Mendocino County Today: Friday 11/1/2024

STRONG FRONTAL SYSTEM will bring widespread showers, isolated thunderstorms, high mountain snow and strong gusty southerly winds today through this evening. Some rain possible on Saturday, followed by drier conditions on Sunday. Dry weather with breezy to windy conditions expected early to mid next week. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): October starts off the new rainfall season with 1.26".

A cloudy 48F on the coast this Friday morning. Rain returns later this morning & should be gone by tomorrow morning. Dry skies next week with rain returning about Saturday it looks like right now.

SPECIAL PROSECUTOR OPPOSES DISMISSAL IN CUBBISON CASE

by Mike Geniella

An outside prosecutor argued Thursday that a chain of missing official county emails in a chaotic criminal case involving Mendocino County’s elected Auditor, and its former top payroll manager are not reason enough to dismiss felony charges.

Traci Carrillo, who was hired by Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster to press the case that has dragged on for more than a year, said former Auditor and defendant Chamise Cubbison’s defense has “failed to demonstrate that the missing emails were of significant materiality.”

Even if the defense ultimately could demonstrate the missing emails — supposedly the result of a failed county archival system discovered while the felony case was being investigated — are critical to the case, “there is no evidence of bad faith” which is required under state law to show denial of due process, according to Carrillo.

On November 13, Superior Court Judge Ann Moorman will hear arguments in the defense bid to dismiss a high-profile case laced with local politics.

DA Eyster, who instigated the criminal case against a fellow elected official whom he had quarreled with over his own office’s expenses, initially refused to recuse himself from prosecution in October 2023, but a few months later he hired Carrillo, a former Sonoma County prosecutor, to pursue the criminal case at an hourly rate of $400 per hour, and a $10,000 retainer. (An amount likely already in the rear view mirror.)

Carrillo’s response filed Wednesday to defense attorney Chris Andrian’s bid in early October to have the case tossed was not unexpected, but it, like Andrian’s early motion, provided a deeper look into a case which is proving far costlier to prosecute than the $68,106 in extra pay that former county Payroll Manager Paula June Kennedy received over a three-year period during the COVID pandemic.

Carrillo’s motion confirms intense disagreements over what happened among the county’s three top Auditor’s Office’s administrators: former Auditor Lloyd Weer, who was still in office when the extra payments began in 2019, Cubbison, his then assistant who was later elected to be his replacement by voters, and Kennedy, a long-time County payroll manager.

In his motion earlier this month to dismiss the case Andrian labeled it a tangled case of “he said, she said, they said.”

The prosecutor’s motion filed in response Wednesday discloses that Cubbison and Kennedy were veteran County Auditor’s office employees whose relationship had ruptured. Kennedy, a salaried employee, threatened to quit in 2022 because the County Executive Office was refusing to compensate her for 390 hours of extra work during the 2.5 years she worked from home during the pandemic, when the Auditor’s Office was largely closed to the public.

Carrillo’s argument confirms that it was Cubbison who triggered the criminal investigation after she alerted the County Counsel’s Office to Kennedy’s threats of a possible a lawsuit over her alleged unpaid hours.

Carrillo’s motion disclosed that a search of Kennedy’s phone revealed text messages between her and an individual she was dating at the time that revealed the level of acrimony that had developed between Kennedy and Cubbison by then.

Referring to Cubbison, Kennedy wrote, “She’s the one who told me to issue it (the extra pay code) and refused multiple times to put that in writing.”

“Lying, back-stabbing bitch didn’t confess that she approved it. So now, it’s my word against hers,” according to Carrillo’s quote from the Kennedy text.

Carrillo continued the Kennedy quote: “So unnecessary. I would have never issued that pay without her approval. I would have quit three years ago.”

Investigative reports, however, show Cubbison did intervene on Kennedy’s behalf to top county officials to no avail. Cubbison and Weer both knew that authorization of any extra pay depended on approval not from either one of them but from the County Executive Office and the Board of Supervisors, investigators found.

At issue now in the criminal case is whether Kennedy had an alleged “side agreement” with either Weer or Cubbison to use the obscure pay code. Kennedy so far has not produced any document other than timecards with the notations “per Lloyd and Chamise,” according to Carrillo’s motion.

Kennedy, after being placed on administrative leave by Cubbison following disclosure of the extra pay, insisted to investigators that Cubbison told her Weer had approved the payments.

Carrillo said Kennedy claimed she never spoke directly with Weer when he was still Auditor about the extra pay.

However, Carrillo’s motion does not address Andrian’s earlier allegation that former District Attorney Chief Investigator Kevin Bailey learned there in fact had been a personal discussion between Kennedy and Weer about ways to get her compensated.

Carrillo said Thursday those related details will be “flushed out” during the scheduled court hearing November 13.

Andrian expected Carrillo to oppose his bid on behalf of Cubbison and said the serious issues relating to the county’s acknowledgement of potentially thousands of missing emails, and Weer’s role in the extra pay, remain.

“In this case, three individuals pointed the finger at each other regarding how or whether Ms. Kennedy received authorization to use the additional pay code,” Andrian’s motion to dismiss contended. He said the missing emails might have shown who authorized Kennedy’s use of an obscure county pay code.

No matter, prosecutor Carrillo argues in her opposition to dismissal.

“Defendant is unable to show that anyone from the county acted in bad faith,” said Carrillo.

Carrillo acknowledged there are “some” missing emails among seven users including Weer, Cubbison and Kennedy between 2013 and 2020, but she claimed they were “well outside the relevancy of this case.”

“Accordingly, even if the defendant could show that some of the missing emails contained potentially useful evidence that was destroyed, defendant has failed to demonstrate the bad faith element as required,” according to Carrillo.

DEBORAH WHITE: I hadn't been on even a teeny walk in ages, but the cool weather lured me out. This was the best decoration I saw.

GRUESOME STABBING

On 10/29/2024 at approximately 4:49am, Ukiah Police Department (UPD) Dispatch received a call from a hysterical female subject requesting an emergency response to a residence in the 200 block of Irvington Drive. The female caller stated that her boyfriend had been stabbed by her brother and the brother was still inside of the residence. UPD Officers responded and located the victim, a 28-year-old male from Ukiah, CA standing in front of the residence holding the left portion of his face/eye, with blood covering him. UPD Officer’s requested medical to stage as the suspect had not been contacted and the scene was not secure. Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Deputies arrived to assist, and escorted the victim to a safe location where medical personnel could treat him.

It was learned from the witnesses and victim that the suspect, Maclovio Garcia Magana was alone inside of the residence, and there was a firearm inside as well. Due to the safety concerns and no other subjects in harm’s way, UPD Officer’s utilized their patrol vehicle PA system (Public Address System) to order Magana to exit the residence. After a short time, the front door to the residence opened, and Magana exited. Magana was ordered to raise his hands above his head and walk towards the officer’s location. Magana complied with commands and was arrested without incident.

After securing Magana in a UPD patrol vehicle, officers cleared the residence to confirm there were no other victims inside. The scene was then processed, where a large amount of blood was located and an approximate 13” kitchen knife with 8” long blade was located, with blood and water on it. It appeared that Magana had begun cleaning the knife and floor of the residence in an attempt to conceal the crime.

During the investigation and interviews, it was determined that Magana premeditated the assault while lying in wait in the kitchen. Magana attacked the victim as he entered the kitchen causing a significant laceration just above the left eyebrow, down across the eye into the cheek and the jawline of the victim. The victim had an additional stab wound to the upper left portion of his chest near his heart. During the altercation, it also appeared that the victim sustained a defensive laceration wound to his right pinky finger.

Medstar Ambulance as well as the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority arrived and provided medical aid to the victim before transporting him to a local area hospital for treatment.

Magana was found to be on Misdemeanor Summary Probation out of Mendocino County for carrying a loaded firearm on his person that was not registered to him. Magana had a probation term to include, “Obey all laws.” Magana was transported to the Mendocino County Jail where he was booked and lodged for attempted murder, and violation of probation. Magana’s bail was set at $252,500.00.

The Ukiah Police Department would like to thank the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, Medstar Ambulance, and the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority for their assistance during this incident.

A READER WRITES (regarding the missing Anaheim man whose car was found abandoned in Navarro): He may have run into an issue and had the car stolen, or some other negative fate. It’s hard to say until he turns up. I passed what I presume was the car numerous times over several days and slowly saw parts disappear and the windows get smashed, as is normal on any rural road in the area when a car is left more than 24 hours. IMO the CHP needs to tow cars ASAP when abandoned unless there is a note from the owner as it quickly becomes an attraction to thieves and people looking for something to destroy.

ANOTHER READER: So, he’s been missing for five months. His car was found two months ago hundreds of miles from his destination? Law Enforcement didn’t track his phone when he went missing to find his latest location or even after the phone was found? He could have been carjacked months ago in Modesto, Fresno, Merced, or any of those places near his destination and his car could have just been dumped here.

MOTORCYCLE FATALITY IN UKIAH

On 10/29/2024, at approximately 3:38 p.m., Ukiah Police Department (UPD) Officers were dispatched to the intersection of North State Street and Clara Avenue for a vehicle versus motorcycle traffic accident. Multiple UPD Officers and medical personnel from Ukiah Valley Fire Authority (UVFA) and Medstar Ambulance responded to the scene and arrived within minutes.

UPD Officers observed a Mini Cooper vehicle with major damage to the front-end of the vehicle in the intersection of North State Street and Clara Avenue. Officers were then directed to a motorcycle that was located north of the Mini Cooper. Officers approached the motorcycle and located the rider (decedent) of the motorcycle lying in the roadway in front of the motorcycle. Medical personnel on scene determined the decedent had suffered fatal injuries as a result of the traffic accident.

The driver of the Mini Cooper was identified as an 18-year-old female from Ukiah. The female driver had sustained minor injuries during the accident and was later transported to a local area hospital for treatment.

The designated UPD Traffic Officer arrived on scene to conduct a traffic accident investigation. Personnel from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) arrived on scene to conduct the Coroner’s Investigation. This is an ongoing fatal traffic accident investigation, if anyone has any information on this incident or surveillance video from the area, please contact the UPD Dispatch Center (707-463-6262), and request to speak with FTO Cowan.)

UPD would like to thank UVFA, MCSO, and Medstar personnel for their assistance in this investigation. UPD would also like to thank the City of Ukiah Streets and Water Departments for assisting UPD with road closures in the area.

(As always, our mission at UPD is to make Ukiah as safe a place as possible. If you would like to know more about incidences in your neighborhood, you can sign up for telephone, cell phone, and email notifications by clicking the Nixle button on our website; http://www.ukiahpolice.com.)

FALCON SPOTTING

ACCOMPLISHMENT PROPAGANDA

by Mark Scaramella

A presentation for next Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting is entitled “Department Accomplishments.” The presentation gets off to a stumbling start as the first department listed is Assessor – Clerk/Recorder – Registrar Of Voters whose accomplishments are “N/A.” Which, after looking at the rest of the “accomplishments,” was the most honest answer of all the departments.

(Acting) Auditor-Controller/Treasurer-Tax Collector Sara Pierce reported that her office: “Worked with Treasurer-Tax Collector staff to integrate staff and processes into the newly consolidated Office of Auditor- Controller/Treasurer-Tax Collector.” Notice the use of the words “consolidated office,” undermining the Board’s frequent insistence that they had not consolidated the offices, but just the top job/title. Ms. Pierce’s staff also “Working closely with Information Services, Assessor and Treasurer Tax Collector offices, finished the County’s data conversion/implementation for the new Aumentum Property Tax System.” This could be quite an accomplishment since the Aumentum Property Tax System has been in use for more than a decade now. Nice to hear that they’ve finally done the data conversion. They also, “Completed all FY 22-23 Reporting including ACFR and State Financial Transaction Report.” I.e., their job]. And they, “Posted over 88,000 direct or special assessments charges submitted by 40 Special Districts totaling over $12.5 million to the current year’s Secured Tax Roll.” Translation: they calculated how much money is supposed to go to the County’s 40 Special Districts (Fire, Water, Cemetery, etc.) at $12.5 million or a little over $300k per. Very nice.

