Mendocino County Today: Friday 1/10/2025

By AVA News Service on January 10, 2025

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): 41F with clear skies this Friday morning on the coast. Our 10 day forecast remains dry.

WEAKENING cold front will bring a chance of light rain and drizzle to Del Norte and northern Humboldt late this morning and afternoon. Gusty northerly winds along the coast and robust offshore flow across the interior mountains will return this weekend. Drier air mass, clearer skies and light winds in the valleys will make for cold and chilly mornings this weekend into early next week. (NWS)

URGENT – DO YOU KNOW THIS PERSON?

If so, it is Vital to call either Coastal Seniors (707-882-2137) OR Mendocino Sheriff’s Dispatch 24/7 (707-463-4086). He has stolen 60+ Gallons of Fuel from our buses, once on Christmas early morning and again on January 8th early morning, including vandalizing the bus to do so. These thefts have SERIOUSLY JEOPARDIZED the ability to transport passengers to their important medical appointments on the next day!!! PLEASE – We urgently and respectfully request our community to help identify this person as quickly as possible!! This would be Very Much Appreciated!

VICKI WILLIAMS

More clues same folks as last 3 big dumps! The person has gray and white hair. They have a white dog with long hair. They are Costco shoppers and carnivores and they like sugar babies. Somebody has a need for a poop and pee pad and it seems like elder animal situation or something that I don’t want to think about so if this rings a bell, we’ve got our Person. Today they were super blatant. It wasn’t out there long, It was not there on my way to Fort Bragg this morning and was there magically on my way home. It took me from 4:45 PM to 5:06 PM to pick this up. I am getting faster! My car was very stinky to the drop off point but at least I can know that I don’t have to look at it in the morning!

For the love of Highway 128!

ABSTAIN IS JUST ANOTHER WORD FOR INDECISIVE

By Jim Shields

It was no muss, no fuss at Board of Supervisors first meeting of the year on Tuesday, Jan. 7.

The first order of business was the swearing-in of Supervisors-Elect Bernie Bernie Norvell and Madeline Cline, as well as Mo Mulheren, who was re-elected as District 2 Supervisor. Norvell, former mayor and council member for Fort Bragg, replaced Dan Gjerde who retired after serving on the Board since 2012. Norvell has generally drawn high praise for establishing successful home-less-mental health policies in the coastal city. Cline, who owns a consulting business and served on the County Fish and Game Commission, fills the District 1 seat occupied by Glenn McGourty, who retired after just a single term.

The January meeting saw the passing of the Board Chair’s gavel from Mo Mulheren to District 3 Supe John Haschak for the 2025 term.

The Board also approved several changes and/or clarifications to BOS Rules of Procedure, which set out guidelines for how meetings are conducted, voting procedures, public participation, etc.

Here are a few of the highlights:

Supervisors will no longer be allowed to abstain from voting

Actually, Supervisors were never allowed to abstain unless they self-declared or were found by the Fair Political Practices Commission to have a conflict of interest, financial or otherwise. However, at some point in the past, a practice developed where Supes began abstaining on proposed actions assuming they had the right do so notwithstanding the fact they had no conflicts of interest.

Supervisor Ted Williams objected to eliminating abstentions, arguing that sometimes he doesn’t have enough “information” to cast a yes or no vote. Haschak countered with the proposed action could always “tabled” or continued to a future meeting where the information would then be available.

That’s certainly one solution, but not the best one.

No item should ever appear on an agenda that lacks specificity and the necessary information to make a decision, one way or the other.

Whoever is sponsoring (a Supervisor, CEO, Department Head) a proposed action, is obligated and responsible that the agenda item “is ready to go.”

And it’s the Board Chair and Clerk of the Board (who doubles as the CEO), who have the final obligation and responsibility to prepare and vet agendas for publication and posting.

So while there’s no change in the original rule, i.e., “As a matter of public policy, all members of the Board shall take a position and vote on all issues brought before them”, the faulty practice of allowing abstentions is now eliminated.

I’ve always believed that the worst characteristic of anyone in an elected position is indecisiveness. And indecisive is just another word for “abstain.”

Public Expression/Comments At Meetings

There’s been social network posts alleging that during the January 7 meeting, Haschak improperly restricted comments during Public Expression, where, as stated on every agenda, “Members of the public are welcome to address the Board on items not listed on the agenda, but within the jurisdiction of the Board of Supervisors.  The Board is prohibited by law from taking action on matters not on the agenda.”

There were numerous individuals, including yours truly, who were planning to address the Board on the improper action taken by Cannabis Department bureaucrats “re-interpreting” a Weed Ordinance provision that capped marijuana cultivation at 10,000 square feet. The Department’s new interpretation doubled cultivation areas. Many of us contend the Department’s action is illegal because only the Supervisors have the authority to change or amend ordinances. Some of us were going to urge the Supes to put an item on a future agenda to rescind the Cannabis Department’s illegal action, and also speak in support of a “Cease and Desist” letter to the Supes from a law firm representing the Willits Environmental Center (WEC). There were also members of the public present who were there to support the position taken by the Cannabis Department.

Anyway, after a number of folks had addressed the Board, Haschak asked those who had not yet spoken, if what they had to say on either side of the issue would be any different than what those who had already spoken. Ellen Drell, of WEC, responded that she would like to briefly address the cease-and-desist letter from WEC lawyers to the Supervisors. Haschak allowed her comments, and then invoked a long-standing rule that’s been in the BOS Rules of Procedure for years:

“Public expression on any item not appearing on the Board of Supervisors agenda, but which is within, or reasonably related to, the subject matter jurisdiction of the Board is permitted. The Board limits testimony on matters not on the agenda to 3 minutes per person and not more than 10 minutes for a particular subject at the discretion of the Chair.”

Although it’s been infrequent, it’s not the first time I’ve seen the rule imposed, and I understand the reason for it, even though I didn’t get my opportunity to address the Board at Tuesday’s meeting. The rule is in place to save time where speaker after speaker are essentially saying the same thing.

In fact, most of the time, the BOS are overly generous in allowing public expression that sometimes borders on filibustering by some of the public This was the case, especially during the year-after-year marathon that was the making of the failed Weed Ordinance, when literally a meeting didn’t occur without a lengthy segment devoted to pot talk, more pot talk, and more and more pot talk. As I’ve said a million times, and it’s now repeated and acknowledged — without attribution, of course — by the Supes, Department Heads, Law Enforcement, etc.: This county has spent more time and money on the pot issue than any other matter in county history.

Disruptive Behavior

Again social media postings and some reports allege and speculate about the Supes nefarious intentions when they approved amending meeting rules with new language regarding “disruptive behavior” at meetings.

This is another non-issue. For years the BOS Rules of Procedure had a short, sweet, and to the point provision setting out procedures for dealing with folks who “disrupt” meetings.

Several years ago, I wrote a column or two detailing a new law dealing with so-called “disruptive behavior” occurring at local government meetings.

Here’s some excerpts from what I wrote back then:

The state Legislature passed and Gov. Newsom has signed a bill that modifies the Brown Act, the 1953 state law that requires open meetings, including the right for the public to address local government officials during meetings. Current law allows city councils, boards of supervisors, school boards, water boards, etc., to boot out people for “willfully interrupting” proceedings, but state Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose) said the law needed to be updated “to include a more precise definition of that behavior.”

Cortese’s bill was co-sponsored by the California State Association of Counties, which includes Mendocino County, and the Urban Counties of California.

The new law gave local governmental bodies broadened authority to show the door to disruptive and misbehaving miscreants and kooks who flip out at meetings.

According to Cortese his bill, SB 1100, “aims to protect local officials from harassment and verbal abuse.”

Without a doubt, “harassment” and “verbal abuse” are Devil’s details difficult to artfully define in the hurly-burly of politics and governing, especially in today’s socially uncivil times. I can also tell you that attendance at union meetings back in my days in the Labor Movement, were not the place to be for the faint of heart or those easily upset or offended by gruff, threatening, or abusive speech.

Specifically, Cortese intended the new law would clarify “willfully interrupting” to mean “intentionally engaging in behavior during a meeting of a legislative body that substantially impairs or renders infeasible the orderly conduct of the meeting.”

The law also mandates local officials to issue a warning to participants to “curtail their disruptive behavior” before removing them or clearing a room.

The new law also was certainly in response to COVID-generated disruptions when local officials made decisions on stay-at-home orders, mask-and-social distancing rules, vaccine requirements for schools, and mixed/inconsistent practices in the application of all of the foregoing rules to businesses and restaurants.

In any event, the Supes were required by the new law (California Government Code Section 54957.9) to incorporate its provisions into their Meeting Rules and Procedures.

Nothing really nefarious about it.

(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 12 noon on KPFN 105.1 FM, also streamed live: http://www.kpfn.org)

Stones at Navarro Beach (Annie Kalantarian)

WHAT HAPPENED TO MSWMA, car-bomber Mike Sweeney’s old semi-independent Mendocino Solid Waste Management Authority? (Last we heard the County was having trouble finding someone to replace Sweeney in the County Transportation Department.)

In the agenda packet for next Wednesday’s Board of Supervisors Workshop we learned that somewhere along the way in the last few years the County has dumped agency management on the City of Ukiah. We don’t recall the change ever coming up at a Board of Supervisors meeting for consideration: “The City of Ukiah now serves as the Mendocino Solid Waste Management Authority (MSWMA) administrator; illegal dumping can be reported to the City of Ukiah Public Works Department, Attn: Seth Strader (707) 467-5719.” And, “The Haz-Mobile is open every Wednesday 9 AM to 1 PM at 3200 Taylor Drive, Ukiah, and on select Saturdays at various locations around the County. The current schedule can be found at: https://candswaste.com/services/household-hazardous-waste/#mendo-hhw.”

So the City of Ukiah now negotiates with the waste haulers on garbage rates and services? Wouldn’t the City of Ukiah tend to give preferential rates and service to Ukiah as opposed to other Mendolanders in this arrangement? Theoretically, the MSWMA Board has the interests of the entire County in mind. But wouldn’t Ukiah officials tend to prioritize Ukiah to the extent that unincorporated areas and the other cities are disadvantaged in the waste hauler contracts and rates and service requirements? According to the MSWMA website Mendo’s rep on the MSWMA Board is former City Councilperson and current Ukiah area Supervisors Maureen Mulheren. Only two of the other seats are even filled (Jason Goedeke of Fort Bragg and Ukiah Councilman Doug Crane) the Coast rep position is empty and the Willits rep position is empty. So the MSWMA Board is dominated by Ukiah reps too.

(Mark Scaramella)

JULIE BEARDSLEY, re: The Cubbison Case

There is a lot to potentially comment on, but I feel it’s important to raise a particular issue.

