Mendocino County Today: Thursday 3/6/2025

By AVA News Service on March 6, 2025

Full set sun off Mtn View Road (Randy Burke)

SHOWERS will dissipate this morning with warmer and drier weather building through the weekend. Wet weather will return by mid next week....Freeze Watch remains in effect from late tonight through Friday morning. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A cloudy 40F with .26" of fresh rainfall this Thursday morning on the coast. We might see a shower this morning but the low pressure offshore will slide by to the south today it looks like. We should have dry skies thru Sunday, maybe Monday. Rain will return about Tuesday for the rest of next week.

MISSING ALBION MAN FOUND DEAD

On Saturday, March 1, 2025, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a missing person in the Albion area. Over the next four days, Search and Rescue teams from Mendocino County and surrounding counties conducted searches for the missing person.

On Tuesday, March 4, 2025 at approximately 11:38 A.M., Search and Rescue teams located a deceased individual within the search area. The decedent’s identity is being withheld pending the identification and notification of the legal next-of-kin. No foul play is suspected at this stage of the coroner’s investigation.

An autopsy was performed by a Forensic Pathologist, Wednesday 3/5/25, but the official cause and manner of death will not be available until al forensic examination reports and tests have been completed.

Additional information regarding this investigation will be released as it becomes available, to include the name of the deceased individual once the legal next-of-kin has been notified.

The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the following agencies for their assistance with this search:

Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue, Marin County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue, Lake County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue, Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue, California Search and Rescue (CALSAR), San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue, California Rescue Dog Association (CARDA), Bay Area Mountain Rescue Unit (BAMRU), California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES), Civil Air Patrol (CAP), and the Albion Little River Fire Protection District.

The Sheriff’s Office would also like to thank Slam Dunk Pizza in Ukiah and Harvest Market in Fort Bragg for their assistance with feeding over 100 searchers on short notice over the course of the search.

REMEMBERING BILL HEIL

Tom Wodetzki/Moonlight:

I just learned that Bill had been in the hospital for several days and then died there last night. He's been an Albion Bridge Steward stalwart since the beginning and was co-chair with Jim Heid until his death. He has lived in Albion 50+ years, first at Table Mountain Ranch commune and then at Ira Rosenberg's, and been an environmental activist the whole time. He's much valued and loved and will be sorely missed.

Annemarie Weibel:

Thank you Tom for sharing the sad news. As Bill was also the machine shop teacher at the alternative Whale School at Table Mountain many of the Albion kids got to hang out with Bill. Many of them came back after college, and are raising their families here in Albion. I taught there for a short while like so many other people in the area.

When it came time to create a public school for Albion (the old Albion Elementary School was not earthquake proof and the administration believed in centralization, meaning moving kids from Albion into Mendocino and selling the beautiful old Albion School), it was Bill and Linda and various other Albion members that forced the Mendocino Unified School District to build an elementary School in Albion. Thanks to Linda and Bill we succeeded after eight and a half years. Without Bill's knowledge as an activist (also learned in Alabama where Civil Rights leaders learned), his sense of humor, and his no-nonsense passion as Jim describes it, we would not have succeeded. Linda also encouraged several Albion women to demand a school and told us that we could not stop before we would get our school.

Many locals remember Redwood Summer and the protests against cutting down many redwoods along the Albion River. See https://friendsofenchantedmeadow.org/ https://friendsofenchantedmeadow.org/LitigativeHistory.html Bill and Linda were instrumental in protecting these giants as much as they could. Linda studied and commented on every local Timber Harvest Plan for about 35 years. They both continued being involved also with the struggles at Jackson State Demonstration Forest.

Linda and Bill were also very involved with the Redwood Forest Foundation, Inc. https://www.rffi.org/ and opposed to the water bagging of water from the Albion and Garcia Rivers to water the golf courses in Southern California.

My deepest gratitude goes out to Bill and Linda who gave so much. I am certain that once Linda can catch her breath Bill's life will be honored by the "Albion Nation" and beyond. My condolences to Linda.

Alison Gardner:

Drat! I saw Matthew at the hospital when I took Craig in on Friday for his colonoscopy. Saw Shelly there, too. So I knew he wasn't doing well, but I was hoping they'd figure it out. Hospitals are a horrible place to die. If I knew I was dying, I'd stay away from them. Thanks for letting me know. I'll e-mail my condolences to Linda.

I lived down the table mountain road for 2 1/2 years when I was 11 through 13. Got babysat a lot at Table Mountain. So I'd known Bill since 1971. I also spent some time out there during Redwood Summer, doing support work. He was, indeed, a great guy and will be sorely missed. I hope his death wasn't too difficult or painful. I sent Linda my condolences yesterday.

Marilyn Magoflin:

What a loss for all. Bill was a pillar in the Albion and Mendocino Coast community. He will be sorely missed. Deepest condolences to Linda and his family.

Stevie & Norbert Dall:

Thank you for letting us know — what sad and unexpected news. We can't possibly convey how much we appreciate all that Bill has done and how much we have enjoyed knowing him. We send our heartfelt condolences to Linda and everyone who will miss him as we will. Please let us know how we can contribute to honoring his accomplishments and memory.

Jim Heid:

Oh, I'm so very sorry to hear this. I'll remember him for his no-nonsense passion, his commitment, and his warmth and good humor. I join Stevie in expressing my desire to honor his memory.

Ali Van Zee:

Oh no!!!! I'm devastated to hear this and know how impactful his death (like his life) is to all in our group - especially Jim, Norbert and Stevie. Actually, to everyone. There's no question his memory will be a blessing to all who knew and loved him!

Marie Hansen:

Bill will be greatly missed by all who knew him - he was a lovely human, a wise and knowledgeable presence. My condolences to Linda.

Monroe Robinson:

I first met Bill in the late 80's when he sawed lumber from several cypress logs for me. A few years later he was instrumental in my purchasing a Woodmizer sawmill and sawing mostly old growth lumber from logs I salvaged from Jackson State Forest. I worked with Bill and Linda on the citizens advisory committee to a new management plan for Jackson State Forest. Bill spoke with authority that the forest should not become a park but be a forest managed where old high quality logs would be harvested in perpetuity and where at the same time the forest would provide a habitat to rebuild the salmon and steelhead populations. Bill and Linda have always been the two persons I most looked up to for their work on forest issues.

Bill was a master mechanic and on several occasions gave new life to my ancient monster forklift.

Bill on many occasions spoke of wanting to find a valued use for the many beautiful eucalyptus logs that are sometimes removed along the Mendocino coast. Our local eucalyptus has a reputation of being almost impossible to make usable lumber from since it cracks, warps, twists too badly. He told me of a couple of logging truck loads for little cost so I decided to give it a go. I sawed the logs into 1" x 4" boards, air dried them, cut them into 16" lengths, milled and surfaced several thousand and installed a eucalyptus herringbone floor throughout the central part of our home. Without Bill it would never had happened. The floor is my tribute to my respect Bill. His love for our forest and for our community stands tall!

Jan:

Well, there's quite a whole in the fabric of life in Albion. Bill Heil has always been there. Sweet faced, gentle, warm, KNOWLEDGEABLE, determined, kind. My deepest sympathies go out to Linda, his mate, his partner, his love. "He flies like an eagle, flyin' so high. Circles round the Universe on wings of pure Light".

This is a studio portrait that I took of Bill Heil in 2019 - two powerhouse grassroots activists who have worked tirelessly for decades to defend and protect this place we call home. We’ll miss you, Bill and thanks for all you did for our community. You’ll always be an Albion icon. Love to Linda. (Laurie York)

CREDIT SARA PIERCE

Seeing negative comments regarding Sara Pierce is very disheartening. She was put in a difficult position and rose above. The amount of time and energy Sara dedicated to the Auditor-Controller/Treasurer Tax Collector’s office is unfathomable. This position requires extraordinary and selfless dedication and commitment that most wouldn’t see unless working alongside these two women as myself and our staff have. Sara and Chamise are incredibly ethical and that should not come into question. I can speak on behalf of our entire department by saying how grateful we are to have had such an incredible and dedicated leader during this time. Sara really stepped up in a way that most others would not and could not have in this situation. She is such an inspiration and someone we all admire. I cannot think of a better person who could have stepped into this role. She worked tirelessly to ensure she did what was right and best for this department. Any department in this county that has worked with her would likely say the same. She is one of a kind and the County is beyond lucky to have her. I would like to note that we are incredibly happy that Chamise’s name has been cleared and to have her back as our leader. We stand behind both Sara and Chamise. Hopefully this will quash any false assumptions being made in regard to Sara’s integrity.

Megan Hunter, Assistant Auditor-Controller Mendocino County

DUI CONVICTIONS

A Mendocino County Superior Court jury returned from its deliberations Tuesday afternoon, March 4th, to announce it had found the trial defendant guilty as charged.

Defendant Pedro Reynaga Gonzalez, age 42, of Ukiah, was found guilty of misdemeanor driving a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and misdemeanor driving a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol .08 or greater, said driving occurring on August 30, 2024 in the Redwood Valley area.

The jury also found true a sentencing allegation that the defendant’s blood alcohol was .15 or greater at the time of driving. The evidence presented through witnesses at trial was that the defendant had a blood alcohol concentration of .21.

After the convictions were entered into the record and the jury excused, the defendant was ordered back for a sentencing hearing to take place on March 25, 2025 at 9 o’clock in the morning in Department B of the Ukiah courthouse.

The law enforcement agencies that developed the evidence used against the defendant at trial were the California Highway Patrol and the California Department of Justice forensic crime laboratory.

The prosecutor who presented the People’s evidence to the jury was Deputy District Attorney Joseph Hoppe.

Mendocino County Superior Court Judge Victoria Shanahan presided over the two-day trial and will also preside over the March 25th sentencing hearing.

A Mendocino County Superior Court jury returned from its deliberations Wednesday, March 5th, to announce it had found the trial defendant guilty as charged.

Defendant Nicholas Sean Nellen, age 33, of Laytonville, was found guilty of misdemeanor driving a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and misdemeanor driving a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol .08 or greater, said driving occurring on September 12, 2024 on Spyrock Road north of Laytonville.

The law enforcement agencies that developed the evidence used against the defendant at trial were the California Highway Patrol and the California Department of Justice forensic crime laboratory.

The prosecutor who presented the People’s evidence to the jury was Deputy District Attorney Sarah Drlik.

Retired Mendocino County Superior Court Judge John Behnke presided over the three-day trial.

BOONVILLE AV FFA

It has been an amazing couple of days for Anderson Valley FFA!

Samantha, Mariluna, and Zoe competed in the regional speaking contests.

Mariluna placed 3rd in the Spanish Creed speaking and will compete at the State FFA competition in April!

Zoe placed 2nd in Impromptu Speaking. She will also compete at the State FFA competition in April!

Mr. McNerney was awarded the Star Administrator award. He will be recognized at the State FFA Convention in April.

Natalie received her California State FFA Degree! She has worked hard the last 4 years with community service, leadership, school work and her SAE! Great job!

Lastly, Jennifer was elected as a 2025-26 North Coast FFA Regional Officer!

