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HIGH PRESSURE continues to build in today bringing light northerly winds and mostly clear skies and will continue into Tuesday. Wednesday afternoon and overnight a weak weather system is expected to bring light rain to much of the area. Thursday through Friday morning periods of light rain are expected. Friday afternoon through Saturday a stronger storm is expected to bring moderate rain, gusty winds and mountain snow. (NWS)
STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A cold 36F under clear skies this Monday morning on the coast. Looking dry until later Wednesday currently, with about 3" total over 6 days in the forecast. Then off & on rain after that.
RICKEY LEO ADAMS
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Rickey Leo Adams (Boonville), who passed away on November 28, 2024, at the age of 73, leaving to mourn family and friends.
In the soft embrace of remembrance, we recall the profound impact Rickey Leo had on those he encountered along his journey. Though Rickey Leo may have slipped beyond the veil of mortality, his essence lingers like a faint fragrance in the air, a lingering reminder of the beauty and complexity of the human experience.
A graveside service will be held on Thursday, December 12th 2024 at 1:00 PM at the Evergreen Cemetery (12631-12441 Anderson Valley Way, Boonville, CA 95415).
WHERE’S NAOMI?
The City of Fort Bragg Police Dept is asking for the public's assistance in locating a missing juvenile. Naomi Mora (AKA: Roy Mora) was last seen on 12/7/24 at approximately 6:00 P.M. in the are of Whipple Street and Oak Street in Fort Bragg when she left to see the Lighted Truck Parade with friends. Naomi is a white female, 15 years of age, last seen wearing a white t-shirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers. Her current whereabouts are unknown. If you see Naomi, or have information regarding her whereabouts please contact Sergeant McLaughlin at (707) 964-0200 (Ref Case: FG2401105).
RETIRED AUDITOR’S ROLE KEY IN MOVE TO DISMISS CUBBISON CASE
by Mike Geniella
To what degree former Mendocino County Auditor Lloyd Weer fits in with a felony criminal case filed by District Attorney David Eyster against Weer’s successor has been a mystery for months. But on Tuesday it will be closely examined in a crucial court hearing for dismissal of the contentious case.
Superior Court Judge Ann Moorman will hear arguments at a scheduled 10 a.m. hearing that missing county emails might have untangled who was responsible for the County’s former Payroll Manager collecting about $68,000 in extra pay over a three-year period during the Covid pandemic. DA Eyster in October 2023 accused elected Auditor-Controller Chamise Cubbison and payroll manager Paula June Kennedy of criminal misconduct. It led to Cubbison’s immediate suspension by the County Board of Supervisors, who in turn are now engaged in civil litigation for denying the elected Auditor “due process.”
Outside Prosecutor Traci Carrillo, hired by Eyster to pursue the high-profile case at a rate of $400 per hour, is opposing dismissal.
Carrillo argues that Cubbison’s defense is unable to demonstrate that the missing county emails are of “significant materiality” and that there is no evidence of “bad faith” by County IT officials and law enforcement investigators who initially failed to preserve documents for evidence that were recovered after an internal archival system collapsed.
Cubbison, a veteran County finance officer, at the time was embroiled in a high-profile public dispute with the DA about his own office’s spending when she was charged. Cubbison has entered a not guilty plea, contending that the extra pay stemmed from a deal between Weer and fired payroll manager Paula June ‘PJ’ Kennedy while Weer was still in charge of the Auditor’s Office. Kennedy initially claimed she never discussed her need for extra pay with Weer, but the retired Auditor subsequently admitted to criminal investigators that in fact they had.
Defense Attorney Chris Andrian argues in a new court filing on Wednesday that the lack of email documentation among Weer, Kennedy and Cubbison is critical because in fact Cubbison was “not a party to the (extra pay) agreement” between Weer and Kennedy. Further, he argues, law enforcement investigators, who once had access to the missing emails for review but did not preserve any for evidence, ignored Weer’s role because they decided “he had no involvement in the payments and was in no way responsible.”
In short, argues Andrian, they took “no steps to preserve emails that would have been relevant and very likely exculpatory.”
Andrian said that for her part, Cubbison contends “she had a conversation with Mr. Weer regarding finding a way to pay Ms. Kennedy more, when he was the supervisor.”
“Ms. Cubbison also stated that Mr. Weer spoke to HR County Human Resources Department) regarding finding a way to pay more” while he was still the office supervisor.
“She [Cubbison] stated that she believed Mr. Weer had followed up with Ms. Kennedy about the request, did not know the results of the conversation, but believe the use of the 470 code was the result of that conversation,” according to Andrian’s latest sworn declaration.
Andrian also contends that “there are also notes kept by Ms. Kennedy which indicate the payments were ‘per Lloyd.’ Ms. Kennedy even stated that Ms. Cubbison told her it was Mr. Weer who would sign off on such payments.”
Weer, who has not been charged, has ducked any public comment despite repeated requests since the criminal case was filed in October 2023. There was no response from him Sunday to the latest request seeking a response to the defense contentions.
In a related but separate court filing on Wednesday, the same day of Andrian’s filing, Judge Moorman submitted a statement about a report from a court-appointed referee who had reviewed approximately 10,000 emails among Cubbison, Weer and Kennedy that were eventually recovered by IT technicians. They covered the crucial time beginning Jan. 1, 2018.
There were no specific conclusions released but Moorman wrote that “The court does not represent, nor has it ever represented that the emails now in its possession represent all emails ever generated during this time from between or among Weer, Cubbison and/or Kennedy (using their county email boxes) after application of exclusion criteria.”
“Whether or not other emails existed and/or may have been destroyed is the subject of the motion to dismiss filed by Cubbison on September 24, 2024,” according to Moorman.
Moorman states that based on the referee’s review, she has identified emails that should be released to the parties “at the next appearance.” They have been placed on three separate thumb-drives, accompanied by two printed emails, according to the judge.
In italics, Moorman concluded that “notably” the court review did not include a review of emails from either of the defendants to any persons or entity other than Weer, Cubbison and/or Kennedy.
AV UNIFIED NEWS
Dear Anderson Valley Community,
We are in the midst of the holiday season and having so much fun at school! At AVHS, we just completed the Redwood Classic boys’ basketball tournament and are gearing up for the First Annual Sequoia Classic girls’ basketball tournament.
Every School Day Counts! We want to emphasize the critical role daily attendance plays in your child’s academic success. Absenteeism, even for short periods, can significantly impact learning and achievement. 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. Winter Break is December 23-January 10.
AV Elementary
Both first grade classes went to the Noyo Center for Marine Research. According to teacher, Eden Kellner, “The staff curated a fantastic journey through their two sites. They wove our ELA unit on Technology into the entire day with exploration of how technology helps scientists study the sea, how animals use their own technologies to communicate, and how the center uses technology to create displays.”
Don’t miss our Student Art Show / Family Night and ELAC Reclassification Ceremony THIS MONDAY at 5:00 p.m. A good time will be had by all. See you there!
It’s Not Too Late To Sign Up For Winter Intersession!!
JAN 6 -10 Winter Celebration
8:00-12:00
Outdoor Fun, Nature Walks, Winter Crafts
Yoga, Science, Indoor Games, Cooking and MORE…
Transportation not provided. Must be enrolled by 12/18/24.
12:00-5:00 ASP
Field Trips to Snoopy Ice Rink & CV STARR Swim Center for Grade 1 - 6 only. TK-K will still have fun at school on the field trip days!
More forms are in the AVES Office.
AV Jr/Sr High
The Redwood Classic was a huge success! Congratulations to Athletic Director Mr. Toohey for a well-planned and executed tournament. Thanks to our awesome coaching staff, parents, and cheerleaders for your support of the team. Priory won 1st place, Stuart Hall was 2nd place, and South Fork took 3rd. Congratulations to our boy’s team who played well and finished 11th place, overall, after a 2-2 showing. Our team is young and filled with potential. Great job, boys!
Our girls took the Consolation Championship in the Saint Vincent Tournament in Petaluma and are gearing up for the first ever Sequoia Classic, hosted by AVHS, and coordinated by our own Natalie Marcum-Soto!
Congratulations to the 27 FFA members who participated in the Opening Closing Ceremonies speaking contest last week. The middle school Discovery team placed 1st in their Division! In the Open Division, Anderson valley had three teams. AV’s A team placed 9th, the B team placed 4th, and the C team tied for 1st with two other chapters. Ultimately, after a tiebreaker, they placed 2nd! Our Chapter Offices placed 4th and in the Cooperative Marketing Test, Soliel placed 4th! Huge thanks to Mr. Bautista and Mrs. Swehla, for going the extra mile, every day, for your students and for your leadership on our outstanding FFA program!
Thank you, parents, for your engagement in our school programs! Students do best when parents are involved, and we love to see parents at our events, supporting their kids. We are deeply grateful for our AVUSD families.
With respect,
Kristin Larson Balliet
Superintendent
Anderson Valley Unified School District
UKIAH’S OMAURIE PHILLIPS-PORTER TO PLAY AT CAL POLY SAN LUIS OBISPO
by Kenan O’Doherty
Another football standout in the North Bay has decided where he’ll take his talents at the college level.
Ukiah star receiver/defensive back Omaurie Phillips-Porter, whose yardage total this season made one of the best prep wideouts in the state, this week committed to play college football at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
“It feels amazing, and I’m super blessed to be in this situation,” Phillips-Porter said of his decision. “It’s the next step of my dream, and now I get to go back home and do it so it’s definitely exciting.”
The relationship between the school and the recruit began last year, when a Mustangs representative visited Ukiah to talk to Phillips-Porter. The talks continued from there, with the player taking a trip to the San Luis Obispo campus on an unofficial visit.
And while Phillips-Porter was garnering interest from other colleges, the visit to Cal Poly clearly made an impression with both sides, resulting in a formal offer made last week.
Now, one of the best players in Ukiah history will be moving on to play Division I football.
“I definitely was planning on playing college football; I just didn’t know where at the time,” Phillips-Porter said. “I felt like this was a real possibility when coach (Paul) Cronin got the job and I started working with him. He helped me improve my game and be able to turn this into a real thing.”
Phillips-Porter’s 1,380 receiving yards this season put him at No. 12 in the state and fourth in the North Coast Section. He scored 24 total touchdowns, good for seventh in the NCS, and also had 144 total points, another top-10 mark in the section.
