Mendocino County Today: Wednesday 1/29/2025

Mostly Sunny | Winter Light | Investigator Grilled | Lost & Found | Bike Patrol | Rodeo Meeting | Pot Vote | Daffodils | Mendocinocoast.news | Meditation Class | Approval Celebration | Ed Notes | Waterfall Shot | Hopland Hotel | Yesterday's Catch | David Watson | Affordable Housing | Hippie Howl | Posey Homer | Immigrant Resources | Hard Labor | Janis Domiciles | Honest Man | Devastating Consequences | NFL Fans | Four Spies | Lead Stories | Big Day | Tulsi Support | Time Transfixed | Criticizing China | James Joyce | Doomsday Clock | Tahome

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DRY WEATHER continues through early Thursday. A system arrives Thursday evening into Friday bringing rain, mountain snow, and gusty winds. Wet weather likely continues into the weekend and early next week. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A foggy 47F (where did that come from?) on the coast this Wednesday morning. Similar for Thursday. Then BIG rain starts Friday with a largest amount looking like the first 3 days then smaller amounts to follow. The exact bullseye of the jet stream in unclear at the moment though.

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INVESTIGATOR GRILLED AS CUBBISON PRELIM CONTINUES

by Mike Geniella

Lt. Andrew Porter, the lead investigator in the felony prosecution of suspended Auditor Chamise Cubbison, acknowledged Tuesday that Cubbison’s former boss played a larger role in the high-profile case than originally presented publicly.

Porter testified that now-retired Auditor Lloyd Weer regularly signed off on department payroll documents during a two-year period when Paula June Kennedy, the County’s former Payroll Manager and Cubbison’s co-defendant, was drawing disputed extra pay by using an obscure pay code designated for miscellaneous office spending.

Weer retired in September 2021 but was brought back into the office as a consultant with Board of Supervisors’ approval to help out in an office under stress because of a faulty computer system, understaffing, and talk of a forced consolidation with the Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office.

Weer in earlier testimony has acknowledged Kennedy single-handedly processed a county payroll for 1,200 employees, and that the demands on her time and mental state were great. Weer also has admitted to having had numerous conversations with Kennedy, Cubbison and county administrators about what could be done to ease the on-the-job burdens that led to Kennedy’s decision to pay herself about $68,000 in extra pay over a three-year period during the Covid pandemic.

District Attorney David Eyster, a chronic critic of the Auditor’s Office because it questioned his own spending, seized upon the extra pay to accuse Cubbison and Kennedy of criminal misappropriation of public funds.

Cubbison maintains that she believed Weer and Kennedy, longtime office associates, had come to an arrangement for the extra pay. She cites notations on a Kennedy spreadsheet stating, “per Lloyd” or “per Lloyd/Chamise.”

Kennedy contends it was Cubbison who gave her the nod to use the 470 pay code but refused to put the authorization in writing. The 470 code is designated for miscellaneous expenses, allowed within the department and without board approval if kept under $1,000.

Porter admitted under questioning by defense attorneys Fred McCurry and Chris Andrian that Weer was never seen as a suspect in the criminal case despite his active role in the internal struggle to compensate Kennedy for the hours everyone agrees she was putting in handling a complex payroll during a difficult time.

Weer was never the focus of the criminal investigation handled by Porter, a 30-year law enforcement veteran, and pushed by DA Eyster.

Weer in fact, according to Porter’s testimony on Tuesday, was always seen as a potential witness, a “good guy” who was allowed to have his wife Judy present while he was being interviewed. Investigators typically do not allow that unless it is an individual’s attorney. Weer in fact at a follow up visit by Porter asked if he needed to retain an attorney.

Weer has acknowledged meeting with Kennedy about her pay demands, and that he later told the investigator, “Gee, I hope I didn’t say something that made her think I approved,” according to Porter.

“Did that give you pause? Did that not indicate perhaps a closer look at his role,” asked Andrian, Cubbison’s attorney.

Porter replied, “No.”

Porter also acknowledged meeting with DA Eyster more than a dozen times during his investigation, and that it was more than a year before the District Attorney’s Office formally filed the charges.

Kennedy lawyer Fred McCurry, a county Public Defender, pressed Porter to explain why he focused only on Kennedy as the initial suspect, and then later Cubbison although both were cooperative.

Porter said he learned of deep divisions between Cubbison and Kennedy, who ignored Weer’s role and put the blame entirely on Cubbison and called her a “lying bitch” during one interview.

Porter said he eventually began to see Cubbison as a possible suspect but never Weer.

Porter also said his investigation showed that Cubbison never personally benefitted from the extra money Kennedy paid herself. He also acknowledged that his investigation showed that no one believed Kennedy was getting paid for work not done.

The preliminary hearing will resume Wednesday before Judge Ann Moorman in Mendocino County Superior Court. At its conclusion, Moorman will decided whether to let the controversial case go to trial, or grant defense attorneys’ moves for dismissal.

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MISSING MUSHROOM HUNTER FINDS HERSELF; DID LINDA APOLOGIZE?

On Monday, January 27, 2025 at approximately 8:30 P.M., Deputies with the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to the area of the 42000 block of Road 409 in Mendocino regarding a missing person.

Deputies arrived and learned that 59-year-old Linda Doar had been mushroom hunting on Jackson Demonstration State Forest lands with multiple friends. At around 5:00 P.M., Linda had wandered away from her friends and they became concerned after she had failed to emerge from the now dark and densely wooded area.

Sheriff’s Office Deputies immediately conducted a hasty search of the area where Linda was last seen and she was not located. Deputies returned to the area later in the evening and conducted a second search and were still not able to locate Linda.

Sheriff’s Office Deputies summoned assistance from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue team and planned a first-light search for the morning of Tuesday, January 28, 2025.

On that Tuesday at around 7:00 A.M., Sheriff’s Office Deputies arrived in the area and began searching for Linda. By the time Search and Rescue volunteer personnel arrived, Linda had walked out of the woods and she was found near the Mendocino Volunteer Fire Station on Road 409. Linda had suffered a minor injury and she was treated and released by Adventist Health Mendocino Coast Paramedics.

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UKIAH POLICE DEPARTMENT - BIKE PATROLS - UPD HOPES TO INCREASE VISIBILITY, ENGAGEMENT

by Justine Frederiksen

In an effort to increase their visibility in key areas of the city, the Ukiah Police Department is deploying officers on bicycles to more proactively patrol the downtown and other locations.

“The implementation of bike patrols is part of our ongoing commitment to foster positive relationships between law enforcement and the community,” the UPD explained in a press release announcing that it had new bicycles that officers would be utilizing to provide them “increased visibility and accessibility, allowing them to interact more freely with residents, local businesses, and visitors. This initiative aims to create a welcoming environment while promoting safety and security in our neighborhoods.”

