Mendocino County Today: Thursday 10/31/2024

Cosmos | Sporadic Rain | Pumpkin Farmer | Outdoor Fun | Local Events | Deceased Inmate | Eddie Vedolla | Yes X | Dinner Donations | Mo's Job | VFW Fundraisers | Veterans Day | White Mill | Retraction | Growing Pot | Jerry Coffman | Glen Blair | Yesterday's Catch | Distraction | Sako Radio | Another Baby | Esmeralda Cloverdale | Sunny Side | Candidate Contrast | Wickedest Town | The Purse-Seine | Hi Dive | Social Media | Lead Stories | Drug Dealers | Pet Thoughts | Lineman Posts | Drunk Basket | Endless Lie | AOC Rally | Eat Sheep | Trash Talk | Punch Thyself | Fear Vote | It's Time | Arnold's Vote | Precious Imperfections | Widening War | Flag Raising

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SPORADIC RAINFALL continues through Friday. Another strong frontal system will bring additional widespread rainfall, mountain snow and gusty southerly winds late Friday afternoon through Saturday afternoon. Showers activity will continue through the weekend. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): I have light rain & 44F this Thursday morning on the coast. Another .23" in the rainfall collection device. After morning showers today is now looking mostly dry with more rain arriving about midday tomorrow. Rain clearing Saturday morning then dry well into next week with no more rain in sight until next weekend.

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HELLO DARKNESS MY OLD FRIEND …

As I drove home the other evening there were signs of impending November everywhere — the sun slipping toward the horizon to its ever-earlier bedtime, the wind through the trees that was more cold than cool, replacing the hospitable mildness of October with a damp chill that had me musing about steaming bowls of soups and stews for the nights to come. The garden is dying back, and the forest critters are tucked away in whatever warm hideaways they’ve claimed. Under the shushing wind, it’s quiet as the dark descends.

This time of year evokes stillness, introspection, and release. The harvest is in, the tools put away. The days remaining to accomplish lingering goals for 2024 are dwindling. Rather than overwork and self-recrimination, maybe find a large dry oak leaf, lay your undone thing upon it, and place it on the shimmering surface of a creek or river to be carried downstream. It might reappear in 2025, or not. For now, let it go.

The other side of the meditative solitude of fall-shifting-into-winter is the holidays. As the cold and dark claim more of our days, warmth, light, good food and good company pull us indoors. Spending time together is the perfect complement to solitude. And provided you dress warmly and have a hot cup of something on hand, outdoor fun can help you make the most of the available daylight — nothing invigorates mind and body like a break from routine out in the bracing fresh air. There are all sorts of opportunities for fun both indoors and out in the community calendar below, so don’t let the month go by without a taste of chili or home-brewed beer, gathering chestnuts or learning about mushroom habitats, or partaking in any of the other events available to make the most of this November.

See you out there ~

Torrey & the team at Word of Mouth Magazine

https://wordofmouthmendo.com

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LOCAL EVENTS

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EMERGENCY LIFE SAVING MEASURES AT JAIL FAIL

On Tuesday, October 29, 2024 at approximately 8:30 PM a Corrections Deputy was performing a routine safety check on two pre-housed adult male individuals inside a holding cell inside of the Mendocino County Jail Building One (referred to as Main Jail).

At this time the Corrections Deputy noticed both individuals were laying on the floor in different areas of the holding cell and appeared to be asleep. After constant visual observation for a brief time, the Corrections Deputy became concerned about one of the individuals.

This prompted the Corrections Deputy to enter the holding cell with an additional Corrections Deputy to perform a closer physical check on the individual. The Corrections Deputy determined the individual was unresponsive to include being absent breathing and a pulse.

An immediate radio broadcast of a medical emergency was made which prompted response of additional corrections and onsite Naphcare medical personnel.

Corrections and jail medical personnel began immediate lifesaving efforts which included CPR, and use of an AED (automated external defibrillator) while outside medical services were being requested.

Personnel from the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority soon thereafter arrived and continued with additional advanced forms of lifesaving efforts. Corrections personnel continued providing CPR assistance during this time for an extended period which resulted in the individual regaining a pulse.

The individual was transported to the Adventist Health Ukiah Valley Emergency Department where further advanced lifesaving efforts were continually provided after admittance.

These ongoing advanced lifesaving efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, and the individual was pronounced deceased on 10-30-2024 at approximately 12:14 AM.

Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Detectives were contacted, and they are conducting investigations in connection with the Mendocino County Fatal Incident Protocol.

In addition to this investigation the Mendocino County Sheriff's Coroner's Unit is conducting a coroner's investigation into the cause and manner of the individual's death. A forensic autopsy on the individual was performed on 10-30-2024 and the official result of that autopsy is pending Blood-Alcohol/Toxicology analysis at this time.

The identity of the deceased individual is not available for public release at this time pending identification and notification of their Next of Kin.

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EDDIE VEDOLLA JR

Eddie Vedolla, Jr. a descendent of Guidiville and a member of the Yurok Tribe, passed away in Ukiah, CA on October 25, 2024 at age 49. Eddie was preceded in death by his sister Patricia Vedolla, father Eddie Patrick Vedolla, grandmother Benedicta “Ruth” Elliott-Vedolla, grandmother Rachel Louise Knight, and grandfather Lawrence Victor Knight. He is survived by his wife Iris Padgett, children Julius Vedolla, Torreya Vedolla, Azariah Vedolla, mother Frances Vedolla, sisters Valerie (George) Frank, Annette Vedolla-Olivarez (Elliott Olivarez), Julie Vedolla-Fuentes (Effie Fuentes), and brother Victor (Misty) Knight. Eddie was born in Ukiah and spent most of his life there. In his early 20s, he moved to Southern California where he spent six years immersing himself in different dance forms. Eddie comes from a legacy of dancing, and those who knew him know that dancing was his love. His childhood nickname, “Boogie,” is a testament to the passion for dancing that he had from an early age. Eddie danced competitively, as well as in commercials and movies. He was the first Country Western Junior World Champion, a West Coast Swing World Champion, and an award winner in the US Open and other swing competitions. He performed nationally and internationally, and he taught social dance forms to countless students of all ages throughout his life. Eddie believed that dancing could create connections and community that transcend the usual differences that can keep people apart. Eddie graduated from Southern Oregon University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications in 2012. He was an important facet of Ukiah Unified School District, where he was a classroom teacher, a substitute teacher, a Native American liaison, and a Title VI board member. Known for his positive, uplifting attitude, he was full of boundless love for his friends and family and an optimism that was infectious to any who encountered him. A Celebration of Life and reception will be held on Saturday, November 2 at 1pm at Coyote Valley Rancheria in the gymnasium 7701 N. State St., Redwood Valley, CA.

