Mendocino County Today: Friday 5/2/2025

By AVA News Service on May 2, 2025

A NOTICEABLE 3.6 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE hit just outside of Willits Thursday a little before 2:30pm 3PM. Epicenter was reported to be only about.a mile from the surface. The 3.6 was followed by a 2.9 at the surface. Minor damage was reported. The quake was felt on the Coast as well, but less so. Willits AVA Reader “Lazarus” reported “The biggest in a while here. Got my attention, it was like an explosion, then shaking for a few seconds. A few minutes later, we had a smaller aftershock.”

ISOLATED thunderstorms possible over northeast Trinity county this afternoon and evening. Chance of light rain expected tonight and Saturday. Strong and blustery northerly to northwesterly winds Saturday and Sunday. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): "The fog is large & in charge" Steve Paulson KTVU. Hence our foggy 48F this Friday morning on the coast. Lots of clouds & fog will give way to a lot of wind & clear skies into the weekend. Cool temps will prevail along the way. Along the shoreline we have a "Sneaker Waves" warning in place today.

BOONVILLE PROTEST

(Photo by Steve Derwinski)

WENDY READ:

Today’s protest in downtown Boonville was so popular we’ve decided to do it weekly: Fridays from 4:30-5:30. Starting this Friday, May 2, 2025.

ON THURSDAY, Sonoma Media Investments, parent company of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, announced that they had sold the PD to MediaNews Group, the vulture capital outfit that owns the majority of newspapers left in California. Previously, there had been rumors that the Hearst Corporation/Chronicle were interested in buying the PD. The news of the PD sale came as a surprise to most independent media observers.

Bruce Anderson: Doug Bosco and Friends made a big show of keeping the PD local, but I'm sure the vultures at MediaNewsGroup made them a lush offer of the cash type that co-owner Doug Bosco has never refused.

Mike Geniella: Surprised. Newspaper Guild members in mid-April waived contract in anticipation of Hearst. Personally, I find it disappointing. MediaNews squeezes local reporting staffs, and has a reputation for selling off assets. The PD has a long, solid history on the North Coast. Evert Person, the last owner/philanthropist in the Finley family dynasty (married then to heiress Ruth Finley) remains the single largest donor to the Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah, for example. More than $1 million. Person sold the PD to the New York Times in 1985. It viewed the PD as a California newspaper jewel. It was a grand ride for reporters like myself for 20 plus years, with all the news perks the Times provided. When news media began to be hurt hard by a shift to online, The Times sold the PD to local investors (including Norma Person, widow of Evert Person) and former Congressman Doug Bosco, and lobbyist Darius Anderson.) They kept it going, although the circulation has plunged to 20,000 compared to 100,000 daily under the NYT. The number of employees plummeted from around 450 to less than 100. The downtown Santa Rosa news building has been sold, and the NYT’s state of the art printing plant is shut down. In all, the current state of the PD reflects the collapse of solid local journalism. It matters for journalists, union workers, and our communities. Today’s news saddens me.

Mark Scaramella: It will be interesting to watch the further shrinkage of the PD, and what happens to the current editorship as the MediaNewsGroup vultures sell off what they can, put a lid on hiring, and squeeze pay and benefits.

MAY DAY IN FORT BRAGG

PUBLIC ADVISORY FACT SHEET: Mendocino Water Quality Monitoring and Compliance

MENDOCINO, CA — In response to public concern and increased attention regarding water safety in the township of Mendocino, the County is issuing this press release to clarify the current status of water testing and regulatory compliance.

Three full-service food facilities in Mendocino have been identified by the California State Water Resources Control Board’s Division of Drinking Water (DDW) as having monthly water sample results that did not meet state potability standards. These establishments are classified as public water systems due to the nature of their service to the public, particularly in the food sector. It is important to note that these are not residential properties or professional offices. Facility names are not being released due to privacy and regulatory policy.

The DDW has been actively monitoring water systems in Mendocino for the past year. The current findings are based on regular, consistent testing conducted over several months, not a single isolated incident. As part of state regulations, public water systems serving water to 25 or more individuals on their 60th busiest day are required to submit monthly water samples to ensure compliance with potable water standards.

Most of these food service facilities rely on multiple wells, and the DDW reviews water quality data from each source. While private wells are not regulated by the County, property owners are strongly encouraged to conduct regular testing to ensure water safety.

At this time, the boil water notices were only issued for the three identified businesses. The advisory was issued due to the detection of bacteriological pathogens—specifically fecal coliform and/or E. coli—which should never be present in drinking water. Currently, the DDW has not found any evidence linking these detections to contamination from sewer lines or septic systems.

Importantly, there have been no reported illnesses connected to water quality issues at any of the affected food service facilities.

The County remains committed to public health and safety and will continue working closely with state partners to monitor and support corrective actions.

What Is Happening at Mendosa’s?

To assist residents and provide resources, Mendocino County Public Health staff will be stationed outside Mendosa’s. A table will be set up in the parking lot, where residents can:

Ask questions and obtain informational handouts

Pick up sampling bottles

How Can Residents Test Their Water?

Residents can test their private wells using a Standard Potability Test, which checks for E. coli and fecal coliform. These tests are processed by Alpha Analytical Laboratories, the only state-certified lab in Mendocino County.

Cost: $55 per test

Courier Fee (optional): $10 (for coastal courier to the lab)

More information is available at https://www.alpha-labs.com/

For press or public inquiries, please contact:

Mendocino County Environmental Health (707) 234-6625

LOCAL EVENTS (this weekend)

FORT BRAGG BROADBAND

Fort Bragg Begins Roll Out Of City Broadband

Construction crews for the Municipal Broadband Utility Project are continuing work on Distribution Area (DA) 1, 14, and 15.

Expect to see construction activity on streets and sidewalks along:

Lincoln Street — DA01

Alder Street — DA01

Cedar Street — DA01

Boatyard Drive — DA15

S. Harbor Drive — DA15

Cypress Street/Kemppe Way — DA14

Construction Crews will be potholing areas along streets and sidewalks, and utilizing directional boring rigs to tunnel underground, and pull conduit for future installation of broadband fiber. The bulk of the construction activity for the week of 4/28/25-5/2/25 will begin at the intersection of Cedar and Lincoln, and continue East on Cedar Street towards the intersection of Cedar and Dana. A second construction crew will be continuing work on Boatyard Drive and S. Harbor Drive.

From here, crews will prioritize mobilizing and potholing on Cypress street to begin the directional boring process for DA14.

Stay tuned for ongoing updates as construction progresses.

If you have any questions about the Broadband Project you may contact Carlos Hernandez, Engineering Technician, by phone at 707-961-2823 ext.130 or by email at: chernandez@fortbragg.com.

HOT TUB TRANSPORT

Going to Santa Rosa? I need something dropped off there, will pay.

I have a hot tub pump unit that needs to be delivered to a repair shop in Santa Rosa, and am asking if you plan a trip there in the near future. It needs to be dropped off at A Hot Tub Place which is 2 blocks from Hwy 101 near the Hopper Ave/Cleveland Ave exit at the north end of Santa Rosa. The address is 840 Pine Road. I can meet you on Hwy 1 in Albion and put the pump into your car, and a technician at A Hot Tub Place will remove it. And I'll happily help pay for your gas and time.

If you can do this fairly soon, please let me know.

Moonlight, 707-937-1113

Tom Wodetzki <tw@mcn.org>

Albion

SCAMARAMA

Are these spam calls? I've been getting calls on my phone every few days "This is your utility company." You've been paying more than you should on your electricity bill, please press one for your compensation of $50. My utility company is PGE, but they never say that. Is anyone else getting these calls? They come from a Ft. Bragg number. Are they spam?

Ronnie James <ronnie@mcn.org>

AV VILLAGE NEWSLETTER: May 2025

The April Gathering: This is a popular event. We had six local writers share their stories in a cozy setting at the Rose Room (the Anderson Valley Historical Society Building). They were all so good, we are going to feature one each month (if the writer is ok with that)! We will start next month.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE UNDER REPORTED ON THE COAST

by Michelle Blackwell

At a recent city council meeting, Fort Bragg Chief Cervenka gave a report about police responses detailing the changes in everything from traffic stops to illegal drug arrests. While most crime was down, the alarming number that popped out from his report was a 53% increase in domestic violence incidents from 2023 to 2024, digging deeper, that amounted to 26 incidents. When questioned, the council pointed out that Project Sanctuary handles domestic violence in Fort Bragg.

Project Sanctuary is a non-profit that serves all of Mendocino County, providing shelter and services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. We spoke with the Executive Director and Deputy Directors of Project Sanctuary, Michelle Roberts and Makayla Chacon, to get the facts about domestic violence on the coast and county-wide.

The Fort Bragg Project Sanctuary office handled 168 individual cases of domestic violence and an additional 20 to 30 sexual violence cases. Countywide Project Sanctuary assisted in 440 cases. According to Roberts, the vast majority of domestic violence reports come from family members, friends, and the victims. Very few involve the police. Roberts does work with victims that the police refer to Project Sanctuary, but due to confidentiality standards, does not refer victims to law enforcement.

The National Institute of Health reported in 2023 that 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men suffer from domestic violence each year, resulting in 10 million victims in the United States annually. These numbers are alarming, but Roberts says there has been a slight decrease since the end of the pandemic shutdowns. During the pandemic, domestic violence incidents increased while at the same time, access to in-person services was limited. Roberts attributes that partially to the stresses of the pandemic, but reminds us that violence is a choice.

The slight decrease in Mendocino echoes the national trend. The Council on Criminal Justice, which monitors crime in ten large US cities, also showed a slight decrease from 2023 to 2024. Roberts, however, pointed out that per capita incidents in rural areas exceed those in large cities. So, while the trends match, the isolation and economic factors in rural areas and small towns are contributing factors. Roberts also said that domestic violence is generational. Both perpetrators and victims of domestic violence often grew up with domestic violence in their homes. In other words, it is learned behavior. Stress, substance abuse, and economics may contribute, but it is not a simple cause-and-effect.

There is a direct connection between housing access and domestic violence. The National Center on Family Homelessness reports that 60% of homeless women are victims of domestic violence and that 25% of homeless women became homeless originally to flee domestic violence. Domestic violence among homeless women is typically more severe and often has an economic factor. Roberts points out that homeless individuals are more vulnerable to all types of crime. Chacon said that the Fort Bragg Police Department’s Crisis Response Unit (CRU) has helped some domestic violence victims get into housing, but couldn’t say if domestic violence victims have priority.