UPD Sgt. Adam Randall is coordinating the patrols, which he said for now will not replace any standard patrol shifts that officers currently conduct in their vehicles, but instead will be used to augment the existing patrols as needed, and as available.

So far, Randall said, the UPD has two electric bikes and two pedal bikes, which will be used by officers who volunteer for the two-wheeled duty, once they have completed the necessary training and have their new uniform readied.

“We need to be more visible, so instead of the darker uniforms, the bicycle ones are a brighter blue and have different patches,” Randall said, noting that as of last week, he was one of the only officers who was both trained and had a properly outfitted new uniform at the ready.

Once more officers are ready to patrol on bicycles, Randall said they will be deployed strategically for special events like Sunday’s Low Gap bicycle race and Pumpkinfest, rides on the Great Redwood Trail, or when “we have an issue that needs to be addressed.”

“Bicycle patrols will enable our officers to engage with the community in a more approachable manner,” Chief Cedric Crook is quoted as saying in the UPD press release. “We believe this proactive strategy will not only enhance our law enforcement presence but also strengthen partnerships with local businesses and residents.”

Randall said the patrols have already been well-received by business owners, noting that in the first patrol he completed downtown, most of the people he spoke with welcomed the idea, particularly if it involved a more visible law enforcement presence.

Having officers on bicycles will not only help in friendly situations, Randall said, but could also prove useful for apprehending suspects, especially fleeing thieves, “because they may not be looking out for someone on a bicycle, and won’t know to run away from us.”

The UPD notes that “in addition to enhancing community relations, the bike patrols will also focus on targeted enforcement in areas that may benefit from increased law enforcement presence. Officers will be equipped to address issues such as public safety, parking violations, shoplifting, and other community concerns while promoting a positive atmosphere during local events.”

For more information about the bicycle patrol program or to learn more about community engagement efforts, contact the UPD at 707-463-6262 or police@cityofukiah.com.

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LAYTONVILLE COUNCIL VOTES TO END ILLEGAL POT EXPANSION

By Jim Shields

At our Town Council (Laytonville Area Municipal Advisory Council: Valerie Edwards, Traci Pellar, MacKenzie O'Donnell, David Jeffreys, Ran Bush, and Jim Shields) meeting on Jan. 22nd, we voted unanimously to support the following proposed actions:

D.3. Discussion And Possible Action To Approve Request To The Mendocino County Board Of Supervisors To Place On The Agenda, As Soon As Possible, The Following Item: “Discussion And Possible Action To Approve That Pursuant To The County’s Cannabis Ordinance, The Maximum Area Of Cultivation Has Always Been And Remains To Be 10,000 Square Feet Per Legal Parcel, Without Any Exceptions.”

D.4. Discussion And Possible Action To Approve The Laytonville Area Municipal Advisory Council’s Support For The January 2, 2025 Cease and Desist Letter Sent To The BOS By Attorneys Representing The Willits Environmental Center.

Our Council was asked to support efforts by folks who are concerned about Cannabis Department staffers action to “re-interpret” a provision in the failed Weed Ordinance.

I can tell you this, there is absolutely no authority under existing law or the Mendocino County Cannabis Ordinance for anyone, including County staff, administrators, or the Supervisors to “reinterpret” where the goal is to re-write or amend, in whole or in part, provisions of the Cannabis Ordinance.

This has all the appearance and trappings of Cannabis Ordinance administration being an insider’s game played by staff and a self-selected few in the local cannabis industry.

Back in September of 2024, at another Supes meeting in a long line of non-productive manifestations of what is the County’s utterly failed Weed Ordinance, a number of the always in-attendance “Don’t-Fence-Me-In” Pot Crowd, complained about the County’s – get ready for this – “prohibition” pot policies.

One of those pushing for expansion was Joshua Keats, chief executive officer of Henry's Original, one of the county’s largest outsider, industrial growers.

Most of those addressing the Supes, spoke of how EZ-PZ and widespread weed cultivation is throughout the rest of California. Several speakers also argued that since others nations, such as Thailand, have no restrictions of any kind on weed cultivation acreage, Mendocino County’s Ganja Ordinance was out of step not only with the rest of the California but that of the rest of the world. They contended that unless the County’s pot rules are ameliorated to recognize the competitive threat from “outside sources”, it’s game over forever in Mendoland.

I said to myself, “I’m losing it. Really, our country allows pot produced in other parts of the globe to be imported into the good ol’ USA?”

When did that start happening?

Answer: Never.

After I collected and re-gathered my senses, I re-said to myself, “These dudes (and dudettes) are trying to hornswoggle us.”

Everyone knows that cannabis use is legal in California. However, cities and counties can prohibit cannabis cultivation, as well as businesses, like retail, manufacturing, and distribution. As a result, the state’s landscape is a patchwork where cannabis-related activities are either legal or prohibited.

According to the state Department of Cannabis Control, two-thirds of cities and counties ban all things pot.

Here’s the breakdown:

• 69% cities and counties prohibit cultivation.
• 61% of cities and counties do not allow any retail cannabis business.
• 66% of cities and counties prohibit manufacturing.
• 66% of cities and counties prohibit distribution.

For those of you who have been around this County for a while are familiar with my views on the weed industry.

• This county has spent more time, taxpayer money and resources on this marijuana issue than any other issue in county history — and there is nothing to show for it.
• This county still persists in unloading responsibility and accountability and pointing fingers to others when it was the Board of Supervisors who developed and implemented local rules and regulations that have never worked, resulting in their Cannabis Ordinance laying like a rotting, beached whale for all to see.
• After nearly 8 years of the Cannabis Ordinance being on the books, less than 10 percent of pot farmers have made application to the program. By any process of evaluation or measure of a program’s effectiveness, the Mendocino County pot ordinance is an abysmal failure. The people it was supposed to shepherd into legal status have voted with their feet. They will never be coming into compliance with the ordinance.
• There is no one who lives in this county who has not benefitted, directly or indirectly, from weed cultivation over the past 50 years.

I’m a poster boy for feeding at the pot manger.

While I don’t grow or smoke the stuff (as a physical fitness freak, I do use CDB ointment for workout strains and pains), but I sure have banked lots of pot dollars over the years.

I own a private sector business, the Mendocino County Observer, and I’ve never refused pot dollars for subscriptions, newsstand sales, or advertising.

I’m the long-time district manager for a local government water utility, the Laytonville County Water District, and conservatively speaking, at least 50 percent of our revenues are derived from customers who grow weed.

So for all these reasons and many more, I have always been active and involved as a participant and leader in county and state activities surrounding all aspects of cannabis laws, regulations, and policies.