The Treasurer/Tax Collector side of the consolidated office “Successfully collected an excess of $179 million in taxes, licenses, and assessments for the County, School Districts, and Special Districts.” And, “Established department guides for major annual processes including BID Election, Tax Billing, Collections Type Transfer, and Power to Sell.” And, “Dedicated staff diligently participated in numerous Aumentum training sessions, dealing with complicated conversion and integration issues, while still performing their demanding normal duties.” They “Began reorganization of Treasury functions due to the consolidation of Office of Auditor- Controller / Treasurer-Tax Collector.” (Only three years after the consolidation.) And they “Completed significant clean-up of all Property tax payment plans.”

OK. But did they process any delinquent taxes? Did they initiate any tax lien sales? Did they send out notices of tax delinquency or intent to begin tax lien sales? Did they identify any new tax delinquents? Not an accomplishment, apparently.

Under Behavioral Health and Recovery Services we saw that they handled a lot of the related finances and completed a bunch of other routine administrative and structural/facility stuff. But there’s nothing about the patients (exclusively reimbursable patients) on whom their funding depends and whom their office is supposed to service) at all. The last item in the BHRS list however was a statement that they did indeed get the $9.3 million state grant to help cover the cost of the Psychiatric Health Facility (PHF). But it stops there; nothing about the status of the Measure B funds now that that $9.3 million has been received.

The County Counsel’s office says that they managed about 250 pending cases and did a bunch of Family & Children’s Services work. They also say they “defended numerous litigation matters, appeared in all departments of the Mendocino County Superior Court, argued in front of the First District Court of Appeal, assisted with the closing of 17 lawsuits filed against the County, and handled 57 bail bond matters.” They also handled a bunch of routine business like “advice, drafts, reviews, and some Public Records Requests and subpoenas. Etc.

The District Attorney prosecuted a whopping 25 trials for the year 2023 (one every two weeks) along with sending 123 people to prison. Their list also includes their routine duties such as victim-witness services and drug enforcement.

The list goes on and on, mostly boilerplate and ordinary bureaucratic propaganda with page after page of routine “accomplishments,” none of which are out of the ordinary or beyond their office functions.

By far the longest section is the “Executive Office” where they list the many grants they’ve applied for and received (with lengthy descriptions copied and pasted from the grant applications.) Clearly grants are their most important product.

Nowhere in the excruciatingly long list of “accomplishments” is anything remotely like a comparison with what was expected or planned. Many of the “accomplishments” are barely a step above closing the doors at night. For example the Human Resources Department “processed 1,636 Personnel Transactions.” And Employee Wellness claimed credit for “over 80% of employees improved their LDL and cholesterol to low or moderate levels, and more than half lowered their blood pressure and triglycerides to similar levels.”

The Sheriff’s Office bragged that they continued their law enforcement duties without offering any numbers.

All in all, it reminded us of Chris Rock’s famous line in response to some of his homies in the hood bragging that they stayed out of jail and didn’t abandon their children. Rock’s reply: “You don’t get credit for doing what you’re supposed to do!”

As for the promised Budget vs. Actual reports…

All they offered was some very general and highly simplified charts showing essentially that they spent about 1/7th of the allocated budget.

No list of departments and their budgets, no comparison of budget vs actual, no explanations of trends. Nothing.

But what did anyone expect? Real budget reports? They don’t even know what a budget report would look like, much less present them.

Will anyone even notice how pathetically unresponsive it all is? Or will they pat each other on their collective backs again, check off the box for budget vs. actual reports, and move on?

A READER WRITES: I couldn’t help but notice that those SoCal lawyers who demanded that you retract some allegedly “defamatory” remarks included in their list your statement that “Despite the move and changes Ileana is thriving…and a very happy little girl.” The entire original item was a non-defamatory opinion about the court process and some of it was from the court papers on file. Are they saying the little girl’s lawyers defamed them too? Although the SoCal lawyers claim that some of the items are apparently refuted in other court papers, they don’t bother to cite them. They just claim that they are “defamation.” But by including the remarks that the girl involved is thriving and happy, they demonstrate that they have don’t know defamation from defecation. That sure says something about the lawyers and their claim.

THE UKIAH DAILY JOURNAL ENDORSES…

We recommend votes for Lindy Peters and Bethany Brewer in the Fort Bragg City Council race.

Lindy Peters has dedicated more than two decades of service to the Council, and throughout this time, he has often taken stances that may not have aligned with everyone’s views. However, his commitment to the community and his role on the Council is commendable. His extensive experience has equipped him with invaluable institutional memory, which is crucial as the city navigates future challenges and opportunities. His long-standing presence in local politics and clear communication skills make him a significant asset to the Council as it strives to advance the community’s interests in an ever-evolving landscape.

Bethany Brewer’s journey from challenging beginnings to a role model in the community speaks to her resilience and commitment. Once dealing with homelessness and addiction, she worked tirelessly to rebuild her life, becoming a personal trainer and mentor to struggling youth. Her experiences give her a grounded, empathetic understanding of Fort Bragg’s issues, significantly as housing pressures increase. Brewer’s firsthand knowledge of overcoming adversity and helping others do the same promises a compassionate, practical approach to Fort Bragg’s challenges in the coming years.

We recommend votes for Sage Statham and Kathy Bobcock in the Fort Bragg Unified School Board race.

Sage Statham knows the district’s challenges, including budget constraints, COVID-related learning loss, and teacher stress due to staffing shortages. Yet he also celebrates the district’s strengths, such as the early college program and community partnerships, which provide students with valuable, real-world educational experiences. His commitment to uplifting our schools and fostering community makes him an excellent choice.

Kathy Babcock is a dedicated, capable leader on the school board, committed to ensuring every student has the opportunities they deserve. With years of experience as board president, she has successfully navigated significant challenges like superintendent transitions, the pandemic, and curriculum updates. Babcock’s focus on fiscal responsibility and effective facility management has helped the district maintain stability, even in tough times. Keenly aware of teacher shortages and achievement gaps, she remains committed to solutions supporting students and teachers. Her dedication and hands-on approach make her an invaluable asset to the board and community.

We recommend votes for Paul Katzeff and Mikael Blaisdell in the Mendocino Coast Health Care Board race.

Paul Katzeff’s dedication to community-driven healthcare and his proactive approach to board oversight make him an invaluable asset. Katzeff understands the board’s unique responsibility—to support individual healthcare and uplift the entire community’s well-being. His commitment to transparency, evidenced by his push for more transparent communication from Adventist Health, shows his dedication to accountability and effective, patient-centered care. With Katzeff’s insight and leadership, our healthcare services are positioned to remain current and community-focused, ultimately fostering a healthier and happier place for all.

Mikael Blaisdell is the proactive and thoughtful leader our community needs on the district board. He understands the importance of contingency planning and transparent communication and values collaboration among board, staff, and community members. Mikael’s commitment to maintaining essential healthcare services on the coast is unwavering, and is dedicated to preserving local resources. By focusing on oversight and facility development, Mikael is committed to ensuring that our community’s health needs are effectively and sustainably met.

In the upcoming Ukiah City Council race, local voters are being asked to vote for two candidates from among two incumbents and four challengers.

We endorse votes for Heather Criss and Jacob Brown. They, along with two other challengers, John Strangio and Kristina Mize, answered our brief questionnaire and gave us information about why they are running and what they hope to do on the council. The two incumbents did not answer.

We like Criss because she has years of experience with government as a county employee and will therefore know from day one how to navigate the relationships with staff and department heads. At the same time, one of her priorities is to improve communication between the council and the public. She rightly points out that while the city schedules lots of meetings on upcoming projects, they are not publicized in a way that gets people out and talking. We like that and look forward to having a council member who makes that important again.

Brown has a different kind of experience that is important, working with local business and manufacturing. Though he is now a teacher, Brown knows the challenges of being in business in this region and can bring some of that experience to the decisions the council makes. He also talks about outdated zoning ordinances and keeping small business needs in the forefront of city decisions.

ALBION'S MEASURE S HEATS UP (FESS UP, WENDY)

(In reverse order and raw as it appears on the Coast Chatline; we simply don’t have an extra two hours to rearrange it and clean it up)

Wendy,

I have noticed that when you respond to peoples' questions and comments about Measure S, you don't identify yourself as the District's/Chief's paid staff administrative assistant. Is there a reason you aren't including this information?

Neither have you responded to questions about which other Districts have full-time paid Chief or paid firefighters. You have also not responded to questions if other Districts assess a special fire tax and if they do then how much is that assessment.

I attended one of the recent community meetings where the public first heard a presentation about the Measure S tax increase and were able to asked question about how the tax increase would meet the needs of the department. Several questions remained unanswered at the end of the meeting I attended. I am reasonably sure that other meetings also had unanswered questions. I have not seen a list of those unanswered questions nor of the Chief's answers.

In the meeting I attended, I asked about Item 3 under Measure S. Again I am asking, how would passage of Measure S result in an adjustment of our tax allocation from the County and the State as is written on the Ballot under Measure S?

During the meeting I attended, I also pointed out that in the District Board meeting where the $300 amount was selected, the $300 per unit amount was based on having 4 FTE paid firefighters in addition to Chief Rees. As I recall, the need for four paid firefighters was based on providing 24/7 staffing so the Chief could have time off as well as vacation coverage for Chief Rees. Nothing was said about using any of the increase for equipment or training or other services.

Our population is about 2500-2600 persons. 5 FTE paid fire staff plus our current complement of volunteers, plus the support provided by neighboring Districts along with CalFire is estimated by the National Fire Protection Association (which does the research and support for Fire Districts and Departments throughout the Country) to meet the needs for an incorporated city population of 25,000-50,000. Why do we need to have the money for 4 FTE firefighters all at once. And why do we need staffing as if we are a population 10 to 20 times our size?

Chief Rees mentioned that it would take time to get the money from the County and also time to hire the paid firefighters. This means that the money will accrue and possibly add up to more than a million dollars before the first cent is spent. I didn't hear anything about using the accrued money for equipment or training. What will it be used for?

Additionally, I saw in the minutes from the August 2024 Board meeting that the Board voted to open a long-term savings account. Opening such an account implies that the District already has some amount of money for which it has no immediate need. I have been asked privately if the additional fire tax money is going towards building the new fire station. I remember repeated assertions in Board meetings that the fire tax money wasn't for the new fire station. If with the tax at the current amount we have extra money to put into long-term saving, why do we need a tax increase now. What is the money in the long-term account being saved towards? How much money are you planning to put into this account?

I didn't get to ask this question in the meeting I attended, but I am asking now, how does it make sense to have a paid firefighter available full-time at Station 810 given that our incidents or call-outs vary as much as they do. Yes, the long-term trend tends to show an small increase year over year. However, this has been inconsistent and the FY 21-22 statistics actually showed a significant drop in incidents from the previous year and the FY 22-23 statistics actually showed an additional drop of about 35 incidents. In fact in September '23, as I recall, we had a total of 6 call-outs for the entire month. Are we as a community wanting to pay to have someone sitting, waiting to respond when we can have days with no need. And how does having someone waiting at Station 810 help with the response time to Road 21 in Little River or a house at the upper end of Albion Ridge or Navarro Ridge Roads.

Apparently at another Community meeting, a question was asked about homeowner's insurance and the District's insurance rating. It seems that the issue of "response time" was raised as a key factor. As I recall, the most recent Insurance rating did not cite the District for inadequate firefighter response time. Rather the issue was about water availability and the back-up water tanker's response time after that water tanker emptied its first load of water and had to go for more water. How would a set of paid firefighters fix the water tender refill response time?

