Mendocino County Today: Monday 11/18/2024

SCATTERED SHOWERS continue to move onshore along the coast today. Strong winds develop Tuesday afternoon and evening as the next storm approaches. Steady, moderate rain is forecast Wednesday into next weekend. Heavy snow is possible in NE Trinity Wednesday.

AN ATMOSPHERIC RIVER is forecast to move over NWRN CA Tuesday night through the weekend. Steady moderate rain is expected during this period, with most areas seeing 2 to 4 inches of rain every 24 hrs during this period, with higher amounts expected in the mountains on SW facing slopes. Initially, localized flooding is possible in urban areas and small creeks and streams may rise out of their banks. More extensive flooding is possible later this week as rain continues. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): I could hear the waves crashing big as I emptied .24" out of my rain gauge this Monday morning on the coast. 40F under clear skies. Maybe a shower today & Tuesday before (if you have not already heard) things get REALLY wet into the weekend. Many inches of rain are forecast. How much we actually get of course remains to be seen. The current bullseye of biggest amounts it just north of us at the moment.

NOTTY BUMBO [coast chatline]: The 10-day predictions have now increased amounts of rain significantly. Yesterday's 4-5" rainfall forecast has now risen to 5-7". Even at the lower end, everyone should expect localized flooding. Winds will be especially strong mid-Tuesday through much of Wednesday. Get yer mukluks ready, this is gonna be a doozy.

AVUSD NEWS

Hello Anderson Valley Community,

It has been a great week! The Fall weather in Anderson Valley is gorgeous and we are enjoying the beautiful colors!

Every Day Counts!

Regular attendance at school is critical to student success. We understand and respect the importance of spending time with loved ones, and we know that family visits are a cherished part of life. However, we want to emphasize the critical role daily attendance plays in your child’s academic success. Chronic absenteeism, even for short periods, can significantly impact learning and achievement. To support families in planning visits, we have continued our three-week winter break this year, allowing ample opportunity for travel without missing valuable instructional time. We appreciate your partnership in prioritizing your child’s education while also nurturing family connections.

School Breaks are Coming

Our school breaks are approaching, along with the changing of the seasons. Please be sure to mark your calendars if you have not yet done so!

Fall Break is November 25-29.

There will be no school during these days.

Winter Break is December 23-January 10.

There will be some Winter Intersession Camp days in January (including some fun trips!) and we will get further information out about those very soon.

Students in Need of Warm Clothing?

It is getting cold! Some students have been bringing blankets to school and we have reminded them that blankets should stay at home; they do not contribute to an alert frame of mind for learning. That said, we want to be sure no student is unprotected from the cold.

Jackets can be expensive and kids grow fast! We have ways to provide a jacket to any student who truly needs one. This will be handled with confidentiality. If your child is in need of a warm winter jacket, please contact their site principal or Nat Corey-Moran. If possible, please share the size needed (“round up” on the size if you are unsure).

AVES Principal, Dave Ramalia dramalia@avpanthers.org
AV Jr/Sr High Principal, Heath McNerney hmcnerney@avpanthers.org
Community Schools Coordinator, Nat Corey-Moran ncomo@avpanthers.org

In Construction News

We are excited about moving into the main wing of the Jr / Sr High School by the end of Winter Break. We have had a little bit of a delay due to extra work needed and some ceiling tiles that were slow to come in, but our contractors are working hard and making great progress. Our new Science rooms will be ready by Spring Break.
We are in the bidding process for the new track! We will have ground breaking in the Spring. More information will be coming soon. This is going to be a beautiful project!
Our awesome architect, Don Alameida, is working with DSA and making good progress as we move toward replacing or retrofitting the gym. This is an arduous process and we are thankful to Mr. Alameida for helping us to navigate through the red tape.

What’s New at AVES:

On December 9th, there will be a student art show/Family Art Night and ELAC reclassification ceremony. We hope to see many families there!
Winter Intersession Camps will be held in the first week of January! We are reviewing parent input to determine how many days to include in camp. One thing for sure: There will be fun, seasonal field trips! More information will be coming soon.
Keep an eye out for Mr. Ramalia’s weekly update. It will have many more details about important happenings at the school.

Jr/Sr High News:

Mrs. Farber’s students completed a writing prompt about what they would like to see with future construction projects. They shared many great ideas that we will consider as we move forward with construction. Take a look if you are interested to see what our students are thinking: Student input re: construction projects
The Senior class would like to start a tradition of dedicated “senior parking spaces,” allowing interested seniors to personalize a specific spot (with paint) for the duration of their senior year. This is currently under consideration and will be discussed by staff next. Please reach out to Mr. McNerney if you have input about this idea.
Keep an eye on social media for additional updates about AV Jr Sr High. Some sites to look at include:
- Anderson Valley Athletics
- Boonville-Anderson Valley FFA
- Anderson Valley Unified School District
As a reminder, we are looking forward to TWO tournaments!
- Redwood Classic Dec. 4-7 (66th year hosting). 16-team tournament. 1st night will be hosted by satellite campuses: Cloverdale, Willits
- First Annual Sequoia Classic girls’ basketball tournament. December 13-14.
- Fliers and brackets for the upcoming basketball tournaments can be found here.

We remain deeply grateful for our community’s support, through your attendance at our events, support of our facilities, and dedication to all the students of AVUSD. Please reach out to me if you have questions, concerns, or ideas to share!

With respect,

Kristin Larson Balliet
Superintendent
Anderson Valley Unified School District

ED NOTES

THE MENDOCINO COMMUNITY NETWORK, aka MCN, has been for sale before right now. Twenty-five years or so ago Mitch Sprague and a busy little fellow called Rennie Innis tried to cash in the school-subsidized internet service they had hustled into life.

MCN, began in the mid-90s when Innis and Sprague leveraged a NASA internet connection grant obtained by the Mendocino schools into a business opportunity for themselves, parlaying “the kids” into what amounted to a publicly-subsidized private business, complete with offices on the grounds of Mendocino High School.

FROM the outset MCN got a number of large direct and indirect subsidies from the school district, including a free building to operate in, free labor from techno-oriented Coast high school students, free teacher loans, and an array of overhead cost transfers to the school district.

ALTHOUGH MCN was spared a lot of overhead, they still charged the same monthly internet fees as their commercial competitors in the County. According to Sprague, MCN had contributed $730,000 to the Mendocino school district’s education programs since 2000.

DOUBT IT. The suspiciously generous $730,000 figure didn't cover the free stuff MCN got from the district because the district never could identify or separate out the cost of those generous subsidies. Meanwhile Sprague, and Innis before him, made out like bandits, setting their own $100k-plus salaries and padding their resumes.

BUT in 2007 even those subsidies weren’t enough. MCN had gotten around to (or was forced to) pay some of the teacher salaries that were attributable to MCN, leading Sprague to claim that “ever-increasing personnel costs related to benefits and collective bargaining agreements” couldn’t be carried by MCN any longer.”

PREVIOUSLY, Sprague had said his shortfall was due to increasing costs from AT&T for high-speed trunk-line access. Either way, MCN was put on the sales block for the highest bidder. But nobody bid. Next thing anyone knew Sprague had magically concluded, “We have determined that MCN's future looks brighter than it did,” adding, “it had been frustrating and time consuming trying to sell MCN.”

WE WERE NEVER TOLD why no one bid for MCN, but we suspect that prospective buyers took a look at the books and saw that the only way MCN could survive was with all its school subsidies intact. We were also never told what had changed at MCN to turn its future bright in a matter of days. Something told us the whole thing had to do with brinkmanship between the newly hired Mendocino School Superintendent Catherine Stone and Sprague. When Sprague’s sales ploy didn’t work, he probably negotiated a compromise with Stone who, from all accounts, was no dummy and certainly no pushover. We’ll never know for sure, of course, but don't be surprised if Fort Bragg is soon MCN's new owner.

BTW, a Comptche whiz kid named Ted Williams was very helpful in assisting the AVA with our MCN investigations although he'd probably now deny it given his present eminence as 5th District supervisor.

ONE CRISP Saturday morning not so long ago, I walked straight into a “Walk for Life West Coast” demonstration in San Francisco. I didn't have the faintest idea what the demo could be about until the marchers got close enough so I could read their signs. The Bay Area media later reported that there were 10,000 of them, but they were strung out from the Marina Green to Fisherman’s Wharf, having made their eerily subdued way from the Wharf by Aquatic Park.

There were at least 50,000 of them accompanied by what seemed to be 10,000 cops who’d been assigned to escort as mild an army of protesters you are likely to see. San Francisco’s law enforcement priorities have always been a mystery. Your living room on a Saturday night has more potential for violence than was expressed by these anti-abortion people, en masse, for all of a Saturday afternoon.

But I’ll bet the tactical thinking, such as it tends to be in Frisco, was that a whole bunch of very nice, middle-class Catholics were coming into Sin City for the day and we don’t want them attacked or in any way disturbed by our population of belligerent atheists and free-floating nutballs, the police assumption being that twenty-five-year-old males carrying gory blow-ups of dismembered fetuses are perfectly sane.

There was no need for five hundred or so cops, most of them drawing overtime pay, in a city whose murder rate was, as always, unacceptably high. Anyway, the Pro-Lifers made up the most orderly demonstration I’ve ever seen, so unlike the unruly, left-wing mobs I’ve been affiliated with over the years that I had to remind myself that these marchers weren’t some kind of very odd mid-day hallucination.