This is the first time AV FFA has had a regional officer.

We are so proud of her and look forward to seeing the great things she does for the North Coast Region.

Mr. Bautista and Ms. Swehla are so proud of you all!

Way to represent Anderson Valley FFA!

MTA TO SRA

A Reader Asks: Does bus service still run from Fort Bragg to SR Airport? How can I get the schedule? Thank you!

The Southbound Route 65 bus will drop off passengers at the Sonoma County Airport by request. The Northbound Route 65 picks up at the Sonoma County Airport Monday through Friday at 11:50 a.m. and 4:20 p.m. Saturday 2:00 p.m. and 4:10 p.m. Sunday 2:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday, you can catch the Sonoma County Airport Express bus South to Oakland and SFO airports.

https://mendocinotransit.org/routes/route-65/

Boonville Motel from Barbara Sturgill (Talkington), now the Boonville Apartments.

POPULAR TRAVEL WEBSITE HIGHLIGHTS UNIQUE DIALECT OF BOONVILLE. HERE’S WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT ‘BOONTLING’

A popular travel website is sharing with its readers about the “forgotten yet charming” town of Boonville.

by Charles Swanson

A hundred years ago, travelers in Boonville likely heard the locals sharing several strange phrases and made-up words. Today, a popular travel website is sharing with its readers about the “forgotten yet charming” town, encouraging a visit and sharing the story of the Mendocino County town’s one-of-a-kind dialect.

Comprised of Boonville’s local name “boont” and “lingo,” “Boontling” is the name for the common language found only in the Anderson Valley hub, and it has origins in the late 19th century, when the area was a remote logging area, according to the March 1 feature on Islands.com.

Boonville, home to several wineries, is a more affordable alternative to Napa and Sonoma valleys, according to the story. The town is also within driving distance from parks like Hendy Woods State Park and picturesque coastline spots like Glass Beach, the article noted.

Here’s what to know about the area’s unique language.

According to the Anderson Valley Historical Society, Boontling originated as a way for the women and children workers in the hop fields to pass the time and became popular among locals who developed some 1,600 terms for everyday items or sayings including bahl gorms (good food), buckey walter (pay phone), pike (to walk or travel), rookie-to (quail), harp (to talk or speak), and horn of zeese (cup of coffee).

Some of the most unusual terms are named after or inspired by famous locals, the historical society noted on its website.

For example, a large fire is called a “Jeffer” after a resident named Jeff who built large fires in his fireplace; and the word for doctor is “Shoveltooth,” originally the nickname for a local doctor who possessed protruding teeth.

Nowadays, hardly anyone but the old timers (“Boonters”) speak the dialect, though its quirky glossary of terms lives on through several local businesses, the historical society said.

Anderson Valley Brewing Co. has adopted Boontling terms for its Boont (Boonville) Amber Ale and Poleeko (the word for the town of Philo) Pale Ale. According to the brewing company’s website, Boontling was even in local schools and spoken by local sports teams at the turn of the 20th century, and it was used by local soldiers fighting abroad in WWI to sneak messages home past military censors.

Breggo Cellars, founded on a former sheep ranch along Highway 128 and named Best New Winery in 2008 by Food & Wine magazine, is appropriately named after the Boontling term for sheep.

Boonville’s Pennyroyal Farm creamery, vineyard and farmstead has also embraced the dialect and includes a linguistic nod in the names of its cheeses such as Boont Corners, the Boontling name for where Highways 128 and 253 meet, and Laychee, the Boontling word for milk.

Find a full glossary of Boontling terms at andersonvalleymuseum.org/boontling.

(Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

BOONVILLE WAY BACK WHEN, Ron Parker

ED NOTES

THE HEADLINE in the Ukiah paper read, “Taste of Redwood Valley this weekend.” Ah, yes. A taste of Redwood Valley, maybe a bite of Calpella, certainly a nibble of The Forks, perhaps a sip of summertime Lake Mendocino as aperitif and it’s, “The last thing I remember, doctor, I’d just remarked to my wife that there is no place in all God’s creation more glorious on a hundred degree day than North Ukiah…”

A FRIEND WRITES of his day at the Ballpark: “As we were drifting out of the park, if one can drift when trapped in a mob and being hauled roughly toward the gates, both feet off the ground at times, the I Left My Heart in San Francisco song came over the loudspeakers, and I wondered if it was used as crowd control — you know, a quiet, calm, nostalgic and familiar song to soothe the inebriated masses and make it far less likely that those of differing team preference would resort to shouting and shoving one another. Probably not. But I’ll bet it works that way. We’ve been to AT&T a few times, too. Parking? $60 dollars US. Beer? Don’t ask. The volume of commerce going on in and around the park was like some middle eastern bazaar — black guys with makeshift stalls hawking cheap orange t-shirts on the street, lots and lots of folks trying to buy or sell or trade tickets, and several hundred legit concession stands inside the facility. It’s truly like a mall in there.”

A PERSPECTIVE on the Greek back when they were going through one of their financial crises with a near-riot protest: “We should all become Greeks. The American work ethic is overrated. I’m serious. We rush about to maintain our crappy suburban lifestyles in cars that cost too much. My Greek barber once ripped out his lawn and planted an orchard. It was the only work other than cutting hair that he ever did. When the suburban neighbors complained, he pretended he did not speak English and tore out more lawn. He told me, “Screw the grass. Americans are crazy. I am Greek and I like to EAT. We Americans, on the other hand, work like Dilbert, disposable workers in service of a bunch of rich bastards who buy our elections to put more rich bastards in office. What if we ALL became honorary Greeks. Would it not improve the national character generally if our citizens spent more time arguing politics in cafes? Nowadays we just yell back at the TV or radio and get fat eating crappy food. I think we should be like the old Greek guys at the Starbucks near me. They sit around and yell at each other for hours, eat decent pastries, teasing the hot baristas, then all go home laughing, telling jokes with the guys they were just yelling at. I was in Athens a few years back: same scene. It was not tourist season so I just hung out with Greeks and soon I was a slacker, too, buying rounds of coffee as they practiced their English and Spanish on me. If we become less obsessed about working so dang hard, live modestly, stop making a fetish of our houses, cars, and electronic doo-dads, we might just hang out more, drink good coffee, and yell happily at each other. Then we’ll all live to be crusty old Greek guys. This is my dream. Don’t forget we also need to tear up most of the parking lots so old dudes can abuse each other over a game of Boule. I’m a pretty good player, btw, so you’ll be paying for the next round of coffees. The Chinese might give us trouble when we become a nation of jovial but active and Stoic bums, instead of mean-spirited fat fundamentalist workaholics. No worries. We’ll nuke ‘em with the weapons left over from our Imperial legacy or, better still, begin a campaign of subversion to turn THEM into Greeks too.”

FROM HERB CAEN’S column of September 24th, 1969 in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Towards a brighter America: The Ukiah Public Library has five copies of Philip Roth’s ‘Portnoy’s Complaint,’ with 12 people on the waiting list. As soon as these have satisfied their curiosity, the five copies will be destroyed by burning as ordered by the Library’s trustees. Bully! …”

ONE MORNING, back in my Explore Mendo days, I’d parked my truck at the Fort Bragg Cemetery which, incidentally, is eternal home to a female survivor of the Donner Party and Vince DiMaggio, and I hiked the Skunk line tracks to the first tunnel, a distance of three or four miles. The tunnel hadn’t yet collapsed. I had the vague idea of walking on through to the other end but hadn’t realized how long the tunnel was and I hadn’t brought a flashlight. I intended to come back someday properly prepared but never did.

SHUFFLING along in the early morning fog, a steady stream of transients loomed up out of the mists, perhaps as many as twenty of them alone or in pairs, all of them walking towards Fort Bragg. They all took careful note of me as I passed in the eastward direction but left me alone.

ON the Pudding Creek side of the tracks there were quite a number of camps, nicely outfitted with tents and sleeping bags and cooking facilities. I wondered how many people were living between the cemetery and the tunnel, and may have still been wondering when I rounded a bend to discover a man defecating on the tracks, a sight that so roiled my sense of what ought to be I yelled at him to move his jarring visual out of my viewshed. “I’ll move you, big boy,” the man yelled back but, hiking up his trousers, he moved on down off the tracks and out of sight while I stood where I was looking around for an impromptu weapon, regretting that I hadn’t brought my gat.

OVER the years, and probably like many locals who hike the outback, I’ve had several uncomfortable encounters with menacing persons. This one I’d brought on myself, and I waited several whole minutes until I was sure he was gone before I walked on.

RECOGNIZE THIS GUY?

WHEN PINCHES GOT A MUG

When Supervisor John Pinches was on the Board of Supervisors he often complained about costly but limited fish habitat restoration projects that seemed to be spending more money per fish than the County’s general fund spent per person for poor and senior-aged people. At one meeting he was provoked again when, toward the end of a meeting when Board members were giving their typically lame “supervisor’s reports,” Supervisor Dan Hamburg described a large, expensive habitat restoration project in the Hopland area. Supervisor Carre Brown took the opportunity to rubbed it in, asking: “Supervisor Pinches, will you please show everybody what I got you?”

Hamburg piled on: “Oh yeah! What’s that, Johnny?”

Pinches reached for a paper bag near his Supervisor’s podium and reached into it, saying, “She got me this cup and she said she’d provide me with the quart of vodka later.”

Pinches pulled out a hand-made cup from a pottery shop in Ukiah that had some kind of design painted on it.

Supervisor Kendall Smith: “Nice!”

Hamburg: “It’s a Hoyman-Browe!”

Brown: “Show ‘em what’s on it, John.”

Pinches tried unsuccessfully to laugh, grumbling: “It’s a fish.”

Everybody but Pinches laughed.

Brown: “It’s very timely!”

Pinches quickly figured out a way to appreciate his unwelcome gift: “You know what? It’s a good fish — it’s dead.”

Brown laughed, but nobody else did.

Pinches, conspicuously unamused, set the cup off at arm’s length away from the rest of his papers, and continued on a different subject.

(Mark Scaramella)

ANTIQUE EVALUATION WITH BRIAN WITHERELL (22 Years With Antiques Roadshow)

Come join us for a “Roadshow” experience.
Hear the Stories, find out what your “treasure” is worth & enjoy Crunchy Snacks. 

Sunday, March 16, 2025 10am-2pm
Anderson Valley Museum
$5/Item for AV Historical Society members
$8/Item for non-members (3 items per person)

Evaluation Categories:

▪ Historical Memorabilia, Paintings, Sculpture, Furniture & Decorative Arts 
▪ Jewelry, Watches, Silver, Coins, Fine Wine & Whiskies
▪ Comic Books, Fine Books, Sports Memorabilia, Trading Cards & Modern Collectibles
▪ Firearms (Antique & Modern), Edged Weapons & Military Memorabilia

Hosted by The Anderson Valley Village & The AV Historical Society
Proceeds benefit the AV Historical Society

KZYX: LIVE MUSIC RAISES FUNDS AND FRIENDS

Oak and Thorn host Tim Bray essentially created the model for KZYX benefit shows through the years of performances by Celtic musicians that he and his wife Catherine have brought to coastal venues. Two Oak and Thorn Presents shows are planned for this year: Celtic Harpist Patrick Ball on March 13, and Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas on October 15, both shows in the Abalone Room at Little River Inn.