Project Sanctuary started in 1977 with an all-volunteer staff and a simple hotline. Today, they have two office locations, one in Ukiah and one in Fort Bragg. They hold classes, provide counseling, legal services, and emergency housing. All volunteers go through extensive training per Chacon. While they do work with law enforcement on cases that have been referred to them, Roberts would like law enforcement to participate more in Project Sanctuary programs. Roberts wouldn’t comment on enforcement efforts for domestic violence, as that is outside their area. She did point out that all law enforcement must undergo training in domestic violence as part of their education before becoming an officer.

Project Sanctuary does not receive funding from the City of Fort Bragg or Mendocino County. They rely primarily on State and Federal funding. Roberts expects to see major cuts in federal funding and pointed out that those cuts will impact all types of non-profits and could even impact police and district attorney services.

Project Sanctuary’s hotline on the Coast is 707 964-4357. Inland it’s 707 463-4357. The National Domestic Violence Hotlines are 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) and 1-800-787-3224 (TTY)

(Ukiah Daily Journal)

WE’RE DOING A STELLAR JOB AT PROCESSING POT PERMITS, If We Do Say So Ourselves. But…

(Proposed Letter to the State Permitting Agencies from Mendocino County on next Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors agenda…)

Mendocino County, working with the California Department of Cannabis Control (DCC) has done a stellar job in processing cannabis cultivation licenses so that they can get their state annual permit. This process is working. Yet, in Mendocino County, the number of unpermitted cannabis sites continues with associated environmental damage and crime.

Major tension stems from the accountability placed on legal cannabis growers by County and State regulations, while unregulated bad actors continue to thrive. Many legal operators have thrown in the towel and abandoned the occupation that once paid their bills and allowed them to support the local economy. The scale at which unregulated cannabis is currently operating in Mendocino County significantly contributes to the collapse of the industry and a central reason for the continued proliferation of unregulated grows.

The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors in conjunction with the Mendocino County Sheriff respectfully requests the DCC along with other State regulatory agencies support our County in cleaning up Mendocino County’s unregulated cannabis industry, which we feel has impacted the local environment and quality of life. Negative impacts including environmental, social, and economic destruction all stem from a lack of enforcement.

Environmental degradation continues to occur due to illegal cannabis. Illegal dumping connected to these unregulated activities leaves tons of trash across our beautiful rural countryside. Often, dumping occurs in our waterways and sensitive aquifer recharge areas. The Sheriff has documented many cases of illegal pesticide and herbicide use in these grows which probably represents a fraction of overall usage. This is a direct threat against the environment and the water quality of Mendocino County, which we respectfully ask the State Water Resources Control Board as well as the Regional Water Resources Control Board and the California Department of Fish and Game to allocate resources and increase enforcement to protect.

The unregulated cannabis industry has brought along with it increased lawlessness in our communities. The criminal activity adjacent to illegal cannabis far exceeds the danger of the cannabis itself – it is the additional illicit drug sales, violence, human trafficking, and murder that creates strain on local law enforcement and real concerns of safety in our communities.

Amongst the over 600 permitted cannabis growers in Mendocino County, many struggle to maintain their businesses when competing with farms that have no regulatory expectations, who can get away with environmental infractions, and continue to sell in the unregulated, untaxed illegal market.

The Board of Supervisors and Sheriff Kendall believe that the State has the ability and obligation to address the issue of unregulated cultivations in our County. With appropriate enforcement, our communities can be free of water diversions, unregulated pesticides and herbicides, hundreds of tons of plastic waste, the many social crimes, and unfair competition to the regulated cannabis industry.

It is time to support local, legal cannabis farmers and residents alike by standing up to the illegal activities that harm our communities.

Sincerely,

John Haschak, Chair, Mendocino County Board of Supervisors

Matthew Kendall, Sheriff, Mendocino County

CC:

Senate Pro Tem President Mike McGuire Assemblymember Chris Rogers

Governor Gavin Newsom

Nicole Elliott, Department of Cannabis Control Ca. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife

State Water Resources Control Board

ROUND VALLEY RESERVATION CHALLENGES AUTHORITY OF KENDALL AND HONSAL AND MORE IN FEDERAL COURT AFTER RAIDS LAST JULY

Residents of the Round Valley Indian Reservation have filed a lawsuit in federal court in San Francisco against Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall, Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal, Mendocino and Humboldt counties, California Highway Patrol Commissioner Sean Duryee, and the CHP. The lawsuit alleges personal injuries and property damage caused by unconstitutional searches and seizures of their homes and properties, violating federal, state, and tribal laws.

The suit stem from raids conducted July 23 and 24, 2024, by Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office deputies in collaboration with other law enforcement agencies on the Round Valley Reservation. The plaintiffs include two grandmothers—one of whom, suffering from severe arthritis, cultivates plants for personal medicinal—and a rancher. During the raids, one grandmother was met at her front door by deputies with guns drawn, while her daughter, grandson, and nephew were inside the home.

Sheriff Kendall stated in an August 2, 2024, public statement that the raids were aimed at eradicating illegally cultivated marijuana plants from “the most egregious violators.” However, according to Lewis Whipple, former President of the Round Valley Indian Tribes Tribal Council, the claimants did not violate State or County laws. Whipple emphasized that State and County marijuana regulations do not apply on the Reservation, which is governed by the Tribe’s own medical marijuana laws that do not permit enforcement by external law enforcement. “The raids violated the Tribe’s sovereignty and tribal members’ rights against unlawful search and seizure,” Whipple stated.

The Tribe’s attorney, David Dehnert, underscored that Mendocino County Sheriff and other agencies lacked legal authority to enforce state civil regulatory laws on tribal lands, including those concerning marijuana cultivation, licensing, or environmental violations. “The Tribe has its own marijuana law enforced internally, and the Sheriff was fully aware of this before conducting the raids and destroying the claimants’ property,” Dehnert noted.

Co-counsel Les Marston, a Ukiah-based attorney, criticized Kendall’s actions, calling them an abuse of power. “This is a clear example of a Sheriff acting as if he is above the law, disregarding constitutional and federal protections for the Tribe and its members. Instead of collaborating with the Tribe to address illegal cartel operations, Kendall chose to act unilaterally, violating the rights of individuals and the Tribe,” Marston said.

The Tribe and the claimants intend to hold Sheriff Kendall and the other defendants accountable.

On Line Comment: The Tribe’s attorney says the Sheriff “lacks legal authority to enforce state civil regulatory laws on tribal lands including…environmental regulations” — but the Sheriff was enforcing criminal violations, not civil.

It’s a joke for the Tribe to say they enforce their own regulations — virtually every Tribal member, including those on the Tribal Council is either growing or has a close family member who is — any enforcement against a grower is gonna generate massive pushback — as a result there’s no enforcement.

LAWSUIT OVER WEED EXPANSION

by Jim Shields

As you all know, the Supes recently voted to illegally expand weed cultivation sites beyond the Ordinance’ s 10,000 square-foot cap. The effect of this new “re-interpretation” is that it would double the existing cultivation area, bumping the area up to 20,000 square feet. Such changes can only be accomplished by the Supes taking formal action at a public meeting.

Supervisors John Haschak and Madeline Cline opposed this action that was whole-heartedly supported by colleagues Ted Williams, Mo Mulheren, and Bernie Norvell.

At that meeting, I urged the Board to reject this “backdoor” attempt to circumvent an unambiguous provision in the Ordinance. There is absolutely no authority under existing law or the Mendocino County Cannabis Ordinance for anyone, including County staff, administrators, or the Supervisors to “reinterpret”, in whole or in part, provisions of the Cannabis Ordinance. It’s widely accepted by constituents that such action gives the appearance of Cannabis Ordinance administration being an insider’s game played by staff and a self-selected few in the local cannabis industry.

The good news is Ellen Drell, of the Willits Environmental Center (WEC), informed me that her organization has filed suit against the County for their illegal action.

On Friday, April 18, 2025, the Willits Environmental Center (WEC) filed a Petition with the County Superior Court challenging the action taken by the Board of Supervisors at their regular meeting on April 8th, 2025. In a 3 to 2 vote (Supervisors Haschak and Cline dissenting) the Board of Supervisors approved a reinterpretation of the County’s cannabis cultivation ordinance, brought to the Board by the Cannabis Department staff, that would result in doubling the area of cannabis cultivation allowed on most cultivation-eligible parcels in the County, including up to 20,000 square feet of mature cannabis for sale. WEC alleges, “the Board’s April 8th, 2025 vote to accept staff’s reinterpretation unlawfully turns seven years of understanding and implementation of the cannabis ordinance on its head.”

WEC urges the Board of Supervisors to direct the Cannabis Department to abandon the Department’s unsolicited, and what WEC believes to be an unsubstantiated, reinterpretation of County law. WEC is joined by several community groups including the Laytonville Area Municipal Advisory Committee (LAMAC) and the Redwood Valley Municipal Advisory Committee (RVMAC), concerned individuals, and newspaper editors in denouncing this reinterpretation and the unlawful means by which county law has been changed.

WEC believes this reinterpretation is wrong and is directly contradicted by the County’s own prior interpretation of the ordinance since its enactment in 2017.

Drell alleges that allowing the area of cannabis cultivation to double on eligible parcels throughout the County has the potential to impact neighborhoods, and cause harm to natural resources such as surface and ground water, sensitive species habitat, and aesthetics. But of equal importance to the WEC, according to Drell, is that this significant change to an existing law is being implemented without public engagement or environmental review. “This is an extremely dangerous precedent and must not be allowed to go forward. Otherwise, the rule of law becomes arbitrary, is taken away from the citizenry, and is placed in the hands of back-room dealers”, said Drell.

I’ll keep you apprised of any developments in this matter.