Also, as has already been brought up, the homeowner insurance companies are currently emphasizing prevention and education and community preparation efforts. Homeowners are being pushed to meet increased fire clearance standards, spend thousands of dollars on newly "required" home hardening corrections and join together with neighbors to form recognized Firewise Communities and Neighborhood Emergency Action and Response groups. None of us are hearing about insurance companies asking for paid versus volunteer firefighters.

And, with regards to the discussion about morale, I didn't read any disparaging remarks about the Chief. Morale issues are a natural outcome to be expected when one is asked to work and train and participate as a volunteer alongside someone while that second person is being paid for the same job. The $900 (?) reimbursement cap adds to the likelihood of resentment. I remember Wendy, that you told me that the Chief does not count the time during incidents as part of his 40 hour work week. Others don't see or know that is occurring. Human nature is what it is. People respond poorly when things seem unfair.

And communities respond poorly when they feel that things are being unfairly imposed. Measure S is a sudden 300% tax increase. No appeals process has been presented for those who cannot afford the increase. No community discussion has occurred as to alternatives or a more progressive set of increases. Tax liens are a real and scary threat. Talk about moving to a subscription service or allusions to shutting down or curtailing services come across as threats. Saying that the Chief and the Board may quit if morale issues are discussed moves straight into feeling pressured that if the community doesn't comply with the Board's position and vote for the tax increase, then even more negative consequences will occur.

To some, that our District has sufficient money to have a full-time paid Chief and part-time paid administrative assistant argues against the need for a huge tax increase. Other Districts report that they have money woes and that they don't have enough money to have paid staff. In comparison, aren't we lucky that we already have enough money to have paid staff? Also, the community members whom I have spoken to recall no discussion about the Chief becoming paid staff or what he does that requires him to do administrative work 40 hours a week. They don't understand why the Chief is paid when the Chiefs of other Districts can do the work without working full-time and without pay. Neither do people understand why our District has a paid administrative assistant when other Districts rely on volunteers for clerical support. This is not a criticism. This is asking for information and the opportunity for involvement. Absence of understanding and foreknowledge creates fear. Telling the public that it is their fault because they do not attend meetings will only increase resentment and distrust and will be felt by some as blaming.

Lea Christensen, Ph.D.

On 2024-10-29 08:35, Wendy Meyer wrote:

It's amazing to me that some of our community would rather slander the chief and disparage the fire department rather than educate themselves about the true issues of the Measure. The chief, the fact that he is paid, the amount of money he has been paid, have suddenly become the central theme of a Measure who's sole purpose is to help the fire department continue operating and protect the community.

Let's address the chief's salary. First, it has been a budgeted item for five years. Measure S was not brought to the ballot to pay the chief. That is already being funded. Secondly, if you have not attended any information sessions or educated yourself as to the cost of running a fire department, which was available through information sessions, coffee with the chief, by attending a board meeting,and just by stopping by the Albion firehouse, you don't have a clue. I don't care that you were on the department in the past. You are not dealing with today's reality.

Have you asked any firefighters on the roster today how they feel about the chief?

Keep disparaging the chief and the department and the chieff may resign, and would be well within his rights to point at a hostile workplace because of all the personal comments directed at him during this campaign. There is no one in this community who is qualified and meets the job requirements of this position. See how much it costs to bring in someone from outside to take a position where they have no community support. If that's not possible, the fire department may close it's doors. See how much it costs then.

You may feel the fire department is not worth funding. But it's the old adage of you don't need them till you need them. Let's hope you never need them.

And let's be kind. This is not about the chief and how he runs his department. This is not about the chief's salary. It's about protecting the community and providing the resources to protect the community. Nothing more.

On Mon, Oct 28, 2024, 6:51 PM Erif Thunen erif@saber.net wrote:

Thank you, Gary! Your e-mail has been very helpful. I have been very concerned about the ramifications of Measure S, and have gathered that a lot of the problem with our fire department is the lack of morale due to the attitude of the Fire Chief. I hope that there can be some kind reorganization, and do not feel that, until that happens, further taxation of Albion residents is inappropriate. Therefore, I will be voting no.

With best wishes and good hopes for all, Erif.

On 10/28/2024 4:31 PM, gtmoraga@mcn.org wrote: Amen sister Zo, For having the huevos to speak up about Measure S. As a retired EMT, in our ALRFD, I can speak about the one thing most important for survival of a volunteer fire dept. That is maintaining a "great moral". This is what our past chief failed at. This resulted in from nearly full roster when I joined to half of that in a few short years. This is a chief's main job and without that moral no amount of money will buy it. Also I believe that having a paid chief at $90K per year is a moral breaker and more money, with 4 paid members, will be the death to any resemblance of a volunteer rural fire dept. If Elk can function in an all volunteer dept and other close by depts., Albion can as well. It just seems so unfair that the volunteers are expected to put in their many, many hours in training and calls at all hours dealing with very horrific scenes, while one person is greatly rewarded. So maybe we do away with any paid positions until all members are properly compensated for the long hours that take them away from their day jobs, family life, etc. and focus our attention on recovering the moral that seems to have been lost. The present situation is in my view not sustainable. Also with the huge tax increase that Measure S will bring, many senior residents on a fixed income will find themselves unable to pay up at tax time, then in default with a lien on their property's deed and home, eventually even finding themselves homeless. What good is a paid fire dept. if you no longer have a home? Measure S is over the top in it's ask. We need a "back to the drawing board", approach before we make a bad decision. thank you.

On 2024-10-28 12:21 pm, Wendy Meyer wrote: Zo:

I am afraid you are misinformed on many of the items you have broached, above. We have had public meetings and your concerns could well have been brought up at that time - or, you could have contacted any board member about your concerns, but chose not to do so. I have never seen you at a District board meeting to understand how the district is structured and what business is discussed, understand the costs of running a fire department, understand the state requirements and liability of operating a fire department, etc. even though all meetings are open to the public. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but please base your opinion on facts.

Rather than address all of these items and "issues" you've brought up, I invite you to attend a meeting with members of our Measure S committee as well as our chief to have a discussion on the subject. Please let me know when you'd like to meet. Otherwise, I will need to ask you to not spread any rumors among the community until your facts have been fact checked.

On Sun, Oct 27, 2024 at 1:40 PM Zo Abell zomala@mcn.org wrote:

hello dearest community- --i am 100+ percent supportive and respectful and admiring of our volunteer fire dept and every person who makes it happen: firefighters, chief, board members, donors, emts, former chiefs,former firefighters. i am also grateful for the neighboring fire depts and our mutual aid agreements, cal fire, community members who do preventive fire measures, etc…keeping our community as safe as possible is essential and needs the attention of all of us. the question of HOW to vote on measure S is about HOW TO SUPPORT THE FIRE DEPT, NOT WHETHER TO SUPPORT IT.

i have lived in albion for 58 years. i am writing in order to share some of the reasons i will vote no on measure S. i hope that it does not pass at this time, and that we can then as a community explore various options and possibilities, make good decisions and vote in our regular election in 2 years on ways to help our fire dept financially that will be truly good for the whole community. i am raising questions because i think that all the issues around measure S are very complex and need more time and broader attention from more members of the community. i think that measure S assumes that tremendous amounts of money will solve all our fire safety problems. i think that if passed it may- will- create as many problems as it solves.

complex issue: paid vs volunteer fire dept vs combo: does money affect volunteerism? is this only a financial decision? who decides what kind of fire dept we have? think it should be more than 5 people. are there ramifications in relation to community health and resiliency? are mutual aid agreements allowed between paid and volunteer depts.? comptche, elk and mendocino are all volunteer. has there been lots of outreach for volunteers for ALRFPD? i don't think so. can volunteers come from other districts? yes, they can. can volunteers receive incentives, expenses, benefits,stipends? the answer is yes, but at this time the ALRFPD has a $900 limit on expense reimbursement yearly and no incentive payments. this is while we have had a paid chief since spring of 2019. this is not a good organizational aspect for encouraging volunteers or for strong morale in a group. to meet the requirements to become a volunteer firefighter it takes 400 to 500 hours, this is truly heroic. would a yearly stipend for volunteers be a good idea? in the USA there are 29,000 fire depts. 19,000 of these are completely volunteer. 65% of more than 1 million firefighters in the USA are volunteers. our population is @ 2,600. Ft. Bragg has a population of @ 7,000 , has 4 paid firefighters and 36 volunteers. measure S proposes 4 paid firefighters for our district. does this make sense? very different situation for sure, but it is important to explore the differences, research what success means in relation to all volunteer, combo or all paid. yes, the situation of ALRFPD is difficult re volunteers and re money, and there are many factors that make it difficult. but it is not an emergency at this time, repeat.. not an emergency, even the chief agrees… let's figure it out over the next 2 years.

complex issue: measure S itself: it imposes tax of $600.00 a year, forever, with 2% increase yearly on every residential parcel in our district. that means land and one house, no matter the size of the land or the house or where it is located in the fire district…. that is a phenomenal amount of money and an unheard of percentage increase in one year. it will mean hardship for many. there is no mechanism for appeal of this fee. it will become a lien on your property. i think we need to figure out a fair system for hardship cases before imposing this tax. also, with measure S if you have a 2nd unit you pay another $300 a year. total of $900 yearly. if your unit is "illegal"- this is a historical issue and problem that still exists- with measure S it will be up to the members of the fire dept, volunteer or paid, to identify to the county those units in order to collect the tax that will support the fire dept. this is not a good situation for neighborliness, to say the least. also, measure S does not really say what the money if for. a specific tax needs to be more specific re its use and accountability.

complex issue: home insurance: for many reasons home insurance has become a problem. one of the factors influencing the insurance companies is fire depts responses themselves, time, distance, etc. but, this is only one factor that fire insurance companies consider. the primary way for us as individuals and as a community to make sure that we are covered with adequate fire insurance is to use community volunteer and educational organizations to satisfy the insurance requirements for safety. The assessment of risk factors and the reduction of those factors, home hardening, of roofs, gutters, vents, materials, creation of defensible space, these are what the insurance companies want. An individual can improve their property, but insurance companies are clear that entire neighborhoods must be safe. They are interested in FIRE PREVENTION! NEAR-(neighborhood emergency action and readiness,) Mendocino County Fire Safe Council, ALRFPD Fire Safe Council, can help us create FireWiseUSA communities - mini neighborhoods- that when certified get reductions of fire insurance.

that's it for me, for now. repeat: i support the fire department, i cannot imagine anything more important or heroic, i do not support measure S. i do support raising money for the fire dept. in a fair, well thought out way, it could be a tax for sure, but not this one.

THE FOLLOWING is a truncated version of a typed, anonymous letter denouncing the Fort Bragg Police Department.

We would post the whole thing only if you honestly identified yourself to us, complete with contact information.

October 27, 2024

TO: The AVA

RE: Fort Bragg Police Complaints

Attached is a letter submitted to all Fort Bragg City Council members, City Manager as well as the Police Chief. This letter has also been submitted to the Attorney General and the Peace Officer Standards and Training director. We are submitting a copy of the letter to you without the videos. If the matter is not properly investigated, we will forward the videos to all media…

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL, WEEK 10 SCHEDULE

Friday’s games:

Elsie Allen vs. California School for the Deaf, 6 p.m.
Calistoga vs. South Fork, 6 p.m.
Windsor at Rancho Cotate, 7 p.m.
St. Helena vs. Fort Bragg, 7 p.m.
Casa Grande at American Canyon, 7 p.m.
Vintage at San Marin, 7 p.m.
Analy at Santa Rosa, 7 p.m.
Healdsburg at Archie Williams, 7 p.m.
Napa at Justin-Siena, 7 p.m.
Ukiah vs. Maria Carrillo, 7 p.m.

