Mendocino County Today: Tuesday 7/8/2025

Cooler | Cherries | Machete Cut | Fenty Kann | Local Events | 86 47 | Huffaker Trial | Two Teds | Hopland Thai | Rhododendron | Container Party | Art Gardens | BBQ Benefit | Yesterday's Catch | Congressional Entitlements | Rail Railing | The Test | 70th Birthday | Nice Boy | Marin Parade | Giants Win | SF Ballpark | California Wolves | You're Responsible | MAGA Fallout | Get Lost | Texas Floods | Rita Ballou | Rotten Shame | NWS Cuts | Hollywood | More Time | New Vision | Cage Match | First Contact | Coyotes | Lead Stories | Come Back | Mythical Tangier | The Cliffs | Moral Nature | Margery Kempe | Matchstick Move

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SLIGHTLY COOLER temperatures are expected Tuesday and Wednesday. Warming is expected again Thursday with additional warming Friday and heat continuing into the weekend. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A warm 53F under foggy skies this Tuesday morning on the coast. 2 more foggier days then some clearer days for the end of the week. But I'm not holding my breath.

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ASSAULT, BURGLARY AND ELDER ABUSE IN BOONVILLE

On Tuesday, July 1, 2025 at approximately 07:46 P.M., Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office Deputies were dispatched to a reported assault with a deadly weapon in the 21000 block of Redwood Ridge Road in Boonville. The victim advised the male suspect had fled the area on foot.

Deputies responded from the Ukiah area and upon arriving at the residence they located a 74-year-old adult male victim who sustained a laceration on his hand. Deputies summoned emergency medical care for the victim, who was treated at the scene by medical professionals.

Deputies determined the victim and suspect knew each other. The victim identified the suspect as 43-year-old Ryan Stearns. Deputies determined that Stearns had entered the victim’s residence without warning and brandished a machete-style tool above his head as he approached the victim. The victim attempted to defend himself and was able to physically resist the machete attack. During the struggle the victim’s hand was cut, and Stearns fled the scene. The victim shared that Stearns lived a transient lifestyle and his current whereabouts were unknown.

Deputies located the machete and other evidence at the scene which were consistent with the victim’s statements and corroborated a violent assault had occurred.

Deputies searched numerous locations in the Boonville area that night but were unable to locate Stearns. An order to arrest Stearns was issued and sent to law enforcement agencies within Mendocino County.

On Thursday, July 3, 2025 at around noon, Deputies again responded to the Boonville area to search for Stearns. Several local citizens had reported sightings of Stearns in the Boonville and Navarro areas. The reports included that Stearns was seen on a motorized bicycle possibly traveling west along Highway 128. Deputies checked numerous locations along the highway but were still unable to locate Stearns. One citizen shared information that Stearns was known to travel from Boonville to Ukiah on a motorized bicycle. They informed deputies that Stearns would sometimes travel to Comptche and on Orr Springs Road.

At approximately 2:23 P.M. on that Thursday, Sheriff’s Office Dispatch personnel received a call for service from the Comptche Store. A store employee was reporting that an intoxicated male who was causing a disturbance at the store. The caller advised when they told the male subject they were calling law enforcement the male fled the store and ran into a wooded area to the north of the store.

Deputies were nearby at the time, and determined the subject was Stearns based on another citizen seeing him on a motorized bicycle earlier in the day. An extensive ground search was conducted, and Stearns was eventually located hiding in a thick wooded area and was obviously trying to avoid apprehension by law enforcement. Stearns was taken into custody without incident and later transported to the Mendocino County Jail. Stearns was booked for charges of Assault with a deadly weapon, Burglary, and Elder abuse resulting in injury. Stearns was to be held in lieu of $50,000 bail.

The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the alert citizens of Anderson Valley for sharing information on the whereabouts of Stearns and their assistance in locating and safely taking him into custody.

ED NOTE: Having known Stearns for the past decade, I am surprised at all this. The 74-year-old vic on Redwood Ridge? I know him, too, and hope all this gets sorted out without further difficulties for both of them.

MS NOTES: Several locals have praised the Sheriff’s office and in particular Sheriff Matt Kendall who was personally involved in the search and arrest of Mr. Stearns. Later on Thursday after Mr. Stearns was arrested, Sheriff Kendall posted this statement on the AVA’s website:

“We had a lot of moving parts during the 4th of July weekend throughout Mendocino County. This week it started with a little track meet at the Comptche Store where we had to chase down a wanted subject who had pulled a crime in Boonville. Luckily my commanders from central sector and the coast responded quickly and we took gold. This was largely due to the locals being good communicators. My hat is off to them. Belinda at the Comptche store had quite the crowd gathering to see why all the patrol cars were in town. She should’ve sold tickets to the event. Following this arrest she was kind enough to set up a small station with water and a bottle of tecnu for those deputies who don’t respond well to poison oak.”

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DOPE ARREST IN FORT BRAGG

On July 5, 2025, at approximately 6:25 PM, officers from the Fort Bragg Police Department conducted a traffic stop in the 700 block of S. Franklin Street after observing a vehicle failing to maintain its designated lane of travel.

During the investigation, the driver, identified as Bryan Kann, 54, of Fort Bragg, displayed signs of potential drug intoxication. Officers conducted a series of field sobriety tests and determined that Kann was operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs. A search of Kann’s person yielded approximately $400 in United States currency in various denominations. While conducting an inventory search of the vehicle, officers discovered various packaging materials, 1.91 grams of methamphetamine and nine individually packaged Ziplock bags of suspected fentanyl, hidden within a concealed compartment in the engine bay. The total weight of the fentanyl was approximately 9.5 grams.

According to the DEA’s standard, a single dosage unit of fentanyl is estimated at approximately 2 milligrams. The 9.5 grams recovered in this case equates to approximately 4,750 potential dosage units. Given that as little as 2 milligrams of fentanyl can be fatal, this seizure potentially saved thousands of lives, removing a quantity of narcotics capable of causing over 4,000 fatal overdoses from circulation.

Following the investigation, Kann was arrested and transported to the Mendocino County Jail, where he was booked for the following charges: Possession of Narcotics for Sale, Transportation of Narcotics for Sale, Use of a False/Hidden Compartment in a Vehicle, Possession of Methamphetamine, and Driving Under the Influence of Drugs.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact Officer Moore with the Fort Bragg Police Department at (707)964-2800 ext. 225 or email [email protected].

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FORT BRAGG DOPE ARREST, AN ON-LINE COMMENT

Many people can’t imagine what 2 kg of something looks like, let alone 2mg, if only because the metric system trips them up. Or understand something that only needs 1000x less of a dose to make you unconscious and stop breathing. For example, I weighed a single chocolate chip, the type for Toll House cookies. It was 0.5 grams. Divide that pencil eraser-sized chip into 250 even smaller pieces and you have a potentially fatal fentanyl 2mg dose. It’s so strong that you could hide multiple fatal doses inside legal Rx capsules and nobody would notice unless they tested every gram. That’s how easy it is to hide, and explains the “enough to kill 5000 people”. It’s not hype. It’s chemistry. Now consider a relative newbie, Carfentanil, which is multiple times stronger than fentanyl.

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LOCAL EVENTS (this week)

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MARIE TOBIAS (Coast Chatline)

The number “8647” has been interpreted by some as a coded assassination threat against former President Donald Trump, who was the 47th President. This interpretation arises from the combination of two elements:

“86”: This is an American slang term with various meanings, including “to throw out,” “to get rid of,” or “to refuse service to”. The Merriam-Webster dictionary notes that the term has also come to mean “to kill,” but this meaning is relatively recent and not widely used. - “47”: This refers to Donald Trump being the 47th President of the United States.

