Mendocino County Today: Saturday 3/1/2025

By AVA News Service on March 1, 2025

I’m not the only one that appreciates the sunshine today! (Renee Lee)

TEMPERATURES trend downward today. Weather pattern begin to shift today as a frontal system bring light to moderate rainfall, mountain snow and breezy west-northwest winds over the weekend. There will be more chances for additional rainfall and mountain snow during the coming work week. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A foggy 47F on the coast this Saturday morning. Rain returns by evening today & into Sunday. Dry Monday then rain Tue & Wed. Dry skies then return Thur until Sunday. Or so they say.

2024: Oct 1.26" - Nov 14.53” - Dec 12.05”
2025: Jan 1.65” - Feb 10.18”
YTD: 39.67”

DRUNKS 2, DA 0

Two defendants charged with driving under the influence were recently acquitted in Mendocino County Superior Court, the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office reported.

According to the office of DA David Eyster, on Feb. 26, a jury “returned from its deliberations Wednesday afternoon to announce it had acquitted Garrett Ian Moore Zachary, age 31, of Willits, (who) had been charged with misdemeanor driving a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and driving a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol .08 or greater.”

Eyster notes that “the law enforcement agencies involved in the October 2024 investigation were the Willits Police Department and the California Department of Justice crime laboratory.”

Also on Feb 26, Eyster reports that another jury “returned from its deliberations Wednesday afternoon to announce it had acquitted Lydia Myriha-Elvira Robbins, age 35, of Humboldt County, (who) had been charged with misdemeanor driving a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and driving a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol .08 or greater.”

Eyster notes that “Robbins was also charged with having suffered two prior DUI convictions in the Humboldt County Superior Court – one in September 2014 and one in December 2019,” and that she reportedly “admitted to driving the motor vehicle and having an excessive blood alcohol, but asserted the defense of necessity (“I had no choice but to drive the vehicle.”)

Eyster explains that in order for the necessity defense to apply, a defendant must produce evidence showing by a preponderance of the evidence all of the following:

The defendant acted to prevent injury to themselves or someone else;

The defendant had no reasonable alternative;

The defendant did not create greater danger than the danger avoided;

The defendant actually believed the illegal conduct was necessary to prevent the threatened harm or evil; and a reasonable person would have also believed the illegal conduct was necessary under the same circumstances.

Eyster notes that “the law enforcement agencies involved in the June 2024 investigation were the California Highway Patrol and the California Department of Justice crime laboratory.”

MENDO WATER SYSTEM OPPOSITION

Editor,

The appeal is submitted to the California Coastal Commission to prevent the Mendocino Unified School District from expanding its present water system five-fold, extracting 600,000 gallons of groundwater from County designated “Critical Groundwater Area” and within the State designated “Critically Overdrafted Basin” without adequate groundwater testing.

The best way to explain why ten protestants have appealed the school district’s project is to invoke the “tragedy of the commons.” The proposed 9-well well-field and two four-story tall holding tanks threaten to reenact what has happened so often in the past to free and open exploitation of common, communally held resources. In England, three or four hundred years ago when every village had a common grazing ground, the most powerful people – those with more cattle – over-grazed the commons and permanently ruined them for everyone else. The appeal is an attempt to prevent that from happening in Mendocino.

All well owners in this aquifer, all water users in this community, share in the very scarce groundwater. Because we want that natural resource preserved, not ruined, everyone’s right of use must be tempered by reasonable sharing. For over a century, California common law has repeatedly established in court cases a reasonable way to protect groundwater. If you own land, you can use as much groundwater as you need to enjoy the fruits of that land, but unless there is extra water underground, you cannot use the extracted water off your property for other purposes. Water stays with the property in times of scarcity.

Think of what that means in Mendocino, where wells go dry regularly. Do we have extra, surplus water in the ground? We think it is the county’s duty to require the school district to show that there is extra water, but neither the county and nor the school district has done that in spite of the seven years spent on planning, project revisions, and permitting.

Following common law, both the state and the county have passed regulations and codes to protect our groundwater, especially on the coast, to guard against a tragedy of the commons. Normally, CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act), the Coastal Act, the Coastal Element of the county Plan, county development codes, and even Mendocino City Community Service District ordinances require any development which depends on groundwater to establish a test well and use the test well to demonstrate the sufficiency of water (that the planned project will not debase the area’s groundwater levels) and to produce a hydrological study showing the impacts of the project on the aquifer. Only after this “proof of water” process can the project be considered as a whole for permitting.

However, the County has, for a second time, approved the school district’s project without prior demonstration of surplus water in the ground. In addition, it has approved a well as a production well without any proof of water. The County has given up the whole idea of proof of water and with it protecting our common right to water.

As a result, the project threatens all neighborhood wells because the 9 wells are located on about 6 acres of land in the middle of a residential area where groundwater is so critical that lot sizes allow one residential well every 5 acres. It threatens all wells downstream, west of the K-8 school, because the well-field may intercept groundwater flowing to the wells in the village west of Highway 1. It threatens the designated environmentally sensitive habitat area wetlands which form the headwaters of Slaughterhouse Gulch and Creek since the wells are all inside the normal 100 feet buffer that supposedly protects the wetlands. And, because it impacts the Slaughterhouse watershed, it threatens the water source for Hills Ranch.

The project simply makes no sense. The school district says that it will draw water from the aquifer during drought to give to well owners whose wells have gone dry because that same aquifer has gone dry. We would like to see some evidence, even a reasonable argument, that this is not magical thinking.

Along with lack of adequate testing, the appeal states other serious concerns. The school district has not demonstrated a need for the number of wells or the size of the storage facilities; it violates the mandatory height limits for structures in a designated highly scenic area next to a historic hiking trail; it has not established criteria and costs for distributing drought relief water (to those from whom it has taken the water?); it has repeatedly violated public participation and notification laws; it relies on demonstrably false declarations and claims; it refuses to acknowledge cumulative impacts from its many related projects. As in many classic cases of water grabs, the project avoided the required process of public, open scrutiny provided in the California Brown Act.

Hence, the appellants asked the Coastal Commission to consider the substance of the Appeal and either to send the matter back to the County with a mandate to comply with the state Constitution as well as with local and state laws or to hear and to judge itself the school district’s application.

In its closing statement, the appellants wrote:

Groundwater availability is crucial if not paramount to the balance which the Coastal Act tries to maintain between preservation and development. Lack of water has stymied development and population growth, but it has also protected the area’s open spaces and large parcels as well as the forests and streams that characterize the area’s landscape. More groundwater dependent development will result in a harmful imbalance. Thus, serious and competent scrutiny of all water projects is necessary for preserving the life we know and enjoy. This is especially true today under the threat of global warming, uncertain and altered climatic conditions, and the pressure of migration to the Coast. Ill conceived water projects are, possibly, the single greatest threat to the Coastal balance. The violation of the requirement for proof of water may seem like a small matter, but its consequences can substantially impact both humans (the overlying water rights holders of the whole Mendocino community) and the natural environment (the wetlands and the scenic beauties)--as well as ultimately injuring the tourist industry upon which so much of our local economy depends. Decisions about water projects affect not just local lives but the public at large. We appeal to the Coastal Commission to ensure that the public will of Californians, expressed in the referendum that created the Coastal Act, is not thwarted by misconstruction of the law, misinformation, or nonfeasance and inadequate discussion.

For a full list of allegations, please read the appeal itself. You can request a copy of the appeal (Appeal of UM_2024-0008) from the staff of the North Coast office of the California Coastal Commission: NorthCoast@coastal.ca.gov.

Claudia Boudreau. Mary Falkenrath, Marc Laventurier, Rich Jung, Maggie O’Rourke, Norman de Vall, Monica Steinisch, Todd Walton, Max Yeh, Appellants.

PROGRESS MADE ON NOYO RIVER BRIDGE SUICIDE PROTECTIONS

by Mary Benjamin

At the Public Safety Committee meeting on February 19, Police Chief Neil Cervenka gave an update on talks with Caltrans District 1 about preventing further suicides from the bridge. The City of Fort Bragg requested Caltrans support for a physical deterrent after a local teen’s suspected suicide from the bridge in December of 2024.

In early January of 2025, Chief Cervenka sent a letter to the Caltrans Director, State Senator Mark McGuire, and State Assemblymember Chris Rogers requesting “assistance in reducing suicides from the Noyo River Bridge.”

Caltrans agreed to a meeting which was attended by Caltrans District 1 Deputy Directors, County Supervisor Bernie Norvell, and Fort Bragg City staff persons. To date, there have been two meetings, and two more are scheduled. Caltrans agreed to the placement of deterrents on the bridge and will proceed in three phases.

Phase One is now near completion. Within a month’s time, Caltrans will install signs on the bridge with the phone number for Redwood Crisis Services (RCS). The sign was designed by city hall staff, RCS, and a psychologist with careful consideration of font type and colors. The design was approved by Caltrans and will be installed within a month.

Phase Two is the installation of cameras on the bridge. City staff are obtaining expense quotes. There may be a six-month delay while Caltrans considers a policy change that would allow local entities to place equipment on state property with an easement.

This policy change will be far more manageable than obtaining official permission from various property owners to place a camera on their roofs. Camera installation is projected to take place twelve months from now.

Phase Three will add a physical barrier onto the bridge, either a net or fence extending off the sides of the bridge, although the city prefers a fence option. Caltrans will take time to research bridge barriers and obtain state funding for the project. This phase will take a few years to accomplish.

Since last December, the Fort Bragg Police Department has been proactive in finding a resolution to the bridge issues, both as a potential suicide site and as a convenient spot to throw large, damaging objects onto U.S. Coast Guard boats and commercial fishing boats.

(Ukiah Daily Journal)

SALE OF MENDOCINO COMMUNITY NETWORK TO BE FINALIZED SOON

by Mary Benjamin

At the November 2024 Mendocino Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting, the trustees voted unanimously to meet with Fort Bragg city officials to discuss the sale of the Mendocino Community Network (MCN). Earlier in the meeting, Fort Bragg City Manager Isaac Whippy and Economic Development Manager Sarah McCormick had presented the city’s offer for discussion.

In September of 2024, The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) awarded Fort Bragg $10.3 million to construct a public broadband utility to serve the community with a high-speed, fiber optic internet system made available to the community. The funding is part of the state’s Middle Mile Broadband Initiative to end the “digital divide” in rural areas.

According to the city’s press release at that time, “The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the vulnerability of households without access to affordable and reliable internet—from the ability to access telehealth services to remote learning and remote working opportunities, participating in virtual events, or having access to modern business markets.”

Although the total cost of the project exceeds the grant by about $4.3 million, the city plans to close this gap with $1 million of federal dollars earmarked by Congressman Jared Huffman for likely approval. The remaining $3.3 million will be pursued through other funding opportunities.

By mid-March, Whippy will proceed with the final legal steps to secure the purchase of MCN.

Both entities have agreed upon the original offer to MUSD of $500,000, paid over a ten-year span. Now, the city and the school district are engaged in the required process of due diligence.

This includes verifying the assets of MCN, reviewing its business model, its employee compensation, customer support, and billing system, and locating an office site to lease. MCN employees will become Fort Bragg city employees, and any current contract items that do not align with the city employees will be addressed in upcoming meetings.

According to City Manager Whippy, there are many legal pieces to still “iron out.” He commented, “It’s up to me to make sure we’re able to answer questions and make sure the transition of employees into the city’s is as successful as possible.”

A second necessary step is to secure a loan for the $4.5 million shortfall to finance the purchase. Whippy said he is looking at options, has talked to two commercial banks, and is “casting a wider net to get the best interest rate.” Current loan rates are on the high side.

Any loan broker will want to see performance projections for the next five to ten years as well as the due diligence report. Whippy hopes to be able to present both the due diligence report and a loan package to the City Council at its March 24, 2025, meeting.

However, as part of the city’s government procedure, these will need to be presented first to the City Council Ad Hoc Committee for approval before it comes before the City Council members. Then, the refined agreement will go to the MUSD Board of Trustees for consideration.

There are other pieces to nail down, but Whippy assures that the sale will happen and the city will be able to serve customers outside of the city’s limits. Whippy also stated that “the city is committed” to the current operation of the MCN listserv.

All the documents for the sale must be ready by the last day of the city’s fiscal year on June 30, 2025. By taking ownership of MCN, all operating costs, including payments to the MUSD, construction costs, equipment upgrades, addition of employees, and an office lease must be included in the city’s budget for 2024-2025, starting on July 1, 2025.

Whippy commented, “I am looking forward to the economic development opportunities that this will bring to the city.” He explained, “We have a lot of remote work here and a lot of businesses who will benefit. It will be the beginning of closing the digital divide for a rural community like ours to have access to high speed internet and to make sure it’s affordable.”

He continued, “This is the city going all in and saying this is a basic infrastructure need for our community. We’re going to double down and run it ourselves as a utility and make sure that, as an economic development tool, the prices are affordable, and telehealth and education will be available to the community.”

