“AVA has posted many right leaning memes as well, if that’s any consolation.”
D.
And they are just as troublesome and misleading as the left’s postings are.
Thank you,
Laz
They’re not meant to be taken too seriously. Think of it as a blip and scroll past. That’s what I do. I am white and this meme didn’t trigger any feelings of victimization in me, I also don’t feel any allegiance to Fox News or CNN, or any particular political personality. I vote with my kids and their possible kids in mind, and hope they will still have rights over their own bodies and will be able to live in a world that isn’t destroyed by overconsumption and deregulation, and overt religiosity destroying our church and state separation.
Better vote trump then. Overregulation in the USA with only china to profit. Boys in the girls bathroom, odd side religions instead of a solid foundation and abortion instead of birth control education.
Dude, you may have officially lost the plot. Seek professional help, as David letterman once said.
Did I say over regulation? Democrats don’t say or even push for over regulation. Are you pro opening national parks for resource extraction? Are you over 60 years old and you just don’t care about what our young people and their babies will inherit? Or are you paid to say insane things on open comment sections?
Readers who are interested in understanding the perspective of a highly conservative think tank (Stanford’s Hoover Institution) will appreciate the discussion of whether Kamala Harris has the intellectual firepower to challenge Trump’s foreign policy and economic “lawfare” behind the less meaningful blather and cheap commentary found in social media. Serious questions about the decision to hide Biden’s infirmity and the unseen operators of “presidential” authority while the President is mysteriously absent during times of international crisis are raised in this conversation among an historian, an economist, and a former White House advisor on Homeland Security.
I’m not the David!
Beyond Daveed Severoni I’m Chevron, Satellite, Saturn, Revern Severn, Pope Dave, Matuyaho, Knot Head, Bucket Head, King Fixit or just King and for 3 grueling years I was Editor. We’ll forget the other names I’ve been called.
Ok, I’m also not DA Dave.
It’s not as if I’ve said anything inflammatory. I’m simply pushing back.
This is the first coherent report on the Grange Fire I have read. I couldn’t picture where it was located and I know there are so many livestock farms along there, many hidden back in. The Cal Fire maps and the apps everybody is crazy for have acres and containment percentages but the fire might as well be in Turkmenistan as far as human and local detail if people are really threatened or not. So Thanks!
The Clow family are all fantastic people. I’m so sad of the loss of their family home.
Ron Parker
Ukiah Ca