Therefore, the combination “8647” is interpreted by some as a call to “get rid of” or “eliminate” the 47th President, which they view as a threat. This interpretation gained prominence after former FBI Director James Comey posted an image of seashells arranged to form the numbers “8647” on Instagram, leading to accusations from Trump and his allies that Comey was calling for Trump’s assassination. Comey later removed the post and stated that he was unaware of any violent association with the numbers, and that he opposes violence of any kind. It’s important to note that the interpretation of “8647” as an assassination threat is not universally accepted, and Comey himself denied any such intent. https://www.npr.org/2025/05/16/nx-s1-5400400/comey-trump-8647-investigation-instagram

The vast majority of folks asking for 86, simply want Donald removed from office. The angry ones want to see him in prison. Only the rabid few want Trump ventilated, and a quick check on numbers suggests MAGA extremists willing to murder out number libtards 10 to 1… Or perhaps you’ve missed the recent tally on the body count…

Hate is wrong. Violence is wrong. Blaiming entire groups for the rabid few is wrong, and there’s plenty enough violent evil in the world to point fingers in any direction. Better to renounce all violence, and begin working towards peaceful discourse.

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BADGED POT BANDIT?

Joseph Huffaker has pleaded not guilty to federal prosecutors’ allegations he pulled over drivers and took their money and marijuana.

by Colin Atagi

Testimony is commencing in a federal extortion case against a former Rohnert Park police officer accused of pulling drivers over along Highway 101 and robbing them of cash and marijuana that prosecutors say he and a partner illegally seized.

Joseph Huffaker’s jury trial, overseen by Judge Maxine Chesney in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, began Monday with opening statements. The trial is expected to last until July 18, according to court records.

Prosecutors are expected to call up to 34 witnesses, including Brendan “Jacy” Tatum, a former Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety sergeant who prosecutors say led the scheme and pleaded guilty nearly four years ago to being part of it.

Huffaker’s attorney, Richard Ceballos, is expected to call up to eight witnesses. Ceballos did not immediately return a request for comment Monday.

Huffaker, who was employed by Rohnert Park between 2012 and 2019, is accused of joining Tatum in the traffic-stop robberies and falsifying records to cover up their actions. He was indicted in 2021..

The charges against him, including conspiracy and impersonating a federal officer to commit a crime, stem in part from an incident on Dec. 18, 2017, when prosecutors say he and Tatum pretended to work for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives when they approached a victim and took 23 pounds of cannabis.

“Specifically, the evidence presented at trial will show that part of Huffaker and Tatum’s conspiracy was to tell their victims they were federal agents to scare them because most local marijuana growers were not concerned about state-level enforcement,” prosecutors wrote in a trial memo.

Like Huffaker, Tatum was indicted in September 2021. Tatum pleaded guilty that December to federal extortion charges, falsifying police reports and tax evasion. He’s remained free since entering his plea, pending Huffaker’s trial. Tatum’s sentencing is scheduled for September.

According to prosecutors’ witness list, Tatum will testify about Rohnert Park police policies and procedures, his involvement in the criminal activity and other related crimes while a member of Rohnert Park’s drug interdiction team.

Tatum led the drug interdiction team between 2014 and his resignation in 2018. The team’s operations on Highway 101 often took place as far as 40 miles away from Rohnert Park city limits.

Rohnert Park disbanded the team in January 2017, but Tatum and Huffaker continued to pull over drivers anyway.

Federal authorities began to investigate team members in 2018 when a driver reported he’d been unlawfully stopped and his marijuana taken. More complaints from other motorists followed.

Investigators concluded Tatum and Huffaker shook down drivers for cash and pot without documenting the stops or evidence they seized.

On multiple occasions, they sold the cannabis to a drug dealer, William “Billy” Timmins, who’s received immunity and is set to testify in Huffaker’s trial.

He’s expected to tell the jury about a specific moment he met them and “they gave Timmins black trash bags full of marijuana,” the trial memo says. “In return, Timmins provided Tatum with thousands of dollars in cash meant to be split between Tatum and Huffaker.”

Area news outlets began covering the seizures and played a role in Huffaker and Tatum making costly mistakes that led to their indictment, prosecutors say. The two at one point, prosecutors say, issued a fake police report and press release in response to one of those news stories, leading to a charge of falsifying records.

Tatum resigned amid an internal investigation, and then-Rohnert Park Public Safety Director Brian Masterson abruptly retired. Masterson also is expected to testify in this month’s trial.

Huffaker struck a deal that paid him $75,000 to resign in 2019 after the internal investigation found he had engaged in misconduct. He has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges.

In early 2020, Rohnert Park paid $1.5 million to settle federal civil rights lawsuits from eight drivers who said Tatum and Huffaker, among other unnamed officers, robbed them of money and marijuana.

Huffaker’s trial had been delayed numerous times. Izaak Schwaiger, a civil rights attorney who represented seven plaintiffs in the civil lawsuit, said he was glad federal officials were holding Huffaker accountable.

“This is a good day,” Schwaiger said Monday regarding Huffaker’s trial getting underway.

(The Press Democrat)

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SAN FRANCISCO THAI FOOD TITANS land in tiny Northern California town

Why did a Thai food icon choose Mendocino County? The owner said because 'it's special'

by Matt LaFever

A Bay Area adventurer heading for the bluffs and redwoods of California’s North Coast will almost certainly take Highway 101. Through Marin and Sonoma counties, it’s a blur of 65 mph zones, GPS-guided drivers and sound-dampening retaining walls. The North Bay’s towns — Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa — often flash by as forgettable signposts on a fast-moving freeway.

But about 3 miles before reaching Hopland, 10 miles past the Sonoma-Mendocino county line, the four-lane highway drops to two. The speed limit falls to 35. And suddenly, drivers aren’t just passing through — they’re in the heart of the town.

There are no sound barriers here. Instead, there’s a stretch of rustic storefronts, a recently restored frontier hotel with gold-lettered windows, a tie-dye stand glowing in neon hues, and a breakfast diner cut from roadside America’s golden age. For the first time along the 101 since leaving San Francisco, travelers are immersed in a roadside town.

In the heart of Hopland stands a 150-year-old brick building — a living relic of the town’s frontier past. Soon, it will be home to something entirely new: a beloved Thai food institution born in San Francisco. Drawn by the same small-town charm that has captivated travelers and locals for generations, the owners of Osha Thai are bringing their award-winning cuisine to Mendocino County, setting up shop in a building that has long been a symbol of Hopland’s evolving identity.

Chalida Oranratana and her sister Lalita Souksamlane opened the first Osha Thai on Geary Street in San Francisco in 1996. Their bold, modern take on Thai food earned acclaim and a devoted following. Over the years, Oranratana spearheaded expansions into Oakland and the Sonoma County city of Petaluma — and now, nearly 100 miles from where it all began, she’s bringing Osha Thai to its most remote location yet: Hopland.

Oranratana and her husband, Puck Ananta, first came to love Hopland on their regular trips to visit the Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery in the Mendocino County community of Redwood Valley, Ananta told SFGATE. Hopland became a familiar pit stop — a place to stretch their legs and grab coffee at Steep, the eclectic cafe-slash-crystal shop where espressos are served alongside amethyst.

In mid-June, the couple stayed overnight at a Hipcamp in the hills west of town. During a walk through Hopland, they noticed a “for lease” sign on a familiar building near the center of town. It stopped them in their tracks.

That building has lived many lives: a frontier-era saloon, a butcher shop, a post office, and the longtime home of Mendocino Brewing Company — a pioneer in California’s craft beer movement. Most recently, from 2018 to October 2023, it housed the Hopland Tap, a passion project launched by former Lagunitas Brewing Company staff. The Tap closed last fall, citing “three fires, two floods, and a little pandemic.”

John Fetzer, the building’s current owner, told SFGATE he believes it may be one of the oldest structures in the Sanel Valley. The location is ideal for a roadside restaurant, offering Highway 101 frontage, a piece of Mendocino County history, and a front door to the Redwood Coast.

After the husband and wife spotted the listing on June 14, they called the agent. Hours later, they toured the space. The next day, they met Fetzer and made a handshake deal. They signed the lease two weeks later.

“This is the quickest ever that I’ve acquired a restaurant,” Ananta said.

He and Oranratana weren’t just drawn to Hopland — they were drawn to this building. “It’s not just another restaurant in the mall outside the city, right?” Ananta said. “This is like its own building. It has its own character, the history behind it. That’s why we it’s really like, ‘Oh wow, we want it.’”

Fetzer said working with the couple has been a bright spot, adding that they are “super charged up and really excited.”

“I’m just elated,” Fetzer said.

He said he believes Osha Thai will bring new energy to the region: “I think for the southern end of our county, it’s going to be great.”

