Mendocino County Today: Wednesday 9/25/2024

By AVA News Service on September 25, 2024

YESTERDAY'S HIGHS: Ukiah 103°, Yorkville 102°, Boonville 101°, Laytonville 100°, Covelo 99°, Fort Bragg 72°, Point Arena 61°

COOLER TEMPERATURES are expected today, with warmer drier conditions returning by the end of the week and well into the weekend. Coastal low clouds and fog are intruding into low lying areas already this morning. This could hinder visibility during the morning commute. Strengthening northerlies and clearer skies are expected at the end of the week. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A warm 55F in the fog this Humpday morning on the coast. The battle between fog & sun is back on. A lot of high clouds are also headed our direction.

LOCAL EVENTS

UKIAH TEENS APPREHENDED

On 09/22/2024 at approximately 3:00 am, Ukiah Police Department (UPD) Officers were dispatched to 548 Ford Street in Ukiah for a report of an in-progress auto burglary. As the officers were on their way to the location, the reporting party informed them that the suspects had just left the scene in a vehicle.

As UPD officers arrived in the area, they observed a dark-colored SUV leaving the area at a high rate of speed. An officer caught up to the SUV and initiated a traffic stop due to the reasonable suspicion that the vehicle was involved in the auto burglary and the speeding violation.

The SUV failed to yield to the UPD officer’s emergency lighting, and a vehicle pursuit began as the suspect vehicle and an officer traveled southbound on Leslie Street. The suspect vehicle took East Gobbi Street to Babcock Lane, and then went eastbound on Talmage Road. Other UPD officers were able to join the pursuit on Talmage Road, and the suspect vehicle took Talmage Road to Old River Road, before turning onto Mill Creek Road.

UPD Officers pursued the suspect vehicle to the area of the lower Mill Creek Dams, where the vehicle came to a stop. The driver, later identified as Luis Alvarez, exited the vehicle in preparation to flee on foot, but was apprehended immediately. The passenger, later identified as Jorge Alvarado, exited the vehicle and fled down a hill towards the Mill Creek Pond. UPD officers found and apprehended Alvarado a short time later. No one was injured during this incident. Both suspects were armed with concealed fixed blade knives on their person at the time of their arrests.

During the course of the investigation, UPD officers determined that Alvarado and Alvarez had committed theft from at least one vehicle, and they were suspected of multiple other vehicle tamperings.

Alvarez was arrested and booked into the Mendocino County Jail for charges of 2800.4 CVC, 2800.2 CVC, 21310 PC, 182(a)(1) PC, and 484(a) PC. Alvarado was arrested and booked into the Mendocino County Jail for charges of 21310 PC, 182(a)(1) PC, and 148(a)(1) PC.

Suspects:

Jorge Alvarado, 18-year-old Ukiah, CA resident.

Luis Alejandro Alvarez, 18-year-old Ukiah, CA resident.

Violations:

2800.4 CVC – Evading in the opposite lane of traffic (Felony.)

2800.2 CVC – Reckless evading (Felony.)

21310 PC – Concealing a fixed blade knife on one’s person (Felony.)

182(a)(1) PC - Conspiracy (Felony.)

484(a) PC - Theft (Misdemeanor.)

148(a)(1) PC – Resisting arrest (Misdemeanor.)

CHARLOTTE BEAUMONT:

Tuesday at the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors meeting they voted to take action against Geiger’s Market owners Michael Braught and Michael Maciel, Hopland location, for failing to respond to the calls and notices regarding their defaulting on their Covid loan from the County in the amount of $180,000 that they received in 2021. Before closing the Laytonville location. The loan was a no interest loan that is secured, and attached to their property tax.

ADAM GASKA (statement to the Board of Supervisors, Tuesday, September 24, 2024):

Good morning board, County staff. Adam Gaska, lifelong Redwood Valley resident. I am here this morning representing Mendo Matters. We are requesting that this board agendize, discuss and vote to publicly support Proposition 36 at its earliest opportunity.

10 years ago, Proposition 47 was passed with the intention to address prison overcrowding, adopt alternative sentencing methods, and reduce nonviolent offense incarcerations. While it has achieved some of those goals, it has inadvertently virtually decriminalized petty theft crimes and drug offenses. This has led to an increase in property theft and open drug misuse. Vagrancy has reached such levels locally that many of us can no longer stand by quietly and continue to allow it to plague our once beautiful community.

Proposition 36 would give law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges the ability to increase penalties for hard drug offenses while still having the option to offer treatment as an alternative by enacting a new class of crime called "treatment-mandated felonies." After Proposition 47 was passed, theft under $950 was classified as a misdemeanor regardless of the number of offenses. Proposition 36 would allow prosecutors to pursue felonies for repeat offenders.

While the passage of Proposition 36 won’t magically make the blight disappear or immediately make our communities safer, it is a much needed change in policy that will empower law enforcement and the criminal justice system to help move us in that direction. Creating a public nuisance through theft or endangering public health through drug misuse should be considered criminal. We are fed up with the grime that has plagued many areas of our community and continues to spread. Help enable local law enforcement by giving them tools they need to keep our neighborhoods safe. There are many programs available to those willing to get treatment. We must be more aggressive by insisting that those programs be utilized by those that suffer from addiction or suffer the consequences of incarceration. Allowing our fellow citizens to wallow in despair while in the throes of addiction, living on the street in squalor until they die of an overdose is inhumane. The passage of prop 36 will give us a larger stick to make the carrot of treatment that much more attractive.

Please add your voice to those that have already stood in support of prop 36 and vote in favor of protecting our community.

SUPES MEETING HIGHLIGHTS

by Mark Scaramella

The Supervisors voted unanimously to direct staff to draft a noise ordinance for the County on Tuesday. The Farm Bureau rep said that whatever they come up with, the ordinance must exempt agriculture (i.e., wind fans). Loud parties were cited as the main target of the proposed ordinance. Civil citations were proposed as the enforcement mechanism. Sheriff Kendall noted that at present disturbing the peace violations require not only that the noise be willful and with malicious intent, but that the complaining party must sign the complaint and show up in court to press charges.

The Supervisors voted unanimously to assign Supervisors Haschak and McGourty to a new ad hoc committee to prepare a campaign contributions limit ordinance for the County. Haschak said that such an ordinance would have separate (lower) limits for individuals and organizations. Supervisor Ted Williams said he didn’t want to limit campaign spending, just campaign contributions. Supervisor McGourty said he was worried that such an ordinance might inhibit candidates from running against incumbents.

County Assessor-Clerk-Record-Voter Registrar Katrina Bartolomie told the Board that her staff has found $5 million worth of new assessments since the hiring of three new appraiser technicians last year. Most of the newly “discovered” structures were low-value outbuildings, but two of them were single family units. $5 million in new assessed value may sound like a lot, until you calculate that the County’s annual revenue from those additional assessments is 30% of 1% of $5,000,000, or about $15,000 per year. The three new appraiser technicians including the county’s nice benefit package cost over $300k per year.

Around noon the board went into an obvious abuse of closed session entitled “performance evaluation” for CEO Darcy Antle. After almost three hours of secret evaluations Board Chair Maureen Mulheren peeked out briefly to announce that they had taken “no reportable action,” which said a lot more than its literal, legal meaning.

In other County news, Sheriff Kendall says he’s waiting for one of the larger counties like LA or Orange County to appeal the Ninth Circuit Court’s banning of mugshot posting because they have the kinds of deep pockets that could cover what would likely be high legal costs.

The Catholic Church at Hopland (photographer: Vince Martinez)

JADE TIPPETT:

Dark Money in Fort Bragg Politics?

So, who is this Alliance for a Better Fort Bragg? Why is their contact person located in Sacramento and what do they have to do with conservative Sacramento PR firm Kabateck Strategies? More important for Fort Bragg voters, who funded Kabateck’s services and the Alliance’s fancy website?

Last Wednesday, I learned by chance of a community meeting of the Alliance for a Better Fort Bragg at a Dijon Seafood and Grill in the Company Store. Curious, I decided to check it out. Without counting, I would guess that 30 people were there, many of the “usual suspects” in Fort Bragg politics. Train guys Chris Hart and Robert Pinoli were circulating in the background. Hors d'oeuvres were coming out of the kitchen and wine was being poured.

MC Michelle Roberts gave a short introduction to the Alliance and invited several others to give testimonials. She then shifted into announcing that the Alliance was endorsing Scott Hockett and Ryan Bushnell for Fort Bragg City Council, chosen for their answers to a questionnaire sent out by the Alliance and vetted by an Alliance subcommittee. Scott and Ryan spoke briefly, taking no significant positions other than “putting the swords down.”

After the formal part broke for socializing and individual conversation, I asked Roberts whether the other candidates had returned their questionnaires. Her response was oddly phrased. “I think I can tell you that they didn’t.”

I had a short and pleasant conversation with Ryan, hung out for a while longer with people I knew, grabbed some literature and headed home, planning on digging deeper the next morning.

My first move was to look at the Alliance’s website, https://afabfb.com/, graphically sophisticated with some artful branding. “Cost some money,” was my first thought. A Whois query on the domain name revealed the owner as DomainsByProxy.com, an anonymizer service with the same Tempe, Arizona address as GoDaddy.com, the web host for the website. First red flag: somebody wants to hide who is behind the website.

Second red flag went up when I started looking at the flier I picked up. The contact listed, Nate Haderlie, has a Sacramento phone number. A LinkedIn search for Haderlie listed him as a principal in Kabateck Strategies in Sacramento, a Republican aligned political PR firm whose founder, John Kabateck, worked for Governors Pete Wilson and Arnold Schwarzenegger, fought raising the minimum wage, and wrote an opinion piece for the Hoover Institute.

Kabatech’s website, https://kabateckstrategies.com/, touts their “…more than three decades of leadership with developing, organizing and mobilizing key grassroots organizations and coalitions.” Given their profile, they cannot have come cheap either.

It’s looking more and more like the Alliance is an “astroturf” group, similar to the Tea Party funded by the Koch Brothers, I asked Michelle Roberts at the League of Women Voters forum on Thursday who Kabateck Strategies was. She seemed taken aback that I knew about them. She denied knowing who was paying for their services or that she was working for them.

So, the questions remain:

Who is paying for the Alliance/Kabateck effort?

Are Hockett and Bushnell aware of the sophistication of this effort supporting their candidacies and its source?

Both have denied taking any money from anyone, but campaign signs cost money. If their campaigns have somehow coordinated with the Alliance, are they required to declare the costs of the Kabateck/Alliance effort as campaign contributions?

Fort Bragg voters would like to know.

UKIAH FOOTBALL under coach Paul Cronin, the second-winningest coach in Sonoma County history, Ukiah, 2-1, is building a good case to make the jump back into the rankings after a quality 28-21 win at Northern Section power Chico last week. A win over San Marin this week would definitely be enough to shoot Ukiah up a few spots in the Northcoast rankings.

THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF CARE

To the general public,

During the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors meeting on September 10 a department head was asked if they supported The City of Fort Bragg’s CRU program or if they have ever considered bringing the idea to the County. The department head responded with, “I don’t have their data in front of me but what I have heard is, their arrests of homeless are up 250%, so no, I am not interested in arresting our way out of this.”

On one hand I would agree that arresting our way out of this problem is not the answer, and that is why we have taken the opposite approach. You can see some of our outcomes in the data below. It is important to me, the CRU program and its staff, that the correct information is provided to the public and not data provided by “hearsay.”

Please review the data below and reach out if you have any questions.

The below summary includes six clients the CRU program has worked with extensively. These clients were selected because they demonstrated the diverse level of services CRU provides to find effective solutions.

The savings presented are just an estimate of police staff savings. The estimated staff cost is $400 per contact and $1800 per arrest. These cost estimates are conservative and do not include costs to other agencies such as the courts or jail. These costs also do not include savings to the healthcare system. Every one of the presented clients had multiple emergency room visits during the timeframes reviewed. The assumption is that these emergency room visits would have declined as well following CRU intervention. We have had difficulty tracking these statistics due to the emergency room being unable to provide data due to HIPPA (the federal Health Information Protection and Privacy Act).