Saturday’s games:

Roseland University Prep vs. Branson, 1 p.m.
Cardinal Newman at Marin Catholic, 2 p.m.
Montgomery at St. Vincent, 2 p.m.
Petaluma at Tamalpais, 2 p.m.
Piner at Novato, 2 p.m.
Sonoma Valley at Terra Linda, 7 p.m.

ANNUAL CHESTNUT GATHERING

The 41st annual chestnut gathering at the Zeni Ranch will be Saturday November 2nd from 10 am to 4 pm.

Potluck dinner this year! Bring something to add to the table along with your own eating supplies.

Dogs on leashes ok, but you're responsible for your pet.

Chestnuts are $4.00 a pound if you pick, or $7.00 if already picked. No credit card service.

Call or text Jane Zeni 707-684-6892

Fresh raw chestnut honey, T-shirts and our popular nut sacks will be available, and other farm products.

ARTISTS OF ANDERSON VALLEY OPEN STUDIO TOUR

I hope you can make it to this year's Open Studio tour in Anderson Valley, see flyer below. You can check out more about the participants on our official website: https://www.artistsofandersonvalley.org

Or just come for a leisurely day and follow the colorful sandwich boards along 128 that will tell you where you can find our studios.

We would love to see you here at our studio. Nadia Berrigan will be a guest here again.

All My Best,

Colleen Schenk, Philo

CHANGE OUR NAME TEACH-IN ON NOVEMBER 12

Change Our Name’s Monthly teach-in will be Tuesday, November 12 at 6 p.m. at Harbor Lite Lodge, 120 N. Harbor Drive, in Fort Bragg.

Envisioned as a program to educate attendees about the issues involved in the name change and to hear neighbors’ ideas, the teach-in will last about one hour and will feature two speakers and a question and answer/discussion period.

Speakers will be:

Holly Tannen.

She sings traditional English and Scottish ballads and writes satirical songs about Mendocino and the Internet. She holds a master’s degree in Folklore from U.C. Berkeley, where she studied neo-Pagan music, the folklore of the AIDS epidemic, and the singing of Scotland’s Traveling People. She is the author of “The Braxton Bragg Song” which can be found on our website here: https://www.changeournamefortbragg.com/bragg-song

and Troyle Tognoli.

What was once intended as a two week visit, quickly turned into 47 years of Troyle living, working and raising a son in Mendocino County. Troyle formed and spearheaded Black Lives Matter Mendocino County chapter and currently serves on the City of Ukiah Equity and Diversity committee. Troyle rallied the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors to support the Mendocino County (PSAB) Public Safety Advisory Board. She served as the youngest member of the Mendocino County Grand Jury, She also served as President of SEIU local 1021. Recently retired, Troyle now enjoys an array of political, social and practical endeavors.

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

For further information: changeournamefortbragg@gmail.com

COMMIE DAYS

by Bruce Anderson

I was a delegate representing the Noe Valley to the founding of the Peace and Freedom Party at the Richmond Auditorium in 1968. For the three days that strange assembly had gathered to organize opposition from the left of the dependably collaborationist Democrats to the liberals’ war on Vietnam. I commuted from the city to the convention with a black maniac named George, no last name. We’d pick him up on Broadway and we’d drop him off on Broadway.

George was very pleasant, funny even, on the trips back and forth over the Bay Bridge. But one day at the convention, as a kind of warm-up act for Bobby Seale of the Black Panthers, George was transformed. Literally spitting into the mike, George said he hoped to see “every single one of you white motherfuckers strangled in your motherfucking sleep.” Then he said he wanted to cut our motherfucking throats and thin-slice our mothers, fathers, grandparents, and children unto the tenth generation.

As an organizing tool, a rallying cry, George’s position would be a tough sell, but George received a standing ovation from the white liberals he’d just said he hoped to murder.

I hadn’t realized George was black. I’d thought he was one of those guilt-ridden white guys who’d spent a lot of time organizing his hair into an afro in solidarity with the black struggle. And I’d thought we were commute buddies. On the ride back to the city that night I made sure I was the first guy into the back seat. No way George was getting the drop on me.

I still wonder if George told us his name was George to test us, to see if any of his fellow commuters, all of us white, knew that ‘George’ was the traditional racist shorthand for all black men working as porters on trains. If that’s what George was doing, we flunked the test, not that he was likely to have spared any of us even if we had passed.

I never saw George after the convention, but I thought about him a few years later when the Zebra killers began snatching random white people off Frisco’s streets and murdering them to qualify as Killer Angels for the Black Muslims. The Zodiac killer was also doing his part to keep up the body count, announcing that he too was racking up white slaves for the next life.

It was an unhappy time, kids. Don’t you think it wasn’t just because the music was cool and your granddad smoked Mexican ditch weed.

Back at the Richmond Auditorium, Seale, the star attraction that day, announced for openers that he hated us all “as the white liberal racist dog-pigs” that we obviously were. He went on to say that although we were racist dog-pigs we must, nevertheless, “free Huey by any means necessary.” Seale demanded, “What’s wrong with picking up the gun?”

Well, for one motherfucking thing the white racist dog-pigs on the motherfucking government side have a lot more motherfucking guns, big ones, too, and they outnumber lunatics like us about 500,000 to motherfucking one.

Seale closed by assuring us that he had “hate in his heart.” He, too, received a standing ovation from the suicidal throng.

Eldridge Cleaver was next. The Black Panther “Minister of Information” also wanted Huey freed by any means necessary. “You’re either for us or against us, Cleaver said, adding, “And we don’t care if you’re with us or not.”

The Roberts Rules of Order Boys — and wouldn’t you know we all had laminated name tags? — representing various com cults, quickly introduced a couple of clarifying resolutions. One was simply to free Huey, the other was to free Huey by any means necessary.

Mario Savio got up to point out that “by any means necessary” could be interpreted as burning down Oakland to free one man. A couple of hundred maniacs leaped to their feet to cheer that one.

Robert Avakian, aka Chairman Bob of the Revolutionary Communist Party, said Huey had to be freed, and whatever it took was fine with him. Chairman Bob compared Huey to a man being held by a lynch mob, and you wouldn’t stop at killing a lynch mob to free an innocent man, would you?

The any means necessary resolution lost 227-223, but when it was amended to read, “Free Huey Newton by any means necessary which would further the black liberation movement,” it passed by a 3-1 margin.

The motherfucking white liberal dog-pigs had prevailed!

I was still pondering what I could do to free Huey which would also advance the black liberation movement when Huey was freed to await a new trial on cop-hunting charges. The liberals the Panthers said they wanted to garrote had put up the $50,000 bond to get Huey out of jail. Then I read that Huey was living in neo-socialist luxury overlooking Lake Merritt, had hired a bodyguard, and had beaten up his elderly tailor. Freed Huey went on to murder a black prostitute and, strung out on crack, was finally shot to death by a drug dealer. The whole pathetic show of that time, romanticized to this day by the amnesiacs at places like KPFA, was added confirmation that the decision of thousands of disillusioned radlib hippies to move to the country was the right one. The Bay Area had become a violent hellhole.

By 1970, the hardcore nuts were rolling, many of them commuting back and forth between their city bomb factories and sympathetic communal hideouts in Mendocino, Humboldt, Trinity, and Siskiyou counties. There were 56 bombings in the Greater Bay Area in 1968; 236 in 1969; 546 in 1970 before the revolution ended in 1975 when the Vietnamese, all by themselves, won the war.

There are lots of people in Northern California who’ve put their felonious revolutionary selves in brand new packaging as Democrats. They’re everywhere, these little red book cadres of 1970, running schools, practicing law, sitting as judges, one even serving as spokesperson for Jerry Brown when Brown was governor.

Today’s murderous concoction of imperialism and prisons has no more loyal servants than the revolutionaries of 1968.

An anonymous poet called Ares posted a summarizing ode in the Bay Area neighborhoods where it had all gone the wrongest:

ruling guru greybeard bards

having new fun in yr. rolling rock renaissance

have you passed thru the Haight

have you seen yr. turned-on kids?

u promised them Visions & Love & Sharing

clap, hepatitis, fleas, begging and the gang bang

sure, you didn't want to see the scene go that way

but that's how the shit went down

& i do not hear yr howl

i do not hear exorcising demons

u told the congress that yr. acid

had taught us how to love

even that blood-soaked thieving swine of a cowboy

The Others call their president.

is there nothing left over for the kids

sleeping on the sidewalks

waiting to be carried off by the bikers

of yr. children's crusade?

yr. disciples are dying in the streets, gurus,

u have been among the philistines too long

u have become their Spectacle.

heal the sores upon thine own bodies, prophets

yr. word has brought them as far as the Haight

can you not carry them to the seashore?

or is it your power and not theirs which has failed?

can it be we warrior poets were right all along?

can it be all the buddhas r hollow & like the Dalai Lama

u have been sipping butter tea upon a peacock throne

as Tibetans perished in the snow?

is it not time to admit that hate as well as love redeems the world

there is no outside w/out inside

no revolution w/out blood

PS. John Ross, frequent (former) AVA contributor and well-known journalist, was prominent at the convention as the main man for Progressive Labor, a Maoist grouplet. He was badly beaten by the Panthers for, I think, arguing tactics with them. John was also regularly worked over by the San Francisco Police Department who seemed to view him then as the city’s Public Enemy Number One.

PPS. You’ll never read this in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, but the famous cartoonist of the Rose City, Charles Schultz, supported the Peace and Freedom Party’s ‘72 presidential candidate, Doctor Benjamin Spock.

COFFEE TO GO!

by Katy Tahja

While the Mendocino Coast has seen many shipwrecks along its shores, and enjoyed salvaging the cargo that washed up, the sinking of the “SS Dorothy Wintermote” in September of 1938 stands out in the memories of the locals. A veteran of Pacific coastal service, with more than 15 years of traffic on her record, the steamer was carrying a cargo of large appliances, gas cylinders, pharmacy drugs, and groceries from San Francisco to northern ports when she ran aground in heavy fog on Fish Rock near Anchor Bay on the morning of September 17th.

SS Dorothy Wintermote stranded at Fish Rock, California with the bow and forward cargo hold No. 1 submerged. The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Shoshone’s lifeboats are standing by to render aid. (Courtesy of San Francisco Maritime Museum)

Built in 1918 in Toledo, Ohio, as a military ship, she was christened the “Lake Cayuga.” With the end of World War I, she was repurposed as a merchant vessel and renamed the “Dorothy Wintermote” after the daughter of the founder of the Puget Sound Lumber Company. At 251 feet long, the ship weighed 1,227 tons and had a carrying capacity of 1,800,000 board feet of timber. When not full of timber, her space was used to transport household goods and comestibles.

At 7:50 a.m., the “Dorothy Wintermote” radioed an SOS: she had two holes torn in her bow and was stranded on jagged rocks. For four days her crew made repairs and waited for aid. Most of the 27 crew members were taken off by the Coast Guard, but the captain and four crew remained. While a plan was being made to save the ship, local people had an opportunity to visit her.

In “Mendocino Coast Memories” (by the Yesteryears News Collective, 2003), South Coast old timer Norman Pierce reminisced about rowing out to the ship many times and looking down into the cavernous hold. As the waves churned through the hole cut into the hull, Pierce watched as drugs, corncob pipes, wine barrels, salad oil, and watches tumbled back and forth. His eyes were drawn to the many red cans of Hills Brothers coffee bobbing in the brine. The ship’s owner, Hammond Shipping Company, later reported the freight included 76,000 two-pound, four-pound, and 15-pound cans of the vacuum-packed coffee. Pierce collected about 3,000 of the cans floating in the surf, which he sold to the state hospital in Talmadge for 25 cents a pound. He also gathered a gunny sack full of watches, pipes, and shoestrings.