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YES ON X

Voters in Point Arena, consider voting YES on Measure X. It creates a ⅞-cent sales tax that would bring in about $90,000. That’s a big deal for a city our size, California’s 7th smallest. Being a city gives us more say over our own affairs. We are lucky we incorporated back in 1908, but we have also hit hard times. Let’s do something about it.

• If we pass Measure X, our sales tax would be a little over that of Ukiah, equal to Eureka, and under Santa Rosa.
• Having the freedom of self governance is really valuable.
• Sales tax lets visitors and tourists help fund our operations.
• Groceries and medicines are exempt.

So I think it’s worth me paying an extra few pennies for my toothpaste at the Co-op or orange oil at Roots. Vote YES on X.

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SUPERVISOR MAUREEN MULHEREN (facebook):

This year I have had a conflicting meeting almost every COC (Homeless Continnum of Care) meeting so have rarely been able to attend in person. When I can’t attend meetings in person I watch them (or listen to them) on YouTube. As I watched this last meeting it occurred to me that there are so many elected officials, administrators etc that don’t take the time to understand issues on all sides. This meeting is the organization that helps decide where homeless funding is distributed, how the point in time count works and the progress that homeless service organizations are making in our community. This meeting in particular they discuss the Marbut Report and Homeless Strategic Plan, they discuss the incredible accomplishments to house the homeless (over 900+ in three years) that was evaluated based on the HMIS (Homeless Management Information System) data which is rarely articulated in public and isn’t included in the Point in Time Count. When people ask me how I know data or information and I say because I’m paying attention and I’m in meetings, it’s more because even if I’m not in a meeting I’m getting caught up. My job isn’t to only listen to one side or the other, or only to people that show up to meetings, my job is try and understand the issues and problem solve to find solutions that can work for our community. If you are interested in homeless services in Mendocino County I encourage you to get engaged and maybe take the time to watch a meeting so you can offer solutions or provide relevant feedback that might be being missed.

PS. I believe a press release will be coming soon. And this thought was more about the people that are elected to do the jobs than the average citizen. For way too long it has felt like there is an us against them when it comes to service providers and elected officials and we can’t accomplish anything if that’s the mindset. In the end the goal from everyone should be to get people safely housed, we need to work together to make that happen.

https://www.youtube.com/live/DvpfqaBivSA?si=GSvKZBNencz4qdYr

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VFW BREAKFAST FUNDRAISERS

Ukiah area Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1900 (VFW) sponsors quarterly breakfast fundraisers. The next one is Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, from 8; noon at Veterans Memorial Hall, 293 Seminary Ave., Ukiah.

Redwood Empire Lions Club volunteers will be catering the breakfast.

Cost: $10! Ukiah Elks Lodge #1728 has stepped up and gifted the local VFW Post $550 sponsoring three breakfasts.

Proceeds go towards veterans assistance, maintaining flags at Ukiah cemetery, and many projects the VFW supports, including student scholarships.

They are on Facebook. Questions, call (707) 234-7392

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VETERANS DAY IN BOONVILLE, Monday, November 11, 2024

At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, 2024, American Legion Post 385, Boonville, will hold a ceremony honoring Veterans at Evergreen Cemetery, Anderson Valley Way, Boonville. All are welcome. Join us Saturday, November 11th, at 11:00 A.M.

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RETRACTION

RE: RETRACT AND CEASE AND DESIST LETTER — DEFAMATION

Dear Publisher:

It has come to our attention that on October 18, 2024 you successfully published through the Anderson Valley Advertiser (https://theava.com/archives/254284) an article written by Shay Haverty titled “THE ONGOING ABUSE OF A LOCAL GIRL AND HER MOTHER by a Mexican husband/father assisted by the in-over-his-head Mendocino Judge Patrick Pekin” wherein defamatory and false statements about our client(s), Carlos Alberto Esparza De La Torre and the Esparza Family were made.

The following false statements include and are not limited to:

“THE ONGOING ABUSE OF A LOCAL GIRL AND HER MOTHER by the Mexican husband/father assisted by the in-over-his-head Mendocino Judge Patrick Pekin”

“…but also to bring awareness to what feels like a very incompetent Court, Judge, DA investigator and court system in Mendocino County, if not corrupt.”

“But more importantly, she stayed out of fear of the child’s father and family having many ties to the Cartel in Mexico” “Judge Pekin did not allow my niece’s full testimony, rejected crucial evidence, and subjected her to victim-shaming. His lack of understanding of domestic violence laws was clear throughout the trial.”

“Throughout the litigation there was ongoing abuse from the opposing party and even the court-appointed minor’s counsel documented the controlling and abusive nature of the child’s father.”

“Despite all of this, due to Judge Pekin’s ruling, the child is now facing a Hague petition that could force her to return to Mexico, tearing her away from her Mother (her only caregiver since birth) causing emotional and psychological harm that no 6 year old should have to endure.”

“She will have no rights in Mexico and in fact Carlos has had an arrest warrant issued for her, if she tries to enter that Country, she will be arrested.”

“Carlos has never taken care of the minor child for any period of time”

“Despite the move and changes Ileana is thriving…and a very happy little girl.”

“The filings provide a large compilation of evidence demonstrating the abuse that Mylea has suffered in the aftermath of the relationship.”

“The files also show that the appellate court has had to ‘correct erroneous denials’ of the restraining order request” “On two separate occasions, Carlos and his counsel have gone behind the back of this court to try and obtain orders more favorable to him [in federal court), and which he knows would be traumatic for Ileana…”

“The Federal Court further recognized and admonished Carlos for his lack of focus on Ileana’s best interest….”

Carlos Alberto Esparza De La Torre and the Esparza Family preserve the right to include any and all other statements not mentioned in this letter for a potential defamation law suit against you.