According to the “Local Government Records Management Guidelines” enacted by the State of California in 2006, local governments must preserve their records and this includes electronic records – including emails. This is usually done by backing up the day’s electronic data every evening, and this data is supposed to be stored in a facility away from the County to prevent loss. For example, Los Angeles County used to house their archives in Anaheim, until it became obvious that a disaster like an earthquake in Los Angeles County was too close to Orange County, so I believe the archives are now housed in Arizona. (Not completely sure about the details, but you get the point). It is really unheard of to have the archival system “fall apart” and to have specific emails deleted unless they were deleted on purpose, i.e., maliciously. I would remind readers that former Auditor Weer was allowed into the County buildings and allowed to access the County’s secure electronic system, while no longer an employee. (He was subsequently hired as extra-help shortly after this). Ms. Cubbison allowed him to come into secured County buildings to help her understand her job as the new Auditor. I do not fault Ms. Cubbison for wanting help, but she should have known better than to allow a non-employee, (even a former one), to access the secure system. My question then is, who deleted these emails? It seems to me that if there was mis-coding on a payroll sheet for wages legitimately earned by an employee, it is Mr. Weer who should be questioned, since he okay’d the time sheets. This certainly does not rise to the level of witch hunt against poor Ms. Cubbison, who I personally believe would be justified in asking for compensation from the County for the damage that has been done to her career and reputation. I sincerely hope Judge Moorman, with her very astute wisdom and experience, decides to dismiss this fiasco so Ms. Cubbison may get on with her life.

Just my two cents.

WILLITS ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER FILES CEASE & DESIST LETTER AGAINST MENDOCINO COUNTY

TO: County of Mendocino Cannabis Department 860 North Bush Street

Ukiah, California 95482 mcdpod@mendocinocounty.gov

From Rachel Doughty

2748 Adeline Street, Suite A Berkeley, CA 94703

Phone: (510) 900-9502

Email: rdoughty@greenfirelaw.com www.greenfirelaw.com

RE: Interpretation and Application of Mendocino Cannabis Ordinance (Cease And Desist)

To Whom It May Concern:

This Cease And Desist letter is sent to you on behalf of our client, Willits Environmental Center (WEC). WEC demands that the Mendocino County Cannabis Department (“MCD”) cease accepting and processing applications for an additional Mendocino Commercial Cannabis Business License (“CCBL”) on any single legal parcel where the additional CCBL would cause the maximum area of cultivation to exceed the maximum area allowed for a single CCBL, i.e. more than a total of 5,000 square feet on any parcel of five (5) to ten (10) acres, and more.

In April of this year, the public was informed that MCD intended to change the interpretation of the County’s Cannabis Ordinance (“Ordinance”) to allow a doubling of the area of mature canopy cultivation on a single parcel. WEC publicly objected to this new “interpretation” which is at odds with the only reading of the Ordinance by the County to date.

On September 10, 2024, the Board of Supervisors regular meeting included agenda item 4F: “Discussion and Possible Action Including Direction to Staff Regarding Cannabis Density.

“Upon motion by Supervisor Williams, seconded by Supervisor Haschak, It Is Ordered that the Board of Supervisors directs staff to draft language maintain the original intent of Mendocino County Code section 10.A.17.070(D) and limit it to one 10,000 square foot cultivation site per parcel for mature plants; do not process any more applications; and direct staff to come back with options for dealing with the applicants that have been approved. (emphasis added.)

The motion was approved five to zero.

Notably, the reference to original intent is corroborated by a review of the staff memo that was provided to the Board of Supervisors in March 2017 by the County’s Agricultural Commissioner, Chief Planner, and Deputy County Counsel. That memo said, in relevant part:

Paragraph (D) contains the pre-existing requirement that a person may obtain two cultivation permits and are limited to one permit per parcel. Pursuant to Board direction, this paragraph now also allows 2 permits to be on the same parcel so long as the total square footage of the 2 permits does not exceed the largest maximum square footage permitted on a parcel in that zoning district. For example, a person could obtain two 5,000 square foot permits in a zoning district that allowed a person to obtain a single 10,000 permit. (emphasis added.)

And, the scope of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) compliance for the Ordinance also assumed the above interpretation, calculating impact based upon:

“a maximum of 10,000 square feet of cultivation (less than a 1⁄4 acre) or 22,000 square feet in nursery( cannabis in vegetative state only) on any parcel will be eligible for a permit.”

(Nov. 7, 2016, adopted Mar. 21, 2017, item 5F, referenced by Board in adoption of amended ordinance on Apr. 18, 2018.) Thus, environmental impacts for a more expansive interpretation of the Ordinance have never been examined.

On October 22, 2024, the Board of Supervisors again took up the issue, with agenda item 4E:

“Discussion and Possible Action Including (1) Introduction and Waive First Reading of an Ordinance Amending Chapter 10A.17 of the Mendocino County Code to Limit Two Non-Nursery CCBLs on One Parcel to 10,000 Square Feet of Total Plant Canopy, (2) Adoption of CEQA Resolution Regarding an Addendum to the Previously Adopted Mitigation Negative Declaration, and (3) Provide Direction to Staff on the Handling of CCBL Applications Submitted Before the Requested Ordinance Amendment.”

There was ample discussion, but no action was taken by the Board on this agenda item.

The agenda packet for Item 4E of the BOS’s October 22, 2024, meeting, Exhibit A--“Addendum to the Mitigated Negative Declaration for Mendocino County Medical and Adult-Use Commercial Cultivation”--at page 3, under subheading “Explanation of Decision Not to Prepare a Supplemental Mitigated Negative Declaration,” Finding 1, para 2, acknowledged the long- standing interpretation of the Ordinance:

“The proposed amendments to Chapter 10A.17 expressly limit two non- nursery commercial cannabis business licenses on one parcel to 10,000 square feet of total plant canopy and 5,000 square feet of total plant canopy for parcels zoned Rural Residential (lot size five (5) acres [R-R: L- 5]), as was the original legislative intent.”

(Exhibit A-3, Findings, p. 5, paragraph 1, to Agenda Item 4E, BOS, Oct. 22, 2024 (emphasis added).)

Despite the clear history and the desired policy as recently stated on September 10, 2024 by the Board of Supervisors’ 5-0 vote directing staff to draft language to maintain the original intent of the ordinance to cap cultivation area per parcel at 10,000 square feet, the County’s new Counsel and the Interim Cannabis Director doubled down and stated in a memo in the agenda packet for Item 4E to the Board of Supervisors that the plain meaning of the Ordinance allowed a doubling of the cultivation area under section 10A.17.070(D). (Oct. 22, 2024, memo to the Board of Supervisors from the Office of County Counsel.) The same memo stated that “the licenses have not been issued,” but it is clear from the remainder of the memo, that absent adoption of the draft ordinance amendment provided to the Board on October 22, 2024, staff would process the non- conforming applications. The Board took no action on Item 4E, so the last action of the Board was direction to ensure caps stayed at 10,000 square feet per legal parcel as the ordinance has always been interpreted.

Given the continued push of the MCD, it is not surprising that it has come to the attention of WEC that notwithstanding County Attorney’s prior and contemporaneous-with-adoption reading of the Ordinance, the express understanding of the intent and consistent reading of the Ordinance by the Board of Supervisors, and the scope of the prior CEQA analysis of the Ordinance, MCD continues to accept applications for additional CCBLs on parcels that would cause the cultivation caps for those parcels to be exceeded—flying in the face of the interpretation of the Ordinance the County has always held.

WEC demands that County staff stop accepting and processing such applications and decline to issue any CCBL that would not be consistent with the Ordinance as interpreted by the Board of Supervisors (and the County’s Agricultural Commissioner, Chief Planner, and Deputy County Counsel) at all times since adoption of the Ordinance. It is WEC’s position that it would be unlawful to issue such permits as they would be inconsistent with the Ordinance, and issuance without further environmental analysis, including cumulative impact analysis, would violate CEQA.

Please confirm in writing, within ten (10) business days of the date of this letter, that MCD has ceased its consideration of CCBLs that do not comport with the longstanding interpretation of the Ordinance and which would allow up to doubling of mature canopy cultivation on a single parcel. If we are forced to proceed with legal action, our client and our office will pursue all available injunctive relief and monetary damages related to the improper interpretation and application of the Ordinance by MCD as well as attorney fees and costs.

Sincerely,

Rachel Doughty Greenfire Law, PC

MANY THANKS to Una Morgan for coming to the Unity Club to talk about her wonderful tea shop Moon Honey Tea in the John Hanes building 15041 CA 128, Boonville. She is inspiring.

FIRE TAX MONEY DOING SOME GOOD

To the Editor

The Mendocino County Fire Chiefs Association (MCFCA) wishes to thank the people of Mendocino County for approving Measure P in November 2022, which made a small percent of sales tax available for fire-safety services.

Since it is a general tax, the County of Mendocino is not obligated to grant Measure P revenue to Fire Agencies. However, the Board of Supervisors also passed Resolution 22-159, stating its intent that 100 percent of the Measure P funds collected would be used for fire protection and fire prevention services.

As promised during the Measure P campaign, the MCFCA has been vigilant in monitoring the County’s use of those funds, and is pleased to report that, to date, the County of Mendocino is apportioning all Measure P revenues as intended by Mendocino County voters and Resolution 22-159.

As your first responders for structure fires, wildland fires, medical emergencies, car accidents, search-and-rescue incidents, winter storms, floods and any other disasters we may face, Fire Agencies rely on volunteers and public dollars. Maintaining adequate equipment, facilities, personnel and training to provide this response is essential. Costs and call volumes are increasing every year.

Although Measure P funds alone are not sufficient to meet the expenses, they are helping our agencies continue first-response services, and we appreciate that the County is prioritizing fire and EMS funding with these dollars. We will seek continued prioritization from the County of Mendocino, and we are grateful for the support that the people of Mendocino County have shown for our first-responder services. Thank you.

Doug Hutchison, President, MCFCA

Ukiah

I WAS ABOUT TOWN, WHEN…

Laundry Day, love getting out…

by Anonymous…

I look up, and see woman open my machine, take something out, and throw it inside her machine. I tell her I saw that. She responds I am free to look through her things. Laundry Attendant agrees. She had inconsequential items (not personal items one would expect), and there was my wash cloth “I have lots of these specific raw, scratchy ones to peel my face, daily. I take that out, she says: 'You're willing to call me a lier over a measley wash cloth?”

Notice indecisive, touristy couple approaching cross-walk, so I roll my car over the last line into the street, when Dufus decides to cross. I keep rolling. Later on in the day, and far away from home, I sees Dufusanctimonious with Trophy, he says to her pointing to me: 'the one who…' explaination side-steps la verite.

This goes on todos los dias.