(Ukiah Daily Journal)

ANDERSON VALLEY VILLAGE NEWSLETTER, March 2025

Last Month's Gathering: A Talk by Ron Gester [on getting a good night's sleep]

Looking for Local Writers! The AV Village Annual Local Writer’s Showcase will be Sunday April 20th at our regular monthly Gathering. We are looking for local writers to read a short (5 min.) piece of their work. Please contact Lauren laurenk@pacific.net if you are interested in participating. Writers must sign up in advance, this is not an open mic event!…

https://mailchi.mp/0967a4f6e23b/anderson-valley-village-newsletter-august-5850204?e=358077c1c9

ED NOTES

BEFORE the internet ate the world’s brains, and everyone became his own newspaper, the print media, very generally speaking as applied to Mendocino County, were able to hold officials responsible, often getting the most egregiously corrupt and/or incompetent removed, even jailed. Used to be, Mendocino County was literally on the same page produced daily by the Santa Rosa-based Press Democrat. The PD was Mendocino County media, esp in the person of M. Geniella, with the Ukiah Daily Journal providing valuable back-up but unread beyond Ukiah. The, ahem, AVA, got in more than a few telling shots and, like its big brother the Press Democrat, was also read everywhere in the county. But that was it. But it was a pretty effective “it” in revealing official misconduct. Public radio appeared but seldom did effective local reporting and never, ever criticized officials. Then the internet deluge, with websites and blogs and facebook blips popping up everywhere, fatally fragging the Mendo attention span to where, today, we have the huge irony of media everywhere while a huge Ukiah-based injustice eludes sustained, effective attention — the grossest official misconduct in the history of the County going pretty much unremarked, nay unknown, to many voting citizens of Mendocino County, the upshot being the DA is able to divert public money to his personal pursuit of another elected and totally innocent public official while our derelict board of supervisors removes Ms. Cubbison from her elected position as County Auditor on the say-so of that DA, removing her without so much as giving her an opportunity to answer the bogus charge against her. This whole sordid show was, unsurprisingly, aided and abetted by the County’s chief executive officer and County Counsel, and it all happened in a place where there are more media of various kinds than ever before!

THE DEAD MAN WHO WASN’T. One summer evening about 6, bicyclists returning from a jaunt up Navarro Ridge Road saw that the silver Volkswagon Jetta they’d noted on their way up Navarro Ridge Road was still at the gate. The lycra posse paused to have a look around. They soon saw an elderly man asleep, perhaps permanently asleep, stretched out in a sleeping bag. An empty bottle of anti-depressants and a fully consumed bottle of alcohol lay within the apparent corpse’s reach. And there was blood on his neck. The cyclists hustled down to Highway 128 and soon flagged down the South Coast Ambulance Service’s emergency vehicle which, not so fortuitously as it turned out, just happened to be passing by. The cyclists accompanied the Gualala EMTs return to the presumed dead man in the sleeping bag. The Gualala EMTs said they thought the man was dead, but because they didn’t have their protective rubber gloves with them they didn’t want to touch him to make sure, a peculiar stance for emergency services personnel but that was the stance they took. Soon “1144 near Navarro” — dead body — was heard on scanners all over Mendocino County.

Anderson Valley EMT Holly Newstead was soon on-scene. Ms. Newstead quickly determined that the dead man was not dead. She also couldn’t help but see that the dead man who wasn’t dead had apparently cut his own throat with a boxcutter, which was also found within his reach along with the empty bottle of sedatives and the drained whiskey bottle. The dead man who wasn’t dead, it was surmised, had washed down the sedatives with the whiskey and had then cut his own throat, somehow managing to miss an artery. One might say he’d hit a triple without touching any of heaven’s bases.

Emergency protocols kicked in and soon the dead man, now retrieved from wherever we go next, if there is a next, had survived. He was soon wafted dramatically upwards by an emergency medical helicopter, perhaps wondering as he ascended if he’d won a charter flight to the Pearly Gates.

We later discovered that the dead man who wasn’t dead was 68 years old, that his surname was King, and that he was from Berkeley. We don’t know why he’d selected Navarro Ridge Road for his thwarted exit, but the view, especially at sunset, would be a pleasant place to die.

Did Mr. King live on? We don’t know, medical privacy and all, but if you survive all that he survived we have to assume he took the hint.

IN OTHER TRUE LIFE local adventures, a woman appeared in the AVA’s office doorway exclaiming, “Bruce! I’m not nuts anymore!” This bold claim is one that few persons in Mendocino County could make with full confidence they wouldn’t immediately be refuted. It was Catherine Filby who wasn’t nuts anymore. Catherine had certainly been a consensus Difficult Person during her two-year stay in the Anderson Valley, but never psychotic to the point where Deputy Squires had had to cart her off as a full-blown 5150. Catherine who wasn’t nuts anymore went on to say that she was living and working in Garberville, that her children were doing well, and that she was enjoying a day away from home and work revisiting her old haunts in The Valley. Best of all, and speaking here as an uncredentialed non-professional, but a person with many years experience with aberrant behavior, Catherine seemed no longer nuts. She looked good, laughed a lot, expressed remorse for acting like a nut when she lived here, and said goodbye after a visit of maybe ten total minutes. The true nut would have settled in for at least an hour’s monologue heedless of what you might be doing. I was happy to see the reborn Catherine, especially grateful that she didn’t wear me out with her reclaimed sanity.

CATHERINE who was no longer nuts said she was on her way to Comptche where the Beauty of Glazenwood that grows on the old post office was in full bloom. “It only blooms once a year,” she said, and if I hadn’t had to work I think I would have driven over to Comptche myself to see a sight I’ve never seen with her.

NOT TO BEAT you over the head with my pinko opinions on saving deputies and health centers and social security and medicare and public education and state parks and the rest of the good things we’ve have taken for granted in this country since 1936 presently under renewed assault by the orange wrecking crew, but ever since the New Deal saved the major capitalists from themselves major capitalists and their descendants have dreamed of destroying all tax-funded social amenities.

The difference between then and now is that the contemporary ruling class lacks the candor of their grandfathers, who used to say forthrightly things like, “We can pay half the working class to shoot the other half.” These days the RC funds both the libs and the magas while buying (on the cheap) elected reps at all levels of government while they use the dominant media, also owned by oligarchs, to convince the dummies that government is the problem, hence Fox News, most syndicated newspaper columnists, rightwing radio blowhards, internet fascists, and soft propagandists like NPR… The message being, “Gosh, there’s just no money anymore for any of this stuff.” If you’re a person of ordinary means and you believe there’s no money for you and yours, it’ll take a lot more than night classes to wise you up.

YOUNGER OLD TIMERS like me, having arrived here in Anderson Valley c. 1970, remember the Health Center’s modest beginnings in the already ramshackle Ricard building at the south end of town. A barefoot medico called Phranklin Apfel, cousin of Dr. Mark, was the sawbones with, as I recall, Judy Nelson and Peggy McFadden functioning as nurses. The old old timers grumbled that the enterprise was aimed at “the damned hippies” but soon discovered the damned hippies running the place knew their bunions. From those simple origins The Clinic, as it was then called, grew to what it is today, a little hospital with an array of services perched atop a wobbly pile of debt.

THE BOONVILLE AMBULANCE, circa 1970, was an old station wagon hollowed out in back to get stretchers easily in and out. Bill West and Roy Salatena seemed to be in charge, but that old meat wagon served us well, as did Jim Wellington, Carl Kinion, Ruben Thomasson Sr. and any number of other unsung heroes and heroines who volunteered in those days. They knew how to apply tourniquets but also knew that their primary mission was to get the seriously wounded over the hill to the hospital pronto. Which they unfailingly did. And they handled a lot of very serious injuries, what with a few of the mills still running and loggers still getting hurt in the woods, not to mention the recreational bar fighters and drunk drivers. The old crews did a great job, saved a lot of lives. Now, of course, the whole country, having been captured by lawyers and insurance companies, Ambulance volunteers have to have all manner of emergency training and equipment which, in my opinion, discourages a lot of people from volunteering who’d be perfectly fine scraping the injured up from wherever they’ve fallen and getting them into the Ambulance and over the hill. A “professional” Ambulance crew is only one among many suburban amenities the hill muffins can’t seem to live without.

NEW FOOTAGE SHOWS A 'SNEAKY' KILLER IS DECAPITATING BABY SEALS ON CALIFORNIA BEACHES

by Amanda Bartlett

When the carcasses of headless baby harbor seals began emerging on the Northern California coastline close to a decade ago, researchers hadn’t seen anything like it before. The thick mats of ice plant covering the dunes of MacKerricher State Park about 3 miles north of Fort Bragg were spattered with blood where the pups’ bodies had been dragged, and tracks in the sand were all that remained of a mysterious culprit that was long gone.

Sarah Grimes, stranding coordinator at the Noyo Center for Marine Science in Mendocino County, was perplexed by the pattern, which she first noticed sometime in 2015. The seals were all appearing on the exact same stretch of the beach, and each showed signs of massive hemorrhaging around its head and neck with puncture wounds to the skull, meaning they had likely been hunted down rather than scavenged after they died. As the frequency of the sightings increased during Grimes’ routine seal counts, she got in touch with Frankie Gerraty, a Ph.D. student at UC Santa Cruz who had been researching the relationships between terrestrial and marine species. At first, they weren’t sure what the predator really was: A black bear? A mountain lion? A bald eagle? A dog? Maybe even a human?

Gerraty had another hunch, but there was only one way to prove it.

“What she told me was compelling enough that I was like, ‘OK, we need to get cameras out there and see what's going on,’” he told SFGATE, revealing one of the camouflaged devices he had mounted to a piece of driftwood and stationed in the sand. The Browning Strike Force HD Pro X he used as a timed camera trap was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand yet powerful enough to detect

Gerraty didn’t expect to see any results for months, possibly years. But two nights later, late on an April evening in 2023, the images flashed onto the LCD screen. A coyote came into the frame, hauling one of the pups through the coastal brush. Its eyes glowed in the darkness as it circled its prey before gnawing off its head and digging in for the prized meal: its brain.

Gerraty called Grimes right away: Not only had the mystery been solved, but it was also the first time coyotes had ever been documented hunting harbor seals in California. Now, a new study published in the journal Ecology describes just how widespread the hunting behavior really is — and reveals previously unreleased footage of the attack.

“One of the most exciting things about studying these animals, especially coyotes, is that they continue to surprise us. They live in our backyards, and we interact with them pretty regularly,” he said. “Yet we’re realizing that they do so much more than we had ever anticipated.”

One kill, many meals

Between 2016 and 2024, Gerraty, Grimes and other co-authors of the study at the California Academy of Sciences and Point Reyes National Seashore documented a total of 59 of these unique predation events across three rookery sites. The majority were recorded at MacKerricher State Park, which he called a site of “serial pinniped predation,” but also routinely occurred at Bolinas Lagoon and Drakes Estero in Marin County, where they came across another unusual discovery: two coyotes working together to ambush seals that were resting on the edge of an exposed intertidal sandbar.

“They were being sort of sneaky, trying to approach larger groups of harbor seals and then pretty much grabbing the slowest or most accessible ones and killing them with bites to the back of the head and neck,” or their flippers, Gerraty said. The predators would then lug the bounty to a place for safekeeping higher up on the beach, likely so it wouldn’t get washed away by the tide and they could snack on the rest later.

As it turns out, coyotes have been biting off more than they can chew — literally. The blubbery meals of choice, most of which were less than 2 weeks old and weighed roughly 29-33 pounds, were the same size or larger than the biggest adult male coyote hunting them down, making for a consistent, substantial and high-value food source, the study found. (By comparison, coyotes in the western U.S. typically weigh between 22 and 31 pounds themselves.)

Going for the brains first might seem unusual, but it’s probably a matter of convenience — and a behavior that’s been observed in other carnivores before, Gerraty said. Hyenas on the coast of Namibia have been seen killing seals by crushing their skulls and consuming the brains, and wolves in Alaska and British Columbia have been known to chew off the heads of salmon, potentially to avoid tapeworms and other parasites found in the rest of the fish’s raw flesh.

With coyotes and harbor seals on Northern California beaches, “it’s likely that they’re trying to eat through the head because it’s not only the easiest part of the body to access with the thinnest layer of blubber, but the brain also has the highest nutritional value,” Gerraty explained.

The skull of a harbor seal pup isn't much thicker than an eggshell when they are born, and a coyote can easily crack into it with its teeth in several places, sometimes accessing more of the pup's flesh by tugging on the head with its jaws and holding the carcass down with its front paws, he said.

“The fact that some of the skulls are going missing could be because they can easily carry them back to their dens for their young to consume," he continued. Much of this is happening during peak pupping season for coyotes in the spring.”

Notably, in last year’s camera trap recordings, Gerraty discovered other wildlife was taking advantage of the bounty of leftovers too, including bald eagles, which are endangered in California, as well as turkey vultures, common ravens, gulls and rodents.

“I think it goes to show that coyotes are often vilified in the media for doing the things that coyotes do, which includes hunting,” he said. “But sometimes we don’t appreciate the ways that coyotes can serve our wildlife habitats.”

A widespread behavior

Coyotes are opportunistic creatures that are abundant along the California coastline and have been known to dine on other marine wildlife, including seabirds, intertidal invertebrates and fish. (Another study published last month on coyote diets in San Francisco found that the city’s urban canines had gone after at least one sea lion and a fin whale that washed up on Fort Funston in 2021.) Most of these meals were a result of scavenging, but coyotes have also been recorded hunting at least one sea otter in Alaska and harp seals in Washington and Massachusetts, the study found.

While research on the behavior in California has been limited outside Gerraty’s new findings, he believes it’s likely going to increase over time and the hunting strategy could be more widespread across the state. He pointed to other patterns of terrestrial predators shifting their diets to marine mammals on a global scale: A study out of UC Berkeley in 2008 found that vampire bats along the Peruvian coast were surviving on the blood of sea lions in the absence of other prey. After more than a decade-long absence on the Skeleton Coast in Namibia due to human conflict, prides of lions recovered in the early aughts after they started consuming fur seals and cormorants, another study found in 2019. Similarly, wolves in Alaska almost entirely switched over from their primary food source of Sitka black-tailed deer to sea otters after the latter species saw a population boom and expanded to the carnivores’ range, a study published in 2023 revealed.