But he’ll be the first one to tell you he didn’t reach his season goals — 30 touchdowns and 3,000 total yards.
Phillips-Porter will make his Cal Poly decision official by signing his national letter of intent in a ceremony Tuesday at Ukiah High School.
(Santa Rosa Press Democrat)
SOUNDS OF SILENCE ON COURTHOUSE
by Tommy Wayne Kramer
There has never been, and never will be a vote among local residents on A) the need for a new courthouse in Ukiah, or B) Merits of the courthouse design, if based only on drawings from the Colorado architect.
But we don’t need an election, nor even a show of hands. Everyone, as in all the people you know and have bothered to ask, are opposed to, and laughing at, the most expensive and ugliest building in county history.
No one is in favor, whether because it’s unneeded or butt-ugly or in a ridiculous location or too expensive. So if the people are, as I believe, overwhelmingly opposed to this nasty mistake, here is my question:
Where are our leaders?
What do Ukiah city administrators think of abandoning the present courthouse and moving into another building a few blocks east? If it’s the biggest project in Ukiah history shouldn’t city officials speak up either in support or in opposition?
Where are Doug Crane and Mari Rodin? What do they think? It’s in their front yard. City council members are better informed than any of us lowly peasants about the pros and cons. Aren’t they obligated to speak up?
And what of Maureen Mulheren? She represents the Second District, which puts the project in her lap from both the city and county. Mo is rarely shy speaking up on issues of negligible consequence, and I guarantee if the courthouse is approved she’ll be cutting the ribbon and having photos taken standing next to Jared Huffman.
But is she bold enough, or honest enough, to voice her opinion now?
And what about Sage Sangiacomo? Ukiah’s plantation boss is supposedly looking out for the best interests of the community. Can it be he has given absolutely zero consideration, no thought whatsoever, to this courthouse folly?
Shouldn’t local leaders air out the project? Don’t they owe citizens and taxpayers their thoughts and opinions on what is guaranteed to bring massive changes to our downtown? There was never a shortage of gabble or updates when the infamous streetscape was planned or underway.
Consider this: Every last city, village, township or dusty intersection large enough to have a “Welcome To” sign at the outskirts is forever and always trying to lure unsuspecting tourists to its motels, restaurants, golf courses, etc.
To do it, towns print up travel brochures and put them in racks where travelers are known to gather. Alternatively they use websites with pictures and descriptions of the city’s history and attractions that will help convince someone, anyone, to visit.
QUESTION: What do those photos always display? And what do the paragraphs always refer to?
ANSWER: The city’s history and vintage charm(s).
Nowhere will you find a travel site bragging about the strip mall on Blueberry Street nor the fabulous freeway overpass, nor the courthouse built in 2026. You will search in vain for brochures highlighting “Fast Food Boulevard” with glamour shots of Burger King, Taco Bell, Domino’s and their siblings lined up and lookin’ spiffy.
Instead, what the media will focus on is the charming, historic downtown with turn-of-the-century bookstores, clothing shops and restaurants located in what was once a blacksmith shop or inside the old newspaper office or the lovely brick hotel in the middle of town.
There will be pictures of Victorian homes, condos installed in what was once the county’s biggest shoelace factory, and a former gas station fashioned from an old redwood tree stump.
There could even be photos of a downtown courthouse and an old Post Office, both suggestive of a must-see, must-visit city.
Should Ukiah’s new courthouse lemon come to fruition it will never, ever be displayed or bragged about in a Ukiah brochure or travel site, unless someone is compiling a series featuring the 10 ugliest buildings in California.
PHILO'S VIPER'S NEST
Jade Tippett:
Thank You Jimmy Humble!
After 35 years hosting Humble Pie on KZYX every Saturday morning, on Saturday at the end of his show Jimmy Humble announced his retirement, citing the abrupt firing of Operations Director Rich Culbertson. I have profound respect for the courage and principle it took for Jimmy to make this decision and take this action.
Solidarity is love.
Here’s a transcript of his announcement:
“I’ve enjoyed doing this show over the years. It’s been my pleasure. I’ve discovered a lot, and I want to thank everyone who’s been in my–the other side of the microphone. Thank you for being there for me.
I’m going to retire, give it up. For two main reasons. One, I’ve been thinking about it a long time. Things have been changing and life moves on.
And the other reason is, recently we had a firing here at the radio station of Rich Culbertson. He was our Operations Director. And maybe, I don’t know how long ago it was that Alicia Bales had been let go. And things haven’t been right since then. I’ve been hoping that things have been getting better, but they haven’t. Not really.
There was autocratically, a kind of stupid decision to let Rich go last week. And in solidarity I’m going to just let my show go. The only way I’m going to come back is if they bring Rich back. And I don’t think that’s going to happen. So, that’s it.
My email address is jimmy@pacific.net. And if you want to talk to me I’ll be happy to talk to you on email. Maybe some other way in the future.
I think if Rich hadn’t been let go so suddenly I might have stuck around a little while longer, just waiting for the right moment. But this turns out to be the right one.
There used to be a scene here, you know. Where you’d come down to the station in Philo and there would be people around, back-slapping, howdy, everybody in the team working together and being a community. Community is important to me. And I want to be a part of it. I am not going to leave the radio station. I’m going to still support it. You know. I’m just going to take a different seat on the bus, so to speak. And look forward to new things.
Perhaps you don’t know, I’m an oil painter. I like to paint my local area. And you can find pictures of mine–I take photographs of them–on Facebook, Jimmy Humble on Facebook, or Bluesky, the new one. Look for me, Jimmy Humble.
And like I said, my email is jimmy@pacific.net.
And I love you guys. Thank you for enjoying my show. I won’t answer the phone today.
So, may you have Peace and Love in your life.”
Jimmy Humble
AN OPEN LETTER TO KZYX PROGRAMMERS FROM FORMER PROGRAM DIRECTOR ALICIA BALES
Dear KZYX Programmers,
I was extremely dismayed to hear the news last Monday that KZYX Operations Director Rich Culberston has been abruptly fired by Interim General Manager Dina Polkinghorn.
Rich has held the station together every day, around the clock, through thick and thin, for over 17 years. He has been a rock, supporting each and every one of us when we needed him. He has built an ingenious broadcasting infrastructure that includes three transmitters, four fully equipped studios around the county, and a sophisticated online system that weaves together live, satellite, streamed and downloaded programming 24 hours a day, every day.
But you know this, because as a programmer you have benefitted from Rich’s work and steadfastness.
To make matters worse, Dina has directed Programmers and Staff to keep all discussion of ‘personnel’ matters off the air, and to cut off any callers who try to talk about what happened. This is blatant censorship. It’s an effort to suppress discussion of a critical issue important to everyone who cares about the station: how it treats its employees. The only people who have any knowledge about the ‘personnel issues’ are management and the board, and they are expressly prohibited from talking about it in public. All the rest of us are free to share our concerns and opinions about the station’s actions, and in fact a healthy station would encourage it.
Here’s the thing. At times like this, everyone will wring their hands, wonder if there is some ‘other side of the story’ that no one is telling us, and generally feel powerless about what to do. There’s a structure, after all. The Manager has the power to hire and fire staff, right? The Board can’t do anything but support her, right?
In fact–and I have seen this with my own eyes–station management works to make sure that only one person applies for each board seat every cycle to avoid elections and ‘save money.’ It’s likely NOT ONE of the current board members has actually been elected by KZYX Members. To top it off, Dina was the board president, and appointed herself as Interim General Manager after Marty Durlin left without any kind of open hiring process. So now, station leadership is basically unelected and self-selecting, without transparency or accountability to the community.
But the truth is, the REAL power at the station is YOU. Dina can’t carry out her censorship without YOUR participation. You are the ones with your hands on the controls. You can simply refuse to cut people off when they call in, and refuse to be complicit in having your own voice silenced.
Noncooperation with immoral leadership is the most powerful thing people can do. When we join together to stand up for someone who is being wronged, we can and will make lasting change. Use the airwaves to inform the listeners, let them know what’s going on. Refuse to participate at the station until management does the right thing and rehires Rich. If KZYX Programmers decided to demand Rich’s immediate reinstatement, and refused to create any more content for the station until he is returned, I believe you would prevail.
When I was fired last year, it was clear they weren’t going to stop with me, and it definitely won’t stop with Rich. Dina is a control freak, and she is over her head in defensive panic mode, so she may actually start firing Programmers who disobey her. I am sorry to say, I doubt the KZYX Board of Directors will step in to protect you. After I was fired, Dina and the Board re-wrote the station handbook to remove the grievance procedure for staff and volunteers. The writing was on the wall then as it is now, and it will take courage to do the right thing.
If they ARE crazy enough to start firing Programmers, we at KMEC 105.1FM in downtown Ukiah will welcome any and all of you to our airwaves to continue your programs as K-Z-Y-Exiles until the station addresses its problems and rights the ship.
We are facing really dark times in the next four years. We will be forced again and again to confront our own comfort and take collective action to protect the vulnerable from harm. KZYX will be more necessary than ever, and that includes competent leadership with a commitment to fairness, community service, and especially FREE SPEECH.
Let’s start now, and practice standing up for what is right. Reinstate Rich Culbertson now.
In Solidarity,
Alicia Bales
Ukiah
RICH CULBERTSON:
Hi all,
First, thanks for the support and the anger expressed.
I see that Dina has made some statements that are untrue and I feel I need to make them clear.
Yes, the dead air was high lately but there was also absolutely NO consideration that I asked the ContractEengineer Brian Henry for literally years to address the problems with 88.1 and the dropouts at 91.5. but I was blown off. I warned that same engineer and several GM's that the station was in violation of FCC regulations that state you must maintain power control of the transmitter remotely and be able to reduce power or shut it off within 20 minutes of request. We have not had telemetry control to do that for years (Brian did eventually set up phone access but only for one of the 2 transmitters.) and again I begged to have that addressed.
We even took advantage of an available grant to fund new equipment to address the problem but they still sit in the caboose because Brian Henry wanted to wait for the new building. These are indisputable facts and I have a ton of witnesses and old emails to back that up.
Also, as all local stations can attest (commercial stations too) the maintenance work being done at the transmitter sites (none of which we have control over) has had a real impact on up time.
For well over a year CalFire has had to power down our transmitter at least twice a week. We also had 19 PG&E pole interruptions since April.