(Jim Shields is the Mendocino County Observer’s editor and publisher, observer@pacific.net, the long-time district manager of the Laytonville County Water District, and is also chairman of the Laytonville Area Municipal Advisory Council. Listen to his radio program “This and That” every Saturday at 12 noon on KPFN 105.1 FM, also streamed live: http://www.kpfn.org)

CITY OF FORT BRAGG KICKS OFF INAUGURAL BLUES FESTIVAL THIS WEEKEND

Friday & Saturday sold out – Free Saturday concert & additional Sunday tickets now available

May 1, 2025; The City of Fort Bragg is proud to present the inaugural Blues Festival, launching downtown this Friday, May 2 at 5:30 PM. Friday and Saturday events are officially sold out, but due to overwhelming community interest, additional tickets have been released for Sunday’s performance.

The City of Fort Bragg is also excited to host a free outdoor concert on Saturday, May 3, from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM on Laurel Street, featuring the Bourbon Street Bass Band. This family-friendly event is open to everyone and offers a fun, high-energy way to enjoy live music in the hear t of downtown.

“The Blues Festival is about more than just music — it's about building positive momentum for Fort Bragg,” said City Manager Isaac Whippy. “Events like this bring people downtown, spark joy, and boost our local economy by supporting shops, restaurants, and small businesses. We're creating the kind of energy that draws visitors in and reminds us all what makes this town special. And we’re just getting started.”

The City extends its heartfelt thanks to Pam Bell, who is organizing the festival on behalf of the City, and to the many volunteers and local sponsors whose support and teamwork have brought this celebration to life.

The Blues Festival is a City of Fort Bragg event, part of our broader effort to revitalize public spaces, support local businesses, and create unforgettable cultural experiences for residents and visitors alike.

For more information and to reserve Sunday tickets, visit https://fortbraggblues.com/

JEFF BURROUGHS

History Quiz -

What are the 3 names given to the area that is now Boonville before it was named Boonville?

Hint, one is the Pomo's name for it.

Answers: 1. Elizabeth Knight: Lem-ko-lil, Ta-ba-the, La-tey.

There were also three white settler names for the Boonville area. The Corners, at junction of 128 and 253. Kendall City, named after founder Alonzi Kendall, the great great grandfather of Mendocino County Sheriff, Matt Kendal and then Boonville. Boonville was named after W.W. Boone, who was Daniel Boone's grand nephew. So if we want to really get things correct, Boonvile should be spelled with an "e," Booneville. I know it has been spelled with an "e" at times. Why it was dropped is something I have never found the answer to.

FROM E-BAY, A PHOTOGRAPH OF LOCAL INTEREST (via Marshall Newman)

WHEN I WAS JUSTICE OF THE PEACE

by Maurice Tindall (1967)

Before the California Judicial Council was voted in by the state legislature, the local judge was a justice of the peace and was known to the people as a JP. He would be a local man elected to office by the voters of the district. He was supposed to handle all minor legal matters. In addition, he was often called on to settle many matters among people who were too small to take to a lawyer but were of very real importance to the people concerned. He had a constable at his side and an outside man to serve papers and occasionally arrest someone.

The salary in the 70s was pretty small. The judge got as much as $30 a month and the constable got less than that. But he was paid extra for serving papers. There were only a few automobiles, so there were no serious traffic problems which came before me. Livestock ran in the road at will.

One of the early and most well-known judges in Mendocino County owned a pig that ran around town and did once in a while get into somebody's yard. The town dogs chewed her up at times but they were unable to daunt her spirit or stop her marauding. She would raise a litter of piglets every year and in the fall she knew just when acorns began falling and would lead her family to the woods, not to return until springtime.

In later years animals including chickens disappeared from the highways and were no longer a problem.

When I became Justice of the peace sawmills were starting to build up and many families moved into the Valley to work in them. Some of those people were often a problem. One man used to beat his wife about every payday and the neighbors complained to me about it. But there was little I could do.

One day this man got drunker than usual and really raised a fuss. He beat up his wife pretty badly and was dragging her around by the hair. The children, all quite small, ran screaming to the neighbors and they of course became very upset.

The wife soon came in to sign a complaint. She had a fine black eye and numerous bruises. He had kicked her several times while he held her down. She looked pretty tough. The husband was brought into court and was given probation after a few days in jail. Then the wife had a fit. She said, “But I didn't want him put in jail.” I've often thought since then that she and others in like cases enjoyed these family quarrels and the attendant excitement and attention because it gave them an outlet for their emotions. But sometimes they didn't like the outcome.

We had a good many of those episodes and sometimes the wife would be at fault. A few times the wife got into jail herself. It took some days in jail and many lectures to convince those people that they couldn't disturb their neighbors and scare their children. In general, they quieted down and held no grudge afterward. It seemed like they realized that the time might come when they would need a friend in the court system.

One day a lady called in and said, “There is a man laying in my front yard and he may be dead.” The officer was off duty that day, but I knew where to find him. We went down and the man was there and he was alive and breathing, although not very noticeably. The officer tapped the man lightly on the hand with no results. The third time he tapped a little harder and the man opened one eye and said, “Quit that.”

He smelled very bad but it was over the hill to the jailhouse with him. We transferred him to the sergeant's car at the top of the mountain, half-way to Ukiah, and started hurriedly to return. I don't think the sergeant ever forgave us. It was a warm day. Later we found that this man had a criminal record and it was pretty bad.

We had many cases involving too much drinking and many of those cases the children were the losers although the county lost as well because they had no money to pay for fines, so they had to go to jail where the taxpayer picked up the tab. Sometimes probation worked but not very often. Many of those drunks that were sent to jail for a short time didn't seem to mind at all. It meant a rest, a few free meals, and they didn't have to go anywhere.

I often thought it bothered me more than it did them. I surely hated to shut a man up in jail for a few days. But sometimes everybody was satisfied with that. One time in the Ukiah court the officers brought in a man evidently not of American ancestry. The boys were a little put out with him as he persisted in getting drunk and sleeping under the farm warehouses. They were afraid that he would either get run over or he would set a fire. One Friday I asked him if he was a national and he said, “Judge, I'm a Navajo Indian.” His home was in Arizona so I told him I thought he should go back home and gave him a suspended sentence with probation.

On Monday morning the boys came to court and told me, “Well we have your Navajo friend here.” I asked him why he hadn't started for Arizona and he replied, “I met another friend, Judge.”

CATCH OF THE DAY, Thursday, May 1, 2025

JESSICA BAUER, 37, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

MARCUS DUMAN, 42, Redwood Valley. Controlled substance with two or more priors, county parole violation.

SEAN FLINTON, 44, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol. (Frequent flyer.)

ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ, 32, Ukiah. DUI, suspended license for DUI, cruelty to child-infliction of injury, evasion, resisting.

WESLEY LEWIS, 24, Hopland. DUI.

NICHOL OBRION, 25, Lakeport/Ukiah. Probation revocation.

TASHA ORNELAS, 38, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs, battery on peace officer, resisting.

JOHN PALACIOS, 56, Ukiah. Public nuisance.

CYNTHIA PHILLIBER, 33, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs, probation revocation.

TODD SCOTT, 49, Ukiah. Use of explosives with intent to injury, arson of structure or forestland.

STEPHEN SUTAK, 54, Ukiah. Petty theft, paraphernalia.

BRIAN WILLIAMS, 53, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, parole violation.

KEVIN WORLEY, 32, Ukiah. Concealed dirk-dagger, controlled substance, paraphernalia, failure to appear, probation revocation.

FROM E-BAY, A PHOTOGRAPH OF LOCAL INTEREST (via Marshall Newman)

NOT SO GREAT

Editor:

Donald Trump is planning to make America great by encouraging women to stay home and have more babies to create a larger workforce. He is going to eliminate Head Start, which serves 800,000 low-income children in the United States. Head Start helps with child care, medical screenings and nutritious food. Trump already started dismantling the Department of Education, which means babies, quite possibly, will grow up in a uneducated and low-paid workforce. This allows the United States to effectively compete with China? Who benefits from this? Low-paid people forced to work in factories, or people who own the factories? Of course, Trump needs to eliminate the immigrant workers who now provide much cheap labor.

So what do we end up with? Haves and have-nots, with maybe a few moderately paid occupations requiring special knowledge and training. Rich get richer, poor get poorer.

Make America great.

Mary Cay Sprague

Santa Rosa

ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

I laughed out loud when I read about the policy proposals being considered by the Trump administration to induce women to have more children. A “baby bonus” of $5,000 when the cost of raising a child is estimated to be at least $200,000 to $400,000? The proposal is insulting to prospective parents’ intelligence.

JIVIN' WITH JIVAN

Happy May Day

Just sitting here contentedly at the MLK Public Library in Washington, D.C., identified with that which is “prior to consciousness”, and not the body nor the mental factory. The inner Self does all, and the thinking mind is observed, but is not the master of actions. That is the difference between a Jivan Mukta and everybody else.

Craig Louis Stehr <craiglouisstehr@gmail.com>

TRUMP VS. FDR’S FIRST 100 DAYS

by Jim Shields

No Contest

This week on his 100th day in office, DJ Trump bloviated about how history-making his first one-hundred days have been.

"We're here tonight in the heartland of our nation to celebrate the most successful first 100 days of any administration in the history of our country, and that's according to many, many people," Trump said to kick off his speech at Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan. "This is the best, they say, 100-day start of any president in history, and everyone is saying it. We've just gotten started. You haven't even seen anything yet."

Trump is so full of it.

He even had the gall to invoke the name of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (“FDR”) by way of comparison.

FDR pulled our country out of a depression; Trump seems intent to put us in one.

As I wrote recently, “FDR saved capitalism from self-destruction. He glued back together the shattered pieces of a country depressed in spirit and economy, and later would lead the nation to victory in a world war. It’s been said that FDR lifted himself from a wheelchair to lift a nation from its knees.”

What the hell has Trump accomplished so far?

Granted he’s cleaning up the immigration mess, but as the Washington Post pointed out, “It is no accident that Trump has repeatedly cited Roosevelt as a model when it comes to his impact and place in history. But Trump’s 100-day mark [shows] the differences are at least as stark as the similarities. Roosevelt’s onslaught, in the depths of the Great Depression, was aimed at expanding the federal government’s presence in Americans’ lives. Trump’s crusade is aimed largely at dismantling it. Perhaps more crucially, Congress came together to pass more than a dozen major laws in Roosevelt’s first 100 days, reflecting the wide national eagerness for his revolution. Trump, in contrast, has governed largely by unilateral executive action, which enables to him to ignore his opponents but avoids a broad political consensus — and leaves his actions more vulnerable to reversal.”