Respectfully,

Mayor Bernie Norvell

Fort Bragg

Bnorvell2@fortbragg.com

DONALD CRUSER (retired Coast Math Teacher, former County School Board trustee):

I am mystified by the fact that what is missing from the discussion about the homeless is the fact that the way to solve the problem is to provide these unfortunates with a roof over their head. It is important to recognize that Putin would provide these people with a place to live. Some years ago I spent a little time in St. Petersberg, didn’t see any homeless people, and had a couple of opportunities to enter the homes of local people. They were large apartments, government built, and solid enough to stay warm in the Russian winter.

When the economic system fails to meet a need then government needs to step in, and this is not a new idea. After World War Two veterans were eligible for government subsidized low interest loans for buying a home. This opened the door for home ownership for many working class families. In our recent history there have been many government programs to subsidize the construction of low income housing. And then we can’t forget the California state mental health hospitals. Drive out East on Talmage rode on into the Buddhist Temple grounds. The old hospital has enough dormitory rooms to house all the homeless in our four northern counties. There were six or seven of these around the state and that darling of the fake conservatives, Ronald Reagan, shut them all down. He got government off the backs of the mentally ill and put the mentally ill on our backs. In a classic case of poetic justice, a few years later he became mentally ill with alzheimers.

So how do we provide housing for those who can’t afford it. Here is my suggestion for helping those at the bottom. The first thing to do is go to the city and county planning departments and do a land survey. It will reveal that local government, school districts, churches, and other social institutions own land, and even buildings, that they are not using. Building on donated land greatly reduces the cost. For example, I am not too familiar with the land along the railroad tracks in Ukiah, but I am sure there is some extra space in places. Bring in a contractor to build community bathrooms and kitchens. Go to home depot or that tough shed place on North State Street and buy some 10 X 12 feet buildings (no permit required). Move the buildings in on blocks, keep the numbers in each group around 20 people, and it becomes a workable community where the residents will have some control and they will reside in a place where they can receive medical treatment. With an address many will be eligible for financial assistance and they will be able to pay rent. This could all be done for each group for about a social worker’s salary. There will still be problems but, at least they hopefully won’t be shitting in the bushes any more. Moreover, we can all feel better about treating the neediest among us in a humane way.

MENDO’S NEW SOCIAL SERVICES DIRECTOR: DENEESE ‘DEDE’ PARKER

DeNeese Parker was born and raised in Ukiah. DeNeese has committed her professional career to studying and implementing best practices for early intervention, diversionary programming, psycho-social development, and cultural sensitivity to address mental health, substance use disorders, and associated criminological behaviors. DeNeese has developed, implemented, and administered diversionary programs in juvenile justice and adult specialty court programming through the Eighth Judicial District Court (EJDC), Las Vegas, Nevada. Throughout her academic and professional career, DeNeese’s focus has been studying best practices, early interventions, criminology, detention and prison systems, social development, culture awareness, and trauma informed care. DeNeese has extensive academic and lived/work experience utilizing research methods, collecting statistics, and analyzing data to ensure effective program implementation. DeNeese continues to attend the National Association of Drug Court Professionals training conference yearly and supports data collection and analysis to monitor program success and direct informed decisions in utilizing evidence-based practices.

Academic Background

DeNeese completed high school in two years, passing the High School equivalency test when she was 16 years old, and immediately began attending Mendocino Junior College. DeNeese graduated Mendocino Junior College with honors, with an associate degree in Liberal Arts in 2001. DeNeese transferred to the University of California, Davis, at 18 years old, as a Junior, and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Sociology, with an emphasis in law, with a minor in psychology in 2003. DeNeese moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, to attend graduate school at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where she obtained a master’s degree in Criminal Justice in 2008 and a master’s degree in Social Work in 2016. DeNeese has been on both the Chancellor’s list, Dean’s list, and honor roll throughout her academic career.

Professional Career

Throughout DeNeese’s professional career, she served as a paralegal, counselor, Specialty Court Advocate, and Program Manager and Coordinator over multiple Specialty Courts, in both the juvenile and adult systems. DeNeese is currently a Certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor and found her passion of working with participants within the justice system early on in her career. DeNeese started out as an intake counselor and then became the lead juvenile counselor for the Juvenile Drug Court Program of the EDJC. DeNeese’s counseling style encompasses multiple therapeutic styles and evidence-based practices, with a focus on systems theory. As DeNeese progressed within her career, she consistently implemented programs with prevention/diversion focus, treating and intervening with youth who were at risk of entering or escalating within the juvenile justice system. DeNeese Parker was previously the Truancy Diversion Coordinator, providing the frontline liaison for the Truancy Diversion Program (TDP) of the EJDC, during which she coordinated truancy diversion programs in tover eighty-five (85) schools in the Clark County School District. The focus of TDP was to address and prevent the school to prison pipeline, by intervening and providing services to youth and families experiencing truancy within the school system. During this time, Judge William Voy appointed DeNeese as the Juvenile Drug Court and Diversion Court Coordinator, where she was instrumental in developing and implementing best practices in both court programs. DeNeese developed programming for the Diversion Court to assess and treat youth at the beginning stages of entering the justice system, diverting them into services, and preventing escalation within the juvenile justice system.

Throughout her career, DeNeese developed diversionary and evidence-based program, implemented enhancements to existing programs, written and maintained grant funding, secured permanent funding for programs, and continues to seek out best practices and improve systems and programs within the Court/Justice system.

In 2019, DeNeese was appointed by the Eighth Judicial District Court CEO Steven Grierson to be the Specialty Courts Program Administrator, managing all specialty courts for the 8th Judicial District Court in Clark County, Nevada including Adult Drug Court, Co-Occurring Drug Court, Transitional Age Program, OPEN, Veteran’s Treatment Court, Felony DUI Court, Mental Health Court, Gambling Diversion Treatment Court, Juvenile Drug Court, Family Treatment Drug Court, Re-Entry Court, and Law Enforcement Intervention for Mental health and Addiction (LIMA). DeNeese works closely with judges and court administration in the development and maintenance of the various court programs. Administrative duties included developing and submitting grant and/or other funding applications, developing contracts for and communicating regularly with treatment providers, and developing and maintaining statistical and financial reports. This position develops and monitors budgets for all of the specialty court programs. The position is also responsible for developing informational and statistical reports for presentation to judges, the Board of County Commissioners, and the Nevada State Legislature.

In 2021, DeNeese was appointed by Eighth Judicial District Court Chief Judge Linda Bell to the Assistant Court Administrator over the Juvenile Division. In this position, DeNeese is responsible for oversight over the Juvenile Division, as well as the EDJC Specialty Court programs, including grant, fiscal, and program oversight. DeNeese directs and administers the programs related to governmental and legislative activity related to the Eighth Judicial District Court Juvenile Division and Specialty Courts and oversees over 25 contracts and 11 grants, managing grant funding in excess of $8 million annually.

ED NOTES

“Ukiah, CA, August, 2024 — The Mendocino County Homeless Services Continuum of Care (MCHSCoC) has released its results from the 2024 Point-in-Time (PIT) Count, an annual count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons in Mendocino County. More than 40 volunteers took part in this year’s PIT Count, which was held on the morning of January 24, 2024. The data collected on that night is organized and submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and is typically approved and released back to the community in late summer. In 2024, volunteers counted 779 individuals experiencing both sheltered and unsheltered homelessness – 227 of those individuals were in shelter, and 552 of those individuals were unsheltered on the night of January 23. Utilizing a location-based application, short surveys were administered to individuals and families residing on the streets and in vehicles, makeshift shelters, encampments, and other places not meant for human habitation throughout the County. Non-responsive observed persons were documented and included in the Count totals as well.”

SAN FRANCISCO does it, too, and can you even imagine a more imprecise funding method? One night, as observed by yours truly, in the city that knows how, a bunch of “volunteers” from agencies whose funding depends on the count, were out counting the homeless — silently counting them, not asking them if they were in fact unhoused. The SF volunteers reported that they had seen exactly 6,377 unsheltered people, a dubiously achieved stat given the methodology, and certainly a low-end stat because it excluded multiple families jammed into shared spaces, people living in their cars, people temporarily on a couch in a friend's apartment — the thousands of people who can't be counted. And there are lots of people out there who don't want to be counted. (in Mendo, the “volunteer” counters count anybody who even looks homeless. “How about that guy, Debbie?” And Tanya says, “Got him Deb. He might even be a reimbursable.”)

WHICH BROUGHT ME to the north end of the Ferry Building where there's a cluster of benches, some of which face east, some west, giving idlers the choice between the natural beauty of the Bay or the human comedy of the street. A presumed homeless man, a black man I pegged as being in his middle fifties, complete with a meticulously organized shopping cart parked in front of him, faced the Bay. Two pairs of perfectly shined and buffed dress shoes and a couple of water bottles dangled from his cart, the rest of whose contents were neatly tarped in a quality camo canvas.

I stood at an oblique to the homeless guy, enjoying a cup of wildly overpriced Peet's looking out over the sleeping man at the endlessly fascinating parade on the street beyond him. The homeless man was snoring; snoring, so deep in dreamland he could have been in a medically-induced coma.

Two uniformed rent-a-cops approached. One of them gently shook the sleeping man's shoulder. Instantly awake, the homeless man said, “Can I help you?”

I laughed. I'd never seen anyone come that far out of unconsciousness that fast and that lucid.

The security guy announced, “This is private property. You can't sleep here. You'll have to move.”

“I'm awake now, and thank you very much,” the homeless man said as if the two guards were a couple of hotel clerks who'd just made a personal wake-up call.

“This is private property. You have to move,” came back the security man again, both of whom were very young, one Hispanic, one black.

“Wrong,” said the homeless man. “This is public property, and I'm a citizen of this city and this country, a veteran and a voter and I have the right to be here. Are you two fools even citizens?”

I laughed.

The two security guys looked at each other. The homeless man was way ahead on points.

“Don't make us call the police,” said the black security man.

“I wouldn't think of making you do anything,” the homeless man said.

I laughed again.

The homeless man, pointing at me, said, “Why don't you move him along? He was here before I got here.”

Togged out in my walking clothes and backpack, I had to agree that I was probably marginal by most visual acceptability scales. But I was down with the homeless man. He wasn't bothering anyone, just an old guy sleeping in the sun when he wasn't pushing his worldly goods up and down the Embarcadero's three-mile promenade, from Fisherman's Wharf to the ball park, a beautiful panorama of people and water and sun. If I were homeless these three miles would be my home for sure.

The Ferry Building's management was moving the homeless man along because he was, I guess, unsightly, maybe even distressing to the upscale shoppers milling around inside buying ten dollar hunks of Scharfen Berger chocolate. (I happened to have known John Scharffenberger for many years. He's a Philo guy. Known him all the way back to when he was one person.)

The security men stepped back to confer, and soon one of them brandished a cell phone in the direction of the homeless man.

With a sigh, the homeless man stood up.

“Are you leaving?” one of the security boys asked.

“I'm not doing Pilates, am I?” the homeless man said, and began pushing his stuff out towards the sidewalk. The security boys watched him go.

But I wanted to know this man. He was smiling when I walked up to him and asked if I could buy him a cup of coffee.

“No, but you can give me the cash for one,” he said. “I'm on my way to the ball game.”

He was, too, because a couple of hours later when I got to the free view sites behind the right field wall there he was talking about one of the Giant's pitchers with another fan, his shopping cart parked out by the rail at the water where the kayak people wait for splashers.

But when he saw me coming, the funniest street guy I'd encountered in months looked quickly back at the field, telling me without saying so to move on.

MENDOCINO FAIR & APPLE SHOW 2024

by Terry Sites

Arriving at the 2024 Boonville Fair last Friday, the program book outlined most of the things that would happen or be available for viewing. Curious people with wide ranging interests can easily keep themselves occupied and entertained with very few gaps for all three days. Any pauses can be neatly filled with high-octane people watching.

The long row of benches along the outside wall of the wool building are the best seats in the house for people watching. The wide aisle that starts at the Hall of Flowers and runs all the way through to the High School sports field is where the Rodeos (2), Dances (3), Sheep Dog Trial (1), and Soccer game (1) all happen. Down this aisle roll babies in strollers with proud parents and grandparents, bands of teen-aged friends looking handsome/beautiful/hopeful, couples of all ages holding hands, distracted singles punching away on their phones, fair workers coming through on their way to unplug toilets or deliver ice and lastly, connoisseurs of the human parade who can appreciate the variety of humanity streaming by.

This year romance appeared to be making a comeback as a number of enchanted and enchanting couples were spotted kissing like they meant business. We’ve come a long way since the heavy Covid years. Just watching massive numbers of (mostly) maskless people enjoying each other was heartening.