Due to the total failure of a majority of the Board of Supervisors to implement a workable Cannabis Ordinance, the local economies of the unincorporated areas where two-thirds of the population reside, have been wrecked and de-stabilized.

The only hope for a compliance-friendly Cannabis Ordinance is for the Supervisors to implement a program based on the sole economic model that was successful for five decades: the small farmer “Mom and Pop” model.

That’s the model that a vast majority of county citizens support also.

You would think that county seat officials would know that also.

With the exception of District 3 Supervisor John Haschak, a majority of our supervisors aren’t aware of that fact.

Believe it or not, the Supes are actually still wasting time fussing and fretting over expanding by double cultivation areas.

This issue came about back in April when Cannabis Department Cannabis Department staffers “re-interpreted” a provision in the failed Weed Ordinance that they argued would allow in some instances doubling the size of cannabis cultivation areas. For example, instead of limiting a large outdoor grow to 10,000 sq./ft per parcel, by applying this re-interpretation, a person could increase, even double, the size of the area of cultivation on a single parcel. This is pure nonsense and is made out of whole cloth.

Here’s excerpts from the Cease and Desist letter from the Willits Environmental Center’s letter to the BOS regarding this illegal, backdoor attempt by the Cannabis Department to double cultivation areas:

“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.”

I’ll keep you updated on any developments.

Addressing the Animal Crisis in Community

Also at the meeting, Rhiannon Filley addressed the council about the growing animal crisis in the community, particularly the issue of roaming dogs attacking people, pets, and livestock. She cited examples of recent incidents, including a newborn calf and its mother being killed, and a teenage girl being viciously attacked and hospitalized. Rhiannon emphasized the lack of shelter space, veterinary services, and resources for spaying/neutering as contributing factors. She is forming a group to take action, educate the public, and advocate for more county and state support to address this crisis. The council acknowledged the issue and mentioned some ongoing efforts, such as the SNAP program's upcoming visit and the local pet food bank, but more resources and creative solutions are needed.

Council Chairman Jim Shields stated the Council will support Rhiannon’s efforts by forming a committee under her direction, and District 4 Supervisor Bernie Norvell also offered his assistance given his experience as Fort Bragg Mayor when that city stepped in and obtained funding for continuing pet shelter services when the County closed its Coast shelter several years ago. (See Rhiannon Filley’s letter-to-the editor on page 2.)

(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)

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MENDOCINOCOAST.NEWS

AVA,

Thanks for carrying journalism on your backs for decades. While the entire industry turned into sales pitches for power, you guys asked the hard questions and represented the readers, not the power that be. I want to keep doing that at my new site, mendocinocoast.news. As I recall you don’t usually do links. You have my permission to reprint mendocinocoast.news material. If you can’t use my link, you can just print the article if you wish.

Link: https://mendocinocoast.news/pge-kmart-make-separate-6-million-mendo-land-deals-come-along-as-i-follow-the-money/

Frank Hartzell

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6-WEEK MEDITATION CLASS | $150 (CAN PAY WEEKLY $25)

Location: SoBo, Downtown Boonville

Wednesdays 7 - 9 PM | February 19th - March 26th

You will learn about:

• Grounding
• Chakras
• Running energy
• Center of your head
• Bringing in your aura
• Gold sun
• Roses of protection

The world has changed and a lot has become out of our personal control. The only thing we can control is ourself. The safest place is to be in your own space, your own body and your own head.

In this class, you will learn tools to help you get there - learn to fish - meaning you can feed yourself.

This is not a drop-in class, it’s a 6-week class.

Sam Nyhus trained at Berkeley Psychic Institute (1977-1984) and has been teaching and doing readings ever since.

If you are interested please contact me here or via email samanthanyhus@gmail.com

Note: This is a sitting-in-a-chair meditation class with feet on the floor. If you need pillows please bring them. No shoes allowed in the space - please bring socks or cozy slippers.

Samantha Nyhus

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ED NOTES

THE COST OF MENDOBLATHER. At a typical Board of Supervisors meeting you have the CEO, the Assistant CEO, the Board Clerk, five Supervisors, County Counsel, one department head speaking and one or two more in the bullpen warming up their interfaces and paradigms, with maybe five other County staffers sitting in the audience available to back up bossy-wossy. Not counting various County staffers who stop work to listen to the meeting on-line… Well, your tax dollar at work. We calculate that each minute of Board meeting time costs the taxpayers at least $20. So ten minutes of Williams or Mulheren or Haschak free associating to no audible purpose runs us $200 or more. (John Pinches used say what he had to say and hung up.) The Board has a rule that supposedly limits supervisors to two comments per agenda item with each comment not to exceed five minutes. Of course the blather rule is very loosely enforced, if at all. We therefore propose a set of flashcards numbered 1 through 5 minutes and with the corresponding cost — $20, $40, $60, and so on. A local taxpayer could do a major public service if each time a Supervisor exceeded his or her alloted speaking time, the corresponding amount in wasted public time would be toted up, turned in to the Board Clerk, and the cash value deducted from their plump paychecks.

JUAN BUCKINGHAM WANDESFORD, 1817-1902 is probably best known for his paintings of Mount Shasta, but little known for “On the Navarro River Mendocino,” undated but certainly rendered very early in the pioneer Anderson Valley. The Navarro painting is occasionally on display at the California Historical Society headquarters on Mission near Third, San Francisco. Wandesford’s Shasta paintings were rendered in the 1860s. We can assume he visited the Anderson Valley just as early when his oil on canvas of the Navarro depicted two finely dressed women, a dog, an oarsman, and a man in the bow of the rowboat with what appears to be a pile of newspapers on his lap, all of them paused on the untouched river. Wandesford was born an English aristo who taught drawing in Glasgow before leaving for America as a young man. He died in Hayward after a long, successful life as a painter including On the Navarro River which, I believe, is the first really good painting of any part of the Anderson Valley. Where the two “finely dressed women” came from remains a mystery.

DASHIELL HAMMETT invented noir, private eye fiction, at 891 Post, San Francisco, in a murphy bed studio apartment overlooking Post and Hyde. There’s a plaque out front of the aged, four floor building commemorating that illustrious, pivotal, literary fact.

SAN FRANCISCO is pretty good about acknowledging its cultural history in a kind of tourist-oriented way, if a little heavy on the better known artists and, these days, way too heavy on the antiseptic, politically correct inserts these low times demand. There’re still interesting writers around, but you’ve got to search them out, got to get past the milk monitors of academe. How about some plaques for that pivotal beatnik Kenneth Rexroth who lived on Wisconsin Street on Potrero Hill and at 187 8th Avenue where he entertained Dylan Thomas and Kerouac and Howlsberg, among others. There’s no plaque at 187 8th Avenue or at Rexroth’s place on Wisconsin, but one wishes that all the old buildings kept their histories in their lobbies with the stories of all the lives lived in them.