The Coast Guard arranged for the Red Stack sea tug “Sea Giant” to pull the ship off the rock and to tow her back to San Francisco. The seas were rough, however, and soon after the ship was freed, the bow was submerged. At that point, a life boat came to take Captain O. J. Olson and the crew members off. According to the September 22nd “San Francisco Examiner,” “The ship went down at the bow and then a bulkhead went, and after that, she was lost. It was only a question of minutes. Finally she stood on end, and slipped into the sea, in about 45 fathoms. The tug’s line was still attached and had to be pulled free from the sunken ship’s towing bitts by sheer power.”

A half-mile stretch of beach was littered with hundreds of red cans of coffee, and because the tide was high at the time, some of the cargo was washed up the Gualala River. Word had by now gotten out, so residents from miles around headed for the bounty. According to the “Ukiah Republican Press” of October 2, 1938, when Hills Brothers representative M. L. Meeker arrived on the scene a couple days later, much of the coffee was gone. He heard reports that local residents had gathered 2,000 to 3,000 pounds of the coffee.

Vernon McNamee remembered the Hills Brothers coffee and Crisco cans because he collected so many of them that they got him through much of World War II. “We had to use very little chicory as coffee stretcher,” he recalled happily. His neighbor, Mark Pedotti, attempted to bring a wine barrel from the beach up his bluff with a rope sling, but just as he got it to the top, the rope slipped and the barrel went “Blung, blung, crash, splash,” said McNamee. Pedotti wept.

Pedotti might have been the only local weeping. As to the vessel’s owners, the ship and cargo were lost, but both were fully insured.

Photo: SS Dorothy Wintermote stranded at Fish Rock, California with the bow and forward cargo hold No. 1 submerged. The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Shoshone’s lifeboats are standing by to render aid. (Courtesy of San Francisco Maritime Museum)

(kelleyhousemuseum.org)

CATCH OF THE DAY, Thursday, October 31, 2024

HECTOR DIAZ, 55, Oroville/Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

STEPHEN DIGNAN, 55, Carrolton, Texas/Ukiah. DUI.

HECTOR DUARTE, 66, Ukiah. Parole violation.

CHRISTOPHER GREWER, 67, Mendocino. Domestic battery, robbery, false imprisonment, witness intimidation.

LUKE HAYHURST, 31, Hopland. Failure to register as sex offender while employed a campus police agency.

JONATHAN HOPPNER, 32, Willits. Intimate touching against the will of the victim, resisting.

KENNETH HUNTER, 65, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, failure to appear.

ADAM KESTER, 38, Willits. Failure to appear.

MICHAEL KUBAS, 45, Nice/Willits. Domestic battery.

KEONO LARA, 33, Fort Bragg. Parole violation.

SHALOM LEWIS, 28, Fort Bragg. Wearing a mask for unlawful purpose, probation revocation, resisting.

SHEILA OWENS, 32, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

BENJAMIN PATTERSON, 49, Mendocino. DUI, child endangerment, probation revocation.

EMERGENE PHILLIPS, 24, Covelo. Parole violation.

NICHOLLE ROUSSEAU, 45, Willits. Domestic battery.

JALAHN TRAVIS, 25, Ukiah. Probation revocation, resisting. (Frequent flyer.)

JACINTO TUPPER, 19, Fort Bragg. Domestic battery, robbery, false imprisonment.

EDWARD VIKART, 63, Ukiah. Arson, dumping in commercial quantities, paraphernalia, disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs, disturbing the peace, passing bad checks with intent to defraud, appropriation of lost property.

*The Absinthe Drinkers*, 1908, Oil on canvas, Jean Béraud (French, 1849–1935)

Absinthe was created in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland in the late 18th century by the French doctor Pierre Ordinaire. It rose to great popularity as an alcoholic drink in late 19th- and early 20th-century France, particularly among Parisian artists and writers. The consumption of absinthe was opposed by social conservatives and prohibitionists, partly due to its association with bohemian culture. From Europe and the Americas, notable absinthe drinkers included Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Lewis Carroll, Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

Absinthe has often been portrayed as a dangerously addictive psychoactive drug and hallucinogen. By 1915, absinthe had been banned in the United States and in much of Europe, including France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and Austria-Hungary.

ESTHER MOBLEY

Philana Bouvier, president of Demeine Estates — the importer affiliated with Napa Valley’s Lawrence Wine Estates — gave an interesting interview to Shanken News Daily’s Daniel Marsteller. The top-performing price segment for Demeine’s California Cabernets, Bouvier said, is $50 by the glass and $200-$250 a bottle. “Once you go under $50, you won’t be able to go back,” she said.

Rumors are swirling that Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits and Republic National Distributing, the largest wine distributors in the U.S., have executed mass layoffs. (We’ve been unable to confirm this independently.) In his Substack, Tom Wark addresses what he views as a broken three-tier system: “This development will put suppliers further at the mercy of a middle-tier incapable and unwilling to serve the massive number of brands they represent. Yet without working with these wholesalers, producers and importers can’t enter markets throughout the country.”

Proud Aviation lover over here! In Punch, Aaron Goldfarb tracks the waxing and waning popularity of the Aviation, which TikTok has christened “the cilantro of cocktails,” apparently. “Once the darling of the cocktail cognoscenti,” the gin-maraschino-creme de violette concoction eventually “came to be seen by most drinkers as way too floral,” Goldfarb writes.

(SF Chronicle)

TRUMP V. VACCINATION

Dear Editor,

PBS recently reported that Donald J. Trump wants to overturn the traditional American vaccine mandate for schools. In his stump speeches he frequently says he will end federal funding for schools who require them.

The reason we had a hundred years between deadly pandemics in the United States (Influenza in 1918, Covid in 2020) is because we enforced a vaccine mandate for schools. All 50 states have a vaccine requirement tied to school attendance, and for a very good reason.

If enacted, this childish and foolish MAGA policy position will kill millions of Americans in fairly quick order. It is not worth the fun of the conspiracy theory and the votes of science-deprived citizens to talk this way, Mr. Former President.

Kimball Shinkoskey

Woods Cross, Utah

LEE EDMUNDSON: Lee Greenwood: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

RICK AVERY

There’s a lot of talk about fascism now, the fascist core of the far right which is currently led by Trump but which has a long, deep history. We wonder: is fascism here? is it likely to come here? is this like Germany in the 30’s?

I’d like to offer a different thought on it, a different definition of fascism. That is this: fascism is colonial methods brought home to the “mother country.” Italy and Germany had been happily slaughtering colonial peoples in Africa for decades before they began the mass bloodletting inside of Europe.

To worry about fascism, that we “might” be getting fascism, is to ignore the fascist (authoritarian, genocidal) experience of people in the colonies since. . . . since forever. Why not call what Indigenous people have experienced fascism? Why not the enslavement and ongoing murder and oppression of Africans? We worry that there “might be” some fascism in the coming years but what are Black and Brown people experiencing in prison today, in a prison population that has increased ten-fold since the 60’s? Do they join us in wondering, “is fascism coming?” They are living it (and came to it under mass incarceration initiatives by Democrats like President Clinton and Biden during his Senate years, as well as mayors like Eric Adams).

Do the people of Palestine worry about fascism coming? They are living under it, the fire and steel of mass slaughter, today.

If you think of the US not as the immediate borders of the continental US but rather as the extended American empire, then the people of Chile under Pinochet experienced fascism, and that was US-sponsored fascism, even as some trappings of democracy were presented inside the US. Not only Chile, but all over Latin America as well as Africa and Asia, what we call fascism is well practiced.

So will “we” get fascism? I dearly hope not. But let’s not pretend it is some distant thing. And let’s be as determined to end the fascist oppression of colonized peoples as we are for ourselves.

*Telegraph Hill, Coit Tower, from Downtown San Francisco* (Fred Lyon)

MOST OF CALIFORNIA’S NEW DRILLING PERMIT APPROVALS IN 3RD QUARTER 2024 ARE FOR EXTREME EXTRACTION TECHNIQUES

by Dan Bacher

Los Angeles, CA -- Zero California permits to drill conventional oil and gas wells were approved in the third quarter of 2024, but 33 out of 34 permits were issued to drill wells using extreme enhanced oil recovery techniques (EOR) in the notorious Cymric Oilfield in Kern County, Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance reported today.

The 34 approvals by CalGEM, the state’s oil and gas regulator, represent a rise of 580% over the third quarter of 2023. (See Table 1.) Sentinel Peak Resources California received the 33 approvals, the groups said in a press statement.

Those approvals were among the 930 oil drilling permits approved in the first nine months of the year that include 69 new well permits and 861 oil well rework permits.

Since Governor Newson came to office in January 2019, a total of 16,719 total oil and gas drilling permits of all types have been approved by state regulators.

After a long battle by climate and environmental justice groups to ban fracking in California, the state this year finally ended permits to stimulate oil production using hydraulic fracturing to break up rock and reach oil underneath. “But oil regulators continue to permit wells that inject steam under pressure to heat tarlike oil for extraction from nearby production wells,” the groups wrote.

“These techniques are energy intensive and have a larger carbon footprint and we are experiencing multiple climate catastrophes currently,” said Kyle Ferrar, Western Program Director for FracTracker Alliance. “Instead of moving away from these climate change driving techniques, California is approving more of them when the rest of the country is drowning underwater.”

“Drilling injection wells next to old wells in a Swiss cheese of overdeveloped fields can cause eruptions of oil rock and mud and spills that threaten the air, water, and oilfield workers,” pointed out Consumer Advocate Liza Tucker. “It’s time for regulators to stop approving permits for new injection wells using steam flooding and cyclic steaming. This should be banned on the way to stopping all permitting.”

Tucker said the extreme extraction steam injection well permits were issued to Sentinel Peak Resources California LLC, in the Cymric field in one of several pockets where the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) holds the mineral rights. In this case both CalGEM and the BLM approved these new drilling permits, which were pushed though using an outdated 2021 BLM environmental impact report (EIR) that does not fully consider the environmental risks, according to environmental attorneys.

“CalGEM is supposed to look at the review and decide independently whether the analysis meets state CEQA requirements, including any feasible mitigation measures. Instead, CalGEM continues to approve new permits that have received insufficient environmental review from the BLM, according to the ongoing litigation,” Tucker explained.

Tucker said the drilling of injection wells for steam injection and cyclic steaming is widely used in the Cymric oil field, about 35 miles West of Bakersfield, that has experienced numerous spills over the years. As of last June, spills in Chevron’s part of the field have gushed more than six million gallons of wastewater and crude through June of 2023, according to the Desert Sun.

“One of the spills has continued for 21 years after it began in Kern County oilfield. The amount spilled is larger than the Exxon Valdez disaster, according to the Sun and ProPublica, which found that Chevron earned at least $11.6 million by capturing crude from that spill in just three years. According to ProPublica, producers can turn spills into moneymakers as there is nothing to stop them,” Tucker explained.

“In March, Chevron said it would pay $13 million to the Department of Conservation and Department of Fish and Wildlife for dozens of spills. Governor Newsom toured the first phase of a Chevron Cymric spill in 2019. Newsom banned the use of cyclic steaming and steam flooding at very high pressures in the wake of his visit. But the over-drilling of the area, liquified formations underground, and close proximity of wells still increases the risks of oil spills at lower pressures,” said Ferrar.

To see the number of drilling permits approved in the first quarter of 2024 and locations, visit Consumer Watchdog and FracTrackerAlliance’s joint site: https://newsomwellwatch.com

‘I HEAR PANIC’: BAY AREA DEMOCRATS BRACE FOR PROSPECT OF A SECOND DONALD TRUMP PRESIDENCY

by Kevin Fagan & Rachel Swan

Stocking up on guns and emergency food. Making plans to flee the country. Flooded with fear of concentration camps for immigrants, jailing of political leaders and demolition of abortion and LGBTQ rights.