Here’s some more history — actual facts — regarding FDR’s first 100 days.

During Roosevelt's first hundred days in office in 1933, he introduced what historians refer to as the “New Deal”, which focused on the "3 R's": relief for the unemployed and for the poor, recovery of the economy back to normal levels, and reforms of the financial system to prevent a repeat depression.

The nation's plight on March 4, 1933, the day Franklin Roosevelt assumed the presidency, was desperate. A quarter of the nation's workforce was jobless in 1932 when the population in America was 124 million compared to a 2025 count of 347 million. A quarter million families had defaulted on their mortgages the previous year. During the winter of 1932 and 1933, some 1.2 million Americans were homeless. Scores of shantytowns (called Hoovervilles) sprouted up.

In his inaugural address, Roosevelt expressed confidence that his administration could end the Depression. "The only thing we have to fear," he declared, "is fear itself."

In Roosevelt’s first hundred days in office, he pushed 15 major bills through Congress. The bills would reshape every aspect of the economy, from banking and industry to agriculture and social welfare. The president promised decisive action. He called Congress into special session and demanded "broad executive power to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe."

Roosevelt appealed directly to the people to generate support for his New Deal program. On March 12, he conducted the first of many radio "fireside chats." Using the radio in the way later presidents exploited television, he explained what he had done in plain, simple terms and told the public to have "confidence and courage." When the banks reopened the following day, people demonstrated their faith by making more deposits than withdrawals. One of Roosevelt's key advisors did not exaggerate when he later boasted, "Capitalism was saved in eight days."

Roosevelt also literally saved and preserved our founding principle that we are a nation bound by the supremacy of constitutional rule, not by the whims and dictates of a supreme ruler.

'VERY CONCERNED': FROM PALM SPRINGS TO SF, CALIFORNIA RALLIES FOR MAY DAY

by Anabel Sosa

In the months following President Donald Trump’s second election, and amid increasing dissatisfaction with Republican-led efforts to gut key federal jobs and services, grassroots movements have gained momentum across the country. On Thursday, in honor of the day known historically as May Day, people once again poured into the streets to show their dissatisfaction.

During the international labor march Thursday, thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets in cities across the country. From California to Arizona to New York, protesters gathered in support of laborers and in opposition of Trump-administration policies that have slashed education and federal funding, and prompted mass deportations without due process. Even Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders showed up at a rally in Philadelphia.

The organizers of the national protest are part of a group called 50501, which stands for "50 states, 50 protests, 1 movement," and is a coalition of grassroots activist groups expecting to draw 70,000 participants nationwide.

In California, the rallies were scattered across large California cities and small rural towns where Democrats are opposing policies that they say threaten the pockets and livelihoods of everyday Americans.

In Los Angeles, one group gathered on Figueroa Street near Crypto.com Arena to speak out for migrant rights; another in San Diego picketed to keep schools fully staffed. In San Francisco, a rally hosted by University of California workers protested a hiring freeze imposed by the university, while another near the Civic Center rallied in support of immigrant workers.

“There’s a staffing crisis in these hospitals, there’s a staffing crisis on campus, the hiring freeze only makes it worse,” said Todd Stenhouse, a spokesperson for Local 3299 and a Democratic consultant who attended the protest at UCSF Mission Bay Hospital in San Francisco.

Stenhouse said the hospital’s situation is reflective of the larger actions of the Trump administration.

“We are seeing a concentration of wealth happening at the national level, and we also see it here at the University of California,” Stenhouse said. “There’s a real parallel, frankly.”

In Palm Springs, the wealthy, liberal desert city within more moderate Riverside County, outspoken Democrats organized a sidewalk rally Thursday in honor of May Day.

“This is happening, people are putting the time and effort into it because they are very concerned,” said Marcie Maxwell, president of Democrats of the Desert, a grassroots political organization based in Coachella Valley that has organized and participated in rallies throughout the district.

Maxwell said that the May Day rally is just one of many her group has participated in since Trump’s election. That’s because they know as Democrats, they are a minority in a district where Donald Trump won 49% of the vote and conservative Republican Rep. Ken Calvert was re-elected last year, in a close campaign against a viable Democratic candidate, with nearly 52% of the vote.

Maxwell said Democrats in Coachella Valley are frustrated with Calvert, who has been in "lockstep with President Trump’s agenda.” In March, residents protested outside of Calvert’s office, demanding he show up to town halls, after Republicans across the country shut their doors to constituents. In April, a few hundred people went to the streets opposing the $880 million proposed Medicaid cuts, Maxwell said. People are still spending every Sunday rallying outside of a Tesla dealership in Cathedral City, she added, in protest of CEO Elon Musk and his federal cuts imposed under DOGE.

“We want to connect with people who have the same values and concerns we have,” Maxwell said. Thursday’s demonstration was a continuation of those efforts.

Meanwhile, up north in California's Sacramento Valley, Democrats have held “some very large demonstrations” over the past month, said Bill Monroe, the corresponding secretary of the Butte County Democratic Party. That includes protesting the proposed Social Security cuts that have been threatened by the Republican-dominated Congress.

Monroe said the group was set to rally outside of the Social Security Office in Oroville on Thursday for the first time where they set up a table for people to write thank you notes to Social Security workers.

Already, the group has gathered every Thursday and Friday against Trump administration policies to cut social services that have been defended by Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa, who has represented the area in Congress since 2013. Every Friday at 11 a.m., they rally outside of LaMalfa’s empty office space, Monroe said.

Late Thursday afternoon, as another May Day rally got going in Oakland, a post on X showed a drum line playing behind people holding a banner that read, "DEFEND, UPLIFT ORGANIZE." Behind them were posters and flags protesting unlawful deportations and supporting Palestine. As the drum sounds popped into the air, the protesters carrying the banner walked forward, one more declaration visible as they moved: "All Power To The Workers!"

(SFGate.com)

SEVEN STARTS, ZERO WINS for Giants’ Justin Verlander as Rockies rally

by Shayna Rubin

Not since 2015 had Justin Verlander gone winless through his first seven straight starts of a season. Against the Colorado Rockies, baseball’s worst team, Verlander on Thursday — through little fault of his own — matched that unwanted mark.

With a rare misstep from set-up man Tyler Rogers, who surrendered a one-run lead, the San Francisco Giants lost to the Colorado Rockies, 4-3. In the fateful eighth inning, Rogers gave up two runs on three hits. It was only the second time in 17 appearances that Rogers allowed a run — the first time he’s allowed more than one.

“Just a good approach, hitting him the other way,” manager Bob Melvin said of Colorado. “Sometimes it’s going to happen, but it’s so unexpected (given) the way he’s pitched this year. You have to give them credit, they had a good approach off him and strung hits together which doesn’t happen often.”

Rogers took on the blame, saying he left his pitches a bit up.

“It stinks to mess up the win for JV,” Rogers said. “He’s still searching for that first win as a Giant and after the San Diego series it would have been nice to get a win. But I guess it’s still May 1 and you have a long season to come and there are going to be ups and downs throughout the season. And if you can make these downs as short as possible, we’ll be in a good spot.”

This downturn is the Giants’ deepest yet of what’s otherwise been a strong start to the season.

Coming off a two-game sweep in San Diego, the Giants have lost three in a row for the first time as the Rockies (6-25) won their second road game. The loss snaps a 12-game winning streak against the Rockies at Oracle Park and maintained a concerning trend of losses against left-handed starters. With Kyle Freeland starting, the Giants dropped to 2-8 in games when the other team starts a lefty.

The Giants looked to have broken free of the southpaw curse — and secured a win for Verlander — when facing Freeland a third time through the order.

Working with Freeland’s pitches on the outer half of the plate, Wilmer Flores and Mike Yastrzemski hit opposite-field RBI doubles to break a 1-1 tie.

Willy Adames had kicked things off with his second hit of the night and scored from first on Flores’ hit. Oracle Park’s dimensions robbed Matt Chapman of at least extra bases; he rocked a line drive into triple’s alley where right fielder Mickey Moniak’s glove was waiting. It would have been a home run in 21 of 30 ballparks, according to Statcast.

In the first inning, Heliot Ramos hit his first career leadoff home run to give the Giants an early lead.

Verlander had a two-run lead when he took the mound in the seventh inning, but his body had tightened up in Oracle Park’s frigid air while waiting out the long sixth inning in the dugout. His 92 mph fastball was food for Ryan McMahon, who hit a home run to dead center field to put Colorado within one.

Used to the indoor conditions at Daikin Park in Houston, Verlander noted that, in year 20, he will need to make adjustments between innings to get used to the marine layer’s impact on his arm.

“I’m going to have to make some adjustments with the cold weather,” he said. “Might need to throw a little bit if we have a long inning like that. Having difficulty getting loose. Go back out there and didn’t have my best stuff. Live and learn.”

Verlander got one out into the inning before Melvin was out to take the ball. Verlander asked Melvin jokingly if his old age had anything to do with him being taken out, prompting his teammates surrounding him on the mound to visibly smile and chuckle as he departed.

Despite the result, there was plenty to smile about as it was one of Verlander’s strongest starts. He relied primarily on his fastball with a good slider to get through 6 ⅓ innings with four strikeouts and a walk — his longest start of the year by an out.

Though the win statistic has lost its value in baseball, every one matters to Verlander, who is chasing the 300 win club. The 42-year-old is at 262, but not openly thinking about his career mark after win 263 slipped through the cracks.

“I try to take a long view of this game,” he said. “It’s really hard when you focus on a small sample size. Just have to keep trying to pitch well and hopefully the wins will come.”

(sfchronicle.com)

CALIFORNIA STUDENT COULD GO TO PRISON FOR TAKING FOUR CHICKENS.

by Connor Letourneau

Sitting at a UC Berkeley reflecting pool between classes, Zoe Rosenberg pulled up her left pant leg and pointed toward her ankle. There, wrapped around white, chicken-themed socks, was a black monitor tracking her movements.

“For graduation,” the animal rights activist said, “I’m going to bedazzle it in Cal colors.”

Aside from that bit of hardware, Rosenberg didn’t look much different than many other students on campus that sunny Tuesday morning in mid-March. A giggly, curly-haired senior, she wore a backpack loaded with textbooks, oversized glasses and a small necklace adorned with a quote from her idol, the late British suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst: “Deeds, Not Words.”