The Fair includes very active events like the rodeos, sports, dances, bungee jumping and carnival thrill riding. The AV High School Soccer team beat Mendocino 3-1 in the featured sports event this year. Then there are the calmer attractions such as the Home and Fine Arts displays, the Agricultural building and the Wool and Fiber Hall. Also engaging are the vendors who will paint your face, tattoo you, serve you beer, wine or cider, try and get your presidential vote, or try to sell you clothes, jewelry, toys, dog accessories, ethnic arts or baked potatoes and the ever-popular corndogs.

Outstanding this year was the Grange blue ribbon winning display of fruits and vegetables in all their glory. A new design conceived by Mea Bloyd and constructed by the skilled and willing hands of Grange members portrayed the sun with earth’s bounty filling each curvaceous ray. Otilio Espinoza’s 231-pound blue ribbon pumpkin got Biggest in Show. Local women noticing that the number of entries was falling came together at the Hall of Flowers on the Wednesday before the Fair. They assembled 50 bright arrangements to add to all the other plants and flowers entered.

A special thank you to Vickie Brock who provided five full buckets of Mike Brock Memorial Zinnias! Also a special appreciation to Kathy Borst for going the extra mile and assembling a realistic blue ribbon birthday cake festooned with flowers to celebrate the 100th Birthday of the Fair.

The Lions, Veterans and Fire/Ambulance Departments sold a ton of beer and burgers, the proceeds of which will go directly back into the community. The Elder Home and the Winegrowers Association provided wine while Gowan’s provided the cider. The Yorkville Community Benefits Association was on hand to sell quilt raffle tickets and t-shirts that also fund the community.

Sheep and rabbit shearing in the wool hall give fairgoers a cool and shady retreat from the heat. Being around the animals reminds us of our not so distant past when we relied on animals every day to help us live our lives. Watching youth manage and show their animals is fresh and sweet. They encourage their charges with petting, words of encouragements, and even the occasional kiss. (There go those kisses again!) Listening to the animal judges’ descriptions is interesting. “Great density and intensity…a bit hollowed out at the rear…good depth over hip and excellent texture.”

Different kinds of people have different kinds of animals. There are pig people, cattle people, goat people, sheep people, chicken people, rabbit people and horse people, not to mention people people. I loved the t-shirts, “0% Vegetarian” and “Swine Staff.” Whole families do animals projects together. It seems like a very good way to bring family members close. The kids represent the future unsullied with great potential, while the adults with their pasts are characterized by their experience.

And so another year of the Fair passes and we move towards winter with the pleasures and challenges that will bring. See you next year at the 101st Mendocino County Fair and Apple Show 2025.

(Note: This is part 2 of our Fair Report. For part 1 including a fascinating collection of Fair pics go to: theava.com/archives/252623.)

LOCAL AUTHORS READ FROM THEIR NEW BIOGRAPHIES

Join local authors Marnie White and Katy Tahja for a special reading of selections from their new books, ‘King of the Air and Sea’ by Marni White and Katy Tahja from her biography ‘Surendorf’ on Saturday, October 5, 2024 at 4:00 pm, at the Little River Inn in Little River, CA. The event is free and hosted by Gallery Bookshop in Mendocino.

Katy Tahja’s biography ‘Surendorf’ is about a multi-talented artist who loved to stay at the Little River Inn in the 1970’s. He was friends with many Mendocino County artists and lived in Columbia CA. He spent the last half of his life fighting state parks as the government took an old worn mining town and turned it into what Surendorf called “Sierra Disneyland.”

Marnie White’s fiction ‘King of the Air and Sea’ is dedicated to those who dream of adventure and are young in heart. It is inspired by the real-life adventures of her grandfather Oliver who as a young adult at the turn of the 20th century was a stowaway on an old sailing ship that traveled the world. Part fiction and part family memories King of the Air and Sea is a book for young folks adults will enjoy too.

Marnie White is a native of Northern California and graduate of San Francisco State University. She is also the author of Echoes from an Open Space Ranch, an autobiography about her life as a park ranger’s wife on the Old Borges Ranch in Walnut Creek, California. After retiring she and her husband Ron moved to the north coast.

Katy Tahja has written five books of local history and has been a coastal resident more than 50 years, She’s a journalist and a retired librarian and when she crossed paths with Surendorf’s son she found an artist’s life story she wanted to share.

JAG MEETING

The Jackson Demonstration State Forest Advisory Group (JAG) will be meeting October 4, 2024 at Camp 1 (Road 350 at 5.85 mile marker on Highway 20) — Start Time: 9:00 am; End Time: 4:00 pm (estimated)

At the discretion of the JAG, members of the public observing the meeting may address the JAG on any topic within its jurisdiction not otherwise on the agenda. Submittal of written comments is encouraged to ensure that all comments will be included in the record before the JAG. Please be prepared to summarize comments to two (2) minutes in length, or otherwise at the discretion of the Chair.

Review Items are management practices proposed by JDSF for review by the JAG for compliance with the JDSF Forest Management Plan and advancing the goals of the New Vision. Action Items are those that require a majority vote by the JAG.

The Field Tour portion of the meeting will begin and end at Camp 1. There will be portions of the tour that are on graveled and dirt roads that only high clearance or 4WD vehicles can access. Attendees are responsible for their own lunch and water. There will be walking portions of the tour, mostly on roads. Be prepared for weather and wear comfortable walking shoes. Please see the ADA Notice on page 4 if you need assistance.

Please note that times for agenda items are approximate. Items may take more or less time or be taken in a different order. Meeting may end early if all agenda items are completed before scheduled. This meeting may utilize formal public comment periods, focused on agenda items.

The public may submit comments in advance via email pertaining to the meeting’s agenda. Please submit public comments to the following email address: JDSF@fire.ca.gov (subject line must contain “JAG Meeting Comment”). These comments must be submitted by 1:00 pm, October 2nd to be distributed to the JAG prior to the meeting.

The public may provide comments during discussion of any item on the agenda. Individuals will have a maximum of 3-minutes to speak. The three-minute speaking time may be amended by the Chair, depending on the number of speakers. Individuals with a shared position are encouraged to select a spokesperson for their group. The Chair retains the right to stop any speaker who raises an issue that is not under the JAG’s jurisdiction. See Public Forum item for commenting on items not on the agenda.

The Mission of the Jackson Demonstration State Forest Advisory Group (JAG) is to provide advice/recommendations to CAL FIRE and the Board of Forestry regarding issues relevant to the periodic review of the JDSF Management Plan required under Board policy; ongoing implementation issues; and policy matters relevant to JDSF.

The 2016 Forest Management Plan is available on the website: https://tinyurl.com/Forest-Management-Plan

The Charter for the JDSF Advisory Group is available on the CAL FIRE website at: https://tinyurl.com/JAG-Charter-2024

Meeting Documents, including agenda, and JDSF New Vision are available electronically on Jackson Demonstration State Forest Website at: https://www.fire.ca.gov/what-we-do/natural-resource-management/demonstration-state-forests/jackson-demonstration-state-forest

Those requiring further information about this meeting notice may contact the Jackson Demonstration State Forest Headquarters, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, 802 North Main Street, Fort Bragg, CA (707) 964-5674.

Driving Direction to Camp 1 from Fort Bragg, CA.

From Highway 1 in Fort Bragg, drive east on Highway 20 for approximately 5.85 miles.

Turn left onto JDSF Road 350 towards the campgrounds.

Stay on JDSF Road 350 for approximately 2 miles to Camp 1 Day Use Area.

Note: Restroom facilities are available at the Camp 1 Day Use Area.

REMEMBER RICK LE BURKIEN, the flagrantly stupid self-promoting doofus the Mendocino Promotional Alliance (now called “Visit Mendocino”) hired in November in 2007 as their CEO? Several members of the local press, including the newspeople at KZYX, passed along Le Burkien’s hilariously goofy promotional bullshit as if he was some kind of high-priest of Mendo Marketing. (Please resist the temptation to pronounce his name as Chick Turducken.) A high point in Le Burkien’s big splash in Mendo in 2006 was when KZYX reporter Annie Esposito asked him how he’d know if he was doing his job. Le Burkien said that we’d know by the number of new wineries started in Mendocino County by 2015, some ten years later — meanwhile, trust him. At one point a Ukiah Daily Journal editorial described Le Burkien’s obviously incompetent rap as “innovative.” KZYX newsperson Annie Esposito called it “passionate.” We were astonished that these alleged newspeople could not see through this guy’s crap. But our astonishment went nowhere. Le Burkien had charmed the local promoters by claiming to be a former “professor of marketing at the University of the Virgin Islands.” But UVI’s website said he taught one (1) freelance marketing class in 2004. None of his other hyperbolic claims could be verified.

A FEW MONTHS EARLIER Promotional Alliance board chair Bill Crawford of McDowell Valley Vineyards, said, “Of all of the candidates we interviewed, Mr. Le Burkien especially impressed us with his depth of marketing knowledge and his desire to help build community, not just promote it.”

LE BURKIEN’S main skill, it seems, was ass-kissing, a skill in high demand at the Promotional Alliance. “These people, government leaders, business leaders, and various associations have all made the ground fertile and ready for prosperity beyond their wildest imaginations,” said Le Burkien, upon taking his high paying, tax-funded job. “Mendocino County is a great place, with great people and beautiful land — it’s just a great product to sell. The greatest asset from my perspective isn’t the wine, the grapes, the art, the lodging, the environment or the beauty alone. It’s everything together! This county is a marketer’s dream! This is an economic developer’s dream!” Le Burkien was an enthusiastic advocate of “working together” too. (Apparently, none of the other “candidates” could think of these sophisticated marketing concepts.)

THE PROMOTIONAL ALLIANCE, you may recall, wasted hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars every year, trying, without a shred of proof, to buy glossy ads in the Chronicle and Wine & Leisure, hoping to lure unwitting touri and wineyup writers to the Coast, mainly. (Last year, citing budget restrictions, the County finally stopped giving the tourism marketers their taxpayer handouts.)

BUT THEN in the summer of 2007, Le Burkien abruptly but predictably quit (or was fired; we never knew which because nobody can tell anymore). The Ukiah Daily Journal seemed at least to have finally caught on to Le Burkien's bullshit, albeit belatedly. Having lucratively kissed Mendo’s collective ass with a juvenile enthusiasm that would make a St. Bernard puppy blush, Le Burkien said, “There are some bigger picture opportunities I am interested in that would allow me to better optimize my talents, energy, spirit and experience,” explaining, “I didn’t believe I was serving all members of my Board in the most effective way possible.”

THIS SAID more about the Promotional Alliance Board than it did about Le Burkien. What kind of morons would hire a transparently idiotic ass-kisser like Le Burkien? The Promotional Alliance Board, that’s who. And that Board was made up of the same people who spent taxpayer money on this same kind of crap in the vague hope that it might bring more undesirables, er, tourists, to Mendo. It took me less than five minutes to see how big a bullshit artist Le Burkien was, but it took the Promotional Alliance Board eight months. That’s about right. At least they finally did.

IT TURNS OUT that the problem was that Le Burkien wanted to be the bullshitter while the Promotional Alliance Board wanted him to be the bullshitee. “I thought I was pretty smart,” Le Burkien said in his still-self-promoting departure note, “However, it took coming to a place I never heard of to a group of unique people to learn my greatest lessons. 1. Talk less; 2. Logic may not be the solution; 3. Talk less; and 4. Relax and have patience. All things I’ve known all my life but it’s in your face here [in Mendocino County].”

BULLSHITTING at each other’s face obviously was a problem. But a close reading of Le Burkien’s stupid going-away gibberish requires us to focus on the word “patience,” Mendo’s unofficial mantra. Mendo is absolutely allergic to deadlines, and dates certain. Need a proposal to deal with the homeless? Have patience, we’ll get to it in a few decades as we earn our big bucks handing out federal cash to our friends. Need a way to reign in AirBnB rentals? No rush, it’ll get done in ten years or so, maybe, after all, we can’t just use the Sonoma County approach; we need a carefully “crafted” one of our own which takes a lot of time and meetings. Need a budget report? Give us a big pay raise to attract excellent people and we’ll… Oh, I forgot. Budget reports might cause people to ask questions. Can’t have that.