CHRIS SKYHAWK

I support this Petition to Immediately Reinstate KZYX Operations Director Rich Culbertson and Call for an Emergency Board of Directors Election

ED NOTES

BAD NEWS FOR MENDO PEDAGOGY. According to a recent study by the University of Buffalo, indiscriminate, undeserved compliments lead to serious reading and thinking problems. The study suggests that overconfidence lowers a student's ability to accurately assess and evaluate his or her reading level. Those who can accurately gauge their strengths and weaknesses are in a better position to identify realistic goals and achieve them. The research was the first large-scale international study of almost 160,000 students’ overconfidence and reading levels. Needless to say, love bombing the young is an instructional way of life in Mendocino County where few high school graduates can read much beyond a 6th grade level and are unable to write so much as an error-free paragraph.

ANOTHER SATISFIED CUSTOMER. A woman I didn't recognize approached me outside Lemons Market in Philo one morning while I was peddling my papers. “I'm really pissed at you, Bruce.” Take a number and have a seat. Which I didn't say because I'm always curious about the reason, and even at my advanced age I still haven't adjusted to women using vulgar language, although the bi-gender air has been blue for decades, and I'm prone to throwing f-bombs myself in male company. Anyway, the pissed off lady said that I was “totally wrong about not voting for Biden.” Why? I asked. I was going to say I wouldn't vote for Biden under torture, but no need to stir the old girl up unnecessarily, and I was on the job, such as it is, and was in a hurry. She said, “We all have to vote for Biden so the election isn't even close because if it's close he won't leave.” I said I understood her reasoning but that “we” have been an ineffective opposition for years because of this kind of lesser of two evil-ism, that this time it's even more depressing because the Northcoast went heavily for Bernie and here’s Biden going around saying stuff like, “I'm not a socialist. I beat the socialist in the primaries.” As if time capsule Bern has ever represented any kind of threat to America's social-economic order. But timid as he is, “we” voted for Bernie and, as usual, the DNC stiffed us and shoved their guy Biden, even then obviously ga-ga, deep down our craws, knowing they could scare us into voting Republican Lite. I said all this and she listened. “Well, you're wrong, Bruce. Can I give you a hug?”

ONE NIGHT, a “virtual riot” broke out two hours after the Buckhorn bar in Covelo had closed but the local mopes were still milling around outside when a 911 caller reported 45 locals were fighting in the center of town.

That night, 25-year-old Michael Pina, who once assaulted former AVA reporter Mark Heimann, was arrested but subsequently won a lawsuit against the Sheriff's Department alleging undue use of force during his arrest. A few years later Pina himself would become one of several eternally pending cold cases out of Covelo after he was found murdered. And there was a murder outside the bar and innumerable fist fights inside. A valiant soul called Allan Barr for years managed somehow to make a living as owner of the Buckhorn. The bar closed but has been re-opened under new owners who have made a go of it.

I USED TO ENJOY tuning in to allanjustallan on YouTube for a look at Covelo At Play. Barr owned the almost eponymous Buckhorn Bar in Covelo, an enterprise whose management probably can't be taught in business school, but Barr somehow made a go of what most of us would assume as capitalism at its most hopeless. The videos of the bar’s interior showed us what Barr was up against. Fat guys bursting through the door, throwing off their shirts and stomping belligerently up to other shirtless fat guys as each commences punching the other.

ONE SHOT of the street from Allan's security camera showed Allan's van being stabbed by some lunatic who plunges a dagger into its hood. And so on. To counterbalance these mini-movies of very bad Buckhorn behavior by Covelo's 30-year-old preschoolers, Barr also posted shots of happy, peaceful crowds dancing the night away without fighting or otherwise behaving in an oafish manner.

THE GUY somehow endured years of sociopathic hijinks in his place of business without throwing up his hands. Although despairing at times, Barr remained boldly in business in a community where a subset of the population feels free to commit mayhem whenever they feel like it.

THE BUCKHORN'S previous owner of many years, the legendary Wayne Cox, was said to keep a baseball bat and a gun behind the bar, resorting to the bat in lieu of a (delayed) police response to bar problems. But Allan Barr, last time I checked, had miraculously kept above water, writing, “It's astonishing how fast my business has turned around. Problems have been at an all time low, income has increased significantly this past month while expenses have dropped just as significantly… June Carter's daughter came into the bar last night, along with some very prominent members of this community, a birthday group… Please don't get a slanted view of this wonderful community due to the fact that many of my postings relate to dealing with a small minority of malcontents who believe it's their right to commit crimes against other people just because they get the opportunity.” Here's to Allan Barr, hero of free enterprise!

SOLDIERING ON AGAINST OVERWHELMING POPULAR OPPOSITION…

Change Our Name’s Monthly teach-in will be Wednesday, January 22, at 7 p.m. in the Community Room of the Fort Bragg Library at 499 E.Laurel Street in Fort Bragg

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

Our Speaker will be Juan Dominguez, a Point Arena Manchester Band of Pomo Indians Tribal Member dedicated to amplifying Native voices as indigenous people here on turtle island.

He created and hosts Burn the Wagon a podcast series directed at amplifying the voices of people of color, offering platforms to tell their own stories, and talking about history in ways that are not talked about in history books. The podcast is here to verbally and metaphorically “burn the wagon” that is capitalism, patriarchy, and colonialism.

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

For further information: changeournamefortbragg@gmail.com

A local grass roots non-profit, Change Our Name Fort Bragg is dedicated to an educational process that leads to changing the name of Fort Bragg so that it no longer honors a military Fort that dispossessed Indigenous people or Braxton Bragg, an enslaver and Confederate General who waged war against our country.

Philip Zwerling, Ph.D.

http://www.philipzwerling.com

Change Our Name Fort Bragg

www.changeournamefortbragg.com

THE STARS OF THE SEA ARE ON DECK AT MENDOCINO COUNTY’S ANNUAL SEAFOOD & SIPS

Crab-Cake Cook-Off, Oyster & Sparkling Wine Celebration & Cioppino Feeds Shuck the Socks off Winter.

Savor the bounty of Mendocino County this winter as the annual Seafood & Sips rides in on a wave for a 10-day run January 24 through February 2, 2025. This annual Pacific Ocean spotlight is the stop for enthusiasts who enjoy delving into the delicacies of the sea with a full roster of top-flight epicurean adventures from the family-style cioppino feed to Hopland’s signature Sparkling Wine & Oyster Celebration. Topping the culinary line-up is the Crab Cake Cook-Off, pairing local chef creations with a cache of wines from Mendocino County’s top 12 AVAs. www.visitmendocino.com/seafoodandsips2025/

THE BOONVILLE HOTEL

Rain showers, rushing rivers + bursts of blue

It's the season of dramatic skies, lush carpets of green, wild mushrooms, creeks brimming & the joy of salmon swimming in our creeks again!

Come enjoy quiet, peaceful days with candlelight, fires, rest up and refill your cup…

we have a bucket full of specials to lure you here now through March

Keep on eye on the adventures here !

Winter Sundays

Every January thru the end of March, join us for dinner, on a Sunday evening and get a room that night half price!!

You can book online or give us a call to reserve your table & room.

An Innkeeper will adjust the pricing upon confirmation. (holiday weekends excluded)

Offspring across the street reopening Tuesday January 28th…

Serving our à la carte menu of handmade pastas, beautiful sides, main plates to share & of course wood fire pizzas.

Come check out the new covered deck. Offspring keeps getting more posh!!

Dinner Tuesday-Saturday

Lunch Saturday and Sunday

Join us for an Offspring dinner on Tuesday & Wednesday evenings and
get 25% off a room @ the hotel enter code "Offspring"

Don't Miss…

There are still a few weekends available for weddings & celebrations.

It's been 36 years of first dates, engagements, weddings, honeymoons, baby-moons, birthdays, anniversaries, reunions…

A lot of love & happiness around here.

Bring the friends and family, gather, eat and celebrate!

Reach out to…

events@boonvillehotel.com to get details.

We have some beautiful winter lo-fi cocktails from our bar on nights the restaurant is open.

Along with friday thru monday evenings 4-6 we are offering a simple bar menu perfect for a light meal.

We're serving our prix fixe menu, sourced from local farms Friday thru Mondays during the cooler months.

Perry posts the menu online Wednesday afternoons for the upcoming weekend.

We've been here 36 years, hoping to be here for another 36.

Thank you for being part of it all.

Hope to see you soon!

The Boonville Hotel and Restaurant

“it's about people, food, drink, and a well-made bed.”

707.895.2210

www.boonvillehotel.com

THE FOLKS WHO LIVE ON THE HILL

by Sarah Nathe

When CalTrans rerouted Highway 1 in 1966 and completed the Caspar Creek Bridge, the new stretch of road ran through what had been the posh Caspar neighborhood of Nob Hill. It’s difficult to think of Caspar as having a notable hill, much less one with fancy houses and high property values, but back in the day it was where the men with the best-paying jobs lived with their families. The highway (such as it was) had gone right through town on what is now Caspar Road, but Nob Hill was higher up the coastal terrace and removed from the dust and noise down by the mill. Today, it’s possible to see the remaining Nob Hill houses directly west of the highway a short distance north of the bridge.

View of the Caspar mill looking to the northeast. The houses at the top of the hill in the center of the photo are on Nob Hill. Kelley House Museum photo.

The area got its name from the iconic one in San Francisco. That city’s California Hill was renamed in the 1870s when the Central Pacific Railroad’s Big Four (Huntington, Hopkins, Crocker, Stanford), known as “the Nobs,” built their mansions there. Nob is a shortening of the Anglo-Indian term Nabob, meaning a great ruler. The term came to be associated with people of conspicuous wealth or high status. The Caspar mill managers, foremen, millwrights, and bookkeepers may not have been nearly as wealthy as the Big Four, but they were the upper crust around here.

What we know about the residents of Nob Hill and their lives derives largely from news bits in the Mendocino Beacon during the first half of the last century. In September, 1908, the “Caspar Correspondences” column reported that Jacob Jackson and his bride had arrived and would be occupying the new house that was built for them on Nob Hill. Jackson was the grandson of J. G. Jackson, who acquired the Caspar Lumber Company in 1864.

In its heyday, Caspar had as many as 5,000 residents and the lumber company’s output was one of the largest on the coast. The company built a number of bungalows and cottages on the hill in the early teens, installed a new sewer there in 1915, and put in a sidewalk from its store in town the same year. That’s also when the company “rocked” the road leading up the hill so the “autoists” who lived there would have a smooth ride.

In April of 1916, the Women’s Study Club of Mendocino met with Mrs. W. H. Higgins at her Nob Hill home. She was the former Anna Burwash, daughter of Caspar pioneer Henry Burwash, and she was married to Walter Higgins, the manager of the Caspar Company Store (the white brick building at the south end of Caspar Road, which once had two stories under a gable roof). Mr. and Mrs. L. P. Hansen moved into their new home on Nob Hill in September, 1918. Lars Peter Hansen was the new millwright at the Caspar mill; he had been at the mill in Mendocino, where he built and lived in the house that is now Café Beaujolais.

