Mendocino County Today: Friday 6/20/2025

STRONGER west and northwest winds expected for the interior through Friday. Much cooler with below normal temperatures for the interior Friday and Saturday. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): Breezy with clear skies & 48F this Friday morning on the coast. More of the same thru the weekend, maybe with a mix of cloud types passing by at times.

REMEMBER ALL THOSE ACORNS? (KB)

MARIA VILLALTA MISSING PERSON UPDATE:

We found her! She is safe as of now. She is with family. We truly thank you all for the amazing support. So much love has been shown and it’s amazing how far and wide the communities reach was. It truly was an amazing team effort. Now we just hope we can begin the healing process and hopefully work towards a little bit of “normal” at least. Thank you to all our family and friends.

SUMMER SOLSTICE is tonight at 7:43 pm Pacific Time, marked by the Sun's entry into the cardinal sign of Cancer. At noon on solstice the Sun shines directly overhead the Tropic of Cancer, approximately 23.5 degrees north of the equator; and here at the far western edge of North America, this line runs through the southern tip of Baja California, and from there out over the Pacific Ocean passing just a tick north of the Hawaiian Islands.

Sunrise this morning in Fort Bragg was at 5:48 am, sunset will be at 8:45 pm, the length of day: 14 hours and 57 minutes.

I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine:
There sleeps Titania sometime of the night,
Lull'd in these flowers with dances and delight;

— A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 2, Scene 1

MARJORIE DUNLAP

Marjorie Mae Dunlap, Age 99, of Covelo, CA, passed away peacefully on June 9th, 2025, in Ukiah, CA.

Marge was born August 12th, 1925, in Oakland, CA, one of four children welcomed by parents Bill (d.1979) and Rosella “Toody” Bresee Davis (d.1979).

A self-proclaimed city girl, Marge found her unlikely soulmate when she met cowboy, mountaineer, and jack-of-all-trades Milton Dunlap (d. 2004) of the tiny valley town of Covelo, CA, also known as Round Valley. Despite their 10-year age difference—and initial objections from her folks—Marge and Milt were married Christmas Day, December 25, 1941, when she was 16 years old.

Marge kicked off her high heels for good when, after brief residencies in several Northern California locations, she and Milt settled permanently in Covelo in 1954, the year of Round Valley’s centennial anniversary. However, it wasn’t until she met Edna Henderson at the local service station that Marge would truly embrace the rugged and isolated beauty of her new home. In turn, Marge and Edna would remain lifelong best friends.

Of the union of Marge and Milt are their four surviving children: Darlene Conner (Vard Lee, Robert Conner) of Los Molinos, CA; Robert “Bobby” Dunlap (Dolores Dunlap) of Covelo, CA; Linda Meredith (Chris Meredith) of Nantucket, MA; and Terri Campbell (John Campbell) of Ukiah, CA. Marge is also survived by six grandchildren: Duane Lee of Redwood Valley, CA; Tracy Lee of Los Molinos, CA; Jamie Dunlap of Washington; Mercy Dunlap of Covelo, CA; Hailey Campbell of Healy, KS; Michael Campbell of Hanna, OK; eight Great-Grandchildren; nine Great-Great-Grandchildren; and numerous Step-Grandchildren.

Marge was renowned for her cooking skills, most memorably for her authentic Chinese food, which she developed a taste for during her early days in Oakland’s Chinatown. Covelo community members always looked forward to “Margie Wong’s” Chinese booth at the Blackberry Festival. Marge was also passionate about landscaping and gardening, ultimately turning their 25-acre ranch into their Shady Lane sanctuary, which became a site of music and laughter for family and friends. No one threw a better get-together than Marge and Milt.

In addition, Marge enjoyed playing slot machines at the casino, where she frequently experienced extraordinary luck, even winning an ATV in a New Year’s Eve jackpot. She always looked forward to her evening cocktail, and she was an avid traveler, visiting numerous states and Canada in her lifetime. But her favorite place to be was likely her back porch, where she could watch the grey squirrels and hummingbirds and listen to her wind chimes, surrounded by her oak trees, blue hydrangeas, and her children and loved ones.

Margie spent her last few years living in Redwood Valley with Grandson Duane and his partner, Julie, who graciously welcomed her into their home.

Loving wife, mother, and grandmother, Margie will be celebrated for her quick (and sometimes-sharp) tongue and her unparalleled sense of humor, which she continued to practice up until her death, waiting until the morning of June 9th—Milton’s birthday—to quietly pass away on her own terms. Those who love her know how much she is enjoying the last laugh. She will be deeply missed.

LUIS MANUEL CRUZ VASQUEZ
5/19/1969 - 5/23/2025

Luis Manuel Cruz Vasquez, 56, of Anderson Valley, California, passed away on May 23, 2025, at Adventist Health Ukiah Valley after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.

Luis was born on May 19, 1969, in Oaxaca, Mexico, to Angela Vasquez Ramos and Julian Cruz Ramos. He made a life defined by love, dedication, and resilience. A hardworking man with a kind spirit, Luis was known for his constant smile and infectious laughter that brightened the lives of those around him.

Above all, Luis was a devoted and loving father. He is survived by his three daughters: Yuridia Cruz-Arreola, Nizamaith Cruz Hernandez, and Fatima Cruz. His memory will live on through them and all who knew and loved him.

Luis will be deeply missed but fondly remembered for his joyful presence and unwavering strength.

There will be a gathering of family and friends at Empire Mortuary Services, 697 S. Orchard Ave., Ukiah, CA 95482 on Friday, June 6th from 5 - 8 pm with a Rosary of prayer starting at 6:00 pm.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at the St. Elizabeth Seton Mission, 8771 Philo School Rd., Philo, CA 85466 on Saturday, June 7th at 11:00 am.

LOCAL EVENTS (this weekend)

SUPERVISOR WILLIAMS PROPOSES TO REVERSE ANOTHER BLUNDER HE PREVIOUSLY SUPPORTED

by Mark Scaramella

Item 4f on next Tuesday’s Board agenda:

“Discussion and Possible Action Including Adoption of a Resolution Terminate BOS Agreement No. 24-085 (Master Tax Sharing Agreement) Between the County of Mendocino and the Cities of Ukiah, Willits, Fort Bragg, and Point Arena, due to Fiscal and Operational Impacts Arising from the First Proposed Annexation Under the Agreement; Authorize Notification of the Signatory Cities and Mendocino LAFCo; and Direction to Staff to Notify Mendocino Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) that the County Anticipates the Proposed Annexation would Create a Substantial Risk to the Provision of Mandated Public Protection Services, Consistent with the Framework Established by Mendocino County Policy #13 (Annexations) (Sponsor: Supervisor Williams)”

According to the accompanying proposed resolution, “Policy #13 (Annexations), adopted June 17, 1986, states that annexations will not be favored by the County until a formula for distribution of public revenues generated by areas to be annexed is developed to pay for continuing County obligations.”

That should have been known last June when the Board blithely voted for Supervisor Mulheren’s “optimistic” Master Tax Sharing agreement.

Williams’ resolution continues: “Subsequent to approval, the first annexation proposal by the City of Ukiah has revealed unforeseen implementation burdens, including significant workload, financial strain, and administrative overhead.”

“Unforseen”? They didn’t even try for “forsee” anything last year, they just voted for it sight-unforseen.

There’s also: “The projected loss of property tax revenue under the [tax sharing agreement’s] formula, coupled with the magnitude of work needed to process and evaluate the annexation, threatens the County’s ability to maintain adequate staffing for core public safety services including the Sheriff’s Office, which is essential to fulfill the County’s constitutional and statutory obligations to provide for the public welfare.”

When they voted for Mulheren’s Folly last year, the projected property tax revenue loss was roughly estimated to be at least $3 million, so they knew it was a bad deal for the County and voted for it anyway.

Supervisor Williams was very pleased with his support of Mulheren’s Tax Sharing Agreement back in June of 2024.

In his remarks explaining his Yes vote last June, Supervisor Williams said, without any basis or analysis whatsoever, that he thought that the tax sharing agreement would not only lead to a “vibrant” and “flourishing” Ukiah, but that the benefits would overflow to the County too as development in an expanded Ukiah would magically produce additional revenue for everyone. He also said that although there might be some problems with the agreement, the County had waited too long for an agreement and that Mulheren’s agreement, bad as it was, should be voted in because it was now or never, good or bad.

Next Tuesday’s proposed resolution concludes: “The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors hereby terminates Agreement 24-085 (Master Tax Sharing Agreement), based on the County’s legal and factual determination that performance under the current agreement would materially impair its ability to fulfill its constitutional and statutory obligations.”

This blunder reversal comes on heels of several other major Board blunders in recent years, all but one of which have been either reversed, or terminated by Judge Ann Moorman:

The crazy threat to make Sheriff Kendall personally pay for ordinary budget overruns which ended up costing almost $400k in legal fees.
The failed attempted hostile takeover of the Sheriff’s computer system which was known to be illegal at the outset, not to mention compromising the security of law enforcement computer systems and information.
The ill-advised consolidation of the Auditor-Controller and Treasurer Tax Collector offices and the accompanying “Get Cubbison” project which lead to a failed criminal prosecution and an ongoing and losing civil case and which has seriously disrupted county finances and will end up costing hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars.
The ill-advised relocation of the Veterans Service Office which was first staunchly defended by the Supervisors but months later reversed, costing tens of thousands in lost state rent money — the original purpose of the relocation.

And now, a year after voting for the tax sharing agreement without any analysis or public review, here’s a belated proposal to terminate it for reasons that should have been obvious last June when the Board voted 4-1 (Haschak dissenting) for it.

What do they all have in common? Supervisor Williams voted for them.

Now Supervisor Williams wants to claim credit for undoing another failed idea he blindly supported, in a transparent attempt to spin his blunder into the positive by pretending to be doing to what the public wants.

Given that Supervisor John Haschak opposed the agreement last year, and that Supervisors Bernie Norvell and Madeline Cline have expressed disapproval, the termination of Mulheren’s Big Tax Sharing Agreement looks to be a foregone conclusion.

Now all that’s left to do is settle the Cubbison case blunder before it gets even worse so they can move on to the next big screw up and reversal.

BIG BOONVILLE SALE #2

We're doing it again this weekend. June 21ST & 22ND. Opening A Lot Of New Bins! Lots of New things! Come On Over, 10:00-5:30. I'm sure you'll find some things you just can't live with out. See ya this weekend. Boonville

NEXT STEP IN MILL SITE REDEVELOPMENT OK’D

by Megan Wutzke

The Fort Bragg City Council has decided to move forward with the second phase of a redevelopment plan for the former Georgia-Pacific mill site. Instead of continuing costly legal battles with Mendocino Railway, the council is now looking to collaborate with them.

In a split vote, the Council approved the Mill Site Development Strategy Report, which outlines future planning for the site. They also plan to start negotiating a nonbinding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Mendocino Railway, which is an early step toward a formal development agreement.

The redevelopment plan began in late 2024, proposing various land uses for the 400-acre site, including housing, businesses, parks, and coastal access. A public workshop in February attracted over 100 attendees, and more meetings are scheduled for June and July.

This new cooperative approach follows years of expensive legal disputes. From 2021 to 2024, the city spent over $480,000 in legal fees. Trial preparations were expected to increase that amount significantly, with costs projected at $40,000 per month, pushing the total over $650,000. The city, Mendocino Railway, and the California Coastal Commission agreed to pause litigation in late 2024 to explore a negotiated solution, with progress reported as 92% of the site will fall under local and state oversight.