KZYX recently joined forces with the Anderson Valley Grange recently to host a February 1 show by the band Burning Down the House at the Grange. Other KZYX music events planned for this year include a Reggae Fundraiser in Willits for KLLG (which doubles as the KZYX Willits satellite studio) on April 5 and a Vinyl Fest at Good Bones Kitchen in Caspar on August 2.

Listeners can now easily target their preferred shows thanks to a new music genre calendar created by KZYX Music Director Katharine Cole, available now on kzyx.org.

View Music Calendar Online (https://www.kzyx.org/all-shows#music)

MIKE WILLIAMS:

Regarding Katy T’s Pomo trade routes and the anthropologists who collected the information. I believe that contemporary native peoples are somewhat skeptical about how they view the information that was collected and it’s interpretation. Ukiah’s own Samuel Barrett was the leading authority on Pomo geography, language, culture both material and spiritual. I once asked a local tribal chairman what he thought of Barrett and he admitted that he didn’t know who he was. I spent several formative years in Hoopa and during my college years I discovered the work of Pliny Earle Goddard, who lived among the Hupa from approximately 1897-1903 and published Life and Culture of the Hupa. Having lived there I remember more than one native named Pliny, the name continues in use even now.

Last October I returned to Hoopa, that remote and beautiful valley surrounded by the Trinity Alps Wilderness to the east and Redwood National Park to the north west. Years ago I obtained a copy of the tribal history, Our Home Forever. They were never conquered or removed from the valley. The tribal history relies heavily on Goddard and with his name passing down through generations I assumed that he was revered among the Hupa. But that assumption does not hold true today. I spent time with old classmates, museum staff, and at the local library which is named for a classmate who was destined for greatness but tragically died in a car accident in Eureka.

The museum curator made it clear to me that Goddard is being reassessed. His native translations are being reinterpreted. One of my old classmates, confirmed over lunch that his great grandmother was one of Goddard’s sources. Another tribal member suggested that some of Goddard’s sources withheld information and purposefully gave wrong answers. As to the continued use of his name, it may have initially been out of respect or deference but then became family tradition. Even with the best of intentions, these Anthropologists carried the weight of Victorian and paternalistic beliefs that had to influence their research. When Goddard entered Hoopa on horseback in 1897 the Hupa people still retained much of their traditional culture, primarily due to its remote location. When Samuel Barrett graduated from Ukiah High in 1899, the Pomo had suffered over fifty years of subjugation and neglect due to their proximity to overwhelming influences. Barrett received the first Masters degree in Anthropology at UC Berkeley, Goddard received the first Masters degree in native languages in the United States. Both did important work, but are open to reinterpretation. For a latter day and more controversial native study in our locale there is the work of Bert and Ethel Aginsky, but that is another story entirely.

Anytime Saloon Boonville Early 1900s, originally posted by Jeff Burroughs

REZ NOTES: Pinoleville

by Eric Enriquez

Back in the early 2000s, I was a party to a couple of short-lived and ill-conceived lawsuits brought by Leona Williams’ Pinoleville Tribal Council.

Both of these were related to my election to the Interim Council by the General Membership after a vote of no-confidence in the Williams Council.

The first of these suits was brought, ridiculously enough, in the County of Mendocino. In case it isn’t obvious, one of the cardinal rules of operating a Nation is to never give authority to a judge representing a County or State Court of another Nation. In any event, I was one of the John Does accused of interfering in a business deal between Pinoleville and some party that was attempting to sell a bunch of outdated satellite equipment.

I did interfere. I made some phone calls in an attempt to determine the nature of this deal. The problem with the lawsuit is that at the time I made these calls, the Interim Council was recognized by the then-acting Deputy, now Regional Director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Pacific Regional office.

Amy Dutschke was filling in at the time for Ronald Jaeger. As soon as Jaeger returned, he overruled this recognition of our Election. This is likely very important as we believe that we did everything by the book regarding that Interim Council. The record shows that the BIA reps missed several key deadlines established in the Code of Federal Regulations during the process, many of which should have ended the ordeal, supporting our Interim Council.

This brings me to the second of the two suits. I was served by a non-Indian woman that I later learned was the wife of Leona’s attorney, Sam Goodhope. She smiled as she served me my papers for a RICO case in Federal Court. Goodhope was accusing myself and the other members of the Interim Council of Mail Fraud and Impersonating a Government Official. This was based on our completely appropriate and entirely official letter to the membership documenting the results of the very-legal Special Meeting.

I quickly educated myself on the reality of facing RICO charges in Federal Court. I have to admit that it was somewhat stressful.

It seems that the real key to a racketeering charge is the existence of an “enterprise” that participates in the pattern of illegality.

It was during these years, around 2002/2003 that I first came across the name of Michael Canales. His name may have come up around the strange antique satellite deal. If I recall correctly, he is a contractor out of La Jolla or Escondido. He is not an Indian person. I am curious to know the story of how he ended up on the Island of Misfit Toys that is the Williams version of the former Pinoleville Indian Community.

I also find it interesting that Canales is the owner of “Caught,” the hapless nightclub across North State Street from the proposed casino site. The online minutes of the October 2009 minutes of the Ukiah Valley Democratic Club indicate that Canales had plans to help local Native youth to avoid drug and alcohol issues by opening a nightclub/hofbrau. Sounds brilliant, right? Apparently, the Dems are cool with the plan as he has invited them to hold their meetings at “Caught.”

My sense of irony is bursting on this one folks.

I don’t know who makes me more sick at this point — Canales, Williams, the BIA and my Ex are currently in a 4-way tie for last.

Both lawsuits were subsequently cancelled by Leona’s representation. They were only nuisance suits in the first place. File under: harassment of political opponents and misuse of the courts.

Back in April of 2004, when Canales was still relatively new on the scene and Tribal Attorney Goodhope’s black little heart had recently exploded, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, led by Nor-Cal’s premier Hoopa-Oompa-Loompa Dale Risling, Jr held a Kafkaesque Membership Meeting that pounded the final crooked nails into the coffin of my tribal membership.

It’s never been made clear to me who truly funded this 2004 farce. All I know is that somebody with deep pockets paid to fly to Ukiah anybody with a pulse who might have standing in Pinoleville and could be convinced to run off other members of long-standing. They were put up at the Hampton Inn and offered a rehearsal of the next day’s meeting in order to work out the inevitable kinks of a kangaroo court.

Despite all of this planning, the minutes of the meeting show these fools “seconding emotions” and participating in a circus that finally removed many from the membership while adding a few corpses and out-of-state Indians for good measure. Risling signed off on this.

So, is it an enterprise?

Government staffers, tribal council-members, developers and law firms (hello Monteau $ Peebles!) apparently conspiring to corrupt the eligibility requirements of a tribe for the purposes of a casino project sounds pretty fishy to me. Frivolous lawsuits, death threats to myself, and the inevitable mismanagement and mingling of funds in the pursuit of these activities seem to merit an investigation.

I believe that there was an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General. I wonder what they ultimately didn’t find.

All I want for Crowleymas is a forensic audit of the last 12 years of the Pinoleville Indian Community aka The Pinoleville Nation of Pomo Indians aka Canales-Williamsville aka Caught!: The Casino.

Careful observers will note that Canales has a problem keeping the bar open at all, in addition to some lapses in paying property taxes. I guess the nightclub/sushi/hofbrau/teen center concept wasn’t such a winner. No biggie, it’s all a ruse to keep a liquor license available for Leona.

So…who has the pockets deep enough to turn loose the forces of justice on this crew of jokers?

All we need is a former US Attorney to roll the clock back a decade and check the BIA’s performance supporting Leona Williams’ Scheme Team.

MENDO WAY BACK WHEN, Jack Saunders

This was taken from a postcard issued years ago by a Ukiah publisher. I can’t figure why the flag is flying upside down, but my guess would be that it was the year a combined Usal/Bear Harbor team beat Ukiah 63-0 for the county football championship. Any ideas?

CATCH OF THE DAY, Wednesday, March 5, 2025

JESSE CAREPENTER, 44, Laytonville. Domestic battery.

KENNETH HANOVER JR., 38, Clearlake/Ukiah. Controlled substance, mandatory supervision violation.

LORENZO MARTINEZ, 41, Ukiah. County parole violation, unspecified offense.

MELISSA TUCKER, 41, Ukiah. Controlled substance with two or more priors, under influence, paraphernalia, resisting.

PATTI POWER

Editor:

The CEO of PG&E — Patti Pope — said that when customers overall use less energy, it means rates rise, and so they are seeking to squeeze more money out of eco-conscious customers who paid for rooftop solar. That is utter nonsense. This is just a public monopoly trying to protect its profit stream. Rates are high because of PG&E spending increases on poles and wires, which is how they profit. When they spend more, the California Public Utilities Commission lets them increase their profit stream. Actually, when people use less energy, it reduces the need for PG&E to build more poles and wires. That saves everyone money, but it also reduces PG&E’s profits. So PG&E scapegoats people who use less energy to deflect attention from the real cause of high rates and keep their profit-making machine going.

Jeff Collins

Santa Rosa

VETERANS RALLY IN SANTA ROSA AGAINST FEDERAL BUDGET CUTS AFFECTING BENEFITS, STAFFING

The reported cuts in staffing and other changes have sparked outcry across the country from veterans, workers, advocates and some lawmakers.

by Marisa Endicott

Outside Santa Rosa’s Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic Wednesday, a group of about 45, mostly older veterans rallied to protest news of mass firings and other cuts planned for the sprawling federal department serving millions of people who served in the country’s military.

Most in the crowd sported military insignia or jackets and hats representing different branches and affiliations. “NATIVE VETERAN,” one Navy cap read. “PURPLE HEART COMBAT WOUNDED,” another said.

The signs they held demanded “no cuts to mental health” and pleaded to “keep promises to vets.”

The local rally came amid a flurry of such protests nationwide as the Trump administration plans a reorganization of the Department of Veterans Affairs that could slash tens of thousands of jobs at the agency that provides health care, housing and other benefits for retired military members.

“We’re here not just for ourselves but those people inside,” Vietnam veteran Claudio Calvo said to the group, pointing to the VA building beyond the parking lot where they gathered. “They’ve worked hard to take care of us.”

Calvo described his open-heart surgery through the VA over a decade ago. “I tell you I wouldn’t go anywhere else,” he said, signing off his comments with the Marine Corps motto “Semper Fi” — short for “Semper fidelis,” or “Always faithful.“

”Airborne!“ an Army veteran retorted playfully from the crowd.

But the generally high spirits were at times tempered by grief and outrage as speakers took turns on the bullhorn.

That’s because, in its effort to pare down spending and sharply narrow the work at many federal agencies, the Trump administration has already cut thousands of VA jobs and hundreds of contracts. An internal memo, obtained Wednesday by the Associated Press, outlined a reorganization plan that would eliminate 80,000 VA positions, taking the agency back to 2019 staffing levels.