These statements were willfully misleading to the public and were made without merit. You have a duty as a secondary publisher to investigate and it appears you breached that duty because the article that you approved and successfully published does not reflect the truth. The pleadings from the Superior Court of Mendocino County Court Case No. 23FL00613, 24 FL00468 and the Northern District of California Court Case No. 24-cv- 03797-WHO and the Court transcript(s) from the above stated court case numbers are direct proof of that.

The false statement(s) that you published were reckless and highly defamatory and has caused inherent damages to Carlos Alberto Esparza De La Torre and the Esparza family.

We hereby demand that you retract the above described article published on October 18, 2024 titled “THE ONGOING ABUSE OF A LOCAL GIRL AND HER MOTHER by the Mexican husband/father assisted by the in-over-his-head Mendocino Judge Patrick Pekin” (https://theava.com/archives/254284) effective IMMEDIATELY UPON RECEIPT OF THIS LETTER NO LATER THAN OCTOBER 25, 2024.

We also hereby demand that you immediately cease and desist from publishing any and all false statements against Carlos Alberto Esparza De La Torre and the Esparza Family effective IMMEDIATELY UPON RECEPIT OF THIS LETTER NO LATER THAN OCTOBER 25, 2024.

If you do not retract and cease and desist by the above stated date, we will be forced to take appropriate legal action against you not only for the defamatory statements that you have already published but also for any other future defamatory statements that are published by you and will seek all available damages and remedies.

RETRACTED! I don't know what I could have been thinking in publishing an aggrieved young mother's account of her experiences with the Mendocino County courts, the very cynosure of rural justice. I must have somehow thought I was a newspaper, and that Ms. Haverty had the right to publicly express her opinion. I deeply, deeply regret my delusion.

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JERRY COFFMAN, ARKY VAUGHAN & JOE DIMAGGIO

by Bruce Anderson

When I first met Jerry Coffman I had just bought a two-bedroom, one bath house on a half-acre set back off what is now called Anderson Valley Way, conferring on its two-mile length a bland, suburban anonymity which belies the road’s improbably vivid history of Indians, five distinct waves of immigrants, freed slaves, movie stars, and ballplayers.

The road through Anderson Valley, until 1920, jogged north after Navarro to Comptche then west out to the Pacific, but in 1920, the road was cut all the way out to Navarro-by-the-Sea and was called the McDonald Highway to the Sea. Like Anderson Valley Way, the grand project paralleling the Navarro River has since been deflated to a mere three digits as Highway 128.

I liked to imagine that I’d been standing out on the road at my mailbox in 1930 when the DiMaggio Brothers passed by for a weekend of baseball games in Fort Bragg where Vince DiMaggio had been hired at the mill so he could manage the town team on the weekends, those weekend ballgames being Fort Bragg’s primary entertainment through the 1950s. Joe and Dom DiMaggio both roamed the outfield at the old Fort Bragg ballpark where a generic chain store now sits.

In the early 1950s, the tract-like houses at the Boonville end of Anderson Valley Way were called “Millionaire’s Row” after the mill owners who built and lived in them. Those houses looked rich to the loggers and millhands of 1955. Jerry Coffman was one of those millhands, and one of the many Oakies and Arkies who, during the post-war logging boom, made Anderson Valley their home. Jerry, who died in 1987 and was a central member of the Waggoner-Summit families, made the Valley his permanent home when he retired from his working life as a millhand. He never married, never missed a Giants game. His favorite ballplayer was, of course, Arky Vaughan. Jerry Coffman never was blanded down.

“I was born in Caddo Gap, Arkansas, on February 7, 1911, ain’t a third as big as Philo is now. I was the oldest in a family of eight sisters and a brother, the brother bein’ the youngest. My daddy died in 1929, leaving me and my mother to carry on the best we could. Back then there was two sessions of school, one in the winter and one in the summer. They did it that way because the kids had to help out on the farms. I went to around the eighth grade before I went to work. The Depression? Oh, my god! Can’t make people now believe what it was like. Couldn’t buy a pack of Bull Durham without takin’ it off my food. It was a hard depression; had to do a little of everything to live — saw mills, farmin’, row croppin’, we called it where we raised all kinds of crops you plant in rows — corn, cotton… And there was a little bit of public work later on with the CCC. We did road work all over Arkansas then we disbanded and they shipped us out to Salinas and Monterey on troop trains. I joined the CCC on the first day of July, 1935. I learned marchin’, making up the bunk. All the stuff about the Army I knew before the Army ever got me.

“I was drafted in 1942. They took me in at Camp Robinson, Little Rock, Arkansas. From there we went to Shine, Wyoming, for boot training. Then to Camp Pendleton out here in California for three days. They loaded us on a ship in San Francisco. We didn’t know where we was goin’, we just rode the waves till we got there. We landed in Brisbane, Australia. From there we went to Sydney, Australia. I was called a Small Boat Operator. I piloted landing craft mostly. They was gettin’ us ready to go to New Guinea. A man there in Australia wanted me to stay and work with him in Australia after the war, pilotin’ boats up and down the coast, but bein’ as I’m from over here, I didn’t know about that. I liked the people there; they was just fine with me. I knew how to operate those old steam boilers. I guess that’s how they got me onto the boats. I liked the job, but I didn’t care much for the bombs a-fallin’.

“The Japanese was only in there a couple of days before we got there. There wasn’t any hand-to-hand fightin’ or anything like that. They bombed us, though, all the time at night. Got blowed right out of one fox hole one time. Another time three of us dove in a hole when the bombin’ started while we was tryin’ to unload a ship. Three of us in a hole not big enough for one. One guy went to prayin’. The bombs were droppin’ all around us. But when you got enough points, you got shipped back to the States. I landed in San Pedro. Went back to Arkansas by troop train where I worked in saw mills. I came back to California in 1952. The first time I ever saw Boonville was then, though I worked in Laytonville for five weeks in 1942 before they drafted me. I got 75 cents an hour on that job.

“There was a whole lot of gamblin’ in New Guinea, I can tell you that. There wasn’t much else to do. I saw crap games where the money was piled high. Money didn’t mean anything because there was no place to spend it.