During Gerraty’s investigation in California, the largest proportion of harbor seal pups killed by coyotes at the observed rookery sites was in 2019, when he suspects over 30% of the colony living at MacKerricher State Park at the time was hunted down and eaten by the coastline-dwelling canines. But he called that a conservative estimate.

“I definitely think that coyote predation of harbor seal pups is more common,” he said. “It’s just gone largely undocumented.”

Ultimately, the co-authors of the study didn’t find a significant impact on harbor seal populations due to the hunting behavior and don’t see a need for intervention because both species are native to California and of little conservation concern. Other factors would likely play a much larger role in the number of seals over time, like predation from white sharks, climate-driven changes in prey availability and disease outbreaks, such as the possible arrival of avian influenza, Gerraty said.

But that’s not to say there aren’t potential ecological consequences, as the predation may lead to changes in seal behavior in the future. Seals could abandon established haul-out areas to avoid the coyotes, for example, which could result in them seeking out other habitats that are more or less suitable for them to give birth, Gerraty said.

“It could also be a sign that they’re going to become more vigilant, and maybe they’ll get better at avoiding predation,” he said.

Overall harbor seal abundance has declined at the MacKerricher rookery since 2018, and the study’s co-authors have noticed the pinnipeds moving from the mainland sandy beach to adjacent rocky outcroppings that are harder to access and only connected during low tide. However, more research is needed to confirm coyote predation as the reason for the shift.

Future research

It’s not clear why the hunting behavior seems to be more prevalent at MacKerricher State Park than at rookery sites in the Bay Area, but Gerraty has a few hypotheses. It’s possible that coyotes in Northern California figured out the pups were a predictable food source and adapted. It could also be that the state park has conditions that are more suitable for predation: A flat sandy beach is much easier for a coyote to traverse than a mud flat or a sandbar in the middle of a large waterway at Drakes Estero or Bolinas Lagoon. The rookeries in the Bay Area are also much larger, Gerraty said, and it’s possible that some predation events there were not recorded in the study because of their proximity to the tidal zone, where some seal carcasses may have been washed away and gone sight unseen.

These unanswered questions drive Gerraty’s ongoing research as he continues to study the diversity of terrestrial carnivores that consume marine wildlife, how much of a resource the prey can be for other scavenging species, and how human activities may influence their behavior on the coast. Understanding when coyotes are visiting the California coast — and why — could help inform future wildlife management strategies, like the placement of signs for beach closures.

“If we know coyotes are going to be on the shoreline to hunt seals and all these other marine critters, that can help us anticipate and prevent conflicts with people and their dogs,” Gerraty said.

(SFGate.com)

A NEW WATER WAR BREWS IN CALIFORNIA OVER THE POTTER VALLEY PROJECT

by Matt LaFever

The decommissioning of the Potter Valley Project is one of the most complex issues I’ve ever reported on, and until now, I’ve hesitated to cover it. The debate over removing the Eel River dams pits environmental restoration against the livelihoods of thousands who rely on diverted water. Advocates argue that freeing the Eel will allow salmon and steelhead to thrive, reversing a century of ecological harm. But on the other side, farmers, ranchers, and entire communities in Mendocino, Sonoma, and beyond depend on that water for agriculture, drinking supply, and local economies. It’s a fight where both sides claim moral high ground, and no easy answers exist.

Through my lens as a journalist, I try to weigh issues with a utilitarian perspective—what benefits the most people? And when I break it down that way, the sheer number of lives impacted by decommissioning compared to the ecological gains of a free-flowing Eel River raises difficult questions. How do we balance the need to restore a river’s natural ecosystem with the water security of entire communities? Do the benefits of dam removal justify the upheaval it will bring to farmers, ranchers, and local economies? Reporting on this has forced me to confront the tension between environmental ideals and human necessity, and I’m left wondering — what does the greatest good really look like in this case?

A California Reservoir Could Disappear If PG&E Gets Their Way

Critics say leveling the Potter Valley Project is an ‘irresponsible gamble’

by Matt LaFever

For more than a century, the Potter Valley Project has shaped the fate of two of Northern California’s most important rivers. The dam system reroutes water from the Eel River to the Russian River, sustaining agriculture, drinking water supplies and local economies across Mendocino, Sonoma and Lake counties. Pacific Gas & Electric went public with its draft application to walk away from the project in late January, citing financial losses and aging infrastructure and setting the stage for one of California’s most contentious water battles.

Conservationists and tribal leaders say this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to restore the Eel River’s salmon runs, long blocked by dams. Farmers, ranchers and local officials warn that losing the project’s diversions could devastate water supplies, cripple fire protection and threaten a multimillion dollar agricultural industry. Some have even urged the Trump administration to intervene, arguing that PG&E’s plan to dismantle the project is reckless and puts entire communities at risk.

All the while, the battle over Northern California’s water future intensifies.

What is the Potter Valley Project?

The Potter Valley Project is a water transfer system and hydroelectric facility that fundamentally reshaped Northern California’s water supply. It diverts water from the Eel River into the Russian River via a milelong tunnel excavated through a mountain near Potter Valley in 1908. The Potter Valley Project consists of two dams — Scott Dam, which forms Lake Pillsbury, and Cape Horn Dam about 12 miles west — along with a hydroelectric powerhouse, a fish ladder system and a diversion tunnel that transfers water from the Eel River to the East Fork Russian River. More than a century after it was built, most of the system is still running, except for the hydroelectric powerhouse, which shut down in 2021 due to equipment issues.

Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission offers a comprehensive history of the water diversion facility and its influence on the Russian River watershed. Before its construction, both rivers often ran dry in summer, leaving communities and farms without a reliable water source. To generate power, Cape Horn Dam and Van Arsdale Reservoir were built on the Eel River to divert water into the tunnel. However, the system could only function during high winter flows. To ensure year-round water availability, Scott Dam was constructed in 1922, forming Lake Pillsbury to store yet more Eel River water for later diversion. This system transformed the Russian River watershed by giving it a reliable water supply year-round, leading to booming agriculture in Mendocino and Sonoma counties.

After intense winter storms brought catastrophic flooding in 1937 and 1955, however, it became clear the region needed more water-controlling infrastructure. Congress authorized flood control projects that led to the construction of Coyote Valley Dam and Lake Mendocino in 1959. Today, these reservoirs provide irrigation, drinking water and recreation opportunities for thousands — but none of it would exist without the Potter Valley Project.

In Mendocino County, 30,000 inland residents depend on the Russian River for their water supply. A recent study found that $740 million in annual business revenue hinges on irrigation water from the Eel River, stored in Lake Mendocino. Downstream, the Russian River is the primary water source for 600,000 people in Sonoma and Marin counties, supporting some of Sonoma’s most profitable wine regions.

A UC Davis analysis found that losing the Potter Valley Project diversion would sharply reduce Lake Mendocino’s water storage reliability. While Scott Dam’s removal wouldn’t entirely cut the Potter Valley Project connection, it could shrink Russian River diversions, impacting water users downstream in Mendocino and Sonoma counties. It would also jeopardize the existence of Lake Pillsbury, which was created with the construction of Scott Dam and which is a crucial wildfire-fighting resource in remote Northern California. Two of the state’s three largest wildfires — the August Complex (2020, 1,032,648 acres) and the Mendocino Complex (2018, 459,123 acres) — were contained using water resources from Lake Pillsbury.

Why does PG&E want to remove the Potter Valley Project?

PG&E is walking away from the Potter Valley Project because the company says the facility is no longer profitable and the infrastructure is failing.

According to the Potter Valley Irrigation District, PG&E took over the project in 1930, as it was then a licensed hydroelectric facility. The utility then relicensed the project in 1983 for 40 additional years. With the project’s license set to expire in April 2022, PG&E was due to submit its application for a license renewal by April 2020. Instead, in January 2019, the utility submitted notice of its intent to withdraw from the project, thus beginning the long process of off-loading its responsibilities.

In its draft decommissioning application, made public in January 2025, PG&E made its reasoning clear: “The Project has been recognized by PG&E as uneconomic for PG&E’s customers (i.e., the cost of production exceeds the cost of alternative sources of renewable power on the open market).”

On top of financial concerns, PG&E cited the deteriorating Scott Dam, built over a century ago, as a major safety risk. Engineers found the dam was more seismically vulnerable than expected, prompting PG&E to lower Lake Pillsbury’s water levels to ease pressure on the aging structure in case of a major earthquake. The dam’s proximity to the Bartlett Springs Fault, a branch of California’s San Andreas Fault, raises concerns about earthquake risks, the report noted.

The company acknowledged the fallout of its decision, admitting in the draft application that removing Scott Dam and Lake Pillsbury “could have unavoidable effects on recreation value, community way of life, and population and housing in the Scott Dam area.”

Further downstream, PG&E conceded that dismantling the Potter Valley Project could send ripple effects through the Russian River Watershed. The draft application acknowledges the watershed “may [have] unavoidable adverse impacts to water reliability and cost, economic opportunity (particularly farming and ranching), recreation value in the Russian River Watershed, and community way of life because diversions to the East Branch Russian River would no longer occur.”

If the Potter Valley Project is removed, a new Eel-Russian facility would take its place, ensuring that some water continues flowing from the Eel to the Russian River. Led by the Eel-Russian Project Authority, the facility is planned near Cape Horn Dam, balancing water supply needs with environmental restoration. The project includes modern fish passage systems and new infrastructure to sustain regional water demand.

Those opposed to removing the Potter Valley Project are concerned about the new Eel-Russian facility’s limited water diversions. Unlike the steady transfers that have sustained the Russian River’s booming agricultural industry for nearly a century, the new plan would halt diversions between mid-spring and summer, depending on water conditions, according to a draft memo about the project prepared earlier this month.

How does the Potter Valley Project affect the Eel River?

Though Russian River water users have benefited from the Potter Valley Project’s diversions, many on the Eel River side have argued that their watershed has suffered as a result of the transfer system.

One student-led analysis from Humboldt State University says the Potter Valley Project disrupts the Eel River ecosystem by blocking salmon from prime habitat, creating a stronghold for invasive pikeminnow. The report also states that altering the Eel River’s natural flows through diversion to the Russian River threatens the river’s other native fish populations, including lamprey eel and green sturgeon.

A separate Humboldt State University student analysis found that removing Scott Dam could unlock 58 miles of upstream habitat for Chinook salmon and steelhead. Blocked since 1922, these waters could significantly boost salmon populations, offering a rare opportunity for habitat restoration in the upper Eel River.

If the decommissioning of the Potter Valley Project goes through, the Eel River would become California’s longest free-flowing river, according to California Trout, a nonprofit organization that advocates for California’s watersheds, spanning nearly 300 miles from its headwaters in Lake County to its mouth south of Eureka in Humboldt County.

PG&E’s decommissioning plans have also paved the way for the Round Valley Indian Tribes to reclaim a central role in managing Eel River water after more than a century of exclusion. In an agreement signed earlier this month, the state pledged $18 million to modernize diversions and fund river restoration while promising a significant step toward restorative justice for Round Valley Indian Tribes.

“Today is a great day for the Round Valley Indian Tribes, our communities, the people living along the Eel River,,” said Joseph Parker, the president of the Round Valley Indian Tribes. “We’ve been left out of the loop for a long time so it’s nice now to have a seat at the head of the table.”

Nikcole Whipple, a Round Valley Indian Tribes member and longtime Eel River advocate, called the decommissioning of Scott Dam “restorative justice” for the Yuki Tribe, whose historical lands include Lake Pillsbury. She said the dam has drained the watershed for over a century, fueling wildfires and killing fish while outside interests profited.

“Dam removal for our Tribe is ultimately about our Tribe providing Environmental Justice to our underserved communities,” she said.

Whipple dismissed claims that the dam benefits fish, calling reservoirs “deoxygenating pools of warm water” that kill salmon. She pointed to the Klamath River, where salmon returned within a month of dam removal — far ahead of expert predictions.

“This defies any ‘best science’ assumptions,” she said.

Habitat vs. homeowners

The potential decommissioning of the Potter Valley Project has generated strong feelings across the entire region. For conservationists like Charlie Schneider, the Lost Coast project manager for California Trout, restoring the Eel River to its natural flow would be a rare bright spot in California’s fight to restore salmon.

“We just really think the Eel is a special kind of unique river,” Schneider told SFGATE, citing the river’s vastness and remote location. “Salmon, by and large, are not doing well in the state. We really just feel like the Eel is a place where recovery can happen.”

Matt Clifford, the California director of Trout Unlimited, which advocates for waterways across the United States, called the potential removal of the Eel River dams a game-changer.

“It is a huge moment for the Eel,” he said. “With a dam there, it’s been cut off for 100 years. This is hands down some of the best habitat in the watershed, and it flows clear and cold year-round.”

“I’ve been up there during the really extreme drought years — 2020, 2021 — and even in the worst conditions, like in August, it was still flowing clear and cold,” Clifford added. “That’s the kind of place that’s perfect for spawning and rearing. We do a lot of habitat restoration in the Eel, but when you take habitat that’s already intact and just make it available — that’s one of the best things you can do to move the needle right away. We’re really excited about that.”