In addition to the more than 9 million people who use at least one VA benefit or service spanning housing, health care, disability and more, veterans make up more than a quarter of the VA’s workforce.

In recent years, facing increasing demand, the VA expanded under the Biden administration.

President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Veterans Affairs Doug Collins defended the staffing cuts Wednesday, saying “the federal government does not exist to employ people. It exists to serve people.”

Collins vowed that the reductions would not result in “cuts to health care or benefits to veterans and VA beneficiaries.”

But the rolling cuts and changes have sparked outcry across the country from veterans, workers, advocates and some lawmakers.

In Santa Rosa, Suzanne Ellis who worked at the VA for more than 30 years, said the cuts are “really different” than what she’s seen in the past “because it’s blanket.” Cuts to behind-the-scenes roles like information technology could trickle down to veterans, she pointed out, if they affect the ability for users to secure or access services.

“These benefits were earned, and taking them away is plain wrong,” Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, wrote in a letter read aloud by an aide at the Santa Rosa rally. The North Bay’s senior member of Congress, who is a combat veteran, described a “precarious moment” for the vital agency and called out the role of the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency led by billionaire Elon Musk which has led the sweeping cuts across the federal government.

“You can’t operate a government the same way you operate a business,” said Kim Valadez, who worked at the VA for two decades. The recent moves don’t make sense, she said. “We’re always understaffed rather than overstaffed.”

More than anything, Valadez said she worried that veterans could suffer. “They’ve already been abandoned enough times in their lives.”

Army veteran Katie Weber said she’s seen the VA evolve in the decades she’s used its services. She remembers breastfeeding her child in her car from the VA clinic parking lot, but now there are lactation pods. Weber worries that hard-won improvements to services and culture will be rolled back.

As a survivor of sexual assault in the military, she’s been involved in prevention training for service members — programs that have now been paused to comply with Trump’s executive order abandoning diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

“These are the kind of things that we fought for that I’m so scared to lose,” she said.

After a series of planned and impromptu speeches, rally-goers stood and chatted and waved to passing cars, many honking in support.

Marine veteran Calvo said that while he was worried he was also confident the VA and supporting community would be heard.

“You want to mess with the vets, you won’t get reelected,” he said.

(Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

Juan Marichal of the San Francisco Giants pitching during spring training, Casa Grande, Arizona, March 8, 1965. (by Neil Leifer)

LOOK AT THESE SALARIES! NO HACK IS WORTH THIS MUCH!

(from the Press Democrat via John Sakowicz)

Emma Murphy, The Press Democrat, March 4, 2025

Sonoma County’s newly appointed health services director, Nolan Sullivan, will have an annual salary of more than $300,000, but he’s one of a handful of county employees making over a quarter of a million dollars in salary alone.

Sonoma County government employs roughly 4,400 employees, making it the largest single workforce in the North Bay. Wage data shows the annual salaries for the top paid employees have increased since 2020, with the highest salary breaking $300,000 in 2022.

The latest available data, which covers 2023, shows nine employees were paid salaries exceeding $250,000.

That pay becomes even greater when benefits are factored in. In addition to pension and health care, county employees also receive a stipend for career development, home office supplies or wellness activities. Other earnings included in the budget cover allowances for items like cellphones and vehicles, life insurance and retroactive pay for late salary increases.

Most of the top salaried county employees did not receive overtime pay in 2023. For the five who were paid overtime, the pay ranged from $462 to $2,485

Which county employees had salaries over $250,000 in 2023?

Grant Davis, water agency general manager: $302,755

Robert Pittman, county counsel: $301,834

Maria Christina Rivera, county executive: $291,638

Carla Rodriguez, district attorney: $282,960

Eddie Engram, sheriff-coroner: $271,974

Tina Rivera, health services director, (since resigned): $268,441

Julia Wyne, retirement administrator: $262,759

Brian Morris, public defender: $260,847

Erick Roeser, auditor-controller-treasurer-tax collector: $257,111

In addition to those making more than a quarter of a million dollars a year, another seven employees make more than $225,000:

Angela Struckman, human services director: $247,107

Johannes Hoevertsz, public infrastructure director: $246,927

Kent Gylfe, water agency engineering director: $242,721

Pamela Jeane, water agency assistant general manager: $234,030

Michael Thompson, water agency assistant general manager: $234,030

Debbie Latham, assistant county counsel: $232,074

Brian Staebell, assistant district attorney (limited term): $229,381

Other 2023 wage data highlights

53 employees had annual salaries exceeding $200,000.

1,380 employees brought home annual salaries ranging between $100,024 and $199,590.

The top 10 employees who received the most overtime pay in 2023 all worked for the Sheriff’s Office. The majority ― eight ― of those employees were deputy sheriff II’s and two were sergeants. Their overtime pay ranged from $109,822 to $240,237.

Sonoma County’s five supervisors’ regular earnings ranged from $167,313 to $172,763. The salaries vary based on their qualified health plan contributions.

SANTA BARBARA RESIDENTS RALLY TO STOP RESTART OF REFUGIO OIL SPILL PIPELINE

by Dan Bacher

Remember the Refugio Oil Spill that fouled miles off the beautiful coastline off Santa Barbara and Ventura counties 10 years ago after a badly corroded pipeline ruptured?

Well, Sable Offshore Corporation is working to restart the pipeline that caused the spill — and last week 100 Santa Barbara residents and advocates rallied and testified to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors against a permit transfer from ExxonMobil to Sable Offshore Corp. to prevent the restart.

The pipeline opponents displayed an array of signs featuring the slogans “Don’t Enable Sable,” “No Offshore Oil,” “Drilling Is Killing,” and “Stop Sable.” They also held placards displaying the devastation caused to the coast by the pipeline rupture.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/5/2308209/-Santa-Barbara-Residents-Rally-to-Stop-Restart-of-Refugio-Beach-Oil-Spill-Pipeline

WHO ARE YOU, Martin Eden? he demanded of himself in the lookingglass, that night when he got back to his room. He gazed at himself long and curiously. Who are you? What are you? Where do you belong? You belong by rights to girls like Lizzie Connolly.

You belong with the legions of toil, with all that is low, and vulgar, and unbeautiful. You belong with the oxen and the drudges, in dirty surroundings among smells and stenches. There are the stale vegetables now. Those potatoes are rotting. Smell them, damn you, smell them. And yet you dare to open the books, to listen to beautiful music, to learn to love beautiful paintings, to speak good English, to think thoughts that none of your own kind thinks, to tear yourself away from the oxen and the Lizzie Connollys and to love a pale spirit of a woman who is a million miles beyond you and who lives in the stars! Who are you? and what are you? damn you! And are you going to make good?

— Jack London, ‘Martin Eden’

THE DEADBEAT

by Mary Scaramella

“Father,” mother would say turning away from the telephone, “it’s a D.B.” And that only meant one thing when I was a little girl growing up in Peru, Indiana in the 1910s: a deadbeat. Father was a country doctor with a great big heart and a woeful inability to collect his fees. All the non-paying clients in town knew it. Mother, being less of a humanitarian and more aware of the butcher’s and baker’s bills, never quite reconciled herself to father’s charitable inclinations.

Mother knew all the deadbeats by their voices on the phone. We used to say that she could tell by the way the telephone rang whether or not it was a paying patient. But father would not be intimidated and in fair weather or foul, day or night, at meal time or not, he would set off to take care of the deadbeats.

One of the most offensive D.B.s was a Mrs. Bailey. The Baileys lived down by the Wabash river on Canal Street and Mrs. Bailey was very prolific. As long as I can remember Mrs. Bailey kept on having babies and father always attended the births. In fact, he named one of the boys Homer after Father. Father seemed rather flattered, but mother was furious — “an insult!,” she called it. “Polishing apples instead of paying their bills! Indeed!”

But the time came when we were very grateful for Mrs. Bailey. It happened like this:

One rainy day Father came home for lunch and announced that cousin Caroline in Fort Wayne was very ill according to a telephone call from cousin Edward that morning. The doctor in Fort Wayne had recommended an operation but cousin Caroline refused to go through with it unless Father gave his consent. So Father decided to leave that afternoon for Fort Wayne. He would stay overnight and return the next morning.

In those days in Indiana our chief means of transportation between towns was what was known as an inter-urban -- a sort of trolley car which ran on a schedule between small-towns. W always thought they were great fun and considered it quite cosmopolitan to take the inter-urban from Peru over to Wabash to visit my cousins. Father planned to take the 2:30 inter-urban to Fort Wayne.

That same afternoon I had been invited, along with several of my friends, to attend the movies with Claire Thurman and her mother. This was really an event because the Thurmans were the richest people in town and the only ones who had a chauffeur. To be called for after school by a chauffeur-driven car was sheer heaven. This was in the era of the silent movies when they would stop the film right at the most exciting point and flash special announcements on the screen like, “Will Mrs. James Brown please go home — your house is on fire,” or “War Declared!” So it was that while we sat there on that afternoon a special bulletin was flashed on the screen: “Inter-urban crash. Many persons dead or injured. No names or particulars available yet.”

I was frantic. I had to find out if Father was all right and I had to get home to Mother before she heard. I fled from the theater and Mrs. Thurman followed me and caught up with me in the lobby. “What in the world is the matter child?” she asked. After I told her about Father being on that trip, she hustled me across the street to the office of the Sentinel to get more information. No more details were available and they couldn’t get through to the next station because the crash had apparently knocked down some power or telephone poles. We decided to wait a while and maybe some word would come through. The waiting was a nightmare. Everyone was trying to be so kind but sort of looking at me out of the corners of their eyes, half expecting me, no doubt, to go into hysterics. I gritted my teeth and sat there not saying a word for what seemed like hours. But I could finally stand it no longer. “Mrs. Thurman,” I said, “Please take me home. The people here will surely let us know if they hear anything more.” They assured us they would.

Mrs. Thurman broke the news to Mother. I guess I couldn’t talk. Mother was wonderful. My sister started to cry and so did I. But mother sternly told us to stop the nonsense. There was a good chance that father was safe and we must be brave. Mrs. Thurman insisted on staying which was probably just as well. Mother and Mrs. Thurman had absolutely nothing in common except that they each had two daughters. They did not mix socially. In fact, the Thurmans didn’t mix with anyone socially. They just sat up there on their hill in their beautiful big, cold, foreboding house and looked down on the rest of us.

But that night, Mrs. Thurman really came through. She persisted in carrying on a rather practical conversation and we had to make a pretense of politeness. The time did pass more quickly than it would have had we been alone. We made ourselves a time schedule. We would call the Sentinel every 15 minutes but no more often than that, and we would all take turns. So the long night dragged on and on and still no word. We sat there for at least four more hours. I don’t believe any of us remembered the next day one word that had been spoken.

About nine o’clock the phone rang and we were all afraid to answer. Mother finally took a deep breath and slowly lifted the receiver. There was a gasp and a sob, and then, “Oh Father. Oh Darling!” And that was all she could say over and over again. When she hung up the tears of joy really flowed. Even Mrs. Thurman was crying.