HAMMETT’S APARTMENT on Post has been restored right down to period furniture and the wallpaper by Robert Mailer Anderson. The day I visited there was an abandoned wheelchair in the tiny closet left by the pre-restoration tenant. The wheelchair fits with the fixed-income building, vaguely owned but managed by ghouls out of a fancy office in the financial district. Hammett, a communist, would appreciate the irony.

THE STRUCTURE is one of several thousand buildings like 187 from pre-War Frisco, the kind of lonely habitations where people drink themselves to death and their bodies aren’t found for a month.

SAM SPADE’S granddaughter donated an alarm clock to the restoration of his old murphy bed apartment at Post and Hyde, and they’ve even found a photo of Hammett standing in his livingroom, the livingroom he created by pushing the murphy bed back into the wall before he sat down to write The Maltese Falcon.

LOOKING WEST, the neighborhood looks pretty much like it looked when Hammett lived there, which was roughly 1926 to 1929. The buildings may look the same along Post Street but the demographic is now positively thrilling in this odd city where the numbers of people employed to do good almost outnumber the people to whom good is to be done, many of them crazy, many more swimming at the bottom of the bottle or so far gone into hard chemicals the chemicals are their bodies. Fifty years ago they’d all be cared for in lock-up facilities. Now, they’re on the street, and in San Francisco if an officeholder so much as hints at compulsion, as in mandatory treatment, the pirates of the non-profits come running, yelling about civil rights for people unable or unwilling to care for themselves, as if allowing people to kill themselves in public is humane public policy. Hammett would have to double-lock his doors these days, but he’d understand that this is what capitalism has wrought in the city he loved.

HAMMETT would like this one: “January 20, 1910, San Francisco Chronicle: A woman, a policeman, two bulldogs, two revolvers and a horse and buggy were the potent factors in drawing a crowd in front of the Spreckels building on January 19. Mrs. Emily Miller of 3925 Folsom Street owns a horse and buggy, one of the revolvers and both of the bulldogs, which ownership is the prime reason for her now being an inmate of the police station. Mrs. Miller, who says she is a Secret Service agent, stopped in front of the Spreckels building with the head of her horse turned in the wrong direction. Policeman Gaylord informed Mrs. Miller that both she and the horse were violating the city’s traffic regulation, whereupon she set the two bulldogs to chewing the uniform of Officer Gaylord. Which annoyed him. To show his annoyance he pulled his revolver, whereupon Mrs. Miller did the same, and policeman, woman and dogs lined up in battle array, to the delight of the crowd of constantly increasing proportions. Finally the dogs were pacified, the revolvers returned to their places of concealment, Mrs. Miller was taken to jail and Gaylord to a tailor. Mrs. Miller was recently arrested for insanity but succeeded in convincing her inquisitors that she was sane enough to be turned loose.”

A DEA officer stopped at a ranch in Texas to talk with an old rancher. “I need to inspect your ranch for illegally grown drugs.” The rancher replied, “Okay, but don’t go in that field over there,” pointing to the no go zone. The DEA officer exploded, “Mister, I have the authority of the Federal Government with me!” Reaching into his rear pants pocket, the DEA man produced his badge. “See this badge? It means I am allowed to go wherever I wish. On any land. No questions asked. Have I made myself clear? Do you understand?” The rancher nodded politely and went about his chores. A short time later, the old rancher heard screams and saw the DEA running for his life, the rancher’s Santa Gertrudis bull right behind him. With every step the bull gained ground on the officer, and it looked like Mr. DEA would get gored before he reached safety. The officer was clearly terrified. The rancher threw down his tools, ran to the fence and yelled at the top of his lungs, “Your badge! Show him your BADGE!”

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SCOTTY TANG

I ended up here after being stranded.

I came to this area to do a backpacking trip at Sinkyone State Park, just north of Fort Bragg. I made the 4-hour drive from my house, drove the few miles down the sketchy one-lane dirt road to get to the trailhead. Once I get there, I park my car, walk around a bit, notice that I passed the trailhead, get back in my car to move it closer, and then lo and behold, my car doesn’t start. The starter went out. I am tens of miles from any cell service and have no idea how I am going to get my car or myself out. “Would a tow truck even be able to make it down here?” I ask myself. I try a few more times to get it to start, ask a couple people for help, and cannot get it to start. I had just gotten a satellite communicator about a week prior (what timing), so I pull that out and try to communicate with my wife to see if she can get a ranger or a police officer down here to help me. She gets a hold of the Sinkyone State Park office and they are able to get a ranger to me. The ranger comes, asesses the situation, tells me there is one tow truck driver in the area that is willing to come down here. She tells me she will get him in touch with my wife to hopefully come get me out. My wife tells me via my satellite communicator that she got a hold of him and should be there in the morning. I spend the night hoping he comes earlier in the morning/afternoon — at Russian Gulch State Park.

I spent the next day waiting around for the driver, and he finally came around noon. We load up the car and drive to a mechanic shop in Fort Bragg. We didn’t get there till about 3:00, and I am already thinking, “there is no way my car is getting fixed today,” and sure enough the mechanic tells me he can’t get the part till the morning. I thought about getting a hotel or staying at a campground, but everything was so expensive, plus the tow and car repair wasn’t cheap, so I decided I would be like a homeless person with all my backpacking gear and find somewhere to sleep in the city. I spent the night on a disc golf course not too far from the ocean (not a bad place to be homeless). The next morning I went exploring around Fort Bragg while my car was being worked on. Went to a few different beaches, including the famous Glass Beach, and then around noon, I got the call that my car was done. After two nights in the area, it was time to be done with this trial.

As I was walking back to get my car, I started thinking if I should try to do something in the area on my way back home. I think to myself, “maybe I can still make something of this crazy adventure.” I remembered there were a couple waterfalls that I had read about in a book near here, so what better opportunity than now to see them? So I came to Russian Gulch State Park, and saw this wonderful waterfall.

The lush green, the soft, silky flow of the falling water looks like something out of a fairy tale. The water’s movement contrasts beautifully with the stillness of the forest. One of my favorite waterfall shots I have ever taken was born out of adversity.

Embrace the journey, even when it gets hard, for something beautiful will come of it, and it may be just around the corner.

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ANOTHER EBAY POSTCARD (via Marshall Newman)

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CATCH OF THE DAY, Tuesday, January 28, 2025

BRETT ADAME, 33, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

ANTONIO DELOSSANTOS-ROJAS, 32, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

KENNETH DEWITT JR., 43, Ukiah. Parole violation.

REBECCA GILLESPIE, 38, Eureka/Ukiah. Failure to appear.