“The New Guinea people used to bring in whole stalks of bananas they’d sell for a pack of cigarettes. They’d always walk single file. One day they showed up, about 14 of ‘em, all with bananas. A guy threw a mosquito bomb at ‘em and all we seen was their heels. They thought it was a hand grenade!

“They had a couple of big stockades in the part of New Guinea where I was for Japanese prisoners. Every third week I had to load 1300 of ‘em onto ships. Never had a bit of trouble from any of ‘em. One man without a gun could guard ‘em all. Heck, they used to turn ‘em out twice a day to go swimmin’.

“In ‘52 I worked in Buster Hollifield’s mill in Philo. Later on, from about 1964 on, I worked out at Hollow Tree, off the Fish Rock Road. In ‘64 they was payin’ around $1.65 an hour. I did most of the jobs in the mill, but mainly I was a oiler. I’d work wherever I could find a shade tree and a coffee pot!”

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ANOTHER LOCAL E-BAY PIC (via Marshall Newman)

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CATCH OF THE DAY: Wednesday, October 30, 2024

BLAKE COX, 27, Ukiah. Burglary, use of minor for obscene matter not commerce, contact with intent to commit lewd act with minor, commission of acts with child of 14-15 years old possession of obscene matter of minor in sexual act, evidence tampering.

NICOLE LABARGE, 47, Clearlake/Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

MACLOVIO MAGANA, 24, Ukiah. Attempted murder, probation violation.

LUIS MAGANA-ALVAREZ, 25, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

DARIC PARDO, 37, Covelo. Vandalism, prohibited burning, serious felony with prior, county parole violation.

KRISTINA TEPLIN, 68, Yorkville. DUI, resisting.

SOCRATES WALLACE, 24, Willits. Domestic abuse, domestic violence court order violation.

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ON KMUD THURSDAY MORNING

Our Thursday, October 31 show, at 9 am, on KMUD, features leading economist, James Galbraith.

Galbraith is the perfect guest to make sense of Kamela Harris's and Donald Trump's competing economic agendas.

During Biden's four years, the national debt has ballooned to $36 trillion, prices are 20.85% higher, and an estimated 10-15 million illegal immigrants have crossed the border.

The American economy is the biggest issues facing voters as they head to the polls. 

JAMES GALBRAITH

Galbraith is a professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and at the Department of Government, University of Texas at Austin. He is also a Senior Scholar with the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College and part of the executive committee of the World Economics Association, created in 2011.

Galbraith's books include "Balancing Acts: Technology, Finance and the American Future", 1989; "Created Unequal: The Crisis in American Pay", 1998; "Inequality and Industrial Change: A Global View", 2001; and "The Predator State", 2008.

He is the author of two textbooks – "The Economic Problem" (with Robert L. Heilbroner) and "Macroeconomics" (with William Darity Jr.)

He also contributes a column to The Texas Observer and writes regularly for The Nation, American Prospect, Mother Jones, and The Progressive. His op-ed pieces have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe and other newspapers.

Galbraith argues that modern America has fallen prey to a wealthy, government-controlling "predatory class".

He said:

"Today, the signature of modern American capitalism is neither benign competition, nor class struggle, nor an inclusive middle-class utopia. Instead, predation has become the dominant feature — a system wherein the rich have come to feast on decaying systems built for the middle class. The predatory class is not the whole of the wealthy; it may be opposed by many others of similar wealth. But it is the defining feature, the leading force. And its agents are in full control of the government under which we live."

KMUD

Our show, "Heroes and Patriots Radio", airs live on KMUD, on the first and fifth Thursdays of every month, at 9 AM, Pacific Time.

We simulcast our programming on two full power FM stations: KMUE 88.1 in Eureka and KLAI 90.3 in Laytonville. It also maintains a translator at 99.5 FM in Shelter Cove, California.

We also stream live from the web at https://kmud.org/

Speak with our guest live and on-the-air at: KMUD Studio (707) 923-3911. Please call in.

We post our shows to our own website and Youtube channels. Shows may be distributed in other media outlets.

Wherever you live, KMUD is your community radio station. We are a true community of informed and progressive people. Please join us by becoming a member or underwriter.

— John Sakowicz

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ESMERALDA’S 266-ACRE CLOVERDALE HOUSING, HOTEL CONCEPT MOVING FORWARD. WILL IT PENCIL OUT, AND WIN LOCAL BUY-IN?

Virtually everyone in town is talking about the developer’s vision for the Alexander Valley Resort site, with some asking if it’ll turn Cloverdale into Healdsburg.

by Amie Windsor

If Devon Zuegel, principal of Esmeralda Land Company, has her way, a 266-acre site long-known in Cloverdale as the Alexander Valley Resort property would be no ordinary housing development.

It would be home to Esmeralda, a multigenerational village of sorts that would blend housing and hospitality with seasonal seminars and learning — a play off the attention-getting “pop-up village” she helped create in Healdsburg for a month over the summer.

Since The Press Democrat broke the news about Esmeralda’s Cloverdale development concept in July, some plans are starting to come together. About 40% of the site would be slated for housing and a high-end hotel, Zuegel says, with the rest preserved for parkland, trails and open space.

Zuegel also says she’d like Esmeralda to include “affordable-by-design” one-bedroom cottages and four-bedroom “multigenerational houses” on lots that also could accommodate accessory dwelling units. While the development is, at the end of the day a business, she says she wants it to help the city meet the number of market-rate houses required by the state’s new housing mandates.

“We’re coming in as partners to help the city meet their obligations to build more of this type of housing, as well as continuing to build more low incoming housing,” she said.

But, if you’re thinking gated community, Zuegel says, “think again.”

“We’re going to build out a huge system of trails and make it open to the public,” she says, noting that the group’s goal is to connect the Great Redwood Trail, which runs through the property.

But, Zuegel said that any potential development is likely still years away.

“We are in the middle of a long due-diligence to decide whether or not to proceed with the purchase,” she said, adding that the company is looking at whether the “development vision is financially, politically and economically feasible.”

Should due-diligence pan out — which would mean the development would be financially viable for Zuegel and her investors and that the site has enough water for the plans, for example — Esmeralda would move forward with purchasing the property from Diablo Commercial Properties, the agent for the owner, Spight Properties II.