No, sir, these silent throngs of church-going people didn’t acknowledge with so much as a glance the comparably subdued counter-demonstrators, of whom there were very few. To the scattered counter-demonstrators representing the forces of Pro-Choice it must have seemed like they were picketing their grandmothers and their local elementary school population.

It was a tough slog. There were so many pro-lifers between me and the vivacious splendors of Pier 39, all I could do was press on against their incoming tide. And on. And on, they came, seemingly unending, ten or so of them more or less abreast, well-behaved little kids waving “Choose Life” placards, young women brandishing “Irresponsible Men Love Abortion,” many of the marchers brandishing plastic fetuses.

“Irresponsible Men Love Abortion” was a slogan that tempted me to pause for an argument: Irresponsible men, and most men period, as all intelligent women certainly know by the time they’re fifteen, and the dumb ones find out the hard way, are like dogs; they don’t give any more thought to the consequences of their frenzied lusts than they do to whomever it is they happen to be lusting with.

The Catholics are undoubtedly correct about the necessity for orderly sexual relations. For the good of the children hetero relations require ritual and sanction otherwise we get what we have now — hit and run men, abandoned women with semi-abandoned children.

I slogged on, amazed that the Pro-Life parade seemed unending. I wanted to re-mount my bicycle and ride on down through Aquatic Park, not wriggle uphill against a human flood like, well, like a fanatic spermatozoa determined on conception! When I got to the top of the hill overlooking Fort Mason the ranks of silent Papists still pushed towards me, so many of them I couldn’t possibly get on my bike for an easy cruise down the hill and on through Aquatic Park.

I reconciled myself to walking and pushed on, my bicycle politely ahead of me all the way to the Bushman at the Wharf, a black man who, from his seated bucket behind a concealing shield of fresh greenery, growls and half-lunges at unsuspecting passersby, much to his and their amusement.

That’s it. His act. The original Bushman had been at it for twenty-eight years, and averaged about a hundred dollars a day from appreciative spectators, people like me, the easily amused. The unique thing about the guy is that he never seemed to get tired of doing the same thing over and over again. Every time he startled someone he was as delighted as his lingering audience. This was a man who loved his work, and where else could he thrive but San Francisco where on an unseasonably warm Saturday afternoon it was humanly impossible to be anything but pro-life.

A 'MONSTROUS PROBLEM' CREATED 7 YEARS AGO HAUNTS CALIFORNIA'S WEED INDUSTRY

by Lester Black

In the late spring of 2015, Gavin Newsom traveled north to Humboldt County to rally support for legalizing cannabis. Pot farmers in the historic cannabis growing region were deeply skeptical of legalization, fearing that big corporations would wipe out their small family farms. Newsom, then a lieutenant governor, came with both a warning and a promise. He confirmed that big money interests were already lobbying in Sacramento, but Newsom said he would stand in their way.

“With respect,” Newsom told a standing-room-only crowd at a Garberville theater, according to the North Coast Journal, “they’re writing a lot of you guys out and we cannot let that happen.” The audience appeared wooed by the savvy politician, and proceeded to take selfies with the rising star. One cannabis advocate told the local newspaper that “I think when they said they’re here to defend small farms I think they meant it.”

Nearly 10 years later, cannabis is legal in California, Newsom got a promotion to governor, and small cannabis farms have been decimated. Legalization has shuttered thousands of pot farms across Northern California, destroying multi-generational cannabis businesses and leaving rural towns boarded up.

Farmers see a trail of broken promises and betrayal from the state government. Few people blame Newsom entirely, but his long involvement in state government when decisions were made that they say hurt the industry have made him the focus of particular ire. That includes a decision seven years ago to allow massive farms in the state and his recent veto of a bill that would give farmers more access to sell their pot.

Newsom, through a spokesperson, declined to be interviewed for this story or answer a list of questions; instead, his office directed SFGATE to the Department of Cannabis Control, which shared a lengthy statement saying, in part, that the state “continues to stand by his early commitment to protect small farms.” The spokesperson pointed to $40 million in grants the state has given to support small farms, the DCC helping farmers get licenses in Mendocino, and Newsom signing a law that eliminated a cultivation tax.

However, the carnage at legal pot farms has left some people in the industry asking whether the state’s plan all along included putting the small farms of the Emerald Triangle out of business.

“California is strangling the golden goose right now,” said Jason Matthys, a cannabis breeder and activist in Mendocino County. “I have seen 99% of everyone exit the industry. And maybe that’s what they want? Maybe there are some fat cats that are whispering in the governor’s ear, ‘Let’s get these hippies out of here.’”

‘A monstrous problem’

Chris Anderson, the owner of Redwood Roots distribution in Humboldt County, can pinpoint the exact moment California’s small farmers were first betrayed. It was in November 2017, two months before legal sales were to begin, and the California Department of Food and Agriculture released rules that shocked the farming community: The state would allow legal pot farms to grow as large as they want.

“That was a monstrous problem,” Anderson told SFGATE. “That is where the collapse of the marketplace and oversupply came from.”

Keeping legal pot farms small was a key promise made to Northern California’s legacy farmers. Proposition 64, the initiative that legalized cannabis, blocked any farm from growing larger than 1 acre for the first five years of legalization. California’s pioneering pot farmers use small plots of land, and were worried they couldn’t compete against mega farms. They wanted five years to get a running start before large farms were legal, but suddenly that head start was taken away.

It’s still unclear why the state erased the 1-acre cap. Large farming interests in the Salinas Valley and Santa Barbara appear to have lobbied for the effort, according to reporting by Leafly News in 2017. A spokesperson for the state’s Department of Food and Agriculture said they changed the rule based on input from unnamed stakeholders.

The DCC said in a statement to SFGATE that Newsom, who was lieutenant governor in 2017, did not have authority over the decision nor did he endorse the change. But Newsom also declined to argue against it when asked by the San Francisco Chronicle at the time. (The Chronicle and SFGATE are both owned by Hearst but have separate newsrooms.)

Judi Nelson, the owner of Sol Spirit Farm in Trinity County, said she supported the law largely because of the acreage cap, and can still remember Newsom making that promise when he visited Humboldt County.

“Newsom came up and stood there with us and said to our faces there was going to be this 1 acre cap,” Nelson said.

With the restriction lifted, major corporations immediately started investing in massive farms and growing cannabis at a scale never before seen in the state. The small family farms in the Emerald Triangle were left competing against million-square-foot greenhouses filled with robots. As of now, the industrial farms appear to be winning.

A massive, legal marijuana growing operation, utilizing pop-up hoop nursery construction technology, takes over an entire valley along the Santa Ynez River between Buellton and Lompoc as viewed from a nearby hillside on May 21, 2020, near Lompoc, Calif.

The downfall of family pot farms

California’s legacy pot growers say they have almost no way to compete against the mega farms. The average farm size in Humboldt County is under 10,000 square feet, according to a 2021 study, while farms in Santa Barbara County can be as large as 4.1 million square feet. These larger facilities can produce huge amounts of cannabis at a fraction of the cost of a small family farm.

For example, Glass House Farms, one of the state’s biggest cultivators, grows cannabis in a 2 million-square-foot greenhouse facility that was financed by a $100 million loan. They announced last week that they had harvested 232,000 pounds of cannabis in the previous quarter. Humboldt County produced 220,000 pounds of pot during the same time period, according to DCC data, meaning this single mega farm in Southern California grew more than every farm in Humboldt County combined.

Cannabis farmworkers survey marijuana plants at Glass House Farms in Camarillo, Calif., one of the largest cannabis farms in the state.

This enormous supply of cannabis has sent wholesale prices into a free fall. A pound of cannabis could sell for $2,000 prior to legalization; now it can go for as little as $100. Dropping prices have subsequently put family farms across Northern California out of business. In 2016, about 2,000 farmers applied for cultivation licenses in Humboldt. Only about 1,000 remain today.

This price compression and widespread failures of farms would have likely happened in any legalization scenario, even if California maintained its ban on large farms. Almost every state that has legalized cannabis has seen prices fall and small businesses fail. But California’s early green light on mega farms hastened this trend and left “these small farms having no way to compete,” according to Brad Rowe, a researcher at UCLA.

“It’s really dire. Half of the people who had [farming] licenses in California last year didn’t renew them. They’re throwing in the towel,” Rowe said.

Newsom vetoes farmers markets

Newsom put himself back in the angry spotlight of cannabis farmers this fall when he vetoed a law that would have given small farms the right to sell some of their cannabis directly to consumers at farmers markets. The governor said the law would put “significant strain” on the state government and “further burden” the cannabis industry, although he did say he was open to other ways to legalize direct sales to consumers in the future.

Farmers markets may seem like a small request, but cannabis growers see these types of direct sales as one of the few things that could save the remaining small farms in California. Selling directly to a customer gives more money straight to the cultivator, the same way a produce farmers market or a brew pub helps support those industries.

Unfortunately for the farmers, that’s illegal in California. Currently, cannabis growers are required to sell their pot to distributors and retailers before it gets to customers, reducing profit margins and making it harder for them to tell their story.

Matthys, the cannabis breeder and activist in Mendocino, says California’s requirement that farmers work with distributors has put farmers “in the back seat” and unable to turn a profit because “there’s too many people in the way.”