With days to go before a fraught presidential election, Democrats in a Bay Area that launched Kamala Harris’ political career are bracing for what many once said was unthinkable: a second Donald Trump presidency, and the tumult they believe it could bring.

Those who see Trump as a dictator-in-waiting are frantic or grimly resigned, with a few so repelled they’re saving money for plane tickets. Conservatives are anxious too, some convinced that if Harris wins, she would impose stifling socialism. Both see the possibility for post-election violence or insurrection.

Run-ups to an election are tense by nature. But this one — compressed into three months after Harris replaced President Biden as the Democratic nominee — has been a succession of surprises and dramatic moments, whipsawing people between joy and despair.

In the past week alone, Democrats mobilized outrage after a comedian called Puerto Rico “garbage” at a Trump rally, only to be undercut when Biden tried to condemn the joke, but wound up insulting Trump voters instead.

Polls show the race in a dead heat, inciting desperation in just about everyone. Doctors and therapists say the nation’s mental health is eroding, and urge everyone to just calm down.

Panic is what Charles Garcia, a 70-year-old Army veteran who teaches classes in Richmond on “prepping,” says he hears in customers' voices lately — and business is buzzing.

“People are taking this very seriously — they’re worried about everything,” Garcia said. “I’ve had phone calls from all across the nation. The thing I hear most about is being afraid of civil war, and I hear panic.”

He said the calls come from both sides, with anti-Trumpers warning of militias fomenting revolution if he loses and anti-Harris voters thinking riots will rip through the cities if Trump prevails. When Garcia advises about arming up, conservatives mostly just need refreshers on ammunition calibers or the like, while liberals often need to start from scratch “because they never owned a gun before,” he said.

Garcia, who says he’s voted both Republican and Democratic in the past, doesn’t think the worst of whatever trouble erupts will hit in the Bay Area. But just in case, he has food, fuel and other supplies to last three weeks, and he specializes in creating natural medicines from plants. In the unlikely event “there are criminal riots, we can pack up our car and leave or stand our ground — and I’ll tell you, my wife is a far better shot than I am. And I can drop anything at 800 yards with my deer rifle.

“But I do think the country will heal itself,” he said with a sigh. “Maybe not in my lifetime. But it will.”

Talk of long-term healing is cold comfort to those concerned with Trump’s immediate priorities: curtailing reproductive freedom, dismissing climate change and deporting immigrants.

Were Trump to carry out his vow to “launch the largest deportation effort in American history,” he would need to substantially beef up Immigration and Customs Enforcement to round people up and put them in what would effectively be concentration camps, said Abby Sullivan Engen, co-directing attorney of the immigrants’ rights group at Centro Legal de la Raza. She is among many who are girding to contest those perceived threats in court.

Also getting ready to fight are those apprehensive of a national abortion ban. Trump has said he won’t institute one, but many observers are skeptical. “These are very scary times, I feel it,” said Lauren Babb, a vice president at Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, which covers the Oakland and San Jose areas. “There is no one clear path about how a federal ban would affect California, but I’ll just say there’s a significant amount of planning for the win or loss scenarios in the election.”

Climate experts point to Trump’s promise to roll back legislation that provided tax credits to families investing in renewable energy or buying electric vehicles. He’s also expressed a desire to gut or overhaul the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, which could mean loosening regulation of fossil fuels or constricting funds for climate programs, said Sam Fishman, sustainability and resilience policy manager at SPUR, a city planning nonprofit.

Should Trump win and make good on these pledges, environmentalists will rely on states and local governments to see what they can accomplish on a smaller scale, Fishman said. He acknowledged this path is more difficult — that a lot of policies “start to unravel” if the federal government doesn’t support them.

Studies show it’s not just the policy advocates, or the Democrats, who are on edge.

The American Psychological Association recently reported that 69% of Americans are badly stressed about the election, and 72% are significantly worried that it will lead to violence. Still, social scientists caution that it’s wise to take a deep breath. Many people are internalizing hyperbole about both candidates, all of it complicated by global conflicts in the Ukraine and Israel and lingering trauma from the COVID years and the Jan. 6 insurrection.

News saturation and constant online doom-scrolling are causing stress, psychologists say. The advice is to try to tune out some of the noise, or at least put it into context for your actual life.

“A lot of people are not good at putting their anxiety in the right place,” said psychologist Emiliana Simon-Thomas, science director of the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley. “Like it or not, we live in a democracy. And we often miss our opportunities to savor those indicators of justice and fairness that actually are all around us.”

She likened the common pillars of courts, government, citizenship, desire to raise happy families and more to “coming to a four-way stop sign. There’s a shared understanding. You get some smiles, someone puts their hand up to say, ‘You go,’ you wait your turn, and you have this warm collective feeling that we’re all in this together in the same society.”

When we forget that, she said, we feel confusion and stress. And particularly on Election Day, when the vote advantage may change back and forth, “surrendering to that madhouse of various possible outcomes is harmful to your mental health.”

She said channeling fear into action is healthy, and that’s just what dozens of people were doing the other evening at Manny’s Cafe in the Mission District when they gathered for 24 hours of marathon letter-writing to reluctant voters in Nevada, urging them to get to the polls. Although the letters were nonpartisan, attendees sported Harris-Walz shirts, and a cardboard cut-out of Kamala Harris stood in the middle of the room. (The Chronicle hosts events at Manny’s but was not involved in the letter-writing activity.)

It was a case study of tangled catharsis in live time.

For hours they sat, hunched over half-eaten scones and cups of iced tea, writing passionate pleas to strangers. The most assiduous letter-writers drained their pens of ink and dug callouses into their palms.

They worked breathlessly, many saying they found comfort in the thrum of activity and the sense they were helping out. Cafe owner Manny Yekutiel shouted encouragement and ordered pizza, trying to keep the energy up. But as attendees sealed envelope after envelope, their stress was palpable. Some smiled with gritted teeth when asked about the state of the election.

Mark Lenz had tears stinging his eyes.

“All my friends and I are frightened,” said Lenz, who is gay and terrified that Trump, if elected, would roll back recent civil rights gains for the LGBTQ community. Like others, Lenz struggled to see beyond Nov. 5, and said he hopes his friends can “huddle together and take care of each other.”

Blake Dressel said his friends had begun to disassociate from politics — maybe in self-preservation, perhaps in dread. “I think a lot of my peers have checked out,” he said. After a turbulent summer and September’s dramatic Harris-Trump debate, people are “ready for it to be over.”

Michael McQuiller tried to stay upbeat, remembering how hopeful people felt amid Harris’ nomination in August. At that point, he said, most of his friends stopped spinning fantasies about immigrating to other countries.

“Oh yeah, ‘move to Canada,’ and all that,” Sushawn Robb scoffed, dubious that a mass exodus will pan out. “I heard that Canada is putting out rules about who they would accept.”

Indeed, this month Canadian leaders released an immigration plan to reduce the number of people admitted as permanent or temporary residents.

Andrea Aiello said, in an only-half-joking tone, that she’d mull drastic measures if Trump wins — such as secession for California.

“It’s something in the back of my mind,” she acknowledged, shrugging.

Those doubts about a mass exodus don’t apply to Andrea Carla Michaels, nicknamed “The Pizza Lady” for handing out leftover pies to homeless people in San Francisco.

“I’m moving to Italy if Trump wins, and I will leave probably by the end of the year because it will take me a month to pull everything together,” she said. “It’s not because of the militias. Between Social Security getting cut — which Republicans want to do — and the mean-spiritedness, I’m afraid people are going to unleash their inner Trump again, feeling like it’s OK to be racist, to have this undercurrent of nastiness all the time.

“It’s not how I want to spend my golden years. I just turned 65.”

Trump has said he would not cut Social Security, but there are concerns his plans would hasten its financial demise.

Democrats’ nervousness surrounding the election amounts to fantasy rooted in exaggeration, said Mike Netter, a conservative activist who helped lead the unsuccessful 2021 campaign to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“It’s nutjob season,” he said. “I think, with all due deference to the press, we hear a lot of hyperbole about small groups of people.” Consider, he said, that in a country of 350 million people, the ones who broke into the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, numbered in the hundreds (most estimates say more than 2,000) and militia and anarchist groups at demonstrations are also small relative to the overall population.

“The real scary part of the election is the fear that is put into the public that if you don’t vote for one side or another, your life will go to hell in a handbasket,” he said. “The reality is that you shouldn’t be afraid of the election. We should not have fears that a small group of people will overpower the mighty United States from within.”

Mindy Pechenuk, a die-hard Trump supporter running for Oakland City Council, readily flings out condemnations based in fear — but like Netter, she says don’t be so frightened.

“This is one of the most crucial elections we’ve ever had in our lifetime, and I’m 73,” she said. “Kamala is a walking disaster and those behind her are a walking disaster to hell.”

As for the possibility of violence? “Overblown,” she said. “I don’t see militias coming out in Oakland or the Bay Area.”

Larry Rosenthal has taken a close look at what Trump proposes — firing huge swaths of the civil service, jailing opponents, mobilizing the armed forces against civilians — as well as the danger militias pose, and he blanches. But the chair of the UC Berkeley Center for Right Wing Studies agrees with Nutter and Pechenek that the trepidation is out of proportion.

“The extent of things that are to be feared is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before, extraordinary,” he said, naming potential loss of minority rights, creation of an oligarchy and media companies losing their licenses as examples. “Whether they will really happen or not is open to question — there will be pushback.

“Whether militias rise up in a violent way if he loses is also an open question. And if Trump wins, militias become kind of a sword of Damocles over American life. But the fear is overblown. The American economic system, the condition of a civil society, has to continue.”

(SF Chronicle)

ON THE DOORSTEP

by Jan-Werner Muller

I had never canvassed in the US before, but, like many people, felt I had to do something. As a political writer and academic teaching democratic theory, I also wondered whether what has become conventional wisdom among many American political scientists was correct: that “affective polarization” has gripped the populace (translation: people who viscerally hate partisans on the other side); that those who are politely called “low-information voters” often decide elections on a whim; and that, yet again, pollsters might be underestimating support for Trump, because people don’t admit to their preference in front of strangers.

I had naively assumed you simply went from door to door. But the first thing we (I was with one of my sons) learned at the Democratic Party headquarters in a swing county in Pennsylvania was that you have to download an app, and then you get your list of houses. (“We’ll give you a good list!” a young volunteer beamed.) You also get your script: identify yourself, politely inquire whether people are following the presidential election this year, find out which issues they care about most. Basically: become a human data collection machine. I don’t think we ever quite followed the script, not because it felt so stilted, but because conversation – if there was any at all – immediately went in a different direction.

The second thing we learned: never put campaign material in with the regular mail. The US Post Office insists that only something with postage can go in the box. It wasn’t clear who would sue, but fines could be in the thousands of dollars and someone might have fun going after hapless canvassers from the wrong party.

Many houses were listed as “unknown” or “not canvassed.” That meant you never knew what was going to happen on the doorstep. Most of the time, nothing happened at all. Now that so many doorbells have cameras, people often wouldn’t open even when there were obvious signs of life inside. Sometimes they would play an automated message: “We cannot come to the door right now, but please leave whatever you want to leave.” Once, after we had dutifully put down a flyer and registered that achievement on the app, a man yelled at us through the intercom: “Take that away immediately!” – as if the wrong politics would somehow contaminate his property.

We’d also been instructed that “No soliciting” signs shouldn’t deter us: we weren’t selling anything, but exercising First Amendment rights to talk to fellow citizens about politics. That argument did not go over well. It was always older men who would scream “Can’t you read?” or “You shouldn’t be on people’s property!” or “Stop bothering people!” I doubt that exercising First Amendment rights more extensively with such folks would have resulted in a vote for Harris.