However, some residents are concerned about the speed and transparency of the process, questioning the public’s involvement. Marcy Snyder, a resident, urged the city to delay the vote to allow more public input.

“You’re closing the doors on the public,” Snyder said. “It’s horrifying.”

The Council’s vote was mixed, with some members supporting the strategy report and others, like Councilmember Tess Albin-Smith, expressing concerns about timing and engagement. The Council also approved a $60,000 payment to develop the MOU, to be shared between the city and Mendocino Railway.

The council also discussed an idea brought from the community development committee to add fitness equipment and public binoculars along the Coastal Trail. BlueZones, an organization that focuses on creating healthier communities, committed up to $35,000 toward the estimated $55,000 total cost, with the city expected to fund permitting and installation. However, the council showed more interest in the binoculars due to the high maintenance and staffing issues related to the fitness equipment. The Council asked the staff to do more research on the binoculars proposal.

POINT ARENA LIGHTHOUSE. Fresnell lens. Pronounced "fhrenell". I remember when it was in service. It was a Hot item. Too bad it sits near the gift shop now. (Randy Burke)

MENDO MATTERS: SAY NO TO ANNEXATION

To the Ukiah City Council and Staff:

The Employer’s Council of Mendocino County, doing business as Mendo Matters, submits this letter in strong opposition to the City of Ukiah’s proposed annexation plan. While we understand the City’s interest in managing growth and infrastructure, this sweeping land acquisition proposal poses serious and far-reaching risks to the citizens, businesses, agricultural producers, and the County of Mendocino as a whole.

Threat to Farmland, Property Rights, and Rural Livelihoods

The proposed annexation would accelerate urban sprawl and encroach upon critical agricultural lands, undermining the agricultural identity and sustainability of the Ukiah Valley. More concerning is the imposition of city-level regulations that would severely restrict or prohibit long-standing rural practices such as open-air burning, livestock raising, water well drilling, and lawful firearm use, which are integral to rural living and agricultural operations.

Additionally, there is a thriving force of small businesses outside the City limits, which would be subject to new code and regulations. Just because the City of Ukiah states the “zoning” will remain the same, the application of the uses within that zoning will not. One main issue is that a County business license is an annual “flat fee” whereas the City of Ukiah business license is not an annual “flat fee” but a “percentage of revenue.” But perhaps the most concerning is the shift from County planning ordinances, which is already a challenge due to lack of staffing, transitioning to the City planning rules and regulations; this would be the straw that breaks the small business owner’s back.

Ultimately, this plan reflects a clear disregard for the property rights and lifestyle choices of residents who intentionally live outside city boundaries to preserve an agricultural or rural way of life. These citizens are now facing the imposition of city oversight without consent, due process, or adequate representation.

Poor Governance and Fiscal Instability

The City of Ukiah has repeatedly demonstrated a lack of operational efficiency and financial accountability. Property owners and contractors frequently report long delays for permits and services, largely due to ineffective leadership and underperforming staff.

Even more troubling is the City’s financial condition. According to the California Policy Center, Ukiah received an “F” in fiscal management, citing weak financial metrics, mounting debt, and insufficient reserves. In one reporting period, City expenditures ($68.9 million) far outpaced revenues ($54.3 million), and in another, the City faced a $14.3 million shortfall. With a whopping $216M+ overall debt, this reflects severe fiscal mismanagement. It appears evident that the City is desperately seeking their annexation plan to close the budget gap — more citizens to pay off your debt!

Despite these issues, the City appears intent on expanding its obligations through annexation without demonstrating the financial capacity to responsibly govern its current jurisdiction, let alone additional areas.

Lack of Transparency and Public Engagement

Despite multiple public meetings and inquiries, City staff have failed to provide clear or accessible financial data outlining the full tax and service implications of the proposed annexation. Although staff claim that such reports exist, they have not been made publicly available; this raises serious concerns that critical financial details are being withheld until the last possible moment, limiting meaningful community scrutiny.

At the same time, the City’s public messaging across social media and official channels has been overtly promotional and one-sided, presenting only favorable narratives while disregarding widespread community opposition.

This lack of transparency and engagement is especially disappointing coming from a City that, according to its own 2040 General Plan, purports to “rely on partnerships with Mendocino County and local organizations.” In reality, the annexation process has been anything but collaborative or inclusive. Most troubling is the City's deceptive approach: while enlisting the County’s agreement on a tax revenue sharing plan based on the much smaller 1984 annexation boundaries, it was simultaneously preparing this massive and aggressive expansion, which is a clear betrayal of trust.

In our view, this one-sided annexation plan will not only place an undue burden on rural residents, but also threatens to financially destabilize Mendocino County as a whole.

Inadequate Capacity to Deliver Services

The City has not demonstrated the ability to maintain or improve services in the areas it seeks to annex. Law enforcement is already stretched thin with increasing concerns about crime, vandalism, and homelessness. Many City departments remain understaffed with key vacancies left unfilled for years. The proposed annexation would exacerbate these staffing shortages and add new demands on already overextended systems.

Vacancy, Vagrancy, and Decline of Quality of Life

A drive through Ukiah makes it blaringly obvious: the City is struggling to manage vacancy, vagrancy, and public nuisance issues. Business owners and property managers are forced to shoulder the cost of encampment clean-ups, added security, and repairs due to property damage, often with little to no City support. Now, the City is even proposing a new annual fee on vacant commercial properties and lots, further penalizing property owners while failing to address the root problems.

Problematic Ordinances and Questionable Timing

The City's recently updated 2040 General Plan introduces a range of questionable and burdensome ordinances that would disproportionately impact the rural areas now targeted for annexation. Policies such as “No Mow May” and new restrictions on personal animal husbandry, potentially tied to added fees, may reflect urban priorities; however, they are ill-suited and unfair in a rural context. The County of Mendocino does not currently have a countywide noise ordinance and the City of Ukiah’s noise ordinance could be a direct conflict with agricultural and manufacturing businesses located outside city limits. These are just a few examples of the kinds of smaller, yet deeply impactful, changes being proposed.

Equally concerning is the effect these changes will have on the many small businesses currently operating outside City limits. While the City claims zoning will remain unchanged, the way existing uses are interpreted and regulated under City authority will not. A key example is the shift from the County’s flat-fee business license model to the City of Ukiah’s license system. This shift is based on a percentage of gross revenue which is a significant financial burden for small business owners. Even more alarming is the impending shift from County to City planning regulations. County planning is already strained due to lack of staffing; layering on the City’s more complex and often stricter code could be the final blow for many rural businesses trying to stay afloat.

Notably, these policies and plans were largely developed during the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when community engagement was at an all-time low. The City’s failure to conduct meaningful outreach, especially to those outside its limits, has left many residents unaware and unrepresented. This lack of transparency and inclusion not only marginalizes those most affected, but also casts doubt on the legitimacy of the entire planning and annexation process.

Conclusion

The Employer’s Council of Mendocino County/Mendo Matters unequivocally opposes the City of Ukiah’s annexation proposal. We urge the Council to abandon this plan in favor of a more limited, transparent, and collaborative approach — one that genuinely respects the rights, livelihoods, and voices of rural residents, agricultural producers, and local business owners who you seek to annex.

Mendo Matters is organizing a formal protest to submit to LAFCO and will be contacting all property owners in the proposed annexation area to garner support to defeat this massive “land grab.”

We all live in Mendocino County. Any action this significant should benefit the whole — not just the City’s bottom line.

Sincerely,

Mendo Matters Board of Directors

Kerri Vau, Chair

Julie Golden, Co-Chair

Richard Selzer, Director

John Buchanan, Director

John Strangio, Director

Paul Clark, Director

Jim Ronco, Director

VELMA'S FARM STAND AT FILIGREEN FARM

On Anderson Valley Way, just north of the elementary school.

Friday 2-5pm and Saturday 11-4pm

This week's offerings include: blueberries, carrots, sprouting broccoli, lettuce mix, little gem lettuce, kale, chard, beets, cabbage, sprouting cauliflower, garlic scapes, kohlrabi, basil, dill, parsley, olive oil, and dried fruit!

Our hours are Friday from 2 PM to 5 PM and Saturday from 11 AM to 4 PM. Follow us on Instagram for updates @filigreenfarm or email [email protected] with any questions. All produce is certified biodynamic and organic.

AS MENDO MOURNS…

Cancellation Notice for Planning Commission Meeting (7-3-25)

The cancellation notice for the July 3, 2025, Planning Commission meeting is now available on the department website at: https://www.mendocinocounty.gov/departments/planning-building-services/boards-and-commissions/public-hearing-bodies/public-hearing-bodies#!

Please contact staff if there are any questions.

Thank you

James Feenan, [email protected]

PERFECT TENANT SEEKS RENTAL (Bill Kimberlin? Got something?)

Quiet, responsible senior employed as Registered Nurse, looking for home rental for self and 2 well behaved dogs. Owner of current residence moving home. Great references, excellent credit. Anderson Valley, Philo, Navarro, Yorkville area.

Please contact Jeanne Harris @ 404.402.7523

[email protected]

GOWANS Go Up-Market

PRACTICING MEDICINE IN MENDOCINO

On April 26, 2009, the Kelley House Museum hosted Dr. Don Hahn and Dr. Jim Swallow. The pair discussed what it was like to practice medicine in Mendocino through the years. The following excerpt chronicles Dr. Hahn’s arrival in Mendocino in the mid-1960s. To watch the full discussion, visit the Kelley House Museum YouTube channel.

Swallow: Don graduated from Princeton in 1951 and then graduated from Johns Hopkins Medical School in 1955. That was one thing that amazed me, that his professors and some of the people he worked for had written some of the textbooks I used in medical school. [Don] was in the Air Force from 1957 through 1963 and then came out to the West Coast Pacific Presbyterian Medical Center, which was at that time part of the Stanford program. Don did his residency there. So now here he is finishing his residency in San Francisco. What brought you up here?

Hahn: It was very straightforward. I got a couple of days off. I heard about the North Coast being a destination, and coincidentally, two friends independently recommended that I spend overnight in Mendocino. With that sort of recommendation, I headed straight up the coast and had the experience that is special for particularly all of us who came from elsewhere − that view of town as you approach from the south. It just blew me away, and I thought “Oh my gosh, I may not be able to get a room in there.” So, I sped up, halted in front of the hotel, into the lobby, where there was no one except the manager.

So that naturally led to trying to figure out whether such a thing could happen. I'd always considered myself a city boy, but the chance of trying to live in such a place was too tempting. I looked it up and there were two realtors in town, which seemed maybe one more than they needed. I found George Thompson. He took me around a few places that could maybe be converted into a medical office. One was too big, the one that became the Murder, She Wrote house [The Blair House]. It was too big. Then there was a little house down just below Crown Hall. The previous occupant had, not long ago, passed away. There was a phonograph there with a record on it, which was entitled “The Last Roundup.” That somehow didn't feel right. Then George told me about this sort of new fellow in town. He had a lot on Main Street, and he was planning to build his home there and live on the second floor and have a gallery on the first floor. His name was Bill Zacha.

We looked him up, and he liked the prospect of having a doctor who presumably would be able to pay the rent. We agreed to give it a try, which for me was extremely lucky, because the structure had not been started, but he did have blueprints. I was free to design the office, just following his footprint. And so there in the next year, when I finished my residency, I moved up here to a brand-new office with all the niceties that I could think of.