But as the 22-year-old Rosenberg tried to relax by the reflecting pool, she had far bigger concerns than finishing coursework or finding a job.

Just four months after she graduates on May 17 with a bachelor’s degree in social movement strategy, the straight-A student will stand trial in a Sonoma County courtroom for her June 2023 incursion into Petaluma Poultry, a processing facility owned by agribusiness giant Perdue Farms. If convicted for taking four chickens Perdue valued at around $24, she faces up to 5½ years in prison.

And that’s hardly the only thing at stake. Rosenberg is a prominent leader of a new generation of animal rights activists equipped with big social-media followings, investigative chops and a stated mission of “total animal liberation.” Her trial, which recently had its May 16 start date delayed to mid-September so prosecutors would have more time to prepare, could strengthen — or hinder — a movement that doesn’t just want to improve slaughterhouses. It wants to ban them worldwide.

“This case has the potential to be a real game-changer, in more ways than one,” said Rosenberg’s attorney, Chris Carraway. “It feels like everything has been leading up to this.”

Desperate to seize power from a quarter-trillion-dollar industry and change how people view farm animals, Rosenberg’s controversial Berkeley-based group, Direct Action Everywhere, or DxE, has spent well over a decade championing a brazen strategy. During “open rescues,” activists like Rosenberg record themselves, often in daylight, removing animals from factory farms or slaughterhouses that they accuse of inhumane treatment.

On top of sparing chickens, pigs or other farm animals from what activists claim is a cruel death, the often-viral “rescues” are a kind of dare to law enforcement to charge the trespassers with crimes. Rosenberg is the latest activist to spurn a plea agreement in favor of a high-stakes trial, intending to force a detailed examination of the meat industry’s practices.

The larger goal is to establish a legal right to rescue any creature activists think is treated inhumanely. If Carraway can convince Rosenberg’s 12-person jury to acquit her of one felony conspiracy charge and four misdemeanors, DxE would make its most compelling case yet that open rescues are permissible.

After all, experts believe no jurisdiction in the country has prosecuted more animal rights activists than Sonoma County, where agriculture remains an important part of the economy and farmers have long felt scapegoated by highly visible protests. Ranchers view DxE’s “rescues” not only as thefts, but as dangerous security breaches at a time when avian flu is devastating the poultry industry and skyrocketing egg prices.

“DxE is more of a terrorist group than an activist group,” Bill Mattos, president of the California Poultry Federation, said in an interview. “We have higher standards for poultry farming in California than anywhere else in the country, yet we’re still being targeted by animal rights folks who, frankly, don’t want us to sell meat to the public.”

Few, if any, companies have endured more of DxE’s wrath than Perdue, the $11 billion brand behind 7% of all U.S. chicken production. In a report published after years’ worth of clandestine investigations into Perdue’s techniques, DxE alleged that the company’s inhumanities include boiling chickens alive, letting injured birds starve to death, and cramming chickens into feces-infested sheds that serve as breeding grounds for infectious diseases.

In an email to the Chronicle, a Perdue spokesperson denied DxE’s animal-abuse claims, calling it an “extremist group” that has “resorted to theft and other crimes” to meet its “radical objectives.”

Rosenberg’s ankle monitor prevents her from going anywhere near Perdue’s facilities. But as she now prepares to wage a crusade in court against the country’s fourth-largest poultry company, her family worries about what will happen to the soft-spoken former high school valedictorian whose best friend is a rooster named Glenn.

Rosenberg must follow a complex daily routine to manage her Type 1 diabetes. And, after being bailed out of jail just before staff there was expected to take her medical supplies, she fears that she could die in prison.

“I have not really accepted the possibility of that actually happening,” said Zoe’s mother, Sherstin Rosenberg, a licensed veterinarian who runs Happy Hen Animal Sanctuary with her daughter in their hometown of San Luis Obispo. “It’s too much.”

On that recent Tuesday, after finishing her research methods class, Zoe Rosenberg stood amid a grove of towering eucalyptus trees on UC Berkeley’s campus as she watched squirrels scurry up and down the orange-tinted bark.

“This is my happy place,” she said. “I come here whenever I start to feel overwhelmed.”

Though Rosenberg has earned a social-media shoutout from Paris Hilton, a youth-activist-of-the-year award from the Animal Rights National Conference and her own TEDx talk, she has also been arrested eight times. Her Instagram, which boasts 100,000 followers, is flooded with messages calling her everything from a “psycho” to a “cult member.”

Sometimes, during her political sociology class, Rosenberg glances at her ankle monitor while listening to her professor discuss the adversity great social leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi had to overcome: public ridicule, arrests, even time behind bars. “Hey,” Rosenberg tells herself, “that’s me right now.”

As she nears the end of her Berkeley career, she has never attended a college party, drank alcohol or tailgated a Golden Bears football game. What she has done is remove — by her count — more than 1,000 chickens from poultry operations she considers factory farms.

Whenever Rosenberg now begins to stress about prison time, she reflects on one of the first animals she ever took, a young hen she named Georgia.

About six months after “rescuing” her from an egg farm near Bakersfield, a 12-year-old Zoe sat with Georgia as the chicken died from a condition known as “internal laying,” in which eggs are deposited within the hen’s abdomen instead of from its vent, or bottom. During the bird’s final moments, Rosenberg said, she promised to dedicate her life to saving as many chickens as she could.

“Really, my motivation comes from the animals,” Rosenberg said. “I particularly think back to that promise I made to Georgia. If I can’t protect these individuals, who will?”

For as long as Rosenberg can remember, she felt a special connection with animals.

When a Kindergarten-age Zoe accidentally ate her first and only Chicken McNugget, she burst into tears on the ride home from McDonald’s. At age 10, after seeing video of a factory egg farm where hens were stacked in tiny cages, she went vegan.

A year later, she established her nonprofit animal sanctuary, which has since housed more than 1,000 abused or abandoned animals. Then, at 14, in a presage of her brash public politics, she rushed the pitcher’s mound at a Los Angeles Dodgers game in protest of a company that supplies meat used in “Dodger Dogs.”

When Rosenberg shackled herself to the base of a basketball hoop during an NBA playoff game in April 2022 to decry then-Minnesota Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor’s alleged decision to roast thousands of birds alive after an avian flu outbreak, she earned the nickname “Chain Girl.” By then, Rosenberg was notorious throughout Sonoma County’s agriculture community, where her videos of alleged animal cruelty and surprise raids on slaughterhouses kept farmers up at night.

According to a criminal complaint filed by the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office, Rosenberg made four unauthorized visits to Petaluma Poultry in the spring of 2023. This culminated in an early morning protest outside the Perdue subsidiary’s facilities on June 13. Rosenberg, who turned 21 that day, allegedly removed four chickens from company vehicles.

DxE video of the incident shared with the Chronicle shows Rosenberg wearing protective gear at Petaluma Poultry around 2:30 a.m. After examining each of the birds, she placed them in red buckets to take to a veterinarian. Though it is not clear in the video, Rosenberg has said that those chickens — later named Poppy, Ivy, Aster and Azalea — were covered in scratches, bruises and parasites. According to her, they’re now safe and healthy in animal sanctuaries.

Nearly six months after that incursion at Petaluma Poultry, Rosenberg watched a judge sentence DxE co-founder Wayne Hsiung to 90 days in jail and two years of probation for his role in two other factory-farm protests in the Petaluma area. About 30 minutes later, while delivering evidence to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office of alleged animal cruelty at nearby Reichardt Duck Farm, Rosenberg was surrounded by police cars in the parking lot and arrested by deputies.

“Seeing (the four chickens) roam around and do what chickens are supposed to be doing makes everything worth it for me,” Rosenberg said. “Even if I end up having to serve prison time for this, I’ll take comfort knowing I did the right thing.”

Many people, including some of the agricultural workers whose facilities have been investigated by DxE, view Rosenberg as more of a criminal than a changemaker. And, oftentimes, when DxE alleges animal abuse, farmers counter that the group is taking situations out of context.

Case in point: Reichardt Duck Farm. Among owner Phil Reichardt’s many complaints about DxE is that Rosenberg and other activists repeatedly posted photos from his facility of ducks on their backs — a known sign of mistreatment.

“When somebody comes in with a preconceived notion that there’s something wrong going on, they’re going to cherry-pick every individual issue that agrees with that and completely ignore the other 99.9% of outcomes that are good,” Reichardt said. “Whenever you have this many animals in one place, you’re going to get illness or injury or whatnot. Infallibility is an unreasonable expectation.”

His farm, a 124-year-old family operation on the northwest outskirts of Petaluma that caters to Bay Area Chinese restaurants, is well-acquainted with DxE’s tactics. In June 2019, hundreds of DxE activists protested alleged animal cruelty there by bussing themselves onto farm property and chaining themselves to the front gate.

Some placed bike locks around their necks and hooked themselves to a conveyor belt where birds had been hanging. When the belt jolted alive unexpectedly, one activist nearly choked to death.

In late November of 2023, about 10 days after Rosenberg and other DxE activists allegedly trespassed at night as part of an investigation into his farm, Reichardt learned that one of his ducks had tested positive for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, or avian flu. Within weeks, agricultural workers say the disease had spread to neighboring farms, resulting in the euthanization of more than one million birds.

Mike Weber, a fourth-generation Sonoma County egg farmer who had to euthanize his entire flock of 550,000 hens, said he has wondered whether Rosenberg or another DxE activist might have started the outbreak by tracking in the virus — either knowingly or unknowingly — during their investigation of Reichardt’s farm. However, epidemiologists are skeptical.

“It may be a little disingenuous for farmers in Sonoma County to blame this on (Rosenberg) coming in on a specific occasion,” said Dr. John Swartzberg, a clinical professor emeritus of infectious diseases and vaccinology at UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health. “In a lot of factory farms around the country, workers aren’t up to biosecurity standards to this day.”

Regardless of how Sonoma County’s avian flu outbreak began in late 2023, it intensified locals’ distrust of DxE.

The grassroots organization’s radical ambitions include legal personhood for animals, worldwide veganism and an Animal Bill of Rights. What most frustrates Sonoma County farmers, though, is that DxE has dedicated so many of its resources toward investigating animal abuse in the Bay Area’s most agriculturally focused region.