The neater the houses, the more likely such encounters. After a while, I thought I could tell from the cars and the sheer orderliness of everything around the house that a more or less authoritarian character might live there. In one neighborhood this prediction proved mostly correct, but the neatness of the houses did not align with nice bourgeois norms. If someone was outside, the polite question, “May we give you some material from the Harris campaign?” would be answered with things like: “Fuck, no.”

One man with a White Lives Matter baseball cap opened the door and immediately, politely, declared his intention to vote for Trump. The official instruction had been to wish every GOP voter a nice day and leave a good impression; this time, though, my inner deliberative democrat came out and asked: “What could Harris do to make you change your mind?” Long silence. Eventually, a female voice from inside the house said something we couldn’t make out, and he proceeded to explain the problem was that Harris wants to give everything to the lower class and the migrants, and, on top of all that, she falsely calls these people “the middle class”. “But we are the middle class!” We looked again: nice house, but separated from a major highway only by a high concrete wall. Nothing to be gained from Harris’s program, really? A textbook case of white Americans hating anything that smacks of “welfare” because welfare is assumed to go to black and brown people only?

Things don’t go according to script. Before we can say a word, an older, distinguished-looking African American man announces: “I am conservative. I am against same-sex marriage.” Before we can say anything, a man in blue overalls explains that he’s a car mechanic and he always votes for the Libertarian Party. I’m lost for words, but my son jumps in and announces that he also has major problems with the two main parties, but this time, there’s a lesser evil.

One self-declared small business owner instructs us, as if talking to people unable to grasp the obvious, that, whatever happens, corporate America calls the shots – which is why he won’t vote for Harris. Another business owner politely complains about inflation; when pressed a bit, he ventures that it’s undemocratic for Biden to have received 14 million votes in the primaries and now there’s a candidate who got zero votes. Fair enough, but what about the danger to democracy from the other side? He turns the conversation back to the price of gas. We wish him a nice day.

Are there really undecided voters? What, at this point, is not known about Donald Trump? Maybe some undecided (or possibly uncaring) people will fall for Elon Musk’s scheme to give a million dollars a day to a person who has committed to voting Republican. The Pennsylvania district attorney has gone after what is plainly an illegal lottery (and a cartoonish version of how money buys votes in the US); though I also wonder about the messages from the Democrats that blare “incoming call from Kamala.” The small print says: “chip in any amount now, and the next time you pick up the phone, our vice president could be on the other end.”

One thing seems clear: the “shy Trump voter” is an extinct creature. It isn’t only the grotesque fairground of yard signs designed to troll rather than to persuade – “I’m voting for the felon!” – but his supporters’ willingness to profess their beliefs to complete strangers. There are surprises from time to time: a burly man covered with tattoos and two bulldogs roaming freely around the yard looks vaguely threatening – and stupid prejudices kick in, about a “white working class” we’ve been told so often is now authoritarian – but he’s happy to take some leaflets and says categorically that he cannot vote for someone as crazy as Trump.

You might imagine the same thought would have occurred to so-called business leaders. True, Trump has been selling policies to the highest bidder, from fossil fuel industries to crypto bros, with tax cuts for the wealthy and deregulation for polluters thrown in. On the other hand, there are the demands for shows of deference and his sheer unpredictability: what happens when you fall out of favor at court? And the Democrats are hardly anti-business: Harris has already been making all kinds of pre-emptive concessions, scaling back Biden’s plans to tax capital gains properly, and not committing to continue his valiant efforts to go after monopolies.

Analogies with 20th-century fascism are not particularly helpful for understanding our times, but one parallel is instructive: it is not “ordinary people” who decide they’ve had enough of democracy; it is elites, and economic elites in particular. Blackshirts marched on Rome, but Mussolini arrived by sleeper car from Milan because the leading strata of the Italian state had invited him to govern. People today also often take their cues from business leaders, in particular a pop culture figure like Musk. All the self-serving talk of “disruption” can be adapted to make Trump acceptable, as can the studied neutrality of oligarchs who not only own their own rockets, but their own newspapers: refusing to endorse Harris sends a signal that it’s rational to be intimidated by Trump.

Even more dispiriting is the comprehensive failure of the “norms” and “institutions” that liberals put their faith in after Trump’s election in 2016. The bet on norms was always risky in a two-party system where one is being turned into a personality cult cum family business; the GOP has long been the party of hardball, but under Trump it discovered that all appearances could be dropped. In a law-obsessed society suffering from a serious case of constitutional fetishism and Founding Father worship, there was a hope that the courts would provide the “adults in the room” willing to put “constitutional essentials” above party. Yet the Supreme Court’s decisions to keep Trump on the ballot this year and guarantee him immunity were shocking not least because here, too, all pretence was gone: no more rummaging around the 18th century in the name of “originalism”; just freewheeling speculation about all the bad stuff that could happen if things didn’t go Trump’s way.

This has left plenty of Americans feeling that they’re on their own now; their betters will not come to their rescue. That feeling must be part of what brought energy to the Harris campaign, even if something like canvassing can often feel pointless (so many unopened doors) or embarrassingly intrusive. There is something unsettling about walking in suburban neighborhoods not designed for walking. In one not exactly wealthy neighborhood we were the only people outside on a gray, chilly afternoon. Going from unopened door to unopened door, things felt more and more eerie. I asked my son if he’d seen the last scene of Easy Rider (he hadn’t). Eventually, an older black man appeared not far behind us, also not exactly wealthy-looking and seemingly uneasy. After a while, I realized that he also kept looking down at his phone and crisscrossing the street. He was distributing Trump doorhangers. I wish I’d asked him why he was doing it, and what he thought about Trump. But I didn’t, and now I’ll never know. (I’ve heard that some black men are evangelical Christians and somehow associate Trump with that.)

One way or another, though, we’ll find out in less than a week (hopefully) what we were really up against, whether the world’s richest man – who happens to be a right-wing extremist – dangling money in front of people to get their votes (or at least their data) made a difference; and whether there’ll be a reckoning with the pathologies of US democracy – from the arbitrary power of oligarchs to the hollow nature of the parties (to be sure, one much more than the other) and the corruption of the Supreme Court – which have become so painfully obvious in 2024.

(London Review of Books)

”We ate poorly, had very few clothes, and worked too hard. I fed pigs, chopped wood, worked in sugar beet fields, shined shoes in barber shops, helped pitch circus tents and move heavy equipment, and even shovelled dung. But all in all, I don’t regret having grown up that way. It made me tough and well prepared for the life ahead. I was never ill or down with sickness. My body became tough as leather.”

— Jack Dempsey AKA ‘the manassa mauler AKA Kid Blackie’

FRIDAY'S LEAD STORIES, NYT

The Jobs Report on Friday May Be a Fluke and a Political Football

Vance Tells Rogan: Teens Become Trans to Get Into Ivy League

Trump and Vance Escalate Efforts to Sow Doubts on Pennsylvania Voting

Young Thug Released After Guilty Plea in Lengthy YSL Case

Martha Stewart Gives Netflix’s ‘Martha’ a Scalding Review

As Famine Stalks Gaza, Farmers Lament Their Many Losses

Destructive Israeli Raid in West Bank Kills 5, Palestinians Say

TO CHAMBER OF COMMERCE TRUMPERS: WATCH WHAT YOU WISH FOR

by Ralph Nader

Open Letter to President and CEO Suzanne P. Clark of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce:

Dear President Clark,

The Chamber has come a long way without my advice. However, perhaps, you will indulge my curiosity over the majority of your members supporting Donald Trump for President.

There are few conditions that the business community craves more than stability and predictability. Donald Trump is a daily chaos machine. He survives and thrives on turmoil. It is integral to his egocentric personality and supercilious character traits. It is also terribly distracting for those who focus on the business of business. It produces unproductive divisions and uproars which are bad for society and the economy. It is no secret that Mr. Trump will pursue policies of revenge against his political opponents, judges, law enforcers, and others who dared to openly defy him. Recall his July 2019 declaration, “I have an Article II, where I have the right to do whatever I want as President.” That has been his modus vivendi.

Whole classes of people, critical to the functioning of the economy, are on his retribution hit list. If elected, Trump, a convicted felon and the subject of multiple indictments will target immigrants, academic specialists, student activists, and a wide swath of Americans he stereotypes as “leftists, Marxists and lunatics.” People who happen to not like Trump, his outlawry, fact deprivations, prevarications, bigotry, misogyny, and his contempt for those he calls “suckers and losers,” including people with disabilities, are all at risk. Even retired generals, usually reluctant to enter the political fray, are now speaking out in no uncertain terms against Trump’s candidacy.

Consider some specific policy positions he has stridently advanced. Trump thinks higher tariffs across the board, are paid by the foreign exporter and not passed on to consumers as higher prices. Do you know any business economists who have accepted this bizarre notion? Apart from this inflationary impact, a tariff war is believed to invite certain retaliation by foreign countries.

Trump, regularly, rejects grave realities, past and present, replacing them with serious delusions. He cannot process information and brags about not reading.

Trump incites violence and brings out the worst kind of hatefulness against large groups of Americans whom he paints as “enemies within.” Many of these people merely disagree with Trump. He seriously degrades reasonable trust in the electoral process by characterizing elections he loses as being “rigged.” Moreover, where pro-Trump governors and legislators are in office, varieties of unprecedented voter suppression and purges are rampant. Your late predecessor, Thomas J. Donohue rejected such “conduct” as eroding “our democratic institutions.”

The Chamber may like his additional tax-cutting promises until, your economists tally up the deficits. The federal debt now takes more interest dollars to service than the Pentagon’s budget. The ever-increasing, unaudited military budget, it is never enough for Trump and causes a serious diversion from public budgets for job-producing investments in infrastructure repair and upgrading so essential for a modern corporate economy.

Trump also wants to compromise the touted independence of the Federal Reserve. It is part of his web of presidential control and he is, as you know, a control freak. What is different from his first term is that, if elected, he would bring in a larger number of political appointees with extreme ideological biases and utter contempt for the civil service. Does the Chamber wish to return to the 19th century “spoils system” and the corrosive corruption that it fostered? Corruption often involves overreaching business crooks who give your community a bad name and incessant negative headlines.

Imagine the labor disruptions that would be caused by Trump’s determination to generate the largest deportations in American history. Over and over again he calls immigrants criminals, drug traffickers and invokes a variety of equally vile and unfounded sweeping stereotypes. His base will insist on his follow-through. This will also provoke serious ethnic tensions with costly collateral damage to critical sectors of the economy.

The oil, gas, and coal companies comprise a key bloc of your membership. They applaud Trump calling climate violence a “hoax and his “drill baby drill” mantra. Unfortunately, mega-hurricanes, mega-floods, and mega-wildfires will have the final verdict on Trump’s destructive scrapping of a swifter transition to renewable and conservation efficiencies.

You may like his constant reference to “deregulation” or as he has recently called for “no regulation.” Aside from studies showing the benefits of regulatory standards (see what weak regulation has done to Boeing since 2020) and protection of health and safety, what do you really have to fear from the best corporate Democrats money can buy? Besides you have a corporate judiciary bolstered by powerful corporate law firms, right up to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Chamber’s members are predominantly Republican from years of allegiance to the GOP. Trump, the Republican nominee has repeatedly refused to accede to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose in November. You may wish to urgently advise your members to “Be careful what they wish for.”

WHY HEAT WAVES OF THE FUTURE MAY BE EVEN DEADLIER THAN FEARED

The body’s cooling defenses fail at lower “wet bulb” temperatures than scientists had estimated.

by Clayton Dalton

Last month was the second-hottest September ever recorded; it came after the world’s warmest summer ever, in a year that is on track to be the most searing in recorded history.

There’s only so much the human body can take. Heat killed 60,000 people in Europe alone in 2022, and at least 55,000 people in Russia in 2010. Now, growing research suggests that humans may be more vulnerable to rising temperatures than scientists had previously believed.

“It’s scary as hell,” said Matthew Huber, director of the Institute for a Sustainable Future at Purdue University.