I offer this not as "excuses" as Dina claims but as explanation for the issues I tried to address.
I also need to point out that I repeatedly told her I was being prevented from addressing major problems because of lower priority issues that the GM wanted done. She wasted my time with servers that messed up the back office internet for days, we had to move the Willits studios, (that wasn't on Dina, it was a must move but it did consume my time.) And I had to go back and forth dealing with her printer access, emails and other trivial issues.
By the way, if Dina ever listened to me or bothered to read my emails she would know that we set up all_programs@kzyx.org (underscore) as a one way information email but also left all-programers@kzyx.org (hyphen) as a back and forth all programs listserv.
I need to also say that despite her attempts to paint a sorrowful face on her arbitrary decision we did NOT have a good relationship. Dina made it very clear early on she had NO respect for me, what I've done or my plans to address issues. To say otherwise is a lie.
She did not like when I challenged her agenda. I was always under the impression she wanted me out. We DID often disagree but she may not recognize that as she didn't acknowledge it then. My concerns were constantly blown off. I was made to feel my views, experience and most important my lived history with the station was not wanted or I was dismissed or ignored.
She made up stuff in her head that I was fighting the move Utter nonsense! I was never against the move I had been campaigning for for over 16 years! If you heard me during the drive you heard my true feelings. I was overjoyed and worked hard to get us ready. I couldn't wait to get to the new home of the headquarters. I did express concerns to anyone close who asked that I thought I would never see the new station since I was feeling like I was going to be pushed out. (I'm on record with many staff members expressing my fears since Dina took over. )
Dina is lying about the generator as well. The generator was NOT ignored through the summer! That is an out and out lie!
In the summer the generator failed. I looked it over and got it going fine. Then weeks later I noticed it failed to do its weekly test. I checked it out and noticed that it could start manually. I called Rich Martin. (the only good generator guy in the area. The same person Calfire depends on) He said he had a full schedule but would be out by the end of the week. He never showed.
Then was had more issues and a complete failure the next week. I called Rich back and told him we needed him now. He told me the best he could do was the next week. Hopefully early but it could be as late as Friday. I conveyed all of this to the staff.
I was pushed to take vacation before the end of the year so I had scheduled one for the next week (months ahead). While I was out the generator again failed and this time would not start manually either. Dina called Martin and he showed up…wait for it… FRIDAY! She's directly lying when she says nothing was done. She, as usual, did NOT listen to me when I told her what was going on.
She told me she had staff support for this move but all of the current staff have promised me they absolutely did NOT support this.
She acts like she just decided this. She called Brian Henry weeks ago to find a replacement. She put staff in the horrible position of having to smile and act like things were fine a week before it happened. This was in her plans for a long time and clearly had nothing to do with poor performance or she would have told me sooner (if she was a half decent supervisor) It was well planned BEFORE the storm and the generator. Yes, I can document what I am saying. Although, I'm not sure if she just deleted all the email traffic from rich@kzyx.org (covering her tracks?)
I was given NO warning, no time to correct her misconceptions and address the major issues was dealing with. She obviously knows little about the on-air history nor the current condition with ALL local stations in our area recently. Let me stress I may have been willing to transition out with say a January deadline and have my years of labor properly handed off to someone I could work with until I left a month later. But I was such a bad employee that she had to move "quickly" and while being short staffed.
I never felt "liked" by her and she never gave me the respect of my time here when we talked.
Dina correctly stressed it's not about me. Yes, it's about the station that serves this community and that station's reputation is hurt when loyal hardworking employees with never a write up or complaint from staff are thrown out like trash. I appreciate that she's trying to put some "I had no choice" spin but that's just not true. There were plenty of options. Facts are facts she planned this move long ago. (I have that on record from Brian Henry)
I also want to make it clear I'm not waiting with false hope I'll get my job back. My concern is and always has been with the station. It's in real trouble right now. Not just because of this but because its focus is in the wrong direction and it's teetering on a full meltdown. We have mostly unelected board members giving up their supervisory role over the GM and allowing her to do as she pleases with NO DOCUMENTATION to back her decisions.
The stated reasons for my firing were poor performance and unprofessionalism. I maintain that allowing a staff member to bully a coworker of many years (Sarah Reith) out of her job should be considered unprofessional. I feel that an unresponsive manager is unprofessional and I find lying about our relationship in the public is unprofessional.
I'm not asking for anyone to do anything for me and I'm certainly not wanting any more damage to KZYXs reputation. I believe in community radio. And for the sake of the "COMMUNITY" part of community radio I feel it's important that the station answer to the community. What are the most immediate needs of the station? Is it time the listeners and paying members to remind this bunch that this station belongs to them and not some appointed, non radio, micromanaging corporate style "leader"? There is a prevailing sentiment that the community just needs to sit over there and be quiet while the GM runs their station.
I often called concerned listeners about dead air or some other issue and without fail they have appreciated my feedback, appreciation of the station, my transparency and my efforts. The listeners (the ones most affected by transmission issues) were in support of me. I'm hearing it all over town from people I've never met. They expressed that they are losing their station. If one call of complaint might represent 10 others (a study done for major market radio) Then how many does someone coming up to someone in person that they've never met and expressing their outrage represent?
I do believe whether I'm around or not KZYX needs a come to Jesus moment.
Thanks,
Rich
ED NOTE: KZYX, from its inception, has been a nest of vipers. How many managers over the years? About one every two years. This latest in-house knife fight is typical of the institution, but I'm with Ms. Polkinghorne, whose admirable work over long years at the crucial Project Sanctuary always earned high marks. If she said the guy had to go I'm sure she had solid reasons. I wonder why she took the Philo job after her years as a trustee, knowing what she was signing up for? Ms. P. could probably still the yappers, who will now go after her, by issuing a public explanation of why she offed Culbertson. As media have now expanded beyond anyone's wildest expectations, KZYX, whose typical listener is probably 70, will have a tougher and tougher time attracting listeners, especially among the young, who now can choose from a whole range of media.
ED NOTES
ON a too brief visit Saturday to home base, Boonville, several locals looked at me as if they'd seen a ghost, which I nearly was last March when I was retrieved by the medical wizards just as I'd stepped into The White Tunnel to The Other Side. I was especially gratified, moved actually, by the warm receptions I got from Pilar Echeverria at Mosswood, Susan Bridge-Mount also at Mosswood, and Sandy Mailliard next door at Farmhouse Mercantile. It was the passersby who seemed most startled at my re-appearance, which I hope to make regular soon, and less startling to my friends and, hopefully, lamented by my enemies.
AS BLACK SWANS darken the skies, events become bloodier and chaos more prevalent. I wasn't moved to mourn the loss of that assassinated insurance executive who made millions killing many thousands of my fellow citizens by denying their paid-up medical claims. His murder is probably the first of many of the more major enemies of the people.
IF DEMOCRATS were Democrats and not the contemptible corporate bagmen they are, we'd have enjoyed MediCare for all years ago. Instead we got Obama Care where a minority of uninsured Americans got to choose which extortionate health insurance combine they paid mightily to be extorted by, then denied care.
THIS ANECDOTE by Doug Holland is a perfect metaphor of how the Democrats lost to the single most improbable person in the history of American politics:
“I have a right-wing neighbor who voted Trump three times, says climate change is a hoax, and hates me for sometimes wearing a tie-dye jacket, but he says with a grin all over his face, ‘Did you hear about that insurance CEO who got shot dead?’ and he laughs and laughs and gives me a thumbs-up.”
HUNTER BIDEN'S blanket pardon by Dad all the way back to 2014 for crimes he wasn't charged with, specifically cited only two — income tax evasion and lying on his gun purchase form. Biden's defenders say lying on the gun form wasn't a big deal and the tax evasion occurred while he was under the influence of drugs. (“Stop that girls! Can't you see I'm doing my taxes.”)
AND AREN'T DEMOCRATS the gun control people, the party that enacted the scant gun control measures we have, including the obligation to fess up if you're buying a gun?
REDWOOD COMMUNITY SERVICES WANTS MONEY FROM THE PUBLIC TO COVER HIGH INSURANCE COSTS
To the Editor:
Redwood Community Services has been providing foster care services since its incorporation in 1995. Our foster care programs are designed to create a supported living environment for youth in the foster care system. Youth are placed with approved resource families, who are educated through a multi faceted training program in order to prepare them for meeting the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of youth in their care. To address differing needs of children and youth within the foster care system and the complexity of family dynamics, Redwood Community Services offers an array of foster care options.
The insurance premium crisis has significantly impacted many organizations, including Redwood Community Services (RCS), driven by factors such as changes in the statute of limitations and natural disasters, leading to rising reinsurance costs. This has resulted in insurance companies raising premiums or withdrawing from high-risk markets altogether. In California, the situation is particularly severe, with many insurers not renewing policies for Foster Family Agencies (FFAs) due to perceived high risks.
RCS has experienced a 400 percent increase in insurance premiums, amounting to approximately $650,000, which has placed a substantial strain on our financial resources. This increase has affected all aspects of RCS’s operations, including its FFA, residential services, emergency shelter and housing services, and in home support services. Despite these challenges, RCS remains committed to its mission, staff, and the communities we serve.
To address these challenges, RCS has been working on plans to increase rates and decrease costs. However, the financial burden remains heavy, and RCS is seeking additional support to continue providing high-quality care and support to the community. We are seeking financial assistance from a broader audience, including individuals, organizations, and partners, to sustain our essential services and support foster youth in rural Northern California.
If you are concerned about the resources and services for the most vulnerable populations being put at risk, now is the time to act. Please consider donating today to help us achieve our goals and make a difference. Your support is crucial in ensuring that these essential services continue to reach those who need them the most. Any contribution, no matter how small, will make a significant difference.
Redwood Community Services
Ukiah
PEARL HARBOR SURVIVOR (My annual remembrance)
by Bruce Anderson
Count me as one. I was two, my brother one, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941.
My brother and I were born in Honolulu, Our paternal grandfather, a Scots immigrant, was a principal in a successful business called the Honolulu Iron Works, with branches in Hilo and the Philppines. My father was a graduate of the Punahou School, same high school alma mater as President Obama three generations later. Pop, pre-War, spent much of his youth surfing and his evenings in white dinner jackets.
And then the world rushed in, along with reality.