“It feels like they’re targeting this area just because we’re close to their headquarters in Berkeley,” said Santa Rosa dairy farmer Jennifer Beretta, who recently erected a massive fence around her property to keep out DxE activists. “It’s easy for them to make the quick drive over here to try and get some content for their social channels. But for us, this is our passion and our livelihood.”

Sonoma County is starting to fight back. Since 2018, more than 130 DxE activists have been arrested there. This past November, a ballot measure DxE helped author that sought to rid the area of factory farms was soundly defeated, with 85% of voters rejecting it.

Weber, the co-owner of Petaluma’s Weber Family Farms, said he took solace knowing that so many of his fellow Sonoma County residents saw DxE as he does: a “cultlike” group hellbent on ending the human consumption of meat. Almost 150 years after a local dentist invented the first egg incubator in Petaluma, Weber Family Farms is just one of two egg operations remaining in a town once called the “Egg Basket of the World.”

The avian flu outbreak of late 2023 “was the first time I ever saw a therapist, just to help walk me through my feelings,” Weber said. “What really hurts about all this attention we’ve gotten from DxE is that the people who are farming here are doing it not only because they love it, but because they can do it in a sustainable fashion.”

Weber needed over a year and millions of dollars to fully rebuild his flock. Others, like Reichardt, were less fortunate. Seventeen months removed from having to euthanize around 200,000 birds, his flock of ducks is about 10% of its original size.

Reichardt had to cut his staff from 80 employees to 20. Many of the Chinese restaurants that relied on his birds for decades now fly in frozen ducks from the Midwest and East Coast.

“I don’t have anything against Zoe personally, but, still, don’t get me wrong,” Reichardt said. “There will be no sadness here if she does get incarcerated.”

For now, Rosenberg is juggling school papers, speaking engagements across the country, street protests in Sonoma County and conference calls with her defense team. In exchange for her freedom, she must notify an officer whenever she leaves Alameda County, stay at least 100 yards from animal-agriculture facilities and not own any domestic birds.

Bidding to keep her out of prison, her lawyer, Carraway, plans to use the “necessity defense” to argue that Rosenberg had exhausted every other option before rescuing the four chickens. Among Rosenberg’s earlier attempts to get Petaluma Poultry’s attention: a typed letter to its owners, and a report she sent to Sonoma County law enforcement detailing what DxE had uncovered in its investigations.

Those findings now fill an eight-page document on DxE’s website. During Rosenberg’s trial, Carraway will cite California’s animal cruelty laws, which make it a felony to subject an animal to “unnecessary cruelty” or “needless suffering.” Though an exemption allows animals to be killed for food, California deems it illegal to boil a chicken alive under any circumstances.

“People judge animals based on which ones are less human-like than others, but that misses the point,” Rosenberg said. “There’s tons of research out there that chickens are just as capable of emotions like happiness and fear as dogs and cats. Finally, it seems like that message is being heard.”

In October 2022, a Utah jury acquitted two DxE activists of burglary and theft for removing two allegedly sick piglets from a farm owned by Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork producer. The next year, a jury in Merced County acquitted two DxE activists — including former “Baywatch” actress Alexandra Paul — of misdemeanor theft for taking two allegedly sick, slaughter-bound chickens from Foster Farms, the fifth-biggest poultry company in the U.S.

In both cases, activists argued they had the right to save animals in distress based on the same state laws that would allow a bystander to break a window to rescue a dog trapped in a hot car. The big question now is whether Rosenberg’s jury will be as sympathetic.

Many experts agree that, if DxE wins more trials and open rescues eventually become widespread, they might disrupt the factory-farm system enough to spike meat prices. That could trigger an uproar from consumers, who might pressure agricultural officials into shifting toward smaller, more environmentally friendly animal farms.

All this would serve DxE’s ultimate plan of ending the sale of meat to the public. With the group now at what some call a “flashpoint” moment, Rosenberg surely feels the urgency. Studies suggest that American meat consumption continues to rise, and that plant-based alternatives remain niche, which might explain DxE’s stagnant membership in recent years.

“Being the lone defendant in a trial of this magnitude has to be an incredible burden for anyone to carry,” said Zoe’s mom, Sherstin. “Add in the fact that she has schoolwork and exams to think about, and I’m amazed that she’s able to hold things together right now.”

Still, Rosenberg has moments of panic. When she was 8 years old, her immune system attacked her pancreas, destroying the cells that supply insulin. Making matters worse: She can’t feel when her blood sugar is low.

To avoid yet another life-threatening trip to the emergency room, Rosenberg depends on sugar tablets, an insulin pump and carefully calculated insulin injections. After her latest arrest, she learned something sobering: Families around the country have alleged that loved ones with Type 1 diabetes died in prisons because staff there refused to provide necessary medical supplies.

But on that recent Tuesday at UC Berkeley, Rosenberg pondered an outcome that scares her even more than dying behind bars.

“When I think about prison,” she said, “what really gets me is being away from my animals.”

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

TIMELINE: THE PATH TO REAL ID IMPLEMENTATION

It's been two decades since passage of the Real ID Act. It finally takes effect May 7

by Greg Collard & James Rushmore

The deadline for Real ID is now six days away. It’s only taken 20 years to get this far, which is bad even by government standards.

Yes, Covid played a role, but the Real ID Act passed in May 2005. It had already taken 15 years when Covid became the excuse to extend the deadline not once, but twice more.

The extensions were welcome news to many of us. The last thing any sane person wants to do is hang out at the DMV for a few hours. Fortunately, you don’t need a Real ID for domestic air travel if you have a passport, which is something to consider when reading figures on the percentages of state populations that are Real ID compliant.

For example, New Jersey has the distinction of having the lowest rate of Real ID compliance at just 17%. However, it has the nation’s highest rate of passport ownership. Estimates vary, but this Center for American Progress report puts it at 80%.

On the other end of the spectrum, Mississippi has one of the highest percentages of Real ID compliance at 97%, but also has one of the lowest percentages of passport holders.

You can also bypass Real ID with a passport card and military ID. Here’s a list of acceptable IDs.

Nationwide, about 60 percent of the country 18 and older have a Real ID. Seven states and Washington, D.C., have at least 99% compliance.

You can click on your state here to see what documents your state accepts. While the requirements for Real ID are nationwide — such as proof of residence and Social Security number — the documents that are accepted vary.

Now, on to the Real ID timeline.

November 27, 2002

President George W. Bush signs H.R. 4628, authorizing the launch of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks on the United States, better known as the 9/11 Commission. The Commission investigates every dimension of the September 11 terrorist attacks and makes recommendations to prevent future attacks.

July 22, 2004

The 9/11 Commission Report is published. One of the recommendations made by the Commission is a national standard for driver’s licenses:

Secure identification should begin in the United States. The federal government should set standards for the issuance of birth certificates and sources of identification, such as drivers licenses. Fraud in identification documents is no longer just a problem of theft. At many entry points to vulnerable facilities, including gates for boarding aircraft, sources of identification are the last opportunity to ensure that people are who they say they are and to check whether they are terrorists.

December 17, 2004

Bush signs the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. Section 7212 of the 235-page bill requires the secretary of transportation to devise baseline standards for identification documents, including driver’s licenses, “issued by States for use by Federal agencies for identification purposes.” The bill tasks the secretary with overseeing a “negotiated rulemaking process” that includes representatives from the states and bans federal agencies from accepting state-issued identification documents that do not meet those standards two years after they are implemented.

January 26, 2005

Republican Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner of Wisconsin introduces H.R. 418, the purpose of which is “to establish and rapidly implement regulations for State driver’s license and identification document security standards.” (Sensenbrenner also introduced the USA Patriot Act in October 2001.)

May 11, 2005

Bush signs the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief. The bill includes the Real ID Act and repeals Section 7212 of the IRTPA. The Act establishes a series of nine criteria for state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards. They are:

(1) The person’s full legal name.

(2) The person’s date of birth.

(3) The person’s gender.

(4) The person’s driver’s license or identification card number.

(5) A digital photograph of the person.

(6) The person’s address of principle residence.

(7) The person’s signature.

(8) Physical security features designed to prevent tampering, counterfeiting, or duplication of the document for fraudulent purposes.

(9) A common machine-readable technology, with defined minimum data elements.

These standards must be met by May 11, 2008.

March 1, 2007

The Department of Homeland Security states that it will grant extensions for Real ID compliance to any state that requests them. This first extension would give a state until December 31, 2009, to be compliant.

May 11, 2008

The original deadline for Real ID implementation comes and goes without a single state complying with the Act’s criteria. All 50 states are automatically granted extensions.

December 20, 2013

The National Security Council establishes a timetable for states to implement Real ID. This schedule requires all state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards to be Real ID-compliant by October 1, 2020.

April 27, 2020

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf announces that the Oct. 1 deadline for “card-based enforcement” of Real ID will be extended to Oct. 1, 2021.

December 5, 2022

After several more delays, the Department of Homeland Security announces a final implementation deadline of May 7, 2025. The DHS press release emphasizes that, after the deadline, the Transportation Security Administration will be barred from accepting driver’s licenses and identification cards that are non-compliant.

April 11, 2025

No more extensions. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem reaffirms on X that May 7 remains the deadline.

Starting May 7, you will need a Real ID to travel by air or to visit federal buildings in the United States. These IDs keep our country safe because they help prevent fraud and they enhance security. Please do your part to protect our country. Go today, and don’t delay.

GROCERY OUTLET WANTS TO CREATE THE NEXT TWO BUCK CHUCK. HERE’S HOW IT TASTES

by Esther Mobley

The prices are outrageous: $1.49 for laundry detergent; 99 cents for a box of Cheez-Its; $5.99 for a pound and a half of fish. They could only come from one Bay Area store.

Grocery Outlet Bargain Market, headquartered in Emeryville, has always done brisk business with sub-$10 wine. But the chain never had a wine of its own — until April, when it unveiled Second Cheapest Wine. The initial lineup consists of five bottles — a Sonoma Sauvignon Blanc, a Sonoma Chardonnay, a Napa Chardonnay, a Willamette Valley Pinot Noir and an Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon — all $4.99.

Before launching Second Cheapest Wine, Grocery Outlet was already in the midst of a private label tear, releasing proprietary versions of pasta sauce, bottled water and other products for the first time. Stephen Beckner, the import and private label wine buyer, knew that wine would be on the agenda eventually.