Still, Ananta is aware that small towns can be skeptical of newcomers — especially from big cities. But he believes the menu at Osha Thai will bridge the gap. Their focus, he said, will be on Thai family-style platters and sizzling, marinated barbecue meats. He recommended newcomers try the pad thai, which he said “is like No. 1 for a long time.”

“And our barbecue is going to make everybody crazy,” he said.

Fetzer echoed the optimism but acknowledged the unknown. “I just hope the locals embrace it, and I think hopefully have an open mind and at least try it,” he said. Still, he’s seen signs of early support.

“I was very surprised. I talked to several people — I won’t call them cowboys, but local people — and I was surprised at the excitement and enthusiasm,” he said.

The couple have some subtle renovations in store. They plan to expand outdoor seating, upgrade furniture and decor, and add modern finishes — while preserving the space’s historic character. “We’re going to keep the vibe of the building,” Ananta said.

If all goes smoothly, the new Osha Thai will open in mid-September. Ananta said he’ll be on site several days a week until then, making the two-hour drive from San Francisco to oversee construction.

The long drive, the small-town risks, the leap from city to countryside — none of it gave them pause. From the moment the couple first set foot in Hopland, they felt something undeniable. As Ananta put it: “It’s special.”

(sfgate.com)

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PLAY DAY AT THE CARGO CONTAINER

Some of us are on summer break. Some of us are retired. Some of us need a fun afternoon off.

Meet up at the cargo container at Arena High School - across the way from the bus maintenance shop, next to the recycling area - for the most fun you've had in a long time:

 - We'll be putting together shelving - those fun metal shelves from Costco - with wheels!

 - sorting through our collection of tabling information, brochures and this and that and

 - sorting through some things we were gifted from another organization.

- If you have emergency supplies you've been saving to put in the container, now's the time to come by

 - and if the stars align: we will be installing our brand new repeater!

Don't miss it PARTY AT THE CONTAINER

Join us Tuesday, July 8, 2025, 1:00 - 2:15 pm at the cargo container!

Thank you again: Redwood Coast Fire Protection District, grant writer and Community Foundation of Mendocino County, grant funder

(Jennifer Smallwood)

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32nd ANNUAL ART IN THE GARDENS: A celebration of creative expression and blooms

Experience the magic of peak-season dahlias and ocean air at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens' beloved summer fundraiser, Art in the Gardens, happening Saturday, August 2, and Sunday, August 3.

The festive community event is fun for all ages and a major fundraiser for our non-profit botanical garden. More than 50 talented artists will showcase their creative talents: think stunning ceramics, captivating photography, dazzling jewelry, exquisite woodwork, and more. Enjoy live performances featuring a vibrant lineup of Mendocino Coast musicians, including The Real Sarahs, Mama Grows Funk, Moon Rabbit, and The Runabout. Special appearances by Circus Mecca and the Sonoma County Pomo Dancers will add to the weekend's celebration of movement and culture. Art, food, craft brews, wine, and wine tasting will be available for purchase on the Event Lawn.

The 2025 Featured Artist for Art in the Gardens is assemblage artist, Virginia Ray. Virginia's whimsical studies are like walking through a natural history museum, curiosity shop, and meditation temple. She loves studying ordinary and mysterious objects found in everyday life and the natural world. A formally trained artist, her distinctive style has evolved over 40 years of experimentation and study of beauty.

Advanced tickets are strongly recommended and will allow a speedy entry. Proceeds from this delightful summertime event will directly benefit the non-profit botanical garden and its mission to engage and enrich lives by displaying and conserving plants.

Parking is free, but limited; please plan to carpool. This year, we are also offering a free parking shuttle on both days of the event. The shuttle will pick up from the Mendocino Community College parking lot (details on the event web page). While the Gardens are usually pet-friendly, dogs are not permitted at Art in the Gardens due to the large crowds. Service animals are welcome.

Don't miss this classic summer festival: join us the first weekend of August for a celebration of creative expression at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. For tickets and a full schedule of events, visit www.gardenbythesea.org/aig.

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CATCH OF THE DAY, Monday, July 7, 2025

EDUARDO ALVAREZ, 29, Ukiah. Criminal threat.

RYAN CRANFORD, 38, Ukiah. Paraphernalia, probation revocation.

ROLAND ESKIND JR., 56, San Ramon/Ukiah. Ammo possession by prohibited person, parole violation.

JESUS GONZALES, 50, Ukiah. Parole violation.

ALDEN LARVIE, 38, Ukiah. Concealed dirk-dagger.

ERIK MAGALLON-MORENO, 26, Ukiah. Disobeying court order.

WOODROW STEEL, 58, Calpella. Controlled substance, paraphernalia, failure to register address change as sex registrant.

GREGORY THOMPKINS, 56, Ukiah. Parole violation.

ALEXANDREA VONREKOWSKI, 31, Lower Lake/Ukiah. DUI-any drug, no license.

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PUBLIC WORKS SCAM

Editor:

Jeffrey Beeman believes in the Hollywood motto if they build it, they will come (“Why California needs high-speed rail,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, June 29). It works in the movies, not in reality. It’s the biggest public works scam since the infamous Boston tunnel. Gov. Gavin Newsom was against it when he started his first term but then changed his view. If ever finished, it won’t transport many people from San Francisco to Los Angeles, which has a nearby high-speed rail system being built with private funds from Rancho Cucamonga to Las Vegas. You know that it will be built on time and on budget. Europeans have successfully built high-speed rail systems because they don’t have restrictions on the environment. It was part of the post-World War II rebuild for Europe. The money would be better spent for affordable housing. Or for those backing SMART to get to Healdsburg and Cloverdale. If a bunch of Texas Republicans had proposed the high-speed rail system and then the bad news came out, Democrats would have cried foul and investigated for fraud. But when California Democrats do it, we’re told it’s good for the environment.

Andrew Smith

Santa Rosa

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PARTY CANCELLED

by Paul Modic

Last year, after stressing for weeks about whether to have a 70th birthday, someone finally showed some interest and said she would come by on that momentous day with some things, gifts I presumed, so there were signs of life in the party zone. (I’d already ordered a small cake on speculation the day before, called back and asked them to make it the next size up and then invited about ten people.)

She said she was planning to bring gin and tonic and asked if I had ice cubes or if she should buy a bag of ice? I didn’t want to be discouraging about anything but I thought, G and T’s? Hardly anyone or no one will probably come, and now I have to think about ice? (And doesn’t she know I’m not drinking?)

It was going to be hot, 104 to 108, I’d set the invitation as cake at five but woke up the next day thinking I didn’t want to do anything for anyone: make ice, buy a bag of chips, hell, even hand someone a glass of water. I wanted to relax on my birthday, not worry about someone else’s comfort on a hundred degree day, and I quickly cancelled everyone.

Wow, 70 years old, though if I keeled over right now they would say, “So young!” It’s a number, a state of mind both meaningful and meaningless, a demarcation meaning things are winding down, maybe ten or more more years to go?

My guest arrived and I was sitting there in shock as I got gifts I didn’t want or need, including a vape pen with thirteen cartridges of hash oil which I’ll probably never use and a ukulele I’ll probably never play. She played a Grateful Dead song with it and tried to show me a chord. I also got a couple of really nice shirts and huge bag of expensive coffee all the way from the Coachella Valley, the kind that “everyone” is drinking these days.

Then there was a sound by the gate and some unidentified people wearing party masks came onto the deck. Soon revealed was my Gal Friday, and her teenage daughter, who outfitted me with a crazy tall party hat and silly glasses, a helium balloon, as well as a box of more random presents: magnifying glass, pee bucket, Hot Wheels bandaids, candy, a couple fancy drinks and about twelve boxes of surplus veggie burgers, my favorite from “Hillary’s,” the company which had recently gone out of business.

We talked for a while on the deck, went inside for some delicious cake and ice cream (lemon with chocolate icing and raspberry filling just like this year, then sat around and listened to the high school girl describe the internet bullying at her school, odd-sounding but predictable. She said some students at Ukiah High spent hours making mean videos about their fellow students, including one a gay kid made to tease her, for no apparent reason except it was the thing to do in this generation. There was no dress code, one girl wore a sweatshirt with nothing under it and unzipped all the way down, and another came to school wearing just a blanket.