In June, 1919, the Beacon reported breathlessly that a tennis court was being installed on Nob Hill. Superintendent Stickney [of the lumber company] was quoted as being sure that “all in the town would greatly enjoy it.” About ten years earlier, a tennis court had been created in Mendocino south of the Ford House, where “members of the town social set gathered on the clay-court most Saturday afternoons.”

Water was an issue in June, 1920, when the Beacon noted that “the company sank the wells on Nob Hill a little deeper to secure a better supply of water.” At that time, the well-known three-tank Caspar water tower was built to store the water and, a couple years later, a pipeline was laid from the tanks to Main Street “so as to furnish water for the downtown residents and the mill.” The tower was dismantled in 1984, but the pump house can still be seen on the east side of the highway about 100 yards north of the Caspar Creek Bridge.

Radio ownership by denizens of Nob Hill was deduced in 1923 when the Beacon observed “radio poles in back of the I. Kaufman residence on Nob Hill.” [In 1923, 1% of U.S. households owned a radio receiver; by 1937, 75% did.] Electricity had come to the communities on the coast in the early 1900s.

Throughout the late 20s and much of the 30s, the Beacon continued to report on important people moving into or out of houses on Nob Hill. Many worked for the lumber company, others owned stores in town, and a few held management positions with the WPA/CCC project that constructed the Mendocino Woodlands Recreation Area. However, the Depression reduced the demand for lumber and production decreased at the Caspar mill.

There were fewer mentions of Nob Hill in the newspaper, the last one being a report on the fire that burned down the house occupied by Ralph Freathy in April of 1949. His father had been Edward Freathy, the lumber company’s Woods Boss, and the house was owned by the lumber company. The mill closed in 1955 and the hill soon lost its lustre.

(The Kelley House Museum is open from Friday through Sunday, 11:00 am — 3:00 pm. Drop in to see our current exhibit on the Northern Pomo. Historic District walking tours leave from the museum on Albion Street regularly; the cost is $25. For a tour schedule, visit kelleyhousemuseum.org.)

MENDOCINO COUNTY WAY BACK WHEN (Ron Parker): Point Arena Hot Springs. The springs are located in the canyon of the Garcia River built in 1895 and opened to the public in 1904.

CATCH OF THE DAY, Thursday, January 9, 2025

SEVERIANO CERDA-ARMAS, 35, Santa Rosa/Ukiah. DUI with priors.

TRACY ESLINGER, 64, Fort Bragg. Domestic abuse.

RODOLFO GONZALEZ-ALVAREZ, 29, Willits. Suspended license for DUI, no license, probation violation.

SANTOS GONZALEZ-ESQUIVEL, 31, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

MATTHEW HARBOUR, 37, Willits. Assault with deadly weapon not a gun, vandalism.

MATTHEW RUSSELL, 43, Fort Bragg. Assault with deadly weapon not a gun, controlled substance, paraphernalia.

PAUL SCHOCK, 23, Philo. Under influence, paraphernalia, probation revocation.

MEGAN SPAIN, 32, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

JALAHN TRAVIS, 25, Ukiah. Probation revocation, resisting.

ASK THE VET: EAR INFECTIONS IN CATS AND DOGS

Many pet owners have heard of ear mites and ear infections, but there seem to be some common misconceptions that prevent pets from receiving appropriate treatment for their ear ailments. Consulting a veterinarian is always the best option when a pet is showing signs of ear discomfort, but I’ve found many pet owners decide to take matters into their own hands for various reasons. Considering the difficulty of finding timely veterinary care in a remote area such as the Mendocino coast, especially for low-income pet owners, I hope this article will help some uncomfortable ears find relief a bit sooner than they would otherwise.

Ear mites are very tiny parasites resembling ticks that live in the ear canal and feed off of ear wax and skin oil. They are essentially microscopic but are sometimes visible with the naked eye, appearing as tiny, moving white dots. Ear mites are transmitted very easily between pets through physical contact. They cause intense itching and inflammation and are often accompanied by dark ear discharge resembling coffee grounds. While ear mites can affect both cats and dogs, they are much more common in cats (especially those that go outdoors). Because of their easy transmission, ear mites tend to be present in all cats within a household.

There are multiple treatment options for ear mites. Over-the-counter ear mite medications can be purchased online or at a feed/pet store, but most of these products need to be applied into the ears every day for a few weeks to work. There are also products (such as Milbemite) that only need to be applied to the ears once to be effective, but these products are available through veterinary prescription only. Other prescription products containing selamectin (such as Revolution) can be applied to the skin once monthly for effective flea, heartworm, and ear mite control. Regardless of the product used, the key to successful treatment is using the product exactly as directed and treating all affected animals (usually cats) in the environment.

While it may be a reasonable first step to treat your outdoor cat’s itchy ears with ear mite medication, this is not usually true for dogs. Dog ear infections are most often due to bacterial and/or yeast proliferation, which can occur from underlying skin allergies, foreign bodies such as foxtails, or breed-related differences in ear shape or ear canal conformation. Bacterial/yeast infections tend to cause intense pain and itching and are often accompanied by foul-smelling ear discharge.

Treatment for bacterial/yeast infections typically includes antibacterial/antifungal ear flushes and medications instilled into the ears. More severe or chronic cases can require additional and ongoing therapies, and infection may return if the underlying cause is not treated. For pets with underlying flea allergy, for example, consistent prescription flea control may be needed to prevent repeated ear infections. In addition to causing chronic discomfort, recurrent ear infections can cause permanent damage to the ear canal and can even affect the surrounding bone.

In summary, both cats and dogs can get ear infections of all types, but ear mites are a much more common cause in cats than in dogs. It is always best to have your pet’s ears evaluated by a veterinarian before attempting to treat them yourself. If that is not possible, however, hopefully this information will help direct you to the most appropriate over-the-counter product for your pet. Just make sure to only use products labeled specifically for dogs and cats and to use them exactly as directed on the label. If your pet’s ear issues persist after treatment, consult with a vet as soon as possible.

("Ask the Vet" is a monthly column written by local veterinarians including Colin Chaves of Covington Creek Veterinary, Karen Novak of Mendocino Village Veterinary, Clare Bartholomew of Mendocino Coast Humane Society and Kendall Willson of Mendocino Equine and Livestock. Past articles can be found on the Advocate-News and Beacon websites by searching "Ask the Vet.”)

IF CALIFORNIA WINE CAME WITH A CANCER WARNING, WOULD PEOPLE KEEP DRINKING IT?

by Esther Mobley

Joe Biden appointed U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, sent shockwaves through the California wine world last week when he recommended that alcohol should carry a cancer warning label, similar to those on cigarette packages. The already-reeling wine industry has widely received the advisory, which stated that alcohol is the nation’s third leading cause of preventable cancer, as a sweeping setback.

The assumption seems to be that Murthy’s statement will compel swaths of Americans to cut back dramatically on their drinking or stop altogether. But will it?

It’s certainly possible. In the often circular debate over alcohol’s health effects, Murthy’s is one of the strongest messages yet. Sure, the advisory is just an advisory; to actually enact warning labels would require Congressional approval. And the forthcoming revision of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, which many expect to have an updated recommendation on alcohol consumption, could wind up feeling more influential.

Still, American life has few figures that carry the authoritative weight of the surgeon general. And Murthy was unequivocal in his warning: “This body of scientific evidence demonstrates a causal relationship between alcohol use and increased risk for at least seven different types of cancer,” his advisory reads.

But a conversation this week with winemaker Dan Petroski, founder of Napa Valley’s Massican, made me question whether this effect is guaranteed. Could it be that the surgeon general’s advisory won’t radically change people’s views on alcohol … because people’s views on alcohol are already extremely negative?

According to Gallup polling, as of 2024, 45% of Americans believe drinking in moderation (defined as one to two drinks a day) is bad for their health, up significantly from 27% in 2001. Americans believe alcohol is so bad for them, in fact, that 33% rated it “very harmful” in a separate 2024 Gallup poll — making its public image just barely better than nicotine pouches, which registered as “very harmful” to 34% of respondents.

But that increasingly negative public image doesn’t seem to have affected people’s drinking habits as much as one might think. During that same time period — 2001 to 2024 — the percentage of Americans who consume alcohol dropped only slightly, according to Gallup, from 62% to 58%. In other words, a lot of people who drink may believe that drinking is bad for them.

Compare those beliefs to how Americans viewed cigarettes in the era when the federal government began to discuss warning labels for them. In 1954, when a poll asked Americans what the health risks of tobacco were, only 7% mentioned cancer, according to a Gallup report. This was an era when the tobacco industry’s advertising power was largely uninhibited and it could make false claims about the health effects of smoking — claims that apparently, for decades, convinced much of the population that smoking was perfectly healthy.

The scientific details of this debate — the question of how alcohol actually affects our bodies — are beyond the purview of this non-medically trained journalist. Certainly, there’s a sizable contingent of doctors and scientists who argue that warnings like the surgeon general’s greatly exaggerate the hazards of moderate consumption. Another recent dispatch from the federal government, December’s report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, is consistent with that argument. In contrast to Murthy’s advisory, it found that moderate drinking has some protective effects, especially for cardiovascular disease. It noted a small increase in breast cancer risk, but not any other types of cancer.

Amid all this noise, I wonder whether many Americans ultimately treat alcohol like they do other vices like sugar or screen time: something they consume with full knowledge of its possible risks, because it brings them some degree of pleasure.

(SF Chronicle)

*Reclining Woman On A Leopard Skin* (1927) Otto Dix

ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Ever sit a day someplace and just watch bird behaviors? It’s outright warfare all day every day. Starts off with the early ones getting the worms and bugs, then the crows show up to get the scraps to push their dominance and get into your trash. Then the jays show to scope out the other birds nests. Then the ravens come by to laugh at the crows and show them who’s boss. The vultures are just circling and getting chased by angry mom tweety birds. The humming birds just find a way to get at the flowers without getting killed and then the ospreys and eagles cruise through, everything scatters, but it is not them they’re concerned with. It’s the falcon and hawk assassins, and the pigeons are on notice to vacate the area. Or die mid air. Or anything that moves really. And the seagulls are just there to make a mess and noise. Not to forget there’s the thousand starlings going tree to tree like locusts in a field getting in everyone’s way. The ducks and geese are merely interstate travelers stopping at the pond and lake rest areas in their travels.

ARCHIVED DEC. 2 KMUD SHOW with Brian M Jenkins, Terrorism Expert

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI_6A4Zm278

Brian Jenkins is a former executive at Kroll Associates, the world's leading private intelligence agency. He currently works at the RAND Corporation. During his over five decades of intelligence operations and analysis, Jenkins has advised governments, militaries, private corporations and churches,

Jenkins was featured in the 1980 documentary about the Vietnam War, "Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War".

From 1989 to 1998, Jenkins was deputy chairman of security firm Kroll Associates.