Zacha building on Main Street, c. 1976. Photographer: Bill Wagner

(kelleyhousemuseum.org)

ERNIE PARDINI

I have already posted most of the poems that I've written on Facebook but it's been a while and I have a lot of Facebook friends that haven't seen them, so all of you who are seeing them for the second time, hope you can enjoy them a second time. Here is one I wrote after the boonville lodge burned down.

The Boonville Lodge, or the Bucket of Blood

Has breathed it's final breath

We could only stand and watch

As it died a fiery death

It didn't go down easy though

It put up a valiant fight

All through the hours of the afternoon

And well into the night

The wind kept blowing stronger

With every passing hour

Fanning the quickly growing flames

Unleashing ungodly power

Finally when the flames died down

And the smoke began to clear

I could hear the clinking of glasses

And the sloshing of ice cold beer

I could hear the banging of pool balls

And the juke box's sad, sad song

And the off key voices of a couple of drunks

As they tried to sing along

I could hear the shuffle of feet

As couples danced across the floor

And the creak of rusty hinges

When someone came in through the door

But then there was only silence

Smoldering embers all that remained

Our town had lost a treasure

And life would never be the same.

RON PARKER: Post Card of Pomo Children, Ukiah around 1904. From a Carpenter photo

CATCH OF THE DAY, Thursday, June 19, 2025

OLIVIA BLACKWOOD, 40, Ukiah. Domestic battery.

MARTIN BRIGGS, 54, Willits. Controlled substance, failure to appear.

STEVEN LEARD JR., 37, Ukiah. Failure to appear, offenses while on bail.

BRYAN LOCKWOOD, 34, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, parole violation.

ANTONIO LOPEZ, 29, Upper Lake/Ukiah. Misdemeanor hit&run with property damage, paraphernalia.

JUSTIN LOUDERMILK, 32, Clearlake/Ukiah. Probation revocation.

JOSE ROSAS, 63, Boonville. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

WHAT’S SCARIER?

Editor:

It’s ironic to believe that the proposed “Golden Dome” is going to protect us from our enemies abroad launching missiles at us when, in fact, America’s greatest enemy is the guy living in a White House … under the dome.

S.R. Finnegan

Sebastopol

LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE WILL RECONSIDER FULL AUDIT OF DWR SPENDING ON DELTA TUNNEL

by Dan Bacher

The Joint Legislative Audit Committee (JLAC) didn’t have enough members present yesterday to approve a full audit of the Department of Water Resources spending on Delta Tunnel, but they did approve the reconsideration of the audit at the July/August JLAC hearing.

After the hearing Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom held an afternoon press conference on the State Capitol lawn regarding the urgency for an audit of DWR funding of the Delta Tunnel.

Those who spoke at the press conference besides Assemblymember Ransom included Malissa Tayaba, Vice Chair of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians; Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta; and Oscar Villegas, Yolo County Supervisor. Bill Wells, Executive Director of the California Delta Chambers and Visitors Bureau, and a representative of the San Joaquin County Farm Bureau also spoke.…

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/6/19/2328990/-Legislative-Committee-Will-Reconsider-Full-Audit-of-DWR-Spending-on-Delta-Tunnel

GIANTS END LOSING STREAK behind Logan Webb, big hit from Wilmer Flores

by Shayna Rubin

The Giants’ Wilmer Flores hits a two-run double against the Cleveland Guardians during the seventh inning at Oracle Park on Thursday. (Jeff Chiu/Associated Press)

The ripple effect of acquiring three-time All-Star Rafael Devers should jolt the San Francisco Giants’ offense into gear, but his role as designated hitter creates a bit of a playing time puzzle for a handful of players. Wilmer Flores is chief among them.

Flores, who has played all around the infield during his six years with the Giants, has fueled much of the otherwise inconsistent offense as the team’s primary designated hitter this year. He has been among baseball’s best at getting runs in and, as he has all year, he delivered a go-ahead, two-run double at Oracle Park in the Giants' 2-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday afternoon.

The win snapped a four-game losing streak, prevented a sweep and gave San Francisco its first win in the post-Devers trade era.

“(Flores) is maybe sick in the head a little bit? Some guys are just built for that stuff and I think Wilmer’s like that,” starter Logan Webb said. “He’s always prepared and ready for the big moment.”

The at-bat was typical Flores. Down one with two in scoring position, he fouled off a pair of four-seam fastballs out of the zone and finally got a slider he could knock down the third-base line, clearing the bases. They were his 52nd and 53rd RBIs, sixth most in the National League. He is on pace to eclipse the career-high 71 RBIs he collected in 2022.

On this afternoon, Flores pinch-hit for second baseman Christian Koss. And there’s reason to wonder how manager Bob Melvin will juggle the need to keep Flores in the lineup regularly with Devers — acquired from Boston on Tuesday — now squarely in the mix.

The hope is that Devers can move to first base — a position he refused to play during his time with the Red Sox and part of what sparked the blockbuster trade. He has been taking groundballs at first and though he won’t play there against his former team this weekend, the hope is that he can get accustomed to the position in order to keep Flores in the lineup as frequently as he has been before Devers’ arrival.

“We’re going to try to get them both in there,” Melvin said. “Once we get Rafi playing some first base, we get Flo back in the DH spot. In the interim, between he and (Dominic Smith), I don’t want to run Flo out there too much in the field. Until we get Rafi up to speed, he’ll have to come off the bench in those situations, which is really valuable.”

Flores’ big hit also saved the afternoon for Webb.

Webb never had faced Cleveland but a five-pitch mix he has employed this year to keep familiar foes on their toes worked wonders against an unfamiliar lineup. He held the Guardians to one run on seven hits over seven innings and struck out nine. He didn’t need to throw as many cutters as he did in last Friday’s start against the Los Angeles Dodgers (a career-high 28), but threw just enough (15) along with seven four-seamers. Growing confidence in mixing in those pitches with his sweeper, sinker and changeup has allowed him to find his stride.

“It’s all about picking the right one. I think there’s a ton that goes into it,” Webb said. “There’s scouting stuff, but being confident in it is the biggest thing. The confidence in throwing it. I’m not being scared to throw it. The past couple years with my four-seam — I still do it now — I’m scared to throw it in the zone so I throw it four feet higher at the top of the zone. Same with the cutter sometimes last year. It’s about being confident in all those pitches. Knowing good things are going to happen and trusting the defense.”

Webb struck out a pair and stranded a runner in his final inning, but walked to the dugout down 1-0 and on the hook for a loss. That’s been a familiar feeling for Webb in his career — he lost 1-0 to the San Diego Padres on June 2 — and indicative of the Giants offensive woes of late. They were 1-for-19 with runners in scoring position in the first two games of the Guardians series — but the one big hit that’s often eluded them came.

“Our pitching is always keeping us in,” Flores said. “Webby did it today so he deserved that win.”

Webb’s nine strikeouts give him 114 this year, which lofts him into a tie with Atlanta’s Chris Sale for second most in the National League. He lowered his ERA to 2.49, and is seemingly in good position to represent the Giants as an All-Star.

(sfchronicle.com)

HOW THE NEW CEO BEHIND TWO BUCK CHUCK PLANS TO ‘WIN’ THE WINE CRISIS

by Esther Mobley

Dom Engels has got to have one of the toughest jobs in California wine right now. In November, he became CEO of Bronco Wine Co., which produces an estimated 3.5 million cases annually of some of the country’s most famous bargain-priced brands like Crane Lake, Salmon Creek and Charles Shaw, a.k.a. Two Buck Chuck.

Engels has arrived at a moment when the wine industry is in a tailspin. The sub-$10 category, Bronco’s bread and butter, is experiencing some of the sharpest sales declines. Since the beginning of the year, Bronco, which is owned by the Franzia family, has laid off 227 employees from its Central Valley headquarters.

But Engels claims to relish the challenge. “I love the complexity of trying to win in a difficult environment,” he said. “Because there are always winners.”

The vision he has for Bronco runs counter to much of the industry’s conventional wisdom. Engels believes that “premiumization,” the march toward ever-higher prices, did a “disservice” to consumers. That the fast-growing ready-to-drink category, which encompasses canned cocktails like High Noon, is overrated. That organic wine will always remain a “niche.”

His perspective is largely one of an outsider. Although Engels worked at the Wonderful Co. when it acquired Paso Robles’ Justin Vineyards and Sonoma’s Landmark Vineyards, he has mostly worked in other fields. Before joining Bronco he served as the CEO of the school-lunch producer Revolution Foods, and before that as CEO of Stone Brewing, a behemoth of craft beer.

Looking at the wine industry, “honestly, I draw a lot of analogs from the craft beer dynamics over the last eight or nine years,” Engels said. When he joined Stone in 2016, craft beer was consistently seeing double-digit annual growth. That changed somewhat abruptly, a couple of years before the wine industry’s own wake-up call.

The luxury tier is way outperforming the value tier right now: Sales of wines over $50 increased 1% last year, according to the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, while wines priced $8-$10.99 dropped 12.7%. Many of Bronco’s best-selling products are under $5. But Engels is undeterred. “We firmly believe that the value segment is very important for creating lifelong loyalists,” he said. The premiumization trend completely ignores “the funnel of new 21-year-old consumers.”

That said, Bronco is also inching up, a little bit. “We are probably overindexed in value,” Engels admitted. Without abandoning Two Buck Chuck, he hopes to also play more in the $15-$20 range. In February Bronco acquired Wine Hooligans, a Santa Rosa winery whose bottles sell for $12 and up.

Recognizing that Bronco’s value-priced wines have been treated “more like labels than as true brands,” Engels is building out his brand marketing teams. Crane Lake Chardonnay, $4.49 at a local Total Wine, may not have seemed like a strong branding opportunity in the past, but Engels believes wines like these could benefit from a bigger social media footprint.

He also plans to open more tasting rooms — a priority informed by his time working with beer taprooms. Of the more than 100 brands Bronco owns, the only public space in California is Rosenblum Cellars in Oakland. He imagines opening something at Wine Hooligans, in a Santa Rosa industrial park, and at the home winery in Ceres (Stainslaus County). “I think we should have a couple of billboards on the 99, really invite people to see what we’re doing here,” Engels said.

Does that mean we can expect a Two Buck Chuck tasting room? Engels laughed. “Not sure about Charles Shaw,” he said. More likely is a “multi-brand specialty store,” spanning the Bronco portfolio.

At the same time, like many of its peers, Bronco is contracting. The company has removed some of its vineyards, a response to California’s grape surplus, and “moth balled” others — pruning them short and letting them lay dormant until the company has the need for the acreage again. Bronco is a major California landholder, with the capacity to farm “a significant five-digit number of acres,” Engels said, but is currently farming “in the middle four digits.”

All of the grapes Bronco farms are “sustainable,” Engels said, a term that adheres to certain environmental standards but still permits the use of synthetic herbicides like RoundUp. A small amount of Bronco’s vineyards are organic, and Engels doesn’t have plans to expand that. Organic farming requires such high costs that it necessitates higher-priced wines, in his view, “and I don’t think the market necessarily always rewards that premium price,” he said.