It was a nice time and after they left I ate more cake and ice cream.

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IN “NEWSOM COUNTRY” ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, WITH ASSEMBLY CANDIDATE ELI BECKMAN AND HIS SUPPORTERS

And: some brief responses from pro-Israel Mill Valley City Councilmember Max Perrey

by Eva Chrysanthe

A week after FEMA, the agency charged with overseeing responses to disasters such as hurricanes and floods, announced $94 million in grants to (only pro-Israel) Jewish organizations, such as the ADL, to combat alleged “anti-semitism”, there was a Fourth of July parade that wound through Larkspur and Corte Madera.

Featured in the parade was Eli Beckman, the boyish Corte Madera City Councilmember from whom I have sought answers for over a year regarding his largely undisclosed, nearly $8,000 trip to Israel paid for by the de facto lobbying group, the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area (SF JCRC).

The week of the parade, I had sent Councilmember Beckman another email requesting answers about the Israel trip and his ongoing ties to the Israel lobby. I updated him on Israel’s genocide of Palestinians, including the murder of over 500 Palestinian civilians since May 27, as they tried to pick up desperately needed food. I figured if I didn’t hear back from Beckman, I could at least join the parade with a sign asking his constituents some of the unanswered questions — maybe they could tell me.

The sign asked simply, “Why did Council Member Eli Beckman take a $7,936.00 all-expenses-paid trip to Tel Aviv paid for by the Israel lobby?” The back of the sign read, a bit more cheekily: “When will we Americans declare independence from Israel?”

As the daughter of a (drafted) former US Army Captain who himself had no love of the military or of war, I am perhaps hereditarily lukewarm on Fourth of July parades. It feels especially odd to celebrate the United States at a time when masked ICE agents are disappearing working fathers and mothers en masse from Los Angeles, with no intervention from California’s Governor, who lives right here in Marin.

Maybe my own ambivalence was reflected in the crowd: both signs I carried got more praise and thanks than boos, which may reflect the overall sentiment captured in a June 2025 Quinnipiac poll showing that only 12% of Democrats now favor Israel over Palestinians. And at the end of the parade, the pro-Israel Mill Valley City Councilmember Max Perrey, who had marched alongside Eli Beckman throughout the parade, graciously approached me, and I was able to ask him some questions.

This article is going to forego the cheers and thanks from people in the crowd to focus on the stress points that show the reluctance of elected officials and their donors/supporters to reckon with their complicity in Israel’s ongoing genocide. It may be important to watch how this transpires in Marin, as Governor Newsom, who has moved back into a $9 million mansion in Kentfield (previously owned by Daniel Pritzker, son of the notorious Jay Pritzker), gears up for a likely 2028 Presidential campaign.

Comments from Max Perrey

At the end of the parade, Mill Valley City Councilmember Max Perrey approached me and very politely introduced himself. Perrey was nice enough to let me ask him some questions as he walked. I was pretty out of breath at that point, but did my best. What I found interesting about his responses is that it seemed as if he still hasn’t thought through what it means to support Israel during this genocide, nor has he read the case brought against Israel by South Africa at the International Court of Justice. It may merely be a reflection of how fatigued everybody felt after marching in the heat and interacting with the crowd for so long, but Perrey appeared to be incapable of even saying the word Palestinian when I asked him, in response to his statement that Israel has a right to exist, “at the expense of whom?”

I had cycled over from the East Bay carrying the rolled-up signs in a duffel on my bike. I was pretty parched by the time I jumped into the parade, but I figured if I was going to protest, I should try to do it with a little bit of enthusiasm.

I guess some Nouveau Marin people don’t understand the whole concept of the First Amendment, they seem to think that I wasn’t allowed to assemble in a public place, say things in public, or hold a sign with a political message. But those are among the many things the First Amendment is intended to protect. This particular man seemed to think my using the First Amendment meant that I had “a lot of (expletive) nerve”.

“A lot of nerve” is how I would describe people who get angry about an older woman protesting a genocide, but that’s his right to say it. Salud, sweary-guy!

Eli Beckman used a very young child to lead his campaign walk during the parade, and at one point the child was emboldened to instruct me to leave. It seemed like a manipulative way for Beckman to use the kid; my video avoids him entirely, but the child’s voice is audible telling me to get out.

But I’m more perplexed by what followed in the interaction between this white couple supporting Beckman from the crowd. It’s one thing that the woman insisted that criticism of Beckman’s trip to Israel constituted “antisemitism”, or that asking about the children whom Israel is deliberately starving to death in Gaza was somehow “antisemitic”. What I was not prepared for was her partner’s response, which was a forceful muzzling of her actual mouth with his hand. (For all the claims that Muslim men are mosogynistic, in all the years I had lived in neighborhoods in New York alongside Muslim families, I had never seen a single Muslim man lay hands on a woman in the way that this white man felt free to do in public.)

I didn’t think the incident was necessarily about this couple. I do remember Marin County when it was less conformist and somewhat more liberated, and it struck me that his physical silencing of his female partner was an expression of the ugly culture that has overtaken Marin County in the last few decades: half Silicon Valley, half Stepford-Hell. And fully misogynistic.

We Love What?

This clip seemed very classic Marin, the woman is wearing a “No Kings” t-shirt, and her husband calls out “We love genocide!” These are the exact same people who will swear to you that they can’t understand how they lost the election last November.

But as much as Israel’s genocide of Palestinians grieves decent people, there are many in Marin County who are profiting from the genocide, and these types are inclined to make jokes when anyone raises the issue of our government’s ongoing support of Israel’s slaughter. It’s something I’ve been thinking about as I follow Peter Byrne’s series on the militarization of artificial intelligence. How much of that has lethal technology has enriched Marin County?

Walt Beckman

The man in this video clip appears to be Walt Beckman, a $320-an-hour “clinical psychologist” — and apparently the father of Assembly candidate Eli Beckman. (Beckman’s parade retinue appeared to be made up largely of members of his own family.) It was apparently inconceivable to Walt Beckman that questions regarding his son’s curiously expensive JCRC-paid trip to Israel were of merit. He fell back instead on insinuating that the person asking the valid and reasonable questions was “antisemitic”. That does not exactly reassure me that he would be competent in his role as a psychologist, but fortunately he is out of my price range.

San Rafael City Councilmember (and woman who called the police on peaceful student protesters and activists) Rachel Kertz is on the left of the frame in a white shirt and navy shorts. JCRC BANJO member Holli Thier was in a float near the end of the parade. (Eli Beckman is also a JCRC BANJO member.)

I found this particular promotion of Beckman at the parade stand to be almost surrealistically garish. There had been some comments that I shouldn’t be bringing politics into the Fourth of July parade, but it was the hyping of various (pro-Israel) candidates during a genocide that made the parade explicitly political. ( I wasn’t aware of it at the time, but Assemblymember Damon Connolly, who traveled to Israel on the JCRC’s dime in February 2024, was in a float at the very end of the parade.)

I don’t have any illusions about this older woman who tells me in this next video “you don’t belong here.” I don’t think she’s going to have any great awakening before she passes away with almost every need of hers attended to by underpaid (nonwhite) care workers. Growing up with an Asian mom in near-lily-white Marin, we often heard variants of “you don’t belong here.” As kids, we also heard much worse, deeply racist things said in Marin about the civilians slaughtered in Vietnam, which left an imprint on us kids. And it’s one reason why Israel’s genocide of Palestinians, which is so bitterly racist and has full support from our government, obliges me to protest.

The people I have shown you in these videos are promoting ideas that I think need to be challenged, and that’s why I included them. But they are not the majority of people in this country. And even in “Nouveau Marin”, they were not even the majority of people watching that parade!

“The ‘punchline’ is there’s a genocide in Gaza and children are starving,” I offered.

There was an awkward pause. And then, faintly, he offered back, “Happy Fourth of July.” It was the best he could offer; I took it.

Onward:

I got some coffee and, before the bike ride home, I headed to the banner drop at Lucky Drive, which was organized by two outstanding, longtime pro-Palestinian activists. The signage covered nearly the entire overpass, a truly beautiful sight. After protesting solo, it was great to be in the company of others working on the same project.