He currently serves as Senior Advisor to the President of the RAND Corporation and Director of the Mineta Transportation Institute's Transportation Security Center.

He also served as a member of the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security, 1996–1997 and as an advisor to the National Commission on Terrorism, 2000. He has served as an advisor to the U.S. Department of State, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and other government agencies.

Jenkins is the author of many books, including "Unconquerable Nation" (2006), "Will Terrorists Go Nuclear?" (2008), and "Plagues and their Aftermath" (2022).

— John Sakowicz, "Heroes and Patriots Radio" on KMUD

KWOON

There's a song by Kwoon called ‘I Lived On the Moon.’ Several versions are on YouTube, including one with a beautiful sepiatone-on-card-stock animated story to go with it. The first part, quiet lyrics, guitar and synthesizer sounds, always shifts over into Joan Baez' Diamonds And Rust in my head, because of the same gentleness and chords. Then the music rises, as the child sits on a mysterious shrub and is thrust up into the sky, and it goes back.

A long time ago I read an interview with Joan Baez. She told the reporter about how one day when she was thirteen or fourteen she just really didn't want to go to school. Her mother said, "Is something important happening at school today?" Joan said, "No." Her mother let her stay home. In the interview, Joan said, "I think my mother understood that there would never be anything important happening at school."

Marco McClean

HERE’S MY JOAN BAEZ STORY:

At about six in the morning (from my friend’s apartment in Berkeley.) , I decided to walk home. I took a short cut through Sproul Plaza, the site of the not-too-distant Free Speech Movement. Lost in thought, I saw a young woman casually walking up the plaza steps with a guitar case in hand.

What was she doing on the campus at this hour, I thought, and also, didn’t she look familiar? She was beautiful with long hair and a slim figure. Intrigued I paused in a nearby location, where I could watch her as she ascended the steps. She sat down, casually took out the guitar, and started singing a familiar Bob Dylan song, “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands”. It didn’t take long to recognize her melodious voice. It was Joan Baez, singing by herself to the rising sun. I sat on the steps at some distance and listened as the only member of the audience.

Del Potter

Gualala

EATING IN THE 50s

Pasta was not commonly eaten.
Curry was a surname.
A takeaway was a mathematical problem.
A pizza was associated with a leaning tower.
Chips were plain; the only choice we had was whether to add salt or not.
Rice was only served as a milk pudding.
A raincoat was what we wore when it rained.
Brown bread was considered food only for the poor.
Oil was for lubricating; fat was for cooking.
Tea was brewed in a teapot using tea leaves, and green tea was unheard of.
Sugar was highly regarded, considered "white gold," and cubed sugar was seen as luxurious.
Fish didn’t have fingers.
Eating raw fish was seen as poverty, not sushi.
None of us had ever heard of yogurt.
Healthy food consisted of anything edible.
People who didn’t peel potatoes were viewed as lazy.
Indian restaurants existed only in India.
Cooking outdoors was called camping.
Seaweed was not recognized as food.
"Kebab" wasn’t even a word, let alone a type of food.
Prunes were considered medicinal.
Surprisingly, muesli was available, but it was called cattle feed.
Water came straight from the tap; if someone had suggested bottling it and charging more than petrol, they would have been laughed at!
And the things we never, ever had on our table in the 50s and 60s: elbows or phones.

JON KENNEDY (Potter Valley)

As a former firefighter who’s been on my share of strike teams and EMS calls, back when we could actually fight fires, and more recently, as someone who worked with over 400 families who lost everything from wildfires, I’ve seen firsthand the grief, pain, and resilience it takes to rebuild. That’s why I’m absolutely disgusted by the politically motivated blame game I’m seeing. Ignorant, misinformed statements from the same scum who was somehow elected president again are now parroted by his cult followers.

The first thing these people do? Point fingers at politicians and policymakers, as if they’ve ever lifted a finger to help those who’ve lost everything. Blame is easy when you’ve done nothing. Where’s the compassion? The decency? If you’ve got no experience, no understanding, and no willingness to help, maybe it’s time to sit down, shut up, and let those of us who’ve been in the trenches handle it.

LEAD STORIES, FRIDAY'S NYT

New Fire Threatens Los Angeles, as Death Toll Rises to 10

Supreme Court Denies Trump’s Last-Ditch Effort to Avoid Sentencing

Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to Law That Could Shut Down TikTok

Judge Rejects Biden’s Title IX Rules, Scrapping Protections for Trans Students

Perry the Donkey, Model for ‘Shrek,’ Dies at 30

“ONE DAY, it's just gonna be the right wind and fire's gonna start in the right place and it's gonna burn through LA all the way to the ocean and there's not a fuckng thing we can do about it. If the wind hits the wrong way, it's just going to burn through LA.”

— Joe Rogan, July 24, 2024

FIRES DEVASTATE L.A. AS DEATH TOLL RISES TO 10

The threat of more fires propelled by blistering Santa Ana winds hung over Southern California on Friday as firefighters battled to contain the raging blazes that have killed at least 10 people and destroyed thousands of structures.

More than 35,000 acres, an area twice the size of Manhattan, have burned in and around Los Angeles. A new fire, the Kenneth fire, broke out Thursday evening in West Hills, north of Calabasas, and grew rapidly to 1,000 acres within hours. Mandatory evacuation orders were lifted before midnight as the fire was partially contained, but its outbreak showed “we are absolutely not out of this extreme weather event,” Los Angeles fire chief Kristin M. Crowley said.

The two biggest blazes in the region were barely contained on Friday morning. The Palisades fire, at nearly 20,000 acres, had destroyed more than 5,000 structures, many of them in Pacific Palisades on the west side of Los Angeles. The Eaton fire, near Altadena and Pasadena to the east, destroyed as many as 5,000 structures as it burned through 13,600 acres, fire officials said. That puts both fires among the five most destructive on record in California.

Here’s what we’re covering:

Weather warning: The National Weather Service said it expected “critical red flag” fire weather conditions to continue in much of Los Angeles and Ventura counties through Friday because of low humidity and the dry Santa Ana winds. After weakening on Thursday, winds picked up overnight, with peak gusts in the mountains north of Los Angeles reaching 81 m.p.h.

Federal aid: The rapid spread of the fires this week has stretched local and state resources. President Biden that the federal government would pay for 100 percent of the region’s firefighting needs for the next 180 days, pledging the full weight of his — and his successor’s — administration to help contain the fires.

Reinforcements: Gov. Gavin Newsom of California on Thursday approved a request from Los Angeles County for help from the California National Guard to ensure public safety and maintain order.

Water advisories: Residents of several communities were told to avoid using tap water because of diminished water pressure or the possibility of contamination by fire debris. Some water districts urged customers to use bottled water for drinking, preparing food and even bathing.…

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/01/10/us/fires-los-angeles-california#here-are-the-latest-developments

TRUMP BLAMES LOS ANGELES WILDFIRES ON NEWSOM

by Dan Bacher

As apocalyptic scenes emerged from the climate change-induced fires raging across the Pacific Palisades, Pasadena and elsewhere in Los Angeles County, President Elect Donald Trump yesterday blasted California Governor Gavin Newsom on Truth Social for not signing a “water declaration” that would provide more water for Californians.

As he has done many times before because of his complete lack of knowledge about California water and fish populations, Trump blamed it all on the Delta Smelt when in reality the smelt has nothing to do with the current LA region wildfires or any other wildfires.

An initial estimate of the cost of the LA fires is between $52 billion and $57 billion, making it the most expensive fire event in history, according to AccuWeather Inc.

Trump said Newsom “refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California, including the areas that are currently burning in a virtually apocalyptic way. He wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish called a smelt, by giving it less water (it didn’t work!), but didn’t care about the people of California.”

The problem is that the “water restoration” declaration cited by Trump doesn’t exist. Newsom's office sent the following statement to ABC10 to expose this lie:

“There is no such document as the water restoration declaration – that is pure fiction. The Governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need.”…

https://www.elkgrovedailynews.com/trump-blames-los-angeles-wildfires-on-newsom-and-delta-smelt

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED WITH THE PACIFIC PALISADES WATER HYDRANTS?

by Kevin Tidmarsh

It’s a headline no one would want to see: Fire hydrants being used to fight the Palisades Fire were running dry.

The fast-moving fire tested the L.A. Department of Water and Power’s municipal system: The final tank used to maintain water pressure in the area ran dry by 3 a.m. Wednesday, according to officials.

The news drew ire both on social media and from prominent figures like Rick Caruso. The former mayoral candidate and Pacific Palisades landowner went on local TV news stations to complain about the situation, telling Fox 11 it was “absolute mismanagement by the city.”

Officials say they were and are operating in extreme conditions. We looked into how exactly the shortage happened, and what, if anything, could have been done to prevent it.

Water Supply Was Too Slow, Not Too Low

LADWP’s explanation for the shortage comes down to three nearby water tanks, each with a storage capacity of about a million gallons. These tanks help maintain enough pressure for water to travel uphill through pipes to homes and fire hydrants — but the pressure had decreased due to heavy water use, and officials knew the tanks couldn’t keep up the drain forever.

“We pushed the system to the extreme,” LADWP CEO Janisse Quiñones said in a news conference. “Four times the normal demand was seen for 15 hours straight, which lowered our water pressure.”

According to LADWP, the tanks’ water supply needed to be replenished in order to provide enough pressure for the water to travel to fire hydrants uphill. But officials said as firefighters drew more and more water from the trunk line, or main supply, they used water that would have refilled the tanks, eventually depleting them.

That decreased the water pressure, which is needed for the water to travel uphill.

“I want to make sure that you understand there's water on the trunk line, it just cannot get up the hill because we cannot fill the tanks fast enough,” Quiñones said.

A Strain On LADWP’s Resources

The first LADWP water tank ran out at about 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, while the second ran out at approximately 8:30 p.m. that day and the third and final tank ran out at about 3 a.m. Wednesday. Officials said this was to be expected due to the constraints of the municipal water system, which L.A. County Public Works Director Mark Pestrella said is “not designed to fight wildfires.”

“A firefight with multiple fire hydrants drawing water from the system for several hours is unsustainable,” Pestrella said in a news conference Wednesday. “This is a known fact.”

Indeed, fire hydrants have also run dry in the case of other wildfires that spread to urban areas, including the 2017 Tubbs Fire, 2024’s Mountain Fire and 2023’s Maui wildfires.

In these cases, firefighters have to rely on other water sources. For the Palisades Fire, LADWP brought in 19 water trucks, each with capacities of 4,000 gallons.

“There is no lack of water flowing through our pipes and flowing to the Palisades area,” LADWP spokesperson Mia Rose Wong said in a statement to LAist. “Water remains available in Palisades, but is limited in areas at elevation impacting fire hydrants.”