Update: According to LinkedIn, Mr. Le Burkien now does his ass-kissing as a “program specialist” in Hawaii’s social services department. Oddly, his list of previous positions doesn’t mention Mendocino County and the time frame from March of 2007 to September of 2009 is somehow missing from his resume.

(Mark Scaramella)

IN THE VALLEY AMONG THE HILLS

Reprinted from the March 6, 2003, Mendocino Beacon

by Chuck Bush

According to the late Charlotte Hoak, daughter of one of the first settlers in Comptche, the town was named after Compatche, a Pomo chief who brought his people through that beautiful area seasonally, as a part of their hunting and gathering, nomadic life. The Pomos told her his name means, “in the valley among the hills, beside the river of potholes”—quite a lot for only one little word. It doesn’t do justice to such a lovely place, but does seem to be a more appropriate name for the town than for the chief. Other than one Spaniard who obtained a Mexican land grant prior to 1848, there is scant evidence of settlers in the area until the late 1850s/early 1860s.

The first Comptche settlers followed the Pomos’ trail about 32 miles west from the small village of Ukiah, bringing their supplies in on foot or horseback, or on the backs of hired Pomo laborers. About 15 miles west they passed Orr’s Springs, named after Samuel Orr who moved his family from Kentucky in 1850 and bought the springs in 1858 (from Barry Wright who had bought the land from the Spaniard with the original Mexican land grant).

Orr built a three-story inn for travelers and visitors to his sulphur springs. Six miles further west was where Francisco Faria homesteaded some property with Nathaniel Smith in 1863, after selling his property in Cuffey’s Cove. A few miles further west was a Pomo campground complete with sweathouse, and just beyond that was the Andrew and Elizabeth Montgomery homestead, later to become Montgomery State Park.

Continuing west another six miles was the Newman Hoak Ranch, the first Comptche house along the trail, about a mile and one-half east of where Comptche Corners would later develop. James Rice from Ohio laid claim to that property in 1857, but soon thereafter married Caroline Coombs of Little River and moved there; he turned his interest over to his business partner, Newman Hoak, who completed the purchase.

Hoak was from Maine and had spent many years at sea as a captain before becoming a lumberman. Hoak was the first to log in Comptche and later became superintendent for the Albion Logging Company. Hoak’s house was built around 1860 and his family lived in it for 40 years.

Close by the Hoaks were the Danish Oppenlanders. In 1866, Charles Henry Oppenlander and his wife Ida bought 160 acres in Comptche from William Kelley (who had purchased much of what was to become Comptche as a part of his lumber holdings). They started the Oppenlander Ranch, which later was to grow to 2,707 acres. In 1873 Oppenlander also bought property some eight miles east and built an inn which became the Halfway House, and for many years was a stopping place for the Mendocino-Ukiah stages.

Oppenlander came to Comptche with another Dane named John Christian Ottoson. They both had worked for the Mendocino Lumber Company in 1865, cutting hay in two adjoining valleys, and when Oppenlander bought property in one valley, Ottoson bought in the other. He brought his wife and three children from Denmark, and built a home not far from the present Comptche Corners. When Chief Compatche finally passed away, after moving through the Comptche area with his tribe many times, he was buried on a knoll just west of the Ottoson property.

Not much further west was where Andrew Jackson Mack homesteaded after crossing the country in a covered wagon in the 1850s. Mack was part Sioux and always had friendly powwows with the Pomos, whenever they passed through. About five miles west of Comptche Corners along the road to Mendocino is the property granted to William Host and his wife in 1869; Host became constable and he started the search for the famous Mendocino Outlaws in 1897.

It is on and around his property that the wild logging camp of Melburne developed, including saloons and bordellos. But after the trees were cut, it quickly disintegrated, so there remain few signs of that town.

West of the Host’s was the Louis Gonsalves ranch. The second homestead claim in Comptche was filed by Francisco Faria for his cousin Louis Gonsalves, who also came from the island of Pico in the Azores. Gonsalves arrived in 1864, and soon brought over and married his fiancee. As a reward for acquiring the property for Gonsalves before he arrived and became a citizen, Gonsalves gave Faria one acre, on which Francisco built a cottage and a saloon sometime in the early 1870s, after he sold his property out on Orr’s Springs Road. The Gonsalves property is about as far west as you can be and still consider yourself in Comptche.

Louis Gonsalves Ranch, c. 1900. (Gift of Robert J. Lee)

In the 1870s, in came the Thomsons, the Philbricks, Crocketts, Gibsons and Collins; the Russells moved into Comptche from Orr’s Springs. Then the McDonalds and a host of others arrived. The road was good enough to support a stage coach line in the early ’70s, the post office started in 1877, and the first school opened in 1884.

There were supposed to have been about 100 families out there in the later 1800s. I don’t think the town is that much larger today. Comptche is just a magical secret place where around a hundred fortunate people enjoy living in some of the most beautiful country in the world. May it always stay that way. Thanks to the late Elsa Thompson for her 1973 booklet, “Early Settlers of Comptche.”

(The Kelley House Museum is open from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM Thursday through Monday. Walking tours of the historic district depart from the Kelley House regularly; for a tour schedule, visit www.kelleyhousemuseum.org.)

CATCH OF THE DAY, Tuesday, September 24, 2024

ANTONIO BAYARRI-BARRERA, 35, Ukiah. Under influence, paraphernalia.

ANDHRA FIMBRES, 41, Ukiah. Resisting.

HENSLEY HOLT, 42, Arcata/Ukiah. DUI, addict driving a vehicle.

MICHAEL JOHNSON, 64, Willits. Assault, battery with serious injury, violation of civil rights by force or threat of force.

ADAM KESTER, 38, Willits. Petty theft, controlled substance, resisting.

MICHAEL OFFILL, 39, Santa Cruz/Ukiah. Failure to appear.

JESSICA SPEERS, 31, Ukiah. DUI, suspended license for DUI, probation revocation.

REBECCA TRAVERS, 45, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

BRIAN WETHERN, 45, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

FBI SERVES SEARCH WARRANT IN CLOVERDALE

by Madison Smalstig

FBI agents served a search warrant Tuesday morning in Cloverdale, authorities said in a brief social media post.

Few details were available, but the Cloverdale Police Department said they assisted with the search on Pepperwood Drive in a southwest area of the city. They did not indicate if it was at a residence or a business.

In a Facebook post, police asked residents to avoid the area but said it is not a dangerous situation.

(Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

ED NOTE: And the rest of the story? The only prior federal raid on a Cloverdale address occurred, I recall, in the late 1980s when a couple of high school kids, were arrested for hacking into the Bank of America. A windy federal attorney name of Robinson made it out to be the crime of the century.

ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO LOOK INSIDE?

by Paul Modic

Maybe it’s not such a great idea to know what’s really going on in there. Since I had my surprise bout with pericarditis a couple years ago I get to have an echocardiogram once a year, nicknamed an “echo,” to look for a possible recurrence of that condition. I went up a few months after my July Fourth ambulance ride, took off my shirt in a room at the Eureka hospital, and while lying down the technician waved a wand over my chest, and next to the bed on a video screen my innards showed up in various vivid colors with my beating heart the main show.

The tech informed me that the pericarditis (too much fluid in the sac surrounding the heart which produces pain) hasn’t returned but that I have an enlarged aorta, which will earn me an annual trip, for a while anyway, to check if it has gotten bigger, measured in millimeters. “Do they ever get smaller?” I asked. No, he said, damn.

Looking online I found that the common name for an enlarged aorta is an aortic aneurism, which sounded alarming. “You mean it could just explode at any time and that would be it?” I asked the tech.

“Yes,” he said, “but if you can get emergency care quickly you can survive.”

“Is this condition pretty common? Can the aorta get smaller?” I asked. No, he said, damn again.

It’s time to go back for my yearly echo, this time in the Fortuna hospital. I look over to the video screen and see my heart beating as the tech passes the wand over my chest again. “You have a leaking aorta valve,” he tells me. “See the splashes of green where the aorta is connected to the heart?”

I look over at the rhythmic green splashes, the tech doesn’t seem alarmed but it’s not his heart. I watch the regular green splashes, there’s also red colors signifying something. “You also have some arrhythmia,” he says and points to the ‘Wall Street stock ticker’ showing it. “It should be a steady line of pulses but every few seconds yours jumps up higher.”

I can’t remember the precise terminology he professionally recited, but now, even though I feel healthy, more energetic, and stronger that ever, I know I have an enlarged aorta, a leaky valve, a touch of arrhythmia, and am on the lookout for the possible return of pericarditis.

Everyone who’s never had an echo might have some interesting things going on inside you, but maybe you don’t want to know, until you actually feel something wrong?

It’s a little scary, my body is breaking down, though it’s what’s to be expected and not even Peter Pan Syndrome can save me now. All the heart issues can be addressed by modern medicine (paid by socialized Medicare, free for seniors) it was pointed out to me at the farmer’s market recently by unimpressed listeners to my litany of concern. For each condition they told me the corrective procedure along with the names of some mutual friends who have had them already.

When it was time to have my yearly echo I asked my doctor if I should schedule another one and he said that since I’m healthy I could just wait until I feel symptoms, like shortness of breath.

Noam Chomsky, my mother’s lifelong friend, told her the joke when they both turned 85 a few years ago, that this is what we do at a certain age, have “organ recitals,” and I just wrote one.

ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

July 4th weekend, 2023. 6 1/2 tons of garbage and left behind debris picked up from lake Tahoe beaches. Only 2 1/2 tons this year. Tell me people aren’t pigs.

BI-COASTAL HOMELESSNESS

Here Now at a Washington D.C. Homeless Shelter

Warmest spiritual greetings,

The profound video about Shakshi, the Eternal Witness, by Swami Sarvapriyananda of the New York Vedanta Society, was sent out far and wide yesterday, and appreciative comments have been received via email. Indeed, why identify with the body and the mind when identifying with the source of the body-mind complex is possible? If one "holds fast to the constant", then all actions will be performed flawlessly, because error is not possible. In terms of socio-political activism, this is crucial to ensure the best results. It is as simple as that.

Going on two weeks at the Adam's Place homeless shelter in northeast Washington, D.C. There have been no offers for long term housing. I am available until the body-mind complex vanishes. There isn't really anything else to say.

Craig Louis Stehr

Adam's Place

2210 Adams Place NE #1

Washington, D.C. 20018

Telephone: (202) 832-8317

Email: craiglouisstehr@gmail.com

JEFF BLANKFORT

Here is my photo of Pete McCloskey in 1987, the night he debated the racist Rabbi Meir Kahane in San Francisco:

Six years later he would take the case against the ADL for spying on me and two others on behalf of apartheid Israel and apartheid South Africa, Israel's close ally, and nine years after that he forced the ADL to its knees when no other lawyer would have risked his or her career by challenging that odious organization.

Pete passed away in May and was honored with a beautiful memorial ceremony by those who knew, respected, and loved him.

Throughout his political and legal career. Pete would invariably choose the cause of justice over injustice.

A READER WRITES: Meanwhile, Anthony Blinken, the Don Knotts of American diplomacy, is in Egypt urging “all parties” to avoid steps that could “further escalate the conflict that we’re trying to resolve.” Obviously, Blinken seems to have no idea that he is being ignored by the Israelis, and that his feckless statements have only embarrassed the United States in the Middle East as well as the larger global stage.

A DINNER PARTY AT THE END OF THE WORLD (High Country News)

Don’t tell the Haitians of Columbus, Ohio, about this — they’ll all converge on poor Harvey Reading and lick their chops at his dog Diamond!

https://www.hcn.org/articles/a-dinner-party-at-the-end-of-the-world/

(via Bruce McEwen)

WHAT DID OAKLAND A’S OWNER JOHN FISHER SAY TO FANS IN HIS FAREWELL LETTER?

by John Shea

Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher found it necessary on Monday to send a letter to the very fans he disappointed by deciding to pull their team out of Oakland.

The eight-paragraph letter was released by the team on the eve of its final home series at the Coliseum, the A’s home since 1968.

Fans had every right to feel offended by Fisher’s choice of words, especially in his final paragraph:

“Looking ahead, I hope you will join our beloved A’s as we move forward on this amazing journey. I hope I will see you again sporting the Green and Gold. And I hope we will make you proud.”

For years, Fisher has done little to make fans proud. He slashed payroll, raised ticket and parking prices and forced the trades of star players. His mistreatment of the team and fans led to Major League Baseball’s worst attendance numbers, making it easier for him to build a relocation case to other MLB owners.