The company is also contracting its workforce, new brand marketers notwithstanding. The 227 workers laid off in Ceres included mechanics, lift truck operators and viticulturists. “It’s hard, but I don’t think the winery’s ever really adjusted its workforce in the 50 years before I joined, and I think there are a lot of wineries like that,” he said. “You go on a diet first before you reach the lifestyle change phase.”

In Bronco’s case, that lifestyle change will not involve ready-to-drink, the ultra-fast-growing category of beverages that encompasses canned cocktails and hard seltzers. The space is too crowded. “They’re churning very fast and it’s very difficult to build something there,” he said. “We’re not seduced.” He is intrigued, however, by half-bottles and boxed wines. (Despite being owned by the Franzia family, Bronco does not own the boxed-wine brand Franzia.)

Tough as his job may sound, don’t feel bad for Engels. He’s having fun, he swears. “When the tide is ebbing, that’s what really separates great operators from folks that participated as a passenger in the category growth,” he said. “I love that.”

PS. What I'm Reading

It’s based on anonymous sources, so take it with a grain of salt, but here’s the story that wine people are buzzing about this week: Reuters reports that the upcoming revision to the U.S. dietary guidelines will simply “include a brief statement encouraging Americans to drink in moderation,” write Emma Rumney and Jessica DiNapoli, rather than recommending a specific serving size. This would be a big win for the alcohol industry, which was bracing for the possibility that the guidelines would say there is no safe level of consumption. In his Fermentation Substack, Tom Wark speculated that if true, this change in spirit could be due to the Trump administration’s wish to undo anything begun during the Biden presidency.

Austin Hills, the son of the co-founder of Grgich Hills Estate in Napa Valley and the heir to a San Francisco coffee fortune, was arrested in an allegedly “bizarre incident,” my Chronicle colleagues Anna Bauman, Michael Barba and Annie Vainshtein report. Authorities said that Hills chased down a Tesla security guard in Fremont, hit another occupied car, fled police and was keeping supplies including a metal pressure cooker and a gas mask in his Land Rover.

The wine trade publication Meininger’s International is shutting down, reports Jeff Siegel in Wine Industry Advisor. The German publisher said it is closing the magazine, which started in 2006, in order to “focus on strengthening its core media brands.”

Gen Z hates a bar tab, reports Paula Mejía in the New York Times. It’s enraging bartenders, who are sick of swiping credit cards after every transaction — especially since some bar owners apparently dock some of those credit card fees from the bartenders’ weekly tips (!).

FROM SAN DIEGO TO THE BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA RESTAURANTS ARE ON EDGE OVER IMMIGRATION RAIDS

by Levi Sumagaysay and Lauren Hepler

Brandon Mejia usually spends his weekends conducting a symphony of vendors serving pupusas, huaraches and an array of tacos at his two weekly 909Tacolandia pop-up events.

Half food festival, half swap meet, the events draw 100-plus vendors a week in Pomona and San Bernardino. They offer a way to "legalize" street food -- vendors get a reliable location, cities collect taxes and enforce health codes -- while patrons enjoy delicacies from all over Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Spanglish music plays, people dance and kids flock to facepainting and pony rides.

But in the past week, that's all come to a screeching halt. As the Trump administration ramps up immigration raids in California, some restaurants, worried about their workers or finding that customers are staying home more, are closing temporarily. Many street vendors are going into hiding, and some food festivals and farmers markets have been canceled.

Mejia called off all Tacolandia events last week. His mind raced about whether agents would come for his vendors as videos surfaced on social media of taqueros, farm workers and fruit vendors vanishing in immigration raids around LA and neighboring Ventura County.

"A lot of these vendors, their goal is to have restaurants. They want to follow the rules," said Mejia, who was born and raised in San Bernardino in a family from Mexico City. But after conferring with vendors, they decided the risk was too high: "Some people have told me that their relatives have got taken, so I don't want to be responsible for that."

After a week of mass protests and more raids at farms, grocery stores and at least one swap meet, Mejia and many others remain on edge. Mejia said some small food businesses are getting desperate, trying to decide whether to risk reopening or stay closed while their own families grow hungry.

The disruptions come at a difficult time for California's restaurant industry, which is already grappling with soaring costs for ingredients, labor, rent and regulatory requirements. In Los Angeles alone, more than 100 well-known restaurants closed last year, the Los Angeles TImes found -- all before the immigration raids that industry leaders warn could further hamstring the industry.

In California, the food and restaurant industry employed about 1.42 million people as of April -- a sizable workforce that is being affected regardless of the immigration status of its workers. That includes nearly 600,000 people who work for full-service restaurants.

Jot Condie, president of the California Restaurant Association, called immigrants "the lifeblood of our industry."

Confusion over Trump orders

President Donald Trump and his administration have sowed confusion: Late last week, the president posted the following on social media: "Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace." That led to reports that his administration would pause most raids on restaurants, farms and hotels.

This week, those exceptions were reversed.

"The President has been incredibly clear," said Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, in an emailed statement to CalMatters. "There will be no safe spaces for industries who harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine ICE's efforts." McLaughlin said "worksite enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts."

When CalMatters asked whether worksite raids would target only those with criminal records, the agency did not respond.

"I'm following it step-by-step," Mejia said of the administration's announcements. "I fall under those categories -- hospitality and restaurants. But the thing that scares me is he said he's going to go to the biggest cities -- LA, Chicago, New York. I don't know what I'm going to do."

A food-truck owner in the Pasadena area who has had to shut down said she has a hard time trusting what the president says.

"We feel like (Trump is) not being honest," said Adriana Gomez Salazar, who was 4 years old when she came to the U.S. from Mexico and has been able to work legally for years without fear of deportation as a DACA recipient. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, established under President Barack Obama, is facing legal challenges.

Salazar had to shut down her Altadena-based food truck, LA Cajun Seafood Boil, after the January fires. When she reopened, she said customers were scarce because the area needs to rebuild. She was not eligible for a Small Business Administration low-interest disaster loan because she's a DACA recipient, something she said is frustrating because she is a taxpayer just trying to make a living.

Now, Salazar has had to shut down again to try to protect herself and her workers -- and because many customers are staying home out of fear of the ICE raids. She is trying to bring in income from catering jobs and has started a GoFundMe to try to raise money not just for her but for an employee who is out of work now.

"I have no idea how long I'm gonna be shut down for," she said. "Trump can say a lot of things (about pausing ICE raids) but he has also said he wants to do the biggest mass deportations in history."

In the LA neighborhood of Wilmington, a farmers market also has closed down. "Due to increased ICE activity in Wilmington, many of our farmers are scared and have chosen not to attend… We do hope to one day reopen … but for now, we must step away," according to a Monday post on the Wilmington Farmers Market's Instagram page.

Similar stories and concerns have emerged up and down the state. San Diego restaurant Buona Forchetta was the site of a "traumatic raid," the restaurant's owners recently confirmed in a statement. They had to close for a couple of days.

In the Bay Area, restaurant owners and industry groups are anxious and bracing for possible impact on their workers and businesses.

Owners educate workers about their rights

An owner of a Mexican restaurant in the historically Latino Mission District in San Francisco, who requested anonymity over fears his restaurant and workers could be targeted by ICE, said he has gone over possible scenarios with his employees in case federal agents enter the restaurant.

He has a sign that clearly says "employees only" beyond a certain point. Beyond the sign, it's not a public space so his employees are supposed to be safe there, he said.

His employees also know the agents need to show a warrant, and that they should check the name on the warrant. They also know to try to stop the agents verbally as well as to use hand gestures, so his security system's cameras can pick it all up for possible evidence later.

His employees all had the necessary paperwork when they were hired, but he can't be sure of their immigration status.

"I don't want to assume anyone's undocumented," he said. "I have no reason to question them."

He said all he can tell them is to be careful out there, especially now. "I told them I'm careful because I look very Mexican," he said. "So know your rights when you're out on the street."

According to an estimate by the Migration Policy Institute, a liberal-leaning think tank, more than 250,000 undocumented immigrants in California worked in the accommodation and food services, arts, entertainment and recreation industries in 2019.

Condie said the California Restaurant Association is working with the National Restaurant Association to push for federal immigration reform, which includes providing pathways to legalization for those who are undocumented and creating a temporary worker visa program.

The Golden Gate Restaurant Association, which has about 800 industry members mostly in San Francisco, is focusing on disseminating information to try to quell some of the anxiety.

"This fear is really causing stress on families, workers, and also on customers," said Laurie Thomas, the association's executive director.

Besides the possible personal and financial toll on workers and owners as a direct result of the raids, she said protests against the raids could mean double trouble for restaurants, which have very tight margins: They have to prepare for the possibilities of a lull in business, violence and vandalism, too.

Thomas is tracking the changing directives coming from the Trump administration. "Until there is clarity regarding ongoing actions, there will continue to be a high degree of stress in our community," she said.

Some California restaurant owners are remaining defiant -- and open. In Long Beach, El Barrio Cantina chef and owner Ulises Pineda-Alfaro decided that his restaurant would offer the community a place to gather and take a break from doom-scrolling.

After a few calls to popular Mexican-owned liquor brands, he also came up with a way to give back to those on the frontline. For $13 last weekend, customers could get the restaurant's taquitos de papa and either a margarita or a whiskey sour, with 100% of proceeds going to local immigrant rights group Órale.

"The hospitality industry, the backbone of it, is mainly made by immigrants," Pineda- Alfaro said. "My dad was an immigrant until he got his citizenship. It hits close to home."

By last Friday, an Instagram post announcing the deal had more than 50,000 views, and Pineda-Alfaro said about a dozen people were waiting outside when the restaurant opened for lunch that day -- a welcome sight as other pockets of the city sat empty.

"I have seen some vendors and some other restaurants closing early or not opening at all," he said. "We're embedded in the community, hence our name. We're going to remain open."

(Bay City News)

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH

by Terry Sites

Someone very special, my husband’s sister Connie Atkinson, died recently and she knew exactly what she wanted to have happen after her death. She had her funeral arrangements mapped out, but she also planned a trip for the people she loved best to follow. We were all to take a trip to Colorado together and she would provide the means, posthumously. So we came together and celebrated her life and then we continued on together thinking of her while we enjoyed a vacation that none of us will ever forget. I know she would be pleased. Thank you so much Connie, wherever you are.

If someone offers you a trip to Colorado accept immediately because the state is blessed with jaw droppingly beautiful scenery and fascinating history. Traveling during the “mud season” — between the end of winter and the beginning of summer when the ice is melting — has some real advantages: 1) it’s cheaper and 2) it’s a lot less crowded. The skiers, snowboarders and snow bunnies are gone and the hikers, mountain climbers, bike riders, campers and rafters have just begun to arrive. The wildflowers are blooming. The state flower is the Columbine and you can see them here and there. But gigantic dandelions are everywhere. I heard one little boy apologize as he stepped on a thick carpet of them, “Sorry Dandelions.”

Class-one bike riders (you pedal but get an assist from a battery) hit the trails. Our relatives covered 40 miles in one day which is a lot at such a high elevation. Trails are everywhere. You can hike all the way up to 14,000 feet if you dare. These tallest mountains are called the “Fourteeners” and there are 58 of them in the state of Colorado. One of our party, a very fit fireman who is a bit of a mountain goat, made it to 12,000 feet where he found snow and real mountain goats waiting for him.

Seven of us stayed in a comfortable condo two blocks from historic downtown Breckenridge which is filled with old buildings and their venerable histories dating back to the gold rush mining days of the 1800s. Breckenridge has gone from prospectors with pick-axes and gold pans living in log cabins to real estate developers and vacationers living in upscale condos and second homes.