Tanks are commonly used across the LADWP system for both daily and emergency purposes. For reference, the million-gallon tanks are much smaller than LADWP’s reservoirs, which can hold hundreds of millions, or even billions, of gallons of water (and are miles away from the Pacific Palisades).

Officials said that normally, emergency teams would rely more on air support like firefighting helicopters, which would lessen the strain on water tanks by using more water from other sources like above-ground reservoirs. However, high winds and a lack of air visibility have meant those firefighting operations have been grounded, Pestrella said.

“County and city water reservoirs — open reservoirs — are available and on standby once [aerial firefighting] support becomes available,” he said.

Hydrants: A Known Concern

While the news of dry fire hydrants came as a shock to many local residents, it’s a known concern that firefighters have run into in the past: As homes burn and water lines begin to leak, overall water pressure drops, meaning that hydrants can run dry before long.

Generally speaking, wildfires quickly cause strain on local water supplies.

“It happens pretty quickly in almost any wildfire in most contexts, but especially one like this,” said Greg Pierce, director of the UCLA Water Resources Group.

In order to have a system that could have handled the demands of continuous firefighting through fire hydrants, Pierce said LADWP would have needed to keep much larger reserves of water physically on hand near the locations of possible wildfires.

“There is a theoretical world, and maybe a world we're entering into, where we could pay much, much more to have redundant water and power supply — because you need both [to fight fire], especially in terrains like this,” Pierce said. “I'm not even sure that would have made a difference when it comes to these types of wildfires, but that's possible.”

Pierce said that level of financial commitment would be “incredibly expensive,” but that’s what would be needed in order to keep fire hydrants running — especially in mountainous or hilly regions where local agencies also have to contend with pumping water uphill.

“There's no reason to think that DWP was particularly ill prepared, no one was talking about them being ill prepared for wildfires,” he said. “This caught everyone off guard, as far as I know.”

Conserving Water Will Help

As in the case of the Mountain Fire, officials are asking LADWP users to limit their water usage.

“I need our customers to really conserve water, not just in the Palisade area, but the whole system,” Quiñones said. “The fire department needs the water to fight the fires, and we're fighting a wildfire with urban water systems, and that is really challenging.”

Since the added stress has decreased the water quality near the Pacific Palisades, officials have issued a 48-hour boil water notice to residents of the 90272 zipcode and nearby communities north of San Vicente Boulevard.

“Because we're pushing the water system so hard, our water quality is decreasing,” Quiñones said. “We have a lot of ash in our system.”

And one of the biggest ways to reduce stress on municipal systems is for local residents to have their own water supplies — like tanks or even pools — for emergency personnel to use.

(LAist.com)

*Children in a junk-littered lot, Chicago* (1947) by Walker Evans

THE JAN. 6 RIOTERS, 4 YEARS LATER

Hundreds of rioters accused of nonviolent crimes during the attack on the Capitol have wrapped up their cases. Here’s what some of their lives look like now.

by Alan Feuer

In the past four years, nearly 1,600 people have been prosecuted in connection with the storming of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Some were accused of felonies like assault or seditious conspiracy and are still in prison. But hundreds charged with lesser crimes have wrapped up their cases and returned to their lives.

Jan. 6 was a turning point for everyone involved. In breaching the Capitol, a mob of Trump loyalists caused millions of dollars in damage, injured more than 140 police officers and, for the first time in American history, chased lawmakers away from their duty to certify a presidential election.

The attack also prompted the largest single investigation the Justice Department has ever undertaken, leading to arrests in all 50 states. Ever since, the defendants have been held to account in Washington’s federal courthouse, blocks away from the Capitol itself, for their roles in undermining a bedrock of democracy, the peaceful transfer of power.

While some have come to regret their actions on that day, others do not. At best, they say they have seen the realities of the criminal justice system, becoming more sympathetic to the plights of others facing prosecution. At worst, they remain convinced that the system treated them unfairly, hardened by their brushes with the law.

The judges who have overseen Capitol riot cases have routinely pushed back on that idea.

“I have been shocked to watch some public figures try to rewrite history, claiming rioters behaved ‘in an orderly fashion’ like ordinary tourists, or martyrizing convicted Jan. 6 defendants as ‘political prisoners’ or even, incredibly, ‘hostages,’” Judge Royce C. Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, said in court last year. “That is all preposterous.”

Still, President-elect Donald J. Trump has promised to pardon many, maybe most, of the rioters as soon as he takes office and could shut down the broad investigation into the Capitol attack. Here are the experiences of some defendants accused of relatively minor crimes four years after Jan. 6.

Eric Clark

On Jan. 6, Eric Clark was three years sober and had more or less settled into a middle-class life as a machine operator in Louisville, Ky., after years of battling homelessness and drug addiction.

But the belief that Mr. Trump won the 2020 election led him to illegally enter the Capitol in a Guy Fawkes mask and refuse to leave for nearly 30 minutes. Mr. Clark was sentenced to five months in prison. Now 48, he is working on a drywall cleanup crew, trying to put his life back together.

His one great success, he said, is the relationship he has rebuilt with his daughter — even though it was she who turned him in to the authorities to begin with.

“Instead of being mad at her,” he said, “I’ve chosen to accept that she has her viewpoint and I have mine.”

Jacob Chansley

Few people are more visibly associated with the Capitol attack than Jacob Chansley, the so-called QAnon Shaman, who entered the building in face paint and a horned headdress while brandishing an American flag on a spear-tipped flagpole.

Moving with the first wave of rioters, he left a threatening note on the Senate floor for Vice President Mike Pence, who had to be hustled to safety as the mob overwhelmed the Capitol.

Yet, like others who disrupted the election certification that day, Mr. Chansley seeks to cast the 41-month sentence he received as “experiencing tyranny firsthand.” Even after his release, he maintains Jan. 6 was “a setup” by the government and that public officials and the news media have painted him as a “villain and a terrorist.”

Still, Mr. Chansley, 37, said his day-to-day life in Phoenix creating art remains much the same as before that day — “other than I get more interviews now.”

Daniel Christmann

Daniel Christmann was 38 when he was arrested on misdemeanor charges after entering the Capitol on Jan. 6 through a broken window. At the time, Mr. Christmann, who lives in New York City, had worked as a plumber and an activist journalist and had run for public office in New York.

Working with his defense lawyers during his prosecution so inspired him that he returned to school after serving his 25-day sentence. He expects to graduate in May from St. Joseph’s College in Brooklyn. And now, at 42, he is applying to law school and wants to be a lawyer who can battle what he sees as the excesses of the government — not unlike the federal defender who first came to his aid, he said.

“I just felt like what went on in my case was so bizarre and unjust that I knew we needed more fighters like her,” Mr. Christmann said.

Casey Cusick

Casey Cusick didn’t know much about the federal criminal justice system before he was convicted at trial of four misdemeanors for unlawfully entering the Capitol. But Mr. Cusick, a 39-year-old car dealer from Tulsa, Okla., says he now understands a little more about the cost of being held to account for his role in an attack that prosecutors say “threatened the peaceful transfer of power.”

He lost his small business as a handyman after his case was featured on the local news. And, he says, he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal fees.

Mr. Cusick also said he remained shocked by the harsh realities that accompany facing federal charges — everything from giving up his firearm and his passport when his case first started to the conditions of the prison where he served his 10-day sentence.

“It changed my mind forever about the criminal justice system,” he said. “I’ll never look at the term ‘prisoner’ the same again.”

Couy Griffin

Not much in Couy Griffin’s life is the same as it was before he was found guilty of illegally climbing over walls in the restricted grounds of the Capitol and sentenced to 14 days in prison.

He used to own a restaurant. Now, he says, he repairs golf carts. He once served as a commissioner in Otero County, N.M., but two years ago, he was removed from office under the 14th Amendment. That made him the first public official in more than a century to be barred from serving under a constitutional ban on insurrectionists holding office.

Still, his enthusiasm for Mr. Trump remains undimmed.

“It’s been difficult,” he said. “But I believe that the people who support me and know me, their support has only grown stronger.”

Jenna Ryan

Jenna Ryan was a real estate broker and social media influencer in the Dallas area when she entered the Capitol on Jan. 6, praying and chanting “Fight for Trump!” with a crowd in the Rotunda.

The next day, she posted a message on Twitter, saying: “We just stormed the Capitol. It was one of the best days of my life.”

All of that ultimately led to a 60-day prison term. She claims that she was treated harshly because of her “public profile” as a Jan. 6 defendant. But being sentenced for illegally demonstrating in the Capitol also allowed her to fulfill what she describes as her “lifelong goal of being a writer and a speaker.”

Ms. Ryan, 54, has written a book called “Storming the Capitol: My Truth About January 6th,” which she says “shows how it feels to be caught in the middle of a polarized political climate, canceled by society, surveilled by the F.B.I. and thrown in prison for a tweet.”

Treniss Evans

Treniss Evans said he wasn’t all that interested in politics before the 2020 election. But he has become steeped in the subject since Jan. 6, when he stepped through a broken window at the Capitol and used a megaphone to lead other rioters in the Pledge of Allegiance and “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

Mr. Evans, who is 50 and lives near San Antonio, was sentenced to 20 days in prison after pleading guilty to entering the Capitol’s restricted grounds. Like other rioters, he emerged from the experience focused less on his own culpability than on the larger travails of being subject to criminal prosecution.

In the past four years, he has spent much of his time on a group he founded, Condemned USA, which provides legal support and public advocacy to hundreds of others who took part in the Capitol attack.

“I used to believe in our judicial system,” he said, “but now I see what generations upon generations of minorities and people of lower income have been complaining about.”

James Beeks

When James Beeks went to Washington on Jan. 6 with the Oath Keepers militia, his chosen profession distinguished him from many of his compatriots in the far-right organization, which played a central role in breaching the Capitol. Mr. Beeks was a five-time Broadway performer reprising the part of Judas in the 50th-anniversary production of “Jesus Christ Superstar.”

After being accused in a conspiracy indictment of forcibly entering the Capitol in a military-style “stack” with other Oath Keepers, Mr. Beeks was found not guilty by a judge who ruled that the evidence did not support the charges.

He was one of only two of the dozens of Jan. 6 defendants who have gone to trial and been fully acquitted. But despite being cleared in the case, he said, his life has not gone back to normal.

He is living in a friend’s van in Florida, finishing a book about his experience, “I Am Judas Redeemed.” And he has not returned to the stage since his arrest.

“I still have this J6 scarlet letter on my chest,” he said.

(NY Times)

TRUMP AND OBAMA were seen happily chatting and laughing together at the funeral for Jimmy Carter. If these guys don’t buy into the story that they are on opposite sides of a ferocious battle of existential importance between two wildly different ideologies, then why should you?

— Caitlin Johnstone

FIVE AWKWARD AND ASTOUNDING MOMENTS FROM JIMMY CARTER'S FUNERAL AS SPARKS FLY BETWEEN FEUDING PRESIDENTS

by Ikki Schwab

The ushers at Jimmy Carter's funeral couldn't have squeezed more awkward tension into three rows of pews if they had tried.