By the end of the war Pop was loading submarines at Hunter’s Point in San Francisco. He’d cashed in his Honolulu chips because, like most Islanders, he assumed the Japanese would follow-up their successful aerial blitz of America’s Pacific defenses with a ground invasion so he loaded my mother and his two heirs on a evacuating troop ship headed for San Francisco while he wrapped up his affairs in his native Hawaii.
The morning of the infamous day, my brother and I had been up before dawn demanding, as family lore has it, ice cream cones. We were in the car as the sun rose and with it came wave after wave of low-flying planes swooping in over us and central Honolulu. We drove obliviously on as the invaders devastated the unawares American fleet where it was conveniently assembled in Pearl Harbor, their crews slumbering, many eternally.
“The planes were flying so low I could see the pilots,” my father remembered. “I thought it was some kind of maneuvers. There was smoke coming from Pearl Harbor, but most people simply assumed there had been an explosion and a fire. There were lots of people out in the streets watching the planes coming in.”
My father said quite a few of those spectators were recreationally strafed as the Japanese flew back out to sea. He didn’t know what was happening until we got home. It hadn’t occurred to him that the planes were hostile. That thought hadn’t occurred to much of anyone in Honolulu until they were either shot at or a stray bomb fell on their neighborhood. The Japanese, as always on-task, mostly confined themselves to military targets and, of course, forty years later, held the paper on our mortgages, including, for a spell, the Mendocino County Courthouse.
Some 20 minutes after the attack had begun, my father stopped to buy us our coveted ice cream cones, which were served up by an unperturbed clerk, and we drove on home. “Nobody had any idea that the Japanese would do such a thing,” my father said whenever he talked about December 7th. “They were too far away and America had no quarrel with them.” That he knew of, anyway.
Arriving home, my father famously complained to my mother that “These military maneuvers are getting a little too goddam realistic.” My mother, who’d always regarded her husband as something of a Magoo-like figure, informed her mate that the Japanese were attacking both Pearl Harbor and, it seemed, Honolulu, where errant bombs aimed at Hickham Field had already destroyed homes and businesses of non-combatants. She’d turned on the radio when she’d heard explosions. One of the first things she learned was that a bomb had obliterated the area where we’d made our ice cream purchase minutes earlier.
Years later, a hippie told me that I’d eluded the random wrath of the Japanese because I had “good karma.” I think it was more a case of God’s high regard for idiots and children.
My father was exempt from military service because he had a wife and children, but he was pressed into service as a member of a sort of impromptu Honolulu home guard called the Business Man’s Training Corps, or BMTC. Honolulu in 1941 was about the size of today’s Santa Rosa. My mother had much ribald enjoyment at the abbreviation, and was even more delighted at the sight of my father togged out as a World War One Doughboy, the only uniforms available.
The BMTC wouldn’t have been much of a match for the Japanese Imperial Army which, fortunately, never appeared on Waikiki. The Japanese had surprised themselves by the unopposed success of their attack on Pearl Harbor and had not prepared to land an occupying ground force.
December 7th was a major trauma for America. For our family, too. Pop made plans to head for the Mainland as soon as he could, but he wanted to accomplish both without being derided as a slacker for fleeing. It took him another year to make it stateside. He continued to spend his days surfing and sitting around in the dark at night behind blackout curtains.
My mother was a registered nurse who’d worked at Queen’s Hospital in Honolulu, my birthplace and also the birthplace of President Obama.
While surfer dude lingered in Honolulu, we'd been packed on to a troop ship headed for the Golden Gate. My mother remembers daily submarine alerts all the way across the Pacific during which everyone, including the women and children on board, trundled over the side by rope nets into lifeboats. Mom recalls that the two of us infants loved being handed off like a couple of footballs up and down the side of the ship, but the daily alarms and exertions terrified her and everyone else on board.
But we made it unscathed, and were soon ensconced in, of all places, the Fairmont Hotel, the evacuation center for people fleeing Hawaii.
Joint Address To Congress Leading to a Declaration of War Against Japan (1941),
by Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Mr. Vice President, and Mr. Speaker, and Members of the Senate and House of Representatives: Yesterday, December 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy — the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
The United States was at peace with that Nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American Island of Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.
It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.
The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.
Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya. Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong. Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam. Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands. Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island. And this morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.
Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our Nation.
As Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.
But always will our whole Nation remember the character of the onslaught against us.
No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.
Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.
With confidence in our armed forces — with the unbounding determination of our people — we will gain the inevitable triumph — so help us God.
I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.
CATCH OF THE DAY, Sunday, December 8, 2024
APOLONIO BARRIGA-IBARRA, 33, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.
ROBERT HANOVER, 32, Covelo. Assault weapon, ammo possession by prohibited person, undetectable firearm, felon-addict with firearm.
BRENDEN JACOMELLA, 22, Fort Bragg. DUI, evasion.
STEVEN MORGAN, 72, Laytonville. DUI.
ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY
When a fast draw Sheriff and a Hanging Judge would clean up a Western town, typically the good people would respond by voting them out of office. The disease of "Nice" has taken deep root in our collective psyche and will be the death of us.
LORRAINE DECHTER
I am so happy to be able to post this! Some tax relief for the many, many people who lost homes to the PG&E caused wildfires, like the Camp Fire that burned my family's everything.
Only partial reimbursement from the Fire Victim Trust; and attorneys taking 25-33% of awards already. The state waived our taxes years ago. Finally the feds have done it.
Yes, we thank the legislators who pushed it to the finish line… but also an organized community who contacted legislators over and over and over again. Kept the story in the media. I'm proud of the/my people who fought for this tax relief and got us organized.
I personally did whatever I could to keep the public updated as to what was going on with the bills. My public service…
CHRIS SKYHAWK
Return of the Salmon
Imagine the healthy return of Salmon in ALL of the west coast rivers, well it just happened in the Klamath
I was incredibly blessed to attend this event last night, at the Arcata theater about 500 people, incredible joy was expressed and LOTS of tears were shed, the tribal cultural Renewal, can now proceed apace, now that their sacred relatives are returning, it was believed to would take years for the salmon to spawn again in the upper reaches of the Klamath, the dams just came down in October, and 20,000 fall run Chinook have spawned, to me it's proof that once us human beings do the hard political spiritual and organizing work, that our resilient earth, can rebound VERY quickly!!
And here's a song for THAT! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9TTgV3wzQ8
Annemarie Weibel:
Hawk, I am glad you got to be there for the celebration! Thanks for sharing the song. Beautiful and powerful!
I was reminded that many communities who allowed their untreated sewage to enter the creeks, streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans also believed that it would take years for the fish to return. They realized that once they stopped with this practice, the fish came back. Next are the chemical fertilizers that need to be stopped.
TAX BIKES, TOO
Editor:
Over the past two decades bicycle clubs, cliques and other advocates have successfully advocated for construction of literally hundreds of miles of bike paths, lanes and trails, paid for primarily from gas taxes originally intended for maintenance of roads. Redistribution of these funds has benefited the few while paid for by the many. It is past the time when adult cyclists should contribute toward funding these projects.
Speed limits for cyclists on trails and basic traffic safety rules on our roads are rarely enforced. As a result, automobile drivers are required to risk lives as laws require that they cross double lines to protect bike riders and hikers, and equestrians are required to risk their lives on trails that now allow motorized bicycles and bicycle races. A reasonable approach would be a tax on the purchase of bicycles selling for over $1,000 and annual licensing fees based on the methodology applied to motorized vehicles. Bicycles for children under 16 would be exempted.
William Campagna
Cotati
CALIFORNIA OFFICIALS PLANNING FOR A DRY 2025 — FOR NOW
More water storage might mean less guesswork for state water officials
by Dan Walters
Each December there’s a new version of an old guessing game about how much water will be provided to agricultural and municipal users in the year ahead.
Federal and state water agencies post initial, and usually very low, estimates based on the current condition of reservoirs, soil conditions that affect runoff, and assumptions of rain and snow during the winter and spring.
Over the next few months, the estimates are upgraded as firmer precipitation data accumulates, often — but not always — increasing.
For 2022, as drought gripped California, the state Department of Water Resources initially projected zero water deliveries, later raised them to 15% of the contracted supplies, but finally delivered just 5%.
One year later, however, the department initially promised 5%, but after a very wet winter finally delivered 100%. This year began with a 10% estimate of state water supply and ended up with 40%.
The huge swings in initial allocations and final deliveries are an obvious headache for the 29 local and regional water purveyors supplied by the state water system, serving some 29 million people. Do the public water agencies impose strict conservation on their customers in years with low initial projections, try to obtain supplemental supplies, take a chance that eventual deliveries will be higher, or all of the above?
The annual game resumed this week, when the Department of Water Resources announced an initial 2025 estimate of just 5%.
“Based on long-range forecasts and the possibility of a La Niña year, the State Water Project is planning for a dry 2025 punctuated by extreme storms like we’ve seen in late November,” department director Karla Nemeth said in a statement. “We need to prepare for any scenario, and this early in the season we need to take a conservative approach to managing our water supply. Our wettest months of the season are still to come.
“What we do know is that we started the water year following record heat this summer and in early October that parched the landscape. We must account for dry soils in our State Water Project allocation planning and our runoff forecasts for the spring.”
That’s a fairly grim scenario that may already be outdated because it was made without counting the heavy rains and snows that hit the state in late November.
“These storms will be taken into account along with other variables for future allocation updates. Prior to these storms, the start of the water year had been dry and warm,” the department said. It’s also noteworthy that after the spate of storms, California’s weather has returned to dry and warm.
Another factor in the guessing game is the status of reservoirs, not only the state’s Lake Oroville, but the multiple storage projects managed by the federal government, such as Lake Shasta, and those owned by cities and irrigation districts.
At the moment, the state’s reservoirs are generally above 100% of historic averages after a couple of relatively wet winters, which indicate that ultimate water deliveries will be higher than the low initial estimates, although how much higher is uncertain. Shasta is at 113% and Oroville at 109%.
The annual guessing game would be more accurate if the state had done what it should have done decades ago — developed more storage capacity, either in reservoirs or aquifers, that could be filled in wet years and cushion the impact of drought.
A couple of storage projects are underway, Sites Reservoir on the west side of the Sacramento Valley and an enlargement of the San Luis Reservoir in the Pacheco Pass west of Merced.
Much more is needed as climate change affects the precipitation cycle.