STEVEN LAWSON, 33, Ukiah. Assault with deadly weapon not a gun with prior.

LELAND RANFT, 40, Ukiah. County parole violation.

JAMES RAY, 49, Hopland. Probation revocation.

SILVESTRE RIVERA-NIETO, 32, Fort Bragg. DUI.

ERNESTO VENTURA-ENRRIQUEZ, 29, Ukiah. DUI.

AZAIAH ZACARIAS, 23, Ukiah. County parole violation.

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FRED GARDNER:

David Watson, a renowned plant breeder who went by "Sam the Skunkman" and other aliases, died yesterday, while visiting friends in Nevada City. As an OG, Watson valued anonymity. It was high praise when he said that someone "could hold their mud." And yet as a creator, he wanted recognition. His longtime comrade, Robert Connell Clarke, wrote this obit. I add 2 cents below the photo.

David Paul Watson passed away on Jan. 28, 2025, and will be missed by all who knew him well. We met 50 years ago when I knocked to deliver a copy of "Botany and Ecology of Cannabis." His partner Diana opened their door, and our story unfolds.

As many did when Bonzo became president, David and Diana fled to Amsterdam where cannabis had friendly logic, and they never regretted voting with their feet. The Amsterdam experience presented a turning point in their lives. By then David and Diana had traveled the “Hippie Trail” from Morocco to Thailand, and David returned many times to India and Southeast Asia in pursuit of landrace seeds.

His ready supply revolutionized homegrown gardening globally, built the foundations of today’s most popular sinsemilla varieties, and spawned the steadily advancing international cannabis industry. Known by many as “Sam the Skunkman,” David’s quest for understanding “all things cannabis” possessed his soul. His “they can’t stop science” approach with a “we can do it” attitude culminated in HortaPharm BV, a major milestone in his mission to normalize the Cannabis plant.

David believed in sharing information freely for the benefit of all who shared common interests. The Journal of the International Hemp Association “Dedicated to the advancement of Cannabis through the dissemination of information” attracted articles from hemp researchers worldwide.

As a keen follower of Cannabis’ progression through science, David attended many international conferences and regularly brought researchers up to speed with their chosen subject. There was no one he was hesitant to reach out to for the sake of science, and he never feared asking authorities for permission to pursue his quest for knowledge.

David wore his empirically grounded opinions on his sleeves. His “only seeing is believing” and “I call ‘em as I see ‘em” honesty offended some, but those who knew him well appreciated his honesty. Rant and rave as he might at times, he accepted truths as they unfolded, and within his prickly exterior pumped a kind heart.

David’s innate curiosity coupled with wide travels and unswerving dedication to science pushed Cannabis botany forward by leaps and bounds. He would only hope that others follow in his footsteps. Please honor him with a moment of highness.

Dave Watson (seated) and Dr. Geoffrey W. Guy at the 1998 meeting of the International Cannabinoid Research Society. Guy's company, G.W. Pharmaceuticals, had just purchased the "genetic library" that Watson and Rob Clarke had been compiling since the early '80s. The expression on Watson's face reminded me that Claud Cockburn, during the depression of the 1930s, had seen a want ad in the London Times that said "Man with knife and fork wishes to meet man with steak-and-kidney pie."

Watson said he'd always grasped that marijuana was a medicinal plant. The US government's approval of Marinol (pure synthetic THC) in 1985 had convinced him that the herb would remain prohibited for the foreseeable future. So he and Diana had moved from Santa Cruz to Amsterdam, along with a crate full of seeds. Their timing was excellent: politicians had decided to encourage tourism by allowing coffeehouses to sell marijuana, but there was no controlled source of supply. Watson and Rob Clarke applied for and were granted a permit to grow the herb legally. Their company, HortaPharm, thrived.

Watson's cultivar most beloved by stoners, Skunk #1, was the high-THC plant that GW’s brain trust chose to mix with a CBD-rich plant to make their initial product, Sativex (an approximately 1:1 CBD-to-THC extract formulated for spraying under the tongue). A New Scientist article about GW would include a photo captioned "In a vast glasshouse in the south of England, cannabis cultivator David Potter is rubbing a plant labelled 'Skunk #1' to unleash its unique faecal odour."

Here's a close-up of a Skunk #1 by James Goodwin (aka Mel Frank)

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‘AFFORDABLE’?

Editor:

I keep reading and hearing about “affordable housing” but have never seen a definition or description of what is affordable housing. I did see this article in a Dec. 27 article about George’s Hideaway in Guerneville that may provide some insight (“George’s Hideaway razed to make way for housing”):

The hideaway was razed to make way for low-cost housing. The county purchased the land for $849,000 and transferred it to affordable housing developer Burbank Housing, which was to provide 21 homes for low-income individuals ($29,050 or less annually). The project’s total cost is estimated at $12.4 million, including about $10.8 million for construction.

So the total estimated cost is $13.2 million for 21 homes, or $630,905 per home.

Is that the definition of affordable housing? Add to that insurance, property taxes, utilities and maintenance and I do not see how an individual making $29,050 annually can possibly afford to buy and live in these houses.

Perhaps affordable housing is a concept that can never be realized, at least not in Sonoma County.

Larry M. Tausch

Penngrove

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HIPPIE HOWLING

by Paul Modic

When I first came out west as a teenager long ago, I noticed some hippies of Whitethorn and Whale Gulch could make these loud howls, with big smiles on their faces, when they were happy and stoned. For years my goal in life was to be able to do that hippie howl, it did take some courage to overcome self-consciousness and let loose like that, and finally I could do it. (When I lived near the top of a mountain in my early twenties my howls would echo around the Gulch and sometimes now I’ll howl when dancing, or in the morning after a great night’s sleep.)

On my walks in the park I used to compose fake introductions of my friends and when I got to the stage I’d present them to my audience of none, as if I were auditioning to MC at Reggae on the River. (A few years ago I stopped my walk every ten minutes, read aloud my latest radio rant, poem, or essay, and edited it with a ready pen. The money shot for those treks was when I got to the stage for the main show.)

I stopped the editing last year and when I got to the stage I climbed up the steps, centered myself, shut my eyes, spread my arms wide, and let out a hippie howl as loud as I could. I’ve switched that ritual now to when I’m done with my mini-ritual at the park labyrinth and don’t do the stage whoop anymore. Sometimes while walking up the mountain I’ll let one go, always vaguely hoping for a return howl (Last year some small children down on the road whooped back, they kept it up for a while, and I chimed back in.)

After all that whooping I’m pretty much a professional now and can howl on demand, though I’m sure my father was disappointed in me, that all I wanted to do in life was scream out like a wolf. (I was talking to a friend this week about how his father, a successful lab technician at UC Berkeley, was always severely disappointed in him because he had only been a janitor for twenty-five years. His father died last year, left him a few million dollars, and he quit the janitor biz and retired.)