Nelson, the farmer in Trinity County, said she’s still hoping that lawmakers will approve a law that allows her to sell cannabis directly to consumers. She said that would be a “game changer” for her that “would allow more farms to survive in the Emerald Triangle.”

For now, she said she has no way to connect with her customers in the current retail model. “We never get to tell our story, we never get to introduce what makes our product different from mass-produced products,” she said. That’s left her family farm hanging by a thread.

“I feel like we’re still fighting to stay alive every day,” Nelson said.

(sfgate.com)

A READER NOTES: Newsom is a disaster in many ways. But “legalization” was always going to be the beginning of the end for local pot growers. The plant itself is too easy to grow, too hardy, and too adaptable to command five grand a pound, or even one 1/100 of that in any kind of truly open market. Criminal sanctions have now been replaced with a nightmare of bureaucratic regulations, but even that won’t ultimately do it, overblown marketing nonsense aside. The old days are gone forever. It’s probably time to find something else to do.

ANOTHER WATER STUDY FOR MENDOCINO

The Mendocino City Community Services District (MCCSD) is hosting a community information event on December 3, marking the first of two public forums to address Mendocino’s persistent water scarcity challenges. This initial event will present the draft findings of the Source Water Study, conducted by GHD, with a focus on existing and potential water sources for the study area in Mendocino community.

The study, funded by the Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience (SAFER) Program through the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), examines both current and potential water resources within a mile of MCCSD’s service boundary. Within this area, 28 public water systems, and approximately 400 wells supply water to Mendocino’s residents and businesses.

Addressing the Water Crisis

Mendocino has long grappled with water shortages, relying on private wells, many of which are shallow or hand-dug. In recent years, prolonged droughts have further stressed these limited resources. To address the ongoing scarcity, MCCSD submitted a technical assistance request to the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB). The SWRCB assigned GHD as the technical assistance provider and charged them with preparation of this study to evaluate existing and potential new water supply sources.

This study includes an assessment of the water systems within the study area and the estimated demands. The draft Source Water Study document can be found at https://tinyurl.com/mendowaterstudy2024.

Why Community Involvement Matters

The December 3 event is a vital step in MCCSD’s collaborative process to address Mendocino’s water needs. Residents and stakeholders are invited to review findings, ask questions, and contribute feedback. MCCSD will hold a second event date in the future, to present the study’s final recommendations and gather additional community input on implementing a sustainable water strategy.

“Our goal is to work closely with the community to create a sustainable, resilient water future for Mendocino,” said Ryan Rhoades, MCCSD Superintendent. “With support from SWRCB and the expertise of GHD, we aim to protect Mendocino’s water resources for generations to come.” This event marks a pivotal step in the journey toward water sustainability for Mendocino. MCCSD encourages all residents and stakeholders of Mendocino to attend on December 3, 2024, to engage in this important conversation and help shape the future of our community’s water sustainability.

How to Get Involved The event is free, and all community members are encouraged to attend in person. A zoom link will also be available prior to the event. For updates and more information, please visit https://tinyurl.com/mendowaterstudy2024.

SALMON LIFE CYCLE AND WATER FLOWS, Part 3

A Fisherman’s Point of View for The Restoration of the Eel River Watershed Project

by Roy Branscomb

The 1964 Flood changed the river in ways that still exist today. Gravel and sediment have hurt the rivers as well as tributaries. Not to reduce the emphasis of that devastation, but shortly after the flood, the weather patterns began to change. The records show that every year was not the same. Around 1970 drought years and pro-longed dry spells started becoming more common. On top of what we know about drought years, that obviously means very little annual rainfall, plus a change in the weather patterns. The change in the patterns, as well as the drought years, is where I have been leading to in my article.

What I am referring to is that the rains of the past were heavy enough for the salmon to complete their full life cycle. On good rain years the rain comes later in the year. Take the last two years for example: In the last two years we have had significant rainfall that came after the majority of salmon were forced to spawn in the main bodies of water, meaning they didn’t have enough water to get to the tributaries. I have talked to a lot of people who do not understand how the natural cycle of our fish works. The rest of my writing will be about what the natural cycle should be. The Chinook salmon still enter the Eel River in late August like they always have. They primarily stay in tidewater or move upstream as far as waterflow allows. There are years where we just don’t get the rain and these fish spawn where they are forced to. This is a disaster. On most years we get enough small rain to allow the fish to move upstream until the water drops and leaves them stranded waiting for more rains. These fish are also forced to spawn when necessary. We also have a few years where we get enough early rain to allow the salmon into the tributaries and no follow up rain. With the ground not saturated the water level drops fast and leaves these fish in pools of water until predators get them, or they die of other causes. Once the riffles above where they are dry up, or becomes to low for them to spawn, these fish do not complete the cycle.

These adult fish all die after spawning so eggs need to be laid, hatched out, and then the young face elements of their own. These young fish face natural predators that have been in existence since the beginning of time. On top of all of these obstacles, they now have a new predator called the pike minnow. High water flows when they drop down can leave these young fish stranded in pools away from the main stream until more high flows arrive, or other predators or lack of oxygen kill them. Unfortunately this is natural under any conditions. I feel it is important to note that under the best of conditions the hatch rate has always been thought of to be under 5% at best.

These fish need conditions to help them survive until they start their migration downstream in June. These tributaries need to have an unbroken flow of water so they can make it back to the larger waters. Once there they face more predators. The fish that make it to the ocean face even more predators. To continue the cycle a few of these fish need to survive in the ocean for up to 4-5 years and then begin their migration back up the rivers. If all of this is not bad enough, there are many of these streams where if the rains allow the fish to spawn, the streams have so much gravel in them, that before June, the water is under the gravel, not on top. These young fish won’t make it. This needs to be considered.

CAN WE SURVIVE TRUMP 2.0?

by Tommy Wayne Kramer

It’s been a rough and hectic couple weeks around here since the Dreaded Election Outcome.

I spent a lot of time going to and from SFO, where I waved goodbye to friends upset with the election results, all boarding planes and heading for Canada. Again.

Then, with President Joe (“Ol’ Rigor Mortis”) Biden leaving office in mere weeks, and knowing days of exercising my rights as a Social Justice Warrior were running out, I robbed Walgreens and Home Depot a few more times and then knocked over a display of Jewish Rye Bread at Raley’s.

Unity and Joy, dammit!

I went home and packaged all of My Democracy up in a cardboard box and hid it in the garage to keep Trump from stealing it. I will update the coming Reign of Terror in future columns; already rumors are floating about that some Safe Spaces could be reduced on college campuses.

The planet is imperiled.

CLEANING UP THE FILTH

All too often newspapers run another of those discouraging stories about volunteers helping clean the Russian River of the garbage, filth and environmental degradation caused people “camping” on the Russian River, Gibson Creek, etc.

Those stories remind me of ones that used to run every few months about an elderly Potter Valley couple who volunteered two or three times a year to clean the stoves, ovens and refrigerators at Plowshares. I wondered (and asked) why people who dined at Plowshares couldn’t clean the kitchens.

The answer? “Why, it would be demeaning!” they said. “It would rob them of their dignity!” they said.

Next Question: Why can’t homeless people who get motel vouchers, food stamps (EBT Cards) and other things we don’t even know about, help clean the rivers and streams? Why should citizens pay for their benefits, then clean the filth, waste, toxins, needles and used toilet paper left behind?

Dignity? Ha. Should we change their diapers too?

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Some of us remember Highway 101 signs welcoming folks to town via “Home of Masonite” with Kiwanis and Rotary emblems. They were replaced with Colonial-style signs meant to suggest a quaint village to those who’ve never been to Ukiah.

Now big rusty metal signs, nearly invisible to passing traffic, are in place at a cost city cheerleader Shannon Riley guesses at “around $100,000.”

And as the Colonial signs were being removed, the city was installing scores of Colonial-style lampposts up and down State Street.

The new lantern lamps will remind no one of 19th century Boston.

NO MORE DROUGHTS

You and I did not get the memo about a Ukiah future free from water shortages regardless of weather and no matter the rainfall.

But city officials did get the memo. They know our water woes are forever in the past.

How else explain the onslaught of new housing units springing up like weeds after heavy rains? There are hundreds of new apartments and/or condos looming above Gobbi Street, mega-developments on Brush Street, and a gargantuan complex northwest of the (out of business) Jensen’s Truck Stop.

If each unit houses humans who require water, how many peanuts can chipmunks eat that Joey Chestnut consumes while woodchucks chuck?

Hard to compute, huh? Well, don’t worry. The sharp minds at city hall have it all figured out, right down to the last pint.

But we might have to fight over that last pint.

THE SHOW WON’T GO ON

The good news is I went to see “Dial M for Murder” at the Ukiah Playhouse last Sunday. The bad news is it was the final performance.

What fun it would have been to write a review of such a show and such a cast. Emily Bishop, the busybody author having an affair with a semi-hysterical and deservedly paranoid Crystal Cooke-Fischer, still married to the cunning, conniving and sometimes smug Dane Nelson, who employs Tim Fischer, both a dodgy hitman and a dead man, in a tale of twists, turns, tricks and turnabouts only one Inspector on earth could have solved: Peter Winslow.

As unpredictable as the onstage action was the arrival of Kate Magruder to (voluntarily!) sit beside me the entire second half. I thought Ukiah’s Grande Dame of Theatah had a private luxury box, like mine at the ‘Frisco opera house.