Because of that, Trout Unlimited has been deep in negotiations with PG&E over the Eel’s future, meeting “weekly” and “trying to work out a deal that balances restoration with water security,” Clifford said. “PG&E is taking out the dams because they’re unsafe and losing money. So the question is, how do we meet the needs of restoration and still give water users some security? We know there’s a compromise here.”

As for concerns about the Russian River running dry, as reflected in the draft memo from earlier this month, Clifford thinks they’re overblown. “Nothing we’re doing is threatening the Russian,” he said. “If we walk away and do nothing, we’ve got a couple of 100-year-old dams, crumbling, sitting on a fault line. They’re really dangerous. PG&E wants them out because they don’t want the liability if Scott Dam ruptures. That’s the reality.”

Homeowners along Lake Pillsbury disagree. Frank Lynch, a Lake Pillsbury Alliance board member, says dam removal advocates have overlooked those living on the lake’s shores and downstream users who rely on the reservoir to keep the Russian River flowing year-round.

“The decision was made that dams are bad, period,” Lynch said. “But no one’s asking what happens to the communities left behind.”

Carol Cinquini, also a member of the Lake Pillsbury Alliance board, warned that draining Lake Pillsbury would gut the region. “This lake is the heart of Mendocino National Forest,” she said. “Take it away, and you don’t just lose water — you lose wildlife, wells and fire protection.”

Aaron Sykes, an engineer with the Lake Pillsbury Fire Protection District, emphasized the lake’s critical role in firefighting efforts.

“The lake has provided the water needed to stop two major fires: the Ranch Fire and the August Complex,” Sykes said. “It’s no coincidence that both were ended where Lake Pillsbury sits.”

While he wasn’t involved in the Ranch Fire, which in 2018 merged with the nearby River Fire to form the Mendocino Complex, Sykes was on the front lines of the August Complex fire for 20 straight days.

“The U.S. Forest Service, besides using the lake to supply water for the air assets — which is what everyone knows — also used it for the ground assets, namely the fleet of water trucks,” he explained of Lake Pillsbury’s impact. “… If the lake wasn’t available, it would have taken each water truck an additional four hours to make a round trip to Lake Mendocino. Instead, they were able to fill within 20 minutes of the fire front.”

PG&E’s draft decommissioning plan is now open for public comment, with the final version due for submission in July. Just this week, Lake County’s Board of Supervisors approved a letter urging the Trump administration to intervene in PG&E’s decommissioning of the Potter Valley Project. The board wrote that draining Lake Pillsbury — an 80,000 acre-foot reservoir — would be an “expensive and irresponsible gamble” with the region’s water supply.

The board further argued that PG&E’s plan violated President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14181, the controversial directive that led to the Army Corps of Engineers abruptly releasing water from California’s Lake Kaweah and Lake Success. The supervisors said the order’s mandate to “override existing activities that unduly burden efforts to maximize water deliveries” was being ignored, and that removing Scott Dam would jeopardize water access for farmers, communities and essential fire protection infrastructure.

Whipple, the Round Valley tribal member and Eel River advocate, called out Lake County officials for opposing the project. “The entire county is a riparian ecological community that has been historically manipulated and destroyed for economic purposes,” she said.

“In the last 100 years that the dam has existed, it has not done any long-term good for the overall community,” she added.

(SFGate.com)

RENAME. REBRAND. REPEAT. THE CITY’S NAME DEBATE RETURNS

by Chris Pugh

Ah, here we go again. Just when the city thought it could move on from the exhausting debate over whether to rename itself, the federal government had to bring it back into the spotlight. In a move that surprises absolutely no one, the Trump administration reversed the name change of Fort Liberty, restoring its original moniker: Fort Bragg. And just like that, the name-change conversation in our coastal town gets another round in the ring.

But here’s the thing—the city council already decided. After a year of community debate, arguments from every corner of the ideological spectrum, and no shortage of heated public comments, the council ultimately chose not to rename the city. That’s it. Case closed. Done. And yet, national headlines have a way of dredging up local issues, whether we want them back or not.

Let’s be honest: most locals have moved on. The debate over the name was never just about the name—it was about identity, history, politics, and, let’s not forget, the practical nightmare of changing everything from city signage to business branding. And despite the national conversation surrounding the removal of Confederate names from military bases, the city was never that Fort Bragg. Naming the city after Braxton Bragg, a lackluster Confederate general, was more of a historical footnote than a rallying cry.

That said, the debate wasn’t meaningless. It forced an honest look at how history shapes our present, and it gave people a chance to weigh in on whether the name should change for moral reasons, economic reasons, or whether, frankly, it wasn’t worth the headache. In the end, the decision to keep the name wasn’t about honoring a Confederate—it was about acknowledging the sheer exhaustion of the argument itself.

And yet, irony abounds. While the city’s leaders were firm in their decision to keep its name intact, the federal government went ahead and reversed its own decision, renaming Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg. So, on one hand, we’re being told by some that history must be reckoned with, that Confederate names should be scrubbed from our institutions. On the other hand, Washington can’t even decide what it wants to do.

So, what now? Do the people who wanted the city renamed feel reinvigorated by the federal flip-flop? Do the people who fought to keep the name feel a little more validated? Or do most folks just want to get back to worrying about more pressing local issues—like housing, jobs, and whether the Skunk Train will ever stop being a source of controversy?

I’m not sure what the correct answer is, but if history has taught us anything, it’s that we’ll probably be having this same argument all over again in another decade.

(Chris Pugh is the managing editor of the Advocate-News and Mendocino Beacon. He can be reached at chrispugh@advocate-news.com.)

ART WALK UKIAH

ABC Day Program Ukiah Does DADA: A Tribute to Stephen Caravello

The Ukiah Branch Library invites the community to join us for Art Walk Ukiah on Friday, March 7 from 5 to 7 p.m. The library will feature a group art show by ABC Day Program Ukiah, an adult day service in Mendocino County that offers behavioral support services and employment services to adults with developmental disabilities.

The ABC artists have worked in the mediums of collage and mosaic to create unique pieces that hearken back to traditional Dada themes which embrace chaos and irrationality. Dada art is known for its use of readymades – well-known objects and images that are minimally manipulated by the artist and presented as a new art piece.

This art exhibition is dedicated to Stephen Caravello, a longtime Mendocino County resident who emigrated to the county from New Jersey during the Back-to-the-Land Movement in the 1970s. A prolific photographer, artist, and journalist, Caravello established the Made in Mendocino Artists Cooperative Gallery in Hopland, the county’s first cooperative art gallery which drew a broad range of work from local artists. He was a lead organizer of the InterDada ‘80 and InterDada ‘84 festivals in Ukiah, considered to be significant contributions to the Dada art movement. Caravello discovered his true calling in Ukiah when he began working with troubled teens and developmentally disabled adults, creating programs to enhance their social skills and artistic endeavors. His contributions were pivotal to the ABC Program.

The Branch will host live boogie, blues, and jazz music by Paula Samonte, Dawn Senften, and Ed Reinhart. Guests can enjoy an all-ages collage crafting program and a book sale by the Ukiah Valley Friends of the Library as they browse the Art Walk.

This exhibit is free to the public, open to all ages, and sponsored by the Ukiah Valley Friends of the Library and Mendocino County Library. For more information, please visit www.mendolibrary.org or contact the Ukiah Branch at 707-463-4490.

DOWNTOWN STORYWALK

With the Ukiah Branch Library

The Ukiah Branch Library invites families and folks of all ages to stroll around the quaint downtown streets of Ukiah and read the English and Spanish bilingual book Diminuta by Silvina Rocha as you go!

The story begins with a visit to the Mendocino Book Company, where participants can see the first two pages and pick up a map of participating storefronts. The StoryWalk will route you through various businesses within a short walk of the library, where you’ll find the final two pages and receive a prize! Helpful hint: two pages have been posted in each location, and you may have to walk inside and look around to find them!

Please note that while there is no age limit, available prizes are exclusively children’s and young adult books.This StoryWalk© is available March 1 – 31, 2025 and is open to the public.

Participating businesses, in order:

Mendocino Book Company

Sword & Board

Ukiah Valley Conference Center

The Nook

Shoefly & Sox

Mendo Leap

Little Brown Bear

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from Save the Children. The StoryWalk® Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT and developed in collaboration with the Vermont Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition and the Kellogg Hubbard Library. For more information, please contact the Ukiah Branch library at 707-463-4490.

MELT & POUR SOAP

A Hands-On Program

We’re soaper excited to ask you to join the Ukiah Branch Library on March 21 from 3 to 5:30 p.m. to make your own soap! No caustic chemicals are required as we will simply melt a soap base and pour it into molds. Personalize your soap by shape, color, essential oils, and dried lavender or rosemary. We prefer not to be soap-prised to see you, so please make your reservations soon.

This program is made possible through the generous support of the Friends of the Ukiah Valley Library. For more information, please visit www.mendolibrary.org or contact the Ukiah Branch at 707-463-4490.

BILL KIMBERLIN:

An Attractive Nuisance

We called it “the swinging bridge”; and it remains in my mind, along with the tank tower and the apple dryer, one of the icons of the Valley

This most improbable of transports in the modern age is still there.

There was an auto bridge at this point on the river, but once it was skidded out for winter, the footbridge was the only access across the Navarro.

This relic has become what an insurance company would call “an attractive nuisance”. I’m sure somebody is desperately trying to get rid of it for that reason. But it’s not gone yet.

For years you could just walk out on the swaying bridge’s rotted planking, testing your nerves. Especially testing them, when your brother started rocking the whole thing, once you had crept to the center.

The entrance is locked now, but the footbridge still has some magic to it. We don’t have our tree houses to retreat to anymore and we can’t build forts out of hay bales in the barn, but we can still look out at that rickety old bridge hanging precariously over the muddy Navarro, and see where we had lots of scary fun.

WHAT’S THAT IN YOUR STEP? A LITTLE SPRING, PERHAPS?

The month names are, as the kids say, so random. January is named after Janus, the ancient Roman god of endings and beginnings. We have an adjective in there, albeit a snooty one (August). We have a tentatively gentle verb (May), a shout out to Julius Ceasar (July), and even a bug (June). But nothing tops the declarative command that is MARCH, as in, “Enough sitting around, people! Go do that thing!”

For some, “that thing” could be getting seedlings into dirt in preparation for this year’s garden (see you at the various seed swaps happening!). It could be getting together with friends to have fun and maybe get into some “good trouble” like the kind John Lewis spoke about. It could involve a sledgehammer and power tools and finally jumping into that project that’s been tickling your brain for long enough. Whatever it is, March is a great time to stop considering the thing and start doing it.

See you out there ~

Torrey & the team at Word of Mouth Magazine

www.wordofmouthmendo.com

ERIC McKEE:

We’re from Petaluma and we got married in Caspar late last year and I wanted to share some gratitude for all of the great local businesses, organizations and parks that helped make our dream a reality:

F/V Princess, Los Gallitos Mexican Restaurant, Earthspoke farm, Mama Grows Funk, Caspar Community Center, A Sweet Affair, Matt rowland events, Anderson Valley Brewing Company, Husch Vineyards, Jug Handle Creek Farm & Nature Center, California State Parks North Coast Redwoods Russian Gulch State Park

We visited Mendocino so many times and patronized a ton of businesses like Cowlicks, Tall Guy Brewing, Piaci Pub & Pizzeria, Headlands Coffeehouse, Noyo Fish Company, Harvest Market, Corners of the Mouth, Good Life Bakery, Orr Hot Springs, Noyo Gas Stop, Sinclair gas station… to name a few.

Thank you Mendo for welcoming us in we love you

100 WOMEN STRONG

100+ Women Strong, Inland Mendocino County has raised $225,749.00 since the first Gathering in Hopland in 2019. The local chapter of 100 Women Strong is part of a global movement of collective impact giving spearheaded in 2015 in Jackson, Michigan. When a nurse learned how many newborns in her town went home to houses without a crib, thus having to sleep in boxes, drawers, or the parents’ bed and some babies didn’t survive, she decided to do something to raise the need, which amounted to $10,000.

Realizing this was just one issue in the community that could use assistance, nurse Karen Dunigan considered a solution which involved simply asking for donations. Spreading the word about the crib crisis, Dunigan came up with the idea of assembling a hundred interested people, each donating a hundred dollars. She created “100 Women Who Care” which, along with volunteer groups also called “100+ Women Strong,” continue to spring up in hundreds of communities throughout the United States and around the world.

100+ Women Strong, Inland Mendocino, was spearheaded in 2019 by Katie Fairbairn, former county resident and director of the Mendocino College Foundation, who attended a gathering for Lake County’s 100 Women Strong. She recruited Karen Christopherson, Robin Dolan, Ann Thornhill, Mary Anne Landis, Carolyn Welch, Gina Marie Lindsay, Anna Beuselinck, Heidi Dickerson, Angela Silver, Matha Barra, Mary Anne Landis, Kasie Gray, Katrina Frey, Holly Madrigal, Kathy Lehner and Kendra Palma to be the original steering committee.

100+ Women Strong, Inland Mendocino, continues under the tutelage of Karen Christopherson, Kasie Gray and twenty-plus volunteers, including many of the original members. In 2024, 100+ Women Strong Inland Mendocino developed a partnership with the Community Foundation, recognizing their shared goal of local philanthropy. The Community Foundation provides the payment and distribution platform for the volunteer effort, ensuring that all donated dollars remain secure and 100% are distributed back into the community through the local nonprofits.

The first Gathering was held at Campovida in Hopland. Since then, there have been twelve more Gatherings at Barra of Mendocino, Parducci, Nelson Family Vineyards, Willits Art Center, Dancing Crow, Rivino from Hopland to Willits. The next event will be on Thursday, May 1, at the Willits Senior Center at 5:30pm.