In November, owners voted 30-0 to approve Fisher’s wish to move the team.

“I know there is great disappointment, even bitterness,” Fisher wrote. “Though I wish I could speak to each one of you individually, I can tell you this from the heart: we tried. Staying in Oakland was our goal, it was our mission, and we failed to achieve it. And for that I am genuinely sorry.”

Fans weren’t buying it Monday. Fisher might have claimed he wanted to speak individually with fans, but let it be known the A’s shut off all replies on their social media channels. Still, fans took to social media to respond to Fisher’s letter, suggesting he wasn’t at all sincere when suggesting he tried his best to keep the team in Oakland.

Fisher wrote, “Our dream was to win world championships and build a new ballpark in Oakland.”

“Looking ahead, I hope you will join our beloved A’s as we move forward on this amazing journey. I hope I will see you again sporting the Green and Gold. And I hope we will make you proud.”

Fisher pursued ballpark sites in Fremont and San Jose and spent only part of his time pursuing sites in Oakland, never seriously considering rebuilding at the Coliseum property, a much more reasonable location than Howard Terminal with easy access to freeways and BART and plenty of parking.

“Only in 2021,” Fisher continued, “after 16 years of working exclusively on developing a home in the Bay Area and faced with a binding MLB agreement to find a new home by 2024 did we begin to explore taking the team to Las Vegas.”

Problem was, the binding agreement wasn’t about finding a stadium site as much as maintaining Fisher’s status as a revenue-sharing recipient. Because he consummated his Las Vegas deal before a Jan. 15, 2024, deadline that’s noted in the CBA, he’s guaranteed revenue-sharing checks while playing in MLB’s tiniest market.

Former A’s reliever Trevor May criticized Fisher in a post, saying the letter “is just disrespectful to those that love the team. ‘We tried.’ lol. The fact that you STILL think that anyone cares about that at this point shows, once again, your lack of understanding of WHY people love the game. You love owning stuff, just not your actions. Either stand up with pride or keep hiding. Pick one, we’re tired.”

The A’s will host the Texas Rangers on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday before a season-ending series in Seattle, then pack up and move to Sacramento while Fisher’s stadium on the Strip is under construction. Soon, because of the relocation, hundreds of A’s and game-day employees will lose their jobs.

(SF Chronicle)

In 1942, Boston Braves rookie Warren Spahn pitched in only four games before enlisting in the US Army, causing him to miss 3.5 years. During his service, he was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for his distinguished service. He resumed his pitching career in 1946.

A’S EXIT FROM OAKLAND HURTS WORSE AS JOHN FISHER ADDS INSULT TO INJURY

by Ann Killion

Of course, we couldn’t escape this week without one final tone-deaf, shiv-in-the-back missive from Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher.

These days have been ones of great emotion for longtime A’s fans. They are making final pilgrimages to the ballpark where they grew up, where they brought their kids, where they fell in love with baseball, where they found a community. They are finding ways to say goodbye.

There is a sense of mourning, a sense of loss, a need to be seen by and be with others who are feeling the same sad pain. It is a personal journey for every fan.

And then here comes Fisher with his inane, tactless letter.

Not to be too crass, but no one wants to hear from the murderer at the funeral. Fisher is the one who has killed the Oakland A’s and it has been nothing short of a diabolical plot, a long, slow death scheme of cutting finances, trading players, trashing Oakland, failing the fans, parallel-pathing and then, abruptly, ending things.

Fisher has long had some of the worst PR advisers on the planet, and this was apparently their parting gift.

They allowed him to actually put his name to these words: “The A’s are part of the fabric of Oakland, the East Bay, the entire Bay Area.”

That’s as hollow as “Rooted in Oakland,” the empty words that greeted fans outside the Coliseum entrance for years, even as Fisher schemed how to leave.

He bought a team in 2005 that truly was part of the fabric of Oakland and his first act as owner was to try to move the team out of town. Though his letter, posted on the A’s website, says his dream was to build a new ballpark in Oakland, “and over the next 18 years we did our very best to make that happen,” that’s a flat-out lie. He spent the first nine years of his ownership frantically trying to move the team out of Oakland.

Fremont! San Jose! Pipe dreams!

His claim of pursuing “five different locations” in the Bay Area fails to mention that they weren’t all viable locations — hello Laney College! — and that his final pursuit wasn’t a ballpark but a massive real estate development.

If that was doing “our very best” I’d hate to see what their very worst would look like.

What he never pursued was the one obvious solution — the place where thousands of baseball fans have been gathering to mourn the team this week. The site of the funeral: the Oakland Coliseum.

It was always there for the taking. It has always been the easy solution, the one viable answer. Not as glamorous as being on the waterfront (and boy that Vegas waterfront is really something!) but only a leader with zero creativity would be blind to the possibilities of 120 acres of Bay Area real estate with BART and freeway access and views of the Oakland hills.

But that’s Fisher. Zero vision.

There are others to blame. The Giants, for clinging to the South Bay territorial rights. Rob Manfred, for a complete failure of leadership as commissioner. All of the MLB owners — including the Giants — for granting their least successful, most inept colleague exactly what he wanted.

But this failure is primarily Fisher’s. So his apology — “we failed to achieve it. And for that I am genuinely sorry” — is hamfisted, last-minute window dressing to try to pretty up the slow-death scheme that lasted for 19 years. There was nothing genuine about it.

This week, the old gray concrete bowl will be brimming with memories for fans, who can remember when it was the nicest ballpark in the Bay Area. Some will come with sadness, some will come full of anger. Some will come with hope — that maybe it isn’t goodbye. That maybe, like everything Fisher touches, somehow this too will all go bad and fall apart. That somehow Oakland will get a reprieve.

In his letter, Fisher wrote,“though I wish I could speak to each one of you individually,” that’s another falsehood. This is a man who spent the past 19 years avoiding any form of communication. He didn’t hold press conferences in Oakland and made himself available to local reporters on less than a handful of occasions. The A’s have turned off comments on their social media accounts. They probably don’t open their mail. Fisher and the A’s actually don’t seem interested in what fans have to say.

His letter details many of the remarkable and memorable bits of A’s history and claims “we’ve had it all.” Except that almost everything that he detailed predated his ownership, the exceptions being a couple of division titles and “a Hollywood movie,” which was based on a nonfiction book (Michael Lewis’ “Moneyball”) that came before Fisher’s arrival.

What does Fisher have to show for his 19 years as owner? A reputation as the most incompetent man in Major League Baseball, and as the worst sports owner in Bay Area history.

So, sorry John, if fans aren’t receptive to your hope that they remain A’s fans as you launch “this amazing journey” or your hope “to make them proud.” That would be a first.

The A’s fans have been disrespected by Fisher throughout his entire ownership tenure. They’ve had their favorite players traded away, their payroll kept embarrassingly low, their ticket prices raised. In every way possible, Fisher tried to push them away, has sent them the message that they were idiots to come to games in Oakland, to be loyal to this team.

The fans are coming to say goodbye. Fisher at least could have had the decency to leave them alone while they mourn.

(SF Chronicle)

DISORGANIZATION AND CITY-COUNTY FEUDS INTERFERE WITH STATE’S EFFORTS

by Dan Walters

Over the last five years, the state government has spent some $24 billion to ameliorate homelessness, which, according to polls, is California’s most troublesome issue.

Despite that financial commitment — and billions more in spending by local governments and philanthropic organizations — the number of homeless people continues to grow.

The latest federal homelessness count found 186,000 Californians living on the streets or in shelters, up 5,000 from the previous year and 36,000 since 2019. California has the highest homelessness rate of any state and more than a quarter of the nation’s homeless population.

Despite the crisis, we have no hard data telling us how the money was spent, much less which programs, if any, have been successful. Not surprisingly, given the evident lack of results, official and private agencies that administer the programs are reluctant to disclose such information.

In fact, Calmatters.org and other groups have resorted to lawsuits to compel homelessness agencies to release information on what they have done with the funds. Despite the shameful secrecy, it’s apparent that one factor in the expanding crisis is a lack of coordination and cooperation among the public and private agencies.

State Auditor Grant Parks issued a critique of the California Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Newsom administration’s tool for coordinating homelessness programs.

“The state lacks current information on the ongoing costs and outcomes of its homelessness programs, because (the Council) has not consistently tracked and evaluated the state’s efforts to prevent and end homelessness,” Parks wrote.

State-level disorganization is compounded by a choke point at the local level.

Overwhelmingly, unsightly encampments of homeless people are located within cities, but the social and medical services central to closing those camps are administered by counties, and in highly politicized urban areas, city and county officials tend to be rivals rather than partners.

While Newsom periodically issues demands that local officials do a better job of eliminating the camps — notwithstanding disorganization in his own administration — the lack of local cooperation and coordination is a major impediment.

A situation in Sacramento, near the state Capitol and detailed by Sacramento Bee columnists Tom Philp and Robin Epley, illustrates the conflict.

Sacramento’s city and county officials have feuded for years over homelessness, not only for the usual reasons but because the American River Parkway, which runs through the city and has been a favorite camping site for homeless people, is managed by the county.

Two years ago, faced with a business-backed ballot measure to crack down on encampments, the city fashioned a less harsh alternative that anticipated an agreement with county officials to provide services for people losing their camping sites. Instead of joining the city, county officials banned camps in the parkway and ordered law enforcement to clear them.

City officials complained that people removed from the parkway simply set up new camps inside the city limits. When a local legislator, Assemblyman Kevin McCarty, obtained a $25 million state grant to the county for homeless programs, county supervisors decided how to spend it, mostly on a few dozen shelter beds or housing slots, without agreement from city officials.

City Councilwoman Karina Talamantes showed up at a meeting of county supervisors to complain about their unilateral actions.

“All the people living on the American River Parkway moved across the street into our neighborhoods north of the river,” Talamantes told the board. “I’ve been asking about these funds for the last two years.”

Supervisors fired back in a press release accusing Talamantes of shading the facts about the situation. McCarty, now a candidate for mayor, is caught in the middle of the feud.

(CalMatters.org)

IN 1967, DURING THE VIETNAM WAR, an American soldier held up a Scolopendra subspinipes, a species of giant centipede found throughout Asia.

The centipede preys on insects like spiders and scorpions but can overpower small mammals or reptiles. It uses its venomous jaws and other legs to immobilize its prey until the fast-acting venom takes effect. The centipede's body is reddish-brown and can reach a maximum length of 12 inches (30 cm). In the photo, the centipede is being held up by a fishing line and appears closer to the camera than the soldier standing nearby, who isn't actually touching the centipede.

THE NEW YORK TIMES IS WASHED UP

by Drew Magary

We’re just over a month away from the presidential election and, if you ask the New York Times, the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former president/Keystone kriminal Donald Trump remains “deadlocked.” Despite the fact that Trump is losing in Pennsylvania, a state he needs to win, by four points. Despite the fact that polls in North Carolina just turned in Harris’ favor. Despite the fact that a grassroots campaign for Harris, one that numbers in the hundreds of thousands, sprung up the instant her boss ceded his spot in the race to her. Despite the fact that Trump got his ass beat in a nationally televised debate with Harris after repeating, with supreme gusto, the lie that Haitian immigrants in Ohio are eating people’s pets. The lie that his own running mate openly said was a lie.

You don’t have to work terribly hard to sum up this race as it stands: Harris is destroying Trump, because Trump is a deranged old s—tbag. See how easy that was?

But that’s too easy if you’re the Times, an institution that has never met a story it couldn’t water down. Rather than give it to you straight, the paper of record has opted, as ever, to give you its patented strain of prestige clickbait.

I am an annoying lefty, which means that I, along with my annoying lefty colleagues, have spent the better part of the past decade lambasting this paper for such offenses. The Times cares more about its place in the power structure than in actually affecting that power structure. It gladly cedes prominent column space to bad faith politicians who would like to eradicate whole demographics of the American population. It dabbles in trans panic as a sort of weird hobby. And it scoffs at criticism from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party while going out of its way to heed criticism from a Republican Party that would drop a load of napalm on Times headquarters if ever given the authority.

You know all of this, probably because folks like me won’t shut up about it. I work in an industry that’s been gutted from the inside out this century — you’ve heard about that part, too — leaving the Times as the dominant primordial beast in the serious newsgathering business. It has the biggest readership of any paper by far and, as such, critics like me have treated hate-reading the Times as an act of public service. My opinion was that the Times’ influence was so vast, especially among higher-ups in both the federal government and the private sector, that it had to be called out anytime it failed to call things as they clearly were (daily). To dump on the Times was to speak truth to power.