In 2010, Dr. Huber and Steven Sherwood, a climate scientist at the University of New South Wales in Australia, first proposed a limit to how much heat the body could handle.

They knew that humidity impedes evaporation and reduces the body’s ability to cool itself by sweating. And sweat is critical: It’s responsible for up to 80 percent of heat loss from the body. So the researchers turned to a measurement that accounts for this effect, called wet bulb temperature, or Tw.

A wet bulb thermometer is essentially a thermometer wrapped in a damp wad of cotton. As water evaporates it cools the bulb, which makes it a convenient proxy for the way that sweating cools the body.

Reasoning from basic physiological principles, they concluded that a Tw of 35 degrees Celsius would be the limit of human heat tolerance. That figure is more extreme than it sounds, because it accounts for humidity as well as heat. It translates to about 103 degrees Fahrenheit with 75 percent humidity, or 115 Fahrenheit with 50 percent humidity.

These conditions are rare. Because air carries more water vapor as it warms, it is unusual to reach such high levels of humidity at those temperatures. Still, beyond this threshold, the body’s cooling mechanisms begin to fail, and core temperature starts to rise. The onset of heat stroke becomes a matter of time.

Heat is dangerous at far lower wet bulb temperatures, too. But that 35 Celsius level was absolute, Dr. Huber and Dr. Sherwood concluded — the point at which even a healthy young person, in the shade, with unlimited water, would succumb in about six hours.

At the time, sustained heat waves so severe were thought to have never occurred. Dr. Huber and Dr. Sherwood predicted that these conditions could emerge with five to seven degrees Celsius of global warming, compared with preindustrial levels, “calling the habitability of some regions into question.”

Although the chances of that much warming are remote, the conclusion was still alarming. The New Scientist called it Thermogeddon.

In 2018, researchers using updated climate models found that China, without large reductions in emissions, could regularly be exposed to the human limit by 2070. By the end of the century, so, too, might the Persian Gulf, India and Southeast Asia.

All told, nearly two billion people might face temperatures that the body cannot tolerate for long. Mortality from extreme heat could surpass that of all infectious diseases combined, and rival that of cancer and heart disease.

A wet bulb temperature of 35 degrees Celsius quickly became an understood guardrail among scientists, an edge that humanity must not cross.

Then, in 2020, researchers discovered signs that a few regions in the Middle East had already crossed the threshold several times since 2005, albeit briefly. One author of the paper noted that “we may be closer to a real tipping point on this than we think.”

And there’s a bigger problem with that accepted limit. “It’s not real,” said Larry Kenney, a professor of physiology at Penn State.

The wet bulb limit was always theoretical, rather than experimental, he added: “Humans don’t sweat like a thermometer.” In fact, our physical tolerance for heat may be lower.

In 2021, Dr. Kenney recruited 24 volunteers to swallow a capsule thermometer and climb into a heat chamber as his graduate students dialed up the temperature inside. What they found was surprising.

The threshold for maximum heat tolerance actually was about a wet bulb temperature of 31 Celsius. “That’s the limit for all comers,” he said. Above that, “core temperature does this,” he said, tracing a line with his finger toward the ceiling.

I took a spin through the heat chamber myself. Afterward, a graduate student showed me a graph of my temperature, measured by the tiny thermometer I had swallowed that morning in Dr. Kenney’s office.

After a few minutes in the chamber, my temperature rose gently before plateauing. This reflected my body’s adaptive mechanisms kicking in. But then, after about 45 minutes at Tw 31 Celsius, the line on the graph kicked up again and kept rising.

Slowly but surely, I was accumulating more heat than I could get rid of. The line was still rising when the grad students killed the heat and brought me out of the chamber.

“This is a best-case scenario, with young healthy people,” Dan Vecellio, one of Dr. Kenney’s colleagues, said of my results. “We’ve also done this work with older people, and the threshold is lower.”

During the heat wave in Europe in 2022, nearly 60 percent of deaths occurred among people over 80. Since Dr. Kenney published his initial results, researchers at the University of Sydney have issued corroboration: They found that the limit may be as low as a wet bulb temperature of 22 Celsius among older participants.

If the actual limit of human heat tolerance is less than Tw 35 Celsius, then the threat of lethal heat may be greater than believed. Last October, Dr. Kenney’s team collaborated with Dr. Huber to publish a paper mapping the new, lower threshold onto climate projections.

They found that sustained exposure to a wet bulb temperature of 31 Celsius was limited below 2 degrees Celsius of warming. Global surface temperatures have so far increased by about 1.4 Celsius (roughly 2.5 Fahrenheit) since the preindustrial era.

But the pace of warming is expected to accelerate, with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projecting a rise of three degrees Celsius by 2100 under current climate policies. Above two degrees, lethal heat waves might rapidly emerge in some of the world’s most densely populated regions, including eastern China, India and sub-Saharan Africa, according to Dr. Kenney and his colleagues.

If warming were to exceed four degrees, these conditions would begin to affect Southeast Asia, Australia, the Middle East, South America, and several American cities, including Chicago, Houston and Washington.

At that level of warming, three billion people could be exposed to at least a week of temperatures at the human limit every year, Dr. Kenney said. Some 1.5 billion could experience a month of such conditions, and several hundred million could experience “an entire season” of “life-altering extreme heat.”

“These results indicate that a significant portion of the world’s population will experience — for the first time in human history — prolonged exposures to uncompensable extreme moist heat,” he and his colleagues wrote in the study.

Some uncertainty remains — the human research is still in an early stage, and the amount of warming the planet will experience remains unknown.

“We have to remember that people are already dying in the heat well before we reach these thresholds,” Dr. Vecellio said. Over a thousand people died this year during the hajj in Saudi Arabia, he pointed out.

Dr. Vecellio noted that holding global warming to two degrees Celsius largely avoids the truly catastrophic heat waves predicted by their models. “We obviously want to not even get to two degrees Celsius,” he said. “But two degrees Celsius is, like — that’s it.”

(NY Times)

17 Comments

George Hollister November 1, 2024

Fascism is a socialist economic system that can be used by any ideology that believes, to a greater or less extent, that government is the instrument for social leadership.

Jacob November 1, 2024

The Ukiah Daily Journal and its sister papers the FB Advocate News and Mendocino Beacon are barely newspapers any longer. I am surprised they even know who is running for anything let alone making endorsements. Based on their recommendations, I can say that they are totally out of touch with the Coast at least. Nearly everyone I know from across the political spectrum voted for Scott Hockett and Ryan Bushnell and not Lindy Peters. A few voted for Bethany brewer as well but nowhere near as many who voted for Ryan. I am also confused by their Health Care District endorsement of Mikael Blaisdell, who is extremely divisive on the Coast compared to the other three candidates.

Marshall Newman November 1, 2024

The Coit Tower photograph was taken by Fred Lyon. The actual title is “Telegraph Hill, Coit Tower, from Downtown San Francisco.”

Me November 1, 2024

“Carrillo acknowledged there are “some” missing emails among seven users including Weer, Cubbison and Kennedy between 2013 and 2020, but she claimed they were “well outside the relevancy of this case.””
If they are missing, how does Carillo know they are outside the relevancy of this case?

George Hollister November 1, 2024

I have a question, if someone votes, then dies during the period between when early voting begins and Election Day, is their vote counted?

- Bruce Anderson November 1, 2024
  
  Absolutely, George. Dead Americans have been voting since our shaky beginnings.
  
  - Harvey Reading November 1, 2024
    
    Especially brain-dead USans…
    
Cotdbigun November 1, 2024

Lillie Hitchcock Coit aka “Firebelle Lil” , posthumously financed this memorial to firefighters that lost their lifes, and to beautify the city. A socialite that chased fires, hunted and gambled. An amazing story that’s well worth the time to delve into, while we’re waiting.

- Marshall Newman November 1, 2024
  
  Lillie Hitchcock Coit summered in the Napa Valley. The land she inherited from her parents, where the Calistoga house was located before it burned in 1929, is now Bothe-Napa State Park.
  
Craig Stehr November 1, 2024

Incredibly wonderful, today’s Solemnity of All Saints Catholic Mass celebrated at 12:10 p.m. EST at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the main celebrant being His Eminence Christophe Cardinal Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America. Noticed that Reverend Monsignor Walter R. Rossi first gave communion to a couple seated in the front row. It was politician Newt Gingrich and his wife! The entire church was filled with joy; the choir and lots of incense and the church organ and the entire congregation all celebrating the magnificent lives of the saints and striving to be saintly and for eternal life in heaven. Amen.

- Falcon November 1, 2024
  
  EXTRA, EXTRA…READ ALL ABOUT IT
  
  Apostolic Nuncio His Eminence Christophe Cardinal Pierre Cardinal-Deacon
  
  The Pope, as the Vicar of Christ on earth, in order to ensure that each country has a tangible sign of his care for the Lord’s entire Flock, appoints an Apostolic Nuncio (Ambassador of the Holy See) as his personal and official representative both to the Church in the United States and to its Government.
  Nuncio and elected Titular Archbishop of Gunela on July 12, 1995, receiving Episcopal Consecration on September 24, 1995, in Saint-Malo, France.
  
  Cardinal Pierre served as Apostolic Nuncio in Haiti from 1995 until 1999. He was then appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Uganda (1999-2007) and subsequently to Mexico (2007-2016). On April 12th, 2016, Pope Francis appointed him Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America.
  On July 9th, 2023, Pope Francis announced his intention to elevate him to the College of Cardinals. At the Public Consistory of September 30th, 2023, he was created Cardinal Deacon of San Benedetto fuori Porta S. Paolo.
  Cardinal Pierre speaks French, English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.
  
  Newt Gingrich, a Republican
  https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bb/Newt_Gingrich_%2852586542681%29_%28cropped%29.jpg/440px-Newt_Gingrich_%2852586542681%29_%28cropped%29.jpg
  
  - Jurgen Stoll November 1, 2024
    
    From today’s Heather Cox Richardson Letter from an American…….
    
    “Right-wing figures like Charlie Kirk have expressed alarm at the gender gap in voting. As well, there has been a right-wing backlash to the idea that women will vote for Harris while letting their husbands assume they’re voting for Trump.
    
    Former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), who famously cheated on both of his first two wives, expressed dismay at the idea that a woman might need to keep her vote secret from her husband. “For them to tell people to lie is just one further example of the depth of their corruption,” he said. “How do you run a country…saying wives should lie to their husbands, husbands should lie to their wives? I mean, what kind of a totally amoral, corrupt, sick system have the Democrats developed?”
    
    Right wing hypocrisy knows no bounds.
    
Harvey Reading November 1, 2024

TRUMP V. VACCINATION

Actually having millions fewer people would be a good thing for the country. It would be magnificent if the dead included the greedy kaputalists. Having fewer billions of people worldwide would be even better for the entire now-overpopulated planet. The robber barons would be appalled though, as demand for electromobiles and solar panels (which required lots of energy to produce, from mining to final sale), would plummet. And, I wonder just how much of a windmill, a solar panel, or a lithium battery can be “recycled”… We are currently being peddled a pack of lies by the wealthy robber barons, who will only increase their own wealth.

- Jurgen Stoll November 1, 2024
  
  Trump received the best medical care available when he got Covid and spread it knowingly by not masking up at the White House reception for Amy Coney Barrett, while pedaling ivermectin, bleach, and bullshit theories to the masses.
  
  - Harvey Reading November 2, 2024
    
    Apparently you put your comment in the wrong place.
    
Harvey Reading November 1, 2024

Coit Tower Photo

Looks kinda trashy to me. Maybe that was the point?

Semper Paratus November 2, 2024

John Strangio has my vote for Ukiah City Council. Good man. I think he wants to make positive changes for the community (in which he has been consistently and actively involved for many years now), and he isn’t just running for vanity points.

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