Then, Zuegel and her company would undergo many city steps, including planning, design and entitlement processes before becoming a shovel-ready plan. They also plan on inviting Cloverdale’s 8,700 residents to be part of the process through town hall-style meetings.

“We love Cloverdale,” Zuegel said. “I know people describe it as sleepy, but it’s got a vibrancy to it. There’s a really good energy to it.”

She looks forward to the Esmeralda community being part of that energy, including doing the crossword or reading the newspaper at Plank Coffee or grabbing a meal at Papa’s Pizza.

“Plank is like the living room of Cloverdale,” Zuegel said. “I love running into the regulars there.”

Residents aren’t quite as sure.

Brenda Norberg, a contract worker for the United States Postal Service in Cloverdale, says such a large development would be too much for the town to handle. She’s afraid that locals would be priced out of the housing offered by Esmeralda.

“It’s not that I’m against growth, but those who were born and raised here can’t compete,” Norberg said. “We aren’t making Bay Area money.”

She’s also afraid the development would push the city toward serving tourists instead of locals.

“I don’t want Cloverdale to turn into Healdsburg,” she said. “While hotels wouldn’t be horrible, we need something for kids to do in this town.”

But Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Neena Hanchett says the prospective development is exciting and could bring much needed support for Cloverdale.

“It’ll be here to attract people to come to Cloverdale,” Hanchett said. “We have a great arts scene that’s locally supported, and that will only get better.”

She and Zuegel have talked, and from what Hanchett has heard, the project “has a lot of potential. From a 20,000-foot level, I think it’s good,” she said.

Zuegel, of course, concurs.

“The property is beautiful,” Zuegel said. “It has rolling hills that peak on the western side of the site, blocking noise and views of the highway. Studded with oak trees, the hills slope downward toward the Russian River.”

The site, located at Asti Road, south of Santana Drive, is owned by Diablo Commercial Properties, the agent for the owner, Spight Properties II. In 2015, Laulima Development announced plans to develop it as the Alexander Valley Resort and equestrian center, winning city approval for a hotel of up to 150 rooms, 40 standalone hotel bungalows, a spa and restaurant, 130 homes, the equestrian center, shops and stores. In 2017, the $200 million-plus project fell through, and the site went back on the real estate market.

At one point, the property housed a Louisiana-Pacific wood processing mill and, after that facility shut down, required a $24 million cleanup to haul away wood debris and other waste, along with environmental remediation to clean soil and groundwater. With that work complete, the site now is sometimes used as training grounds for Cal Fire.

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TIM REDMOND

Mayor London Breed held a re-election rally before a modest crowd Saturday, and not long after some 400 people showed up in the Panhandle in a final get-out-the-vote push from Supervisor Aaron Peskin and other progressive candidates.

Peskin noted the contrast: The attendees at the Breed rally were “voluntolds, not volunteers,” he said.

The vast majority of the folks at the Unity Rally were volunteers, and the atmosphere was energetic.

When Peskin started his race for mayor, “The narrative was that progressives were divided, and the moderates united. Today the opposite is true.”

Yes: The billionaires right now are fighting over which neo-liberal candidate they want to see in Room 200, and the progressives seem solidly behind Peskin.

Supervisor Dean Preston, in a tight race for re-election and facing a torrent of Big Tech and real estate money, noted:

“The narrative funded by a bunch of billionaires is that somehow this city was transformed overnight into a place where people hate tenants and artists and only want billionaires to live here.”

Supervisor Connie Chan, also facing a big-money challenge, spoke about issues driving her campaign: “Sick people need treatment, not jail.…the people in Room 200 want to divide us and gaslight us every day.”

Peskin brought up the issue that clearly united everyone in the park: Rent control. Peskin, Preston, and Chan are all pushing efforts to expand rent control to most of the existing housing units in the city; Breed signed Peskin’s bill that would take effect if Prop. 33 passes, but she’s never been a big promoter of expanded rent control.

Daniel Lurie and Mark Farrell oppose more rent control.

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IN THE 1930s, Jerome, Arizona, was a thriving mining town perched precariously on the side of Cleopatra Hill. Known as the “Wickedest Town in the West,” Jerome's economy was driven by the copper mines operated by the United Verde Copper Company. During this period, the town's population swelled to over 10,000 residents, comprised of miners, their families, and a host of businesses that catered to their needs. The Great Depression, however, took its toll on the mining industry, leading to layoffs and economic hardship for many residents. Despite the economic challenges, Jerome remained a bustling community with a reputation for rowdiness, marked by numerous saloons, gambling halls, and brothels. The town's landscape was dominated by the massive open-pit copper mine, which continued to extract valuable ore. By the end of the decade, the mining operations began to decline significantly, foreshadowing the ghost town status that Jerome would eventually acquire in the mid-20th century. Nevertheless, the 1930s were a defining era for Jerome, showcasing both the prosperity and the hardships that came with its mining boom.

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THE PURSE-SEINE

Our sardine fishermen work at night in the dark
of the moon; daylight or moonlight
They could not tell where to spread the net,
unable to see the phosphorescence of the
shoals of fish.
They work northward from Monterey, coasting
Santa Cruz; off New Year's Point or off
Pigeon Point
The look-out man will see some lakes of milk-color
light on the sea's night-purple; he points,
and the helmsman
Turns the dark prow, the motorboat circles the
gleaming shoal and drifts out her seine-net.
They close the circle
And purse the bottom of the net, then with great
labor haul it in.

I cannot tell you
How beautiful the scene is, and a little terrible,
then, when the crowded fish
Know they are caught, and wildly beat from one wall
to the other of their closing destiny the
phosphorescent
Water to a pool of flame, each beautiful slender body
sheeted with flame, like a live rocket
A comet's tail wake of clear yellow flame; while outside
the narrowing
Floats and cordage of the net great sea-lions come up
to watch, sighing in the dark; the vast walls
of night
Stand erect to the stars.