For what was supposed to be a somber final farewell for the 39th president, Thursday's service was also filled with icy exchanges, glares, snubs and mysterious conversations.

Viewers said the dynamics were like something out of an uncomfortable reality TV show, with one Associated Press journalist comparing it to D.C.'s version of a 'Real Housewives' reunion.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden were seated front row alongside Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff.

Behind them sat Melania Trump and President-elect Donald Trump, as well as former President Barack Obama - who was attending the service solo due to a scheduling conflict that had Michelle in Hawaii.

Also in that row sat former President George W. Bush and Laura Bush, as well as former President Bill Clinton and former Democratic nominee and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The third row was reserved for former vice presidents including Mike Pence and Karen Pence and Al Gore.

All eyes were on the current and former political friends and foes as they arrived at the Washington National Cathedral Thursday morning.

Obama and Trump Laughing Together

Trump helped birth the so-called 'birther' movement while Obama humiliated the reality TV host onstage at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in 2011 - considered a motivating factor for Trump's decision to launch a 2016 White House run.

But on Thursday Trump and Obama acted like they were old friends.

The Republican president-elect and the former Democratic commander-in-chief chatted, with Trump making Obama laugh at one point.

The images prompted a number of caption contests online and calls for a lip-reader.

Forensic lip reader Jeremy Freeman told DailyMail.com that Trump cryptically said it was important to speak to Obama in private 'today' so they could 'deal' with something.

Trump suggested they look for a 'quiet place' where they could discuss the mystery matter after the service. It remained unclear whether the crucial information Trump had to tell Obama related to a national security issue, or something else.

But the animated conversation between them left onlookers highly curious as to what they were whispering about.

The two men are expected to see each other again in 11 days, when Trump is sworn-in for his second term.

Kamala Gives Obama The Side-Eye As He Gabs With Trump

At the same time, the 2024 Democratic nominee didn't seem pleased to see Obama gabbing away with her recent political opponent.

Later Harris was seen whispering in Obama's ear, while Emhoff briefly chatted with the Trumps.

Ahead of the election, Obama campaigned vigorously for Harris - even chiding a group of black men in Pittsburgh for not being as supportive of Harris as they were when Obama first ran for the White House in 2008.

'We have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all quarters of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running. Now, I also want to say that seems to be more pronounced with the brothers,' Obama said at a campaign stop in mid-October.

He suggested black men 'just aren't feeling the idea of having a woman as president' and told the group, 'I've got a problem with that.'

Days before Biden exited the 2024 race, Obama reportedly told allies that the then 81-year-old should seriously consider dropping out after his disastrous late June debate performance against Trump.

More Iciness Between Kamala and Jill?

When the Bidens joined Harris and Emhoff in the front row even CNN's Jake Tapper acknowledged that 'you didn't see a particularly warm greeting between the first couple and the second couple.'

Harris and Dr. Biden were seated next to one another - with the president and Emhoff on the aisles.

A senior White House official pushed back on the cat fight narrative explaining that the Bidens, Harris and Emhoff had spent about 30 minutes backstage together before the ceremony began.

The source told DailyMail.com that 'it was very warm, it was very loving.'

The official added that Dr. Biden hung around after the service so she could properly say goodbye to Harris and Emhoff and that they 'hugged and kissed.'

The East Wing previously pushed back on a Wall Street Journal report that said relations between the first and second couples were 'frosty' behind-the-scenes since Harris lost the presidential race.

The article stated that Dr. Biden hadn't been a fan of Harris since she dragged Joe onstage over the issue of bussing at the first 2020 Democratic primary debate, which took place four and a half years ago, in June 2019 in Miami.

A spokesperson for the East Wing pointed out that Dr. Biden did a number of solo campaign outings to support Harris' bid once her husband dropped out of the race.

Karen Pence Snubs The Trumps

Karen Pence refused to acknowledge the Trumps as they arrived for the Carter funeral services.

The former second lady was seated next to her husband and remained seated as the Trumps arrived.

She made no effort to shake hands with Melania Trump, who she worked hand-in-hand with when their husbands were in office during Trump's first term.

Mike Pence shook hands with Donald Trump after former Vice President Al Gore did the same.

The Pences and Trumps had a major falling out after the January 6 Capitol attack, as Trump supporters erected a makeshift gallows and chanted 'hang Mike Pence' when the vice president refused to overturn Biden's legitimate 2020 election win.

The Carter funeral was the first time the two couples came together since leaving office in January 2021.

George W. Bush Ignores The Trumps As He Arrives

As President George W. Bush arrived at the ceremony, he gave Obama - who won election in 2008 by attacking Bush's record - a playful slap in the stomach while completely ignoring both Donald and Melania Trump.

While the Obamas and the Bushes have long moved on from any bad blood over Obama's 2008 win - which was helped by Obama's criticism of the Iraq war, which Bush started - it appeared that Bush hadn't developed a fondness for his fellow Republican.

While Bush didn't go as far as his former Vice President Dick Cheney, who alongside daughter Liz, endorsed Harris, he publicly warned the country about the threats of domestic terrorism on the September 11 anniversary following January 6.

Trump, in turn, said that Bush had 'a failed and uninspiring presidency' and shouldn't be 'lecturing' the public about domestic terrorism.

Prior to that, Trump humiliated Bush's brother Jeb on the 2016 campaign trail, mocking the former Florida governor for being 'low energy' - a dig that stuck.

Bush eventually acknowledged the Trumps at the ceremony, shaking the president-elect's hand.

(DailyMail)

Isabell Frisk, granddaughter Judith Tyndall in hand, points to the 15¢ hamburger sign at the new Jack-in-the-Box, at 4104 Mission Boulevard, around 1952. Mission Bay Market and Mission Bay Motel are visible at the right. The motel is still in business.

EX-WHITE HOUSE DOCTOR REVEALS DEAD GIVEAWAYS JOE BIDEN, 82, IS SUFFERING FROM MENTAL DECLINE

by Jon Michael Raasch

A two-time White House physician, Rep. Ronny Jackson, has lifted the lid on the most concerning signs of President Joe Biden's mental decline which were observable as early as 2019.

Jackson joined the White House medical unit under George W. Bush in the mid-2000s before serving as physician to the president from 2013 - 2018, tending to Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

The Republican congressman from Texas did not mince words when speaking exclusively with DailyMail.com about Biden's fitness for the Oval Office with just 11 days left of his term.

'I started talking about this in 2019 when I was running for office and when he was candidate Joe Biden,' the Texan recounted, saying Biden displayed 'the whole package' of age-related cognitive and physical decline.

'It was the cognitive stuff combined with the physical stuff. The way he shuffled when he walked, the stiff gate. He was confused. He had that blank, thousand-yard stare. He would forget the simplest things, you know, people's names,' Jackson explained.

'I mean, he didn't know exactly where he was at. Sometimes you could tell he was disoriented. All those things together. I mean, everybody's seen it. I said this for the very beginning.'

Speculation about Biden's declining mental state, put on public display during his disastrous debate with Trump in June, eventually led him to step down from his reelection campaign weeks later.

Jackson slammed those closest to the president, accusing them of covering up the president's condition for their own political gain.

He said that includes his old subordinate, Kevin O'Connor, who currently serves as physician to Biden.

'But a lot of people covered it up because, you know, they didn't care about the country and they didn't care about him,' the Republican fumed.

'They cared about their own political ambitions and the power and the authority and the influence they had from being in his in his orbit,' Jackson added.

O'Connor, like Jackson, joined the White House Medical Unit under George W. Bush before later working in the Obama administration.

The physician to the president has worked with the 82-year-old Biden since 2009, when he was assigned to the VP's medical team.

A decorated military officer with 22-years experience, O'Connor has worked intimately with the Biden's over the years.

He was alongside the Biden family as the president's late son, Beau Biden, was dying from cancer. The physician also worked with Joe Biden's brother James Biden to create a healthcare program for veterans in 2017.

Jackson excoriated O'Connor for his handling of the job, accusing the physician to the president of being a 'part of the Biden crime family' for hiding Biden's decline.

'He worked for me for a long period of time,' the Republican shared. 'He worked for me for eight years in the Obama administration. He was Joe Biden's physician at the time.'

'He's part of the Biden crime family,' Jackson said flat out before backtracking slightly.

'I would imagine, I don't, I can't prove that yet, but I know he's been intimately involved with Hunter Biden and Joe Biden's brother [James],' Jackson speculated.

'And you know, there's some evidence that he may have been involved in some of the stuff that was going on overseas. So, I mean, I don't know, that's still [to be determined].'

When pressed on how specifically Biden's physician may have engaged in wrongdoing, Jackson demurred, though he did accuse O'Connor of not performing up to his obligations.

'He shouldn't have been, you know, complicit in covering all this up,' the Texan said.

'He has an obligation, not just to the president, his family, but to the country.'

The role of the physician to the president is not only to take care of the president, the but Office of the President, Obama's former doctor continued.

Biden's physician 'knows that full well, and he's completely betrayed the trust that the American people handed him in that position,' the Republican said indignantly.

Telling the most powerful person in the world bad medical news surely seems like an unpleasant position to be in, but when it was as obvious as Biden's decline, that would have been the right move, Jackson reasoned.

Jackson's scathing review of Biden's bill of health dating back to 2019 echoes concerns that have been raised by Republicans for years.

But the allegations of Biden's mental decline were confirmed in a Justice Department review of the president for his keeping classified documents at his Delaware home and Washington, D.C. office after having left government after serving as VP.

The report by special counsel Robert Hur published in February 2024 found Biden was a 'elderly man with a poor memory.'

Biden also has 'diminished faculties in advancing age' the report continued.

The issue for the president finally came to a head during his awful presidential debate performance against Trump in June where he stumbled his way through a nationally televised broadcast leaving many of his most ardent supporters aghast at his obvious, undeniable decline.

Weeks later, after his polling numbers plummeted head-first off a cliff and much inter-party deliberation between the Democrats, Biden dropped his presidential bid.

His age and decline had become too untenable of a position to defend from the ruthless critiques of both liberals and conservatives.

'You know, people don't need me to tell them this. Everybody's had a relative at some point or another that's gone through this. It's a sad thing to see, but it's not something that we should tolerate in the in the in the Oval Office, as a commander in chief, the head of state.'

'But everyone's seen it, and everyone recognizes it for what it is, because they all had someone close to them that's gone through this,' Jackson said of Biden's age-related decline.

Back on the question of how Biden made it so far without more age-related scrutiny, Jackson further explained he is worried of the precedent set by the president's White House inner circle.

'Who was making those decisions in the White House?' Because honestly, I don't think it was Joe Biden, I think that there were people that were unelected officials, probably people with very little experience at work in the West Wing of the White House that were making a lot of these decisions, and it's put the country at risk.'