(Dan Walters)
The picture shows Las Vegas in 1895, long before it became the glittering metropolis we know today. At that time, Las Vegas was a small village in an arid desert region of Nevada. The surroundings were characterized by simple mud houses, small rivers or irrigation canals and trees that offered shade in the otherwise barren landscape.
During this time, the people of Las Vegas lived mainly from agriculture and animal husbandry. Water was a precious commodity, and proximity to natural springs was critical to the survival of the community. The place was an important stop for travelers and traders on their way to California or other parts of the western United States.
It wasn't until many years later, when the railroad was built and gambling was finally legalized, that Las Vegas began to develop into what it is today.
NO SAMOSAS IN SAMSARA
Warmest spiritual greetings from Washington, D.C.,
What is needed on the planet earth is spiritually sourced direct action!
That, as opposed to rotting in the quagmire of samsara, which is the alternative.
Then be elsewhere. The banquet in Nirvana is terrific!
Choose wisely.
Craig Louis Stehr
Adam’s Place Homeless Shelter
PARDONS & GAS PRICES
by Jim Shields
CalMatters, which is one of the more balanced, straight-shooting news platforms in California, is reporting another idiotic, out-of-reality move by my party, the Doleful Democrats.
You would think, following the electoral wipeout delivered by D.J. Trump on Nov. 5th, they would understand at least a couple of facts.
For instance, working people and the middle class abandoned the Dems, among other reasons, because of grocery prices, gas prices, and insane wokism.
Nope, it’s business as usual for this pitiful cast of how-low-can-you-go sellouts who stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Republicans in their unfaltering collaboration to advance Globalism.
Anyway, as pointed out by CalMatters, “In one of its most controversial decisions” California’s air board voted “to revamp a key climate change program, which could increase gas prices in a state already facing some of the nation’s steepest costs at the pump.”
Meanwhile, Alexandra Macedo, the newly elected Assemblymember from Tulare, introduced Assembly Bill 41 immediately after being sworn in this week.
In a statement, Macedo, a Republican from Tulare, said the bill will push for increased transparency in government and help prevent gas price hikes.
“We must shine a light on the government decisions that increase our cost of living and rob us of financial stability,” Macedo said in a news release.
Macedo highlighted some of her frustrations with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his administration.
The bill will require the Newsom Administration to conduct cost analyses on the regulations imposed on the public.
“Hard-working Californians continue to struggle to pay the bills,” Macedo added. “The price of everything from rent to food to the price of gas is out of control. Yet, the Newsom Administration continues to impose mandates that will increase the cost of living without transparency.”
According to the news release, Californians pay approximately $1.40 more per gallon compared to drivers in other states.
As a result of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) approving the Low Carbon Fuel Standard on Nov. 18, a retired CARB branch chief believes Californians could end up paying more than $3 per gallon more than drivers in other states, Macedo said.
“It is an affront to Californians that the Newsom Administration imposed a mandate that will drive prices without telling the public the true cost,” Macedo said. “Californians especially the hard working residents of the Central Valley deserve to know the true cost impact of government programs as they are barely scraping by. Newsom mandated California’s transition to 100% electric vehicles (EVs) by 2035. The problem is, everyday Californians don’t want battery cars and can’t afford the $58,000 price tag without major debt. This isn’t about cleaner air or affordable energy; it’s about forcing us into submission.”
Presidential pardons: No big deal
The topic of presidential pardons is front-and-center this week after Joe Biden announced his “full and unconditional” pardon for his son.
Hunter Biden was convicted earlier this year of federal gun charges for lying about his addiction to crack cocaine when he purchased a gun, and separately pleaded guilty to tax offenses for failing to pay at least $1.4 million in federal taxes. Sentences in both cases were scheduled to be handed down later this month.
You might say ol’ Hunter’s back was up against the wall.
But Daddy saved the day as well as a stretch in federal confines for his son.
Trump was quick to slam Biden’s pardon as an “abuse and miscarriage of Justice.”
But how’s that square with Trump’s verbiage about pardoning January 6th rioters?
It’s all a bunch of hypocrisy.
Presidential pardons have been commonplace since the days of George Washington, who forgave the two men convicted of treason for their role in the Whiskey Rebellion.
The first-ever act of presidential forgiveness came in the wake of an armed rebellion. Fed up with a costly federal tax on distilled spirits, in 1794 a group of whiskey-producing Pennsylvania farmers took to the streets and burned the home of a local tax inspector. The attack came on the heels of several other protests and many politicians — most notably Secretary Alexander Hamilton — argued that it threatened the stability of the newly formed United States.
Faced with the possibility of a widespread uprising, President George Washington reluctantly marched a 13,000-strong militia into western Pennsylvania to quell the rebellion. Some 20 members of the mob were arrested, and two were convicted of treason and sentenced to death by hanging. Desperate to avoid further discontent, Washington chose to pardon both men in July 1795.
(Jim Shields is the Mendocino County Observer’s editor and publisher, observer@pacific.net, the long-time district manager of the Laytonville County Water District, and is also chairman of the Laytonville Area Municipal Advisory Council. Listen to his radio program “This and That” every Saturday at noon on KPFN 105.1 FM, also streamed live: http://www.kpfn.org.)
49er GAME GRADES (Dec. 8, 2024)
by Michael Lerseth
Most of the shouting was over by halftime Sunday as the San Francisco 49ers took full advantage of a weak Chicago Bears team to roll to a 38-13 victory at Levi’s Stadium.
Offense: A
This was varsity-vs.-JV in the opening half, during which the 49ers piled up 319 yards, took a 24-0 lead and QB Brock Purdy threw for more yards (258) than he had in the previous two games combined (253). Purdy finished 20-for-25 for 325 yards and a pair of TDs (both to Jauan Jennings). George Kittle collected six passes for 151 yards, equaling the fourth most in his career. In his first NFL start, rookie RB Isaac Guerendo rushed for 78 yards, scored twice, and caught a pair of passes for 50 yards before leaving with a foot injury.
Defense: A
Here’s all you need to know: In the first half, the 49ers had as many sacks (4) as yards allowed as Chicago averaged 8.5 inches on its 17 plays. The to-be-expected regression to the mean made a second-half cameo, but even with two TD drives Chicago finished with only 162 yards (on 52 plays). The 49ers collected seven sacks — Yetur Gross-Matos getting three (for the first time in his career), Bears’ 2016 first-round pick Leonard Floyd two, Maliek Collins one and one credited as a team sack.
Special Teams: B
Not much to see here. Jake Moody made his lone field goal try (a 23-yarder) and five extra points. Pat O’Donnell punted twice (average: 46 yards) and Jacob Cowing collected only 22 yards on four punt returns.
Coaching: B
Kyle Shanahan was 1-for-2 on challenges — and had a potential third challenge rendered unnecessary when replay assist stepped in to reverse a call on the field and rule that Caleb Williams had fumbled. In the only out-of-the-norm call of the day, he had the 49ers go for it in 4th-and-1 at the Chicago 25 with 7:03 to play. Patrick Taylor converted and four plays later scored the Niners’ final points on his first TD with San Francisco.
Overall: A
First things first: take a breath. This was the Bears, one of the NFL’s truly sorry teams — one that has now lost seven straight games. This kind of effort, particularly in the first half, was most definitely needed after the Niners suffered beatdowns at Green Bay and Buffalo. This might be a good time to figure out what paths are available in order for the Niners to make the postseason.
WOMAN SUES CALIFORNIA DOCTORS, SAYS SHE WAS RUSHED AT AGE 12 INTO GENDER TRANSITION SHE REGRETS
by Sara Libby & Micael Barba
One day after the Supreme Court heard arguments over states’ ability to ban gender-affirming care for minors, a 20-year-old UCLA student sued two California doctors, saying they inappropriately rushed her “down a life-altering … and irreversibly damaging” gender transition beginning at age 12.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday by Kaya Clementine Breen in Los Angeles County Superior Court, argues that Dr. Johanna Olson-Kennedy, who runs the largest transgender youth clinic in the U.S. as the medical director of the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, diagnosed Breen with gender dysmorphia “mere minutes” into their first appointment, just after Breen had turned 12.
Olson-Kennedy “recommended surgical implantation of puberty blockers” at that initial meeting, the suit says. Over the next several years, Breen received puberty blockers and took hormones, and, at age 14, received a double mastectomy. The suit accuses Olson-Kennedy of concealing important information about the risks and impacts of the treatments and misrepresenting evidence about their efficacy.
Olson-Kennedy has come under fire recently after she told the New York Times that she delayed releasing a widely anticipated study on the effects of puberty-blocking treatment on transgender youth because of the toxic political climate. The study found puberty blockers did not improve patients’ mental health, the Times reported. But Olson-Kennedy contended that was “most likely because the children were already doing well when the study began.”
Her interview with the Times published in late October, as Donald Trump’s campaign blanketed TV airwaves with an ad criticizing Kamala Harris for supporting taxpayer-funded gender-affirming care for incarcerated people. A week earlier, Trump had vowed to ban transgender women from competing on women’s sports teams.
Olson-Kennedy did not immediately respond Friday to a voicemail and an email seeking comment.
Lorenzo Benet, a spokesperson for the hospital, declined to comment on the allegations, citing the ongoing lawsuit and patient privacy concerns. But Benet said the center “has provided high-quality, age-appropriate, medically necessary care for more than 30 years.”
“Treatment is patient- and family-centered, following guidelines from professional organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association and Endocrine Society,” Benet said in a statement.
The lawsuit is being brought in part by a Texas-based firm created about a year and a half ago to represent people like Breen, who transitioned genders before changing their minds.
Jordan Campbell, one of the attorneys representing Breen and a founding partner at the firm, said he believes Breen is representative of a growing wave of people who transitioned as teenagers and are now reversing course.
“We are at the very front end of that wakeup,” Campbell said.
Campbell said the timing of the lawsuit being filed on the heels of the Supreme Court arguments was coincidental. He said he hopes the case will have a chilling effect on doctors like Olson-Kennedy.
“If you look at Clementine’s story and what happened to her, it’s awful and it’s tragic,” Campbell said. “If that is being practiced routinely, that just can’t be allowed.”
The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, also names San Francisco-based Dr. Scott Mosser and St. Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco as defendants, alleging that Mosser “rubber-stamped” Breen’s double mastectomy. Mosser scheduled the procedure without “ever meeting with or talking to Clementine,” the lawsuit claims, and discussed the procedure with her “for no more than 28 minutes before Clementine was taken back for surgery.”