Lately I was looking from a night mountain-top
On a wide city, the colored splendor, galaxies of light:
how could I help but recall the seine-net
Gathering the luminous fish? I cannot tell you how
beautiful the city appeared, and a little terrible.
I thought, We have geared the machines and locked all together
into inter-dependence; we have built the great cities; now
There is no escape. We have gathered vast populations incapable
of free survival, insulated
From the strong earth, each person in himself helpless, on all
dependent. The circle is closed, and the net
Is being hauled in. They hardly feel the cords drawing, yet
they shine already. The inevitable mass-disasters
Will not come in our time nor in our children's, but we
and our children
Must watch the net draw narrower, government take all
powers--or revolution, and the new government
Take more than all, add to kept bodies kept souls--or anarchy,
the mass-disasters.
These things are Progress;
Do you marvel our verse is troubled or frowning, while it keeps
its reason? Or it lets go, lets the mood flow
In the manner of the recent young men into mere hysteria,
splintered gleams, crackled laughter. But they are
quite wrong.
There is no reason for amazement: surely one always knew
that cultures decay, and life's end is death.

— Robinson Jeffers (1935)

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GET RID of all your social media accounts. And by the way, if you're concerned about climate change, one of the best ways to prevent our carbon emissions would be everybody to come off social media. Where I live in Ireland, internet server farms, by the end of this decade, will be using up 70% of the country's electricity. Just so we can do that all day in the cafes.

— Paul Kingsnorth

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LEAD STORIES, THURSDAY'S NYT

Michigan Clerk Removed From Election Duty Over Plans for a Hand Count

At Dueling Rallies, Harris Stresses Unity as Trump Attacks Biden’s ‘Garbage’ Remark

Raging Waters, Abandoned Cars, Layers of Mud: A Grim Scene After Spanish Floods

Somewhere Amid the Frappuccinos, Fans Say Starbucks Lost Something

Dodgers Beat Yankees to Win Second World Series of Franchise’s New ‘Golden Era’

Israel Demolished Hundreds of Buildings in Lebanon, Videos and Satellite Images Show

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ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

We need to have Singapore like punishments for drug dealers. No questions asked, mandatory and swiftly executed death penalty upon conviction! It will solve the drug problems in America without having to fight expensive drug wars.

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49ERS PLAYER DEFENDS RACIST TRUMP RALLY COMMENTS ABOUT PUERTO RICANS

by Alex Simon

While Nick Bosa has had the most prominent display of support for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump this week with his “Make America Great Again” hat stunt, he’s not even the most vocal Trump supporter on the San Francisco 49ers.

That honor would likely go to offensive lineman Jon Feliciano, a backup who has spent all of 2024 on injured reserve after he had knee surgery in August.

Feliciano took to social media on Monday to push back at criticism toward comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who made racist and discriminatory jokes at a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Feliciano was born on Long Island in New York and raised in South Florida, but has Puerto Rican heritage through his father. When a fan tagged Feliciano on X asking him about Hinchcliffe’s remarks, Feliciano defended Hinchcliffe.

“The only Puerto Ricans that are mad about @TonyHinchcliffe joke, are mad because it helps push their agenda,” Feliciano wrote. “Tony’s joke was so soft compared to his usual material.”

While it’s the type of statement most 49ers aren’t putting out, it falls in line with the rest of Feliciano’s posts on X. Outside of the occasional sports post — gifs hinting that he’s nearing a return, comments on UFC fights or support for his alma mater, the University of Miami — Feliciano’s account has mostly been filled with far-right propaganda reposts. In October alone, Feliciano has retweeted several posts bashing Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris including posts and clips from Elon Musk and former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Feliciano also shared a post celebrating Bosa’s hat stunt, which involved the star defensive lineman crashing his teammates’ postgame interview after “Sunday Night Football,” pointing to his gold-lettered MAGA hat and running off.

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THE ENDLESS LIE

Editor:

It never ends, the vitriol over illegal immigration, supposed waves of criminals, rapists and human traffickers taking jobs away from Americans. In all the demonizing, no one, on either side, acknowledges that these immigrants, illegal or otherwise, come here for jobs. They’re not “taking jobs,” they’re being given jobs by American business owners who are dependent on cheap labor.

If Americans truly want to stem the flow, then focus on the businesses and industries that employ them. But that will never happen. Donald Trump will never round up and deport 10 million or 20 million people, simply because so many businesses would go belly up if he did.

In Sonoma County alone, you’d see the end of restaurants, wineries and tourism, to name a few, if it wasn’t for this tireless, dedicated and largely Latino workforce. And taking American jobs? The Press Democrat reported the unemployment rate statewide at 5.3%. So almost 95% of the labor force is gainfully employed. So many of the jobs immigrants are taking are jobs Americans don’t want to do.

And criminals and psychopaths? If they commit a crime, then arrest and prosecute or deport. But the vast majority are hardworking, family-oriented, wonderful people. Rather than deporting them, we should thank them and give them a raise.

Steve O’Rourke

Santa Rosa

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AOC RALLIES IN MADISON, WI (full speech)

https://youtu.be/1_6SzTUi--A?si=AICQCZSPbdnAcv_a

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BIDEN JUST EXPOSED KAMALA'S DIRTY SECRET. NOW IT'S TIME TO TAKE OUT THE REAL 'GARBAGE', AMERICA

by Maureen Callahan

Talk about an enemy from within!

As Kamala Harris delivered her closing argument on Tuesday night — in the shadow of the White House, site of Trump's January 6 speech, to make her case as a uniter – Joe Biden tossed a verbal grenade into the heart of her campaign, calling Trump supporters 'garbage'.

The damage is inestimable.

It's Hillary Clinton's 'deplorables' moment all over again, proof that the Democrats have learned nothing since 2016, really don't care to, and have never stopped believing that Trump voters are mouth-breathing racist, fascist, sexist xenophobes.

The only question: Does Biden know what he's doing?

Seems increasingly so to me. Just as it seems Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, two of the shrewdest political strategists of the modern age, have made harmful remarks while stumping for Kamala.

Would it be surprising if the Dem establishment has, at best, conflicting feelings about a future President Cackles?

Speaking to Latino voters in a Zoom interview, President Biden leapt on those remarks made by an insult comic at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday, calling Puerto Rico 'a floating island of garbage'.

Now: Was that a clumsy reference to Puerto Rico's decades-long environmental crisis, caused by overflowing trash endangering water, air, soil and wildlife?

Perhaps. But it did not land that way. That joke — defended, notably, by no less a progressive icon than Jon Stewart — was too easily read as racist. It was a terrible, unforced error. Trump's campaign swiftly disavowed it.

But here was helpful Old Joe on Tuesday night, speaking from the White House as Harris was trying to appear presidential.