Then the rest of the words came tumbling out of Mother’s mouth: “Father missed the 2:30. Mrs. Bailey had another baby and he didn’t get away until four, so he came along just in time to take care of all the injured people and that’s why he couldn’t call sooner. God bless Mrs. Bailey! I’ll never call her a deadbeat again."

But of course she did.

(Mary Scaramella was the Major’s mother. She died in 1998 at the age of 87.)

REMOVING U

Trying to write

While feeling bombarded

A frustrating fight

When Fascism’s applauded

Morals be dammed

Laws are broken

All parts of the plan

Their King has spoken

As markets crash

Our Allies chilled

With frozen cash

People are killed

In Musk we trust

This child at play

Is removing U

From the USA

— Elvin Woods

THE STATE OF HIMSELF

by Maureen Dowd

Interviewing Donald Trump over the decades, I would sometimes do a lightning round of questions at the end. It was always his favorite part. He relished giving short bursts of opinion on a range of political and cultural topics.

Now he has turned his entire presidency into a lightning round, putting out a breathless stream of executive orders, slapping tariffs around the globe, siccing Elon Musk on the federal government to rip it apart from the inside out, blowing up alliances as he pulls Vladimir Putin close. Trump’s energy, his output and the sheer volume of words he has uttered in the first six weeks of his presidency are stunning.

He spilled many more words on Tuesday night during his address to a joint session of Congress, talking for 100 minutes, the longest presidential address to Congress ever.

Again, it played like a lightning round. He was Action Jackson, racing through pledges to cut regulations, getting rid of seemingly silly or superfluous foreign aid programs, leaving the World Health Organization. He sped through boasts about economic success, even though the Atlanta Fed says the economy will contract this quarter. He dashed through sketchy claims, painting electric cars as evil, predicting that tariffs will lead to a car boom and asserting that there are nearly 20 million centenarians — some pushing 150 — who are getting Social Security. (Data shows that only 89,000 people over 98 received Social Security payments in December 2024.)

He sounded like a Bob Barker-style game show host, tossing out prizes in a rapid-fire style to his guests in the gallery. Congratulations, you’re going to West Point! Congratulations, you’re in the Secret Service now!

He was loud, confident and forceful and, for his supporters, enormously effective. G.O.P. lawmakers were jubilant, even though many are unnerved by his tariff infatuation — markets plummeted over the past week — and his disgusting embrace of Putin.

Democrats could only combat this dominant Trump by refusing to applaud or stand, waving little paddles with messages like “Musk steals” and “False,” wearing hot pink or, in the case of Representative Al Green, getting thrown out.

They’re going to need a bigger boat.

When I interviewed Trump during the 2016 race, I wondered if the profane and rambunctious former reality show star could ever be presidential. He replied that he could do it if he wanted, pointing to the fact that he could get along at fancy dinners with the society matrons of Palm Beach.

But it turned out that Trump did not need to alter his behavior to be president. He simply altered the presidency to match his personality.

He has mocked Elizabeth Warren as “Pocahontas” at political rallies, and he mocked her as “Pocahontas” again to her face in his formal address to Congress.

He sprayed the air with exaggerations and untruths at his rallies, and he didn’t feel the need to add any fact-checking as president. “A manifesto of mistruths,” proclaimed Nancy Pelosi after the speech.

He blithely ignores blatant contradictions in what he’s saying and doing. He praised police officers, saying they would get the respect “they so dearly deserve” and calling for the death penalty for anyone who murders a police officer. This, even though he sided with the insurrectionists, pardoning nearly 1,600 “patriots,” as he calls them, in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, where police officers got hurt trying to fight off the violent Trump mob.

He declared in the House chamber that “the days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over,” ignoring the irony of Musk — the most powerful chainsaw-wielding unelected government official in history — basking in the first lady’s box. (At long last, wearing a suit.)

Giving a shout-out to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump said, “Our goal is to get toxins out of our environment.” But Trump has been eliminating regulations that would accomplish that. He wants to make deep cuts in the E.P.A., and two of his top appointees at the agency are former chemical executives.

He honored a child who he said had probably gotten cancer from chemicals, even though he is slashing scientific and public health research.

He hailed his tariff hikes as “protecting the soul of our country,” saying, “I love the farmer — who will now be selling into our home market, the U.S.A.” But many farmers make money selling abroad, so they may not appreciate Trump’s sanguine exclamation, “Have a lot of fun. I love you, too.”

Trump crowed that he “brought back free speech in America.” Meanwhile, some of his executive orders have mandated that the government ax selected “woke” words and phrases, and he has threatened that schools that tolerate certain types of protest will lose federal funding.

He has also barred The Associated Press from covering him in the Oval Office and Air Force One because the news service won’t bend the knee and call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.

It seems unsavory to brag about free speech when his administration has been conjuring Joseph McCarthy by asking government employees to name names. The administration set up a hotline to get snitches to tell on colleagues promoting D.E.I. And the head of the F.B.I.’s New York field office was forced out this week when he interfered with Trump’s revenge rampage, urging employees to “dig in” and refuse to name names of agents who had worked on Jan. 6 cases.

Other presidents might have tried to heal divisions after an acrimonious election, but not Trump. He knows that trolling the Democrats, ratcheting up divisions and stoking the culture war got him to the Oval, and he never gives up what gets him to No. 1.

In his address, Trump relentlessly trashed his predecessor, blaming him for everything, even the price of eggs. Ignoring the decorum that once marked presidential addresses, he dismissed Joe Biden as “the worst president in American history.”

As usual, he took all the credit and gave everyone else the blame.

“We have Marco Rubio in charge,” Trump said. He added, as his secretary of state looked on, “Now we know who to blame if anything goes wrong.”

Trump has not been focused on his campaign promise to lower prices. But at the Capitol, he finally raised the issue. “The egg prices, out of control. We’re working hard to get it back down.” Then he swiftly passed the buck to his agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins. “Secretary, do a good job on that.”

He offered a softer tone on Ukraine, citing a message from Volodymyr Zelensky urging peace and saying he was ready to sign the minerals deal. Now that Trump has forced the Ukrainian president to grovel, now that he has humiliated the war hero in public and put his own swollen ego above America’s longstanding foreign policy principles, he may give Zelensky another chance.

His new imperialist attitude was on display, a sharp contrast to his old rants about how awful George W. Bush was for his failed occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan. About Greenland, Trump said, “One way or the other, we’re going to get it.” He also vowed, “My administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it.”

The thrust of Trump’s speech was, of course, to glorify himself, to claim sanctification bestowed on him by God when he escaped assassination. The main point was to brag that he is the best of the best. It is the same way he once boasted that the rolls in the restaurant at Trump Tower were “the best rolls in the city.”

The first month of his presidency, he said, was “the most successful in the history of the nation. And what makes it even more impressive is, do you know who No. 2 is? George Washington. How about that?”

Trump has remade the presidency, just as he has remade the Republican Party, in his own image. The first presidential address of his new term mirrored all his old rallies: It was an ode to himself.

(NY Times)

TRUMP’S GOLDEN AGE OF BUNK

Much of what President Trump said in his address to Congress “was inflammatory, radical, and dangerous,” Susan B. Glasser writes. “But it was also familiar, his by-now-standard mix of braggadocio and self-pity, partisan bile and patently absurd lies. It turns out that even the most unhinged of Presidential speeches can seem kind of boring if it goes on long enough.

“There’s no doubt that Trump, in just six weeks, has compiled a most unusual list of accomplishments to boast about—much of it a result of allowing the world’s richest man to take a chainsaw to the federal government, cutting hundreds of thousands of federal jobs and unilaterally shutting down federal programs and contracts worth billions of dollars in defiance of Congress,” she continues. “But you wouldn’t have known it from hearing Trump wind his way through nearly a hundred minutes of mostly standard-issue Fox News culture-war talking points and alpha-male American exceptionalism.”

REPUBLICAN REP. GILL INTRODUCES GOLDEN AGE ACT TO PUT TRUMP’S FACE ON $100 BILL

by Dan Bacher

The madness and buffoonery of the MAGA Republicans in Congress appears to have no limits.

Yesterday Congressman Brandon Gill (TX-26) introduced his third bill of the 119th Congress, the Golden Age Act of 2025.

This legislation would require that all $100 bills after Dec. 21, 2028 feature a picture of Donald J. Trump on the front face of the note.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/4/2307638/-Republican-Rep-Gill-Introduces-Golden-Age-Act-to-Put-Trump-s-Face-on-100-Bill

SKID ROW WINE

I could have done a lot worst than sit
In Skid Row drinkin wine

To know that nothing really matters after all
To know there’s no real difference
Between the rich and the poor
To know that eternity is neither drunk
nor sober, to know it young
and to be a poet

Coulda gone into business and ranted
And believed that God was concerned

Instead I squatted in lonesome alleys
And nobody saw me, just my bottle
And what they saw of it was empty

And I did it in cornfields & graveyards

To know that the dead don’t make noise
To know that the cornstalks talk (among
One another with raspy old arms)

Sitting in alleys diggin the neons
And watching cathedral custodians
Wring out their rags neath the church steps

Sitting and drinking wine
And in railyards being divine

To be a millionaire & yet prefer
Curlin up with a poorboy of tokay
In a warehouse door, facing long sunsets
On railroad fields of grass

To know that the sleepers in the river
Are dreaming vain dreams, to squat
In the night and know it well

To be dark solitary eye-nerve watcher
Of the world’s whirling diamond

— Jack Kerouac

LEAD STORIES, THURSDAY'S NYT

Frustration Grows Inside the White House Over Pace of Deportations

Trump to Pause Auto Tariffs for One Month as Other Levies Continue

Supreme Court Rejects Trump’s Bid to Freeze Foreign Aid

Veterans Are Caught Up in Trump’s and Musk’s Work Force Overhaul

U.S. and Hamas Hold Direct Talks on Hostages in Gaza, Officials Say

Why Some Schools Are Rethinking ‘College for All’

How Dolly Parton’s Husband, Carl Dean, Inspired ‘Jolene’

ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

I can’t believe I wasted an evening listening to Trump’s blather. He could have said what needed to be said in 20 minutes, half an hour tops. The other 90 minutes of self-aggrandizing bullshit wasn’t worth it for a couple of pretty decent zingers. He is certainly not “great”, I consider him as merely “good”, and that’s only in comparison to the alternative. He needs to get over himself (not gonna happen). As to the libs, if they had any real balls, they would have totally boycotted the speech, instead of sitting there like hypnotized morons.

THE NEW BATTLEFIELD

The war in Ukraine has killed and wounded more than a million soldiers in all, according to Ukrainian and Western estimates. But drones now kill more soldiers and destroy more armored vehicles in Ukraine than all traditional weapons of war combined, including sniper rifles, tanks, howitzers, mortars, and conventional aircraft, Ukrainian commanders and officials say.

Until recently, the clanging, metallic explosions from incoming artillery, ringing out around the clock, epitomized the war. Ukrainian soldiers raced at high speed in armored personnel carriers or pickup trucks, screeching to a stop and spilling out to run for cover in bunkers.

The artillery gave soldiers a sense of impersonal danger — the dread that you could die any moment from the bad luck of a direct hit.