The air is a bit thin. In driving from Denver at 5,000 feet to Breckenridge at 9,000 feet, you feel the effects of the altitude including some headaches, shallow breathing and trouble sleeping. There are three oxygen bars in town where — for a price — they will oxygenate your blood or you can buy a portable can of oxygen and suck in some extra oxygen when needed. They say that you adjust, but in the five days we were there we never really did.

Despite the oxygen shortage we enjoyed ourselves immensely, exploring the sights, checking out the history, walking the trails, biking and sharing meals at the condo. At the halfway point in our trip we descended to the Red Rock Amphitheater at 6,500 feet for a spectacular view of the Platte River with Denver, the mile high city, below us and 10 miles distant looking like the Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz. At the concert Sheryl Crow serenaded us along with two sisters/singers called Larkin and Poe. Sheryl is a warm and energetic performer who seems to be ageless. After dark they subtly light the rocks around the amphitheater producing a rosy glow that is completely captivating. The concert was great and the crowd was mellow. Especially charming was a raccoon who installed himself in a trash can where he calmly supported a slice of pizza with his tiny hands and toes and daintily munched away as we concert-goers filed by.

Next up: “Rocky Mountain Higher”: a description of the train ride from Granby, Colorado back to Emeryville, California, and some interesting personalities from Colorado’s rough and ready past and some fascinating aspects of Colorado history.

JUNETEENTH MERCH

by Fred Gardner

(A year late, and about $400,000 short…)

Juneteenth has a double-edged significance. The one-day happy ending is now celebrated as a federal holiday, while the extension of slavery by the diehard racists running the Great State of Texas is either erased from memory or actually excused! A typical version of the prevailing history was emailed to constituents by Assemblywoman Mia Bonta (D-Almeda): "Juneteenth originates from June 19, 1865, when news of Union victory in the Civil War, and enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation reached Galveston, Texas. The next year, freedmen in Texas held the first annual celebration of 'Jubilee Day' on June 19, which continued to grow into the Juneteenth celebration we know today."

Bonta says she is "proud to join communities across Assembly District 18 to celebrate Juneteenth, a historic holiday that recognizes the end of slavery, and offers a moment to appreciate the contributions of abolitionists, activists, and African American communities who fought for equality and freedom across the United States of America."

If anyone should know the bitter truth about Juneteenth, it's Mia Bonta. Her parents were Puerto Rican and at least one of her forefathers was brought over from West Africa in chains. Her husband is Attorney General Rob Bonta. Maybe she knows the truth but she's "a glass-is-half-full person." (That's how Dennis Peron once described himself. Your correspondent is a glass-is-half-empty person who suspects the water is so full of artificial sweeteners and "forever chemicals" that it's unfit to drink.)

The Emancipation Proclamation, the federal order freeing slaves in states that were “in rebellion,” was signed by Abe Lincoln on September 22, 1862, and took effect on January 1, 1863. It was ignored, of course, by the Confederate states until Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomatox on April 9, 1865. Then implementation began state-by-state. Texas held out the longest, not because the governor, the big plantation owners, the state legislators, the newspaper publishers –slaveholders all– didn't know about the Confederate surrender, but because they didn't want to free their slaves and the Union Army hadn't arrived to enforce federal law. The news had reached most of the slaves, too. So why was June 19 different from all other days?

On that day in Galveston, Gen. Gordon Granger, who commanded the District of Texas for the Union, posted a "Military Order" asserting that "in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free." What caused jubilation was not NEWS of the Emancipation Proclamation but the FALSE IMPRESSION that the Union Army had come to enforce it.

This year, supposedly to celebrate Juneteenth, the San Francisco Giants will play the St. Louis Cardinals at Rickwood Field, where Willie Mays once played center field for the Birmingham Black Barons. Major League Baseball (MLB) began hyping this game a year ago. The New York Times turned MLB’s initial press release into a 20-inch story hedded “In Homage to Mays and the Negro Leagues, MLB Heads to Birmingham.” The subhed added “Baseball Returns to the ‘Hallowed Grounds’ of a Negro Leagues Stadium.” Expect to hear many variations on this sanctimonious lie in the days ahead.

MLB is a consortium of capitalists who see the Negro Leagues as a revenue stream that has hardly been tapped. All those great players’ and legendary teams’ caps and jerseys awaiting buyers: Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, The Homestead Grays, The Detroit Wolves, the Newark Eagles…

As part of its Juneteenth merchandising campaign, MLB announced May 29 that eminent historians had integrated the two leagues’ record books, establishing that Gibson, not Ty Cobb, had the highest lifetime batting average. Also, Gibson’s slugging percentage surpassed Babe Ruth’s. The Times turned MLB’s press release into a news story, and then ran an opinion piece entitled, “Inclusion of Negro leagues statistics in MLB records only enhances baseball history.”

How much money do MLB teams make selling merchandise? With my knowlegable sources dead or long retired (or I criticized them in a leaflet for which I was never forgiven), I signed up for ChatGPT. Their Intelligence provided in a few seconds may be Artificial but it seems plausible:

Merchandise sales typically account for around 10-15% of a team's total revenue. This percentage can vary based on factors such as team popularity, market size, and the success of the team in a given season… For a team with a strong fan base and good performance, annual revenue might be in the range of $400 million to $500 million or more… Thus, the annual revenue from merchandise sales for the San Francisco Giants could be estimated to fall within the range of approximately $40 million to $75 million.

[Flash forward to 1996. Abolitionists in California end marijuana prohibition by passing Prop 215 and are soon reminded that "enactment" of a law by the voters does not guarantee implementation by politicians or enforcement by the police.]

John Lardner was a great sportswriter who, like his famous father, Ring, drank too much and died too young. In a 1953 piece about spring training he noted that the Brooklyn Dodgers “could sell out towns where Jackie Robinson has not been seen before. This spring there is a game scheduled in New Orleans, 1,000 miles out of the homebound line, to pick up exploited Robinson dollars from Negro fans there. Robinson is the greatest single baseball drawing card of the last five years, as Babe Ruth was before him. It never increased the happiness of Ruth or Robinson, or their teammates, as their clubs wandered about the land beating the bushes for virgin funds, to reflect that neither the ‘gate attractions’ nor the players were paid, in salary or percentage for those wearisome and sometimes physically dangerous junkets.”

Getting back to the Times’s reworking of the corporate media advisory: “MLB said that the date of the Rickwood Field game was intended to coincide with Juneteenth and that the game would feature a variety of activities to celebrate the history of the Negro leagues and Mays, the game’s greatest living player.”

Juneteenth, indeed! I watched the news that day, oh boy, and didn’t hear a single mention of the fact that the great state of Texas held back news of the Emancipation Proclamation for two years!

The Times “homage” story by David Wallstein was not devoid of information: “With a seating capacity of almost 11,000, Rickwood Field was built by the Birmingham industrialist Harvey Woodward, who was known as Rick, and it was modeled after Forbes Field in Pittsburgh and Shibe Park in Philadelphia. When it opened, on Aug. 18, 1910, businesses in Birmingham were shuttered to celebrate the grand occasion.

“In its early years, the park hosted exhibition games with teams from the American and National Leagues, including the Yankees, but Rickwood was home to the Barons, a Southern League institution that featured stars like Pie Traynor and Burleigh Grimes. In later years, Bo Jackson played for the Barons at Rickwood, as did Michael Jordan during his 1994 sojourn into baseball.

“A great deal of the most significant history at the park, however, came from the Black Barons, a Negro leagues team that featured stars like Mule Suttles and Satchel Paige, who won more games for Birmingham than he did for any other professional team. “In 1948, the Black Barons — with Mays in tow — faced the Homestead Grays in the final Negro World Series. While the Grays won that Series, William Greason, who went on to be the first Black pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, picked up Birmingham’s lone victory. Greason, 98, still lives in Birmingham and is the pastor at Bethel Baptist Church, less than two miles from Rickwood Field.”

VIET NAM TODAY, AFTER 50 YEARS OF PEACE - WITH OTHER WARS RAGING

by Nadya Williams

Huge parades in Ho Chi Minh City this Spring marked the 50th anniversary of April 30th 1975 when a North Viet Namese army tank crashed through the iron gates of the American Embassy in Sai Gon. Military in the beginning, the parade of thousands soon changed to beautiful peace floats, music, doves and flowers, children and cultural costumes. Although Viet Nam is looking to the future, the past is always present – in other countries as well. Viet Nam, along with Laos and Cambodia, received more explosive power than World War One and Two combined. It remains the largest aerial bombardment in human history. Maybe that’s why one sign at the June 14th massive protests read “Gaza is Arabic for Viet Nam.” One wonders how the Viet Namese feel with the US now offering Israel 30,000 pound Bunker Busting bombs to attack Iran.

Viet Nam’s transformation since the war’s end is reflected in the luxury shops and full hotels, adding to a 7% positive GDP in 2024. True, vast income gaps are widening, but quite a few boats are rising as well with the economic growth. In the country’s capital city Ha Noi in the north, new apartment buildings are as tall as corporate towers, with low-income and affordable new housing too. Tourism accounts for 15% of the boom, as travelers are attracted by the natural beauty and affordable prices. But there’s another element unique to this place - of why so many come. Call it admiration, respect, curiosity; this element is evident in the fact that the single most visited place in the entire country, for foreign and domestic tourists, is The War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City.

Three encounters on a recent trip to Viet Nam exemplify this phenomenon.

Tour Guide Hong

Hong is a 26-year-old guide in the UNESCO World Heritage Ke Bang National Park, famous for its spectacular limestone river caves. Per Viet Namese social norms he is married with a young child. Fluent in English, and well-versed in the natural sciences, he squires boatloads of mainly young adventurers to several of the cave complexes and the river water park. His knowledge and interests also range far beyond his country, when he asks if America’s Mid-Term Elections might make a positive difference in the Trump regime’s destructive policies.

Promotional material for the caves trumpets the fact that “entire regiments of NVA (North Viet Nam Army) troops sheltered in the caves from American bombing during the war.” When the subject of the war is brought up, Hong explains that Quang Binh Provence has the unfortunate location of being immediately north of the 17th parallel’s DMZ, as well as being in the narrowest “waist” of the long coastal country, where the Ho Chi Minh Trail had many branches. “It was bombed flat,” he simply says. His elders have told him of the many civilians who hid in the caves from US B-52 Stratofortresses, and the at least one time when a cave entrance collapsed from the fire power, trapping those inside. “The people outside tried so hard to reach them, but after several days, they were all dead,” Hong said with genuine sorrow. But the most painful story came after more conversation and acknowledgement of the crime that was the American War against Viet Nam.

Hong’s voice and expression changed as he revealed his family’s story. “When my mother was only 2-years old, her mother was killed in the carpet bombing.” So his grandmother never lived beyond her early 20s, and his mother lost her own mother as a very young child. During lunch in a nearby town, Hong made a point of walking to the back garden to show a 6-foot tall spent shell, hidden behind a large boulder, so few tourists would notice it. An average of 1,000 Vietnamese are still being killed every year by unexploded ordnance, and 1,300 are permanently injured annually. Hong said some American tour customers don’t like it if he talks about the war.