I no longer hold that opinion. Harris is winning this election right now in large part because she has avoided legacy outlets, the Times foremost among them, all together. Her team understands that it behooves these outlets to have a close race, which means that they’ll seize on any gaffe Harris makes if it gives them a chance to falsely equivocate her remarks to those of Trump screaming, “THEY’RE EATING THE DOGS!” to kick up a racial holy war. Team Harris has no interest in helping the Times sanewash Trump more than it already has, so they’ve decided that the only way to win the game is not to play.

It was the right move, and it’s proven that the Times’ influence is exactly as large as you and I pretend it to be. It has a big-ass readership, but that readership is mostly there to play Wordle and, as ESPN’s Mina Kimes noted, the vast majority of them are already in the bag for Democrats anyway.

More importantly, shrewd operators (that’s you and me) long ago grasped that the Times’ coverage of politics is all but worthless. It has cried “both sides” far too many times for you and me to take such obfuscation seriously anymore. We know better.

So do most voters. That’s why they’ve chosen to get their news from TikTok (no paywall required there), from straight-up investigative reporting or just by looking out the goddamn window. They understand that the Times has so thoroughly isolated itself from the zeitgeist that it’s written itself right out of it. We don’t need these fartsniffers anymore, if we ever did. We certainly don’t need to give them oxygen whenever they let Bret Stephens write op-eds like, “If Kamala Wants To Win, She’s Gonna Have To Fix My Car First.”

I naively assumed that I could, through chronically nagging the Times from behind my keyboard, help force the paper out of its worst habits. But it will never change, which means that putting any stock in what it has to say means that YOU are the one with the bad habit. A habit worse than biting your toenails.

Judging by the polls, a good number of Americans have weaned themselves off of that habit. In the process, they’ve left the New York Times alone on its bespoke soapbox, screaming centrist nonsense into the void. I’m done listening to any of it. I’m not going back, and neither are you. The Times doesn’t matter anymore, and they’re the last people on Earth to realize it.

(SF Chronicle)

WEDNESDAY'S LEAD STORIES, NYT

IN THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS ONLINE this week, Loubna El Amine, who teaches classical Chinese political theory in London, writes about the impact of Israel’s pager bombings on her family and community in southern Lebanon, where, the morning we published her essay, Israeli airstrikes killed nearly five hundred people. “That we cannot tally Hezbollah constituents neatly,” El Amine argues, “is not simply due to the party’s concern with secrecy. It is also because its pager-carrying members are ensconced in networks of family relations, local ties, and political solidarities. Their relatives, the people who live in the same villages and neighborhoods, and those whose lives intersect with theirs support them without agreeing with all their decisions, policies, or ideas. A pager that explodes in a quotidian setting, severing limbs and blinding eyes, never inflicts neatly bounded damage, both because it invariably harms civilians and because it hits its target squarely amid his social world. It spreads fear, but it also reinforces communal solidarities—or at least the conviction that Israel is the enemy. We have been here before. The war of July 2006 was said to sow doubt about Hezbollah among its supporters, but it was also a reminder that Israel had the capacity and will to do indiscriminate harm in Lebanon.”

Gigantic oak tree on the Tejon Ranch, Kern county, Calif., 1888; Indian man, woman and small girl in front of the tree. (Carleton E Watkins)

56 Comments

Mike J September 25, 2024

“DONALD CRUSER (retired Coast Math Teacher, former County School Board trustee):

I am mystified by the fact that what is missing from the discussion about the homeless is the fact that the way to solve the problem is to provide these unfortunates with a roof over their head. ……….”

I second the details suggested in the full message.

AND:

The editor and the homeless Bayside resident correctly captured the insanity of the authoritarian “move on guys and gals” squad.

Reply
Scott Ward September 25, 2024

Donald Cruser. I support the concept you are promoting. Unfortunately the exemption from permit for 120 sq. ft. buildings is only for storage sheds, tool sheds and playhouses. (California Building Code sec. 105.2) A 120 sq. ft. structure used as habitatable space (i.e. a bedroom, living room etc.) requires a building permit.

Reply
- Elee Heller September 25, 2024
  
  “storage sheds” ? And if stacked?
  
  pov: “we use what others reject”
  
  “Inside an NYC Townhouse Made From 18 Shipping Containers | Unique Spaces | Architectural Digest” on YouTube
  
  https://youtu.be/mpGOvl_5WBE?feature=shared
  
  Reply
Lee Edmundson September 25, 2024

A word to the wise, as Mr. Natural would say: A vote for Trump is a vote for Trump. A vote for Jill Stein is a vote for Trump. A vote for Cornell West is a vote for Trump. A vote for RFK Jr. is a vote for Trump. A vote for any of the other myriad other party candidates for President is a vote for Trump. Not voting for President in this election cycle is a vote for Trump.
Harris/Walz may not be your preferred cup of tea, but infinitely better than the cup of political cyanide the Trump/Vance ticket represents.
Choose wisely.

Reply
- Harvey Reading September 25, 2024
  
  I don’t buy your “analysis”. So sorry! Lesser evil voting is for losers. Doing so only lowers the quality of future candidates even further.
  
  Reply
- Bruce Anderson September 25, 2024
  
  A vote for Harris is a vote for the extermination of Palestinians. A vote for Trump is a vote for the extermination of Palestinians. Lee’s case is the same case the Republican Lites have been making for fifty years. A vote for Stein is a vote for one’s principles, principles that used to be Democratic principles.
  
  Reply
  - Marshall Newman September 25, 2024
    
    No way you can know that first statement to be true. Just saying….
    
    Reply
    - Zanzibar to Andalusia September 25, 2024
      
      85% of the homes in Gaza destroyed.
      
      Every water pumping station in Gaza destroyed.
      
      Every hospital in Gaza destroyed.
      
      Every school in Gaza destroyed.
      
      Estimates of 40,000 to 200,000 dead – most of them women, children, and the elderly.
      
      Children in Gaza starving to death.
      
      Children in Gaza dying of fear-induced heart attacks.
      
      And 100% of this was armed and funded by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
      
      The only question that remains is: are you going to continue to bathe in the blood of 100% innocent people, or are you going to find your own humanity?
      
      Reply
    - Harvey Reading September 25, 2024
      
      Seems highly probable, given our history of kow-towing to every need of the Zionist savages over the decades. Remember, history didn’t just start last October 7.
      
      Reply
- Paul Modic September 25, 2024
  
  It’s elitists with plenty of money who can afford to waste their vote, and wait for the perfect candidate who will never happen.
  Even if it were Bernie the purists would find him lacking…
  Yes the situation in the middle east gets worse every minute and is depressing, but we’ve got problems of our own, and Kamala Harris has just one job to do for now: Beat Trump…
  
  Reply
  - Chuck Dunbar September 25, 2024
    
    There it is, Paul. We must beat Trump. Principles are important, for sure, and if Trump gets in we can say goodbye to many of the principles we revere.
    
    Reply
    - MAGA Marmon September 25, 2024
      
      Name one.
      
      MAGA Marmon
      
      Reply
      - Chuck Dunbar September 25, 2024
        
        Presidential power with clear limits
        A president fit for office with the good of the people at heart
        A presidency not based on hate and revenge
        A president who respects all races and creeds
        A president who respects electoral results and does not foment violence to challenge such results
        
        Could name many others, but you get my drift….
        
        Reply
        
        Harvey Reading September 25, 2024
        
        One who supports genocide and arms those who commit it?
        
        Reply
        
        Steve Heilig September 25, 2024
        
        Add:
        Respect for and protection of women’s rights and privacy. (Strange how many men ignore that one?)
        Action on environmental protections and science, including but not only climate
        Commitments to actually improving access and quality of healthcare
        Economic plans that don’t worsen inequality and won’t bring a recession (see: Moodys/Nobelists)
        Non-support of authoritarian fascists both overseas and here
        Support of bipartisan practical immigration policy, rather than scuttling that
        Candidates not opposed by the majority of those who actually know and worked with them
        Prosecution of rapists and fraudsters even if they’re running for office. Hell, especially if so.
        Etc etc etc ….
        
        Reply
        
        Chuck Dunbar September 25, 2024
        
        Yep, the list is a long, long one–there you go, James, you got one, plus all the others. Thanks for asking…
        
        Reply
        
        Paul Modic September 25, 2024
        
        Hey Chuck Dunbar, I have some friends, a couple, looking for a place to rent in Ukiah so I thought I’d try a little networking here: They’re looking for a 3br with garage for maximum of $2000, (2 dogs)
        Any leads email me at hillmuffin@gmail.com, thanks
        Paul
        
        Reply
        
        Chuck Dunbar September 25, 2024
        
        Hi Paul,
        
        I live near Ft. Bragg, rentals are very scarce here, used to be fairly plentiful, but no longer so. Sorry.
        
        Reply
        
        sam kircher September 25, 2024
        
        $2000/mo. might get the garage. The 3BR would set them back a little more.
        
        Reply
        
        Harvey Reading September 25, 2024
        
        Those have been chipped away, by “both” parties for a long, long time.
        
        Reply
  - Harvey Reading September 25, 2024
    
    One of our major problems is a result of continuing to send arms to Israel so that they can continue their slaughter of civilians. That is to say, this country is an accessory to genocide. In a world where international law meant anything, our leadership would be locked in prison, where they belong.
    
    Reply
  - Harvey Reading September 25, 2024
    
    You elitists want to throw us trash, knowing we’ll swallow it, thus laying more of the final foundation for the absolute takeover by your masters. A vote for the candidate of either party is a vote for them. What needs beating in this sad country is the ruling class and their hired lackeys, but we’re too busy doing their bidding to notice.
    
    Reply
- Zanzibar to Andalusia September 25, 2024
  
  We’re in California. A vote for Trump means California’s electoral votes go to Harris. A vote for Stein means California’s electoral votes go to Harris.
  
  A vote for Harris is getting on a plane, going to Gaza, and strangling a Palestinian infant with your own hands.
  
  A vote for Harris is a vote for Neoliberalism – which is a vote for Reagan.
  
  A vote for Harris is a vote for Globalism – which is a vote for war with Russia. In the early 60s, JFK went to TPTB and said hey, you know, nuclear war would be bad, let’s try peace. They didn’t like that idea. In the 70s Nixon went to TPTB and said hey, you know, I was happy to murder several million Southeast Asians for you, but I think nuclear war might be bad so maybe let’s talk peace with the Russians. They didn’t like that either. In the 90s Jefferey Sachs said hey, now that the Cold War is over, how about if we make Russia a partner? TPTB had had enough at that point, and designated Russia as the perma-adversary. Every subsequent president has inched ahead with the surrounding of Russia – leading inexorably toward conflict.
  
  A vote for ANY Democrat or Republican is a vote for Fascism – the merger of state and corporate power. It is also a vote for Neofeudalism – the unending whoosh of value flowing upwards.
  
  At the risk of sounding like a evangelical preacher… save yourself. The only thing you are doing by voting for these … bad people … is covering yourself in the blood of innocents.
  
  Reply
  - Gary Williams-Reyes September 25, 2024
    
    A second term for Trump would mean the end of the world. I rather take my chances in a global nuclear holocaust than see Donald Trump elected again.
    
    You must not waste your vote: Walz Harris is the only option. None of this other “vote your conscience” nonsense!
    
    First we need to fight to the last Ukrainian, and then we’ll decide what’s our next move with Russia. Stick to the plan! Joe Biden’s firm grip on the nuclear football has only made the world a safer place. So we can’t risk Donald Trump getting the nuclear codes again. And for now let’s just agree to avoid talking about the whole Israel thing…maybe we can circle back around to it in a few months or so.
    
    Reply
    - Zanzibar to Andalusia September 25, 2024
      
      You’re so right, but we actually need to go further.
      
      Only when the last Homo sapien on Earth dies from nuclear bomb radiation will we truly be free.
      
      KaMAGA Harris / Tim “The Last” Walz ’24
      
      Cockroaches ’28
      
      Reply
    - Harvey Reading September 25, 2024
      
      Thank goodness you’re not in charge.
      
      Reply
      - Zanzibar to Andalusia September 25, 2024
        
        It was sarcasm…
        
        Reply
- Norm Thurston September 25, 2024
  
  Right on, Lee!
  