Mosser said in a statement that he is “unable to comment on specific protected health information or pending litigation” but that his office employs “robust processes and protocols” to ensure that patients “fully understand the implications of the gender-affirming procedures they may choose to undergo as part of their transition.”
UCSF is also named in the lawsuit. But a UCSF spokesperson noted that the care in question took place in 2019, five years before it acquired St. Francis hospital.
Both the current lawsuit and the Tennessee ban on gender-affirming care for minors, which was challenged before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, hinge on whether such treatments are effective and appropriate.
Michael Rice, a lawyer for Tennessee, called the treatments “risky, unproven medical intervention” during the arguments. Tennessee’s attorney general noted in court filings that several European countries “have all concluded that the harms associated with these interventions are significant, and the long-term benefits are unproven.”
But lawyers representing the transgender youth challenging the ban wrote in court documents that “overwhelming evidence” shows that appropriate gender-affirming treatment “substantially improves the physical and psychological wellbeing of transgender adolescents with gender dysphoria.” They are supported by more than 20 mainstream medical organizations and by a group of 19 states led by California.
California has sought to position itself as a haven for gender-affirming care for transgender people. It established a special fund to award money to organizations that serve transgender clients, and passed a shield law prohibiting law enforcement from assisting out-of-state prosecutions for people who seek care in the state.
Breen’s lawyers claim in the suit that she has mental health issues stemming from sexual assaults she experienced as a child, trauma that was allegedly not explored by Olson-Kennedy.
Shortly before she began attending college at UCLA, Breen started seeing a therapist and “began to realize that she may not actually be ‘trans’ but rather had been suffering from PTSD and other issues related to her unresolved trauma.” She stopped taking testosterone and has detransitioned back to female, which significantly improved her mental health, the suit says.
But the treatments significantly impacted her body, the suit says, from her appearance to her ability to sing and carry children.
Erica Anderson, a transgender therapist in Berkeley who is critical of doctors hastily pursuing medical treatment for gender-questioning youth, said the allegations, if true, suggest Olson-Kennedy had been both premature and “maybe reckless” in the care she provided.
“If the allegations bear out, it’s a very damning portrayal of one doctor’s work with a young person who is very distressed,” said Anderson, who has recommended gender-affirming surgeries for transgender people of varying ages.
Anderson was more sympathetic to Mosser, who she knows and said relies on letters of recommendation from a physician and mental health provider before performing surgery, particularly from the latter. In this case, the lawsuit alleges those letters from Olson-Kennedy and a therapist included misrepresentations, such as that Breen had “endorsed a male gender identity since childhood.”
“The surgeon is sort of the last stop in medical gender transition,” Anderson said.
(SF Chronicle)
'MORBID TOURISM' COMES TO JONESTOWN MASSACRE SITE
by Katie Dowd
The site of one of the 20th century’s most infamous mass murders may soon become a tourist attraction: Should private tour operators get their way, Jonestown will be open to curious and macabre visitors in the near future.
In 1977, Peoples Temple cult leader Jim Jones convinced many in his Bay Area congregation to move to the remote jungle of Guyana. Although he promised a utopia free of racism — and a retirement plan for the hundreds of pensioners who moved there — the property was primitive and barely livable. When Peoples Temple members arrived in South America, their passports were taken and, cut off from the world, they were forced to build the compound.
On Nov. 18, 1978, Jones coerced 900 exhausted and terrified people into drinking poison. Dozens were found with needle marks, suggesting poison was forcibly injected into them, and over 300 of the dead were children. When news reached California, some found out entire branches of their family had been wiped out in Jonestown.
In the decades since, the jungle reclaimed Jonestown. Little remains of the compound save a few partial buildings. An Associated Press article this week reported Wonderlust Adventures, a private tour operator, is in talks to create the excursion with the backing of Guyana’s Tourism Authority and the Tourism and Hospitality Association.
“It certainly has my support,” Tourism Minister Oneidge Walrond told the AP. “It is possible. After all, we have seen what Rwanda has done with that awful tragedy as an example.”
Although some victims’ family members have pushed back against the idea, the biggest barrier to the project may not be concerns over sensitivity. Port Kaituma, the nearest town to Jonestown, is only accessible via boat, helicopter or plane. Then, visitors must travel another 6 miles over rough roads to get to what remains of Jonestown. The idea of a tourist attraction isn’t a new one; back in 2010, the New York Times reported a “New York investor even drew up an investment plan with a Jonestown survivor to create a 10-acre project including a museum, a restaurant, a cafe, a souvenir shop and living quarters for employees.” The plan did not come to fruition, in part due to the logistical difficulties of the location.
“It’s still a very, very, very rough area,” Fielding McGehee, co-director of The Jonestown Institute, told the AP. “I don’t see how this is going to be an economically feasible kind of project because of the vast amounts of money it would take to turn it into a viable place to visit.”
It’s not clear what procedural hurdles Wonderlust Adventures will need to clear to get the tour up and running, but the AP reported they may need Cabinet approval. The government has already assisted in clearing the jungle around Jonestown “to ensure a better product can be marketed,” Walrond said.
“We think it is about time,” Rose Sewcharran, director of Wonderlust Adventures, told the AP. “This happens all over the world. We have multiple examples of dark, morbid tourism around the world, including Auschwitz and the Holocaust museum.”
In the Bay Area, where many victims of the Jonestown massacre previously lived, even a memorial was not without controversy. Over 400 individuals are buried in a mass grave at Evergreen Cemetery in Oakland, the only cemetery that would accept the bodies due to the stigma of Jonestown. In 2010, a formal memorial with the victims' names was added; the inclusion of Jim Jones' name, and his family's ceremony at the site, prompted outrage from his victims' loved ones.
(SFGate.com)
LEAD STORIES, MONDAY'S NYT
With Assad Gone, a Brutal Dictatorship Ends. But the New Risks Are Huge
Trump Signals an Aggressive Opening, Threatening ‘Jail’ for Cheney and Others
Disappointed Protesters Vow to Keep Pressure on South Korea’s Yoon
U.S. Milk to Be Tested for Bird Flu Virus
For Taylor Swift, It’s the End of the ‘Eras’
ANOTHER NATION ABSORBED INTO THE BLOB OF THE EMPIRE
by Caitlin Johnstone
Bashar al-Assad has fled Syria to Moscow, where he has reportedly been granted asylum by Russia. The al-Qaeda affiliates who drove him out have declared victory for the “mujahideen” in Damascus. Both Biden and Netanyahu have publicly taken credit for assisting in the regime change, and of course Turkey’s Erdogan deserves a heavy share of credit as well.
And yet there’s still a bit of a taboo in mainstream western discourse around calling this a regime change operation backed by the US and its allies. We’re all meant to pretend this was a 100 percent organic uprising driven solely and exclusively by the people of Syria despite years and years of evidence to the contrary. We are meant to pretend this is the case even after we just watched the US power alliance crush Syria using proxy warfare, starvation sanctions, constant bombing operations, and a military occupation explicitly designed to cut Syria off from oil and wheat in order to prevent its reconstruction after the western-backed civil war.
People get mad at you say this, but it’s true. It’s just a fact that major world events do not occur independently of the actions of the major world powers who have a vested interest in their outcomes. If my saying this makes you feel uncomfortable, that discomfort is called cognitive dissonance. It’s what being wrong feels like.
Maybe it bothers you when people point out the involvement of the US power alliance in Syria, and maybe you would prefer to believe that a plucky band of heroic freedom fighters bravely overthrew an evil supervillain dictator all on their own like some Hollywood movie. But real life doesn’t move in accordance with your preferences. In real life, the globe-spanning empire that is centralized around the United States will reliably be deeply involved in such events.
When I say this you may want to believe I am “denying the agency of Syrians,” and that “denying agency” is the worst sin a person can possibly commit. But nothing I’m saying actually contradicts the idea that Syrians have their own agency. Obviously there were many Syrians who wanted Assad gone, and obviously there were many people who had their own reasons for fighting him which had nothing to do with the US empire. There is no contradiction between this obvious fact and the well-documented reality that the US-centralized power structure has been balls deep in Syria from the very beginning of the violence in 2011, and that its involvement led to the events we are seeing today.
The claim isn’t that the US empire controlled the minds of Syrians and forced them to turn against their government with no agency of their own. The claim is that the empire put a big fat thumb on the scale to ensure that one group of Syrians got their way instead of a different group.
You can argue that western regime change interventionism will lead to positive results this time (so long as you’re prepared to ignore mountains of historical evidence consistently demonstrating the opposite), but what you cannot do on any rational basis is deny that western regime change interventionism occurred in Syria.
Western liberalism is funny in that its adherents lean heavily on their ability to psychologically compartmentalize away from the actions of the western empire, and indeed away from the very existence of that empire. The western liberal lives in an imaginary alternate universe where western powers pretty much mind their own business and western leaders passively watch violence and destruction unfold around the world whilst pleading for peace and diplomacy from their podiums. They pretend the empire does not exist, and that it is only by pure coincidence that conflicts, coups and uprisings keep occurring in ways which favor the strategic interests of Washington.
In reality it is impossible to understand what’s going on in the world unless you understand that the US is the hub of an undeclared empire which has been working tirelessly to bring the global population under a single power umbrella over which it presides. The few countries who have successfully resisted being absorbed into this imperial blob are the Official Bad Guys we westerners are all trained to hate: China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and a few socialist states in Latin America. I used to include Syria in this list, but that’s over now. Syria has been absorbed into the blob of the empire.
And tomorrow the imperial blob will move its crosshairs on to the next unabsorbed nation. That’s the underlying dynamic behind all the major conflicts on earth. This dynamic gets redacted from the mainstream western worldview with the assistance of the western propaganda services known as the mass media, as well as the western indoctrination system known as schooling. This dynamic is redacted from our worldview and hidden from our attention by the plutocrats and empire managers who work to manipulate our information systems, because otherwise we would realize that the US empire is the most tyrannical and abusive power structure on this planet today.
And it unquestionably is. No other power structure has spent the 21st century killing people by the millions in wars of aggression while circling the planet with hundreds of military bases and working continuously to crush any group which opposes its dictates anywhere on earth. Not China. Not Russia. Not Iran. Not Cuba. Not Bashar al-Assad. Only the US empire has been tyrannizing and abusing the world to this extent in modern times.