How does it work? Anyone who is interested in donating a hundred dollars to a deserving local nonprofit in the is invited to register on the 100+ Women Strong Inland Mendocino website. At the 100+ Women Strong Gathering, where registration is also available, each member receives a ballot with the names of three nominees and a chance to nominate a future recipient.

Each of the three non-profits is allocated five minutes to make a presentation and five minutes for the audience to ask questions. After hearing from each of the speakers, everyone who has made a hundred dollars donation will cast a vote for the nonprofit of their choice. The non-profit with the most votes will walk away with $10,000. Any donations above $10,000 will be split between the other two non-profits.

Previous winners who took home at least ten thousand dollars include the Ukiah Senior Center, NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness), Cancer Resources of Mendocino County, Ukiah Valley Trails Group, NCO Gardens Project, Caring Kitchen, Project Sanctuary, the Humane Society for Inland Mendocino County, Northern California Disaster Services, and KZYX Community Radio, Hospice of Ukiah, CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), and The Good Farm Fund.

To see a video of the last event and to become a member of 100+ Women Strong for Inland Mendocino County check the website: https://communityfound.org/community/leadership-projects/100-women-strong-inland-mendocino/

Heidi Cusick Dickerson

PO Box 301

Redwood Valley CA 95470

707-671-6301

Donna Pardini in Charles Kuralt video on Boontling, 1980s (via Vern Peterman)

CATCH OF THE DAY, Friday, February 28, 2025

BRITTON AZBILL JR., 40, Covelo. Domestic violence court order violation, county parole violation.

CHRISTOPHER GALSTON, 63, Kelseyville/Ukiah. Failure to appear.

JOSHUA HANOVER, 38, Ukiah. Parole violation, resisting.

NICHOLAS HOGAN, 42, Ukiah. Parole violation.

JACOB HOOD, 47, Willits. Failure to appear.

POPPY MACK, 47, Fort Bragg. Failure to appear.

CAMERON ORION, 51, Santa Rosa/Ukiah. Failure to appear.

ISAAC TERRELL, 22, Vallejo/Ukiah. More than an ounce of pot, conspiracy.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, 41, Ukiah. Domestic violence court order violation.

JARED TITUS, 42, Ukiah. Controlled substance with two or more priors, paraphernalia, registration tampering.

ON BENDED KNEE

Editor:

It’s difficult for me not to notice that almost every issue or problem covered in articles and news reports, is attributable to one cause: an economic system that grossly favors the wealthy and is allowing those same rich folks to extract more and more money from our taxes (privatization) and directly from our pockets (inflation).

Fewer and fewer of us are being allowed to enjoy what the richest country in the world should be able to provide, whether it’s education, health care, housing or employment. So, schools close, homelessness increases, retail crime rises.

But you won’t read this in any article or hear it in any news report. You won’t hear it from your president or your city council member. Even your local “leaders” prefer to take your abuse when you complain than tell you the truth. “There isn’t enough money,” but they never say why. Under Democrats or under Republicans.

Prepare for it to get worse because there are too many people who thought those getting richer by the minute would solve the problem. When has there ever been any evidence of that? The money is there, but this system doesn’t work for us.

Susan Collier Lamont

Santa Rosa

A READER WRITES: It’s not even Lent but there’s so many people coming for Passover and Easter that I have to start cleaning up so going through heaps on the floor I came across an article by you May 3rd 2023 about Arriving in an Unwelcoming Place. The same thing happened all over, in Briceland there was almost a shootout at the Truck Fire and in Petrolia we blew it right from the start. First David Simpson slapped a pile of his article on the store counter which attacked ranchers for raising beef, terrible for the planet. Then we started blaming the oldtimers for wrecking the river by logging and causing erosion and destroying the salmon runs. The school building got condemned because it wasn’t built specially for modern earthquake standards ( it was built in about 1902, never had any damage). So all the hippies stalked into the schoolboard meeting and sat down in the front row and glared at the Board members. T K Clark, Liz Roberts, Clare Jorgensen, John Short, somebody else.

We all had little children and ideas about education.

The schoolboard was looking for the cheapest way to replace the school: Port-A-House. We despised that.

We called them lazy and cheap and all sorts of things. Said we’d build it . We had carpenters too. They didn’t trusrt us and hated regulatioins and the Port A House got around that.

They won. And we never got anyone very good on the school board, once they were elected they always changed and became bureaucrats. Honeydew did much better.

Later we bought the old school building for $1 and rolled it across the street to be a Community Center.

Our Grange became infamous because the members black-balled a recently widowed ranch wife Marlynne Zanone (husband, swept out to sea the day after Halloween spearfishing, weating waders and no knife in his pocket)(tragedy, esp. for us, he was curious about us)because she looked like she was turning into a hippie.

The old Hippies STILL don’t like the Grange. (I do.)

But, as you say at the end of your article, now everybody’s a hipneck…

COSTCO HOARDING

by Paul Modic

I had to laugh at myself in Costco yesterday when I was buying many paper products (hip surgery hoarding), even though I have enough to get through to the end of the year. Oh shit, I might have enough printer paper to last another year, yet just bought a few more year’s worth, crazy.

The man in the old couple behind me in the pharmacy line mentioned that I had nothing in my cart, probably a rare occurrence there, as if it were odd that I hadn’t at least thrown in a couple giant boxes of bullshit on my way to the pharmacy. I stood there trying to think of a witty rejoinder, then finally said, “I’m trying to come up with a response but my mind is as empty as my cart. There, I did it.”

He looked over at my cart, saw my clipboard and said, “Look, he’s got a list,” and started reading it. “What’s that?” he said, trying to read ‘chlorhexidine.’

“That’s chlorhexidine, a special soap,” I said.

“Oh, I had to get that for my surgery,” the woman said. “for a hip replacement.”

“Yes, me too,” I said. “I’m getting one in a few weeks also.”

We talked about doctor options for a while until is was my turn to go up to the counter. Driving out I had a few dollar triangles ready and handed a couple to the guy begging by the exit.

“You’re the first person who gave me anything,” he said.

“Usually I throw them at people,” I said, and he made a comment about making a field goal.

“You remember junior high!” I said as I drove off.

More Crass Generalizations

Once I asked my sixty-something friend if he’d rather have a hot shallow sexual relationship with a much younger woman, or get together with someone closer to his age who would appreciate and love him. He looked at me like it was a crazy question. Most of my male friends would rather be alone than be with someone their own age. Why is that? Because relationships are so much work, ie, intense and time-consuming, that you better have someone who you’re really attracted to, right?

Once I said to another 60-something friend (who I had been encouraging for years to get off the shelf), “How does it feel to know you’ll never have sex again? How does that feel?” Then when he hit seventy-two he (miraculously?) got together with a woman twenty years younger. (When my mother was in her late seventies and still wanting to date she found that men she met her age were only interested in younger women, and she resigned from the chase.)

It seems to be one of the cultural pillars of society that often men like women younger and women like men older. Why is that? Well health, youth, and beauty are universally worshipped so that explains the men, but what about the women? Why do women like older men? Because they are more experienced, maybe less sexually selfish, and can make them laugh? Because they tend to be well-established and have more money? Because they are just more interesting?

Local Media

I’m sorry to say but the editors and publishers around here are overly-sensitive control-freaks. They publish all this stuff about every little thing, local, state, national, and international but when I write something interesting about them, they refuse to publish.

First it was the Anderson Valley Advertiser: I wrote a colorful retrospective piece about the editor, Bruce Anderson, including the foibles and conflicts in his “angry young man” days thirty years ago, along with admiration for him and his paper. His response? “I can’t publish this, wait till I die!”

Next came Kym Kemp, overly-sensitive editor number two. I wrote a long opinion piece about her site, Redheaded Blackbelt, worked hard on it with multiple drafts, and she refused to publish, without explanation.

After that I wrote a story about the founding of The Independent, commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary, and the Indie refused to publish it. Why? According to Ray Oakes it was because I said some nice things about the previous owner, Karol, and the present publisher, Rip Kirby, still has a petty grudge about her over how the sale went down at the time, over twenty years ago.

“HOLLYWOOD is a place where they’ll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul.”

— Gene Hackman

MEMO OF THE AIR: Good Night Radio show all night Friday night on KNYO and KAKX!

Soft deadline to email your writing for tonight’s (Friday night’s) MOTA show is 5pm or so. Or if that’s too soon, send it later or any time during the week and I’ll read it on the radio next time.

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

Plus you can always go to https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com and hear last week’s MOTA show. By Saturday night I’ll put up the recording of tonight’s show. You’ll finds plenty of other educational amusements there to fiddle with

When FDR denounced Poland for starting a war with Germany. https://boingboing.net/2025/02/26/tom-the-dancing-bug-when-fdr-denounced-poland-for-starting-a-war-with-germany.html

John Lithgow on Dr. Lizardo/Lord Whorfin. “He was this curious mixture of alien fascist dictator and exuberant Italian physicist. A good and a bad man caught in the same body.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1LWpk_J_nI

And prepare to experience ceiling envy. Churches are places people go to pray to the ceiling, which naturally resulted in competition. (via Fark)

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/54336931199_ff2d9a8dc2_k.jpg

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

BUCKLE IN; LOOKS LIKE IT’S GONNA BE A PRETTY ROUGH RIDE

by John Arteaga

Buckle in everybody, looks like it’s gonna be a pretty rough ride for democracy and the rule of law in these next four years, if these first few weeks are any indication of what we’re up against.

For those who avail ourselves of it, we here in Mendocino County are among the few in the country to have access to a real abundance of hard-hitting, uncompromising, not-sold-out sources of information about the institutions with power over our lives.

Beside our local papers, which sometimes have thoughtful editorials to read, we are fortunate to have KZYX, our local listener supported radio station, which carries a number of eye-opening news and opinion programs which, sadly, are unavailable to the vast majority of our fellow Americans; Alternative Radio, out of Boulder Colorado, FAIR’s Counterspin, the Thom Hartmann show, Democracy Now, Project Censored, the excellent program produced right down the road at Sonoma State, and locally produced programming such TUC Radio; Time of Useful Consciousness, the Shortwave Report, which brings us news from all over the world about topics that the rest of the world is talking about, even as they are virtually ignored here in the states, as well as Corporations and Democracy, which takes on this fraught subject that much of the legacy media would prefer not to mention. There is also the great Harry Shearer’s weekly program, the hilarious yet informative Le Show. Many of these programs are on in the middle of the night, but with the KZYX app it’s easy to click their Jukebox button and listen to any of them at one’s convenience, even being able to pause and rewind if you miss something. I try to catch all of them each week.

I don’t see how it’s really possible to be well informed about current events without some exposure to programs such as these, which bring us the realities behind the dominance of happy talk that the corporate, and sometimes even public, TV and radio networks offer. Mainstream media seems to supply a steady drone of normalization of so many violations of all that our democracy is supposed to stand for; a meek acceptance of what every citizen with the most basic understanding of the Constitution should find UNACCEPTABLE!

It is chilling, the extent to which the nascent Trump II regime is willing to pervert the use every legal tool at its disposal to frighten, coerce and cow into submission what had once been unassailably powerful media entities; the huge Disney property ABC News folded on an obviously BS case that it could hardly have lost in court, opting instead to fork over $15 million to the frivolous litigator bringing this stupid case, one that would have been tossed out of court at its first appearance before a judge! CBS also capitulated without a fight to Trumps far-fetched threat of legal action, bowing and scraping and offering millions of dollars in homage to this would-be dictator.

But perhaps worst of all is the Kumbaya powwow of Trump and his morbidly rich billionaire cadre which owns not only the major newspapers, but even more deadly for democracy, media platforms like Facebook, X etc., which are, these days, the most widely distributed and influential sources of news and information, especially for younger folks.

Instead of allowing the user to follow their own interests in the news, all of these online platforms use algorithms to steer the user to what the corporate owner thinks will be most profitable for their company. Clearly they have found that they can attract more eyeballs and make more money by directing one’s attention to contentious subjects that divide one American from the other than by promoting tolerance and community.

It is almost impossible for one person to keep up with the deluge of outrages against competence, ethics and the rule of law that come out of this administration, but among the things one is unlikely to hear outside of the above mentioned sources of information; how did Elon get his name? Well, his father attained his morbid wealth on the backs of black fellow South Africans in the semi-slavery of apartheid, working them in his emerald mines. Young Elon was ferried to his nearly all white school in a chauffeured Rolls-Royce. They say you can take the boy out of apartheid, but you can’t take apartheid out of the boy.

Apparently they lived in a South African neighborhood that was amongst the last in the world to use the phrase, “heil Hitler” as a normal greeting to their fellow Afrikaners.

It turns out that Musk Senior was a big fan of the onetime third Reich rocket scientist Werner Von Braun, who developed the V2 rockets that menaced my dear mom as she tried to go about daily life there in WW2 London. He was recruited right after the war and put in charge of the US space program. Apparently, in his spare time, he was a science fiction author who wrote a book about humans going to populate Mars. In his novel, the humans are surprised to find humanlike people already living there, in underground tunnels, ruled over by their all-powerful leader named… Wait for it, ELON!

This must be the root of Mr. Musk’s clearly insane obsession with sending large numbers of people to Mars, an uninhabitable wasteland that no rational person would ever want to do more than land, plant a flag perhaps, and get attathere!