Over the next two days, I started getting reports from other protests in Marin; from El Cerrito (where Jewish Voice for Peace was so numerous that pro-Israel US Senator Adam Schiff fled the stage); and around the country. I’m waiting on more photos and notes from those events, and hope to post soon, along with a report about the beautiful memorial Larry Bragman organized to mark David Glick’s birthday.

Wednesday morning is another Senate hearing in Sacramento for the anti-teacher, pro-censorship AB 715, and the teachers will be out en force. I plan to be there to report.

Thanks as always to readers for support, insights, amd inspiration. And hey, Happy Independence Day, for whenever you decide to declare independence.

(To see all of Eva's parade videos: https://marincountyconfidential.substack.com/p/in-newsom-country-on-the-fourth-of)

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GIANTS BLEND ROUPP’S START and a small-ball attack to beat Phillies

by Shayna Rubin

Landen Roupp’s competitive edge is so fiery, the thought of it makes his teammates giggle.

Patrick Bailey, who usually catches him, said with a grin last week in Chicago that Roupp’s pursuit of perfection “stresses” him out, and that he is “one of the most competitive guys” he’d ever met. After Roupp led the San Francisco Giants to a 3-1 win against the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday, infielder Casey Schmitt broke out into a similar grin and chuckle when asked about Roupp’s fierce demeanor.

“Yeah, it’s pretty gnarly,” Schmitt said. “He’s got this look in his eye and it’s kind of scary at times. Just stay out of his way a little bit.”

Last spring, Giants coaches noted Roupp’s competitive streak as one of of the reasons, along with his impressive curveball, for his unexpected ascent into the big league picture. This year, he toiled when he was hesitant to go away from his bread-and-butter curveball and sinker, but found his stride once he started to comfortably incorporate his changeup and cutter. Two months ago, he shifted his pre-game routine by talking more to his teammates instead of shutting down to prepare for his starts.

Now at the halfway mark of his second big league season, that quest for perfection has helped him persevere to a new high.

Over five innings against Philadelphia, Roupp allowed one run on four hits with three strikeouts. Facing the Phillies a second time this year, Roupp kept the hard contact to a minimum with seven groundouts and one fly out. Oracle Park has been kind to Roupp: he lowered his home ERA to 1.85 in seven starts and his season ERA to 3.39.

The Roupp of old might’ve spiraled when things got difficult and unlucky in the fifth inning. It started when Bryson Stott’s sharp ground ball down the first base line took a funny hop and deflected off first baseman Wilmer Flores into foul territory for a double. Stott advanced to third base and scored the tying run when Roupp threw a wild pitch to Trea Turner, who later singled.

He got help from others to escape the jam. Luis Matos made a diving catch on Kyle Schwarber’s line drive to right field and home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi rung up Bryce Harper on a sinker up and out of the zone, one of a handful of questionable calls he’d make. The Phillies had gotten Roupp up to 100 pitches, but he’d limited the damage and noted for himself how he managed his emotions throughout.

“I feel like I could have gone into the sixth if I (hadn’t thrown) 20 pitches more in that inning,” Roupp said. “Definitely something I’ve had to learn. Early on, sometimes I let it get to me. But I’m trying to do a better job of that, just learning each out.”

Said manager Bob Melvin: “Today he had great energy out there. Felt like early in the season energy and not coming down to the half. You have some innings under your belt and sometimes you hit a wall and look forward to the break, but it looked early in the season for him. It’s obviously a tough lineup to go through, they made him throw some pitches and get out after five, but the last three times out he’s been really good.”

At the plate, the Giants put their faith in the mantra that if you put the ball in play, good things can happen. They employed to scratch out a run against Phillies lefty starter Cristopher Sanchez, who hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs since May 24.

In the second inning, Matt Chapman and Flores had back-to-back hits and Schmitt — back from his hand injury — walked to load them. Matos hit a potential double play ball that wasn’t turned, resulting in Chapman scoring their lone run against Sanchez.

With the game tied in the eighth, they got to the Phillies’ bullpen. Willy Adames was hit by a pitch to lead off. Chapman then stroked a fastball the other way for his third hit of the game, to put runners on the corners with no outs. Much to the chagrin of the Giants’ dugout, Flores was hit by a pitch — the second of the inning by Phillies reliever Orion Kerkering, but it loaded the bases.

Schmitt and Jung Hoo Lee each hit ground balls, and a slow Phillies infield couldn’t protect home as the Giants scored a run on each.

“You try to put the ball in play against their guy, I mean he’s pretty good,” Melvin said. “Try to scratch a run or two, I don’t think he’s given up more than a run in probably five games or something like that. First guy he’s walked in five games. So you’re hoping to get a run to get his pitch count up and get him out of the game and hopefully do a little damage of the bullpen. That happened.”

Schmitt played his first of what is expected to be many games at second base and made a leaping catch in the ninth inning to speed along Camilo Doval’s 14th save after he’d issued a leadoff walk.

(sfchronicle.com)

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CALIFORNIA GRAY WOLVES REPORT

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) today published a report summarizing its management and conservation activities for gray wolves (Canis lupus) over the past 10 years.

“Ten Years of Gray Wolf Conservation and Management in California: 2015-2024” details CDFW’s wolf conservation and management efforts, including wolf monitoring techniques, wolf-livestock depredation investigations, wolf captures and population data for the state’s wolf packs known through 2024, including the minimum number of individuals, breeding pairs and litters produced.

Wolves were extirpated in California by 1924 and naturally returned to the state in 2011. The first pups born in California were documented in 2015. At the end of 2024, CDFW wildlife biologists documented at least 50 wolves in the state. Wolves are listed as endangered species under the California Endangered Species Act and the federal Endangered Species Act.

“Since the wolves’ return CDFW has been monitoring the growing wolf population, working to mitigate wolf-livestock conflict and conducting significant outreach to livestock producers and the public,” said CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham. “Through these monitoring efforts, studies and outreach, CDFW and partners are building a toolkit that will offer solutions and resources for livestock producers while also allowing a native species to successfully come home.”

Starting in 2026, CDFW plans to produce an annual report about its wolf management and conservation activities. Wolf management and conservation is guided by CDFW’s 2016 Conservation Plan for Gray Wolves in California.

This first report describes 10 years of work by CDFW, such as community engagement efforts, non-lethal deterrent use and the creation of the Wolf-Livestock Compensation Program.

Maps included in the report show wolf activity in California as well as migration of collared wolves. While the Yowlumni pack has established in Tulare County, all other known packs have home ranges in northeastern California.

The report highlights include a summary of past and ongoing research that will inform CDFW’s future management of wolves.

Months after the first wolf arrived in California, CDFW formed a stakeholder working group that was divided into three subgroups: A wolf-livestock subgroup focused on wolf impacts on livestock and agriculture, a wolf-ungulates subgroup focused on wolf impacts on deer and elk populations, and a wolf conservation subgroup focused on wolf sustainability and health issues. The outcomes of 44 meetings were analyzed.

Most prevalent were topics relating to the importance of and need for data on wolves in California, including their impact on livestock, wild prey and natural ecological communities; identifying wolf population recovery goals and whether a sustainable population can be maintained over time; how the California Endangered Species Act affects wolf management options; and where lethal controls would fit into wolf management.

The report also includes an analysis of the Lassen pack’s diet and notes the work of CDFW’s Wildlife Forensics Lab to create a reference library of wolf genetic samples. The genetic samples are used to determine the origins and relatedness of California’s wolves, differentiate scats and depredations by coyotes and dogs, identify the genetic “fingerprints” of individual wolves and even determine the coat color of wolves detected only by their DNA.

The University of California, Davis, Wildlife Health Center initiated The Wolf Project in 2022, with research funded by the Wildlife Conservation Network. In 2023 CDFW began collaborating with researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, on the California Wolf Project. More information about the The Wolf Project and California Wolf Project are available online.

For more information about wolf conservation in California, CDFW Wolf Livestock Compensation Grants or to view the CDFW Wolf Tracker wolf location map go to CDFW’s gray wolf web page. The Ten Years of Gray Wolf Conservation and Management in California: 2015-2024 report is now available online.