The conflict now bears little resemblance to the war’s early battles, when Russian columns lumbered into towns and small bands of Ukrainian infantry moved quickly, using hit-and-run tactics to slow the larger enemy.

The trenches that cut scars across hundreds of miles of the front are still essential for defense, but today most soldiers die or lose limbs to remote-controlled aircraft rigged with explosives, many of them lightly modified hobby models. Drone pilots, in the safety of bunkers or hidden positions in tree lines, attack with joysticks and video screens, often miles from the fighting.

Speeding cars or trucks no longer provide protection from faster-flying drones. Soldiers hike for miles, ducking into cover, through drone-infested territory too dangerous for jeeps, armored personnel carriers or tanks. Soldiers say it has become strangely personal, as buzzing robots hunt specific cars or even individual soldiers.

It is, they say, a feeling of a thousand snipers in the sky.

“You can hide from artillery,” said Bohdan, a deputy commander with the National Police Brigade. But drones, he said, “are a different kind of nightmare.”

(NY Times)

A RESPONSE TO PRESIDENT TRUMP’S CONGRESSIONAL ADDRESS

by Bernie Sanders

As most Americans know, we are living in a pivotal moment in American history – facing unprecedented challenges. How we respond to this moment will impact not only OUR lives, but the lives of our kids and grandchildren and, in terms of climate change, the very health and well-being of our planet.

As you heard tonight, President Trump has been very effective in creating what I would call a “parallel universe” for his supporters – a set of ideas that either have NO basis in reality or, in the great scheme of things, are nowhere near the most important concerns of the American people.

And one way that he does that is through the concept of the BIG LIE. Say something that is grossly false, say it over and over again, and have right-wing social media blast it out endless times, until people actually believe it.

And then, rather than address the real issues facing the American people, we find ourselves wasting endless amounts of time discussing Trump’s absurdities.

Just a few examples:

Trump has claimed that the 2020 election was stolen from him and that he won by a landslide. A lie.

Trump has claimed that the January 6th insurrection was a day of love. A lie.

Trump has claimed that millions of undocumented people vote in American elections. A lie.

Trump has claimed that climate change is a hoax originating in China. A lie.

Trump has claimed that Ukraine started the horrific war with Russia. A lie.

And tonight, Trump claimed that millions of dead people between the ages of 100 and 360 were collecting Social Security checks. That is an outrageous lie intended to lay the groundwork for cuts to Social Security and dismantling the most successful and popular government program in history.

Let’s be clear: Well over 99% of Social Security checks are going out to people who earned those checks – 70 million people. Nobody who is 150 years old or 200 years old or 300 years old is receiving Social Security checks.

And on and on it goes.

Now, the purpose of all of this lying is not just to push his hateful right-wing ideology. It is not just to try to divide us up. It’s more than that.

It’s a masterful effort to deflect attention away from the most important issues facing the people of our country, issues that Trump and his billionaire friends do not want to address because it’s not in their financial interests to do so.

Trump gave his “State of the Union” speech tonight. But that speech had very little to say ABOUT the state of the union – about what is REALLY going on in our country – especially for working families.

Trump spoke for 90 minutes and he almost completely ignored the issues that are keeping working people up at night – as they worry about how their families are going to survive in these tough times.

And I’ll tell you exactly WHY Trump had very little to say about the REAL crises facing the working class of this country.

Think back 6 weeks ago when Trump was inaugurated for his second term as President – just 6 weeks ago. Standing right behind him were the three wealthiest men in the country – Mr. Musk, Mr. Bezos and Mr. Zuckerberg. And standing behind THEM were 13 other billionaires who Trump had nominated to head major government agencies. Many of these same billionaires – including Musk – were there tonight.

In other words, it is there for all to see. They’re not hiding it. The Trump administration IS a government of the billionaire class, by the billionaire class and for the billionaire class.

Notwithstanding some of their rhetoric, this is a government that could care less about the working families of this country.

My friends. We are no longer MOVING TOWARD oligarchy. We are LIVING IN an oligarchy.

Now, let’s take a moment and try to escape from Trump’s parallel universe. Let’s do something really radical.

Let’s actually take a hard look at the problems that Americans are facing.

Today, 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. Unlike Trump, I grew up in a family that lived paycheck to paycheck. And I know something about that reality.

It means that every day millions of Americans worry about how they’re going to pay their rent. Pay for childcare. Pay for a doctor’s visit when they get sick.

They worry about what happens when their car breaks down and they can’t afford the thousand bucks it costs to get it fixed, and what happens when they can’t get to work because they don’t have a car. They worry about how they can afford to buy healthy food for their children when the price of food is off the charts.

Funny. I did not hear one word from Trump tonight about the economic reality facing 60% of our people, or the enormous stress that they are living under.

But that’s not all.

Today in America, everyone knows that our healthcare system is broken, it is dysfunctional and it is outrageously expensive. We remain the only wealthy nation on earth not to guarantee healthcare for all.

Mr. President: You really want to Make America Great Again? Then make sure that every American, regardless of income, can go to a doctor or a hospital and not worry about how they’re going to pay the bills.

President Trump: Health care is a human right. I didn’t hear one word from you about that.

Nor did I hear you say why we pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs – sometimes 10 times more than the people in other countries – and why one out of four Americans are unable to afford the prescriptions that their doctors prescribe.

Mr. President: We have nearly 800,000 Americans who are homeless. Over 20 million of our people spend more than 50% of their limited income on housing. We have a major housing crisis in America – everyone knows it. And in your speech tonight, you didn’t even mention it.

Today in America, we have more income and wealth inequality than we have ever had. The three richest people in America, the folks Trump invited to stand behind him at his inauguration, now own more wealth than the bottom half of our society – 170 million Americans. Did you hear one word from the President on that enormously important issue which gets to the very fabric of our society?

And here’s something else the President forgot to discuss. Not only is our life expectancy 4 years lower than other wealthy countries, the bottom 50% in this country live, on average, 7 years shorter lives than the top 1%. In other words, being poor or working class in this country is a death sentence. Did you hear any discussion tonight as to why so many of our people are living shorter lives than they should?

During his speech tonight, Trump did not have one word to say about how we are going to address the planetary crisis of climate change. The last 10 years have been the warmest ever recorded, and extreme weather disturbances and natural disasters have been taking place all over the world – from California to India, across Europe to North Carolina. And yet, not surprisingly, Trump had nothing to say about climate change.

And let’s be clear. Not only did Trump fail to talk about some of the most important issues facing the working class of America, but “the SOLUTIONS” he proposed would only make a bad situation even worse.

Yes, I did hear Trump talk tonight about some tax breaks for working families in terms of not taxing tips, not taxing Social Security and not taxing overtime. Fine. But that’s chump change compared to the benefits he’s going to give the 1%, and doesn’t tell the whole story about his tax policies.

According to a recent study by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, if all of Trump’s so-called “America First” policies are enacted, including his tariffs, the bottom 95% of Americans will see their taxes go up, while the richest 5% in our country will see their taxes go down. WAY DOWN.

Tonight, Trump urged Congress to pass his “big, beautiful” budget.

Do you know what’s really in it?

This budget would cut Medicaid by $880 billion. According to one estimate, it means that up to 36 million Americans, including millions of children, would be thrown off the health insurance they have.

It means that nursing homes that receive two-thirds of their funding from Medicaid would either have to shut down, lay off workers or significantly scale back the services they provide seniors.

It would be a devastating blow for the 32 million Americans who get their health care at community health centers.

And, it’s not just Medicaid. Trump’s budget would cut nutrition assistance by at least $230 billion. Can you imagine? The billionaire class, people who can support their families for the next ten generations, people who live in incredible opulence, people who own their own jet planes, private islands and space ships, trying to get tax breaks by taking food out of the mouths of low-income kids. That truly is disgusting.

What we are seeing is the Robin Hood principle in reverse – taking from the poor and giving to the rich.

And here is something else Trump has been doing.

For the past several weeks, he and Elon Musk have been throwing hundreds of thousands of federal employees off their jobs. Now, I know some of you are saying, “That’s too bad, but that’s the federal government, not me.”

But I want you to think about this: If they can arbitrarily throw federal workers out on the street today, what do you think that Musk and his fellow billionaires will be doing tomorrow when Artificial Intelligence and robotics explode in this country?

Do you think they’ll give a damn about you and your families? No. You’ll be out on the street as well.

But it is not only absurd domestic policies that we’ve got to fight.

For the first time in our 250-year history we have a president who is turning his back on democracy and allying us with authoritarianism. No. We must not abandon the people of Ukraine who were invaded by the Russian dictator, Vladimir Putin. We must always stand for democracy, not dictatorship.

Let me be very clear. Regardless of where Trump is taking this country, here’s where I think Americans want to go:

They want us to end a corrupt campaign finance system, which allows a handful of billionaires to buy elections. It is beyond crazy that someone like Elon Musk can contribute over $270 million to help get Trump elected and then gets to run the government.

It is absurd that any Member of Congress who stands up to Netanyahu’s brutal war in Gaza can expect to be opposed by millions of dollars in campaign contributions from AIPAC.

They want us to end the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision and move to the public funding of elections. Democracy is supposed to be about one person, one vote – not billionaires buying the political candidates of their choice.

No. We should not be giving tax breaks to billionaires. We must demand that they pay their fair share of taxes.

We must raise the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour to a living wage of at least $17 an hour.

We must make it easier for workers to join trade unions, grow the union movement and prevent corporations from violating labor laws with impunity by passing the PRO Act – legislation I will be introducing tomorrow.

No, we’re not going to cut Social Security. Quite the contrary, we must expand Social Security benefits and extend its solvency for the next 75 years by scrapping the cap that allows a billionaire to pay the same amount into Social Security as a truck driver.

Instead of making massive cuts to Medicaid, we must join every other major country on earth in guaranteeing healthcare to all of our people through a Medicare for All, single-payer program.

We must also take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry and reduce prescription drug prices by 50%.

At a time of a terrible housing crisis in every area of our country, we must build at least 4 million units of low-income and affordable housing, stop corporate landlords from jacking up rent prices and establish a cap on rent.

In a competitive global economy, we need the best educated workforce in the world. All of our young people must have the ability to get a higher education by making public colleges, trade schools and universities tuition-free and canceling student debt.

Yes. We can create millions of good-paying jobs by combating climate change and moving our energy system away from fossil fuels and into sustainable energy.

I heard a lot of talk about freedom tonight. Well, in a free society, we must absolutely guarantee that it is the women of America who control their own bodies, not the local, state or federal governments.

Now, I know there are a lot of people out there who are feeling angry and frustrated at what’s going on here in Washington, DC. And some of you may feel a bit hopeless.

So let me say this.

At this particular moment in history, despair is not an option. Giving up is not acceptable. And none of us have the privilege of hiding under the covers. The stakes are just too high.

Let us never forget. Real change only occurs when ordinary people stand up against oppression and injustice – and fight back.

That is the history of the founding of our nation when brave men and women took on the mighty British empire. It is the history of the abolitionist movement, the labor movement, the civil rights movement, the women’s movement, the environmental movement and the gay rights movement.