Thanks, Kate; great show, Players!

SHOW & SELL YOUR ART

Deep Valley Arts invites artists to submit their artwork to “Small Works,” a juried art exhibition held at MEDIUM Art Gallery in Ukiah from December 6th through December 28th.

Coinciding with the onset of the holiday shopping season, this non-traditional art show will feature works of all mediums priced at $200 or less. All sales are “cash and carry,” meaning purchasers will get to take the piece with them when they buy it. The goal is to close the gallery with empty walls.

The exhibition is open to all artists! To submit work, please visit http://www.deepvalleyarts.org/call-for-entry. All artwork must be submitted online for consideration.

Pieces chosen for in-person display at Medium Art Gallery in Ukiah can be listed for sale with no commission fee.

All accepted works will be a maximum of 12” x 16” framed.

There is no entry fee and a limit of ten entries per artist. All media welcome. Deadline for entries: Sunday, November 24th, 2024, 11:59 PM PST. Opening reception: Friday, December 6th, 2024, 5:00-8:00 PM PST. The show runs through Saturday, December 28th, 2024.

Applicants will be notified by email beginning November 26th. Work should be framed or mounted with appropriate hardware for hanging or ready to display on a pedestal.

For questions about getting work “hang-ready,” email us at info@deepvalleyarts.org.

Harley Hayes in Hayes Music Store, South West corner of State and Church. Such a nice man. I wonder how he put up with all us unruly kids. Bless him. (c 1960)

HAROLD? HAROLD! HAROLD? WHERE ARE YOU, HAROLD?

by Bruce Anderson and Mark Scaramella

When Harold Sauffley IV, 52, of Ben Lomond, climbed into his kayak on Rancheria Creek at Mountain View Road on a Friday about 11am back in January of 2008 he expected to arrive at Hendy Woods about 2pm that afternoon. An experienced kayaker like him, Sauffley the Fourth calculated, could cover the turbulent winter-time flow of 15 miles in three to four hours.

Mrs. Sauffley would be waiting at Hendy Woods to meet her adventurous mate.

Harold Sauffley IV had tamed wild winter streams before.

Lots of kayakers have done it before. Some of them get lost, real lost, because they under-estimate the time it takes to ride the Rancheria from the little bridge way up on Mountain View Road, not realizing that the Rancheria zigs and zags through as wild a country as there is in Mendocino County’s untamed backlands. And there’s nothing back where the Rancheria winds its way west of Boonville before it finally re-appears in the tame area of Ray’s Road, Philo, where it merges with Anderson Creek and Indian Creek to form the Navarro River.

Nothing back there? Did I say nothing back there? There’s mountain lion and bear and, in the summertime, the most committed pot growers in the county were back there, and they’d shoot you dead if you walk up on them.

But Harold Sauffley IV had made the trip before. He had his wetsuit on. He had his lunch. He’d read his maps. He knew this river. Harold Sauffley IV was ready!

Sauffley the IV had no excuse for getting lost. But Harold Sauffley IV did get lost. And a whole lot of rescue people, about 20 of them over two days, were called out to look for him. One of those rescue persons described the kayaker as “an idiot.”

The idiocy began to kick in around 2pm when Harold Sauffley IV failed to appear at Hendy Woods. Mrs. Sauffley waited. And waited. Then she waited some more. Harold Sauffley IV did not appear. As it developed, he’d sailed right on by Hendy Woods, and on down stream, past his anxious wife, way, way, way past their agreed upon rendezvous point at Hendy.

Mrs. Sauffley became alarmed. She called State Park Rangers. The Rangers called Anderson Valley Fire and Rescue, and the hunt for Harold Sauffley IV was on. Twenty selfless volunteers were soon walking up and down the Rancheria and the Navarro calling out, “Harold! Harold? Harold!”

Harold Sauffley IV had been sighted in the vicinity of Hendy Woods twice between 2pm and 3pm on Friday so the rescue team knew he’d gotten that far. The initial search for him centered around there, but maybe the people who’d said they’d seen the kayaker were wrong, so the hunt was expanded to the upper Rancheria and the upper Navarro. And then it got dark and cold, but the searchers searched on, “Harold! Harold? Harold!”

Volunteer firefighters continued looking for Harold Sauffley IV until around 10:30pm when they knocked off for some sleep. Harold Sauffley IV was out there in the very large somewhere, out there in the cold, the damp, the dark. It occurred to some of the would-be rescuers that Harold Sauffley IV might not ever emerge from Anderson Valley’s wild, riverine heart.

At 7am Saturday morning the volunteers were out again. This time they were accompanied by the Sheriff’s Department’s Search and Rescue crew team.

“Harold? Harold! Hello, Harold!”

The searchers' cries rang through the back country like distressed sea birds.

Still no Harold Sauffley IV.

The search continued until about 2:30 Saturday afternoon when, suddenly, Harold Sauffley IV called his wife to say that he was alive and well. He’d been walking back up the Navarro when he ran into a couple of fishermen who let him use their cellphone to call home.

Harold Sauffley IV said he’d become “disoriented.”

Harold Sauffley IV’s abandoned kayak had been found about noon the day before, a mile down the Navarro from Hendy Woods where Mrs. Sauffley was waiting for him. Harold Sauffley IV had unknowingly rushed on past his loyal mate, borne swiftly past her by the Navarro’s high winter water before Harold Sauffley IV, looking around, realized he didn’t know where he was.

He’d never been on the river past Hendy Woods.

Harold Sauffley IV had said he’d made the run down Rancheria Creek before and was an experienced kayaker. But not everybody was convinced that his experience counted for all that much — especially after the rescuers knew Harold Sauffley IV had paddled right past his wife and Hendy Woods and had arrived in that disorienting, unfamiliar downstream territory.

Harold Sauffley IV told volunteers that he thought he’d recognize Hendy Woods when he got there, but the view of Hendy Woods was blocked by the high bank as he floated by, he explained. The obscuring high bank wasn’t a new high bank, and if Mrs. Sauffley had been standing on top of its alleged obscuring bulk Harold Sauffley IV certainly would have recognized her.

But she wasn’t and he didn’t.

Harold Sauffley IV had continued his kayak ride on down the Navarro for several more miles, continued on until dark when he ditched his very cool, watertight kayak and started walking back up stream, aware that he was lost.

Harold Sauffley IV spent the night on the riverbank in his wetsuit — yes, wetsuits really work against the cold — then resumed his hike upstream, heading towards Hendy Woods whether he knew it or not, disoriented as he was.

On Harold Sauffley IV trudged, through quite rugged terrain, around narrow, steeply canyoned, unpassable sections of the Navarro, trying to figure out where he was, how to get back to Mrs. Sauffley and a hot cup of coffee.

Little did Harold Sauffley IV know that if he’d continued on a few hundred more yards from where he’d ditched his kayak, he would have run straight into a picnic table at Dimmick Park where the ridge between the Navarro River and Highway 128 ends, and he could have simply walked onto Highway 128 and into the arms of Western Civ.

By the time Harold Sauffley IV was finally reunited with Mrs. Sauffley, 16 Anderson Valley volunteers, 4 deputies, 6 Anderson Valley fire engines, several private vehicles, and two Sheriff’s rigs with rescue kayaks had searched for him.

Then-Boonville Fire Chief Colin Wilson prepared a bill for an “out of district response” which was expected run into several thousand dollars.

Note: During the search, volunteer firefighter Judy Long of Navarro said she saw a mysterious reflection on the River. An ghostly oblong reflective surface appeared near the opposite streambank which “glowed” white but disappeared when Long shined her flashlight on it.

We know now that it wasn’t Harold Sauffley IV.

Harold Sauffley IV was subsequently given an “out of district” response bill for the bargain price of $6,652.29 by then AV Fire Chief Colin Wilson which he promptly and gratefully paid by personally delivering a check for that amount to the Boonville Firehouse.

EARLY MENDO COASTAL SAWMILLS

by Jack Saunders

The photograph here is of James Hunter, a man who never lived in Mendocino County but who was prominent in its development. By the 1870s he and his brother Andrew were very wealthy, owning what is today a large part of the northern half of Vallejo, and in the middle of that decade his interests expanded to Mendocino County. In 1858 in Petaluma Hunter had married Celia Stewart, the second eldest surviving daughter of Samuel Calvin and Sarah (Scott) Stewart who he had first met in Linn County, Iowa. The Stewart family is associated with Stewarts Point in Sonoma County as well as with the Mendocino Coast where in 1875 Celia's younger brother Calvin was to partner with Hunter in land holdings and a saw mill near Newport that was an ancestor of the Union Lumber Company in Fort Bragg. Fort Bragg's Stewart Street is named for Calvin.

In the 1800s Kibesillah and Newport were often used interchangeably to refer to the same general area, and Kibesillah, being actually about 2 miles north of Newport, was also sometimes referred to as Newport North. What we know today as Abalobadiah Creek and Ten Mile River were once known as Beelobadah Creek and Beedaloc Creek, no doubt garbled versions of names provided by the local natives.

The book "Mills of Mendocino County" describes three successive early sawmills in the area:

1) Newport Mill - operated 1875-1877 that was 2 miles east of Kibesillah [presumably owned by] Anson Fields and brother. (S-unknown, T-21 [sic, T-20], R-17) Burned in 1877, rebuilt in 1878 by Stewart & Hunter on the same site.