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MESSAGE FROM DEADLY TEXAS KILLER FLOODS: YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN.

by Bill Wolfe

It’s all about personal responsibility. You’re responsible for your own life, your family’s life…

Whether you are at a home you have lived in your entire life, or at a vacation cottage, understanding your flood risk and being connected to emergency warnings is essential…

Our area has a history of monstrous and devastating flash floods.

Visitors to our area are particularly vulnerable to being caught unprepared for flash flooding because they are not connected to local emergency warning programs, like Kerr County’s Code Red.

– Dub Thomas, Emergency Management Coordinator, Kerr County Texas

No doubt, there is already a lot of finger-pointing going on after the deadly flash floods in Central Texas.

Texas officials are pointing fingers at the National Weather Service for allegedly inaccurate forecasts and lack of timely warnings.

Many are pointing fingers at Trump’s budget and personnel cuts to the National Weather Service and NOAA, which provide the science and monitoring networks relied on to produce accurate forecasts.

Some are highlighting climate change-driven extreme weather for the heavy rainfall that produced the flood.

None of these claims accurately focuses on the real underlying causes.

The region impacted by the floods is known as “flash flood alley“:

The Colorado River flows through the Texas Hill Country, an area known as “Flash Flood Alley” because it has one of the greatest risks for flash floods in the United States. The region is prone to flash floods because of its steep terrain, shallow soil and unusually high rainfall rates. …— (“Managing Floods In Flash Flood Alley”)

Flash floods regularly occur there, particularly along the Guadalupe River.

Watch the video “Be Flood Aware” to get a clear scientific understanding of why the region is so prone to flash floods. It was prepared by the Kerr County, Texas Office of Emergency Management. Each County Emergency Management Plan is supervised by the State Office and submitted to FEMA as a condition of receiving FEMA disaster assistance funds.

But you’ll get a lot more than scientific information in that video.

You will get a government philosophy: you’re on your own: (a screenshot from the video makes that abundantly clear)

The camp where many children died was located on the banks of the highly flash flood-prone Guadalupe River – take a look:

The camp should never have been allowed to locate and operate there.

But because it has operated for decades, the camp owners – a mom and pop operation– should at least have been required to have special flash flood warning technology and management programs in place:

Agnes Stacy and her husband, Pop Stacy purchased the camp in 1939. Agnes Stacy had close ties to the camp after sending her daughter, Anne, there and later becoming a director at the facility in 1934. Today, Agnes’ grandson Dick Eastland and his wife, Tweety Eastland, serve as executive directors of Camp Mystic Guadalupe River and Camp Mystic Cypress Lake.

The Eastland family has become the fourth generation of operators of the camp with Dick and Tweety’s sons and daughter-in-laws serving as camp directors.

But that apparently was not the case – you’re on your own in Texas.

And the camp’s philosophy and program are Christian in nature, with no science focus, so it is unlikely that the camp directors, parents and campers had any understanding or awareness of flash flood risks:

Established in 1926, Camp Mystic focuses on three goals every summer for those in attendance — be a better person for being at Mystic, let Mystic bring out the best in them and grow spiritually.

The private summer camp aims to “provide young girls with a wholesome Christian atmosphere in which they can develop outstanding personal qualities and self-esteem.” The camp hosts sessions in two to four week spans over the course of the summer beginning in May.

“Campers participate in more than 30 activities including, but not limited to aerobics, archery, basketball and arts and crafts. Girls can attend the camp only after finishing the second grade.”

So there it is, the view from death in Texas: An Individualist anti-government “you’re on your own” philosophy; no land use restrictions; no mandatory safety regulations; and a Christian anti-science worldview.

(CounterPunch.org)

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ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Trump’s America is where you drown before you’re warned, where children die in floodwaters while billionaires get tax breaks. As 80 people died and dozens more vanished in Texas flash floods, one thing is clear: this wasn’t just a natural disaster—it was the man-made fallout of MAGA austerity. For years, Kerr County begged for outdoor flood sirens. They knew the risk. They saw kids pulled from trees. But officials didn’t act—because raising taxes, even slightly, was politically taboo. Meanwhile, Trump’s so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” gutted the National Weather Service, slashing 600 staffers and crippling communication with local responders. This is Trump’s version of savings: dismantle NOAA because it tells uncomfortable climate truths, silence FEMA behind a wall of political appointees, and strip public health and safety budgets to the bone—all while fueling fossil fuel expansion. When asked about the cuts’ role in the Texas tragedy, Trump blamed Biden. Because nothing screams leadership like dodging blame while citizens are swept away. From Kerr County to climate research labs, from sirens not built to children unvaccinated, Trump’s war on government isn’t about freedom—it’s about power. And Americans are paying with their lives.

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RON NEFF

“Authorities in Texas say at least 89 people have died in devastating flooding in Texas. (AP)”

When we moved to Texas in 1983 I was amazed at the scope of the floods that seemed to happen about every year in the Hill Country of central Texas. These floods are not unknown and not unexpected. Over the last 20 years millions of people from other states have moved to Texas and clearly they have not been paying attention. However for the last 3-4 years, at least, central Texas has been in the midst of a severe drought and these floods did not happen to the same degree of severity. I am not sure how long this camp has been in existence and not sure if the owners were even from Texas but if so, I agree that the people who developed the camp or owned it should have known 100% about these floods and should never have allowed anyone to camp right beside the river unless someone is staying up all night making sure the weather was clear. In the mid-80s our family was camping at Garner State Park and we set up our tent probably 10 feet above the river level and at 10 PM a park ranger came thru the campsite on a loudspeaker telling everyone to get out of the area and to high ground because a severe thunderstorm had just appeared. We were in a tent so we threw all our tent stuff and camping gear in our van and got out. The storm was not as severe as expected so there was no flood but….better safe than sorry. This area is truly a beautiful area but……everyone that lives there should know these storms appear and disappear without warning. Stupidity that anyone is surprised by this kind of thing happening. It happened all through the 80s, 90. 00s, and 10s so…..not unexpected.

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RITA BALLOU

by Guy Clark (1975)

She could dance that slow Uvalde
Shuffle to some cowboy hustle
How she made them trophy buckles shine, shine, shine
Wild-eyed and Mexican silvered
Trickin' dumb old cousin Willard
Into thinkin' that he got her this time

Hill country honky-tonkin' Rita Ballou
Every beer joint in town has played a fool for you
Backslidin' barrel ridin' Rita Ballou
Ain't a cowboy in Texas would not ride a bull for you

She's a rawhide rope and velvet mixture
Walkin' talkin' Texas texture
High-timin' barroom fixture kind of a girl
She's the queen of the cowboys
Look at old Willard grinnin' now boys
You'd of thought there's less fools in this world

So good luck Willard and here's to you
And here's to Rita and I hope she'll do ya right all night
Lord I wish I was the fool in your shoes

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CHUCK WILCHER:

“… driven by the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 and a second Trump administration priority to streamline government, had a direct and quantifiable impact on NWS funding, staffing, and operational readiness.

Budget Shortfalls and Research Cuts

While top-line budgets for NOAA might appear stable or even slightly increased in some proposals, a closer look reveals a more precarious situation for the NWS at the operational level. For Fiscal Year 2024, the NWS was operating with an effective budget shortfall of $45 million compared to what was needed just to sustain its FY2023 service levels.

Looking ahead, the administration’s FY2026 budget proposal called for zeroing out funding entirely for critical research arms like the climate and severe storm laboratories, which are responsible for developing the very models and technologies that improve future forecasts.

Massive Staffing Exodus

This financial strain translated directly into a staffing crisis. In the first six months of 2025 alone, the NWS lost nearly 600 employees nationwide through a combination of layoffs and early retirement buyouts.

To put this in perspective, this single six-month reduction was roughly equal to the total number of staff the agency had lost over the previous 15 years combined. The rapid exodus was unprecedented and, according to the NWS Employees Organization, “definitely disrupts the entire staffing requirements for the National Weather Service.”

Widespread Office Shortages

The impact was felt acutely in forecast offices across the country. By mid-2025, the NWS was scrambling to fill more than 150 mission-critical positions, and reports indicated that nearly half of all NWS offices had vacancy rates of 20% or higher, with some being described as “critically understaffed.”