Yes, the oligarchs ARE enormously powerful. They have endless amounts of money. They control our economy. They own much of the media. They have enormous influence over our political system.

But, from the bottom of my heart, I am convinced that they can be beaten.

If we stand together and not let them divide us up by the color of our skin or where we were born or our religion or sexual orientation; if we bring our people together around an agenda that works for the many and not the few – there is nothing in the world that can stop us.

We can win. We will win. Let’s go forward together.

I SAW THE LAST FIRING SQUAD EXECUTION… the violent twitching and stench of bleach will haunt me forever: As it happens again 15 years on, a chilling eyewitness account

by Tom Leonard

As he sat strapped tight to a chair with a black hood placed over his head, it was difficult to tell whether Ronnie Lee Gardner was alive or dead when four bullets ripped into his chest though a white cloth target pinned over his heart.

But precisely two minutes later, with blood seeping through his navy blue prison jumpsuit, he was indeed declared dead.

Half an hour after that, media witnesses to this grim event - in June 2010, the last time a convicted US criminal was executed by firing squad - were allowed to inspect the execution chamber at Utah State Prison in Draper.

Apart from a few bullet marks in the woodwork behind the chair, and the telltale stench of bleach indicating prison staff had been cleaning up the blood, there was no evidence that a man had just been put to death.

‘It was all extremely clinical,’ recalled journalist Jennifer Dobner, who was given the daunting task of recording 49-year-old Gardner’s final moments.

She told the Daily Mail that details from that night - including Gardner’s refusal to say any final words, the unnerving sight of his arm moving up and down after he was shot, and that stink of bleach in the execution chamber - remain fixed in her memory even 15 years later.

‘You don’t ever forget that,’ she said.

Americans might be bombarded with images of gun violence - both on screen and even in real life - but this was entirely different, she said.

‘It’s a very deliberate and purposeful act on the part of the state and it was a very clinical situation, carried out with precision by the Department of Corrections and the five executioners.’

What happened that night is once again being revisited because another Death Row inmate has rejected lethal injection and the electric chair, and decided that he too wants to die - if he must be executed at all - by firing squad.

This outlandish punishment - derided by critics as barbaric, archaic and ‘a little bit gruesome’ (in the words of Utah’s former governor Gary Herbert) - has actually only been used three times in America since 1976, and always in the same southwestern state.

This time, however, it will be used on the other side of the country, after it was announced last month that condemned South Carolina killer Brad Sigmon has chosen it as his preferred method of execution.

Sigmon was convicted of beating to death his estranged girlfriend’s parents in 2001.

Just like Ronnie Lee Gardner, Sigmon, 67, who threatened to sue the state if he wasn’t given a firing squad, will be strapped to a chair and have a hood placed over his head and a target placed over his heart in the death chamber.

Three volunteers (rather than the five-man firing squad in Utah) will shoot at him with rifles through a small opening in a wall about 15 feet away.

His execution is scheduled for March 7 as South Carolina ramps up the pace of judicial killings in the past six months after a 13-year pause.

Sigmon didn’t pick the electric chair because it would ‘burn and cook him alive’, his attorney Gerald King wrote in a statement.

‘But the alternative is just as monstrous,’ said King. ‘If he chose lethal injection, he risked the prolonged death suffered by all three of the men South Carolina has executed since September.’

Many regard the mere concept of the US still putting someone in front of a firing squad as ‘monstrous’, whatever its humanitarian advantages over the other options.

For critics, it smacks of the Wild West and of summary military justice (it’s been a punishment for desertion for centuries). Of death by the bullet in a country unhealthily wedded to the gun.

Those points were certainly made when Utah allowed Gardner to die that way 15 years ago. However, America’s capital punishment system has faced years of controversy and fierce argument over the lethal injection, supposedly the perfect solution to the US constitution’s injunction against ‘cruel and unusual’ punishment.

A string of botched executions - some of which have reportedly involved the condemned writhing around in ‘excruciating pain’, occasionally for hours - have seriously undermined the credibility of the method.

Other alternatives - namely the electric chair and suffocation with nitrogen gas - have also been condemned for being too prone to foul-ups that would inflict unacceptably high levels of pain.

As Justice John Few put it when South Carolina Supreme Court decided last year to allow prisoners to choose between lethal injection, electrocution and the firing squad: ‘We start by acknowledging the reality that there is simply no elegant way to kill a man.’

Idaho has also advanced a new bill to make the firing squad the state’s principal method of execution ahead of quadruple murder suspect Bryan Kohberger’s trial for the brutal slaying of four college students in 2022.

Firing squads have very occasionally gone wrong, too, but you have to go back to 1879 for a really heinous example, when a Utah firing squad missed murderer Wallace Wilkerson’s heart entirely. He hadn’t been tied down and when he stiffened at the last moment he dislodged the target over his heart.

Wilkerson reportedly leapt up screaming: ‘Oh my God! They’ve missed it!’ and took 27 minutes to die. Anti-death penalty campaigners claimed the shooters missed his heart on purpose to prolong his agony.

There were no mistakes in the execution of Ronnie Lee Gardner.

At precisely midnight local time he was awoken from a nap and, a minute later, Gardner - who’d been in and out of the justice system since he was around eight-years-old - was escorted from his cell for his final walk, down dimly-lit corridors to the execution room almost 100ft away. He was wearing white socks but no shoes and didn’t struggle.

Meanwhile official witnesses - including Jennifer Dobner, then a reporter for the wire service Associated Press, as well as other journalists, relatives of victims and lawyers - took their seats in a viewing room that was separated from the execution chamber by thick bulletproof, one-way glass that prevented Gardner seeing them.

Twice convicted of murder, Gardner had been sentenced to death for the 1985 shooting of an attorney, Michael Burdell, during a botched courthouse escape attempt. Gardner, already on trial for the 1984 fatal shooting of a bartender, shot Burdell in the face.

On the day of his execution, Gardner spent his last few hours watching the Lord of the Rings movies and drinking Coca-Cola, hoping for a last-minute reprieve that never came.

He’d rejected his right to have his own relatives watch the execution, the double killer claiming he didn’t want them to witness such a ‘violent act’.

Prison staff strapped him to a black, straight-backed metal chair which sat on a platform containing a metal tray to catch his blood.

His head was secured by a strap across his forehead and his chest was also immobilized with harness-liked straps. His shins and arms were also secured so he could barely move.

Sandbags were stacked around the chair and wooden boards erected behind it to prevent the bullets from ricocheting around the white cinderblock room. The inmate was starkly illuminated by ceiling track lights that glared in his face.

Lurking out of sight of the witnesses, and some 25ft in front of Gardner behind a wall cut with a gunport, were his five executioners - police officers who’d volunteered for the task.

They took their places shortly after midnight. Each was given an identical .30-30-caliber Winchester rifle of which one had been randomly loaded with a wax round so none would know if they actually fired the fatal shot.

(That, at least, is the theory - although experienced shooters insist they can tell the difference with a live round by the amount of recoil a bullet produces. Given its smaller size, the three-man firing squad due to shoot Sigmon on March 7 will all be issued live rounds.)

A beige curtain covering the witness room’s viewing window was pulled back only when preparations were completed and the warden entered the chamber to ask the prisoner if he had any last remarks.

Unlike Utah killer Gary Gilmore, who famously said ‘Let’s do it’ before he was shot by a firing squad in the same prison in 1977 (Gilmore’s words inspired the creator of the Nike slogan ‘Just do it’), Gardner told the warden: ‘I do not, no.’

He visibly tensed as a small black hood was slipped over his bald head and a white cloth square, bearing a black target, was attached over his heart with Velcro.

Meanwhile, he wouldn’t have been able to see the firing squad leader walk down the line of marksmen, tapping each on the shoulder and getting a thumbs-up reply that indicated they were ready.

The warden left the room and the condemned man was entirely alone.

Jennifer Dobner and the other official witnesses couldn’t hear through the reinforced wall the 5 to 1 countdown that was given, the marksmen opening fire on ‘two’.

But she did hear the shots, in fact two loud bangs in quick succession (because it appears one rifleman fired a split-second before or after the others) which rang out at 12.15am.

Just after the shots, Dobner and her colleagues saw, to their alarm, signs that Garner was still moving - one fist clenching and unclenching, and his arm moving up and down.

She admits that moment shocked her most at the time, though added that experts are unable to say for certain whether these were an ‘involuntary response’ or if he was still alive.

‘I was expecting to flinch but I didn’t,’ she said of the gunfire that took her by surprise. ‘It was so quick that for a split-second I wondered if it had actually happened.’

For her, that was one of the few shocks. Colleagues who’d witnessed an earlier firing squad had warned her not to expect much drama.

There was no blood splattered across the wall and, with his head - and so much else of his body - attached to the chair, Gardner remained bold upright. However, a wet stain did appear at the waist of his dark prison suit that was clearly blood.

Just over two minutes later, any doubt over whether he was still alive was removed when a medical examiner entered the room with the warden and checked Gardne’s pulse at his neck, pulling back his hood to reveal an ashen face as the medic shone a flashlight to his pupils. His head was tilted back, his mouth slightly open.

He was declared dead at 12.17am and the curtain closed.

It was drawn back again around an hour later and the nine reporters, who’d been waiting in another part of the prison, were allowed to inspect the chamber. The body had gone and any blood had been cleaned up.

‘It was so clean it was if nothing had happened,’ Dobner recalled.

The journalists were allowed to sit in the chair and to examine the four bullet marks in the wood. Dobner sat in the chair.

‘I’m not really sure why I did it, but I just did it,’ she said. ‘I don’t typically tie myself up in emotions but certainly the room had an eerie feel to it.’

Dobner would rather not say if she - like Gardner and Sigmon - would choose to be shot over other execution methods, although she believes that, given the quickness of the death she witnessed, it wouldn’t amount to unconstitutional ‘cruel and unusual punishment’.

And experts would tend to agree. In 2010, Fordham University Law School professor Deborah Denno, who’d studied the various execution methods, called the firing squad a ‘dignified execution’ which might even be ‘the most humane’ for all the ‘baggage of its brutal image and roots’.

Four years later, a Court of Appeals judge, Alex Kozinski, echoed that view. While the guillotine was ‘probably best’ as an execution method, it was ‘inconsistent with our national ethos’, he wrote.

‘The firing squad strikes me as the most promising,’ he continued. ‘Eight or ten large-caliber rifle bullets fired at close range can inflict massive damage, causing instant death every time. There are plenty of people employed by the state who can pull the trigger and have the training to aim true.’

If Brad Sigmon gets his preferred death, America may soon get another opportunity to see if the gun really is the solution to its capital punishment conundrum.

(DailyMail.uk)

28 Comments

Bernie Norvell March 6, 2025

Sara Pierce

Ditto

Reply
- Call It As I See It March 6, 2025
  
  I’m sure Sara is a fine person and respect this person’s letter. But it’s not about Sara. No matter what Ms. Pierce is a plant of the CEO and BOS. They hire and fire her. And it is alarming that Norvell doesn’t get this. They removed an elected official on bogus charges.
  