“The Second Cheapest concept fell into my lap serendipitously,” Beckner said. “My wife and I were having a conversation one night and she said, ‘Steve Beckner, you need to create the next Two Buck Chuck.’”

He zeroed in on “second cheapest wine” because the concept had been “a viral trend for years,” Beckner said. “You want to avoid looking cheap,” Beckner said, “so you never want to buy the cheapest wine on a wine list or in a retail store.”

Millennials of a certain age (me) may primarily associate the term with a brilliant 2012 College Humor video. (“Outside of the cheapest, it’s the cheapest.”) It’s recently experienced something of a revival on TikTok. Clearly, the idea endures transgenerationally.

The wine industry’s current downturn has been a boon for Grocery Outlet, which works by buying excess product that suppliers are willing to part with at a steep discount. (By the way, it’s always a good idea to double-check the expiration date of the store’s dairy products.) “The current climate right now is very advantageous for us,” said Beckner. “There’s an excess of wine in the marketplace.”

Because so many wineries are desperate to move inventory, Grocery Outlet was able to snatch up relatively high-quality wine at a perilously low cost. Notably, these bottles don’t merely carry the California label but come from prestigious appellations like Oregon’s Willamette Valley and Sonoma County’s Alexander Valley. A $5 California Chardonnay is one thing, but $5 Napa Valley Chardonnay is unheard of.

What shocked me — and what really drives home the apparent panic in the marketplace — was how not bad the Second Cheapest Wines were. I was pleasantly surprised by the 2023 Sonoma Sauvignon Blanc, which was lemony and bright — if veering a touch toward the cat-pee end of the Sauv Blanc spectrum — and by the juicy, tropical Napa Chardonnay. It was remarkably lean for an inexpensive Chardonnay, which tends to get more buttery as it gets cheaper.

That’s not to say there were any 100-pointers. The 2023 Sonoma County Chardonnay was all oaky flavor; the 2023 Willamette Pinot had a cherry note that I could only describe as rubbery. The 2022 Alexander Valley Cabernet had an enjoyable potpourri-esque nose, but tasted chalky and crumbly on the palate.

They are also, for the most part, literally the second cheapest wines at most Grocery Outlet locations, where the wine prices tend to bottom out at $3.99. Some stores also sell $2.99 bottles, which would make Second Cheapest Wine the third cheapest wine. However, “we’ve been moving away from the $2.99 tier; $3.99 just seems to be a price category that we excel at,” Beckner said. “Those wines just sell really well.”

But $4.99 may be the new $3.99, because Second Cheapest Wine has been flying off the shelves. The label quickly became the company’s bestseller when it was introduced in early April during Grocery Outlet’s annual spring wine sale (when all bottles are an additional 20% off). The Cabernet is now the top-selling Cab across Grocery Outlet, Beckner said.

Grocery Outlet may eventually create other private label wine brands, possibly even a “premium” brand at $9.99. Beckner said that he’s motivated by finding astonishing values. In a previous job, he sold Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, the world’s most expensive wine. “But the most fun I ever had was selling close-out lists — those wines that were $5, $6, $7 that just blew your mind with how good they were.”

There are plans to release an additional seven wines under the Second Cheapest label. Beckner doesn’t envision any difficulties finding more wine that meets their standards. More and more wineries keep reaching out to express interest in selling their leftovers to Second Cheapest Wine.

(SF Chronicle)

Posing in front of the Golden Gate Bridge. (1938)

AND IF HE WENT to the Dairy Queen Jenny Marlow would find him. She seemed to spend her day circling around in the car, watching to see if anyone she wanted to talk to showed up at the Dairy Queen. If she did catch him she would invariably remind him that his older son had some very bad habits. About all he could do when he felt hard-pressed was to go to the lake and drift around in his boat — but it was a very hot spring, and drifting around in an unshaded boat in ninety-five-to-one-hundred-degree weather was not much fun. He did it occasionally, though. Sometimes he would slip over the side fully clothed, except for his shoes, and then lie in the boat with his cap over his eyes while the sun dried his sopping clothes. At such times he wondered what Karla and Jacy found to talk about all day.

― Larry McMurtry, ‘Texasville: A Novel’

LEAD STORIES, FRIDAY'S NYT

Trump Moves Waltz to U.N. and Names Rubio Interim National Security Adviser

Trump Ends Chinese Tariff Loophole, Raising the Cost of Online Goods

Trump Signs Executive Order Seeking to End Federal Funding for NPR and PBS

Trump Administration Cancels $1 Billion in Grants for Student Mental Health

U.S. Creating Second Military Zone Along Southern Border

May Day Protests Across the Country Show Opposition to Trump’s Policies

U.S. Prosecutors Accuse Large Insurers of Paying Kickbacks for Private Medicare Plans

THE ANTIDOTE TO BIGOTRY & DAILY BOMBARDMENTS

by Ralph Nader

From a recent peaceful student rally at Columbia University came a chant that summed up their protest – “Four Hundred Thousand Dead And You’re Arresting Us Instead.”

This is the bloody omnipresence that the co-belligerent Trumpsters and their fearful University leaders, whom Trump has targeted for submission, are relegating to the shadows of the dying Hell in Netanyahu’s genocidal mass murder of Gaza’s Palestinian families.

A survey, reported in Harper’s Index (March 2025), reported that 49% of the children in Gaza “wanted to die,” while 96% of them “believed they would soon die.”

Instead of that annihilation’s intensification, with U.S. weaponry and unconditional U.S. government backing under both parties in Washington, D.C. being the subject of action, both Trump and the president of Harvard agreed that the big concern is “anti-semitism” against Jews at Harvard and other Universities. Both men kept referring to such “anti-semitism” against Jews with no evidence, no examples, and no other substantiation.

Today’s operating “anti-semitism” is “The Other Anti-Semitism,” to use the title of a lecture in Israel years ago by Jim Zogby. The “Other Anti-Semitism” is expressed lethally and daily by F-16s, Helicopter Gunships, and Tank Artillery from Israel’s regime against defenseless Palestinian Semites. Netanyahu’s genocidal policy, since the mysteriously collapsed Israeli border security apparatus on October 7 enabling the Hamas attack, is driven by the “no food, no water, no medicine, no electricity, no fuel,” for Gaza policy. After his truce-breaking in early March, blocking trucks carrying humanitarian aid, he is pushing more Palestinians into starvation.

Domestically, it is more than grotesque to describe Harvard University President, Alan Garber, parroting Trump’s accusations of anti-semitism against Jews on campus without mentioning that the students, including Jewish students, were protesting there and on other campuses and pressing for an end to the mass slaughter, a ceasefire, emergency humanitarian aid and a peaceful resolution of the conflict. In short, Pro-Semitism.

Instead of receiving praise, these protesters – Palestinian Americans and Jewish Americans in the lead, with many others – are beset upon by police, arrested, harassed, banished from their campuses, beat up (at UCLA), expelled, their events canceled, and, to rub salt into the wounds, labeled as “anti-semites.”

Leading Jewish commentators have reviled Trump – the hypocrite – for brandishing an unfounded anti-semitism smear as the laser beam for his illegal demands and freezing federal grants to these Universities. They see his exploiting ploy as being cynically driven to silence or divide his opponents.

Nonetheless, until Trump demanded turning Harvard into his fiefdom, provoking Harvard to finally sue the federal government, Garber’s public communications were groveling to Trump. Especially those adopting Trump’s wild claims of anti-semitism thus further enabling Trump’s dictates.

Here is Garber on March 31, 2025 – “We fully embrace the important goal of combating antisemitism…I have experienced antisemitism directly even while serving as president.” Why no substantiation? Because he and others like former president Lawrence Summers, have accepted a definition of anti-semitism that mostly equates criticism of Israeli government policies (e.g., Netanyahu) with anti-semitism.

Mr. Garber has not spoken out against the Gaza genocide, or the U.S. backing it while violating six federal laws (Garber is a lawyer). His public statements reveal his own thinly veiled anti-semitism against Palestinian Arab Semites.

Imagine if the shoe was on the other foot and Israelis were being eradicated and driven towards expulsion, would Mr. Garber have remained silent? Would he have labeled pro-Israeli rights advocates on campus as “anti-semites”? He needs to be educated by Jewish Voice for Peace, B’Tselem, Breaking the Silence, and Rabbis for Human Rights.

He also needs to confront his fears and demonstrate moral courage against large complaining corporate donors, with many camouflaged axes to grind, including their ludicrous belief that Harvard has long been a hotbed of radical Marxism against capitalism.

He needs to reverse actions against faculty studying the Middle East or collaborating on public health issues with a Palestinian university. He should find ways to exit his costly hiring of a lobbying firm and lawyers close to Trump in an attempt to appease Trump. Doesn’t he know that Trump is further goaded on seeing such weakness?

He could start his self-rehabilitation consonant with his powerful position in the world of academia by having coffee with a similarly fearful Dean Goldberg of the Harvard Law School. (See, my April 4, 2025 column, When the Dean of Harvard Law School Went Dark). They can start their reflections by absorbing Aristotle’s enduring insight “Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees the others,” and apply it to their present predicaments imposed by a fascist dictatorship moving into a police state shredding all our basic civil liberties and civil rights.

A NATION OF LONE NUTS

by Jeff Costello

How exceptional is the U.S.A.? Shall we count the ways? It is definitely exceptional that we can expect, on a regular basis, guys with multiple guns to walk into schools, shopping malls and even restaurants and start shooting people.

The shock value of these shooting incidents has been diluted by repetition. And we know that each one is treated as an individual “lone-nut” thing. Because we must not address the larger social/cultural/political/ spiritual reasons why this has become a regular and frequent thing in Exceptional America.

The seminal Lone Nut, the model, was Lee Harvey Oswald, the designated patsy in the JFK assassination. Oswald, for extra measure, had been to Soviet Russia and so could conveniently be tagged as a communist or at least a sympathizer. You know, un-American for sure. Then we got Sirhan Sirhan, who took the rap for killing Bobby Kennedy and gave us an early taste of Islamophobia. Not long after, a southern white guy named James Earl Ray (don’t they all have three names?), all on his own of course, shot Martin Luther King Jr. The fact that the Kennedys and King had serious enemies in high places was mere coincidence. Then some guy called Mark David Chapman shot John Lennon, a musician who obviously didn’t know his place and had the temerity to protest war in a big, loud way that reached a whole lot of people. Each of these men, killed by Lone Nuts, just happened to be messing with the wrong forces. Thank goodness these powers were relieved of these annoyances by unhinged individuals, who of course were connected in no way to government, big business or any other institution threatened by the murdered men.