Viet Namese-American Veteran John Nguyen

John Nguyen (not his real name) was conscripted into ARVN (the Army of the Republic of Viet Nam), the military of the south created and funded by the United States. He likely had no choice, and worked in Sai Gon more in intelligence than in combat. He said some whom he identified as Viet Cong suspects were assassinated. Exiled to Southern California, he and his wife waited until their two children were out of university and able to move away before he joined the local chapter of Veterans For Peace and marched openly in parades. John chose to link up with Americans who had also fought in the war against “the Communists,” but who had chosen to reject their role in what they both came to view as an illegal and immoral invasion and occupation of a sovereign country.

John’s decision was a brave one, and his family suffered recriminations from the local Viet Namese-American community. Unbeknownst to many in this country, six Viet Namese-American journalists and community activists were assassinated in the U.S. starting in the early 1980s for their ‘turning against the war.’ So strong were John’s feelings of guilt and fear, that he suffered a heart attack when he first returned to south Viet Nam ten years ago. He has recovered, lives a healthy life in southern California and has since made regular trips back.

A Cooperative For “The Disabled”

In Ninh Binh city, just 4 hours south of Ha Noi, a well-to-do couple have funded a small clinic to treat disabled children and adults. They own a large restaurant that is a regular stop for tourists to the Trang An Landscape Complex, a series of lovely lakes flanked by towering karsts connected by limestone tunnels accessed by hand-rowed small boats. Another vastly popular tourist spot. Their first three children are accomplished young adults, but their last child, a girl, suffers from cerebral palsy and stunted size. The clinic started in 2020 and is now cooperatively run. Of the two dozen who come for treatment and therapy, however, several have the classic bodies of Agent Orange/Dioxin (AO/D) victims.

Normal-looking cute children, accompanied by a parent, are seated on mats awaiting their turn to be monitored by a young male doctor and his assistant. By the jerky movements of these young patients, one a baby of a just a few months, it is clear to a layman that they were born with cerebral palsy, a result of myriad possible factors. In Viet Nam’s case, prolonged conditions of war, displacement, lack of food and medical care weakened entire populations, as war has everywhere throughout the ages.

Additionally, at least three of the adults who come regularly to the clinic are classic examples of birth defects caused by the chemical defoliant AO/D sprayed all over the south of the country for 10 years (1961-’71). One man has a body the size of a 10-year-old child; another, a woman, stunted arms and legs; and another man a disfigured face, perhaps with Downs Syndrome as well. It is a reality that those who were exposed to the chemical weapon had children that were affected, now going into the fourth generation. American veterans now receive treatment and compensation from the effects of warped DNA, but not their children or grandchildren. Needless to say, the Viet Namese have never been acknowledged, and with US AID cuts, the meager few who benefitted are again abandoned by America. A stated goal of General Secretary To Lam is universal healthcare – ambitious, but achievable by such determined people.

Viet Nam is doing well and is making sure they never again experience invasion and war. There is a gigantic, newly-opened Viet Nam Military History Museum just outside of Ha Noi, showing literally centuries of combat against invaders, displayed in highly professional exhibits via: animation, photos, artifacts, ample text, films, news clips, even entire jets suspended from the ceiling. The American War is there too, but now 50 years in the past.

PS. At least 5 Million Marched June 14th! Some say 11 to 13 million.

THE BEST WRESTLING MATCH IN HISTORY

Montgomery Riverfront Brawl: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_Riverfront_brawl

LETTER FROM AN ENGLISH DEPARTMENT ON THE BRINK

by Sarah Blackwood

I write to you with news about the state of the English major at one nonelite, midsize, regional comprehensive private university in New York City. At Pace University, where I am currently chair of the English department, the major has grown by more than 40 percent in the last two years, to around 150 students. Every year we teach some 1,600 students—majors and non-majors—in seminars and workshops on literature, creative writing, and linguistics, in addition to the five thousand we teach in composition. That’s, give or take, $30 million of credit hour revenue per year.

Our students are immersed in a curriculum that emphasizes civic engagement, creativity, and both the canon and those texts and subjects that have been marginalized by that canon. Many students research issues of local importance to our campus: the community of Black theater professionals that thrived around the corner in the 1820s, the more recent anti-gentrification movements helmed by Chinatown artists, writers, and activists. An introductory literary studies course examines changing ideas about who and what literature is for; it culminates with students working with the Bowery Residents’ Committee to organize a book drive for our unhoused downtown neighbors. Around 40 percent of our majors and alumni are Black, Indigenous, Latinx, or Asian/Pacific Islander, and many of them are first-generation college students. Excellent writers and communicators with honed skills in analysis and critical thinking, they’ve gone on to gainful employment in publishing, the arts, media, business, education, law, and the nonprofit sector. Last summer an alumna was profiled by The New York Times for her feminist video game design, much of which she credits to her poetry education. An alumnus who works as a senior editor at a big five publisher is, at the time of this writing, featured on a billboard in Times Square.

I’m reporting this good news as a counterpoint to Nathan Heller’s recent feature in The New Yorker, “The End of the English Major,” which concentrates on two universities that Heller presents as foils: Harvard and Arizona State. Heller talks to students and faculty on the two campuses in an attempt to figure out why the number of humanities degrees awarded in the US has fallen precipitously since 2012. Like other stories about the humanities at major research institutions, Heller’s article misses the fact that many regional comprehensive universities like mine have retained strong humanities enrollments, as have community colleges and HBCUs. And yet it would be naive to pretend that the crisis Heller describes isn’t important or that it isn’t related to the state of my own department. My professional experience directly contradicts the premise of Heller’s piece, but the essay also crystallized my perspective on the precarious position of the humanities in the contemporary university.

In their interviews with Heller, English faculty and administrators discuss an array of real issues with an alarming lack of coherence. They try to place blame both for what is happening at their own institutions and for what they consider broader national concerns: Middlemarch is too long for the TikTok generation; K-12 education is the problem; humanists haven’t made a strong enough case for how our areas of study prepare debt-ridden students for jobs; funding has dried up; a fusty curriculum drives students away; television exists.

Much more to the point are Heller’s interviews with students, who explain the fundamental problem quite clearly: universities do not value the humanities. This disregard is demonstrated in most universities’ built environments, real estate investments, hiring practices, staffing ratios, and unwillingness to direct resources toward the humanities even in appropriate balance with the often substantial revenue they bring in. I heard in these young people’s comments a real awareness of the funding priorities of the colleges they attend.

(Sarah Blackwood is Associate Professor and Chair of English at Pace and the author of The Portrait’s Subject: Inventing Inner Life in the Nineteenth-Century United States. She is working on a book about mid-twentieth-century children’s book editors and writers. (April 2023).)

A TEEN GIRL RECALLS JUNETEENTH IN THE 1950S

by Charles Blow

June 19, 1956, fell on a Tuesday. It was 90 years to the day from the first celebration of Juneteenth, commemorating the day when enslaved Africans in Texas became the last in the nation to receive word of their freedom, more than a year after the Emancipation Proclamation and two months after the end of the American Civil War.

That 1950s Juneteenth celebration is the one my mother, Freddie Mae Rhodes (pictured here), can remember from her childhood and the one whose details she relayed to me.

It was a hot day in northern Louisiana, summer impatiently inserting itself into spring. She lived in the small town of Gibsland, Louisiana, with her mother, a domestic worker; her father, a World War II hero and farmer; and her younger brother.

She was 14 years old and wasn’t sure what the day meant. She couldn’t remember being taught about it. For her, it was simply a day on which Black people celebrated, “a day of fun,” as if proclaimed by community consensus.

Black people in that area celebrated together in a field in front of an abandoned African American elementary school in the hamlet of Mount Lebanon, three miles south of Gibsland. My mother was excited for the day’s outing because such outings were rare. And she had a special outfit for the day: a store-bought orange blouse with puff sleeves and a matching orange skirt, which had a placket on the side, made by her mother. She pulled her hair back into a single ponytail, plaited it down to her shoulders, and slipped into a pair of $2 shoes and bobby socks.

The family piled into the family car and drove south on Highway 154 to the field. When they arrived, people were already there. Some had arrived by car, some on wagons, some by foot. Many, like my mother’s family, had packed their own picnics: fried chicken, rolls, and cakes—foods that wouldn’t sour in the sun. There were also barbecues. A Black man from Gibsland sold glass-bottled sodas and homemade ice cream. “I don’t know how he kept that ice cream frozen,” my mother pondered in a 2023 conversation.

There were organized baseball games played among the men, and there was music supplied by anyone who could play a guitar. People danced and sang. The children ran and played. There were cakewalks and penny marches.

And, of course, for my mother, a teenage girl, there were the boys. “Listen,” she said, “everybody was excited to see the boys.” And she made sure that the boys saw her. “You stayed in the light, you stayed in the opening,” she said, because you didn’t want to “get out of sight.”

There were no lights in the field, so, as the day lost its light, the festivities wound down. My mother and her family headed home, but for those who stayed, there was a service across the street, with guest singing groups, at Springfield Baptist Church. The celebration lasted all day and into the night.

Over time the celebrations at that site dwindled as the population in the area declined. They finally ceased in the late 1960s. Many children of my mother’s generation were educated, some the first in their families to be so, and forswore farm life and moved away, catching the tail end of the Great Migration.

My mother, on the other hand, didn’t leave. She still lives in Gibsland, a town shrinking around her, and she has never stopped celebrating Juneteenth, especially after its meaning became clear to her, even if the celebration was simply her preparing a special meal for the family.

But Mount Lebanon is now home to only a handful of families. Springfield Baptist Church also remains. But as for the field where a smiling girl in an orange skirt and blouse once stood in the light, surrounded by picnickers, music, laughter, and the crack of baseball bats, it is now just an overflow parking area for Sunday services.

The celebration at that spot exists now as a memory, faint laughter riding a soft breeze.

(Taken from interviews with Freddie Mae Rhodes Blow, age 81, and Barbara Richardson, 85, both of Gibsland, Louisiana.)

SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM

Swaddled in hand-me-down blankets and nourished on bargain basement formula and government cheese, Sophie Cunningham and her sister didn’t even have a basket to shoot at. As children their target was a white washed brick in a sloped driveway. Yep, as small children nothing was given and there wasn’t much for the taking in rural area of Missouri where her parents chose to live. Things didn’t get much easier. As the girls turned into young ladies, they went from fighting over used toys to fighting off boys in the some of the wildest trailer parks the midwest has to offer. Whether in the dojo or the back seat, Sophie had a reputation for being lethal and those factors are most likely what shaped Indiana’s newest hero Super Sophie, or as she currently is being called, "The Enforcer." When asked about last night scrap Cunningham was clear: "Bring it on. Nobody is beating up my buddy or stealing my lunch money. Bring that Sheldon witch back in here and rip the rest of those extensions out." Oh, if your a Fever fan you gotta love it. They got a little blonde lion on their hands and god help the league if Lexi gets the bug and starts swinging elbows. If I were Marina Mabrey or any of the veteren bullies i might buy some Aflac. You gonna need it.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER:

"I just think the world of the great history that we have with immigrants in America, but the key thing also is at the same time, that we’ve got to do things legal, That is the most important thing. You’ve got to do things legal, and those people that are doing illegal things in America, and they’re the foreigners, they are not smart, because, when you come to America, you’re a guest, and you have to behave like a guest, like when I go to someone’s house, and I’m a guest, then I will do everything I can, keep things clean and to make my bed and to do everything that is the right thing to do rather than committing a crime, or being abusive or something like that, so that doesn’t really work in this country. You have a responsibility as an immigrant to give back to America and to pay back to America and go and do something for your community for no money whatsoever. Give something back to after-school programs, Special Olympics, or whatever it is, make this a better place."