  Reply
- Call It As I See It March 6, 2025
  
  I got a question for Bernie. Since you believe Sara is a competent hard worker, I have no reason to doubt this with praises from co- workers and you.
  
  Why don’t you and the Board fire Antle and name Sara CEO.
  
  Antle was just implicated in court on a premeditated plan to oust an elected official. While Bowtie. Ted tried to publicly lynch Cubbison in BOS meetings, Antle sat there quietly knowing her role in this disgusting coup.
  
  As I’ve said, the time is now for you and Madeline to show us this is not business as usual.
  
  Reply
  - Inside Job March 6, 2025
    
    Agreed, when will the board see that given the chance, Antle would throw anyone of the board members under the bus to save her own hide. How can anyone in the county trust what Antle has to say from here on forward?
    
    Reply
    - Lazarus March 6, 2025
      
      “How can anyone in the county trust what Antle has to say from here on forward?”
      I.S.
      
      Because most of he people in this County either don’t care, or think since she has the “Big Chair” and runs with the Brass, she good…
      As around,
      Laz
      
      Reply
      - Chuck Dunbar March 6, 2025
        
        Yes, agree with you all about her. It astounded me that when Carmel Angelo left, having used her power-mad, mean-spirited focus to turn the County into a crummy, dysfunctional place to work, the BOS hired Antle, trained and mentored by Angelo. They should have looked elsewhere for new blood, but they took the easy way out. Angelo left quite a mess, got out while she could before it all blew up. And now here we are. I am glad that at least this one messy issue came out the right way. Justice prevailed.
        
        Reply
- Jacob March 6, 2025
  
  I agree with Bernie and the letter writer, Sara was put in a difficult position and worked hard to address process concerns, etc. Chamise is back now but Sara didn’t remove her, the prior Board of Supervisors (not including Bernie) did. The CEO’s office played a questionable role in this debacle but that doesn’t mean Sara herself is problematic, even if her boss, Darcie, is.
  
  Reply
George Hollister March 6, 2025

What Trump is doing will do nothing to prevent a looming government debt crisis, and those complaining about his cuts should really be thinking about the elimination of federal programs in our debt crisis future, not just Trump’s cuts.

Reply
- Harvey Reading March 6, 2025
  
  Naw, it appears to me that raising the income tax to 95 percent on all income in excess of 200K annually would get us back on track fiscally in no time, with no illegal cuts at all by a guy who likes to play king and lacks a brain. Also, it would help to purge the Democratic party of those elected officials are no more than Democrats in name only, otherwise known as DINOs (and loved by yuppie dullwits).
  
  Reply
  - George Hollister March 6, 2025
    
    Freedom # one is the right to disobey an order. Freedom # two is the right to move. Government has already violated Freedom # one. Should the government violate # two as well?
    
    Reply
Mike Jamieson March 6, 2025

Re “Recognize this guy?”

In the fall of 1969 I had my first college classes at Humboldt State. In public speaking I gave a talk on Edgar Cayce. “This guy” (above) came up and said he liked the talk. He looked different then: long hair and wearing overalls. A friend was acquainted with him during those college years so I seem to remember that for a time he lived in a tent in someone’s back yard.
Later I remember him starting a recycling effort in Arcata.

Reply
- Lazarus March 6, 2025
  
  Wes Chesbro…We hung out for a while one evening at a Gala/fundraiser for the new hospital in Willits.
  I liked him.
  Be well,
  Laz
  
  Reply
- George Hollister March 6, 2025
  
  I remember him too. In 1971 he was a four year student and a sophomore running for student body president.
  
  Reply
David Stanford March 6, 2025

A RESPONSE TO PRESIDENT TRUMP’S CONGRESSIONAL ADDRESS

by Bernie Sanders

Bernie is getting as long winded as Donald, with the same amount of context,!!!

Reply
- Chuck Dunbar March 6, 2025
  
  Lots less lies, much more truth–From Bernie
  
  Reply
  - Chuck Dunbar March 6, 2025
    
    And Bernie writes a 3-4 minute concise read, as opposed to a 100 minute meandering talk by DT–no comparison no matter the metric used.
    
    Reply
Chuck Dunbar March 6, 2025

Thanks to Maureen Dowd and Bernie Sanders for speaking about the real world, the truth of it.

Reply
Mendocino Community March 6, 2025

Remembering Bill Heil, a movie

https://www.rffi.org/oral-history-bill-heil-linda-perkins/

Reply
BRICK IN THE WALL March 6, 2025

Wesley Cheesebro is the guy.

Reply
Marilyn Davin March 6, 2025

Regarding today’s whine about residential rooftop solar:
Because I have worked extensively with utilities on both coasts, I rarely comment on energy issues. But this rooftop solar issue is so superficially understood that I’m breaking my own rule here. Want rooftop solar? God bless you, this is America and you can fork out the 30- 40- or 50-grand to install your very own system any ol’ time you want. But….why should your fellow utility customers, only a tiny fraction of whom could ever dream of installing solar, pay for you? Enthusiasts suddenly act like they did some brave, pioneering thing – digging deep into their own pocketbooks to take a courageous stand for the environment when in fact multiple government rebates largely paid these “pioneers.” And don’t forget the “buy back” guarantee where your utility has to actually pay you back for any “excess” electricity you don’t consume. Overall effect? Customers who can’t afford their own solar (the vast majority of them) actually subsidize solar customers with higher rates of their own. And let’s drop the “bloated utility” canard. PG&E’s stock is trading today at $16. Compare that with the tech bros: $235 for Apple, $397.38 for Microsoft, $639.38 for Meta. This is just the latest energy version of income inequality.

Reply
- George Hollister March 6, 2025
  
  My concern with rooftop solar is what if you need to repair your roof sometime? Or how about replace your roof? What about the safety factor if the solar installation needs repair? A metal roof would potentially compound this problem. To me, if a person wants solar, and they have a good location, put the solar on the ground.
  
  Reply
  - Harvey Reading March 6, 2025
    
    Not to mention that the panels do not last forever…I’ve heard they’re good for 25-30 years, and that they are not recyclable. Just another damned con, like windmills… If it sounds too good to be true, then it aint. Plus no one seems interested in comparing the overall energy required, from mining to manufacturing to end of life compared to the old ways. We’re being conned by the wealthy, from the prezudint on down. The scum don’t know the meaning of truth and full disclosure. If stupid human monkeys would get their population down to carrying capacity of their habitat, we’d probably do just fine using the “old” ways. I, for one, do NOT want anything to do with electromobiles or solar panels or windmills.
    
    Reply
- PhiloFred March 6, 2025
  
  The price of a single share of stock is absolutely meaningless, not sure why you mentioned it. The issue with solar is that so many people have it now that the excess afternoon production just gets thrown away — no utility could afford to reimburse a user who is sending power to the trashcan, yet PG&E did exactly that, and that’s the reason that non-solar users are subsidizing solar users.
  
  Reply
Chuck Dunbar March 6, 2025

WHAT’S MUSK REALLY ABOUT—

Excerpts from William Shoki’s recent essay, “We Mustn’t Forget Where Musk Comes From:”

“…Mr. Musk is one of a number of reactionary figures with roots in Southern Africa who found an unlikely home in Silicon Valley and now wield disproportionate influence in shaping American and global right-wing politics. These men, such as Peter Thiel and David Sacks, emerged from a historical tradition that revered hierarchy and sought to sustain racial and economic dominance, only to find themselves in a world where that order was unraveling. Their politics reflect an instinct to preserve elite rule, cloaked in the language of meritocracy and market freedom, while channeling resentment toward new power structures they view as threats to their position.
For them, southern Africa is never very far away. They are part of a global right that has long been fascinated with Rhodesia and its successor, Zimbabwe. For them, the loss of white-minority rule in Zimbabwe represents the model of civilizational decay — a formerly ‘successful’ colonial state plunged into chaos through decolonization. .. Now South Africa — “openly pushing for genocide of white people,” according to Mr. Musk — is being made to take on the mantle of scare story. The implicit argument is that settler power, once displaced, leads only to ruin…
It doesn’t help that South Africa has stood against Israel’s genocidal aggression in Gaza, leading the charge in attempts to hold it to account under international law. This outspoken opposition has further alienated the country from the Western powers that support Israel, reinforcing the perception of South Africa as a rogue state in the eyes of the global right… For figures like Mr. Musk, South Africa’s stance against Israel no doubt confirms their view of the country as a lost cause — a once ‘civilized’ outpost of white rule now succumbing to the chaos of majority rule and decolonization.
This reaction is both ideological and deeply personal. For all his vehement opposition to woke identity politics, Mr. Musk is actually an ardent identitarian. He has boosted claims from far-right South African groups that the government is ‘race mad,’ with 142 race laws on its books. .. Given Mr. Musk’s aggressive dismantling of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, this obsession with one identity group is more than a little ironic…
It’s dangerous, too. The fixation has led to Mr. Trump ending, by executive order, America’s financial assistance to South Africa, with potentially devastating effect on treatment for H.I.V. and AIDS. South Africa is now anathema: Secretary of State Marco Rubio is refusing to travel there for the Group of 20 summit later in the year, saying that it is a hotbed of ‘anti-Americanism’ that is ‘doing very bad things.’ Given the administration’s fascination with old-style colonialism — epitomized most starkly by its putative plan to resettle Gaza with ‘the world’s people,’ along with the desire to buy Greenland and annex the Panama Canal — it’s no surprise that it sees South Africa as a dystopian prophecy to be resisted.
Mr. Musk, ever the entrepreneur, is happy to supply the propaganda. But South Africa’s history tells a different story — one where white dominance was not inevitable, where settler rule did not last and where a different future, however uncertain, remains possible. From his exalted position of power, Mr. Musk may do all he can to reverse or subvert this story. But he won’t be able to. History, unlike Mars, is not his to colonize.
NEW YORK TIMES, 3/3/25

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Lurker Lou March 6, 2025

Re: Credit Sara Pierce
Sara and I were former colleagues at Adventist Health and I found her to be highly ethical, incredibly smart, and driven to improve processes and performance. She sets a high bar for herself and everyone around her. We need Sara and Chamise working for us (the public).
I think negative comments about Sara have nothing to do with her integrity or work performance. It is presumed guilt by association since she is a direct report to Darcie and she was appointed to the role by the 3 remaining Supervisors who had a big part in this disaster to begin with.
She deserves better so yes, credit to Sara, and credit to Megan Hunter (Asst Auditor-Controller) for having the courage to speak up and defend Sara AND Chamise knowing her support of Chamise probably puts her on the list to be picked off by the retaliatory county snipers.

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Dale Carey March 6, 2025

wasnt juanita, of kenwoods “juanitas restaurant” a buddy of sally stanfords in the 70s or 80s?

‘

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- Bruce Anderson March 7, 2025
  
  Yes. Juanita got her start on an old ferry boat in Sausalito in the late 1950’s
  
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Lazarus March 7, 2025

I heard about Juanita decades ago, so I went to her business. I sat down and asked an older woman if she was Juanita. You looked me up and own and said, who the fuck wants to know…
She was a rough, tough woman.
Laz

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Mendocino County Today: Thursday 3/6/2025

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