And now the imperial blob rolls on to absorb its next target, having grown one Syria-sized increment larger after spending years digesting that nation via proxy warfare, sanctions, relentless bombing campaigns from Israel, and a military occupation designed to steal its food and fuel.
Our world cannot know peace as long as we are ruled by an empire that is fueled by endless rivers of human blood. Here’s hoping the end of that empire comes sooner rather than later.
(caitlinjohnstone.com.au)
YOU CAN HAVE IT
by Philip Levine (1991)
My brother comes home from work
and climbs the stairs to our room.
I can hear the bed groan and his shoes drop
one by one. You can have it, he says.
The moonlight streams in the window
and his unshaven face is whitened
like the face of the moon. He will sleep
long after noon and waken to find me gone.
Thirty years will pass before I remember
that moment when suddenly I knew each man
has one brother who dies when he sleeps
and sleeps when he rises to face this life,
and that together they are only one man
sharing a heart that always labors, hands
yellowed and cracked, a mouth that gasps
for breath and asks, Am I gonna make it?
All night at the ice plant he had fed
the chute its silvery blocks, and then I
stacked cases of orange soda for the children
of Kentucky, one gray boxcar at a time
with always two more waiting. We were twenty
for such a short time and always in
the wrong clothes, crusted with dirt
and sweat. I think now we were never twenty.
In 1948 in the city of Detroit, founded
by de la Mothe Cadillac for the distant purposes
of Henry Ford, no one wakened or died,
no one walked the streets or stoked a furnace,
for there was no such year, and now
that year has fallen off all the old newspapers,
calendars, doctors’ appointments, bonds,
wedding certificates, drivers licenses.
The city slept. The snow turned to ice.
The ice to standing pools or rivers
racing in the gutters. Then bright grass rose
between the thousands of cracked squares,
and that grass died. I give you back 1948.
I give you all the years from then
to the coming one. Give me back the moon
with its frail light falling across a face.
Give me back my young brother, hard
and furious, with wide shoulders and a curse
for God and burning eyes that look upon
all creation and say, You can have it.
“The rules are the rules.” — Joe Biden commenting on Sha’Carri Richardson being barred from the Olympics because she took two hits of cannabis after learning of the death of her biological mother.
Here’s a little test to see if you are a victim of establishment mind control.
#1 Al-Qaeda are bad guys. They did 9/11 (or, if you are in the “9/11 truth” camp, they were at least blamed for 9/11).. Agree or disagree?
#2 The US attacked Afghanistan starting in 2001 and continued through 2021. It was the longest war in US history. The war started because Afghanistan was harboring Al-Qaeda. True or false?
#3 The US is backing Al-Qaeda in its overthrow of the secular leader Bashar al-Assad. This is a good thing. True or false?
Your answer to #3 determines if you are under the influence of establishment mind control. You’re welcome.
“ The Party said that Oceania had never been in alliance with Eurasia. He, Winston Smith, knew that Oceania had been in alliance with Eurasia as short a time as four years ago. But where did that knowledge exist? Only in his own consciousness, which in any case must soon be annihilated. And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed -if all records told the same tale — then the lie passed into history and became truth. ‘Who controls the past,’ ran the Party slogan, ‘controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.’ And yet the past, though of its nature alterable, never had been altered. Whatever was true now was true from everlasting to everlasting. It was quite simple. All that was needed was an unending series of victories over your own memory.
Number 3 is no choice, or the choice between twin evils.
Editor: Can’t it just be policy that a troll like “Do not Comment” is in fact not allowed to comment until he uses a real name? The IQ and civility level would likely rise here considerably…
(And on that note, thanks for suspending that “Call It” whiner of the week. How can somebody cry “censorship” when they don’t exist? It’s like a guy on the corner with a bag over his head yelling insults, but refusing to remove the bag, saying it’s his “right” to yell. Who needs that?)
I still exist, even though your Democrat instincts want to cancel. You people are so predictable.
People with a point of view different than the elite far left are under attack world wide so it’s hard to blame thehidden name. People who saw their brokerage account increase 20% last year aren’t going to understand this.
As Bruce reminds you/us repeatedly, there is no far Left left, let alone an elite one. That’s just nonsense sloganeering. Plus all evidence is that the large majority of actual violence comes from the angry “right.” Most folks use their names. If you won’t attach a name to it, it’s meaningless graffiti, or rather, whining. Paranoia strikes deep, but it’s never too late to grow up.
There is no left in America let alone a far left with an elite. NewsMax and the rest of the lockstep Magas, falsely and deliberately conflate liberals like Pelosi, Schiff and the rest of the corrupt Democrat leadership as “far left” to retard social policies that would benefit the majority of Americans. Single payer health insurance, for instance, has been as aggressively opposed by your”far left elite” as it has by the political right whose billionaires own the media.
Liberals own the media. That’s why they are an arm of the Democratic Party. Look in the mirror, typical liberal, When my comments you don’t like or agree with, you use ownership to try and control me.
You see it’s power that you want, not fairness in the Comment Section.
Then you call me a whiner when one of your little minions threatens me.
This exact comment is the BS you have been spewing for decades. Come on, Bruce what’s your next move?
Hah, I guess we know your answer to #3.
You can call my comment dumb, but how on Earth was it uncivil?
It’s funny, back when there were only four tv channels and people read newspapers, complaints like yours were usually met with ‘why don’t you just change the channel?’ Now we’re flooded with content in all forms, and when people see something they don’t like, they respond with ‘take it down!’
“It’s like a guy on the corner with a bag over his head yelling insults, but refusing to remove the bag, saying it’s his “right” to yell. Who needs that?
from https://www.eff.org/issues/anonymity:
“Anonymous communications have an important place in our political and social discourse. The Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that the right to anonymous free speech is protected by the First Amendment. A frequently cited 1995 Supreme Court ruling in McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission reads:
Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. . . . It thus exemplifies the purpose behind the Bill of Rights and of the First Amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation . . . at the hand of an intolerant society.”
Tolerance of pseudonymous speech is one of the great thing about the AVA.
Rest easy, Mr. Helig. My subscription to the AVA runs out in just a few days. My wife has insisted that we sell the place here in the Valley – mon rêve for 20 years – and that we return to being mere brightlighters. My words, organized as pixels on your screen, will no longer burn your eyes. (Well, maybe just a couple more times if our esteemed editor allows it.)
Notwithstanding Sheriff Kendall’s post yesterday about why he reads the AVA comments page, I suspect it has more to do with taking note of heated interactions like this one, in order to inform his overview of the political stresses developing in the county. He heaved a sigh of relief when the election was over but potential unrest continues to pulse under his metaphorical finger if people are leaving because they can no longer stand their neighbors… !
We love most of our neighbors, that isn’t the issue. My wife doesn’t feel safe because of some of the incidents we’ve had to deal with, and we know from experience that with Trump’s victory, the people who create such incidents will be even more emboldened.
My minimal experience with the Sheriffs here has been positive. My neighbor had a crisis, and they rescued him. A far cry from the deeply corrupt SFPD I’m used to. Life is filled with its ironies and contradictions.
I honestly have no idea how this turned into a “heated interaction” or why it became about me. I posted a comment about US policy towards Syria, and how they get away with it.
Well, if you go back to SF then Steve H, the fellow who was intolerant of your pseudonymity, will be your neighbor … Steve used to come to Boonville for the SNWMF and camp at the AVA compound to cover the music, but he lives in the city.
I, for one, agree with your posts and find it reassuring that people with your perspective are still around. Most of the people I used to know in the county —the ones who made the Not So Simple Living Fair so uplifting and optimistic —have all gone to ground and turned mute.
Thank you for the comment, sir.
The Foodshed group who put on the Not So Simple Living Fair were among the reasons we made the move here. We also have family here and they will remain.
Not really sure what Mr. Helig’s issue is. It isn’t my anonymity – other anons do not receive his vitriol and name-calling. I hope readers note that I’ve never once called him a name or really done anything to him. Usually this is the behavior of Zionists who don’t want to admit it when they are confronted by an anti-Zionist, but I honestly have no idea.
And yes, freethinking is a disappearing commodity. Just as calculators caused people to lose basic math, AI will soon determine people’s thoughts. “Back to the land,” for those who can afford it, will be the only escape.
Regarding the debate about the conversations in this section, I have to confess I have the guilty habit of looking at the comments on quite a number of news websites across the political spectrum. Vitriol is a common feature on most and it comes from whatever side the site leans towards. There isn’t a whole lot of persuasion or exposition going on, it’s mostly angry declarations, bitterness, and insults. I’ve always appreciated the AVA for the relative smartness of its comments, and I’d hate for this section to turn into a hate fest and insult arena.
Now’s a good time for a tip of the hat to George Hollister, whose views are often in opposition to a number of AVA commenters. He receives a fair amount of pushback, but he is almost unfailingly polite, civil, and knowledgeable in his responses. I don’t agree with him a lot of the time, but I’m willing to listen to him because of the civility of his tone and, even when unconvinced, I usually wind up learning something from the back and forth. I wish the more aggressive commenters here could take a lesson from George and chill a bit. Sure, hurling insults is a lot easier than backing up one’s arguments, but really just says that one is an asshole that can be ignored.
Yes, to your appreciation of George Hollister, who is indeed civil and “unfailingly polite.”, I’d note also that–like many of us–he is fairly unbending in his political beliefs., but that’s just the way it is, not a character defect. Your overall points are well-taken, for sure.
Ditto
Ditto +1. George is the comment sections gentleman.
I guess you’ve never threatened him, Mr. Civility.
Assad is certainly no angel. Heck, he ain’t even a Qadaffi. But he also didn’t fly planes into the twin towers or murder 3,000 Americans and American residents.
I see multiple news sources saying that Syria has been “liberated.” Somehow, the Christians and others in Syria who are now being murdered by Al-Qaeda might call it something else.
RCS begging for money. WTH. Millions in county contracts is not enough? WTH? Hey County, might be time to audit RCS, where is that money going? What exactly are the tax payers getting for all those millions?
Dearest Editoria,
Please reconsider the current (apparently already entrenched) elision of a comma in a phrase that names a person or other noun after a shout-out or pleading such as appears in the “Ed Notes” today, mimicking Hunter Biden’s innocence:
(“Stop that girls! Can’t you see I’m doing my taxes.”)