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RESOURCES RECOMMENDED BY IMMIGRANT ADVOCATES

North Bay Rapid Response Network: Provides a 24-hour hotline to immigrants facing a raid by federal immigration agents, dispatches trained legal observers to the raid location, provides legal defense to affected communities, and offers accompaniment to victims and families following a raid. Call 707-800-4544 (24 hours) or visit northbayop.org/nbrrn

Líderes del Futuro Avanzando: For information about legal clinics and resource-sharing events, visit lideresdelfuturo.org or check their social media instagram.com/lideres_del_futuroo

Sonoma Immigrant Services: Get free legal assistance to navigate immigration options for different statuses. Visit their website sonomaimmigrant.org or find them on social media instagram.com/sonomaimmigrant

Organizing Rooted in Abolition, Liberation & Empowerment (ÓRALE): This organization helps to verify or dismiss immigration raid rumors. instagram.com/oralelb

Check the KBBF radio programs for trustworthy information for migrants: kbbf.org/programs

A continuación, una lista de recursos proporcionados por defensores locales:

La Red de Respuesta Rápida de NBOP: Si quiere aclarar rumores o vio algo, llame al 707-800-4544 (24 horas) northbayop.org/nbrrn

Líderes del Futuro Avanzando: Encuentre información sobre clínicas legales y eventos de repartición de recursos en su sitio web lideresdelfuturo.org o en Instagram: instagram.com/lideres_del_futuroo

Sonoma Immigrant Services: Ayuda legal gratuita para saber navegar opciones migratorias para diversos estatus. Consulte su sitio web sonomaimmigrant.org o su Instagram para información inmediata instagram.com/sonomaimmigrant

Organizing Rooted in Abolition, Liberation & Empowerment (ÓRALE): Esta organización ayuda a verificar o desechar rumores. instagram.com/oralelb

Consulte los programas de la radio KBBF, en donde encontrará información confiable dirigida a la comunidad migrante kbbf.org/programs

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ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Working on farms is hard and demanding. We have produced SOFT generations, heads down on their cell and social media and have hyped their worthless degrees as big deals. Getting some time on the farms and doing hard hand labor would not only get them in shape but show them what the true value of work means. An economic shock is likely to come and the whining won’t interest anyone, survival will be the way out. It’s going to be tough kids, but this is where we are.

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BILL KIMBERLIN:

Highland Gardens Hotel at 7047 Franklin Ave. in Los Angeles.

It is really an apartment building that was converted into a type of motel. In the 1970’s as I was trying to get started in the movie business I stayed here. It was relatively inexpensive, especially because each room was actually an apartment with a full kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms. There was also a swimming pool where everyone would hang out. It was very popular with all kinds of actors, musicians, directors, and generally everyone coming up in the entertainment world.

This is also where on October 4th 1970 the 27 year old Janis Joplin died of “acute heroin-morphine intoxication” in apartment 105. She was listed as a singer, self employed.

The second photo is her last address. 380 Baltimore Ave. Larkspur, Marin County.

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LETTER TO LENNY BRUCE, 1963

To: Mr. Lenny Bruce, The Village Vanguard, New York, New York

Dear Mr. Bruce:

I came to see you the other night because I had read about you and was curious to see if you were really as penetrating a critic of our common hypocrisies as I had heard. I found that you are an honest man, sometimes a shockingly honest man, and I wrote you a note to say so. It is never popular to be so scathingly honest, whether it is from a nightclub stage or from a pulpit, and I was not surprised to hear you were having some “trouble.” This letter is written to express my personal concern and to say what I saw and heard on Thursday Night.

First, I emphatically do NOT believe your act is obscene in intent. The method you use has a lot in common with most serious critics (the prophet or the artist, not the professor) of society. Pages of Jonathan Swift and Martin Luther are quite unprintable even now because they were forced to shatter the easy, lying language of the day into the basic, earthy, vulgar idiom of ordinary people in order to show up the emptiness and insanity of their time. (It has been said, humourously but with some truth, that a great deal of the Bible is not fit to be read in Church for the same reason).

Clearly your intent is not to excite sexual feelings or to demean, but to shock us awake to the realities of racial hatred and invested absurdities about sex and birth and death… to move toward sanity and compassion. It is clear that you are intensely angry at our hypocrisies (yours as well as mine) and at the highly subsidized mealy-mouthism that passes as wisdom.

You may show this letter to anyone you wish if it can be of help. Please call me when you come back from Chicago.

May God Bless you.

The Rev. Sidney Lanier

St. Clements Church, New York, New York

January. 13, 1963

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DELTA COMMUNITIES, REGIONAL FISHING GROUPS, STARTLED BY NEW PRESIDENTIAL EXECUTIVE ORDERS

Trump backs Newsom’s Delta plans in a big way, but are the President’s sweeping anti-environmental orders so broad that the Governor and other California leaders will take a stand against them?

by Dan Bacher

On Friday, President Donald Trump issued executive orders that will have “devastating consequences” for California’s water future, public health and environmental protections — threatening a federal takeover of the state’s right to manage its land and resources — according to a coalition of fishing, tribal and environmental organizations.…

https://sacramento.newsreview.com/2025/01/28/delta-communities-regional-fishing-groups-startled-by-new-presidential-executive-orders

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VERY INTERESTING INTERVIEW with Scott Anderson, author of ‘The Quiet Americans: Four CIA Spies at the Dawn of the Cold War — A Tragedy in Three Acts.’ (2020) Anderson chronicles the exploits of four CIA spies: Michael Burke, a charming former football star fallen on hard times, Frank Wisner, the scion of a wealthy Southern family, Peter Sichel, a sophisticated German Jew who escaped the Nazis, and Edward Lansdale, a brilliant ad executive. The four ran ideologically driven covert operations across the globe, trying to outwit the ruthless KGB in Berlin, parachuting commandos into Eastern Europe, plotting coups, and directing wars against Communist insurgents in Asia, most of which were disastrous failures.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPTZfFE4J0k

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LEAD STORIES, WEDNESDAY'S NYT

Trump Administration Offers Millions of Federal Workers Payouts to Resign

Judge Stays Trump’s Federal Funding Freeze, but Disruption to Medicaid Sows Fear

Kennedy, Polarizing Pick for Health Secretary, Makes His Senate Debut

American Children’s Reading Skills Reach New Lows

Mona Lisa to Get Her Own Room as the Overcrowded Louvre Expands

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STATEMENT OF SUPPORT FOR CONGRESSWOMAN TULSI GABBARD’S NOMINATION TO DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE

by Dennis Kucinich

During my sixteen years in Congress, I fought consistently for peace, accountability, and the protection of our nation’s core values. I understand the gravity of the position of Director of National Intelligence (DNI)—a role essential to the security of our nation, where the person in charge must evaluate and interpret military intelligence that informs decisions affecting the lives of millions. That is why I fully support Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination as Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in the Trump administration.