To have Musk and Trump, two certifiable madmen, running roughshod over all of our democratically constituted institutions, hacking away vital, literally life-saving programs without any significant pushback, is enraging!

The most shocking thing about it all is the cruelty!; how their first victims are the poor and powerless. The starving people in war-torn Africa, suddenly cut off from food aid, along with the farmers who grow that food (probably most voted for Trump) and everybody along the supply chain. For those suffering from AIDS worldwide, suddenly cut off from the drugs they need to simply survive, etc, etc.

I’m afraid that for a lot of the MAGAts, this heartlessness is more of a feature than a bug, as they express their anger and frustration on those with less power than themselves, while they support this lying con man who is only going to make their situation even worse, while he and his billionaire buddies laugh at them all the way to the bank.

(John Arteaga is a Ukiah resident.)

GOT HOUSING?

Emergency Message to Postmodern America

On a guest computer here and now at the MLK Public Library in Washington, D.C. Considering the insane political situation at the White House, it is incomprehensible why nothing much is happening locally in terms of political dissent.

It is so strange here; a feeling of unreality permeates the District of Columbia. Peace vigillers are sitting in chairs across the street from the White House. Mind absorbed in the Absolute, no place to go! Contact me anytime if your retirement plan includes revolutionary ecology. Earth First! We’ll save the other planets later. If not us, then who? If not now, then when? Your zen koan: What would you do in this world if you knew that you could not fail? Talk to me. Got housing? Hello?

Craig Louis Stehr, craiglouisstehr@gmail.com

FISHERY MANAGERS SAY SHOCKINGLY LOW SACRAMENTO RIVER FALL CHINOOK ABUNDANCE WILL CONSTRAIN 2025 FISHERIES

by Dan Bacher

State and federal fisheries managers announced an alarmingly low ocean abundance forecast of just 165,655 Sacramento River Fall Chinook Salmon during the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) annual 2025 Salmon Information Meeting on Feb. 26.

The low abundance of the once bountiful salmon run makes it likely that recreational and commercial fishing will be closed, or at best very restricted, for the third year in a row. However, fisheries managers said it would be “predecisional” for them to say at the meeting that there will be no salmon fishing seasons in California ocean and river waters this year.…

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/27/2306603/-Fish-managers-say-shockingly-low-Sacramento-River-Fall-Chinook-abundance-will-constrain-fisheries

“HONG KONG. With 7 million people, it’s one of the most densely packed cities on earth, but it’s also densely packed with amazing food and every kind of craziness. China… but not China. A thing all its own. Basically, if you can’t enjoy Hong Kong for a few hours or days, there’s no hope for you. . . . I’m constantly asked ‘what’s the greatest food city in the world?’ and no one can say you’re wrong if you say Hong Kong.”

— Anthony Bourdain

LEAD STORIES, SATURDAY'S NYT

Showdown Points to Trump’s Foreign Policy Revolution

Behind the Collision: Trump Jettisons Ukraine on His Way to a Larger Goal

Break Between U.S. and Ukraine Reverberates

JD Vance Positions Himself as Trump’s Attack Dog During Blowup With Zelensky

In Showdown With Zelensky, Trump Takes Offense on Putin’s Behalf

How Johnson, Who Put His Job at Risk to Save Ukraine Aid, Flipped for Trump

ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Civilization, goes an old maxim, is never more than three meals away from barbarism—once the food deliveries stop, so does law and order. Therefore, the baseline of preparedness is as follows: Put all your support behind your local farmers, then become your own. A garden in every lawn should be standard. You can no longer trust anything from a corporation, so cutting out reliance on a retailer is a good place to start thinking about your resiliency. ‘Incorporated’ City water isn’t viable either for its quality or reliability, so wells must be dug (there is no resource more important in your life than clean water, hands down). Beyond that, begin ending your dependence on their enslavement protocol Federal Notes by creating local currencies and discovering the art of bartering, start stitching together webs of alliances with your neighbors for resiliency, defense, and resource sharing (they might grow what you do not and vice versa)—put the “common unity” back in community, and get control of those town councils and school boards (the one place we still hold all of the cards) and get your kids out of them. Finally: stop eating, listening to, and watching things that are bad for your mind, body, and spirit, and, if so inclined, spend a good chunk of your time on your knees each day. All of the above is a recipe for success. Let’s get to work building a future worth living in, together, because if we do not, Elon & Co will ensure we will not have one.

MSNBC’S DEATH RATTLE

by Dave Zirin

For 20 years, I’ve been a regular guest on MSNBC. Some of my most memorable media experiences were on the network: I provided analysis immediately after the death of Muhammad Ali and then again from outside Ali’s Louisville funeral; I was pulled out of a shower by frantic calls to get me on the air to comment on Kobe Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash, which I did not know had happened; and I defended athletes who didn’t conform to gender binaries way back in 2009 back when “terf” was just a playing surface football players wanted to avoid. My favorite times were being part of lengthy roundtables with Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry and her #nerdland crew, a show that before its abrupt cancellation featured an array of eclectic academic and movement voices.

I never had blinders on about the network’s limitations: MSNBC was always Charmin soft on the Democratic Party, and at times, it would propagandize for Israel’s decades’ long war on the Palestinian people (with the strong exception of anchor Ayman Mohyeldin). But my thinking was that as long as I never half-stepped my politics and took the openings that existed to speak in defense of Palestine, I was playing a modest role in bringing a radical analysis through sports to an otherwise center-liberal network. A highlight was being able to praise Egyptian soccer player Mohamed Aboutrika as one of the 2008 sports stories of the year for wearing a Sympathize with Gaza shirt on the pitch, which they showed the television audience while I was explaining the significance of his brave actions. That was on, of all things, their citadel of centrism Morning Joe. It brings me joy to remember Scarborough looking befuddled as to why this had somehow become a part of his show.

But after Trump’s most recent election, I told a head booker to put out the word to not contact me anymore. This wasn’t grandstanding — I knew it wouldn’t matter in the network’s corridors. It was more for myself. I wrote to them that if doing this for 20 years as a political intervention resulted in the Musk dictatorship, then I was wasting my time and needed to focus on other ways to facilitate change. I had also been disgusted by the network’s coverage of Israel’s genocidal war since October 7 (again with the exception of Mohyeldin). But I’m going public with this decision now, because MSNBC has become the latest mainstream media organization to bend to the political winds.

Under their new boss, Rebecca Kutler, who helped oversee CNN’s transition into something only watched in airports, MSNBC has gone on a bloodletting, axing almost exclusively news anchors of color. That seems to be a shared trait of her most high-profile firings or reassignments to lesser roles: Joy Reid, Jonathan Capeheart, Katie Phang, Alex Wagner, and the aforementioned Mohyeldin alongside the “stepping down” of Lester Holt as host of NBC Nightly News. These folks all have different shades of politics; their shows didn’t all have low ratings; it isn’t even that none of them are white — although that commonality screams out. It is that they have all been targeted by Trump and his online brownshirts.

If it was really ratings, it does not explain why Morning Joe, whose numbers have cratered since Joe and Mika’s chastened trip to Mar-a-Lago after the elections, are secure. (The amount of newsroom demoralization that trip caused was something that I heard from multiple sources.) The only person on the network to speak out publicly was its biggest star—and the person one would think to be the safest — Rachel Maddow. The beloved Maddow, back to hosting every night for the first 100 days of the Trump reign and upon whose ratings the entire operation spins, said, ”I will tell you it is also unnerving to see that on a network where we’ve got two — count them, two — non-white hosts in prime time, both of our non-white hosts in prime time are losing their shows, as is Katie Phang on the weekend. And that feels worse than bad, no matter who replaces them. That feels indefensible, and I do not defend it.”

Good for Rachel Maddow, who also included a heartfelt tribute to her dear friend and longtime target of the Trumpist right, Joy Reid. The response from Kutler, or whomever Kutler is carrying water for, wasn’t to fire Maddow, but to gut her production staff. It certainly looks like she’s being punished for calling out the boss.

Kutler is treating these loyal, popular, and profitable hosts the way Elon Musk treats federal workers: slash, burn, create chaos, and end up with what I promise will be a manufactured failure. In MSNBC’s case, they will settle upon a CNN-esque product that nobody watches unless their plane is delayed in Charlotte. The replacements for these hosts are once and future employees of leading Democrats like Jen Psaki and Symone Sanders-Townsend; Alicia Menendez, the daughter of disgraced former Democratic Senator Bob Menendez; and former Republican National Committee chief Michael Steele who after years of elbowing for a show finally got one at the expense of a liberal host. The diversity of the new hires, clearly aimed to squelch the idea that this was a racial mass firing, doesn’t change the fact that MSNBC’s programming is now politically monochromatic — and moving as far to the right as the Democratic Party will allow.

One cannot separate Kutler’s cuts from the walking, talking mid-life crisis known as Jeff Bezos and his assassination this week of the integrity of The Washington Post. It’s part of the compliance agenda of the mainstream media. What’s hilarious about the exceedingly plastic 61-year-old Bezos is that no matter how old he gets, he always looks like he’s enduring a mid-life crisis. When he’s 80, he’ll probably still be overcompensating by buying yet another penis-shaped car. Less funny is him forcing out the opinions-editor David Shipley and banishing viewpoints other than those that are, in his instantly infamous word, “in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets”. Translation: The only “personal liberties” allowed will be the liberty to write in defense of people like Jeff Bezos. And free markets will be exalted, but probably not the free market of ideas (or the freedom to form unions.) Going forward the Post will be a battering ram at the service of our new gilded-age overlords: Pravda for parasites.

Kutler’s racialized ideological pogrom of MSNBC and Bezos’s Orwellian blather are more examples of voluntary compliance with an addled orange authoritarian and his cruelly stupid cabinet of reality-show carnies. Moments like this make it clear that it’s not just Musk and Trump who are destroying the country’s most essential programs and firing its workers. It’s the “masters of the universe” racing to kiss their feet. These bootlicking billionaires aren’t complying out of fear or because they respect the barely awake Trump and his eroding popularity. They have been waiting for years to be narcissistic peacocks, living in a world where people are forced to cheer their vulgarities. They are past wanting money. They desire power, “followers,” and adoration. They are also snowflakes, demanding the legal ability to crush anyone telling truths about what they are and who they harm. The Washington Post opinion page has been murdered and is being resurrected as a mouthpiece for the ghost of Augusto Pinochet, while MSNBC is now sounding its death rattle. No FBI agent shuttered their doors. No thugs marched to their front steps. No legislation was passed. They surrendered willingly.

So that’s it for me with MSNBC. Frankly I’m relieved to know that I never have to fool myself again into thinking that, in the words of former NFL player Arian Foster, that “a gladiator alone can change Rome.” Yes, we can’t do it alone. We have to come together, and I don’t see it happening inside a system run by self-interested oligarchs and fearful executives. We have no choice but to read, promote, and support independent media rooted in the adage that the real purpose of our work is to “afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.”

THE DOG PROBABLY ATE IT

"It may be time the FBI's New York field office gets paid a visit in the style it's very well accustomed to doling out." Mike Benz

by James Kunstler

Turns out new Attorney General Pam Bondi was a little off the mark earlier this week when she said the Jeffrey Epstein files were sitting on her desk. Actually, it was a six-hundred-pound tar-smeared hairball with a gift tag that read: “To Pamela Jo from her Friends in Blobville, good luck untangling this!” Well, she did tell Fox News host Jesse Waters that the thing sitting on her desk was “disgusting.”

As promised, those Epstein files were released on Thursday — a measly two-hundred pages — to much chagrin and embarrassment for all, since the material turned out to be the same old lists and flight logs that every blogger and his uncle has already put out on the Web for years — say, what . . .?

But then the plot thickened later in the day when AG Bondi said a whistleblower informed her that the New York office of the FBI and their counterparts in the Southern District of NY (Manhattan) DOJ offices were hiding “thousands and thousands” of pages evidence and other stuff (videos? photos?) they had been sitting on for years.

AG Bondi quickly fired off a letter to brand-new FBI Director Kash Patel demanding that the New York FBI office deliver all that stuff to Washington by eight o’clock in the morning today (Friday). If you were Mr. Patel, rather than waiting until morning, wouldn’t you just take a twilight ride up the Jersey Turnpike from Blobville to the Big Apple with an FBI swat team and bust into both the FBI and DOJ offices there. . . and maybe frog-march a few federal employees onto the street like so many grannies caught praying in front of an abortion mill?

Of course, I am writing this a few hours before the Friday morning deadline. So, for now there are only the ancillary considerations in this fast-developing denouement to the longest and slowest-running case of trans-national fuckery in world history. Some little details do stick in one’s craw. For example, Maurene (spelled that way) Comey, daughter of fired FBI director James Comey has been a lead US attorney out of the SDNY in the case against Ghislaine Maxwell and the more recent case against Sean (“Diddy”) Combs — both cases revolving around grand-scale sexual depravity among world-class celebrities. Note, too, that the SDNY was the origin point of more recent janky cases brought against Mr. Trump in the 2024 runup to the election.

And, as independent investigator Mike Benz points out, Bill Barr was USAG in 2019 when Jeffrey Epstein was finally busted, stuffed into the Manhattan federal lockup, and promptly (shall we say, conveniently) turned up dead a few days later (putting aside the known irregularities involving the disposal of his body and the pathology reports about the cause-of-death). Did you notice that no one was ever disciplined for that? Not the two guards on the floor that night who claimed they fell asleep. Not the warden of the jail who failed to check whether the security cameras were working (they weren’t) on his most important prisoner’s cell?