Girls are the target of the statement, word for a group — in the imaginary case, two — and even though the reader would have a hard time misconstruing to whom the protest was (jokingly?) made, a sharp rebuke is rendered flaccid as though the speaker was exhausted, although laughing — ha, ha.
I don’t know why commas have become superannuated in today’s “lingo,” which seems to be motivated by semi-literate creators of quasi-original “memes” in social media. But that attrition follows the earlier loss of the Oxford comma, which helps us quickly distinguish singular and separate designations from combined nomenclature in a string of more than two items.
Mental laziness? Futility and ennui? Deferred tongue sharpening maintenance of the editorial sword? C’mon, you guys!
Oh Heck, Betsy’s Correct
“Mental laziness? Futility and ennui?”
True indeed, fits all of we,
At the AVA and even beyond—
Proper comma usage —lost, gone.
Correction: Error made by my secretary, Judy, in taking my dictation–
Title is supposed to read:
“Oh Heck, Betsy, You’re Correct”
I love commas. It’s semi-colons I can’t stand.
We’ll do a colonoscopy on them, get rid of the suckers for you, Bruce.
This is the stupidist post of the day, just couldn’t resist…Sorry.
Comma-nist!
(This is a form of humor known as a play on words. It will probably be labelled vitriolic incivility anyway.)
Bruce, despite you being a better writer than me I use commas, and semicolons. But I will consider your opinion of semicolons in the future. As I recall, Strunk and White were OK with semicolons.
Right on, Betsy! As a working editor I have nothing against either commas or semi colons, but decided to join the fray to share my growing frustration with the growing public acceptance of a couple of basics:
1.) Noun/verb consistency: “A student studies math so they can measure the world. ” WRONG (even though it’s everywhere) The subject is singular though, in an effort to “gender neutralize” the language “their” has replaced the correct “he or she.”
2.) Improper pronoun (sometimes even appearing in headlines): We drove to the event, where the crew met Joe Doe and I.” WRONG. The correct sentence would instead read: “…where the crew met Joe Doe and me.”
People are telling me all the time that harping about the language is elitist, that it somehow implies wealth and privilege. Some scoff when I tell them of a journalism professor who routinely delivered “Fs” to student papers for the sin of a single grammatical error. Elitist? My mother, the product of an impoverished rural elementary school in 1930s Oregon, even told me, on Point 2.), that all I had to do was separate the objects in question (Joe Doe and I) to realize instantly that “I” was incorrect. There is no social “dignity” in speaking and writing like a third grader. What pains me is that individuals and organizations make big news (rightfully) when they are suspected of even minor fiscal skullduggery, assuming it comes to light; no one seems to even notice when the language is butchered (note correct use of semi colon).
Love that line, Marilyn: “There is no social “dignity” in speaking and writing like a third grader.” Blunt and true.
And then there’s this one: “…no one seems to even notice when the language is butchered…” We live in a different world than the one you I (not “me”) grew up in. We are going backwards in this respect, as well as scads of others even more critical to our well-being.
You didn’t even mention “lie” and “lay”, another annoying example of incorrect usage.
This day seems to be the one demanding organizing my thoughts and presenting to the rest of us some review and questioning of the intent and success of “Mendocino County Public Radio.” The airwaves lend themselves easily to a local community radio station, not so much so to a widespread territory like Mendocino County, all mountainous and spread out. Question: was the original intent of KZYX to be a county wide NPR outlet? Why have the studios been in Philo all these decades? It is a challenge to site and maintain various transmitters all over the place to broadcast the same signal hither and yon. Why? What’s the point? It’s really not that hard to have a local FM broadcast studio, a moderately powered transmitter, a backup generator, a volunteer staff. There are at least three or four of these local FM stations right now in the north county. I am far away and not at all informed on how KZYX makes decisions or conducts business, but there seems to be, over and over through the years, a similar dynamic of “who’s in charge.” In Round Valley we have a little rinky dink FM station, KYBU, with the FCC license owned by the local library group, managed with a once a week meeting of those participating to determine “what happened this week, what do we need to do next.” Takes about an hour, maybe. We have no board of directors, really, no general manager, an engineer (yes, but extremely part time). It’s not that hard to have a community radio station. Ours has sort of the anarchist collective wanna be organization model. Fort Bragg has something like this. So does Gualala. And Willits. There’s radio people broadcasting in Laytonville. Anderson Valley could have one. Maybe Ukiah could have more than one. Again, it’s not that hard to have a community radio station. I hope KZYX can take this present opportunity to perhaps consider what to do next. It could be something completely different.
To the Editor:
I support GM and Executive Director Dina Polkinghorne, and her Board of Directors, 100% in firing Rich Culbertson.
With the station moving from Philo to Ukiah, it’s time for change all across the board.
Culbertson, like Alicia Bales who was fired before him, had his own antifa-like, cancel culture agenda, and a toxic personality to go along with it.
For the record, Culbertson had been fired previously by a former GM. It was rumored Culbertson had been living as a homeless person in the old caboose on station property and was addicted to prescription meds. I don’t know if this were true or not, but as a former Board member, Board Treasurer, and popular program host at KZYX, i can say Culbertson was lazy. He was lazy and snarky. I can’t believe he lasted 17 years,
Today, I’m renewing my membership at KZYX.
I’ve had my differences with the station in the past, but Ms. Polkinghorne needs to be supported. She is a strong, capable leader. She has a talented Board. She has a real vision for the station and a strategic plan to execute on the vision. Most importantly, she has real ethics and integrity.
John Sakowicz
Ukiah
“Morbid Tourism”? Jonestown? In San Francisco, the Sex Pistols died (onstage), the Beatles died (their live act, anyway). The Rolling Stones tried to co-opt the Entire 1960s across the Bay @ Altamont, Disaster and death…and the little – known Lez Zep incident in Oakland where the bands’ drummer, manager and who knows how many of the crew sequestered and methodically beat one of Bill Graham’s employees to within an inch of his life! The Band never played in the States again…
Warmest spiritual greetings,
Stormy Monday was spent at the Smithsonian Mall, enjoying the many museums and countless exhibits, all of which were inspiring and awesome and a great thrill to be at. Took time out at the cafe at the American Indian Museum for a double chocolate muffin and coffee, and sat by the window looking out on the large rocks and waterfall installation. Later, walked all the way to Chinatown to get some ginseng (with the root in the bottle), before dropping into the MLK public library to use a guest computer. Will next get on the Metro and return to the rough ‘n tumble homeless shelter, which is free of charge. The social security disbursements continue to come in monthly, and the California EBT as well, plus some small LOTTO winnings. This is my reward after decades of service to America, which includes a hefty amount of spiritual anarchism. I am looking forward to the remainder of this lifetime, before going up forever. Good luck, and may you realize in this lifetime.
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
December 9, 2024 A.D.
Regarding Alicia Bales’s letter: KZYX, KMUD, AVA, and any other media can legally censor whomever they want for any reason, and don’t have to explain why. (That’s because of the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine in 1986, which provided for equal time for differing opinions on the airwaves.)
It’s not cool and doesn’t seem fair, but them’s the rules…
It’s been like that at KZYX since the beginning. All the original so-called programmers –and I was one of them– were given a page of a list of promises to sign, that Sean Donovan wrote, agreeing that you understood you would lose your airtime if you ever slipped, including never bringing internal station business to the air. It was and is one of many tests there, like at the end of Catch 22, where Yossarian can have what he wants –freedom from oppression– if only he will agree to like the monsters and villains making all the decisions and doing all the oppressing, and never speak of anything that happened, so that the public never knows what has gone on, and essentially he would /become/ like them. “/Like/ you?” he says incredulously. “Yes,” they say, “Like us. That’s all. Just like us.” He chooses instead to jump out the window and run. Similarly, all you have to do, once you’re in at KZYX, is like the amorphous clique of poobahs in charge so they really feel it. No matter how far you’ve been bending over, nor how long, hint that you might not be liking them so much, and you’re out forever. Ask any of us that happened to. There have been plenty. To people who just naturally like the poobahs and their paranoid rule, and who are naturally like them, or even who just aren’t equipped to know or learn any better, and who don’t mind being underpaid, oppressed, kept on a track they’d be going down anyway, and so on, it seems weird that anyone might not like it, and them. After all, they’re getting what they want.
Something like that may be happening at KMUD also: people get a little power, then drunk on it, and then it’s their way or the highway…
Well, whadda batch of comments, from people who choose to use a handle, and those who choose not to do so. Can’t see much difference with respect to quality of the comments produced. What’s the big deal about ID, anyway? This is an effen comments section, fer crissake.
Masked men. Like the Lone Ranger or Zorro, Batman or Superman (no Catwoman or Captain America commenting on this page). These guys could be the genial clerk at the auto parts store or the helpful guy at Ace! Remember how no one could believe the gentlemanly Don Diego could really be Zorro! And Superman only had to put on horn-rim glasses to become the mild mannered newspaper reporter, Clark Kent. This gives them an advantage over the rest of us, when we meet face-to-face, while going about our business, in that they know our political views while we are ignorant of how despicable this person really thinks we are when he smiles in our face and bids us have a good day. It’s a very American thing to do. In other countries only criminals wear masks. Here it’s the hallmark of a do-gooder, a super hero.
Luigi will probably go down in history as a super hero, long after the New York courts martyr him, sadly. St. Luigi’s Day!
If you’re really that concerned, then maybe you should get a handle…
I spoke for Chamise in vain long before they developed their plan to rid themselves of a thorn and replace it with a yes person. Yes people are great, and Sara is all that and more. But that will still NEVER make it right. And who pays? The 5 board members that made it happen? Nope. Everyone in the county BUT them. They made sure no assets of theirs were at risk before they acted. that seems to be the selfish way of old Ukiah. I say old Ukiah because I have Faith our youth are better than our past. Why? Because the current trump card is to take everything you can, from everyone else weaker than you. That is why we suck as a nation that was once great. Because we went out and took care of the World before ourselves. We can do both, we just got the order wrong. Time for someone other than me to take the time to try and articulate these things to the 5 stiff and hearing challenged individuals with their 3 minutes. Must say Ted had his steely eyes on last session, I did everything but jump up and down to get his attention. Not even a flicker of acknowledgment from the guy who’s usually smiling at me. This is going to be a big term, i feel it coming…. We got all the right players. The public has always been, the missing part.