This critical position requires a person who understands the urgency of truth and the severe consequences of sending America’s sons and daughters into battle based on false or manipulated intelligence.

Congresswoman Gabbard is uniquely qualified for this role. As a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, she has served our nation with distinction since 2002, earning Top Secret clearance through the trust of the Department of Defense, her executive officers, and peers.

Her service as a military officer is complemented by an exemplary Congressional career. During her eight years in Congress, Tulsi served on committees relevant to her appointment, including Armed Services, Intelligence and Special Operations, Foreign Affairs, Homeland Security, and Financial Services. These roles gave her a front-row seat to pressing national security challenges and shaped her ability to evaluate intelligence with the discernment and objectivity that the DNI position demands.

There are few individuals as prepared, as experienced, and as committed to the national interest as Lt. Col. Tulsi Gabbard. Her leadership has consistently demonstrated sound judgment, ethical standards, and an unwavering commitment to the Constitution of the United States. She has always put the interests of the American people above partisan politics or the agendas of the military contractors.

In Washington, no one, no matter how dedicated to America and our people, can be spared political smears. Tulsi Gabbard is under attack by an anonymous individual who stole a confidential ethics file and then leaked it to the media, with the obvious intention to attempt to damage her nomination. The theft of a confidential ethics file is a blatant violation of House rules, compounded by leaking it to the media. This is a violation so serious that it could result in criminal prosecution, civil suits, and even expulsion from Congress.

It is vital to understand that the Ethics Committee’s review of Congresswoman Gabbard’s travel was thorough and that her travel was fully lawful and ethical. Her travel was conducted in strict adherence to her responsibilities under Article I, Section 6 of the U.S. Constitution, which protects the rights of Members of Congress to carry out their duties without interference from the executive or judicial branches.

The release of her confidential Ethics Committee file is not just an attack on her; it is an attack on the constitutional rights of all Members of Congress.

The real purpose behind the theft and leaking of an ethics file is clear: to politicize and distort the process of vetting a highly qualified candidate for a critical national security position.

Congresswoman Gabbard has faced this kind of baseless attack throughout her career, but she has never wavered in her commitment to the American people. The truth is simple: The Ethics Committee cleared her and any attempt to manipulate or distort this fact is just noise.

Now, more than ever, we must move beyond the endless political battles and focus on what truly matters: The security of our nation and the future of the American people. The position of DNI is one of immense responsibility—entrusted with overseeing 18 intelligence agencies and ensuring the flow of accurate, impartial intelligence. Congresswoman Gabbard has the integrity, the experience, and the moral clarity to lead our intelligence community with honesty and transparency.

Her leadership will restore accountability to our intelligence agencies, ensuring that they serve the interests of the American people—not political factions or military-industrial interests. The challenges of the 21st century demand leaders who prioritize the security of our nation above all else, and Congresswoman Gabbard has demonstrated time and again that she is that leader.

The creation of the DNI position in 2004 was a direct response to the intelligence failures that led to 9/11 and the subsequent Iraq War—a war that was driven by political manipulation of intelligence, costing the lives of over 4,400 American soldiers and causing the deaths of more than a million innocent Iraqis.

This tragic chapter in our history was not caused by a lack of information, but by the conscious distortion of intelligence to justify a predetermined political agenda. We cannot afford to repeat these mistakes. We need a Director of National Intelligence who will prioritize truth above politics—who will ensure that our intelligence community is both transparent and accountable.

I urge the Senate to act swiftly and decisively in confirming Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence. This is not just an opportunity to strengthen our national security—it is an opportunity to correct the failures of the past and ensure that our intelligence community operates in the service of the American people, with the truth at its core.

(denniskucinich.substack.com)

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ONLY PATHETIC BOOTLICKERS SPEND THEIR ENERGY CRITICIZING CHINA

by Caitlin Johnstone

The buzz around Xiaohongshu and then DeepSeek has had an unusually high volume of westerners speaking positively about China for the last couple of weeks, which of course means we’re also seeing many westerners falling all over themselves to say “Well actually China is actually quite bad actually” in response.

Western liberals who fancy themselves enlightened and critical of power tend to get very squirmy and uncomfortable in their skin when they hear people saying positive things about the PRC, and love nothing more than to tell you that China is just as evil and tyrannical as the western power alliance, if not worse.

This is objectively, measurably false. China hasn’t spent the 21st century killing people by the millions in wars of aggression. China isn’t circling the planet with hundreds of military bases while working to destroy any nation or group anywhere in the world who disobeys it. China isn’t strangling nations around the globe with starvation sanctions for refusing to bow to its dictates. China didn’t just spend 15 months lighting the middle east on fire and backing a live-streamed genocide. China hasn’t spent the last three years endangering the world in frequently terrifying acts of nuclear brinkmanship with a rival nuclear superpower. Only the US-centralized empire has done this.

Whenever I point this out I get empire apologists going “Well yeah, SO FAR! We haven’t seen China doing all that evil foreign policy shit YET because they’re still not powerful enough!” Which is just silly. China absolutely is powerful enough to be a whole lot more abusive and murderous abroad, and it simply isn’t. Westerners love to claim that China has secret agendas to conquer the world someday (hilariously implying that these hypothetical future abuses make China morally comparable to the US empire’s current known abuses), but if you actually dig into the evidence for these claims what you’ll find every time is that all they provide evidence for is China’s openly stated goal of a multi-polar world that isn’t ruled by Washington.

Our ancestors set sail to conquer the world; their ancestors built a wall. This notion that China has an interest in ruling over a bunch of white foreigners has as much rational basis as old racist superstitions that black and brown people wanted equal rights so that they could come and steal white men’s wives and have sex with their daughters.

They’re just a better civilization than ours — not because theirs is miraculous or perfect, but because ours is just that murderous and dystopian. They simply do the normal thing while we do the freakish thing: they make the lives of their citizens better and better and avoid unnecessary wars, while western governments make the lives of their citizens worse and worse while plunging into new acts of mass military slaughter every few years.

Any criticisms you could level at China — that their domestic policy is more authoritarian than ours, that their culture is more conservative, etc — are eclipsed in moral terms by the depravity of our own western governments by orders of magnitude. And why would you even level such criticisms while living under the single most bloodthirsty and tyrannical power structure on earth? That would be like a German living under the Third Reich looking overseas and bitching about Brazil.