A HAMMER IN HIS HAND

Editor,

As a child, the story or ballad or something about John Henry resonated deeply. He was my hero (perhaps my first). Today, as a writer, he visits me often. The dreaded AI (the steam-powered rock drill) versus the mere mortal wielding the pen or sledgehammer (how ironic that I spent a summer working for the Western Pacific Railroad as a gandy dancer in Lassen National Forest). John Henry won the contest. John Henry died. We all die. Each of us.

“A man is nothing but a man, but before I let your steam drill beat me down, I'd die with a hammer in my hand, Lord, Lord, I'd die with a hammer in my hand.”

Kent Wallace

Self-Portrait, 1857. Artist Lewis Carroll. (Photo by Heritage Art/Heritage Images via Getty Images).

Lewis Carroll wasn’t born a writer—he was born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, a shy Oxford mathematician with a stutter and a wild imagination. In 1862, he took a boat ride with three young sisters, one of whom was named Alice Liddell. To entertain them, he spun a fantastical tale about a girl who falls down a rabbit hole.

Alice was so enchanted, she begged him to write it down. He did—and two years later, he gifted her a handwritten manuscript called Alice’s Adventures Under Ground. That story evolved into Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, published in 1865 under the name Lewis Carroll.

What began as a summer day’s distraction turned into one of the most surreal, enduring, and endlessly interpreted works in literature. Wonderland wasn’t just a fantasy—it was a glimpse into a mind that saw logic and absurdity as two sides of the same coin.

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Less than a year ago, CNN proudly declared Joe Biden sharp as a tack and labeled any suggestion otherwise to be right-wing misinformation. That the media could so steadfastly and blatantly abdicate their responsibility to the American people in the interest of defeating the 45/47 at any cost says volume about the collusion between most media outlets and one political party in this country. If it takes an investigation to shed some light on this, totally worth it.

LEAD STORIES, FRIDAY'S NYT

Live Updates: Europe Pushes Diplomacy as Trump Delays Iran War Decision

U.S. Spy Agencies Assess Iran Remains Undecided on Building a Bomb

Appeals Court Lets Trump Keep Control of California National Guard in L.A.

TikTok Hits Cannes, Where a U.S. Ban Seems a Distant Dream

Hybrid Cars, Once Derided and Dismissed, Have Become Popular

The Fast-Food Gimmick That Became an Unlikely Muse for Chefs

THE ONLY WAY the US wins a war with Iran easily, quickly, and without massive losses is if it uses a nuclear weapon. This fact, combined with that Huckabee post comparing Trump to Truman in 1945 and Trump’s “evacuate Tehran” and “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER” statements, makes me nervous.

And the Americans are reportedly discussing using nuclear weapons on Iran already. Fox News reports that the Trump administration has not ruled out any options regarding the possibility of using a tactical nuke to destroy an Iranian nuclear facility.

That’s right kids, we’ve got to nuke the Iranians to liberate the Iranians. We’ve got to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons because a nuclear-armed despotic regime might use those powerful weapons to do crazy and reckless things, like drop a tactical nuke on a foreign nation’s power plant.

— Caitlin Johnstone

ROLLING APOCALYPSE UPDATE

President Trump said Thursday he will decide whether the United States will attack Iran “within the next two weeks,” adding in a statement released by the White House that “there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future.”

For days, Mr. Trump had mused publicly about the possibility of ordering American forces to bomb Iranian nuclear sites, suggesting that strikes could be imminent, while also insisting that it was not too late for talks. With his comments on Thursday, he appeared to opt for some breathing room to consider options that carry a lower risk of escalation.

After Israel’s strike on Iran’s national broadcaster on Monday, carried live on air, Iran has issued evacuation warnings to two Israeli media organizations.

On Thursday, the national broadcaster of Iran published a warning to employees of Channel 14 in Israel, which Iran accused of being a “terror network” for its support of the policies of Israel’s right-wing prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. A screenshot of the warning shared on social media by Press TV, an Iranian state-funded entity that broadcasts in English and French, showed it said the station “is considered a legitimate target for Iran’s armed forces” and “in the coming days it will be the target of Iranian missile attacks.”

Israeli news media reported on Monday, after Israel’s strike on Iran’s broadcaster, that Iran had issued evacuation warnings for Channel 14 and Channel 12 “in response” to the Israeli attack.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with David Lammy, the foreign secretary of Britain, in Washington on Thursday to discuss the wars in Iran and Ukraine, the State Department said. The agency’s summary of the meeting said Rubio and Lammy “discussed the conflict between Israel and Iran and agreed Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon.” The department said the two officials also discussed efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

U.S. Spy Agencies Assess Iran Remains Undecided on Building a Bomb

U.S. intelligence officials said Iran was likely to pivot toward producing a nuclear weapon if the U.S. attacked a main uranium enrichment site, or if Israel killed its supreme leader.

by Julian Barnes

U.S. intelligence agencies continue to believe that Iran has yet to decide whether to make a nuclear bomb even though it has developed a large stockpile of the enriched uranium necessary for it to do so, according to intelligence and other American officials.

That assessment has not changed since the intelligence agencies last addressed the question of Iran’s intentions in March, the officials said, even as Israel has attacked Iranian nuclear facilities.

Senior U.S. intelligence officials said that Iranian leaders were likely to shift toward producing a bomb if the American military attacked the Iranian uranium enrichment site Fordo or if Israel killed Iran’s supreme leader.

The question of whether Iran has decided to complete the work of building a bomb is irrelevant in the eyes of many Iran hawks in the United States and Israel, who say Tehran is close enough to represent an existential danger to Israel. But it has long been a flashpoint in the debate over policy toward Iran and has flared again as President Trump weighs whether to bomb Fordo.

White House officials held an intelligence briefing on Thursday and announced that Mr. Trump would make his decision within the next two weeks.

At the White House meeting, John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, told officials that Iran was very close to having a nuclear weapon.

Karoline Leavitt, the White House spokeswoman, said later at a news briefing that Iran had the material it needed to make a bomb.

“Let’s be very clear: Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon,” she said. “All they need is a decision from the supreme leader to do that and it would take a couple weeks to complete the production of that weapon.”

Some American officials said those new assessments echoed material provided by Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency, which believes that Iran can achieve a nuclear weapon in 15 days.

While some American officials find the Israeli estimate credible, others emphasized that the U.S. intelligence assessment remained unchanged, and American spy agencies believe that it could take several months, and up to a year, for Iran to make a weapon.

Intelligence assessments are often drafted in a way that allows policymakers to draw different conclusions. And many intelligence officials believe that the reason Iran has accumulated such a large arsenal of uranium is to have the ability to move toward making a bomb quickly.

Some officials believe Israeli assessments have been colored by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s desire to gain American support for his military campaign against Iran.

Mr. Netanyahu said on Thursday, however, that Israel could achieve its goals alone when it came to Iran’s nuclear facilities.

None of the new assessments on the timeline to get a bomb are based on newly collected intelligence, according to multiple officials.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a religious ruling, or fatwa, in 2003 that has prevented the country from developing nuclear weapons. That is “right now holding,” a senior intelligence official said, adding that the Israeli assessment that Iran was 15 days away was alarmist.

Mr. Netanyahu has repeatedly warned over the years that Iran is close to a nuclear weapon. And since Israel began its attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities, Israeli officials have warned that Iran was weeks away from having the components for a bomb. Mr. Netanyahu has not been specific on the time frame.

“In recent months, Iran has taken steps that it has never taken before, steps to weaponize this enriched uranium, and if not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “It could be a year. It could be within a few months, less than a year. This is a clear and present danger to Israel’s very survival.”

Still, American officials acknowledge that the large stockpile poses a threat.

Testifying before Congress on June 10, Gen. Michael E. Kurilla, the head of Central Command, said Iran’s nuclear stockpile and available centrifuges could allow it to produce weapons-grade material in a week, and were enough to make 10 weapons in three weeks if the government decided “to sprint to a nuclear weapon.”

In testimony in March, Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, noted that the Iranian stockpile was at a high, a level that she said was unprecedented for a nonnuclear state. Officials said Ms. Gabbard’s comments remained accurate and were in line with the idea that Iran is gathering the components of a weapon.

Iran’s stockpile is enriched to 60 percent. To make a bomb, it would need to be enriched further, to 90 percent. Enriching uranium means reducing the percentage of naturally occurring uranium, U-238, and increasing the percentage of a lighter isotope, U-235, that can sustain a nuclear reaction.

But producing a weapon requires more than uranium. Iran would also have to make a bomb, and potentially miniaturize it to place on a warhead. While the United States and Israel believe that Iran has the expertise to build a bomb, there is no intelligence that it has set out to do that.

U.S. intelligence believes that Iran could potentially shorten the timeline if it pursued a cruder weapon that might not be able to be miniaturized and put on a missile. Such a cruder weapon might be more akin to the bomb that the United States dropped on Hiroshima, which was nearly 10,000 pounds and 10 feet long and had to be dropped from a plane, rather than delivered on a missile.

Senior officials, including Vice President JD Vance, have said that new information has come in since the U.S. intelligence position was made public in March. But officials said that information from Israel and other sources was not new intelligence about the program or Iranian intent to build a bomb, but rather new analysis of existing work.

(NY Times)

OPERATION RISING LION

by Tom Stevenson

Israel’s aerial assault on Iran, launched on June 13, was a straightforward act of aggression that extends the sequence of violence begun in Gaza and continued in Lebanon, Syria and beyond. Whether the attack was green-lit by the United States, or more likely “yellow-lit,” is still unclear. But it hardly matters, since the US quickly moved to support and abet the attack.

The US and Israeli governments have presented the offensive as a pre-emptive effort to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, but that justification is laughable. As recently as April, the assessment of the US’s own intelligence agencies remained what it had been for years: there is no evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapons program. Israel, on the other hand, has hundreds of undeclared nuclear weapons.

The main initial targets were Iran’s missile installations and its military leadership. Senior figures killed in the first round of airstrikes included Hossein Salami, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps; Esmail Qaani, commander of the Quds Force; Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of the aerospace forces; Mohammad Kazemi, head of intelligence; and Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of the armed forces. Bagheri’s replacement as chief of staff, Ali Shadmani, is thought to have been killed in a strike on Tuesday.

The overground section of the nuclear facility at Natanz was targeted in the first wave of attacks. On Tuesday, the IAEA said that the 15,000 centrifuges there are likely to have been damaged or destroyed. Thursday morning, Israel struck the Arak nuclear facility, which has in any case never been fully operational and was deactivated a decade ago. Other Iranian nuclear facilities are deep underground, where Israel’s air force can’t reach them. It has had no trouble hitting Iranian television stations in Tehran or psychiatric hospitals in Kermanshah.

Israel’s codename for the attack was Operation Rising Lion, a pointed reference to the pre-1979 Iranian national flag, a lion before a rising sun. Israel and the US seem to hope that they can shatter the Iranian state and induce civil unrest. This is an attempt at regime change, or regime destruction, poorly disguised as an anti-nuclear operation.

In response, Iran has launched missile attacks on Israel, and on Tuesday hit the Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv. But though at least one Israeli Hermes 900 drone has been shot down, Iran’s capabilities are limited. Israel has achieved air superiority, and missile installations at Tabriz and Kermanshah are either inaccessible or partly out of action. The more advanced missile production facility at Khojir was hit on Wednesday morning.