Nor did Bill Barr ever answer for that, or for some other capers — such as sitting on Hunter Biden’s laptop in the fall of 2019 when Adam Schiff’s House Intelligence Committee held preliminary hearings to consider impeaching President Donald Trump over his inquiring phone call to V. Zelenskyy in Ukraine. The laptop, you surely know, was stuffed with deal memos and emails about the Biden family’s ex-officio financial shenanigans in Ukraine that surely would have amounted to exculpatory evidence and was withheld from Mr. Trump’s lawyers through the entire psychodrama of the impeachment and trial in the Senate.

Then there is the peculiar history of Bill Barr’s dad, Donald Barr, present at the founding of the CIA (as an OSS officer in WWII), who groomed young Jeffrey Epstein into a job teaching math New York’s Dalton prep school in 1974 on the basis of fake college credentials (Stanford). Epstein was soon transformed into a Wall Street go-getter and most probably an agent for Mossad, Israeli intel. Epstein’s rise in high finance and international spookery led him to crypto-British media mogul and Mossad agent Robert Maxwell and Maxwell’s sex-crazed daughter Ghislaine. . . and the Epstein underage sex operation proceeded from there.

Coincidentally, Donald Barr’s son, Bill Barr’s rise in Blobville neatly parallel’s Epstein’s rise. Barr signed on with the CIA in 1973, worked as an “analyst,” quit to go to law school in 1977, landed in the Reagan White House, than the Bush One White House where he performed clean-up operations on the lingering Iran-Contra mess, eventually becoming US Attorney General in 1991. Between 1994 and 2019, he racked up a personal fortune in blob-centric law, becoming Attorney General a second time in 2019, under Mr. Trump, whom he sedulously stabbed in the back, butt, and liver during his tenure.

Now, it is well-known that Donald Trump consorted with Jeffrey Epstein at various points in his life. Mr. Trump, in his role as New York real estate mogul, was but another celebrity butterfly in Epstein’s vast collection. He admits flying on the notorious Epstein airplane, though, he has said only to catch a ride somewhere. Mr. Trump later clashed with Epstein, as far, even, as blackballing him from the Mar-a-Lago club. (Epstein’s role as a high-toned pimp was becoming known in the early 2000s, though his legal culpability was neatly minimized by Barack Obama’s DOJ.)

In light of all this, it appears that Mr. Trump has no reservations these days about disclosing whatever lurks in the blob files about these skeezy matters. Of course, it is a little hard to believe that blob agents did not dispose of the evidence well in advance of January 20. Other whistleblowers say that FBI agents have been “working night and day” to destroy files on “stand-alone” FBI servers in the days preceding Kash Patel’s arrival on the premises.

As I wind up today’s post at 8:02 in the morning, something new should have landed on Pam Bondi’s desk in place of that six-hundred-pound hairball. Not a whisper of news yet. No perp-walks out of SDNY or the New York FBI office. And, of course, The New York Times, barely a mention on yesterday’s Epstein doings. There’s a long work-day ahead. Stand by.

(kunstler.com)

MR. ZELENSKY COMES TO WASHINGTON

Volodymyr Zelensky plays Triumph the Insult Comic Dog in an unforgettably obnoxious White House visit, all but assuring an end to U.S. aid. Dumb? Maybe, but also "great television," as Trump put it

by Matt Taibbi

Forget the WEF, the WTC, and WHO. After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Washington today, the new reigning international body is WTF! Did that really happen?

Zelensky’s much-anticipated meeting with Donald Trump and J.D. Vance Friday afternoon led to one of the weirdest Oval Office scenes in history. What started as nervous diplomacy ended as a Three Stooges pie-fight, with the black-costumed Ukrainian leader leaving as two eyeholes covered in cream.

Trump and Vance fared better, but were clearly taken by surprise. Both were expecting Zelensky to sign a deal forking over $500 million in rare earth development rights in exchange for American funding during the the last three years of war.

Not until early into the photo op did they realize they’d been punked.

This was the beginning of the end of the Zelensky legend. He came to Washington as the tough-talking spokesmodel for the “rules-based international order,” and left as a costumed pre-teen sent home with an empty trick-or-treat basket…

https://www.racket.news/p/mr-zelensky-comes-to-washington-transcript

I AM ASHAMED of my country today, for the criminal acts of both President and Vice-President toward the nation of Ukraine. I am donating a monthly amount to the rebuilding of that shattered country through https://u24.gov.ua and urge fellow members of sane Americans to do the same. Americans will have a very difficult future, especially those who wish to travel to other countries. How can we even show our faces outside our shattered borders?

— Notty Bumpo

EXCERPTS FROM THE FIERY EXCHANGE BETWEEN TRUMP AND ZELENSKY AT THE WHITE HOUSE

During the Oval Office meeting, President Trump told the Ukrainian leader: “You’re either going to make a deal or we’re out.”

Trump, Zelensky and Vance Argue Over Ukraine War

President Trump and Vice President JD Vance scolded President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine during a meeting in the Oval Office on Friday, claiming he was not grateful enough for U.S. aid.

“Do you disagree that you’ve had problems bringing people into your military?” “We have problems.” “And do you think that it’s respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?” “A lot of questions. Let’s start from the beginning.” “Sure.” “First of all, during the war, everybody has problems, even you. But you have nice ocean and don’t feel now, but you will feel it in the future. God bless —” “You don’t know that.” “God bless you. God bless you. You do not have a war.” “Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel. We’re trying to solve a problem. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel.” “I’m not telling you —” “Because you’re in no position to dictate that.” “Remember —” “You’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel. We’re going to feel very good. We’re going to feel very good and very strong.” “You will feel influenced.” “You’re right now, not in a very good position. You’ve allowed yourself to be in a very bad position. And he happens to be right —” “From the very beginning of the war — “You’re not in a good position. You don’t have the cards right now.” “With us., you start having cards. “We’re not playing cards.” “Right now, you don’t. You’re playing cards. You’re playing cards. You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III. You’re gambling with World War III. And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country — this country — that’s backed you far more than a lot of people said they should have.” “Have you said, ‘thank you’ once this entire meeting? No — in this entire meeting, have you said, ‘thank you?’ You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October. Offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president who’s trying to save your country.” “Please, you think that if you will speak very loudly about the war —” “He’s not speaking loudly. He’s not speaking loudly. Your country is in big trouble. Wait a minute. No, no. You’ve done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble.”

Trump, Zelensky and Vance Argue Over Ukraine War

President Trump and Vice President JD Vance scolded President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine during a meeting in the Oval Office on Friday, claiming he was not grateful enough for U.S. aid.

A meeting between President Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine on Friday turned into an angry shouting match at the Oval Office. At times cross talk made some comments difficult to understand. Here are key excerpts from the heated exchange.

Trump (responding to a reporter): I’m not aligned with Putin. I’m not aligned with anybody. I’m aligned with the United States of America. And for the good of the world. I’m aligned with the world. And I want to get this thing over with. You see the hatred he’s got for Putin. It’s very tough for me to make a deal with that kind of hate. He’s got tremendous hatred. And I understand that. But I can tell you the other side isn’t exactly in love with him either.

So it’s not a question of alignment. I’m aligned with the world. I want to get the thing set. I’m aligned with Europe. I want to see if we can get this thing done. You want me to be tough? I can be tougher than any human being you’ve ever seen. I’d be so tough. But you’re never going to get a deal that way. So that’s the way it goes.

Vice President JD Vance: I will respond to this. So look, for four years in the United States of America, we had a president who stood up at press conferences and talked tough about Vladimir Putin. And then Putin invaded Ukraine and destroyed a significant chunk of the country. The path to peace and the path to prosperity is maybe engaging in diplomacy. We tried the pathway of Joe Biden, of thumping our chest and pretending that the president of the United States’ words mattered more than the president of the United States’ actions.

What makes America a good country is America engaging in diplomacy. That’s what President Trump is doing.

Zelensky: Yeah. OK. He occupied it, our parts. Big parts of Ukraine. Part of east and Crimea. So he occupied it on 2014. So during a lot of years, I’m not speaking about just Biden. But those times was Obama, then President Obama, then President Trump, then President Biden, now the President Trump. And God bless: Now President Trump will stop him. But during 2014, nobody stopped him. He just occupied and took. He killed people.

Trump: 2015.

Zelensky: 2014.

Vance: 2014 and 2015.

Trump: 2014. I was not here.

Zelensky: But during 2014 ‘til 2022.(…) Nobody stopped him. You know that we had conversations with him, a lot of conversations. My bilateral conversation. And we signed with him. Me, like a new president. In 2019, I signed with him the deal I signed with him, Macron and Merkel. We signed cease-fire, cease-fire. All of them told me that he will never go. We signed him. Gas contract. Gas contract. But after that, he broken the cease-fire. He killed our people and he didn’t exchange prisoners. We signed the exchange of prisoners, but he didn’t do it. What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about? What do you mean?

Vance: I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country.

Vance: Mr. President, Mr. President, with respect. I think it’s disrespectful for you to come to the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media. Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have man power problems. You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict.

Zelensky: Have you ever been to Ukraine? You say what problems we have.

Vance: I have been to—

Zelensky: Come once.

Vance: I’ve actually watched and seen the stories, and I know what happens is you bring people, you bring them on a propaganda tour, Mr. President. Do you disagree that you’ve had problems bringing people into your military?

Zelensky: We have problems. I will answer.

Vance: And do you think that it’s respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?

Zelensky: A lot of questions. Let’s start from the beginning.

Vance: Sure.

Zelensky: First of all, during the war, everybody has problems, even you. But you have nice ocean and don’t feel now, but you will feel it in the future.

Trump: You don’t know that.

Zelensky: God bless, you will not have a war.

Trump: Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel. We’re trying to solve a problem. Don’t tell us what we’re going to feel.

Zelensky: I’m not telling you.

Trump: Because you’re in no position to dictate that. Remember this: You’re in no position to dictate what we’re going to feel. We’re going to feel very good.

Zelensky: You will feel influence. I’m telling you.

Trump: We’re going to feel very good and very strong.

Zelensky: You will feel influence.

Trump: You’re right now not in a very good position.

Trump: You’ve allowed yourself to be in a very bad position. And he happens to be right about. You’re not in a good position. You don’t have the cards right now. With us you start having cards.

Zelensky: I’m not playing cards. I’m very serious, Mr. President. I’m very serious. I’m the president in a war—

Trump: You’re playing cards. You’re playing cards. You’re gambling with the lives of millions of people. You’re gambling with World War III. You’re gambling with World War III. And what you’re doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country, that’s backed you far more than a lot of people said they should have.

Vance: Have you said ‘thank you’ once this entire meeting? No. In this entire meeting, have you said ‘thank you’? You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October. Offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president who is trying to save your country.

Zelensky: Please. You think that if you will speak very loudly about the war, you—

Trump: He’s not speaking loudly. He’s not speaking loudly. Your country is in big trouble. Wait a minute.

Zelensky: Can I answer?

Trump: No. No. You’ve done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble.

Zelensky: I know. I know.

Trump: You’re not winning. You’re not winning this. You have a damn good chance of coming out OK because of us.

Zelensky: Mr. President, we are staying in our country, staying strong, from the very beginning of the war, we’ve been alone, and we are thankful. I said thanks in this cabinet, and only in this cabinet.

Trump: You haven’t been alone. We gave you through this stupid president, $350 billion. We gave you military equipment. And your men are brave. But they had to use our military. If you didn’t have our military equipment—

Zelensky: You invited me—

Trump: If you didn’t have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks.

Zelensky: In three days. I heard it from Putin: in three days.

Trump: Maybe less.

Zelensky: This is something, in two weeks. Of course. Yes.

Trump: It’s going to be a very hard thing to do business like this. I tell you.

Vance: Just say thank you.

Zelensky: I said it a lot of times thank you to the American people.

Vance: Accept that there are disagreements. And let’s go litigate those disagreements rather than trying to fight it out in the American media when you’re wrong. We know that you’re wrong.

Trump: But you see, I think it’s good for the American people to see what’s going on. I think it’s very important. That’s why I kept this going so long. You have to be thankful.

Zelensky: I am thankful.

Trump: You don’t have the cards. You’re buried there, your people are dying. You’re running low on soldiers.

Zelensky: Don’t, please, Mr. President.

Trump: Listen. You’re running low on soldiers. It would be a damn good thing. Then you tell us, ‘I don’t want a cease-fire. I don’t want a cease-fire. I want to go, and I want this.’ Look, if you could get a cease-fire right now, I’d tell you, you take it. So the bullets stop flying and your men stop getting killed.

Zelensky: Of course we want to stop the war.

Trump: But you’re saying you don’t want a cease-fire.

Zelensky: But I said to you, with guarantees.

Trump: I want a cease-fire, because you’ll get a cease-fire faster than an agreement.

Zelensky: Ask our people about cease-fire, what they think—

Trump: There wasn’t with me. That wasn’t with me. That was with a guy named Biden who was not a smart person. That was with Obama.

Zelensky: It was your president.

Trump: Excuse me. That was with Obama, who gave you sheets, and I gave you javelins.

Zelensky: Yes.

Trump: I gave you the javelins to take out all those tanks. Obama gave you sheets. In fact, the statement is: Obama gave sheets, and Trump gave javelins. You got to be more thankful because let me tell you, you don’t have the cards. With us, you have the cards. But without us, you don’t have any cards.

It’s going to be a tough deal to make because the attitudes have to change.

Reporter: What if Russia breaks cease-fire? What if Russia breaks peace talks? What do you do then? I understand that it’s a heated conversation?