  Reply
Elee Heller September 25, 2024

homeLESS architecture

we use what everyone else rejects

Inside an NYC Townhouse Made From 18 Shipping Containers | Unique Spaces | Architectural Digest” on YouTube
https://youtu.be/mpGOvl_5WBE?feature=shared

Reply
George Hollister September 25, 2024

“The Supervisors voted unanimously to direct staff to draft a noise ordinance for the County on Tuesday.”

As I have written in the past, noise that is a problem is a problem because we want it to be. I learned that lesson early in life. There are exceptions, like when a noise is associated with something life threatening, as in in war, or with the sound of gunshots within city limits. The primary thing a noise ordinance does is bring quarreling neighbors into court. Whatever is going on with loud noise in Redwood Valley, some people at odds with each other want their invented problem to be everyone’s problem. My suggestion to the “victims” here is to go talk to your noisy neighbors, as difficult as that may be.

Reply
- Harvey Reading September 25, 2024
  
  I disagree entirely with your first observation in your second paragraph. Noise IS a problem that infringes on the peace of mind others. It may also be considered as a way for the noise makers to lord it over neighbors. The noise-maker should have consulted with neighbors BEFOREHAND.
  
  Noise ordinances are good and should be enforced.
  
  Reply
  - Lazarus September 25, 2024
    
    “Noise ordinances are good and should be enforced.”
    H.R.
    Ain’t that what “Disturbing the Peace” is about?
    This deal wreaks of a personal vendetta this “Pseudo-intellectual” has against somebody…
    Could be that address embarrassment a while back?
    Have a nice day.
    Laz
    
    Reply
    - Harvey Reading September 25, 2024
      
      Noise ordinances are good and should be enforced.
      
      Reply
- Lazarus September 25, 2024
  
  +1
  Laz
  
  Reply
- Bruce Anderson September 26, 2024
  
  In the Anderson Valley, the intolerably noisiest people are the wine barons with their wind fans, year after year. But Mendo being dominated by this industry, exempts this industry from its toothless noise ordinance. And the industry just elected another rep, this one a female version of the last one, an apple-cheeked cow girl from Potter Valley who may or may not know from nothin’.
  
  Reply
Jacob September 25, 2024

Jade Tippet wat at the Alliance for a Better Fort Bragg meeting as was I and many other people, most of whom have nothing to do with the Skunk Train. Jade’s selective presentation of facts, actually mostly assumptions and leading rhetorical questions, didn’t mention the enthusiastic participation of Sarah McCormick, the City of Fort Bragg’s Economic Development Manager and vocal Skunk Train critic. Sarah spoke and was excited by the Alliance as a coalition of varied community members with a focus on improving economic opportunities or Fort Bragg and engagement with her efforts at the City. Her boss, City Manager Isaac Whippy, was also there and engaged with the crowd and the Alliance members. Ryan Bushnell and Scott Hocket might have gotten the Alliance’s endorsement but they weren’t the only candidates in attendance, both Betthany Brewer and Mel Salazar were also there. The only candidate who didn’t show up to find out more about this group was Lindy Peters.

Jade also totally misrepresents Scott and Ryan’s statements about campaign contributions. Neither said they have not received any contributions to help pay for things like signs, rather, they responded to a question about potential contributions from the Skunk train or its principals and they both disclosed that they have not. Does Jade know, for example, that Scott’s family property adjacent to the Skunk’s tracks has been negatively impacted by the Skunk constructing a trail across it without permission? Scott’s mother would likely have a few choice words about the Skunk train (as would Scott) if they were asked about their positions. I asked both Scott and Ryan about their positions on the City’s dispute with the Skunk Train and they both said they DO NOT SUPPORT the use of eminent domain to take private property and they both believe the Skunk Train should (and will) abide by the local planning process and obtain all applicable permits for any future ill Site (or other) development just like any other business.

These false allegations and innuendo in the form of “questions” about the Alliance and these candidates is a disservice to the community as we make our decisions about this election. Further, Jade only mentions Michelle Roberts among the Alliance members–he implies she is a paid employee rather than her actual status as an interested community member who joined up with others to start this new group. Other Alliance members who spoke include local natural medicine expert and advocate Gabriel Quinn Maroney, a retiree and economic development professional Nancy Bond, a former City of Fort Bragg Finance Director, two non-profit executives, and even inland supporters like First District Supervisor Elect Madeline Cline, among others. Retired Sheriff Tom Allman is also an Alliance member. Does Jade disclose any of that? No, instead he suggests this group is a shady front doing the Skunk Train’s bidding and pushing straw men candidates on us. This is ridiculous!

Anyone who knows Scott or Ryan, knows better but apparently Jade isn’t interested in doing so if it doesn’t fit his narrative of a scheming Skunk. I had hope better from a fellow involved member of the Fort Bragg community but some people appear blinded by their misplaced hate and wildly inaccurate assumptions.

Reply
- John Kriege September 25, 2024
  
  But still, how did Kabateck Strategies get involved in the Alliance?
  
  Reply
  - Jacob September 25, 2024
    
    I don’t know. I met John Kabateck at the Alliance event. I believe John is Nate’s boss. I am not an Alliance member and don’t know how they were paid or if they were paid at all. John described his firm as one that helps people set up grass roots organizations like the new Alliance, which is different from my assumptions that they were a PR or lobbying firm. I think they just help groups get formed and train them on how to get organized and what approaches to community organizing are effective. Many of us have had to train ourselves in those skills and I could have used some professional guidance early on in my community activism efforts. I don’t see anything secretive or nefarious about this, particularly since Nate was formally listed as a contact with his work email address, although I know a lot of people on the Coast are suspicious of outsider advisers, etc. Please keep in mind that the City itself hired a $10,000 a month PR firm to help do PR and write opinion pieces for the councilmembers related to the Skunk Train litigation and I don’t hear anyone being suspicious about the City enlisting outside help. The Skunk Train also has professional marketing and messaging people who aren’t Kabateck.
    
    I think Kabacheck has a connection to Chris Hart, who is part of the Skunk Train, but is not in involved in the Alliance in that capacity. Chris is a member of the Alliance like the other people but only as an individual, not as a representative of the Skunk Train. I provided John feedback that it wasn’t a good idea to have set Nate up as the initial contact for the Alliance and it should have been a generic info account for the Alliance for the very reasons that some will be suspicious of anything outside Fort Bragg–a lot of people don’t even think Inland Mendo understands the Coast. I think Nate was listed because the Alliance is not formally organized and doesn’t have a staff or any officers, etc., to handle email inquiries about the group. I would expect that to change over time as the Alliance gains new members who can volunteer to handle those administrative tasks.
    
    Reply
  - Chris Hart September 25, 2024
    
    Mendocino Railway hired John’s company, Kabateck Strategies, to help with our public communications given the multipronged efforts by the City of Fort Bragg, the California Coastal Commission, the NCRA/GRTA, the County of Sonoma, and others to put us out of business, efforts that include state court litigation, litigation before the Surface Transportation Board, and lobbying the Federal Railroad Administration to deny us a loan to repair our Tunnel No. 1. Given the seriousness of their combined efforts, efforts upon which these governmental agencies have spent millions of dollars of taxpayer money, we felt we needed external assistance, especially after the City also hired in 2021 the high-power Washington government relations firm of Kutak Rock LLP, as well as KP Public Relations in Sacramento. At great additional taxpayer expense, these two organizations assisted the City in its public war of defamation against Mendocino Railway. After years of their combined attacks on the local, state and federal level, we felt we could use help with communications so we hired Kabateck this spring. Kabateck Strategies encouraged us to open up, tell our story, and talk to others. I did ask John to assist us with the meetings. Their involvement is a far cry from Jade’s characterizations. Alliance for a Better Fort Bragg evolved organically from these discussions, but most certainly is independent and you’ve insulted several dozen people. who are trying to improve their community.
    
    Jade, I am shocked at how you could have sat through that great evening of discussion and come away with such a cynical attitude. You were probably one of the few who didn’t speak up in a room with 40+ community members, city staff, public officials, candidates and more. While Ryan and Scott stood there for 45 minutes answering questions, you sat their quietly with every opportunity to engage. This was perhaps their first ever public speaking event as candidates and I thought they did a great job.
    
    For somehow who resigned prematurely from public office last year, I would think you would have learned that the affairs of a community are hard and you would have had a more of an open mind.
    
    Reply
    - John Kriege September 25, 2024
      
      So, the Railway brought in Kabateck Strategies, and the Alliance evolved from discussions between the Railway and Kabateck.
      
      Reply
      - Chris Hart September 25, 2024
        
        John, long before we brought in John Kabateck, I was attending a community work shop last summer. One of the locals told me that we, the railroad, should tell our side of things. At a second work shop in October he reminded me of his suggestion and I agreed. In November we had a Skunk Train Community Discussion with about 70 people. That led to an amazing number of follow-up conversations over the next few months. There were so many people who commiserated with our experience, but then shared their own experiences. I grew to appreciate how my experience was not isolated Business person after business person told me about their negative experience working with the City of FB.
        
        As those conversations continued, the discussion evolved. For example, while speaking with a local realtor, he told me that he was greatly concerned that his kids would have to move away to find work and housing. He was very unhappy with this situation.
        
        In May our growing group decided to have our first meeting. I then asked John help me organize our meetings. This is far cry from the Jade’s “dark money” conspiracies. The Alliance has made 2 endorsements and invited people to come out for an evening discussion. That is it.
        
        Reply
- Jacob September 25, 2024
  
  Apparently, I don’t have a perfect memory either. Bethany and Mel weren’t at the Alliance event, I got it confused with the Skunk Train’s community meeting at the same location a week before.
  
  Reply
Craig Stehr September 25, 2024

Warmest spiritual greetings,
Sitting in the Adam’s Place Drop-in Center on computer #8, slight rain outside, the afternoon meal of a chili dog and fries with soda pop has been served. Showers are being taken. Laundry is being done. FYSY is on one screen, football highlights are on the other screen. All is calm as the evening check-in at the Adam’s Shelter entrance at 5 p.m. approaches. Dinner is at 6:30 p.m. and seconds are served at 8:45 p.m. The lights go out at 10 p.m. Lights go back on at 7 a.m.

Meanwhile, the 75th birthday is Saturday September 28th. The monthly social security benefits will be automatically deposited into the Chase checking account before October fourth. EBT benefits will accumulate on the fourth. I am identified with Sakshi, or the eternal witness. We Jivan Muktas chant: “I am not the body, I am not the mind, Immortal Self I am”.

Contact me if you want to do anything on the planet earth. I am available until the body-mind complex vanishes. 🕉️

Craig Louis Stehr
Adam’s Place Homeless Shelter
2210 Adams Place NE #1
Washington, D.C. 20018
Telephone: (202) 832-8317
Email: craiglouisstehr@gmail.com
September 25, 2024 Anno Domini

Reply
Zanzibar to Andalusia September 25, 2024

Covert Action Quarterly published one of the best articles on the ADL spying scandal of the 80s/early 90s which had the ADL employing two spies who then worked for the SFPD. https://covertactionmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/CAQ45-1993-2.pdf

I worked with at three of the groups listed – one opposed to the wars in Central America, one opposed to South African Apartheid, and one that served free food in SF parks. In the mid-90s I went to Palestine, visa in hand, but was held at the airport for just over 24 hours and then sent right back home. I always assumed it was because of the ADL spying.

It’s been nonstop since then… The “art student” scandal… The Gelatin Group… The Dancing Israelis/Bernard Kerik… Epstein/Lex Wexner … Diddy/Lyor Cohen/Clive Davis

Reply
David September 25, 2024

Thanks Scaramella for the major SNAP! on Mr. Turducken!

Reply
Marianne McGee September 25, 2024

Jacob Patterson’s reply regarding Jade Tippet’s comments on the mysterious Alliance for a Better Fort Bragg illustrated who is the voice of the Skunk Train and used it to promote his 2 male candidates, including given them 45 minutes to campaign! While the proven misogynist claimed the 2 female candidates were there, it was shown they were not and was interesting that his Alliance endorsed the two male candidates.