Iran has had a uranium enrichment program for 30 years, but Israel has presented no evidence that it has been trying to build nuclear weapons. It has recently installed thousands of new centrifuges, which came online in November. As a result, Iran’s stocks of 60 per cent enriched uranium hexafluroide for use in research reactors have more than doubled, from around 180 kg to an estimated 400 kg. But Iran has no 90 per cent enriched uranium, the type required for nuclear warheads.

Israel has been threatening something like this since the 1990s. But there have also been signs of more recent war planning on the part of the US. In early April, the US and Israel discussed the possibility of airstrikes on Iranian nuclear sites, and an ‘Israeli commando raid’ on underground facilities. The only weapons potentially capable of reaching deeply buried bunkers are the US’s GBU-57 “Massive Ordnance Penetrators.” They are carried by B-2 stealth bombers, six of which were moved to Diego Garcia. On 8 April, after a meeting with Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu said an operation on Iran would only work if “we go in, blow up the facilities, dismantle all the equipment, under American supervision and American execution.”

At the time, Trump elected instead to continue talks with Iran, led by Steve Witkoff, his special envoy to the Middle East. He now claims that he had given the Iranians sixty days to “accept a deal,” but in reality neither side had got down to the details.

The Iranian government insists it is committed to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, but that it “will never compromise its legitimate and inalienable rights under the treaty” – namely to a domestic civilian nuclear program.

Production of highly enriched uranium is not in itself a violation of the treaty (though Iran was probably in violation of the treaty’s Article 3, on safeguarding by the IAEA). From Iran’s perspective, the US and Israel’s demands amounted to an insistence that its civilian nuclear energy program be dismantled.

For more than forty years US policy has been to punish Iran for its defiance of American designs in the Persian Gulf. It has isolated the country diplomatically and conducted a major sanctions campaign with the stated aim of destabilising the Iranian government. But why support an Israeli attack now, in the middle of talks (the next round had been due to begin in Muscat on 15 June)?

It’s possible that the negotiations were from the start misdirection or chicanery. Or that Trump was interested in a deal in the abstract, but was persuaded out of it by other elements in the US security system. Or it may be that Israel felt the talks were serious enough that it had to act to overtake them. Whatever the order of events, the US has since thrown its weight behind the attack.

On Monday the Air Force sent a fleet of refuelling planes to the Middle East and Trump told civilians to leave Tehran. On Tuesday he demanded “unconditional surrender.”

In the past, European states have provided at least rhetorical opposition to US and Israeli threats against Iran. But these attacks have been loudly defended by both Britain and Germany – the German foreign ministry described them as “targeted strikes against nuclear facilities” – and prevaricated over with dishonest professions of concern about domestic repression in Iran. The UK has moved a few military assets to the Middle East, supposedly “to support regional security in general terms.”

British commentators have been entertaining fantasies about a new Iranian government formed by opponents of the regime. But opposition figures within the country and principled critics abroad, such as Parastou Forouhar, whose dissident parents were killed by the intelligence services in 1998, see the current operation as a brazen attack on their country. The reformist intellectual Mohsen Kadivar has said that Israel’s aggression “must be unequivocally condemned” and proposes a temporary ceasefire, a suspension of enrichment and immediate direct talks with the US. The Iranian government has repeatedly offered talks if the bombing stops.

What matters now is whether or not the US decides to join the air campaign. Even if it does, a centralized state like Iran is unlikely to collapse, and it will recover from the damage to its military apparatus. The US could target more secure Iranian nuclear facilities – especially Fordow, in the mountains north of Qom – with heavy munitions. But it isn’t clear that even the US Air Force can disable them. GBU-57s can penetrate between ten and sixty meters below ground, depending on the composition of the rock above. Fordow has reinforced chambers buried deeper still. The scenario to be hoped for – easy enough to imagine – is that Trump will get bored or distracted and call it off.

Iran’s leaders must now feel that they made a major strategic error in not acquiring nuclear weapons. What other lesson could they draw from this?

(London Review of Books)

WITH GOD ON OUR SIDE

by Bob Dylan (1964)

Oh, my name, it ain't nothin', my age, it means less
The country I come from is called the Midwest
I's taught and brought up there, the laws to abide
And that the land that I live in has God on its side

Oh, the history books tell it, they tell it so well
The cavalries charged, the Indians fell
The cavalries charged, the Indians died
Oh, the country was young with God on its side

The Spanish-American War had its day
And the Civil War too was soon laid away
And the names of the heroes I was made to memorize
With guns in their hands and God on their side

The First World War, boys, it came and it went
The reason for fightin' I never did get
But I learned to accept it, accept it with pride
For you don't count the dead when God's on your side

The Second World War came to an end
We forgave the Germans, and then we were friends
Though they murdered six million, in the ovens they fried
The Germans now too have God on their side

I learned to hate the Russians all through my whole life
If another war comes, it's them we must fight
To hate them and fear them, to run and to hide
And accept it all bravely with God on my side

But now we've got weapons of chemical dust
If fire them we're forced to, then fire them we must
One push of the button and they shot the world wide
And you never ask questions when God's on your side

Through many dark hour I been thinkin' about this
That Jesus Christ was betrayed by a kiss
But I can't think for you, you'll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot had God on his side

So now as I'm leavin', I'm weary as hell
The confusion I'm feelin' ain't no tongue can tell
The words fill my head, and they fall to the floor
That if God's on our side, he'll stop the next war

15 Comments

Chris Hart June 20, 2025

RE: NEXT STEP IN MILL SITE REDEVELOPMENT OK’D
Several people at that Fort Bragg City Council meeting—like Ms. Snyder—urged the process to slow down. Frankly, after two decades of waiting, it’s hard to imagine how we could go any slower—unless we hit reverse. The millsite has sat idle for 23 years. While plans were offered in 2019 that were well-received, real progress was halted—primarily due to a misguided lawsuit by the City that has cost both sides over $500,000.

What Megan Wutzke’s article does not mention is that there was an similar number of residents at the meeting expressing support for the Council to proceed with the MOU, which they did on a 3-1 vote. After years of legal conflict and stagnation, they see that we’ve found a potential path forward—one that could work for everyone and put an end to a costly fight. Most importantly, it offers a renewed opportunity to bring much-needed economic vitality and additional housing to the coast.

The initial plans would only have railroad activity on 6% of the former millsite. It is estimated that 2/3rds of the former millsite would be public or open space. In the remaining one-third, there would be a mix of housing, commercial, and industry to address key needs long-expressed by the community. And to be clear: the specific plans have not been finalized. The City Council’s vote was to move forward with a process that includes five public workshops.

Finally, a key concern is remediation. Over 90% of the former millsite has been completed. For the remaining portion, the railroad is working with the City and DTSC on the remediation plans. These plans are not finalized, will have a public process, and still could include options like creek daylighting.

If the upcoming public process goes well, hopefully in the Fall we would then be in a position to craft a binding agreement.

- Jacob June 20, 2025
  
  Absolutely! I was one of the people Chris mentioned supporting moving forward with the MOU as the best way for the City of FB to approach the issues. One thing I think Chris got wrong is that the 3-1 vote was to accept the report some people didn’t particularly like but all four councilmembers present–Lindy Peters was away at a golf tournament–voted to move forward with the MOU. Tess Albin-Smith voted against accepting the report, which is exactly how I would have voted if I were on the City Council: yes to a cooperative MOU process and hopefully an eventual development agreement but no to the particular report because it contained details and concepts that have basically been rejected.
  
  - Chris Hart June 20, 2025
    
    Thank you, Jacob, for the correction!
    
Me June 20, 2025

The fact that T wants to build a USA Dome of protection should clue you in that he will be doing things to make us all a target of disaster.

Matt Kendall June 20, 2025

I usually let the supes fight their own fights and carry their own water. That being said, I’m not in agreement with the description of Supervisor Williams’ work in the article today.

No secret at all we have banged heads over various subjects. I’m certain we will bang heads in the future as well. That doesn’t mean I don’t respect him or the job he has to do. Hell, if we didn’t bang heads we wouldn’t be doing our jobs.

Confidence and arrogance are completely different things. An arrogant person can’t admit mistakes while a confident person can. Also a confident person will often throw the vehicle in reverse to go back and review decisions when new information is brought forward.

I live in a world where many decisions are made and moments later the conditions change. What began as a sound decision on Monday seems foolish on Tuesday. I have had to walk things back when conditions change, it’s hard to do while retaining trust.

Personally, that is what I see in this case. We were given a small amount of information which morphed greatly as this ball started rolling.

One thing I can say about Ted, is every conversation we have, we both work hard to hear what is said rather than just trying to win the argument.
At times we both leave the room unhappy, but that’s to be expected when we are forced to meet in the middle.

There will likely come another time when I ask the public to get their torches and pitchforks and follow me to the board chambers. I just dont think that time is now.

Just my 2 cents, take it for what it’s worth.

- Call It As I See It June 20, 2025
  
  You have to tread dangerous ground when commenting on Supervisors. But I have to disagree with your assessment and agree with the Major.
  
  Ted’s lies and blatant disregard to get needed information before voting is apparent. It cannot be overlooked. Just the Cubbison case alone is an example. Which your investigator probably conspired with Dave Eyster to achieve a certain results. I usually agree with a lot of what you post and think you’re transparent. I do understand this is your experience with Ted. But in away you’re asking us not to believe what we see.
  
  - Matt Kendall June 20, 2025
    
    Understand your assessment, thank you and thanks for hearing me out.
    
  - George Hollister June 20, 2025
    
    People many times say, and do things with certainty that turn out to be wrong. I do that. That is not lying. That is being wrong. What I see, with some few exceptions, from our local government is an inability to get it right. That is how we ended up with the management dysfunction we have, the poor judgement, and the budget shortfall. I can write my opinion of why this is the case, but I will. it leave as you get who you vote for. Hanlon’s Razor: “never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”
    
  - Jurgen Stoll June 20, 2025
    
    And thanks for not name calling and accusing people you disagree with of hating America. It makes it a lot easier reading your comments when you are not insulting people you disagree with. This comment forum is a place to exchange ideas, not insults.
    
Call It As I See It June 20, 2025

I tried early on, but after being insulted by our esteemed editor, McEwen accusing me of domestic violence, even though he has no idea who I’am. Dunbar, Thurston and you at times have insulted me.
Just the other day I commented on the failure of our education system. The insults came flying at me. When all was said and done, I was the one censored by the editor or his webmaster. It does no good to be nice on this site. My fault, your fault who knows. I do appreciate your comment.

- Bruce Anderson June 20, 2025
  
  SELF-PITY
  
  I never saw a wild thing
  sorry for itself.
  A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
  without ever having felt sorry for itself. (DHL(
  
  - Call It As I See It June 20, 2025
    
    And he makes my point. I feel sorry for you Mr. Anderson. Once a Jackass, always a Jackass. Bring it on girls, I can take all you got.
    
  - Steve Heilig June 20, 2025
    
    Editor: Again, why not insist this cowardly troll use his real name or just go away?
    At a minimum it might be a fun experiment to see what he says and how he says it when not in hiding. If anything at all. He’s just a phony tough guy and an embarrassment here now.
    SH
    
Dale Carey June 20, 2025

to jacob: what is creek daylighting?

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