The NWS Austin/San Antonio office, which has direct forecast responsibility for Kerr County, was a prime example of this trend. At the beginning of 2025, the office had a 12% vacancy rate. By the end of April, following the administration’s push for buyouts, that rate had nearly doubled to 23%, with 6 of its 26 positions left unfilled.”

https://govfacts.org/analysis/did-national-weather-service-cuts-affect-the-response-to-the-texas-floods/

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MY DAD ASKED ME TO HELP END HIS LIFE. I STILL CAN’T WRAP MY HEAD AROUND WHAT FOLLOWED

by Rachel Swan

It was otherwise a normal weekend visit with my dad, Sam. At least as normal as it could be with a proud 76-year-old man who, for seven months, had been rapidly deteriorating from blood cancer.

Briefly, we sat at the dining table and scanned the newspaper. I ribbed him for turning the heat on during a warm spring day because he no longer had good circulation. He cracked a wan smile.

Then the wholly unexpected came — when dad slid me a form to sign.

He needed a witness for the aid-in-dying drug that, since 2016, has been available to certain terminally ill adults in California.

My dad was the perfect candidate. Which is to say, he met all the legally mandated requirements.

Before filling out the end-of-life consent form in March, he consulted two doctors and was assured he had fewer than six months to live. His mind remained sharp and capable of making decisions. He desired independence, even as his rope-muscled frame, honed from years of backpacking and running Bay to Breakers, had started to waste away.

To some degree, I understood his frustration. I knew how much he resented feeling drained all the time, lacking the energy to wash dishes or walk to the grocery store. And I desperately feared the man who refused everyone’s help would wind up in the most helpless state of all, tethered to machines in a hospital.

But wanting your father to find peace, in the abstract, was one thing. Green-lighting his death was another.

While dutifully signing the form, I stared at him in disbelief.

Both of my parents believe in personal choice about health outcomes; neither has political or religious qualms. In fact, when I was growing up, my dad made off-color jokes about end-of-life interventions, telling my sister and me to “give him the pill” when his time came.

This, of course, was well before his cancer diagnosis.

Still, when the package with its two bottles of powder to be mixed with apple juice arrived in April, my mother was as wary as I was. She and Sam agreed to put the bottles on a high shelf where he couldn’t reach them.

From my mother’s perspective, I’m sure it felt like having a loaded gun in the house. My dad saw things differently.

During his life, he’d worked as an earthquake engineer, meaning he studied — literally — how the ground shifts beneath us. I believe a person who specializes in tectonic change may view his own death as another natural convulsion.

His focus was not to stave death off, but to manage and mitigate impacts.

Beyond that, Sam hated how his world had closed in. He’d always loved taking long walks with no fixed destination or planning international trips on the fly. (For years, he’d carried a business card that spoofed TV westerns: “have laptop, will travel.”) As he grew weaker, the notion of a swift, painless death probably became more tantalizing, especially since he could determine when it happened. It was not by accident that my dad started calling his aid-in-dying drug “the potion.”

It took him until Father’s Day to ask for the potion, four years after his initial diagnosis and 10 months after his body really started breaking down. By that point, he couldn’t walk up and down the front steps to his house. Largely bound to a chair, he grudgingly asked me to lift his arms when I came to visit so he could put on a jacket. Then, after about 20 minutes, he told me to leave, as if embarrassed to be needing assistance.

When he requested the drug that night, my mother begged for more time. My father, growing exasperated, agreed to wait a couple of days if we bought him a better chair. He was eyeing a motorized “power” recliner.

The next morning, my sister began a frantic online shopping excursion, drove a pickup truck to my parents’ house and delivered the recliner that afternoon.

But two days later, my dad asked for the potion again.

Again, we implored him to wait. Yet it no longer seemed fair to postpone the inevitable.

My dad’s spleen had swelled to about half his body weight. It took two people to lift him to a standing position.

We never quite landed on the appropriate moment, or ceremony, for a man who would have preferred to quietly fade out. Without a clear vision, I nursed ideas about holding hands and sharing memories that were sincere and freighted with gravitas.

My dad, meanwhile, had his own internal clock — and it had run out.

We bought his chair on Monday. By Thursday morning, he woke early and asked for water, then fell mute. He was unable to ingest the end-of-life medication, which, by law, a patient must take on their own.

At around 10 a.m., a hospice provider arrived and ordered morphine. A whole process clicked into place: We rifled through his address book, called extended family and old friends, hired caregivers for the night and had to cancel them an hour later.

By then, my dad was gone.

“I’m so glad you didn’t give him the potion,” my father’s longtime business partner sobbed when I called him that afternoon. He had heard about my dad’s request and felt heartbroken.

Now, as I relitigate the events of those last few days, I play out the different scenarios. My dad was straining for control over his cancer, and I wonder if it was wrong for us to take that away from him in this last stage. Perhaps we could have let go earlier and empowered him to die whenever the urge came over him. Maybe my sister and I didn’t need to be involved, didn’t have to say a formal goodbye.

There are also moments when I ask myself whether my dad could have more clearly articulated how he wanted his life to end. We’d known the diagnosis for some time, and by March, my dad had accepted that no cure would come. Soon after, he began to distance himself from family, without quite grasping our need for closure.

Weeks have passed. And my dad still has an opportunity, posthumously, to steer his own fate.

Dad had left instructions to cremate his body and scatter the ashes at a favorite backpacking site in the Sierra. This time, my mother, sister and I intend to honor his request.

Well, OK, we have one caveat. We’re asking for a final concession from him: to keep some of his remains at home.

We just need a little more time.

(SF Chronicle)

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CAGE MATCH

by James Kunstler

We are closing in on more disclosures and fixing past wrongs to personnel. We’re making sure this is done correctly. But it’s absolutely getting done.” — Dan Bongino, Deputy Director, FBI

Who knows what to believe these days? Well, what would you expect after years, even decades, of anti-reality operations by everyone from the CIA to The New York Times to Harvard U. Is it any wonder that reality-optionality is making the people both apathetic and insane?

We are told now by the FBI that there is no evidence that Jeffrey Epstein ran a blackmail operation against the politicos of Western Civ, or that a “client list” existed, or that JE was murdered in his jail cell. It well might be true that there is no evidence, strictly speaking.

Messrs. Patel and Bongino, coming into office rather late in the Epstein game, were apparently left with big bag of nuthin. What else can they truthfully report? So, they had to put it out there, knowing a whole lot of people would be miffed. “We’ve got nuthin, sorry.” Were they chagrined to do that? Evidently so. Of course, this Epstein business has been going on for years and years and it is certainly possible that the most damning evidence has been destroyed by interested parties.

Personally, I find it implausible that absolutely nothing ever leaked, no video of, say, Tony Blair or Bill Clinton violating a child, if it ever happened. Everything else in our world leaks, eventually. And there were supposedly how many cameras around the Epstein properties, and how many thousands of hours of video recordings? There is more video of Bigfoot than of compromised Epstein bigshots. Just sayin’.

AG Pam Bondi, the FBIs boss, also has some ‘splainin’ to do. In February, she claimed to have the Epstein client list “sitting on my desk right now to review,” and hinted it would be released shortly. That material, when released, turned out to be the old dog-eared flight logs that have been circulating through every news outlet for years. Did she not know the difference between an alleged “client list” and the old flight logs? Let’s face it: seems kind of dumb… seems like the AG got played… and now the mob on “X” is having sport with her.

Among the miffed, apparently, is Elon Musk. At the height of his feud with Mr. Trump, on June 5, Elon put out a message on his “X” platform saying, “@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!”. This intemperate utterance naturally prompts you to wonder: how (or what) might Elon know about any supposed Epstein evidence? At this point, the FBI might send somebody to inquire. Did Elon, who has more money than even Scrooge McDuck, somehow manage to buy up all those alleged blackmail tapes? Does he otherwise know where they might have disappeared to? Has he ever seen anything? Anyway, he didn’t produce any actual evidence.

Is Elon losing it, a little bit. His grip, that is. Mr. Trump thinks so. He declared over the weekend that Elon has “gone off the rails” …has become “a train wreck.” Well, what you can see in this very public, very regrettable cage-match between two giant public personalities is that Elon has lost his cool and the president has not.