I find nothing more pathetic than a westerner who lives under the shadow of the US empire spending their time and energy criticizing the abuses of nations who lie outside that power structure. It’s an embarrassing, bootlicking way to live. Focus on criticizing the far greater abuses of the far greater evil that you actually live under, loser.

(caitlinjohnstone.com.au)

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DOOMSDAY CLOCK TICKS FORWARDS TO 89 SECONDS TO MIDNIGHT - THE CLOSEST HUMANS HAVE EVER BEEN TO ANNIHILATION

by Ellyn Lapointe and Jonathan Chadwick

Humanity is officially one second closer to world annihilation, scientists say.

The Doomsday Clock has been revealed – and it now sits at 89 seconds to midnight, one second closer than last year.

It’s also the closest the clock has ever been to midnight in its 78-year history, meaning we’re nearer to world-ending catastrophe than ever before.

The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, which decides where the hands are set, cited the Russia-Ukraine war, ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, the threat of nuclear war, climate change, a looming bird flu pandemic and AI arms race for the update.

The Chicago-based nonprofit created the Doomsday Clock in 1947 during the Cold War tensions that followed World War II to warn the public about how close humankind was to destroying the world.

‘We set the clock closer to midnight because we do not see sufficient positive progress on the global challenges we face,’ said Daniel Holz, board member and physicist at the University of Chicago.

‘Setting the Doomsday Clock at 89 seconds to midnight is a warning to all world leaders,’ he added.

Since 2023, it has been set at 90 seconds to midnight, but this year scientists predicted it would move forward to reflect the troubling global outlook.

Moving the Doomsday Clock one second closer on Tuesday signified humanity’s failures to make progress from the global threats in the past 12 months.

The Russia-Ukraine war, Israel’s ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, and the threat of nuclear war, climate change and AI all mean the clock has gone forwards for the first time in two years.

‘The factors shaping this year’s decision – nuclear risk, climate change, the potential misuse of advances in biological science and a variety of other emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence – were not new in 2024,’ Holz said.

‘But we have seen insufficient progress in addressing the key challenges, and in many cases this is leading to increasingly negative and worrisome effects.’

Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine launched Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II, while there’s a growing sense ‘a nation may end up using nuclear weapons’.

‘The war in Ukraine continues to loom as a large source of nuclear risk,’ Holz said.

‘That conflict could escalate to include nuclear weapons at any moment due to a rash decision or through accident and miscalculation.’

Russian President Vladimir Putin in November lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike in response to a broader range of conventional attacks, a move the Kremlin described as a signal to the West.

Russia’s updated doctrine set a framework for conditions under which Putin could order a strike from the world’s biggest nuclear arsenal.

The Middle East has been another source of instability with the Israel-Gaza war and broader regional hostilities involving countries including Iran.

‘We are watching closely and hope that the ceasefire in Gaza will hold,’ Holz said.

Meanwhile, nuclear-armed China has stepped up military pressure near Taiwan, and nuclear-armed North Korea continues with tests of various ballistic missiles.

Climate change poses another existential threat. Last year was the hottest in recorded history, according to scientists at the UN World Meteorological Organization. The last 10 years were the 10 hottest on record, it said.

‘While there has been impressive growth in wind and solar energy, the world is still falling short of what is necessary to prevent the worse aspects of climate change,’ Holz said.

Last year also saw staggering advancements in artificial intelligence, prompting increasing concern among some experts about its military applications and its risks to global security.

Governments have addressed the matter in fits and starts. In the US, then-President Biden in October signed an executive order intended to reduce the risks that AI poses to national security, the economy and public health or safety.

His successor Donald Trump revoked it last week, and also announced a private-sector $500 billion investment in AI infrastructure.

‘Advances in AI are beginning to show up on the battlefield in tentative but worrisome ways, and of particular concern is the future possibility of AI applications to nuclear weapons,’ Holz said.

‘In addition, AI is increasingly disrupting the world’s information ecosystem. AI-fueled disinformation and misinformation will only add to this dysfunction.’

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The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic timepiece showing how close the world is to a human-made global catastrophe, as deemed by experts.

Every year, the clock is updated based on how close we are to the total annihilation of humanity (‘midnight’).

If the clock goes forward and gets closer to midnight (compared with where it was set the previous year), it suggests humanity has got closer to self destruction.

But if it moves back, further away from midnight, it suggests humanity has reduced the risks of global catastrophe in the past 12 months.

On some years, such as 2024, the hands of the clock haven’t moved at all – which suggests the global situation has not changed.

The clock is set by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a nonprofit organization based in Chicago that publishes an academic journal.

Although symbolic and not an actual clock, the organization does unveil a physical ‘quarter clock’ model at an event when revealing if and how the hands have moved.

After the unveiling, the model can be found located at the Bulletin offices in the Keller Center, home to the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.

Every January, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists reveals its annual update to the Doomsday Clock – even if the hands are not moved.

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The Doomsday Clock goes back to June 1947, when US artist Martyl Langsdorf was hired to design a new cover for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists journal.

With a striking image on the cover, the organization hoped to ‘frighten men into rationality’, according to Eugene Rabinowitch, the first editor of the journal.

It came amid a backdrop of public fear surrounding atomic warfare and weaponry, just two years after the Second World War ended.

Langsdorf initially considered drawing the symbol for uranium before sketching a clock to convey a sense of urgency.

She set it at seven minutes to midnight because ‘it looked good to my eye’, Langsdorf later said.

On the cover of later issues in subsequent years, the hands of the clock were adjusted based on how close we are to catastrophe.

After the Soviet Union successfully tested its first atomic bomb in 1949, Rabinowitch reset the clock from seven minutes to midnight to three minutes to midnight.

Since then, it has continued to move forwards and backwards.

In 2009, the Bulletin ceased its print edition, but the clock is still updated once a year on its website and is now a much-anticipated highlight of the scientific calendar.

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Shortly after it was first created, Bulletin Editor Eugene Rabinowitch decided whether or not the hands should be moved.

Rabinowitch was a scientist, fluent in Russian, and a leader in the conversations about nuclear disarmament, meaning he was in frequent discussions with scientists and experts all over the world.

After considering the discussions, he would decide whether the clock should be moved forward or backward, at least in the first few decades of the clock’s existence.

When he died in 1973, the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board took over, made up of experts on nuclear technology and climate science, and has included 13 Nobel Laureates over the years.

The panel meets twice a year to discuss ongoing world events, such as the war in Ukraine, and whether a clock change is necessary.

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In 1991, following the end of the Cold War, the Bulletin set the clock hands to 17 minutes to midnight.

The end of the war saw the US and the Soviet Union sign the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

This meant the countries would cut down their nuclear weapons arsenal, reducing the threat of nuclear war.

Unfortunately, the hands have not been as far away from midnight since then – and they do not look like moving back to this position any time soon.

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