That risk is so grave, he said, that there needs to be a full investigation.

'I mean you still got, you know, a week or two left here where anything could happen. He's still the commander in chief, and he's obviously completely cognitively unfit for this particular role. So I'm still worried about it,' the Republican said.

'It's a situation that is serious enough that we need to look back and we need to investigate, see what happened. We need to find out exactly how this happened. Who covered this up? And, you know, I mean, if we don't, it'll just happen again.'

'Historically, it's not the first time that we've had a incompetent, disabled president that hasn't been making the decisions, but we can't let that happen again. The world's too dangerous.'

(DailyMail)

MEXICAN PRESIDENT SUGGESTS CALLING NORTH AMERICA ‘MEXICAN AMERICA’

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum suggested Wednesday that parts of North America could be called “Mexican America.”

Sheinbaum said during a press conference “Mexican America” has been recognized as the name for the northern part of the continent since the 17th century.

“Mexican America, that sounds nice,” Sheinbaum said in a joking manner.

Sheinbaum said the Gulf of Mexico’s name is internationally recognized and has been used as a maritime navigational reference for hundreds of years. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday he will change the name to the “Gulf of America,” which he noted has a “beautiful ring” to it.

“That covers a lot of territory. The Gulf of America, what a beautiful name,” he added. “And, it’s appropriate.”

Trump also claimed cartels are running Mexico, which Sheinbaum said is false.

“In Mexico, the people are in charge,” Sheinbaum said.

Trump has threatened Mexico with financial consequences if its leaders fail to quell illegal immigration at its northern border with the U.S.

“They can stop them. And, we’re gonna put very serious tariffs on Mexico and Canada, because Canada – they come through Canada too,” the president-elect claimed. “And, the drugs that are coming through are at record numbers, record numbers. So, we’re gonna make up for that by putting tariffs on Mexico and Canada. Substantial tariffs.”

Sheinbaum, who has previously warned of how tariffs could backfire on the U.S., said Wednesday she thinks there will be a positive relationship between Mexico and its northern neighbor despite the ongoing rhetoric.

“I think there will be a good relationship,” she predicted. “President Trump has his way of communicating.”

(tnnd-Mexico)

Ted Williams watches Billy Pierce of the White Sox warm up between innings at Comiskey Park in Chicago, 8/23/57. (Frank Scherschel)

28 Comments

Barbara Ortega January 10, 2025

The Daily Mail? Ronny Jackson? What the hell. Pathetic content.

Reply
- Bruce Anderson January 10, 2025
  
  A little something for everyone, Barb. Not all of us are intellectuals.
  
  Reply
- Casey Hartlip January 10, 2025
  
  Ronnie Jackson just confirms what our eyes were seeing. Old Joe has been a walking corpse for years.
  
  Reply
George Hollister January 10, 2025

More water is not going to improve California’s fire problem, aggressive vegetation management will.

Reply
- Harvey Reading January 10, 2025
  
  A smaller human population is in order as well. SoCal, and the state in general, has had fires for a long, long time. They’re a natural occurrence in a Mediterranean climate. Trouble is, now those areas that used to burn naturally are covered with houses and other artifacts of human overpopulation. All the “vegetation management” that you propose won’t change a damned thing.
  
  Reply
  - peter boudoures January 10, 2025
    
    I think everyone understands the risks involved with living up against a dry windy forests but none better than statefarm. Only 1 million available gallons of water? That’s 7% of one pond in Mendocino county.
    
    Reply
- BRICK IN THE WALL January 10, 2025
  
  Don’t leave out political management of fomentors of misleading accusatory bullshite.
  
  Reply
- Call It As I See It January 10, 2025
  
  You know who use to thin the vegetation and forests, the logging industry. Also, BLM did quite a bit of work until Obama slashed their budget. You know the logger’s story, environmentalists chased them out of California.
  
  Reply
  - Bruce McEwen January 10, 2025
    
    The Logger”s Story
    
    As I stepped out one morning into a small cafe
    A 40 year old waitress to me these words did say…
    She said, “I see, sir, that you are a logger, and not just a common bum
    ‘Cause nobody but a logger stirs his coffee with his thumb
    My lover was a logger, there’s none like him today
    If you’d pour a little whiskey up on it, he’d eat a bale of hay
    My lover came to see me twas on one freezing day
    He threw his arms around me and broke three vertebrae
    I saw my lover leaving, trudging through the snow
    Up going gaily homeward at 48 below
    The weather tried to freeze him, it tried its level best
    At a thousand degrees below zero, he buttoned up his vest
    It froze clear through to China, it froze to the stars above
    At a million degrees below zero, it froze my logger love
    And so I lost my lover, and to this cafe I come
    And here I wait ’til someone stirs his coffee with his thumb”
    
    Johnny Cash
    
    Reply
  - Whyte Owen January 10, 2025
    
    Thinning a forest, especially an old growth forest, does just the opposite: lets in sunlight that promotes growth of fuel. Our coastal ranges were thousands of years old before the rapists, who did nothing but push paper to acquire their obscene wealth, arrived to ruin them.
    
    Reply
    - Call It As I See It January 10, 2025
      
      My point exactly. An environmentalist wants you to believe thinning the forest and cutting roads and fire breaks will make it worse. I wonder if you wash your car? It’s just going to get dirty again. It’s this logic that created massive fires.
      
      Reply
Paul Modic January 10, 2025

New York Times Picks Today:
Will Roger’s House (And Other Notable Homes) Burns Down In LA
Why A Record Number Of Empty Bedrooms in US?
(AI News) Constellation Energy Buys Calpine for $16.4 billion
Climate Scientist: Time to Leave LA
Eating Healthier
Hot Stock Market May Cool Way Down In 2025
Congressman Ro Kanna on Future of Tech (Goldberg)
A J Weberman (Dylan’s “Garbagologist”) Weighs In On “A Complete Unknown.”

Reply
- Eric Labowitz January 10, 2025
  
  from Kathy – Thanks for pointing out the Weberman article. I had been trying to remember this guy’s name since we saw the Dylan movie the other day.
  
  Reply
Mike Jamieson January 10, 2025

OK, re the lip-reading-discerned-mystery that Trump urgently wants to quietly discuss with Obama somewhere private will certainly stir up confabulating projections of imaginings about the nature of the mystery-subject.

Now, what made Obama laugh?!?!
Well, Trump whispered:
“When they were showing me pictures of visiting ET, I noticed one had ears shaped just like yours!””

Reply
- Bruce McEwen January 10, 2025
  
  You could be accurate, Mike, as to whatever was said, but Caitlin had the gist right: these two schills play for the same owners, and they’re are both laughing all the way to the bank at the joke they’ve pulled on the American people, a joke so hilarious they couldn’t keep a straight face even at a funeral.
  
  Reply
  - Chuck Dunbar January 10, 2025
    
    I’ll give this one a try–
    
    What made Obama laugh?
    Well, Trump whispered:
    “I’ll be a better damn president than you, black boy!”
    
    Actually, way too much is being made of that photo. Jesus, who really cares and who really knows?
    And to compare Obama to Trump in any way, shape or form is just plain nuts. Try thinking about it….
    
    Reply
    - Bruce McEwen January 10, 2025
      
      If not for dyed-in-the wool blue dog Democrats like you and MAGA cultists like those who troll you on this page, those two foul and false (Obama &Trump) tools of the oligarchy, why then they never could have pulled it off. Congrats, vicar: you made it all possible! Without your stubborn insistence that people you really know nothing about are morally superior to other persons you are equally ignorant about, this whole abominable arrangement might have been avoided. You bow to your Obama idol and sneer at those who bow to Trump as an idol and you feel….what? Fulfilled? With what (besides the obvious hypocrisy)? What exactly do you feel?
      
      Reply
      - Call It As I See It January 10, 2025
        
        Can’t two guys have a conversation?
        
        Reply
      - Chuck Dunbar January 10, 2025
        
        Sorry, Bruce, you are spouting nonsense, and I won’t further comment, as you are too far out there to even attempt arguing with you.
        
        Reply
        
        Bruce McEwen January 10, 2025
        
        How many funerals do you suppose those five presidents have bombed, all combined?
        Obama has the most
        
        Reply
      - Lee Edmundson January 10, 2025
        
        That’s Yellow Dog Democrats, Bruce, not Blue Dog. FYI
        
        Reply
  - Mike Jamieson January 10, 2025
    
    There’s a grossly unacknowledged element of the DJT character that needs bringing up here: he’s one of the Greatest Comedians to live in the 200 to 300,000 years of the homo sapien span of existence.
    
    Reply
Ava Maria January 10, 2025

Name Changers, you say our ‘teach-in’ is ‘directed at amplifying the voices of people of color’…

Change your LANGUAGE, words have power.

The term PEOPLE OF COLOR is pejorative.

PEJORATIVE, adjective
1. expresses contempt or disapproval. 2. word or phrase has negative associations —disparages or belittles.

Reply
Ava Maria January 10, 2025

Music Prof. Matt Savage

AULD LANG SYNE
Happy New Year 2025

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DETEMarPaXW/?igsh=cWNoYzJ2ejNyNTBu

Reply
- Ava Maria January 10, 2025
  
  Prof. Matthew James “Matt” Savage (born May 12, 1992) is an American autistic savant musician. wiki
  
  Reply
Craig Stehr January 10, 2025

Sunny day after a cold fierce week in Washington, D.C. Am at the MLK public library on a guest computer, reading all of the seriously stupid news on the AVA online. This is a failed American experiment with freedom and democracy, and it is a failed global civilization. Period! The rest is details. Meanwhile, Self Realized and free, am fully aware and available in the here and now for frontline radical action. This is the alternative to being irrelevant. The choice is always ours to make. Contact me. ;-))
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

Reply
Do Not Comment January 10, 2025

The New York Slimes article on J6 left out Jenna Ryan’s most famous quote:

“Sorry, I have blonde hair, white skin, a great job, a great future, and I’m not going to jail.”

Reply
Do Not Comment January 10, 2025

Regarding the two criminals, Trump and Obama, chatting and laughing….

“It’s a big club, and you ain’t in it. You and I are not in the big club. And by the way, it’s the same big club they use to beat you over the head with all day long when they tell you what to believe. All day long beating you over the head in their media telling you what to believe, what to think and what to buy.

The table is tilted folks. The game is rigged, and nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care. Good honest hard-working people — white collar, blue collar, it doesn’t matter what color shirt you have on — good honest hard-working people continue — these are people of modest means — continue to elect these rich cocksuckers who don’t give a fuck about them. They don’t give a fuck about you. They don’t give a fuck about you. They don’t care about you at all — at all — at all. And nobody seems to notice, nobody seems to care.

… the owners of this country know the truth: it’s called the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it.”

— George Carlin

Reply

Mendocino County Today: Friday 1/10/2025

28 Comments

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