For one thing, Elon is apparently incensed over the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) just signed into law because it ends the electric vehicle mandate left over from the “Joe Biden” regime, as well as the whopping $7,500 federal tax credit for new electric cars — loss of which which is apt to break Tesla’s business model. The bill also calls for sunsetting subsidies for battery production by 2028, meaning Tesla’s Powerwall business is likewise affected. Mr. Trump took pains to explain that he’d informed Elon from the get-go (and repeatedly) that all those subsidies were done for when he got elected.

Elon was visibly perturbed over the process that produced the OBBB, the proverbial political sausage-making (i.e., a nasty business you’d be appalled to watch). It appeared, he said, to un-do all of his DOGE spending cuts so laboriously made. Mainly, Elon deplored the failure to address the $36-trillion-plus national debt, widely recognized as a time-bomb on a short fuse liable to sink the whole USS United States. I will tell you a harsh truth: nobody will do anything about the national debt. The sheer math of our annual debt service is simply impossible. Our country is heading into some sort of bankruptcy proceeding, some kind of ferocious “work out” — as they say in the banking board-rooms.

Mr. Trump is betting that re-industrialization of the USA will produce enough of the right sort of growth — that is, production of real things of real value, as opposed to mere financial shenanigans — that the debt reckoning can be overcome somehow. Or mitigated. It’s a bold risk, and many pieces of the scheme are indeed falling into place: tariffs, bigly investment capital from foreigners, a general realignment of trade relations, tax reform, downsizing of government.

But a virulent opposition, the mad-dog remnants of the Democratic Party, seeks to wreck Mr. Trump’s program (and perhaps the USA altogether), and it is a miracle that the president has gotten this far with his plan. Personally, I’m doubtful that the energy resources will be there to underwrite this reindustrialization, but that is a topic for another day.

And now Elon, peeved as he is, proposes to bring another big obstacle onto the scene, his proposed new “American Party.” Looks like he is making a tactical blunder, and his distraught emotional demeanor suggests poor decision-making. Frankly, I’ve been concerned about Elon’s soundness-of-mind since he came on-board Mr. Trump’s band-wagon last summer. There was something peculiar about his spastic rompings on stage, his jerky movements, his garbly speeches. You wonder if all the talk about his world-beating “genius” has messed with his mind.

Also, frankly, I’ve long thought that attempting to colonize Mars was absurd, or at least premature. Shouldn’t we rather make an effort to demonstrate that we can live on this planet successfully before we venture off to a new one? After all, this Earth is perfectly suited to our needs and Mars is absolutely not. I doubt that even the most extreme transhuman program would avail to implant us up there.

To cut to the chase: the grandiosity of Elon’s plans, and the oddness of his public performances, suggests to me that he has gone a bit crazy in the pure sense of the word. This new party he proposes looks like a crazy play by a crazy person. He can throw zillions of dollars into it, and create a whole lot of political mischief, but what would that prove? How would that make him any better than such obvious villains as George Soros and Bill Gates?

(kunstler.com)

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COYOTES

by Karl Kirchwey

Last night I woke to the moonlit field
    striped with zigzag bars of shadow
    like a destroyer’s flanks, although
it was a hunchback scream that called,

a limping clamor, on and on,
    to which the bole of a broken apple tree
    turned a dark ear avidly,
to what could not will its own oblivion,

to a sound before mercy was.
    I looked and looked and saw a circle,
    each a smudged gray fumarole,
of it must have been coyotes

jeering madly at their quarry.
    But when I woke a few hours later
    only dawn had stained the pasture.
There was no crime and no body.

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LEAD STORIES, TUESDAY'S NYT

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Welcome to Your Job Interview. Your Interviewer Is A.I.

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I FIRST SAW TANGIER in the summer of 2006. I was traveling in northern Morocco with my future husband, who is half Moroccan. On our arrival in Tangier we checked into El Muniria, a simple little hotel where William Burroughs wrote ‘Naked Lunch.’ We could climb out the window of our room, sit on the red-tiled roof, and smoke joints—northern Morocco is well known for its copious production and consumption of hashish. If the day was clear, we could see Spain across the Strait of Gibraltar. Tangier still had a bad reputation then, though this, like almost everything else about it, turned out to be a half-truth. I was instantly seduced by the city’s stunning natural setting, its scruffiness, its whiff of freedom and its broken-down glamour. Of course, if I’d known more about its history, I would have realized that my enthusiasm was the most predictable reaction possible on the part of a young, hedonistic, literary Western visitor.

We had mint tea and split pea soup at Café Hafa, whose stepped terraces face the sea, and croissants and coffee at Café de Paris, whose mirrored walls multiply one’s views of passersby. We met Simon-Pierre Hamelin, the editor of the multilingual magazine Nejma, at the historic Librairie des Colonnes; we went to the Cinéma Rif, beautifully renovated by the artist Yto Barrada. We people-watched in the Grand Socco, an oval plaza that tilts at a rakish angle toward the entrance of the medina. One night an old man with a white beard and the handsome weather-beaten face of a sailor stepped out of a shady-looking hotel and declared, “Le vrai Tangier n’existe plus!”

Nostalgia hangs in the air in Tangier. The Moroccan writer Mohamed Choukri—one of the city’s great, scathing chroniclers—had no patience for it: “The lamentation over the mythical Tangier, the yearning for a Tangier that no longer exists, and by those who never even lived there, is the peak of absurdity.” Choukri loved Tangier but refused to romanticize it. His writing is a bracing corrective to the notion of the city as a glamorous, bohemian playground.

The mythical Tangier lasted from 1924 to 1956, when it became part of independent Morocco. During those decades the city and its environs were an international zone administered by Spain and France (which each controlled part of Morocco as a protectorate), the United Kingdom (which had an interest in the area because of its enclave in Gibraltar), the sultan of Morocco, and, after World War II, the United States, none of which had strong authority. This ambiguous arrangement made for a lawless, cosmopolitan place that drew spies, smugglers, money launderers, millionaires, con men, artists, bohemians, and Moroccan nationalists and agitators. Its social mores were reputed to be as lax as its banking regulations.

— Ursula Lindsey (New York Review of Books)

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“THE STRUGGLE against conventions in which I am at present involved was not entered into by me so much as a protest against these conventions as with the intention of living in conformity with my moral nature. There are some people in Ireland who would call my moral nature oblique, people who think that the whole duty of man consists in paying one’s debts; but in this case, Irish opinion is certainly only the caricature of the opinion of any European tribunal. To be judged properly I should not be judged by 12 burghers taken at haphazard, judging under the dictation of a hide bound bureaucrat, in accordance with the evidence of [a] policeman but by some jury composed partly of those of my own class and of my own age presided over by a judge who had solemnly forsworn all English legal methods. But why insist on this point? I do so only because my present lamentable circumstances seem to constitute a certain reproach against me”.

— James Joyce. Letter to his brother Stanislaus, September 25, 1906. Included in The Letters of James Joyce, Volume II, edited by Richard Ellmann, Faber and Faber, 1966

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ON MIDSUMMER EVE 1413 Margery Kempe told her husband, “Truly, I would rather see you murdered than have sex with you again.”

The duties of a provincial middle-class wife—brewing beer, making cheese, overseeing servants—no longer satisfied her. And as for the sex, Margery had already given birth 14 times and, aged only forty had every reason to dread further pregnancies. Besides, there was by this time another man in her life: Jesus Christ.

Eventually John Kempe agreed to Margery’s sex ban, although not before telling her that she was a “no good wife.” It likely sealed the deal that she agreed to pay off his debts, possibly with money inherited from her father the previous year. Nonetheless, the vehemence of Margery’s declaration that she was willing to see her husband murdered—beheaded, to be precise—seems shocking, as does the bold and sometimes barely sane tone of ‘The Book of Margery Kempe,’ in which the incident is described. The Book is routinely billed as the first autobiography in English, although this needs to be qualified: Kempe was illiterate, so she can hardly be said to have written anything. She dictated her account to two clerical scribes who altered it in ways we can only imagine in order to bring her narrative, written in demotic Middle English rather than churchy Latin, closer to what they thought a spiritual autobiography ought to be.

— Kathryn Hughes

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