2) Stewart & Hunter - operated from May 1878 in McRay's Gulch and was owned by James Hunter, Calvin Stewart, and McRay. (S-unknown, T-20, R-17)

3) Ten Mile River Lumber Company - moved to Mill Creek before 1882. Owners were James Hunter, Calvin Stewart, and C. R. Johnson, the latter having bought out the one-third interest of Morris McRay in 1882. (S-35, T-20, R-17)

The information for the first two mills comes from Palmer's 1880 "History of Mendocino County," which states, "The Newport Mill was built in 1875 by Fields Brothers, and in 1877 it was destroyed by fire. Messrs. Stewart & Hunter rebuilt it in May 1878, on its former site, which is about two miles east of the town of Newport North…" The authors of "Mills of Mendocino County" may have taken Palmer's words to imply that the Fields brothers owned the Newport Mill, rather than perhaps simply having been involved in rebuilding it and/or operating it for a brief period on behalf of another. Palmer mislocated this mill, as he put it 2 miles east of Newport North (Kibesillah), when in fact it was 2 miles east of Newport.

The 1869 government survey makes clear that a man named Cunningham was operating a mill in Sec 21, T 20N, R 17W before 1870. The map shows the location, and the field notes describe it as a saw mill that was clearly located very close to Beelobadah (now Abalobadiah) Creek. The only Cunningham living in the area was James Cunningham who appeared in the 1870 Census as a bachelor 38 year-old carpenter with real estate valued at $5,000. On 7 Jan 1873 Cunningham, perhaps anticipating his demise, wrote his will and included real estate described as Lot 4 and the SE 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Sec 20 and the S 1/2 of the SW 1/4 of Sec 21 in T 20N, R 17W. This comprised 161.74 acres. His executor and beneficiary was Robert W. Kellen of Mendocino (town). Three months later Cunningham died. Where he was buried is unknown. In probate it was noted that Cunningham had owned 40 acres together with a "disputed claim" for another 120 [sic, 121.74] that was then at the land office at Washington, DC. On 1 Feb 1875 Robert W. Kellen, for the heirs (i.e., himself) of James Cunningham deceased, was granted the undisputed 40 acres which contained the mill and fall in the SW 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Sec 21.

A portion of the 1869 government survey map is shown and marked in various colors, those relevant to the topic at hand being:

GREEN - 161.74 acres that Cunningham believed he owned, the easternmost portion with two green dots being the 40 undisputed acres granted to Kellen on 1 Feb 1875.

BLUE - 161.74 acres filed on by John Norris and granted on 20 Jan 1874, including the disputed 121.74 acres from GREEN plus another 40 acres to the north.

PURPLE - circle marking the location of James Cunningham's Mill, rectangle marking the location of today's Newport Inn.

As an aside, Kibesillah is spelled Kibbesillah on the larger map, which I believe reflects the correct pronunciation, i.e., Kibb (rhymes with rib), rather than Kib (rhymes with jibe) or Keb (rhymes with plebe). My family has a connection to that area, and Kibesillah was always pronounced to rhyme with rib by my grandfather and his contemporaries.

So, the actual story would seem to be that prior to 1870 James Cunningham built and owned a saw mill in the northwestern portion of the SE 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Sec 21, T 20N, R 17W, land that was about 2 miles directly east of Newport (rather than Newport North (Kibesillah)) and was not in dispute when he died in 1873. His executor/beneficiary Robert Kellen was granted that same parcel on 1 Feb 1875 and immediately sold it to Morris McCray for $385. In fact, he actually "pre-sold" it about a month before. The disputed 121.74 acres and the other 40 of John Norris' grant were sold to James Hunter, Calvin Stewart, and Morris McCray in Jan 1875 for $3,680. In Mar 1875 Morris McRay sold 1,081.74 acres together with some buildings and improvements to James Hunter and Calvin Stewart for $3,000. Presumably this included the 40 acres he'd bought together with his share of the 161.74 acres purchased from John Norris, and the relative dollar amount might suggest that the other land was a partial interest as well. In any case, in Mar 1875 James Hunter and Calvin Stewart became the owners of Cunningham's 6+ year-old saw mill. In Dec 1877 the mill burned, in early 1878 they rebuilt it on the same spot, and by May they were back in business.

Apart from owning land, including some down south of Brewery Gulch near Mendocino, Morris McRay also ran a saloon in Kibesillah for a time. He was the elder brother of Farquhar McRay-McRae, and McRay Gulch that Abalobadiah Creek runs through was named for one or the other or both. I have seen no evidence that he was a 1/3 partner with James Hunter and Calvin Stewart in the saw mill, though they may have worked together in other respects, and clearly they owned land together for at least a brief period. It would also seem unlikely given that in early 1875 he sold the very land to them on which the mill sat. In 1879 he appears to have vacated his saloon, and in 1880 he was granted 160 acres of land near the mill that he quickly resold to Hunter and Stewart for $600, and then he moved on. In 1881 it was reported that he was killed in New Mexico.

As to "Anson Fields and brother," these were actually Ansell (rather than Anson) and Peter Field (rather than Fields). They and another brother, William, and a spinster sister Eliza came to Mendocino County from Maine and were active down in the area of Bridgeport, doing business there at times with members of the Stewart family, including Calvin. Ansell and Peter were carpenters, and at least Peter appears to have been in the Kibesillah area for a time. It seems plausible that he and Ansell may have played some role in fixing up the mill that Hunter and Stewart acquired in 1875, and perhaps even operated it for Kellen for a time before that, but I have seen no evidence that they ever had an ownership interest in that mill or any other.

In late 1880, with virgin timber getting further and further from Newport, the machinery of Hunter and Stewart's mill was moved to a new site on Mill Creek on the south side of Ten Mile River, and construction was complete by Spring 1881. Sometime prior to Apr 1883 C. R. Johnson arrived and become associated with Hunter and Stewart, as in that month he, James Hunter, and Calvin Stewart's brother Matthew filed consecutive claims for the purchase of timber land, and the 21 Apr 1883 Mendocino Beacon reported "The mill of Hunter, Stewart & Co. will make a lively season." Prior to Johnson's involvement it would have been just Hunter and Stewart. By the next month the name of the business appears to have become the Ten Mile River Lumber Company.

Where the Newport mill once sat I believe there is now a mushroom farm owned by the Newport Inn. The Ten Mile River mill sat on a flat in a sort of gulch along Mill Creek south of the Ten Mile haul road. My great grandfather worked in both of the mills, and his brother worked in the second. By 1885 they were reasonably high up in the operation, as reported in the 24 Apr 1885 Mendocino Beacon, and when they moved to Fort Bragg they became the first planer boss and sawyer boss, respectively, in that mill.

CATCH OF THE DAY, Sunday, November 17, 2024

MARLENY CARRENO, 33, Laytonville. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

WILLIAM JACKSON IV, 45, Ukiah. Controlled substance, suspended license.

GILBERTO MARTINEZ-VICENTE, 38, Spokane, Washington/Ukiah. DUI.

PEDRO MENDEZ-VASQUEZ, 27, Redwood Valley. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

DONOVAN SORENSEN, 50, Fort Bragg. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

PALOMO VALDEZ-CEJA, 29, Ukiah. DUI, suspended license for DUI, no license, registration tampering, probation revocation.

YOU WERE CALLED A LIBTARD?

Bruce McEwen: Mack Scott’s Compendium of Derogatory Slang defines ‘libtard’ as a vogue canard, stereotyping a typical yoga enthusiast, a lithesome agile harlequin in an argyle leotard, like the joker on a poker card and enquiring voyeurs can see more intimately what the dear wights look like in naughty selfies posted on YouTube. … A bastardized descendant of Rush Limbaugh’s L-word brand, a revived Scarlet Letter, branded and damned, praise the lord and look up you poor devil, Dylan reminds us, the city of God is shining above your head! … A stupid and crafty way to revive the rank auld slur: retarded; AND slap it in your face!

LISTEN LIBERAL

Editor,

Possible political resources for understanding WTF just happened.

As I watch many of my friends in my community struggle to make sense of the sweeping Trump electoral victory, I would like to offer a few resources that might help, but first some advice, please disconnect from ALL corporate media, its ratings driven and designed to keep you agitated and hooked to their product, whether Fox, MSDNC, or C.orporate N.ews N.onsense, they leave you with the intoxicated feeling of being informed, while they propogandize you, but there are options, one of my resources is Breaking Points, with Krystal Ball and Saager Enjeti, their show is fascinating, educational, and highly informative. Krystal is a leftie, and Saager is a Libertarian, they are both whip smart, to watch them respectfully hash out divisive national issues is Marvelous, I watch them on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/@breakingpoints you can also subscribe at www.breakingpoints.com but there are there journalists that are willing to take a cold hard look at issues, names such as Chris Hedges and Glenn Greenwald, or Matt Taibbi come to mind, of course there are others.

A book that I often recommend is ‘Listen Liberal,’ by Thomas Frank, https://moonpalacebooks.com/item/Il6kMAbOMSfZ9YkttzkeCQ I read it some years back, it painstakingly details the corporate takeover of the Democratic party, it’s honestly the most painful and disheartening book I’ve ever read, but helpful if you want to understand how we got to Trump.

Sobriety is a difficult path; Whether you find these resources useful, I suggest we all get there, we are gonna need it… thank you

Chris Skyhawk

Fort Bragg

AUTHORITATIVE HISTORY

Those music writers
Express it way better than
Historians do.

Composers have that—
That Way—to say how things were
And really mean it.

You don’t believe me?
Pour yourself some Brahms some time,
You’ll get the idea.

Maybe Enescu
Or Elgar, Chopin or Grieg,
Any of those guys.

Then let it happen
The way history happened
Before History.

All of what happened
However it felt, sounded,
The way it happened

The way people felt
And if they thought about it
How they felt deep down.

Carefully written?
No!! Instead send in all those
Crazy music guys

You want history?
Listen to those music guys!
And feel how it felt!

Open yourself up.
Try out a little music.
Learn some history.

— Jim Luther

JADE TIPPET:

Totally supporting girls' and women's choice and control of their bodies. I think this should also extend to men and boys as well… Brings to mind:

When I was 18 (1970), a friend and I drove across the country, from Baltimore to California, just to see what was there. One night, after a long day of driving, we unrolled sleeping bags in a clearing off the roadway, just outside of Reno. Woke up the next morning to our reflections in the shiny black shoes of a couple of Nevada State Troopers. All they wanted to see was our Draft Cards.

The Vietnam War was at its height and young men our age were required to register for the draft when we turned 18. Legally we could be arrested for not having our draft cards on our persons at all times, the message being that the government owned our bodies and could requisition them at any time to fight in its war.

To this day, by federal law, if you are male, between 18 and 25, you must register with the Selective Service System. They don't arrest young men who don't, but you cannot obtain federal student loans or federal employment if you are male and not registered. Girls and women are exempt from this requirement.

NAME CHANGE FORT BRAGG IS WINNING

Over 30 Place Names In California To Replace Racist Slur By Jan. 1

by Katie Dowd & Sam Mauhay-Moore

Over 30 places in 15 California counties will be getting new names by Jan. 1, 2025, replacing offensive slurs that still mar sites around the state, the California Natural Resources Agency said Friday.

The initiative isn’t new, but the deadline is. In 2021, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland created the Derogatory Geographic Names Task Force to help remove the racist slur “squaw” from places names across America. Haaland’s formal declaration addressed the fact that the term “squaw” has “historically been used as an offensive ethnic, racial, and sexist slur, particularly for Indigenous women.”

Early uses of the word confirm a longstanding derogatory association, especially during times when the dispossession and enslavement of Native women were common, according to a report published by Palisades Tahoe resort. The resort was formerly named Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, but changed its name to Palisades Tahoe in 2021 out of respect for the Washoe Tribe whose ancestral lands encompass where the resort is located.

In 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law that created a process for the state to review and replace the term from the state’s geographic features. On Friday, the state’s National Resources Agency announced these changes will be implemented by Jan. 1. The agency did not release a full list of names, but said the information would be forthcoming.

The U.S. Geological Survey maintains a list of place names that are earmarked for changes, or have been changed already. You can see their map of California places that have already swapped names here. Some spots that already wiped the name off the books include Frog Woman Rock off Highway 101 in Mendocino County, a number of creeks near Shasta Lake and a cluster of canyons, waterways and peaks in Plumas National Forest.

Along with Palisades Tahoe, change has already come to places like Fresno County. After Haaland’s announcement, an unincorporated foothill area was renamed from Squaw Valley to Yokuts Valley. Some county officials fought the change, but they lost an appeal to voters in the spring that attempted to overturn the renaming.

(SF Chronicle)

49ERS GAME GRADES: Mired in mediocrity after late loss to Seahawks

by Michael Lerseth

The San Francisco 49ers’ slog toward mediocrity picked up speed Sunday as the defense couldn’t keep Seattle in check after Nick Bosa’s departure from the game, while the offense looked stale and lifeless.

Offense: F

The Niners were on the struggle bus all afternoon, never more so than on their penultimate drive when — nursing a 17-13 lead with 3:56 to go — they managed only 21 yards and took only 1:18 off the clock. Jajuan Jennings was terrific (10 catches, 91 yards, TD), but the absence of George Kittle was felt, with Eric Saubert having the only catch by a tight end. Christian McCaffrey collected 106 yards in his second game back in action, although his longest play from scrimmage netted just 11 yards. Brock Purdy (21-of-28, INT, two sacks) was effective on the scramble (5 carries, 40 yards), but threw for a season-low 159 yards.

Defense: D

Goodbye, Nick Bosa; goodbye, ability to stop the Seahawks. When Bosa left the game with a recurrence of his hip injury, the 49ers led 10-6. Without having to face him, Seattle scored two TDs in the game’s final 19 minutes — including the game-winning 13-yard run by Geno Smith with 12 seconds to play. In those two drives, the Seahawks gained 150 of their 289 yards of offense. Before that the defense had kept the 49ers in the game, limiting Seattle to 104 yards on its four first-half drives.

Special Teams: D

Pat O’Donnell, subbing for an injured Mitch Wishnowsky, had a chance to make a big play, but — instead of pinning Seattle deep — punted into the end zone with 2:45 to play. Given that Seattle went 80 yards and scored with 12 seconds to go, perhaps having to go 90-plus might have made a difference. Jordan Mason avoided another major special teams gaffe when he knocked the ball out of bounds after muffing a kickoff. Jake Moody, coming off a three-miss game last week, made his only field goal try and both extra points.

Coaching: D

Hey, Jordan Mason, thanks for all you did during McCaffrey’s absence, but apparently your services aren’t needed anymore. The man who rushed for 100-plus yards in three of the first four games this season touched the ball just twice on offense against Seattle (gaining 13 yards). The offense certainly needed diversity Sunday; aside from Jennings, no one had a game to remember.

Overall: F

Losing three of their first four division games and sitting at .500 after falling to a team they had beaten six straight times likely wasn’t on the bingo card for many of the 49ers. But here they are, piling up disappointing losses and key injuries. Brandon Aiyuk is done for the year, Kittle had to sit out and Bosa took himself out. It’s unlikely that a wild-card team comes out of the meh NFC West, so the Niners likely need to win the division to make the playoffs — they are now in the 10th spot in the NFC and facing back-to-back road games against the Packers and Bills.

(SF Chronicle)

THREE WAYS 49ERS’ SUPER BOWL PLANS COULD UNRAVEL: POLITICS, KICKS AND MONEY

by Scott Ostler

Despite all the drama, injuries and shortcomings, the San Francisco 49ers are still very much in the Super Bowl hunt despite their mediocre record of 5-4.

But the Niners’ hopes of getting to the promised land hang by some very thin threads. Here are three of the threads to contemplate as they head into Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks:

Politics: Nick Bosa spiced up the stew with his new sack celebration, his rendition of the Trump Tango or whatever it’s called. When Bosa busted his moves last Sunday, he was joined by teammates Leonard Floyd, Sam Okuayinonu and Fred Warner.

No complaints in this corner, where we support freedom of speech and expression. However, these are unusually volatile political times, and it will be interesting to see how this unfolds. It could be that to the 49ers’ players, political turmoil is a distant roar, and dancing the Bosa Nova is seen mostly as healthy exuberance.

But surely there are some 49ers who are on the other side of the political spectrum. Are they cool with Nick and the Pips?

Back when Colin Kaepernick supposedly divided the 49ers’ locker room with his political expression, he called a team meeting and aired it all out, peacefully, and later was voted the team’s most inspirational player. Maybe that’s not necessary in the current situation.

We know it’s all good with head coach Kyle Shanahan, who told KNBR’s Tom Tolbert of the dance, “It was pretty cool to see.”

Sure, it’s a bit awkward having key players and their head coach seemingly on that side of the political spectrum, on a team representing an area that is so heavily on the other side. But that’s life in the big world. We all have choices to make.

It might be only incidental that Shanahan’s enthusiasm for the dance puts a new light on his decision, when he became the 49ers’ head coach in 2017, to dump Kaepernick and go with Brian Hoyer and C.J. Beathard at quarterback.

Kicks: Now punter Mitch Wishnowsky is injured? I didn’t know punters were allowed to be injured. Wishnowsky is also Jake Moody’s holder, and the last thing the 49ers need right now is to introduce a wrinkle into that delicate mechanism.

How is everyone feeling about Moody? I’m guessing moody. Last Sunday’s sideline tiff, with Deebo Samuel taking a swing at long snapper Taybor Pepper while yelling at Moody to “lock in,” is forgotten, right? Shanahan said, “We squashed it, and we’re good.”

Maybe so, but how is Moody feeling? After missing three field-goal attempts, he came within about 2 feet of riding home on the wing of the team plane. Until further notice, every Moody kick will be a mini psychodrama.

The only good news is that the Tampa Bay district attorney opted not to charge Samuel with assault on Pepper.

QB: The 49ers and their fans like to think Brock Purdy is impervious to outside pressure and distractions, but we know better. He’s told us he feels some of that stuff, although he almost always rises above it.

Can Purdy maintain his edge and his calm, as the pressure mounts in this, his salary-drive season? The TV people might as well superimpose a little “Purdy Salary Meter” in the corner of the screen, the needle moving with every play. Last Sunday, the meter started at “$55 million per” and ended up at $64.4 million per. (My guess.)

A couple of bad weeks, or a disappointing playoff performance, and Purdy will be signing for Taybor Pepper money.

Assorted deep thoughts & cheap shots …

Tom Tolbert fired? I guess it makes sense. Those who know the man will tell you that off the air, he is notoriously prickly and ill-tempered. But seriously, aren’t KNBR’s listeners entitled to some kind of explanation? Were Tolbert’s ratings down? Do the station managers have someone better lined up? Was he demanding Taybor Pepper money?

Anyone else getting tired of these mystery firings of media people we enjoy? Axed fairly recently: Renel Brooks-Moon (Giants’ PA), Vince Cotroneo (A’s radio), Jim Barnett (Warriors’ TV analyst) and Paul McCaffrey (KNBR morning-show co-host). It speaks to their collective character that none of them went all sour grapes on their way out the door. Tolbert certainly won’t go that bitter route. He’ll take out his frustration on the next golf ball and can of beer he encounters.

All I can say is what Warriors head coach Don Nelson used to say several times a day to his young forward from Arizona: “Goddammit, Tolbert!”

Some of the good ones survive. Friday was the 20th anniversary at KNBR for ace morning host Brian Murphy. My old Masters roommate has done well for himself since leaving the Chronicle for the wasteland of radio, but I want him to know that if he has a change of heart, we’ve kept his typewriter warm.
Is Tom Brady the worst color analyst on TV? That was the impression one might get from early critiques of his first efforts as a rookie analyst. From what I heard last Sunday on the 49ers’ telecast, Brady is already one of the best at delivering high-level intel in clear, concise bites.
“The NBA Cup: All the enthusiasm money can buy.” That should be the slogan of the NBA’s in-season tournament. Each player on the winning team gets $514,971. Talk about inflation! So I understand why the players are excited about the Cup, but will that money, and all the league’s hypey hoopla, create fan enthusiasm?

Good lord, what a payday. The Dodgers will each get about $250,000 for winning the World Series. The Celtics each got about $800,000 for taking the NBA title. The Chiefs each got about $164,000 for the Super Bowl. Patrick Mahomes must be kicking himself. In high school, he was All-East Texas MVP in hoops.

(SF Chronicle)

FELONIOUS HUMAN MOVEMENT

by Coco Fusco

The man who fixed my roof stopped by the other day to see if he could charm me into giving him more work. He's a jovial fellow in his 60s, with a bustling family business, who, judging by his name and fair complexion, is probably of Scottish origin. I was trying to figure out whether what he was telling me about my cornices was true when he suddenly started ranting about migrants. He was convinced that they were being lured by tales on social media of a carefree life in America. “They get free gift cards!” he exclaimed. “They get free phones and free health care — free everything!” I could have pointed out that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has given some recent arrivals limited-use phones in order to monitor asylum seekers without having to bear the costs of jailing them. I knew that the rumor about the gift cards had been spread by a Republican Senate candidate in Arizona, but I had little hope of changing the roofer's mind. Conservative media spouts an endless stream of anti-immigrant vitriol that, sadly, many find appealing. Even liberal yuppies in my Brooklyn neighborhood lined up at a community board meeting in May to complain that there were just too many migrants at local shelters.

It's hardly news that Republicans use immigration to make Democrats look soft, and it can't be ignored that the number of migrants who crossed the US-Mexico border reached record highs in 2023. What the inflammatory claims about a “migrant crisis” overlook is that, because of a decline in the American population growth rate, the US actually needs immigrants to fill essential jobs for at least the next 30 years. That reality doesn't stop us from whipping up anti-immigrant sentiment, and that rhetoric is nothing new.

Casting recent arrivals as invaders, degenerates, threats to serial and economic stability, or unwanted charges on local budgets was commonplace in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when millions of Irish, Chinese, Italian, and Eastern European immigrants were coming to America. At that time, laws were implemented to restrict their admission and preserve the political power of a white Protestant elite, and many a county jail made good money imprisoning non-citizens. What has changed in the past 40 years is the scale of the effort to criminalize and detain migrants.

The US now invests more money and effort in immigration enforcement than it ever has in its history. Last year the Biden administration requested $25 billion for US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and ICE. In 2022, 28.4% of criminal cases in federal courts were immigration related, a figure that excludes the sizable number of immigration cases handled by magistrate courts. President Biden recently issued an executive order that closes the southern border if the weekly average for daily crossings reaches 2,500 people per day, which is less than a third of the average number of daily crossings last fall — and the border would only reopen after the average number of entries drops below 1,500 daily for an entire month. This effectively blocks asylum seekers who, in accordance with international law, should be entitled to enter and plead their case.

MONDAY'S LEAD STORIES, NYT

Biden Allows Ukraine to Strike Russia With Long-Range U.S. Missiles

Trump Stands by Defense Pick Who Says Encounter With Woman Was Not Sexual Assault

Shouting Racial Slurs, Neo-Nazi Marchers Shock Ohio’s Capital

U.S. Opens Investigation Into Killing of Sonya Massey

Paramount Takes Promotional Stunt to New Level for ‘Gladiator II,’

The New Chip Shot in the N.F.L.: 50-Yard Field Goals

PROBABLY A MAJOR ESCALATION

President Biden has authorized the first use of U.S.-supplied long-range missiles by Ukraine for strikes inside Russia, U.S. officials said.

The weapons are likely to be initially employed against Russian and North Korean troops in defense of Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region of western Russia, the officials said.

Mr. Biden’s decision is a major change in U.S. policy. The choice has divided his advisers, and his shift comes two months before President-elect Donald J. Trump takes office, having vowed to limit further support for Ukraine.

Allowing the Ukrainians to use the long-range missiles, known as the Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, came in response to Russia’s surprise decision to bring North Korean troops into the fight, officials said.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine did not confirm the permission to strike but suggested on Sunday that more important than lifting the restrictions would be the number of missiles used to strike the Russians.

“Today, many in the media are talking about the fact that we have received permission to take appropriate actions,” Mr. Zelensky said in his nightly address. “But blows are not inflicted with words. Such things are not announced. The rockets will speak for themselves.”

(NYT)

BIDEN RAMPS UP NUCLEAR BRINKMANSHIP On His Way Out The Door

by Caitlin Johnstone

The New York Times reports that the Biden administration has authorized Ukraine to use US-supplied long-range missiles to strike Russian and North Korean military targets inside Russia — yet another dangerous escalation of nuclear brinkmanship in this horrific proxy war.

The Times correctly notes that authorizing Ukraine to use ATACMS, which have a range of about 190 miles, has long been a contentious issue in the Biden administration for fear of provoking military retaliations against the US from Russia. This reckless escalation has been authorized despite an acknowledgement from the anonymous US officials who spoke to The New York Times that they “do not expect the shift to fundamentally alter the course of the war.”

As Antiwar’s Dave DeCamp notes, Vladimir Putin said back in September that if NATO allows Ukraine to use western-supplied weapons for long-range strikes inside Russian territory, it would mean NATO countries “are at war with Russia.” This is about as unambiguous a threat as you’ll ever see.

NYT reports that Biden’s policy shift “comes two months before President-elect Donald J. Trump takes office, having vowed to limit further support for Ukraine.” And it is here worth noting that last week it was reported by The Telegraph that British PM Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron had been scheming to thwart any attempt by Trump to scale back US support for Ukraine by pushing Biden to authorize long-range missile strikes in Russian territory.

But it is also true that the day before the US election Mike Waltz, Trump’s next national security advisor, had himself endorsed the idea of authorizing long-range missile strikes into Russia with the goal of pressuring Moscow to end the war. His plan for disentangling the US from the conflict entails ramping up sanctions on Russia and “taking the handcuffs off the long-range weapons we provide Ukraine” in order to pressure Putin into eagerly accepting a peace deal.

So while this is being framed as an administration that’s more hawkish on Russia executing a maneuver that’s designed to hamstring the peacemongering of an incoming administration that’s less favorable to assisting Ukraine, in reality it may just be goal-assisting the next administration in a policy change it had planned on implementing anyway.

Either way, it’s insane. Putin ordered changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine in September in order to ward off these sorts of escalations by lowering the threshold at which nuclear weapons could be used to defend the Russian Federation, and they’re just barreling right past that bright red line like they barreled over the red lines which led to the invasion of Ukraine. And the fact that they’re adding yet another nuclear-armed state into the mix with North Korea is just more gravy for the nuclear brinkmanship pot roast.

At one point in 2022, US intelligence agencies reportedly assessed that the odds of Russia using a nuclear weapon in Ukraine was as high as fifty percent, but the Biden administration kept pushing forward with this proxy war anyway. These freaks are taking insane risks to advance agendas that stand to yield the slimmest of benefits even by their own assessments.

We are living in dark and dangerous times.

(caitlinjohnstone.com.au)

WARREN SUPPORTS SANDER'S BID TO BLOCK ISRAEL WEAPONS DEAL

by Sharon Zhang

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) is backing a bid by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) to block a massive weapons transfer to Israel by the Biden administration, citing violations of U.S. law in backing Israel’s assault on Gaza.

Warren said in a statement on Thursday that she is supporting a joint resolution of disapproval brought forth by Sanders to block the sale of weapons to Israel. Such resolutions allow Congress to block a foreign weapons deal initiated by the executive branch.