'Just the other day,' Biden said, 'a speaker at [Trump's] rally called Puerto Rico 'a floating island of garbage'. The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters'.

It was the quiet part said out loud, again.

The mask slips and slips and can't be properly affixed. Conservatives don't express this kind of hate for liberals. Confusion, yes. Skepticism, yes. Sure — Trump attacks Democratic elites, the lunatic left, and says plenty of wild stuff — but you don't hear him calling Harris supporters 'garbage' or 'deplorables'.

Yet the Dems — and their compatriots in the left-leaning media — continue to glorify themselves as the party of kindness, unity and tolerance when they are anything but.

In their eyes, anyone who questions trans orthodoxy is an irredeemable bigot. Anyone not pro-Palestine is a genocidal warmonger. If you question unfettered late-term abortions, you want to strip women of all their rights. If you want a controlled border, you're racist.

And if you're voting for Trump, you're trash.

Never let it be said that the Dems don't know how to get people to the voting booth.

On Wednesday morning, Harris attempted to clean up this mess, speaking — conveniently muffled by the engines of Air Force Two — to a press gaggle at Joint Base Andrews.

Has she spoken to President Biden since his remarks?

'He did call me last night,' she said, 'but this didn't come up.'

Is she kidding? Her own 'October Surprise' didn't come up?

Just when you think Harris can't get any more inauthentic, she outdoes herself. It's truly the only thing she's any good at.

Why not express anger, disgust, emotion? Why not make a true-faith effort to speak to undecideds who are, doubtless, now leaning toward Trump?

Then again, this a woman who continually praises 'Dougie', the troublesome husband who allegedly slapped an ex-girlfriend and impregnated the nanny. Perhaps Kamala Harris is well-versed in excusing bad behaviors — damaging, catastrophic behaviors — by the men in her life.

Asked whether Trump voters would find Biden's remarks insulting, Harris said, 'I am running for president of the United States' — we know — 'talking with the American people… to lift them up around their aspirations, their ambitions and their dreams.'

This again? Unreal.

How is it that none of her speechwriters, none of those ex-Obama geniuses, we able to craft her a pithy rejoinder?

Whether she's animated by fear, ineptitude or laziness, Harris keeps ratifying one truth: she's not up to the job.

Perhaps this is why Bill Clinton, who surely knows better, admitted — while stumping for Kamala! — that Laken Riley, the 22-year-old nursing student murdered by an illegal immigrant, would likely still be alive if the Biden-Harris administration had 'properly vetted' the 10-million-plus migrants (probably more) who have crossed the border in the past four years.

Or why Barack Obama hectored black male voters who, in his estimation, 'aren't feeling the idea of having a woman as president'.

In the wake of Biden's trash-talk, the White House scrambled. First, they issued a transcript that changed the word 'supporters' to 'supporter's' — an unethical altering of a sitting president's remarks.

Aides then furiously contacted newsrooms, the Mail included, 'checking' that editors had the official White House statement.

And, of course, left-leaning outlets swiftly fell in line. Here's the lead from the New York Times report, updated at 1.20 am on Wednesday:

'Donald J. Trump and his allies are trying to recreate a moment that resonated deeply with his supporters in the 2016 campaign: when Hillary Clinton referred to Trump supporters as a 'basket of deplorables'.'

So you see: Biden's remarks are Trump's fault!

This is why Harris can't break 50 percent in the polls. This is why legacy media is dying.

When you tell people that what they have seen and heard is, in fact, not what they have seen and heard, you've lost. When you tell people that they are too stupid to trust their own sensory inputs — same.

And when your outgoing president is still embittered by his expulsion — when, per Axios this weekend, his offers to help the Harris campaign are routinely rebuffed — well, you might just find yourself agreeing with your opponent: There is, indeed, an enemy within.

And his name is Joe Biden.

(DailyMail.uk)

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THE FEAR VOTE

by Mark Danner

“He do the Police in different voices.” — Charles Dickens, Our Mutual Friend

Tottering on tiptoes, my eyes darting here and there to pick out that spot of pale orange in the forest of waving arms, I feel my body suddenly quake in a blast of noise. The young woman pressed against my left elbow, a girl really — 14? 15? — her eyes crunched shut, has given body and soul to an ungodly scream. Behind and in front of me, other screams shift into overdrive in response. “Like the Beatles” flits through my mind. My sudden panicked instinct is to get the hell out of there. But there is nowhere to go amid the violent jostle of humid bodies in their Make America Great Again T-shirts and Jesus Has Chosen Him sweatshirts and American flag capes. Lee Greenwood’s ubiquitous “God Bless the USA” has been swallowed up in the riotous screaming, and I know that somewhere behind the ferocious wall of sound, perhaps 20 feet away, he is stalking the stage. But I see nothing except the hundreds of arms raising high their phones, and as I gaze upward a tiny wavering screen gives a glimpse of that unmistakable head of ginger hair.

The Trump rally is the beating heart of Trumpism. It is a gathering, in communal love, of thousands joined in common hate. For those who feel alienated and angered by the relentless progressivism of contemporary culture, the Trump rally is a refuge where you can don your MAGA hat and Trump regalia and share a cathartic few hours with thousands who think as you do and scream along with them at stories that reaffirm every worry you've ever felt about immigrants “de- stroying our country” and the long-departed clarity of right and wrong. The moment you join that endless line leading to the rally — like this one in Las Vegas in mid-September — you transmogrify from a disgruntled outsider to a fellow believer surrounded by thousands of your brethren. You are one of those who see things the way they really are.