Trump: What are you saying?

Vance: She’s asking: What if Russia breaks the cease-fire?

Trump: What if anything? What if a bomb drops on your head right now? OK? What if they broke it? I don’t know, they broke it with Biden because Biden, they didn’t respect him. They didn’t respect Obama. They respect me. Let me tell you, Putin went through a hell of a lot with me. He went through a phony witch hunt where they used him and Russia, Russia, Russia, Russia. You ever hear of that deal? That was a phony. That was a phony Hunter Biden, Joe Biden scam. Hillary Clinton, shifty Adam Schiff. It was a Democrat scam. And he had to go through that. And he did go through it. We didn’t end up in a war. And he went through it. He was accused of all that stuff. He had nothing to do with it. It came out of Hunter Biden’s bathroom. It came out of Hunter Biden’s bedroom. It was disgusting. And then they said, ‘Oh, the laptop from hell was made by Russia.’ The 51 agents. The whole thing was a scam. And he had to put up with that.

He was being accused of all that stuff. All I can say is this: He might have broken deals with Obama and Bush, and he might have broken them with Biden. He did. Maybe. Maybe he didn’t. I don’t know what happened. But he didn’t break them with me. He wants to make a deal. I don’t know if he can make a deal.

The problem is, I’ve empowered you to be a tough guy, and I don’t think you’d be a tough guy without the United States. And your people are very brave.

Zelensky: Thank you.

Trump: But you’re either going to make a deal or we’re out. And if we’re out, you’ll fight it out. I don’t think it’s going to be pretty, but you’ll fight it out.

But you don’t have the cards. But once we sign that deal, you’re in a much better position. But you’re not acting at all thankful. And that’s not a nice thing. I’ll be honest. That’s not a nice thing.

All right. I think we’ve seen enough. What do you think, huh? This is going to be great television. I will say that. All right. We’ll see what we can do about putting it together. Thank you.

(NY Times)

22 Comments

Harvey Reading March 1, 2025

MENDO WATER SYSTEM OPPOSITION

LOL. What happens when the population of a species, in this case, Homo sapiens, exceeds the carrying capacity of its habitat. Humans are overrated, by themselves, of course…

Reply
- Kirk Vodopals March 1, 2025
  
  I’m wondering if Claudia et al have any kids in the Mendo school system.
  The village has become a literal Disneyland of vacation rentals and wealthy NIMBYs catering to tourist interests.
  An existing well with an expired permit requires a $40,000 study to determine water availability.
  I know of only one or two families with school age children who live in the village.
  It’s LaLa land there now. I still feel fortunate to send my kids to such a wonderful school and safe community, but the school needs some more infrastructure improvements, water being a crucial priority. Hopefully we can sort through this and provide what’s necessary for a thriving community (not just for the wealthy tourists).
  
  Reply
Harvey Reading March 1, 2025

PROGRESS MADE ON NOYO RIVER BRIDGE SUICIDE PROTECTIONS

Humans, whose population is far too large, should be encouraged to commit suicide rather than wasting money on prevention. Activities, like tubal ligation and vasectomy, need to be promoted.

Reply
George Hollister March 1, 2025

Trump is expecting Zelensky to come hat in hand, and not making demands. The same for Europe that pays half for defense as the US does as a percentage of gross domestic product. This should be taken as an early warning to everyone that depends on the US for its defense.

Reply
- Casey Hartlip March 1, 2025
  
  The mistake in the oval office yesterday was allowing TV cameras and the press. The public got a taste of sausage making. I can only imagine what takes place in serious negotiations between heads of state. Imagine the name calling, personal attacks and who knows what these people hurl at each other during these high level meetings.
  
  Reply
bharper March 1, 2025

Turkey Vulture not Eagle.
Maybe a more appropriate national bird for the times
B Harper

Reply
- Houndman March 1, 2025
  
  A bald eagle is a vulture in a tuxedo. Both are carrion eaters.
  
  Reply
Chuck Dunbar March 1, 2025

TRUMP’S BIG SCAM

A brief, blunt letter to the editor says it well:

“What a smoke screen. The entire exercise of slashing government jobs and contracts has to do with affording enough money for the tax cuts for the rich. That’s all. Further, if they and their corporate lackeys just paid their fair share, none of this would be necessary.

We need to shout this from the rooftops. This exercise is a scam, visited on powerless American people who are waiting and hoping for the courts to catch up to all the malfeasance before it’s too late.”

Elizabeth Smith
Bellingham, Wash.
NYT, 3/1/25

Reply
- Ted Stephens March 1, 2025
  
  As I have been choking on my tax bill, much of it going to things the govt. has no business being involved in, I have been pondering if “fair share” is better defined as a fixed per capita amount for each American to pay or a fixed percentage of one’s income. Which is more “fair”? The per capita cost is the allocation in a fixed dollar amount: what it costs for one to be in this system. I would be okay with a fixed percentage too. If you make little income, you pay little tax. If you make a lot of income, you pay a lot of tax. I don’t think a super progressive tax is “fair”. Taxes on more than 50% of my labor certainly is a form of slavery/servitude. Progressive taxes and means testing are a disincentive to be productive. A progressive tax is used as a tool to divide people, make them focus on wealth (or lack there of), and provides the power of taking from one individual to buy a vote from another or to make them pay for things they wouldn’t ever want to on their own. A progressive tax system is why elected officials have so much to sell.
  Much of what DOGE is finding shouldn’t be funded with my tax dollars. If someone wants to donate to these causes, let them do so directly. I think a smaller govt., with less to sell and mandate, is a good direction to be heading for a change.
  
  Reply
  - gary smith March 2, 2025
    
    These billionaires didn’t get rich in a vacuum. They are born into a system that is a huge leg up compared to say, being born in Rwanda. In other words, their country and countrymen enabled their wealth. For this reason, the very rich US citizens should pay a significantly higher percentage of income tax than Joe Blow who works at manual labor. Also, these guys don’t and never have “labored”.
    
    Reply
Craig Stehr March 1, 2025

THIS JUST IN…
America Plunges Into the Depths of Despair
https://css.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/02/27/trump-fbi-epa-grant-investigation/

Reply
Julie Beardsley March 1, 2025

Thank you for posting the conversation between Trump and Zelensky. I hope everyone reads it. I watched this disgusting display of thuggery and bullying with growing horror at the realization that Donald Trump is very probably a Russian asset. Fifty years of American foreign policy flew out the window in just 30 minutes. In just SIX WEEKS, Trump has: managed to cut Federal programs designed to help the neediest people on the planet on order to find money for tax cuts for the wealthy; alienated our closest allies; emboldened Putin and Xi, (who very likely will invade Taiwan in the near future); endangered free speech by blocking access to the White House by the Associated Press and others; de-funded social safety nets and environmental programs; has greatly exceeded his Executive powers while the boot-licking (I was going to use another term, but this is a family newspaper), Republicans stand by and do nothing to stop him; challenge and threaten to “remove” judges who disagree with him; threatened tariffs on our closest allies which will certainly have negative economic outcomes for the American people; allowed random teenagers with no security clearances to access secure databases with personal information about millions of Americans; fired thousands of public servants; and engaged in petty, nonsensical b.s. like trying to re-name the Gulf of Mexico. There is more, but this is a short list. I do not think the courts can act quickly enough to save us. I pray that there are those in Congress, the Senate and the Military who still honor the oath they took to protect this country and our Constitution and remove this cancerous growth from office. Quickly.

Reply
- Betsy Cawn March 1, 2025
  
  Julie, one minor “incident” that occurred during Zelenskyy’s lambasting by Trump was an actual criminal assault — barely noticeable in the fray and Trump’s “leaning in” toward the perplexed Zelensky, but very real. (I rewatched that moment in the video several times to assure myself that I was not imagining the physical contact during that high-decibel excoriation of Zelensky’s alleged disrespect pointed out by a reporter who asked him why he didn’t wear a suit? 40 minutes of goading and high-pressure insults culminating in Trump’s triumphant declaration that the whole conversation would “make great television.”
  
  That tiny push was lost in the shock and awe of witnessing the de-evolution of 249 years of lawful (sometimes barely, but overall) exercise of Executive power, and now we are left with, as you put it, a criminal clone of the evil Rasputin. Mississippi Goddamn — I can’t wait to see what the Diagnostic & Statistic Manual names the psychic state inhabited by this unique superego and the world’s befuddlement by it.
  
  Reply
  - American Eagle March 2, 2025
    
    Betsy, did you notice, and I didn’t catch it until several repetitions of it, when Zel insults JD saying: Do you think by shouting loud enough about it….which leads Pres. Trump to open up, and strongly defend JD?
    
    And then, or before, when Zel implies by saying to T, and JD that they will be affected by it, and Pres. Trump reacting with fury saying: Don’t tell us what we’re going to be feeling…
    
    Reply
    - American Eagle March 2, 2025
      
      Yet another example…
      
      When T. talks about the hatred between the leaders of R, and U. showing the difficulty involved in making a deal under those circumstances, but underscoring his ability to be tough…
      Then, JD says he will answer the final question reiterating Biden’s position, suggesting diplomacy is key.
      Then Zelensky asks JD if he can ask him a question.
      JD replies “Yes”, then Zelensky responds with a sarcastic: ‘Yeah?’ ( are you sure I can ask you a question, because…)?
      
      Reply
- Paul Andersen March 1, 2025
  
  Codename: Krasnov
  
  Reply
Bruce McEwen March 1, 2025

“the print media, very generally speaking as applied to Mendocino County, were able to hold officials responsible, often getting the most egregiously corrupt and/or incompetent removed, even jailed. “

Ed notes

This charitable compliment refers to newspapers outside my personal experience. Having chosen the print media for a career when I got out of the marines at the callow age of 20, where I had always observed the journalists in their white shirts and khaki trousers going into bars and grills when all us fools in olive drab were on our way to some shithole, I was keen to go to college on the GI bill and learn to be a reporter, of the idealistic stamp, my naive ego notwithstanding.

Little did I know my calling was a dead end.

When I got out of college and went to work in the media of the day, the 1970-90s, I found myself faced with the cold hard fact that all the newspapers wanted was a kind of boosterism for the Chamber of Commerce to promote ad revenue and I was obliged to work closely with the ad dept to match my reports to their goals, i.e., flattering the high opinions the advertisers had of themselves. Covering city councils and county supervisors, I was expected to gratify the egos of these august personages by gushing enthusiastically over their sagacious deliberations and, well, this was not to my liking in that it disappointed my idealistic ambitions.

The reader may therefore imagine my response when I saw a copy of the mighty AVA, wherein the reporters (Anderson and Scaramella) actually gave their honest impressions of what they were reporting on, rather than keeping the scope of the report within the constrained limits if mainstream media standards.

This is what I was referring to when I admonished Laconic Laz about his speculation that the State ought to move in and sort the mess out in Mendocino County. Laz said no other county in the state was this bad but how does he know that. I mean, no other county in the world, let alone one state, has a newspaper anything at all like the AVA!

And, people being people (from my limited experience), it is probable or even highly likely that the same old shit is going down practically everywhere, all of it enabled by a press corps that has been neutered, declawed and had its teeth pulled, at best, and gone completely over to propaganda ministers like that nasty CIA shill Anderson Cooper, huh.

Compare, just for shits and giggles the piece from the SRPD reprinted today with (retired PD reporter) Mike Geniella’s series of articles, and ask yourself why oh why wouldn’t the PD be thrilled to get this fantastic scoop from their old reliable Mike! Go ahead, ask yourself why not— not CNN, damn your eyes!

Reply
- Mike Jamieson March 1, 2025
  
  We’re you ever aware of the Napa weekly “The Sentinel” published by Harry Martin (gone for awhile now)?
  
  Reply
Lynne Sawyer March 1, 2025

That was our son and his friend who found The Dead Man Who Wasn’t and they were definitely not wearing lycra. Coincidentally, they were also part of a group friends who used to hike, frequently, from our house up into the hills above Indian Creek. Not too long prior to The Dead Man Who Wasn’t incident, the gang had found a body at the bottom of a ravine. They hustled back down and happened to run into Tex, who was out walking. The gang of guys were wild eyed, one of the friends saying “should we tell him?” and Tex replied “tell me what?” They replied they had found a dead body in the hills. Tex said “I think we should call the Sheriff” and proceeded to call Keith when they reached the house. When Keith showed up, our son, who had found The Dead Man Who Wasn’t, was nominated by his buddies to take Keith up to the body. When they returned, and Keith had left, our son said that when Keith saw the body, his response was, “Yup, he’s all leathered up” which has now become part of our lexicon.

Reply
- Lynne Sawyer March 1, 2025
  
  oops; it wasn’t Keith but Scott who went out with our son.
  
  Reply
Mike Jamieson March 1, 2025

The realities of the economy and other factors in Russia logically portend the collapse and fracturing of the Russian state. That’s the likely outcome there, given the current trajectory.

For a few years the United States will be an isolated island and experience negative blowback. It has already started:
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/norwegian-fuel-supplier-refuses-u-s-warships-over-ukraine/

Reply
David Stanford March 3, 2025

BUCKLE IN; LOOKS LIKE IT’S GONNA BE A PRETTY ROUGH RIDE
by John Arteaga

Johnny Boy,
Set back and enjoy the new media, CBS, NBC, ABC are gone , no more influence or instructions for you to abide by, how will you make decisions???????, welcome to the new media YOU are reading it now, ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

Reply

Mendocino County Today: Saturday 3/1/2025

22 Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply