Mendocino County Today: Saturday 11/23/2024

Garcia Flooding | Showers | Dimmick Underwater | 128 Closed/Open | Russian River | Ukiah Upset | Mill Site | School Grant | Closure Postponed | Silent Auction | Ed Notes | Headlands Cafe | Willits Transformation | Class Rescheduled | Holmes Ranch | Missing Brittany | Tolerance | Yesterday's Catch | JFK Files | Boletes | Crab Restrictions | Photographer Kanaga | Dim Sum | Shortstop Omar | Niner Fan | Delta Tunnel | Diane Arbus | Marco Radio | Crossing Out | Sits & Stares | Tripping | Hyperrealist | Denver Mayor | Wealth Inequality | Wyoming | Lead Stories | Exploit Loopholes | Last Thanksgiving | Swamp Weeds | Diebenkorn Coffee

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ACCUMULATED RAINFALL (this week): Laytonville 20.83" - Boonville 11.70" - Redwood Valley 7.87" - Yorkville 6.44"

SHOWERS and isolated thunderstorms through this afternoon. Another round of rain, mountain snow and gusty southerly winds are expected from Sunday through Tuesday. Dry weather and cold temperatures are anticipated for mid to late next week. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): 49F with scattered showers & a fresh .66" collected this Saturday morning on the coast brings our storm total this week to 6.79" & 9.48" for the month. A wet way to start off what I thought would be a dry season..... Off & on showers are forecast into Tuesday then the holiday is looking just fine. Thankfully.

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NICK WILSON [coast chatline, yesterday morning]:

Hwy. 128 was just closed from Hwy 1 to Flynn Cr. Rd. in the past hour. Gauge level was 23.29 ft. as of 9:15 AM. Minor flood stage is 23.0 ft.

The river level graph currently shows that the 23 ft. mark was reached several hours later than forecast and it looks to me like it will not reach as high as the current forecast maximum of 28.6 ft. The forecast shows the level falling to 23.1 ft at 7 pm today, but that may happen earlier or later. Once below 23 ft. Caltrans can work on reopening the highway to traffic, which could happen later this evening, or perhaps not until tomorrow morning, depending on debris to be cleared

Detours via county roads are:

Flynn Cr. Rd. to Comptche and Comptche Ukiah Rd. to Hwy. 1 at Mendocino Big River Bridge. Little River Airport Rd. connects to Comptche Ukiah Rd. about 6 mi. from Hwy. 1, and Albion Little River Rd. connects to Albion Airport Rd. about 3 mi. from the coast on either road.

Philo Greenwood Rd. from 128 near Gowan's Orchards to Elk (Greenwood). Cameron Rd. connects from Hwy. 1 just south of the Navarro River to Philo Greenwood Rd.

Here's the river gauge chart, observed and forecast https://water.noaa.gov/gauges/nvrc1

Here's the Caltrans Road Information page https://roads.dot.ca.gov/?roadnumber=128

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CALTRANS UPDATE - 4 P.M. [11/22/2024]: Route 128 is OPEN from the Route 1 junction to just east of Flynn Creek Road (PM 0 to 12.68 ) near Navarro in Mendocino County.

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NCS PLAYOFFS

Friday’s results:

Open/D1:

No. 3 San Ramon Valley 7, No. 5 Cardinal Newman 0

D2:

No. 2 Amador Valley 38, No. 3 Windsor 29

D4:

No. 2 American Canyon 45, No. 3 Granada 12

No. 5 Redwood 28, No. 1 Ukiah 25

D6:

No. 1 Arcata 69, No. 5 Petaluma 34

8-person D2 championship:

No. 1 Cornerstone Christian 84, No. 2 Elsie Allen 78

Saturday’s games:

D5

No. 1 St. Vincent vs. No. 4 Maria Carrillo, 1 p.m.

No. 3 Sonoma Valley at No. 2 Salesian, 1 p.m.

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PREP FOOTBALL: REDWOOD STUNS UKIAH, advances to section final

by Ian Ross

The Redwood High football program entered this postseason with one North Coast Section playoff win in its history.

That number has now tripled in the past eight days as Redwood went on the road and stunned top-seeded Ukiah 28-25 in the Division IV playoffs on Friday night following a last-minute touchdown catch by Ben Vaughn from quarterback Kody Vasquez — his fourth scoring pass of the night.

The No. 5 Giants (8-4) advance to their first section title game in program history against No. 2 American Canyon – 45-12 winners against No. 3 Granada in the other semifinal. The D-IV title game is scheduled for 7 p.m. next Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Napa.

Redwood began this run of three consecutive road upsets by posting a 21-6 victory against American Canyon (10-2) in the Redwood Empire Valley league finale for both teams two weeks ago.

In a game that saw crucial special teams mistakes committed by both Redwood and Ukiah — the wet conditions and mud-covered field played big roles — the critical play came after Redwood’s Miles Harrison stuffed Ukiah quarterback Beau David on back-to-back plays. Ukiah — leading 25-21 at the time — was forced to punt from around its own 30-yard line with under 3 minutes left.

The punter’s knee touched the ground when he tried to scoop up the ball following the snap, immediately ruling him down and gifting Redwood possession just outside the red zone.

Vasquez completed a pass right at the sticks at the 11-yard line for a first down. Two plays later, Vasquez lofted a short pass over a defender to Vaughn for the go-ahead score with 49 seconds left.

Ukiah (8-4) picked up a pair of first downs to midfield in the final seconds but never provided any type of downfield threat with its passing game on the muddy field. Ukiah’s last pass went for about two yards. Redwood made the tackle immediately and the game was over.

Redwood never led until the fourth quarter and trailed 7-0 after the first play of the game as Ukiah threw a short screen pass and took it about 70 yards for an immediate touchdown.

The Giants answered back with a long scoring play of their own in the second quarter when Vasquez hit Ronan Ralston, who got behind the defense and tied the game at 7-7 heading into the half.

Redwood’s opening possession of the third quarter could have been its undoing. The Giants fumbled on the second play, losing nine yards. On fourth and long, the snap got away from Redwood’s punter, who had little choice but to knock the ball through the end zone resulting in a safety and a 9-7 lead for Ukiah.

The Wildcats received the ball with a short field and cashed in again, extending the lead to 15-7. Crucially, Ukiah missed the extra point, leaving it a one-score game.

Vasquez threw a pair of long passes to Dylan McGrath on the ensuing drive, the second of which McGrath took for a touchdown. Redwood tied the game at 15-15 following the two-point conversion.

Both teams seemed to get acclimated to the wet, muddy conditions as the game went on. Ukiah turned a long drive into a field goal for an 18-15 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Vasquez converted a third-and-10 on Redwood’s next drive with a pass to Sean Cunneen, who slipped and went down around Ukiah’s 45-yard line and had to be helped off the field. Cunneen did not return to the game.

Two plays later, Vasquez rolled out to his right under pressure from Ukiah’s defense and threw a strike downfield to Ralston for a touchdown. Redwood had its first lead of the night at 21-18 with 8 minutes, 24 seconds to play.

Ukiah running back Christopher Thompson broke a long run on the next drive. Redwood’s Hayden Donehower tackled Thompson at the 5-yard line to save a touchdown. David scored on a run up the middle to give Ukiah a 25-21 lead two plays later.

Redwood went three and out but trusted its defense enough to punt from its own 41-yard line with 5:22 left to play. Harrison helped deliver the stop the Giants desperately needed then Ukiah’s special-teams gaffe set Vasquez and the offense up for the winning score.

(Marin Independent Journal)

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THANKSGIVING CAME EARLY FOR ANDERSON VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT WITH A $500,000 FEDERAL CHECK FROM THE USDA

After months of filling out paperwork, the Anderson Valley Elementary School District received a $500,000 USDA Grant yesterday that was facilitated by Congressman Jared Huffman's office. Originally applied for by the prior superintendent, Louise Simson, in conjunction with Congressman Huffman’s staff, the arduous process of filing the paperwork to generate the funding passed its last hurdle when the $500,000 grant was deposited in the school district's account on Wednesday.

According to Superintendent Kristin Larson Balliet, the payment was originally to be used to fund the failed elementary septic system. Due to the requirements of the grant, the work could not be funded in arrears and was redirected to be used for the upcoming kitchen remodel that ties into the septic system. She noted the community letters of support related to the two failed septic systems on the site in 2023 galvanized political action to make this award possible. Larson-Balliet relates that Congressman Huffman’s staff was steadfast and available to support the completion of the payment process and expressed particular thanks to Huffman staffer, Jenny Callaway for her efforts.

Noted Larson-Balliet, “The students and staff are most grateful to Congressman Huffman, the USDA partners, and the staff that worked so hard to make this a reality. Going to school without a septic system can’t happen, and this grant is providing amazing resource equity to an isolated rural school system. Thanksgiving came a little bit early to our district and we are grateful for this support”, stated Superintendent Larson Balliet.

For more information, contact Kristin Larson Balliet at klarson@avpanthers.org

Anderson Valley Unified School District is thrilled to have received $500,000 from the USDA to fund improvements to our facilities. We are deeply grateful to Congressman Huffman and his staff for facilitating the process. Please see the attached press release and photos.

Thank you so much,

Kristin Larson Balliet, Superintendent

Anderson Valley Unified School District

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JACK PETERS CREEK BRIDGE NIGHTTIME CLOSURES RESCHEDULED:

The Jack Peters Creek Bridge closures on Route 1, previously scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 24, and Monday, Nov. 25, have been postponed due to weather conditions.

The closures have been rescheduled for the nights of Monday, Dec. 2, and Tuesday, Dec. 3, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., to accommodate bridge falsework installation. During the nighttime closures, emergency responders will be escorted across the bridge.

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ED NOTES

SEPARATING the wheat from the chaff in Boonville one optimistic day not all that long ago in Boonville were John Voelker, Doug Mosel, both of Boonville, Luke Frey of the pioneering organic Frey Vineyards in Redwood Valley, and Andy Ballastracci of Boonville.

THE ESSENTIAL, invaluable Mosel, since retired, had obtained a 70s vintage John Deere Combine Harvester from Washington State, refurbished it, and it was back working. Frey brought over about four acres worth of a classic California wheat variety called “Sonora” in three big grape gondolas. (It’s easier to move small amounts of wheat to the combine than it is to move the huge combine from small site to small site.)

FREY'S wheat was harvested and hand-tossed into the gondolas in Redwood Valley, transported to Boonville where it was again hand-tossed into the combine’s augur header and thrashed until it was threshed. The resultant wheat grain was collected in a large bin in the combine and the chaff was spewed out like dusty straw.

BECAUSE the combine was being used in a stationary position, one of the crew members had to stand at the rear of the machine and clear the chaff as it was thrown out. Frey got about 1500 pounds of wheat grains ready for grinding or milling.

VOELKER soon reported that he had already made some tasty pancakes from some of the product. Sonora wheat is a “soft white wheat” especially suited to pastry and pasta, whereas “red wheat” is typically used for breadmaking. As word about the “new” combine got around the Valley, some local farmers were said to be considering small-scale wheat crops.

MOSEL’S COMBINE was a welcome sign of the back-to-the-future type. Anderson Valley’s settlers always put in some wheat, enough to get them through the rainy season, and it’s one of the great ironies of modern life that Boonville people in the 1900s were far more self-sufficient than Boonville people are today.

YOU'RE GETTING TO BE AN OLD-TIMER if you remember when the Anderson Valley Health Center was located in what has since become Glen Ricard's abandoned row of shop houses in downtown Boonville. Bare foot doctors served a newly arrived population of longhairs while the old old-timers, shuddering at the thought of sharing a stethoscope with a hippie, continued making the long trip over the hill to Hillside Hospital now, among other things, a needle exchange site for drug addicts. We now have a multi-faceted Health Center, complete with ambulance barn, and almost as big as a Cuban neighborhood hospital, serving a population about as distant from its first clientele as its possible to get in 50 years.

AS IT HAPPENS, I'm presently involved in a lengthy medical processes, requiring seemingly endless questions aimed at making sure my ancient bone bag is strong enough to endure them. So far, so good.

WHICH makes me wonder why, when I tried to sell my blood to write about the experience, they told me I was too old to bleed for cash, way past the age 55 cutoff. (I could have used the $50 too.) I looked around a waiting room teeming with tweekers, purple-faced winos, hacking coughers, tubercular-looking dudes who could barely shuffle to the admission’s desk, concluding that I was easily the healthiest person in the room, perhaps the only healthy person in the room. I'm still insulted at the rejection, and puzzled that if Anderson Blue has no value to the vampires of the commercial blood business, who are the lucky recipients getting all this blood from sick people?

I’VE BEEN WARY of the medical profession since the day in Marine Corps boot camp, 1957, I walked through a door thinking I was going to get one shot and bam! I got hit in both arms by grinning medics who delivered about 15 deep jabs simultaneously and willy nilly, not caring, nay hoping, they'd hit bone. So when this social worker at UCSF asked me, “Do you have a primary care physician?” Of course not, I said. A quizzical eyebrow cocked, its eyeball looked askance. “Why not?” Because I know him, I said, ”and I don't want to die.” She laughed, but I know if I'd said that anywhere in Mendocino County, certainly in Boonville, the medical professional would have been insulted. So, I eat right, walk as fast as l can up and down hills every day, do my push-ups, and only down a beer once in a great while. The Adventists will never get me, I tell you, never! I'm my own primary care physician!

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HEADLANDS COFFEE HOUSE: The central social hub in Fort Bragg where the community comes together to solve the problems of the world.

Also to drink excellent coffee, eat homemade sweet and savory pastries, and more. Music on the weekends too!

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CALIFORNIA CITY FORCED TO REINVENT ITSELF AFTER HIGHWAY 101 BYPASS

Willits, California, underwent a profound transformation after Highway 101 bypassed the Mendocino city 8 years ago

by Silas Valentino

A surprising presidential election was merely the second major event to rattle the Northern California city of Willits in early November 2016. As many in the state began grappling with a new normal, Willits was already coping with one of its own: the rerouting of Highway 101 to now skip the town.

The throughline folded into Main Street to funnel thousands of vehicles per day into the city about 2.5 hours north of San Francisco. For nearly a century, it was a pillar for the local economy, but then suddenly, Willits was a highway town no more.

Although it took Caltrans only a few hours to flip the switch on Nov. 3 that year and begin diverting traffic from Main Street, the Willits Bypass followed decades of planning and dramatic setbacks, dividing townsfolk in the process. Some protested how the rerouted highway carved into precious nearby wetlands, while Main Street merchants feared the worst from the loss of what was once thousands of vehicles through the city.

Eight years later, Willits is on the brink of a rebirth. As a gateway to both the North Coast redwoods and coastline, it has the building blocks of a booming weekend destination, yet Willits waits in the wings for the return of a crucial element that Highway 101 distinctly supplied.

Unmistakable Sound

Few had as close of an insight into the bypass as Geoffrey Wright. The project engineer for Caltrans joined the project at the start and relocated to the North Coast to see it through.

After construction, the approximately 6-mile section of highway curves along the Little Lake Valley wetlands on the eastern edge of the city limits. Wright attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the bypass, where his previous boss worked the crowd, referencing a historic World Series win from the night before.

“A long time ago, someone told me the Cubs would win the World Series before we finish this project,” former Caltrans director Malcolm Dougherty said in his remarks. “And here we are.”

After the pomp and circumstance of the ribbon-cutting ceremony faded that opening day, Wright remembered beelining to his downtown office near the erstwhile highway to observe the transformation in real time. What struck him was how immediately Willits changed, and that it began with his ears.

“It was a remarkably different feeling. Several thousand cards a day were immediately diverted off Main Street onto the new bypass. It was a different sound,” he told SFGate. “There was no traffic.”

It was a watershed moment for Willits, on par with the Skunk Train launching its downtown passenger service in 1911, but hardships were unavoidable. Hotels, restaurants and any businesses that benefited from tourism lost as much as 30% of their revenue overnight. Others folded completely, as the local economy simultaneously contended with a collapsing cannabis industry.

However, benefits are apparent: Instead of having thousands of cars and trucks clogging it every day, Main Street returned to locals. The walkable downtown now favors pedestrians and cyclists, and the absence of traffic allows community events to flourish, like the long-running Independence Day rodeo. For the first time in its 42-year run, the annual Willits car show was held on Main Street in May.

Even the Little Lake Valley wetlands that environmentalist critics fretted about are starting to bear fruit, as migrating birds nest in the viaduct and tule elk herds safely roam.

Yet a certain calmness filled Main Street on a recent afternoon. Similar to what Wright noticed on Day 1, Willits was awash in stillness. The serenity is a bane for any tourism economy. It appears the Northern California city has nearly everything it needs to become a hot spot in Mendocino County, except for the flow of travelers.

Overdue Solution To A Major Problem

Not everyone in town attended the opening ceremony for the bypass that autumn afternoon in 2016. The owner of Brickhouse Coffee on Main Street, for instance, was at work with bated breath.

“I was very concerned,” Tom Mann said. “Caltrans estimated that 28 businesses were going out. The next year, I counted businesses on what we call ‘the miracle mile’ and it was exactly 28. I walked up and down looking for possible commercial space and I couldn’t believe it, they were exactly right. They hit it on the bone.”

The community noticed every business lost on Main Street because it’s more than just a strip for commerce. It’s the pulse of a sylvan valley. An emerald green archway, the city’s most celebrated landmark, spans the road to establish Willits as the “heart of Mendocino County.” While the city holds onto mid-century Americana charms, like its 84-year-old Noyo Theater — still showing pictures daily — it’s also across the street from a newly built, ultramodern crimson firehouse. Not far from both is a tribute to what laid the ground for Willits: The railroad depot that first established the city, where the popular Skunk Train attraction continues to run.

While Willits itself has a small population of about 5,000 people, the surrounding basin is home to twice, if not three times, as many people. At its heart is a literal crossroads between Highway 20, which continues west toward Fort Bragg, and the Highway 101 corridor. Before the bypass, the two-lane Main Street was a crucial link for locals to access basic needs, but every day they’d grapple with motorists and semitrucks passing through.

A study from Caltrans counted more than 15,000 vehicles on average each day before the diversion. On peak summer weekends, the agency said it could take up to an hour to travel from one end of town to the other.

Caltrans first proposed a bypass as far back as the 1950s. Meanwhile, it completed similar projects along Highway 101; a bypass opened in nearby Ukiah in 1965 and the small Sonoma town Cloverdale received a realignment in 1994. Both projects fundamentally transformed the two cities. Against financial headwinds, Caltrans kept returning to the proposal for Willits and finalized an environmental review in 2006.

When the project broke ground in 2012, the community reacted with an onslaught of protests. Tree sitters chained themselves to equipment, while trespassers attempted to sabotage construction. Other skeptics questioned how the agency managed the project — blowing past its initial $300 million assessment to end up costing $460 million.

“I was among those who were really opposed to the way the bypass was designed and implemented,” said Madge Strong, a city councilmember since 2012. “Some of us felt disgruntled for how they spent huge amounts of taxpayer money to build it.”

Wright said that Caltrans ended up paying over $5 million to the California Highway Patrol to provide security, while an “11th-hour design change” on the bypass from the Legislature added another $10 million to the costs.

Meanwhile, supporters saw the bypass as the path toward rejuvenation. Outgoing Mayor Saprina Rodriguez was elected to the city council the year it opened, and said the reclamation of Main Street is a boon.

“We want to preserve what makes our downtown special,” Rodriguez told SFGate. “As a tourist, you don’t want to see big box stores. You want to see small shops and historic architecture.”

Rodriguez is also personally invested in the area because she owns the Imagination Station Educational Toy Depot and the adjoining preschool on Commercial Street near the intersection with Main.

“I think some people see the opportunity and others are maybe a little bit still frustrated with the lack of traffic,” Rodriguez continued. “Specifically, because we’ve seen a decline in the number of patrons in our hotels and restaurants. The economic part has been difficult. On the other hand, I’d argue, the quality of life has improved.”

Not only has traffic congestion subsided significantly, locals say their downtown air quality is cleaner now that it’s spared constant diesel exhaust. For the first time, bicycle lanes line Main Street, and the city’s safety has improved as the number of car crashes drastically plummeted.

Main Street is home now to not just the car show and bikes, but annual events like Frontier Days, which features California’s longest running continuous rodeo, and the Harvest Moon Celebration.

“We really reclaimed it in a big way,” said Mann, whose coffee shop sits on a major Main Street corner. “We’re building community at a rapid rate. It’s been very instrumental to getting Willits back to a small town that loves each other.”

The Highway’s Toll

But as Willits became more walkable and community-focused over the decade, the decline in spontaneous visitors came at a cost for those working in hospitality.

A majority of Willits’ hotels — there are nine clumped together — are located on the southern end of Main Street, past the turn onto Highway 20. From behind the check-in counter at the Old West Inn, owner Roshan Patel watched as the bypass radically impacted his industry.

In the years that followed, he said “a few” hotels didn’t survive, while others struggled. It forced him and other hoteliers to reinvent themselves.

“In many ways, the bypass forced us to become more proactive in marketing and think creatively about how to attract visitors,” he wrote to SFGate in an email. “Instead of relying on passing traffic, we shifted toward targeting destination travelers — people who plan their trips ahead and choose to visit Willits for specific reasons. This meant investing more in online bookings, advertising through tourism channels and collaborating with local attractions like the Skunk Train to draw intentional visitors.”

The year after the bypass opened, KGO-TV reported that city officials were predicting a 35% drop in sales tax revenue. Willits City Manager Brian Bender told SFGate there was “no empirical data” on business closures following the bypass.

It’s near impossible to peg all economic upheaval on the bypass alone, because as many in Willits would argue, it coincided with Mendocino County’s cannabis industry suffering major financial strains following legalization.

“I think there was a dip — obviously, since you have less cars traveling through the corridor — but it’s stabilized itself,” Bender said, acknowledging that the collapse of the cash-based illegal cannabis economy was a much bigger deal in the county.

“That hit harder than the bypass,” he said, noting how a lot of that was fueled by cash transactions.

“I think now what you’re finding is a new normal for the city of Willits,” he continued. “There are businesses that thrived post bypass, and some that didn’t.”

Unexploited Getaway

Compared to the rest of Mendocino County, Willits is often passed over. It’s easy to spot how the county’s travel bureau tends to market the coast over the heartland when hoping to attract visitors.

Outsiders have a history of thumbing their nose at the quaint valley community. Some townspeople may still feel a little sore after the “Seabiscuit” phenomenon 20 years ago. The legendary horse retired in Willits and, following the successful movie in 2003, reporters from around the country visited to characterize the community without much consideration.

One headline in particular from the Los Angeles Times — “Dead Racehorse Revives Dying Town” — left a sting. In describing the city, the New York Times quoted a then-director of the Center for Economic Development at Chico reducing Willits to a “a pass-through” where the appeal is “to buy gas and go to Burger King en route to dropping off the rental car in Portland, Ore.”

Despite the disdain, Willits remains an unexploited locale for exploring the North Coast. Hotel rates are reasonable, around $100 a night, and there’s enough entertainment downtown to fill the weekend. The trendy Flying Dog Wood Fired Pizza & Vinyl would have lines out the door if it was in any Bay Area city. Across the street, the Shanachie Pub books an active concert calendar.

Enshrined on the other side of the city’s celebrated arch spanning Main Street — a gift from Reno, Nevada, another small city with an outsized personality — is Willits’ other motto: the “gateway to the redwoods.” There’s access to lush groves in every direction, and the city is a convenient hub for charting day trips into nature. Lately, a group of cyclists is actively building trails in the mountains, and anybody in town would likely share their favorite swimming hole, if you ask politely.

“Willits laid the groundwork and it remains to be seen if it’s embraced by visitors,” said Greta Kanne, co-owner of the Book Juggler, a hallmark of Main Street.

She and Chris Harper took over in 2005 and stocked the shelves with 50,000 titles that stretch deep into the back of the bookshop. They’ve had to evolve with the bypass, which she called “a sea change” that cut revenue by up to 30% overnight, and recently installed the shop’s first computer to help expand their reach for sales.

Although the store took a hit, Kanne pointed out that the bypass allowed for a huge resurgence of wildlife in the valley — a byproduct of the largest active public wetlands mitigation project in the state of California. The Mendocino County Resource Conservation District manages the Willits Bypass Mitigation Project, where more than 2 million native plants were added to the valley and river streams restored to their original state.

After the installation of 22 miles of fencing to prevent human obstruction, Chris Bartow, the project’s manager, said that nature has rebounded significantly over the past eight years. A population of tule elk has grown to 100, while researchers discovered a population of purple martins nesting in the viaducts of the bypass. North America’s largest swallow is showing signs of a declining population, but not in Willits.

“We determined it’s probably the largest population in California,” Bartow said of the birds nesting beneath Highway 101.

The district hosts birding and nature walks that offer access beyond the fences, another opportunity for Willits to appeal to visitors in a way that wasn’t there when the highway cut through town. At the brink of its renaissance, Willits waits for the rest of California to take notice.

“Now, instead of simply being a rest stop on the highway, Willits can focus on eco-tourism, outdoor adventures and community events,” wrote Patel, the hotelier. “We’ve been through a lot of change, but we’re still here — and I think we’re heading in the right direction.”

(SFGate)

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DONNA RONNE, HER BACK STORY

Donna Ronne arrived in Anderson Valley in the early 1970s as the paramour of Sherman Whitmore, who was the developer of the Holmes Ranch subdivision. She was set up in the Guntly Ranch house, now owned by Handley Cellars. She lived here full time while Sherman traveled back and forth from wherever, probably LA. My understanding at the time was that Donna had been the first Playmate of the Year, but have never fact-checked that.

Having been left mostly on her own here, unsurprisingly Donna became part of the community, met local people, and eventually became close to Wayne Ahrens. After a number of years, Sherman and Donna officially parted ways and part of the settlement was giving her full ownership of one of the Holmes Ranch parcels that had not readily sold in the first wave of parcel sales. This was a while after actor Lee Marvin's “palimony” trial, which established a financial interest on the part of unmarried couples breaking up. I don't remember if building the house was part of the settlement, but it seems likely. Donna lived there for the rest of her life. She was a kind, decent person with a good sense of humor.

At the time, I worked as a real estate sales person for T.J. Nelson, who was the broker for the Holmes Ranch subdivision. It was largely through T.J.'s efforts that the mostly 20-acre parcels on the historic Guntly Ranch, which had been briefly owned by Katherine Holmes (thus the name), were divided along topographic features rather than just the straight-line-on-a-map approach used in many other subdivisions. One would be hard-pressed to find a more well-designed subdivision anywhere in rural California. But yes, the roads will always be challenging.

A tip of the hat to Captain Caterpillar, Glenn Schaeffer, who bulldozed those roads into existence with his D-8, and hauled and spread tons of rock from a quarry at the bottom of the ranch. Oh yeah, and one should really mention Bob Glover, who was raised on the ranch and knew every inch of it. He developed most of the water systems still in use there today.

Kathy Bailey

Boonville

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RESPONSIBILITY, AN EXCHANGE

TERRY D’SELKIE: If we were all more tolerant, everyone would mind their own damn business. Let people be who they want to be, love who they want to love and have bodily autonomy. That’s the beginning of tolerance and minding one’s own business.

JEFF BLANKFORT: All choices are not equal. When one is aware that the government where they live, etc.,. i.e., the US, is supporting the genocide of a people, the Palestinians, whose oppression their taxes have been funding for decades who have never harmed or threatened them, yet are more concerned with “letting people be who they want to be, love who they want to love and have bodily autonomy,” are deserving of no one's respect.

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CATCH OF THE DAY, Friday, November 22, 2024

DEBORAH ANDERSON, 52, Lakeport/Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

JUAN FLORES, 21, Covelo. DUI.

J CRUZ MENDOZA, 55, Ukiah. Vandalism.

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ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Today, Nov. 23, 1963, 61 years ago, JFK was assassinated. Terrible tragedy.

President Trump said he would open up the JFK files. Let's see if Mr. Trump can keep his word. Let's see if he CAN do it, and if "they" let him do it.

That should be a pretty easy, non-partisan issue.

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DUNGENESS CRAB RESTRICTIONS CONTINUE

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is continuing the temporary recreational crab trap restriction from the Sonoma/Mendocino county line to Lopez Point (Fishing Zones 3 and 4) due to presence of humpback whales and the potential for entanglement from trap gear. Recreational take of Dungeness crab by other methods, including hoop nets and crab snares, is not affected by the temporary trap restriction in these areas. In addition, pursuant to Fish and Game Code 5523, CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham continued the delay for the recreational opener in the northern portion of Fishing Zone 1 (from the CA/OR border to the southern boundary of the Reading Rock State Marine Reserve) due to unhealthy levels of domoic acid. The Fleet Advisory issued for all Fishing Zones (1-6) for the recreational fishery remains in effect.

Pursuant to Fish and Game Code section 8676.2, CDFW Director Bonham delayed the northern California commercial Dungeness crab season for Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties (Fishing Zones 1 and 2), which had been scheduled to open on Dec. 1, 2024. Crab meat quality tests could not be conducted due to high domoic acid concentrations from crab collected at northern port locations requiring the fishery delay. Additionally, a high abundance of humpback and blue whales was observed creating elevated entanglement risk in these Fishing Zones.

CDFW is continuing the Commercial Dungeness crab fishery delay in Fishing Zones 3-6 due to the presence of humpback whales and risk of entanglement. This delay is necessary due to the high number of entanglements that have occurred this year, four of which involved the commercial fishery. The delay will allow whales to continue their migration to winter breeding grounds and away from the fishing grounds, thereby reducing entanglement risk.

Given the high abundance of whales and entanglements that have occurred this year, CDFW will assess entanglement risk again in early December. It is expected that the next risk assessment will take place on or before Dec. 5, 2024, at which time Director Bonham will re-evaluate the temporary recreational crab trap restrictions and statewide commercial fishery delay. That risk assessment is expected to inform the potential for a statewide commercial fishery opener and lifting of the recreational trap restriction on or around December 15, 2024.

For more information?related?to the risk assessment process,?please visit?CDFW’s Whale?Safe Fisheries page or more information on the Dungeness crab fishery, please visit?CDFW’s crab page. n California commercial Dungeness crab season for Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties (Fishing Zones 1 and 2), which had been scheduled to open on Dec. 1, 2024. Crab meat quality tests could not be conducted due to high domoic acid concentrations from crab collected at northern port locations requiring the fishery delay. Additionally, a high abundance of humpback and blue whales was observed creating elevated entanglement risk in these Fishing Zones.

CDFW is continuing the Commercial Dungeness crab fishery delay in Fishing Zones 3-6 due to the presence of humpback whales and risk of entanglement. This delay is necessary due to the high number of entanglements that have occurred this year, four of which involved the commercial fishery. The delay will allow whales to continue their migration to winter breeding grounds and away from the fishing grounds, thereby reducing entanglement risk.

Given the high abundance of whales and entanglements that have occurred this year, CDFW will assess entanglement risk again in early December. It is expected that the next risk assessment will take place on or before Dec. 5, 2024, at which time Director Bonham will re-evaluate the temporary recreational crab trap restrictions and statewide commercial fishery delay. That risk assessment is expected to inform the potential for a statewide commercial fishery opener and lifting of the recreational trap restriction on or around December 15, 2024.

For more information related to the risk assessment process, please visit CDFW’s Whale Safe Fisheries web page or more information on the Dungeness crab fishery, please visit CDFW’s crab web page.

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PHOTOGRAPHER CONSUELO KANAGA IN BLACK & WHITE: A ROLE MODEL FOR THE AGE OF TRUMP

by Jonah Raskin

If you’re like many of my friends and neighbors in liberal Democratic San Francisco, you may be shaking your head in disbelief and muttering that you don’t understand the results of the election. If that description fits you, you might chill or gaze at the photographs of Consuelo Kanaga which are now in an exhibit titled “Catch the Spirit” at SFMOMA. “See the Work of This Critical Yet Overlooked Figure in the History of Modern Photography,” the museum’s website proclaims.

Kanaga’s indelible photos are also reproduced in a book titled Consuelo Kanaga: An American Photographer, which offers snippets of her biography which began in Astoria, Oregon in 1894 and ended in Yorktown Heights, New York in 1978. At her death, her entire estate was valued at $1,345, her name largely erased from the annals of photography, though she had been a contemporary and a friend of luminaries such as Imogen Cunningham, Tina Modotti, Alfred Stieglitz, and Dorthea Lang. No major exhibit of Kanaga’s work took place until 15 years after her death when she began to be appreciated as an artist, and not simply as a documentary photographer of archival interest.

With a name like Consuelo Kanaga you might think she was a Latino or a Native American. In fact, she was descended from old European stock. She had as much talent and as much energy as her better known peers and also a unique style with the camera. She took extreme close-ups of the people she photographed, especially the poor and African Americans as though she wanted to enter their lives, merge with them and share their plight, perhaps because she was born to privilege.

Kanaga’s father worked as a lawyer and judge, her mother as a real estate agent, but by the time she was in her early 20s she shifted from the world of her parents and worked as a reporter, feature writer and freelance photographer with exceptional darkroom skills for The San Francisco Chronicle, the paper owned by newspaper baron, William Randolph Hearst.

In the 1920s she moved back and forth restlessly from California to New York and then back to California, searching for a place where she might put down roots, and find a man with whom she might feel sympatico. Married three times she survived a canceled engagement. Her restlessness took her across America and to Europe and to North Africa.

In the late 1930s she joined the Photo League, a cooperative of New York photographers that was placed on a Justice Department blacklist. She worked for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and sold pictures to the lefty publications of the day including the New Masses, the Labor Defender and the Sunday Worker, the paper of the US Communist Party, which she joined and embraced some of its causes. In one photo, which might be described as socialist realism, she depicted three heroic workers: one Black, one white and another Asian, all of whom gaze into the distance. The caption might read “Unite and Fight.”

Her best known photo, which isn’t overtly political, is titled “She is a Tree of Life to Them.” It depicts a poor Black woman who holds her children close to her own body. It was included in the 1955 exhibit Family of Man. Kanaga photographed white immigrants from Russia and white workers but she was drawn to Black men and Black women, to black bodies and black faces, and to Black writers such as Langston Hughes whom she befriended.

Near the end of her life she said, “I wasn’t in a group, nor did I belong to anything ever. I wasn’t a belonger.” Her biography and her work suggests otherwise; indeed for decades she meant her work to convey messages to the masses. Art for art’s sake was never part of her credo.

Kanaga noted of the famed photographer, Edward Weston, “His whole life was built around his work. I was much more interested in living.” She did live, and lived to the fullest, whether she was in California, New York or North Africa, and yet it seems fair to say that her life was inseparable from her work and her work inseparable from her life. Intensely political throughout her life, but not ideological, she joined the Sixties civil rights movement and was arrested in Albany, Georgia.

A decade or so before her death, her photos of protesters were included in a book titled Prison Notes by Barbara Deming, a feminist and a non-violent activist who traveled to Hanoi during the Vietnam War. Kanaga remained true to her ideals until the end of her life, though in some of her late work she seemed to turned away from realism to symbolism and photographed sunflowers and old wagon wheels, one of which she titled “The End of an Era.” Perhaps she recognized that she had survived the era that had informed her best work which honors the beauty and the dignity of Black Americans.

Had she been Black she might have enjoyed more fame and prestige than she did. Like the novelist and short story writer, Tillie Olsen, and like Sanora Babb, who wrote about Dust Bowl refugees in her novel, Whose Names are Unknown, Kanaga’s work was eclipsed by male photographers until women teachers and critics like Sally Stein came along and recognized her originality and her artistic compassion. In the wake of Trump’s victory at the polls, we might remember Kanaga’s resilience and endurance all through the crisis of 20th century capitalism. She’s a role model for our own spirited times.

(Jonah Raskin is the author of Beat Blues, San Francisco, 1955.)

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OH MY, OMAR

by Zack Anderson

Long-time Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford is widely considered the Giants best shortstop, for good reason. But his predecessor, Omar Vizquel, even at the end of a glorious career, was always one of baseball’s true joys.

Every single game Vizquel made an impossible play or two look so easy, so natural, that it defies description. He moves like a gazelle, but when necessary unleashes a throw with the power of a panther. So call him a Pazelle. Or a Gazanther. He is Baryshnikov in spikes, a tall glass of lemonade on a hot Willits day, a scoop of homemade ice cream on fresh apple pie. His fielding genius, grace and class are proof that god is a baseball aficionado.

Highlights from the Omar Vizquel file:

• All-time leader for double plays as a shortstop.
• Eleven-time Gold Glove recipient (1993-2001, 2005-6)
• Second-highest number of Gold Gloves received by a shortstop (behind Ozzie Smith)
• Oldest shortstop recipient of the Gold Glove (ages 38 & 39)
• Highest career fielding percentage by a shortstop (0.984)
• Lowest number of errors in a season by a shortstop (tie) (3 in the 2000 season)
• American League record holder (tie) for most consecutive games without an error (95 between September 26, 1999-July 21, 2001)
• Wife Nicole is direct descendant of Chief Seattle.

In his 2002 autobiography, Vizquel had this to say about former Cleveland teammate and pitcher José Mesa’s performance in Game 7 of the 1997 World Series: “The eyes of the world were focused on every move we made. Unfortunately, Jose's own eyes were vacant. Completely empty. Nobody home. You could almost see right through him. Not long after I looked into his vacant eyes, he blew the save and the [Florida] Marlins tied the game.”

Mesa reacted furiously, vowing to hit Vizquel every chance he got: “Even my little boy told me to get him. If I face him 10 more times, I'll hit him 10 times. I want to kill him.” On June 12, 2002, Mesa hit Vizquel the first time he faced him. In 2006, the next chance he got, Mesa plunked Vizquel again — though the next three at-bats between the two former friends that season ended with two groundouts and an RBI single.

Upon arriving in San Francisco in 2006, Vizquel said: “They always have [Barry] Bonds here, Bonds doing this, Bonds doing that, Bonds with the home runs. The biggest show in baseball now is the home run. It doesn't matter what you do on the defensive side or how many records or how many Gold Gloves you have. People like talking about the long ball. They really forget about the defensive part of the game.”

Fans may forget, but players don’t. Vizquel is legendary for the way he nonchalantly fields a ball, plants himself, magically transfers the ball from glove to hand, then lobs it to first base a split-second before the batter’s foot touches the base.

Catcher Sandy Alomar, Vizquel's teammate in Cleveland for seven seasons, says: “You think you're there, and you're not.”

Says Vizquel: “It's not intentional. I know who's running. And I know who I can do that with. It's a timing play. I do it over and over. And by the time the ball gets there, the guy is one step away from the base. I do it because I don't need to fire the ball to first all the time.”

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THREE CALIFORNIA WATER AGENCIES VOTE IN FAVOR OF DELTA TUNNEL AS A BROAD COALITION OPPOSES IT

by Dan Bacher

SACRAMENTO — Governor Gavin Newsom today celebrated the votes over the past week by three water agencies of the next phase of funding for the Delta Conveyance Project, while a diverse coalition of opponents blasted the project as a massive and expensive boondoggle that would hasten the extinction of Central Valley salmon, Delta smelt and other fish species and cause enormous harm to Delta and Tribal communities.

The Alameda County Water District, Desert Water Agency, and Palmdale Water District all voted in favor of supporting the Delta Tunnel, according to the Governor’s Office. These follow other water agencies throughout the state that have also voted in favor of moving the next phase of the project forward.

These agencies include the Coachella Valley Water District, Crestline-Lake Arrowhead Water Agency, Mojave Water Agency, San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District. San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District, San Gorgonio Pass Water Agency, Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency and Zone 7 Water Agency. 

“California is going to lose 10% of its entire water supply — doing nothing is not an option,” said Governor Newsom in a statement. “This project, which would ensure clean drinking water for millions of Californians, has been right-sized to one tunnel and is critical to our all-of-the-above strategy to boost water supplies.”

“Since day one, the Governor pledged to right-size this project to one tunnel and embrace an all-of-the-above approach to protecting California’s water access,” the Governor’s Office claimed.

Newsom’s changing of the project from the twin tunnels to the one tunnel took place after Governor Jerry Brown’s twin tunnels plan fell apart in response to massive opposition throughout the state.

“Extreme weather whiplash will result in more intense swings between droughts and floods – California’s 60-year-old water infrastructure is not built for these climate impacts. During atmospheric rivers this year, the Delta Conveyance Project could have captured enough water for 9.8 million people’s yearly usage,” the Office added. 

The 40-plus mile long tunnel would divert water from the Sacramento River at Hood  to facilitate the export of water to agribusiness in the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California water agencies.

The project is opposed by a big coalition of Tribes, fishing groups, conservation organizations, Delta residents, Delta counties and water districts, scientists and water ratepayers. Opponents say the tunnel, by diverting Sacramento River water before it reaches the Delta, will drive already imperiled Delta smelt, longfin smelt, Sacramento winter-run and spring-run Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, green sturgeon and other fish species to extinction and have a devastating impact on Tribal, fishing, farming and environmental justice communities.

In response to the Governor’s praise for the recent water agency votes for the tunnel, Gia Moreno, a Chicana and Native American grassroots activist from Hood, the Delta town that sits at ground zero for the project’s construction, said the narrative that California supports this project is a “false one.”

“A majority of Californians don't even know what the project is,” said Moreno. “Of those that do know, most of them are not in support. Whether they are defending wildlife, the environment, water recreation, Delta Agriculture, the Delta as a living entity, the Delta communities, or their own pocketbooks, most people who hear about the project are opposed to it.”

“The project brings no new water to the state,” she emphasized. “It does nothing for water conservation or consumption. All it will do is destroy the Delta and cost Californians more money that we don't have. Instead of focusing on alternatives that cost less and better suit our needs, Newsom and his benefactors are trying to force a project that has already been shot down time and again.”…

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/11/21/2287850/-Three-CA-water-agencies-vote-in-favor-of-Delta-Conveyance-Project-as-the-Bay-Delta-Estuary-collapses

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MEMO OF THE AIR: Good Night Radio show all night tonight on KNYO!

I'm at Juanita's place 100 miles away, for this show, and power's been solid through all the storm difficulties, so I'll be doing my regular show whether or not there's power at the KNYO transmitter during showtime, and it'll be available live via KNYO.org and Listen. Let the deadline for this show be around five or six p.m. If that's too soon, send your story or dream or kvetch or poem or whatever, whenever you're ready and I'll read it next week. That'll be fine. There's no pressure on you.

Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio is every Friday, 9pm to 5am PST on 107.7fm KNYO-LP Fort Bragg and KNYO.org. The first hour of the show is simulcast on KAKX 89.3fm Mendocino.

Plus you can always go to https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com and hear last week's MOTA show. By Saturday night I'll put up the recording of tonight's show. Also there you'll find an assortment of cultural-educational amusements to occupy you until showtime, or any time, such as:

Santo Silver-Mask and the Treasure of Dracula, 1969, full film, 85 min, Spanish with English subtitles.) https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x92qviw

Here, in Bizarro World where we all have to live now, is the next United States Secretary of the Department of Education. In my head I hear Humphrey Bogart's voice telling Peter Lorre, "When you're slapped, you'll take it and like it." https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/sport/video-3317451/Video-Incredible-WWE-clips-Linda-McMahon-resurface.html

Speaking of which, I don't think I've seen any of the movies in this video. They look like they might be good. I had a dream about Martin Scorcese (say scor-SAY-zee) the other night. I had invented a new kind of food: convection-oven-crisped crumpled flower-shapes of pizza. Martin Scorcese was a mafia guy busy carrying boxes in and out of the house where my mother used to live in Grass Valley. He didn't have time to try the food, and he didn't need me to put on my shoes and help him carry things. He was like, "Nah, I gotta do this. I gotta do /something/." You have to move your body to stay healthy, you can't just sit around and wait to be ordered to collect protection money or go see Donny and explain things to him. You need to keep your heart pumping. https://nagonthelake.blogspot.com/2024/11/happy-birthday-martin-scorsese.html

Marco McClean, memo@mcn.org, https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com

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YOU KNOW what I've been doing? Going through my address book and crossing out the dead people. It gives you a feeling of power, of superiority, to have outlasted another old friend.

— George Carlin

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WANDERING, CHAPTER 3

by Paul Modic

Back in my hometown, memories of my teenage years flooded back, like the time I pulled down the flag at my high school twice in one day after Kent State; one night spray-painted “Stop The Killing” on the draft board, a peace sign on the courthouse, and an omega on the library; then after the bombing of Cambodia scrawled my anti-war slogans with a rock on the cages of the animals at the nearby zoo. I sometimes climbed up the ladder to the courthouse dome, smoked a joint looking out over the city, then observed court proceedings, which were usually the black man getting screwed.

At the beginning of my senior year I ran for student council president on the whole wheat platform: my sister made my campaign posters, recipes for whole wheat bread and honey with “Vote For Paul Modic” at the bottom. I lost, quit school the next day, and graduated a year early. (I got caught jamming packs of cigarets in my pocket, though I didn't smoke, at the cash register as the checker counted out 400 pieces of Bazooka Joe bubblegum to be handed out for my election campaign. I ran out of there, dumped the cigarets in the bushes, and got home in time to answer the call from the neighborhood store, pretending to be my father, and I was banned from Burger Dairy.)

I stole bottles of Mateus wine, got drunk with my crush Lissa, and ended up barfing on the floor of the police station. (They found the joint in my inside sports coat pocket, about which my best friend Tim once asked me, “Do you carry that around just so you can be busted at any time?”)

I tripped on acid under the TV towers and saw my insides plastered on the sky, the moon was a pock-faced gangster shooting bullets out of his cigar to the beat of the drag racers on nearby Lindenwood Blvd. I lost my sleeping bag, Lissa snuck out and gave me a little white blanket, then I lost that. I wandered through the field looking for my duffle bag, each weed had a dragon head snarling at me, and each blade of grass was a green worm squirming on the ground. I finally found my sleeping bag spread out on the ground and saw Lissa and me naked making love on it, but as I got closer I saw that it was just the ratty little blanket.

Larry Bowers hired me and Tim to dress up as revolutionary soldiers at a cast party for the musical “1776” and one of the drunk college girls pulled my face into her big breasts down by the river. When Suzi got me to streak her DJ boyfriend with her at the radio station, there was Larry the station manager, and I announced, “This is a streak to impeach Nixon!” (Suzi had been my first erotic adventure, oral sex out on a snowy country road in her little car, unless you count peeking down Jane's shirt and eying the nubs of her starter boobs in elementary school, while rescuing an injured squirrel in a sand box.)

Back in the Midwest driving taxi, the peyote and mushrooms of Mexico and the plastic houses and hippies of Whale Gulch receded into memory. Once I hauled away a battered wife with police escort in my taxi, the husband in tears and handcuffs. In California fires raged through Shelter Cove and Nooning Creek and my sister fled from her cabin with her violin. (An article in the local Ft. Wayne paper said she had lead the wild animals out of the fire zone, an absurd assertion I strongly disputed in a letter to the editor.)

I got a fare to North Manchester and stopped at Larry Anderson's house in the sticks, surprising them when Checker Cab #73 drove into the yard. One of his friends had stolen nitrous oxide, laughing gas, from a dentist and we got crazy for awhile. Larry had recently gotten out of prison for draft evasion and we hatched a plan to hitch up to Ann Arbor to score some pounds. There was a dealer in every room in the house on Church Street where I had lived the year before.

(A couple years before Larry invited me along with his friends to hop a freight train. My parents forbade it so I ran away from home on the Fourth of July. My mother tried to block me at the door but I burst through her arms and ran down the street, where I hid in the bushes waiting for Larry and his friends to pick me up. My mother rode by on my bike looking for me and my father cruised the neighborhood in his car. When we got to the rail yards we hopped a freight train going west to Chicago as the fireworks exploded above us.)

After we hitchhiked back from Michigan with a couple pounds of crappy Mexican weed my old buddy Connie invited me to a Grateful Dead show in upstate New York with some of her friends. I hesitated but when she made a drawing of her VW van with 'The Magic Bus' on the side I couldn't resist, packed my pound and off we went. (The Watkins Glen rock festival ended up the largest in history, with 600,000 raging hippies.)

Let me right now discourage anyone who's thinking of selling a pound of mediocre Mexican weed by the ounce at a rock festival, while tripping on acid. The problem was I was holding these baggies in my hand so I could never let go and enjoy the show. It was another freakout like every other time I'd done psychedelics, probably because I hated myself and LSD, mushrooms, and peyote just made it worse. (Oh, and never look into a mirror while tripping.)

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DENVER MAYOR THREATENS TO DEPLOY COPS, 50,000 RESIDENTS IN ‘TIANANMEN SQUARE MOMENT’ TO STOP TRUMP’S MASS DEPORTATIONS

by Jennie Taer

Denver’s mayor has vowed to shield migrants in his sanctuary city from mass deportation by using local cops and 50,000 residents “stationed at the county line” — calling it a “Tiananmen Square moment.”

“More than us having [federal agents] stationed at the county line to keep them out, you would have 50,000 Denverites there,” Democratic Mayor Mike Johnston recently told the outlet Denverite — after President-elect Donald Trump vowed to undertake mass deportations of illegal migrants across the US.

“It’s like the Tiananmen Square moment … right?” said Johnston, referring to the famous caught-on-video showdown between a Chinese student and government tank in Tiananmen Square in China during the 1989 rebellion there.

“You’d have every one of those Highland moms who came out for the migrants. And you do not want to mess with them,” the mayor said of Denver residents apparently prepared to go to the mat against the federal government.

Roughly 40,000 migrants have flocked to the Mile High City since December 2022 — the largest number of new arrivals per capita across the nation.

With that influx came a surge in migrant crime tied to the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua.

The criminals have been terrorizing Denver and its nearby suburb of Aurora, where the gang has taken over apartment complexes and engaged in vicious incidents.

Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky (R) told The Post that Johnston’s plan “will just further show how unproductive he is in one of the country’s so-called sanctuary cities, which discourage or prevent local authorities from cooperating with federal immigration agents in the case of migrants.

“If Mayor Johnston wants to stand at the Denver border with, I believe he said, Highland moms, or something to that effect, it will just further show how unproductive he is,” Jurinsky said. “Aurora does not plan to provide the Trump administration any assistance, as far as I know, but we will certainly not stand in the way of what the American people voted for.”

Johnston compared his city’s defiance to the 1989 uprising in Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

Johnston compared his city’s defiance to the 1989 uprising in Tiananmen Square in Beijing.Getty Images

Xi Van Fleet, a survivor of Mao’s revolution in China, on Thursday called out Johnston for comparing his effort to Tiananmen Square, telling Fox Business that he is “either profoundly ignorant of the history, or he did the false analogy on purpose.”

Elon Musk, who Trump recently tapped to head the new Department of Government Efficiency, took to his platform X to say that Johnston’s threat shows “the mayor of Denver hates his constituents.”

The pressure of a hawkish new administration in the White House won’t change Denver’s status as a sanctuary city, Johnston said.

“The short answer is, we won’t change that, because those are one of our core values. And we’re not going to sell out those values to anyone. We’re not going to be bullied into changing them,” Johnston said.

“I think we are gonna continue to be a welcoming, open, big-hearted city that’s gonna stand by our values.”

Trump’s pick for “border czar,” Tom Homan, told The Post that his hope is the new White House administration will file lawsuits against sanctuary cities and withhold federal funding from them.

If that doesn’t change their ways, the Trump administration will “flood” those areas with Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to wait outside local jails for illegal migrants to be released, he said.

Johnston also said he won’t allow local law enforcement to assist the feds in making arrests of illegal migrants.

“Absolutely not,” Johnston said. “We won’t do it.”

(New York Post)

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AT THE TOP of the list of crises not mentioned once in the entire campaign by Kamala Harris…

(Jeffrey St. Clair)

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WELCOME TO WYOMING

But he knew all about the place, the fiery column of the Cave Gulch flare-off in its vast junkyard field, refineries, disturbed land, uranium mines, coal mines, trona mines, pump jacks and drilling rigs, clear-cuts, tank farms, contaminated rivers, pipelines, methanol-processing plants, ruinous dams, the Amoco mess, railroads, all disguised by the deceptively empty landscape. It wasn't his first trip. He knew about the state's lie-back-and-take-it income from federal mineral royalties, severance and ad valorem taxes, the old ranches bought up by country music stars and assorted billionaires acting roles in some imaginary cowboy revue, the bleed-out of brains and talent, and for common people no jobs and a tough life in a trailer house. It was a 97,000-square-mile dog's breakfast of outside exploiters. Republican ranchers and scenery. The ranchers couldn't see their game was over…

— Annie Proulx

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LEAD STORIES, SATURDAY'S NYT

Trump’s Trade Agenda Could Benefit Friends and Punish Rivals

Trump Taps Hedge Fund Manager Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary

Trump Promised to Halve Energy Costs in 18 Months. Experts Have Doubts.

As Threat of Trump Tariffs Looms, Europe’s Leaders Seek Greater Unity

Labor Secretary Pick Is Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon

Dr. Martin Makary, a Frequent Fox News Commentator, Is Chosen to Head F.D.A.

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JON STEWART URGES DEMS TO FIGHT LIKE REPUBLICANS AND EXPLOIT LOOPHOLES

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNcmo-K5Xsg

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IN THE WEEDS OF THE SWAMP

by James Kunstler

“The National Security Divisions of the DOJ and FBI are the greatest domestic threats to the American people and the concept of Constitutional rule of law today.” — Scott Ritter

Okay, you’ve had enough post-election euphoria. Time to wake TF up. Rats from inside the walls of the Deep State are trying to gnaw their way into the Trump cabinet. Ever hear of an outfit called Cipher Brief? Of course not. Cipher Brief is sort of the McKinsey of blob-world (a.k.a. the “national security” network), a combination Human Relations / Public Relations firm, totally spooked-up with former CIA officers. Quite a few of the spooks who signed the infamous letter in October 2020 that said Hunter Biden’s laptop was “Russian disinformation” are contractors there. They all knew the heinous laptop was genuine, though, and they did it anyway to queer the election for “Joe Biden.” Why? Because. . . Trump.

One Cipher Brief operative is a character named Dan Hoffman, a retired CIA “clandestine service” officer who ran the agency’s Middle East Bureau, among other things. He’s now a sometime talking head on Fox News. Hoffman has scuttled his way to the sidelines of the Trump transition team, trying to punk them on personnel. I received my own intel about Dan Hoffman and his current operations.

“Hoffman talks the talk,” I’m informed. “He was involved in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. He is 100-percent Deep State. They think he is a brother-in-arms. He is not. Hoffman and the people around him are in direct contact with Tulsi Gabbard [DNI-designate] and John Ratcliffe [CIA Director-designate]. Remember, agency ops officers are trained to be all things to all people, to manipulate them, detect their vulnerabilities, and exploit them. Their game vis-a-vis Donald Trump? To kneecap his attempts to lower tensions world-wide, stop efforts to reduce and reform the intel and defense communities, push a generally Globalist policy agenda, keep the American ‘empire game’ running so they can cash out, and keep non-Beltway Americans from having any say in our foreign policy.

“Hoffman is not a minor figure. He is heading up the cabal trying to co-opt Ratcliffe and Gabbard. Understand that [this group] essentially took over Agency operations during the so-called Global War on Terror [GWOT] after 9/11. Not only did these assholes lead America into the quicksand of the Middle East, they feathered their own nests and those of their buddies with hundreds of millions in ‘contracts’. . . they cooked up the Ukraine War . . . . Nobody associated with Cipher Brief should be anywhere near Ratcliffe or Gabbard, period. They should be blacklisted. They are the people who worked to take down Trump, and now they are trying to cover their tracks and sneak into the new administration.” Dan Hoffman, remember the name.

And thus, the chatter this week about former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Mike Rogers (a.k.a.aAdmiral Michael S. Rogers) floated as the next Director of the FBI. Oh, really? Not a joke (har har)? Mike Rogers was DNI throughout the first years (2016-17) of the FBI’s “Crossfire Hurricane” op to take down the then-new president Donald Trump using Hillary Clinton’s concocted “Steele Dossier,” known to be utter bullshit by all involved at the highest levels, but used anyway. Mike Rogers was in office when the FBI took down new National Security Advisor Mike Flynn in February, 2017, for talking to the Russian ambassador. (Since when are high US officials not allowed to speak with foreign diplomats?) By the way, Mike Rogers was endorsed for the FBI job this week by former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, one of the chief managers of The RussiaGate op, which included “Crossfire Hurricane,” and the FBIs programmatic lying to the FISA court.

RussiaGate is starting to look like ancient history to many, but it is a giant slime trail of sedition and treason involving many people who are still very much alive, and some who are still in positions of power (Christopher Wray). It is going to be re-litigated in the new administration, but many other crimes just as sinister, carried out under color-of-law by the FBI and its parent, the Department of Justice (DOJ), have followed since then. For instance: the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol instigated by “confidential human resources” (FBI plants), and actual FBI agents — labeled “the insurrection” by blob publicists. It was engineered by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, General Mark Milley, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser, and others to prevent a public review of election irregularities in the joint session of Congress convened to certify the electoral vote. It succeeded splendidly, and was promptly converted into one of the worst national mind-fucks in US history. Debate over dubious vote-counts was squelched and objections were never allowed to be heard. From that sprung the “Big Lie” that anyone voicing skepticism over the 2020 election is a criminal — and thus, the two preposterous federal cases (plus the Fulton County, GA, case) cooked up against Mr. Trump three years later.

There is also the matter of the pipe bomb op at the DNC and RNC headquarters blocks away from the US Capitol the same hour of the same day, 1/6/21, when, for no good reason, Vice-president-elect Kamala Harris hid-out in the DNC building. (Why would she not have been attending the joint session of Congress in the Capitol at that hour when the signal achievement of her life to-date was to be grandly announced in front of all her colleagues?) I will tell you why: because the pipe bomb was supposed to be Plan-A for disrupting the electoral vote certification — to set off wild alarms about “terrorism” and scatter the lawmakers. It just happened that the riot at the Capitol (Plan-B) successfully stole the show and Nancy Pelosi got what she said she was “waiting for” — the means to permanently knock Donald Trump off the game-board.

After that, the FBI did everything possible to botch and bury the pipe bomb investigation, including failure to identify the culprit despite plenty of cell phone tracking info and other evidence. As late as last week, The FBI claimed that the phone data provided by telecom companies, which could potentially help identify the suspect who the planted pipe bombs, was corrupted or incomplete. But major cell carriers told Congress that they had provided the FBI with intact, uncorrupted phone usage data from the areas where the bombs were placed. There are also reasons to believe that the character who planted the crude, probably fake, bombs was an FBI contractor.

These are the kinds of things that a new FBI Director needs to open up to good faith scrutiny. Every foul deed stuffed down the national memory hole will just further pervert and derange the nation’s tattered ethos. It must be obvious that a Mike Rogers would never allow sunlight to illuminate these matters.

Ands now Matt Gaetz has been shoved out of the AG spot on account of a cooked-up sex scandal that the FBI investigated and tossed with no charges brought. But the RINO squad in the Senate did their assigned job blocking his path to office by sheer numbers, and that was that. No clever recess appointment moves. Despite “resigning” from his House seat, Gaetz could conceivably turn up on Jan 3 and ask to be sworn in — after all, he was reelected a few weeks ago. Or Ron DeSantis could appoint him to the Senate seat to be vacated by Marco Rubio.

Meanwhile, he is replaced in the AG slot by Pam Bondi, experienced as anybody for that role, but dragging some baggage from the grotesque Trayvon Martin case in Florida when she was Attorney General there. She did happen to ably defend Mr. Trump in Impeachment No.1 among a team of other lawyers, and Mr. Trump, renowned for his loyalty, considers her “a friend.” She’ll surely pass through the gauntlet of Senate confirmation and then we’ll see if she has the fortitude to drain that precinct of the DC swamp. A lot depends on it.

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