Jacob actually pointed out some of the Skunk Train’s illegal actions, including how candidates were negatively affected by those illegal actions. Now they are promising to this group they will now obey all laws, including planning regulations. Now they are promising they will no longer engage in eminent domain; not mentioning the elderly woman in Fort Bragg, who lost her home, and the man in Willits, who spent his life savings protecting his home. I don’t trust empty promises from the Skunk Train, Mr. Hart or their companies to suddenly obey all planning policies and regulations on the most valuable piece of real estate in Fort Bragg.

I think it’s appropriate for City staff to attend community meetings, especially concerning improving Fort Bragg. While apparently this grew from unhappy city residents, there are always people with a gripe about government everywhere. The Skunk Train focus, with Jacob Patterson as the voice, kept me and other people from wanting to participate.

People may remember how the community and the City have supported the Skunk Train, such as when the tunnel first collapsed, and none of us want to see the Skunk Train destroyed. We all want legal, rational and planned growth for this City and it is unfortunate it has cost the City and Coastal Commission so much money to resolve this.

Lindy Peters is the only candidate who has government experience, is a proven leader and extremely knowledgeable about all these critical ongoing issues. Lindy has supported the female City staffs, who were harassed by Jacob Patterson, to the point they finally resigned. Jacob bombarded them with thousands of emails, phone calls, reams of irrelevant paper. (This is easily available in Council meeting minutes for years) Loss of competent and experienced staff has a negative impact on the growth and stability of Fort Bragg. It also has a negative impact on potential Council and Commission candidates, who do not want to endure this behavior.

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- Jacob September 26, 2024
  
  I am hardly the voice of the Skunk Train or anyone else besides myself and your false a defamatory remarks about my alleged misogyny are offensive. I have no problem acknowledging that my advocacy contributed to several prior staff leaving, both voluntarily and by geing terminated by the city manager but there were just as many male employees who left as female. None of my criticisms have ever been gender-based or even personal rather than on the quality of the work being produced. IMO, none who left were either qualified or competent despite your assertions otherwise.
  
  In any case, my points about the Skunk Train in my comment were two-fold, which is the Alliance is not a front for the Skunk even if Chris Hart is a member as well as both Ryan and Scott having basically the exact same views on the Skunk’s status and permitting as all the other candidates, including Lindy. That said and based on my conversations with them, most of Lindy’s fellow councilmembers aren’t planning on voting for him because they know more than others just how obnoxious Lindy is as a fellow councilmember. He lacks the temperament to serve on a collective decision making body and his knowledge and experience have gotten us a dysfunctional city organization, albeit one that is improving under our new city manager but the improvements are not due to any councilmembers actions and are from Isaac’s efforts.
  
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  - Bruce Anderson September 26, 2024
    
    Names, please, of Lindy’s fellow councilmembers who aren’t voting for him and, after all these years Lindy suddenly lacks the temperament to serve?
    
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    - Jacob September 26, 2024
      
      I never said I thought Lindy ever exhibited the temperment I would expect in a councilmember–I don’t really either, although I think I am more level-headed and concerned about accuracy than he is, which one of the reasons why I stay involved the way I do rather than running for a seat on the Council myself. I think he never did but it is more and more evident over time. Ironically based on the allegations he lodges at me, I think Lindy is a hot head bully and driven by ego rather than a sense of service. They are just my opinions and I respect that other people have a different opinion of him.
      
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  - Barbara Ortega September 26, 2024
    
    Jacob, you are the one out here crapping on the city and boosting the shady “railroad”. It seems to indicate that someone has perhaps hired you in some capacity. I don’t think it’s going to work, but you go ahead and try to earn that check.
    
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    - Jacob September 26, 2024
      
      I have been hired by no one but I don’t think the Skunk is particularly shady, at least not concerning the City of Fort Bragg. I find some Skunk officials reprehensible when it comes to dealing with private landowners outside the City limits, including the Willits attempted eminent domain. I have told the Skunk executives that but I can still hold respectful conversations with them. No one is paying me for anything related to this election or the Skunk Train. (Full disclosure: I have been paid by the City of Fort Bragg in the past for legal and consulting work.) My statements about the Skunk Train are not meant to bolster them or even their positions and legal arguments. My comments, for those who pay careful attention to detail, are almost exclusively about how the current litigation initiated by the City of Fort Bragg is foolish to continue regardless of how you feel about the underlying issues and concerns.
      
      My reasons for this are many, but it primarily involves the cost far exceeding any potential benefit even if the City is fully victorious on all legal grounds. Moreover, many people encouraging the City to keep up this particular legal fight with the Skunk don’t fully understand the actual details of this litigation and might be surprised to know it wouldn’t actually achieve many of the objectives people have that they think will be furthered by the litigation. My positions are based on flawed tactics and poor strategy as well as cost-benefit analysis. My positions are not based on the merits of the legal arguments presented by both sides. A lot of what I have heard is that people don’t like the regulatory permitting framework that applies to trains (either to actual common carrier railroads or to excursion train rides). For example, people want the train to have to use certain materials for track repairs in the County that run along the Noyo River. Unfortunately for those people, applicable law allows for the types of materials the Skunk Train proposes to use (and other trains also regularly use on their tracks) so it doesn’t really matter if some local people think they shouldn’t be permitted and we should somehow have authority to impose disfavored materials bans and require something else. The City doesn’t even have permitting authority out in the County, the County does, so regardless if the repair project is overseen by the Federal Railroad Administration or mendocino County Planning & Building, the City fighting about their status doesn’t give the City any new ability to impose its preferences that run counter to current federal and state law. This litigation is a total waste of scarce public money better used on necessary expenses rather than symbolic lawsuits. We are literally arguing over future hypothetical situations that are not even likely to occur just because of a lack of “trust” between the parties. Normally, the high costs of litigation are only justified when there is an ACTUAL dispute with practical consequences. My position is that we are better served waiting and seeing if any actual disputes arise (e.g., if and when the Skunk train tries to construct something without permits, which hasn’t happened yet) and then initiating litigation that can lead to actual enforcement of land use controls. I would support litigation against the Skunk train in that situation because there would be a practical benefit (local land use control over an actual development project) rather than wasting millions of community dollars on a dispute about hypothetical situations that might not ever come to pass. Would you support the current “strategy” (or lack thereof) if your personal money was on the line? I certainly wouldn’t. Lawyers are expensive and litigation should be a last resort not the first tool employed.
      
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      - Jacob September 26, 2024
        
        Also, how does trying to advocate for the City to be more effective and successful amount to crapping on the City? I love Fort Bragg and want it to be the best it can be. I think we all deserve that much, whether you live in the city limits like me or in the greater community on the Coast. I spend a lot of time trying to help improve things and even Lindy Peters acknowledges my detailed public comments are often very helpful in decision-making. I am definitely not a supporter of Lindy Peters and think we are better off with other faces on the City Council, particularly now when we have three experienced councilmembers continuing to serve and help get the (potential) two new faces up to speed.
        
        That said, I often agree with Lindy’s positions and recommend exactly what he votes to do but that doesn’t mean I want to overlook his many shortcomings as a councilmember, including his continued misplaced support for former city managers who were colossal failures and who lost the support of a majority of the City Council because of their actions, not my advocacy or alleged harassment–genuine criticism is not harassment, it is part of the public governing process and why we require nearly everything to be done in meetings open to the public. However, even if he gets re-elected, and there is a very good chance that will happen due to his incumbent’s advantage, etc., I will continue to participate and try to help get the changes needed to move us forward into a more successful community.
        
        Honestly, it is probably more important for the City’s success who the staff are rather than who sits on the City Council. Perhaps that is why I have consistently focused on exposing dishonesty or shoddy work and not on who serves on the council itself. I inform myself in far greater detail than most local residents and voters–I literally attend almost every City meeting and try to read all of the agenda materials for every agenda item at every meeting. In fact, I often identify misunderstandings and incorrect assertions by councilmembers (or staff) as they deliberate on issues because of that extensive knowledge but that doesn’t come out since it is past the public comment period when I could chime in. Regardless, I welcome criticism of my advocacy and approach but I prefer we all actually rely on accurate facts to form our opinions.
        
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- Chris Hart September 26, 2024
  
  Marianne, the openly stated purpose of the event was to provide information about our organization and have a Q&A session with the 2 candidates we endorsed. What is so wrong with that? And what is your empahisis about the 2 candidates being male? For whatever reason, Salazar and Brewer (the two female candidates) did not submit a response, despite email, text and verbal efforts to encourage them to do so.
  
  You make a slanderous accusation that we did something illegal. I think you are greatly confusing your terms since we have not done anything illegal.
  
  The planning issue was addressed in 2019 with the concept of a master development agreement for the millsite where everything would have been laid out in advance. The City apparently filed its lawsuit not for what we did, but their fears of what we might do. Did they discuss it with us? No. Did they challenge any of our actions? No. It was like the police arresting you since they think you will do something wrong in the future. The City has wasted over $1 million in their case to hurt us, based on unfounded fears of what we might do.
  
  You write about stealing an elderly woman’s home in Fort Bragg. Well that is a complete mischaracterization. The house had been overrun and used as a drug den. The City asked us to intervene, as did the family! Our first time every using eminent domain was at the request of the former City Manager. I have publicly shared before the family’s letter – and would be happy to do so again – expressing their great appreciation for our involvement.
  
  For the Willits issue, there is a lot more do that story, but I’ll say this. He contested it and he won. That is how the system works.
  
  Our company has zero connection with Jacob. As one of the few people in town who are actually pays attention to council activities, we do talk, but that is it. I often disagree with Jacob on issues and he most certainly is not our voice.
  
  You state you didn’t participate in the Alliance meeting because Jacob was attending and the “Skunk Train focus” . Well, the next night at the League of Woman’s Voters meeting, Jacob attended and the first & last question for the candidates was regarding Skunk Train. Did you avoid that meeting too?
  
  The City started this by betraying our company. The City then sued us. When we agreed to start trying to settle, the City refused to stay the court proceeding, which are now at $70,000 per month. That is a horrendous mischaracterization by you that the railroad is the cause of all this waste. The City had no idea how to work through conflict and instead launched a legal action that is taking us all down, and they have no idea where this is heading or how to get out of it.
  
  You may like Lindy Peters. He certainly grabs credit and photo ops wherever he can find them. At the candidates forum, he make a big point that he was on the litigation team standing up to my company. He sounded so heroic. In reality, Lindy has only been on the litigation team for 3 days at the point. He has not been in any of the settlement meetings in FB or in San Francisco. Pure grandstanding without substance, again. This is disrespectful to the other councilmember and city manager who have put in tremendous time trying to work through the issues.
  
  He brought up puddles of oil and how there is no environmental review. Hardly. No railroad in the US is beyond environmental review. Period. The problem is that Lindy and the City Council want to have municipal, state, and federal powers, rather than working through the existing CPUC (state) and FRA (federal) authorities.
  
  Everybody knew Lindy would do well at the forum because he has been involved for 3 decades. In my opinion the City of FB is on a downward decline as we lose economic vitality, have high crime, high cost of living, and a limited response to housing situation. He said the millsite is our future but he personally is one of the main reasons why nothing may happen on the millsite for another 20 years. As someone with 22 years of guiding the down, he is as much to blame as anyone for this downward path. Its time for some new faces who will act with greater urgency to get things done.
  
  Reply
  - Jacob September 26, 2024
    
    How would anyone know I was planning on attending the Alliance or even the prior Skunk train-hosted community meeting; I am not a member of the Alliance and found out about it like everyone else who was invited. That assertion is obviously made up for impact, much like Jade’s mischaracterizations about the meeting he actually attended. I don’t recall the RSVP list being published or made public. Regardless, someone who prefers to remain ignorant about what other people are saying but still wants to chime in about what they assume went on during a particular event is obviously not a reliable source. This is concerning coming from someone who used to attend many local government meetings to film and broadcast them so the broader public could actually understand what specifically happened at different meetings even if they couldn’t attend.
    
    Reply
    - Bruce Anderson September 26, 2024
      
      All these denials, my man, are suspicious, and suspiciously heated.
      
      Reply
Bernie Norvell September 26, 2024

Lindy in my opinion has never been a problem or the problem. Sure not everyone will agree with his politics but I guarantee they do t agree with all mine either. He and I have had both public and private disagreements, it is called democracy and that is how it is suppose to work. Regardless of our disagreements I have never felt like he has held a grudge. He also comes into every meeting prepared with an open mind and always hears the public’s view. I think it’s great to promote who you support but feel it takes away from your point if you have to put someone down to make someone seem better

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Mendocino County Today: Wednesday 9/25/2024

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