Conspiracy Theory became a popular buzzword and still serves handsomely to dismiss or trivialize anyone questioning the Official Story. And the official story is always of a Lone Nut.

We do have real Lone Nuts of course, after all there is no political, much less rational, reason to fire on random people in a school, shopping center or restaurant. Is there?

So the question becomes, how do they get that way, and why do they do it? We have theories and statements from experts of all stripes. The gun control dialog is a complete waste of time and energy, since like drugs, people who want them will get them. The legality — or not — of these commodities is irrelevant. The question is, why do they want guns? And there are those who would like to blame violent movies and video games, but why are people drawn to these? Are we an inherently angry and vengeful lot? We sure do like to see the “bad guys” get it, don’t we? Shouldn’t the vicarious experience of violent entertainment be enough? Apparently, not for everyone.

Well, these are the questions, and I won't pretend to answer them. But I am suggesting that our culture refuses to examine itself. And why is that? As the head monkey said to Charlton Heston as rode off to find the truth, “You might not like what you find.”

18 Comments

Mazie Malone May 2, 2025

Happy Friday,

Zoe Rosenburg and the 🐓🐓🐓
How do you decide which chickens to steal? It is not likely they are on a mission scoping out which birds are most in need of saving before they steal them. Four is the limit for one person? 😂. I do not think her actions are thought out well for her desire to save animals. I am also curious what her charges would be if she had stole the entire flock of animals?

mm 💕🐓

Reply
- Fascism For Fun and Profit! May 2, 2025
  
  “ DxE video of the incident shared with the Chronicle shows Rosenberg wearing protective gear at Petaluma Poultry around 2:30 a.m. After examining each of the birds, she placed them in red buckets to take to a veterinarian. Though it is not clear in the video, Rosenberg has said that those chickens — later named Poppy, Ivy, Aster and Azalea — were covered in scratches, bruises and parasites.
  
  Reply
Lew Chichester May 2, 2025

The two articles today, one, the letter from John Haschak and Matt Kendall to the supervisors about un-permitted cannabis cultivation, and two, the press release from the plaintiffs in the lawsuit in federal court against the Sheriffs of both Mendocino and Humboldt counties for “unconstitutional searches and seizures…” are so closely related as to be almost the same story, and may become so as the information unfolds.

My perspective, from living on a piece of private property in the middle of the Round Valley Indian Reservation for more than fifty years: The development of cannabis grows on the Round Valley Reservation, which is exempt from state and county civil laws, has been using the tribal ordinance allowing personal use cultivation as a screen for obvious commercial grows, leased to non-tribal members, and these grows can include criminal activities.

I commend the sheriff for his actions attempting to set some kind of limit on what will be tolerated, as the tribal government seemingly does nothing to enforce internally its own marijuana laws. Some tribal members, including those on council, are personally benefitting from blatantly illegal behavior in contradiction to the “compassionate use” ordinance of the Round Valley Reservation, contributing to a general degradation of the land, encouraging criminal behavior, and apparently this is OK under some fiction of sovereignty. It’s a mess, and maybe this lawsuit will get this straightened out. I doubt it, it’s just a mess.

Reply
- Matt Kendall May 2, 2025
  
  Well Lew, we will see where this goes. The question posed is a question of tribal sovereignty. I fear when it comes to policies which create dangerous environments and lawlessness for everyone living in the area we have to take a close look at the factors causing the issues. We need to know where that sovereignty begins and where it ends.
  I received a lot of calls from Round Valley residents, both tribal members as well as non tribal members voicing their concerns and raising questions over this. These folks advised their concerns were that tribal policies are beginning to look like a protection racket, that has become a real issue. These questions need to be answered and I am hopeful they will be.
  
  Reply
peter boudoures May 2, 2025

The only guys lined up at grow west are from covelo because they don’t pay state or county fees, water board, tax or even their laborers or lease fee.
With decent leadership covelo would look like bear River or Klamath reservation instead of trinity pines.

Reply
- Matt Kendall May 2, 2025
  
  Still the most beautiful place in the world to me. It will always feel like home when I drop down into the valley.
  
  Reply
  - peter boudoures May 2, 2025
    
    I love round valley, always have.
    
    Reply
Fascism For Fun and Profit! May 2, 2025

Free Zoe Rosenburg

Whatever you might think of Ms. Rosenburg and her ideology, she is facing over five years in prison for rescuing/stealing four chickens. If she had gone into a grocery store and stolen four whole chickens, she wouldn’t see a single day in jail. It’s a political prosecution, not a material one.

Perdue Farms aren’t the good guys they make themselves out to be, either, even if you don’t care about the animals.

In 2021 they were found liable for price fixing in an effort to screw farmers. $35million fine.

And if you don’t care about farmers, they’re a major supplier of chicken and other farm products to the genocidal entity known as “Israel.”

And if you don’t care about Palestinian human beings, just this year Perdue had to pay out millions after being found guilty of putting immigrant children to work – often in the graveyard shift – at slaughterhouses.

And if you don’t care about children, well…. ok. As the kids say “you do you.”

Reply
- Mazie Malone May 2, 2025
  
  Fascist laughs … lol … 🤣💕
  
  I surely can appreciate your passionate desire for me to understand the bigger picture.
  
  However my remarks on her predicament still stand.
  In my opinion, if someone wanted to steal four chickens from the grocery store they would be hungry and need to eat. Shit how much chicken cost now we might all be stealing it soon. Homeless people steal food all the time and guess what they do get arrested. They also get arrested when they try to break into someone’s car because they’re cold and have nowhere to go.
  
  We live in a jacked up society and my only point being that she literally could have done a multitude of other things to help the chickens before breaking in and stealing them.
  
  mm 💕
  
  Reply
  - Fascism For Fun and Profit! May 2, 2025
    
    Not directed directly at you… just my usual blather :)
    
    I believe it was the anarchist labor union the IWW (the “Wobblies”) that used the phrase “direct action gets the goods.” The group Ms. Rosenburg is associated with, Direct Action Everywhere (“DxE”) has taken the slogan to heart. I had a long chat with one of them when I was picking up a pizza in Berkeley, accidentally right next to one of their protests. DxE is definitely cultish They invited me to the “communal dinner” in the house where many of them live together (I declined) – definitely a warning sign.
    
    Sure, she only rescued four chickens, but the case is being talked about. Even our esteemed editor, a noted anti-veg, saw fit to publish the Chronicle’s article in these pages. If if gets people thinking and further exposes Perdue’s business practices… well, maybe something has been accomplished. (I’m pretty jaded lol)
    
    In 1987 I helped organize a protest at the Concord Naval Weapons Station. The US was actively bombing the El Salvador countryside – eventually killing over 80,000 peasants. Some of the weapons came out of the CNWS by rail before being loaded on ships to El Salvador – unexploded bombs found in El Salvador had CNWS markings. A Vietnam veteran named Brian Wilson (not the Beach Boy) blocked the tracks. The train didn’t stop and he lost his legs as a result. The news of this made the protest larger, and they continued daily. A friend of mine was arrested on federal conspiracy charges for exorting the crowd to tear up the train tracks – which they did. (He was the only one that was prosecuted for the “conspiracy.”)
    
    For the next two and a half years, no weapons were shipped out of the CNWS.
    
    Did we stop the slaughter of poor working people in El Salvador? No. Was the action the right thing to do? Yes (imho).
    
    Reply
    - Mazie May 2, 2025
      
      Thank you F&F.. 🤣
      
      Ones conviction for what is right is honorable but to put yourself in physical danger where your life could be lost is crazy to me.
      
      mm 💕
      
      Reply
      - Fascism For Fun and Profit! May 3, 2025
        
        I don’t fully understand it either, but I can’t be critical of it. Perhaps it is part of their search for meaning in life.
        
        Aaron Bushnell RIP
        Rachel Corrie RIP
        Thích Quảng Đức RIP
        
        Reply
Call It As I See It May 2, 2025

Mazie,
I do respect your words and believe you have compassion and want to help the homeless and mentally ill. But let’s not paint the homeless crime with such a broad brush. If Jahlan Travis is breaking into your car, it’s not because he is cold. he is looking to steal coins or cash so he can go buy meth. Unfortunately there are more Jahlan’s out there than cold homeless.

Reply
- Mazie May 2, 2025
  
  Hiya CSI.. 🤣🤣🤣💕
  
  Well the issues of homelessness/mental illness/ addiction are quite broad in nature. Crime is a fall out symptom of all those unaddressed problems. If JT was breaking into my car I would make him a sandwich and call mobile crisis. This chicken thief seems to be of sound mind Jalahn is not!
  
  mm 💕
  
  Reply
Craig Stehr May 2, 2025

Glad to be able to report that the SSA money came in last night. Waiting to see if the SSI comes in next. Am no longer wasting time checking in with various “housing navigators” in the District of Columbia. Anything that I might add to this would miss the point.
Craig Louis Stehr
Adam’s Place Homeless Shelter
2210 Adams Place NE #1
Washington, D.C. 20018
Telephone Messages: (202) 832-8317
Email: craiglouisstehr@gmail.com
May 2nd @ 4:11 p.m. EDT

Reply
Samuel Baker May 2, 2025

Regarding the current (and past, and future) of trump’s national security advisor post…..M. Waltz was incompetent, but Stephen Miller is truly, and utterly, evil. Woe is us.

Reply
- Fascism For Fun and Profit! May 3, 2025
  
  Today we find out that Waltz wasn’t just using Signal – he was using a special Israeli version of Signal!
  
  https://www.newsweek.com/what-telemessage-mike-waltz-using-app-2067151
  https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/us/politics/mike-waltz-signal-photo.html
  
  And he hasn’t been completely removed – he’s the new ambassador to the UN, where he can be the spokesperson for the upcoming attack on Iran.
  
  Reply
Chuck Dunbar May 2, 2025

Indeed, agree with you that S. Miller is “truly, and utterly, evil.” He is among the worst of them, makes me wonder where such folks come from…and how they live with themselves…

Reply

Mendocino County Today: Friday 5/2/2025

18 Comments

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