The Massachusetts senator specifically cited the Biden administration’s refusal this week to uphold its own pledge last month to withhold weapons to Israel if it did not comply with a U.S. request to increase humanitarian aid into Gaza within 30 days. On Tuesday, the end of the 30-day period, the administration said that it has not assessed that Israel is in violation of U.S. law, despite Israel not only not complying but also worsening the aid blockade in recent weeks.Neer miss another story

“Thirty days later, the Biden administration acknowledged that Israel’s actions had not significantly expanded food, water and basic necessities for desperate Palestinian civilians,” Warren said in a statement. “Despite [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu’s failure to meet the United States’ demands, the Biden administration has taken no action to restrict the flow of offensive weapons.”

“The failure by the Biden administration to follow U.S. law and to suspend arms shipments is a grave mistake that undermines American credibility worldwide. If this administration will not act, Congress must step up to enforce U.S. law and hold the Netanyahu government accountable through a joint resolution of disapproval,” the senator continued.

September 26, 2024. Sanders announced on Wednesday that he will be bringing forth his joint resolutions of disapproval, aimed at blocking $20 billion of the Biden administration’s planned weapons transfers to Israel, for a vote in the Senate next week.

Warren did not specify which resolutions of disapproval she supports. Lawmakers often specify that they are opposed to “offensive” weapons transfers to Israel but support “defensive” weapons — though advocates have long argued that there is no practical difference when “defensive” weapons, like supplies for Israel’s Iron Dome, just give Israel leeway to attack countries without fear of damage from retaliation.

Sanders has brought forth six resolutions in total, each targeting a different portion of the sale. Several of them, targeting tank rounds, JDAMs, JDAM receivers and mortar cartridges, were co-introduced by Senators Peter Welch (D-Vermont) and Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), but Sanders was alone in introducing the largest part of the sale, involving $18.8 billion worth of fighter aircraft and upgrades to Israel’s arsenal of F-15s. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) has joined the resolution regarding blocking the transfer of tank rounds.

“There is no longer any doubt that Netanyahu’s extremist government is in clear violation of U.S. and international law as it wages a barbaric war against the Palestinian people in Gaza,” said Sanders. “The United States cannot continue to be complicit in this war by supplying more military aid and weaponry to the Netanyahu government. Congress must act to block these arms sales.”

Sanders says that the sales would be in violation of the Foreign Assistance Act, which specifies that the U.S. must not send weapons to entities preventing the delivery of U.S. humanitarian aid. Experts, advocates and lawmakers have repeatedly said that the administration is violating international and domestic law in sending Israel weapons, but U.S. officials have instead lied about and provided cover for Israel’s genocidal slaughter in order to continue fueling the weapons pipeline.

Stopping the flow of weapons to Israel from the U.S., Israel’s top foreign military backer, is one of the only ways to end the genocide in Gaza and Israel’s aggression in Lebanon and beyond, advocates have long said.

Warren’s statement came after a group of 95 organizations in Massachusetts sent a letter to Warren and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) asking them to vote for the resolutions.

“The [resolutions] would block the transfer of the types of weapons that Israel have used in strikes that have killed thousands of civilians, including aid workers and journalists, in Gaza over the last year,” the letter said.

Similarly, on Wednesday, a group of 95 New York-based organizations wrote a letter to New York Senators Kristen Gillibrand (D) and Chuck Schumer (D) urging them to back Sanders’s effort. The letter campaign was led by the National Iranian American Council’s respective state chapters.

(Truthout.org)

“People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances with our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.”

– Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth (1988)

THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

— Wendell Berry

13 Comments

Norm Thurston November 18, 2024

Regarding the lost kayaker – I can understand how someone might not recognize the natural surroundings while going down the river, but how could he possibly have failed to recognize the Greenwood Ridge Road bridge as he went under it?

- Chuck Dunbar November 18, 2024
  
  A good question, Norm, about an interesting tale of getting lost. Perhaps lost kayaker didn’t notice the bridge because his vision was “abridged,” or maybe it was just a ‘bridge too far.” Hope these possible causes “bridge the gap” in our knowledge of why the failure.
  
  My wife says this is stupid, so apologies….
  
- Marshall Newman November 18, 2024
  
  Pretty bizarre tale. I hiked the Navarro River from Indian Creek to the Pacific several times in my youth. Hard to believe he didn’t notice the big redwoods at Hendy Grove and REALLY hard to believe he didn’t notice the Greenwood Bridge. BTW, once past Greenwood Bridge, springs and other sources of water (other than the river) are scarce. The best one used to be a mile or two upstream from Dimmick on the south side; a very cold spring in a very narrow, hot (in summer) little canyon.
  
Craig Stehr November 18, 2024

~Bliss Divine in Washington, D.C.~
Warmest spiritual greetings, Sitting at the drop in center located behind Adam’s Place Homeless Shelter in northeast Washington, D.C. on a public computer, was in line early this morning to do a laundry. Later, will go to the Basilica at Catholic University for the 12:10 p.m. Mass. Current practice is to attend church services seven days per week. Am now praying exclusively for the Washington, D.C. Peace Vigil and its participants. Due to the most recent American presidential election, the vigil (which has been across the street from the White House since June of 1981 with a Parks Dept. permit, and kept going 24/7 365 through four seasons) is once again under threat by the American political establishment, and in particular the anti-environmental administration about to be re-inaugurated; with global climate destabilization being the existential threat of these times. A total moron could figure out that if the Parks Dept. permit were to be revoked by the re-inaugurated American president, then we would simply show up as usual without the hut structure we built with plumber’s pipe, mylar, and duct tape, and continue the Washington, D.C. Peace Vigil anyway. Yours for Self-realization, Craig Louis Stehr Adam’s Place Homeless Shelter 2210 Adams Place NE #1 Washington, D.C. 20018 Telephone: (202) 832-8317 Email: craiglouisstehr@gmail.com November 18, 2024 Anno Domini

Falcon November 18, 2024

A MUST SEE, HEAR

Wendell Berry reads his poem “The Peace of Wild Things” | Vox Populi

https://voxpopulisphere.com/2024/03/23/video-wendell-berry-reads-his-poem-the-peace-of-wild-things/

- Chuck Dunbar November 18, 2024
  
  Thank you, Falcon–a lovely reading of his own poem
  
Cornelia Reynolds November 18, 2024

Re that tree planting in Fort Bragg scheduled for Wednesday 11/20. No surprise: POSTPONED.

- David Svehla November 18, 2024
  
  Because Of the predicted heavy rains?!
  
Chuck Dunbar November 18, 2024

“The Peace of Wild Things”–A perfect poem for our wild, troubled times, good way to end MCT this day. Thanks to poet Wendell Berry and the folks at AVA.

One of my own ways to get over the election is to plant many daffodils in the garden, 3 orders placed so far, 300 bulbs total–A good time to buy them at the end of the season–bargains for sure. Pretty Spring flowers as they grow year after year, and deer resistant. Life goes on– in the garden, in the wild, and all over the world.

Ron43 November 18, 2024

Roy Branscomb. One things everyone forgets about the 1964 flood is the damage to all the tiny feeder creeks that steelhead and salmon used to have access to. The repairs were done with large metal culverts that do not allow the fish access to their native spawning waters. Billions of eggs Have been lost in the main river over the past 60 years.

McEwen Bruce November 18, 2024

Crazy old Biden playing Russian roulette with nukes— Trump clung desperately to the Oval Office but he didn’t try to drag the whole world into the grave with him like this current megalomaniac seems to be up to. Caitlin rang the alarm and the woke readership slept through it. Stand by to reap the whirlwind, all ahead full, crack on regardless ….bomb cyclone followed by nuclear winter after an atmospheric river of ICBMs….

Eli Maddock November 18, 2024

With great efforts, holding “delete”, and a mendo-school computer training; allowing me to copy & paste the text below… Thanks very much indeed!; I say!!
I remember Rennie Innis and Mitch ( Mr Sprague) and Ted Williams, of course.
In 199-6, 7, 8 or so they and many others, I am sure, pioneered the internet locally. Their efforts changed the reality , for better or worse, of the local connectivity. I say for the better.
All the mendo schools received free computers (free? I don’t know, I was 12!) or subsidized? But they/we had access to the most modern units available, every year or two. The rest is history for me. But I’ll tip my cap to all involved. And if they got a couple extra bucks in the process, good for them!!! C’mon man!

McEwen Bruce
NOVEMBER 18, 2024
Crazy old Biden playing Russian roulette with nukes— Trump clung desperately to the Oval Office but he didn’t try to drag the whole world into the grave with him like this current megalomaniac seems to be up to. Caitlin rang the alarm and the woke readership slept through it. Stand by to reap the whirlwind, all ahead full, crack on regardless ….bomb cyclone followed by nuclear winter after an atmospheric river of ICBMs….


RE: taking it to the grave:
Give Drumpt a little time… he’s probably going to the grave soon as the last bs statement comes out of his face.

Kimberlin November 20, 2024

FELONIOUS HUMAN MOVEMENT

by Coco Fusco

The “so called” illegal immigrant problem is so easily and cheaply fixed. We did it here in California. I was a department manager at a high tec company. All the managers were called to a meeting. You need to check EVERY person in your department, because this company will be fined $100,000 dollars for every employee without proper papers. That ended the problem of “illegal immigrants” right there, right at the source of all employment. That was the law. Then the Republicans in California had the law changed. They screamed politically about illegal immigrants and quietly killed the solution.

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