Apart from that powerful reaffirmation, the rallies, in their endless mockery and joshing, are fun. Much was made in 2016 of the fact that Trump was the first major American presidential nominee who wasn't either a politician or a military man. Twenty years ago he became purely an entertainer, a reality-show facsimile of a billionaire businessman, and now it is his rallies that show him in all his Borscht Belt glory. He stalks the stage, clapping and nodding like a great silverback policing his tribe. He grimaces, pouts, apes a half-dozen voices, polls the audience, pesters them on what cherished anecdote they want to hear next. He razzes individual audience members. He jokes, ridicules, teases, and visibly swells with the crowd’s echoing laughter and applause. He is not really campaigning, hustling for votes, but rather sucking deep of his own peculiar oxygen, inhaling the worship of thousands of near-hysterical people. You can see him glistening with pleasure as he juggles his applause lines and pushes the crowd’s buttons. On the teleprompter is his stump speech, carefully updated for that day’s news. But like a jazzman with his charts, two thirds of what comes out of his mouth is improvisation. The stump speech emerges in a kind of monotonal patter, artificial and studied; the riffs are real, as he turns directly to the audience with his “between you and me” tone. “I don't often use a teleprompter because if you use a teleprompter, it gets very boring,” he told a crowd in Georgia in September. “If I read every single word, I could go right down and you'd be in and out of here in 35 minutes. You'd say, ‘That was pretty boring wasn't it?’” In fact he uses the teleprompter for every rally, but the prepared speech is carefully braided, in that special singsong of his, through the mass of jokes, impressions, and stream-of-consciousness observations about how “they're destroying our country” and how his opponent is “mentally impaired.” Improvisation shows Trumpism in its purest form:

“People said I was angry during the debate, and I said, Why wouldn't I be angry? Of course I'm angry. [Reading from the teleprompter:] We've got 21 million people that came into our country, invading our communities, invading our cities and our towns, and destroying our country. I'm angry about Venezuelan gangs taking over Aurora, Colorado. And I'm angry about illegal Haitian migrants taking over Springfield, Ohio. [Confidentially, to crowd:] You see that mess, don't you? And the Colorado governor is petrified. He's scared. He doesn't know what to do. [In a whimpering voice:] “The Venezuelans are attacking jy state! … The Venezuelans have big AK-47 Supremes!” [To Crowd:] Where the hell do they get these guns. Our soldiers can’t get these guns. They are taking over our country from within. I mean, can you believe?”

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CONVERSATION

by Arnold Schwarzenegger

I don’t really do endorsements. I’m not shy about sharing my views, but I hate politics and don’t trust most politicians. I also understand that people want to hear from me because I am not just a celebrity, I am a former Republican Governor. My time as Governor taught me to love policy and ignore politics. I’m proud of the work I did to help clean up our air, create jobs, balance the budget, make the biggest infrastructure investment in state history, and take power from the politicians and give it back to the people when it comes to our redistricting process and our primaries in California. That’s policy. It requires working with the other side, not insulting them to win your next election, and I know it isn’t sexy to most people, but I love it when I can help make people’s lives better with policies, like I still do through my institute at USC, where we fight for clean air and stripping the power from the politicians who rig the system against the people. Let me be honest with you: I don’t like either party right now. My Republicans have forgotten the beauty of the free market, driven up deficits, and rejected election results. Democrats aren’t any better at dealing with deficits, and I worry about their local policies hurting our cities with increased crime. It is probably not a surprise that I hate politics more than ever, which, if you are a normal person who isn’t addicted to this crap, you probably understand. I want to tune out. But I can’t. Because rejecting the results of an election is as un-American as it gets. To someone like me who talks to people all over the world and still knows America is the shining city on a hill, calling America is a trash can for the world is so unpatriotic, it makes me furious. And I will always be an American before I am a Republican. That’s why, this week, I am voting for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. I’m sharing it with all of you because I think there are a lot of you who feel like I do. You don’t recognize our country. And you are right to be furious. For decades, we’ve talked about the national debt. For decades, we’ve talked about comprehensive immigration reform that secures the border while fixing our broken immigration system. And Washington does nothing. The problems just keep rolling, and we all keep getting angrier, because the only people that benefit from problems aren’t you, the people. The only people that benefit from this crap are the politicians who prefer having talking points to win elections to the public service that will make Americans’ lives better. It is a just game to them. But it is life for my fellow Americans. We should be pissed! But a candidate who won’t respect your vote unless it is for him, a candidate who will send his followers to storm the Capitol while he watches with a Diet Coke, a candidate who has shown no ability to work to pass any policy besides a tax cut that helped his donors and other rich people like me but helped no one else else, a candidate who thinks Americans who disagree with him are the bigger enemies than China, Russia, or North Korea - that won’t solve our problems. It will just be four more years of bullshit with no results that makes us angrier and angrier, more divided, and more hateful. We need to close the door on this chapter of American history, and I know that former President Trump won’t do that. He will divide, he will insult, he will find new ways to be more un-American than he already has been, and we, the people, will get nothing but more anger. That’s enough reason for me to share my vote with all of you. I want to move forward as a country, and even though I have plenty of disagreements with their platform, I think the only way to do that is with Harris and Walz. Vote this week. Turn the page and put this junk behind us. And even if you disagree with me, vote, because that’s what we do as Americans.

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“And in the end, I believe that we don't need to do anything to be loved.

We spend our lives trying to seem prettier, smarter.

But I realized two things.

Those who love us see us with their hearts and attribute qualities to us beyond those we really have.

And those who don't want to love us will never be satisfied with all our efforts.

Yes, I really believe that it is important to leave our imperfections alone.

They are precious to understand those who see us with the heart.”

— Frida Kahlo

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WIDENING WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST: The Israeli military widened its campaign against the militant group Hezbollah on Wednesday, launching airstrikes around the eastern Lebanese city of Baalbek and forcing large numbers of people to flee.

Israel’s strikes against Hezbollah, initially focused on smaller, border villages in the south, are expanding beyond the country’s periphery to port towns and urban centers where the group has supporters, including Baalbek, Tyre and Sidon. Famed for its towering Roman ruins, Baalbek, which had a population of about 80,000 people, had largely been spared Israeli bombardment until recent days.

“People are panicking,” said Ibrahim Bayan, a mayoral deputy in Baalbek, adding that about a dozen strikes had landed in or around the city since Israel issued its evacuation warnings on Wednesday. The Israeli military said it struck fuel depots belonging to Hezbollah, stocked with fuel supplied by Iran.

Against that backdrop of violence, William J. Burns, the C.I.A. director, and two top White House officials are making a renewed diplomatic push to reach temporary cease-fire deals between Israel, Hezbollah and Hezbollah’s ally in Gaza, Hamas. Mr. Burns is expected to be in Cairo on Thursday for talks with Egyptian officials, aimed at refining a proposal to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza, according to a U.S. official and another person briefed on the talks.

— NYT

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