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NEAR or slightly below normal temperatures are expected again Wednesday. Warming is expected again Thursday with additional warming Friday and hot weather continuing into early next week. (NWS)
STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): It cleared out nicely yesterday giving us quite the lovely day, will we get that again today? I have another foggy 53F on the coast this Wednesday morning so far. Our forecast is for 1 more mostly cloudy day then clearing thru Saturday before the fog returns on Sunday. The satellite shot shows plenty of fog but it seems thinner than usual, hence, we'll see?
MILTON BRADLEY: A small slice of the steel belt found in Mendocino County
AT THE END TUESDAY’S Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisor Bernie Norvell reported on the status of the ad hoc Annexation Committee which was appointed to last month along with Supervisor Madeline Cline. Norvell said they met with some Ukiah officials including City Council members Mari Rodin and Doug Crane. But, Norvell said, the Ukiah solons didn’t provide anything new or different, especially no new annexation map. The Ukiah reps did not even withdraw the highly criticized super-sized annexation map that Councilman Crane described at their last meeting as “a big fuck up.” Norvell said the Ukiah reps did abandon the timeline for annexation (end of this year, a highly unlikely time limit to begin with), but that was it. Norvell added that he and Cline intend to meet with “stakeholders” in the Ukiah Valley in the coming weeks. If by “stakeholders” Norvell means property owners in the proposed annexation area, we have yet to hear from any who support annexation. If he means a few of the “stakeholders” who are on Ukiah Valley water or sewer district boards, there may be some residual interest — but probably not if their district constituents are against it. It was obvious that Norvell had hoped that Ukiah would at least say they intended to withdraw their ridiculously oversized annexation proposal, and but without that Norvell didn’t think the first meeting represented good faith on the part of Ukiah. A close reading of last month’s Supervisors meeting when the Ukiah contingent implied that they were going to downsize their annexation proposal, cleverly leaves open the possibility that they won’t do that, but just slow it down by breaking it down into somewhat smaller chunks — such as the north end first (where the big retail is), then the south end where there’s more of a service demand. Councilman Crane crude description of the annexation map as “a big fuck up” could have simply meant that they shouldn’t have released it so soon with all their plans combined into one, not an admission that the annexation proposal was too big.
(Mark Scaramella)
TAKING ACTION TO END HUNGER!
Every summer the Ag Dept has a big garden growing. This year students decided the produce from the garden would be donated to the Anderson Valley Food Bank. The students heard that Federal funding for food banks was being severely reduced.
The students know that many families in Anderson Valley rely on our local food bank to make it month to month.
So a group called the AV FFA Victory Garden was born. Ten FFA members are donating a few hours per week to work in our garden. The FFA members will gain community service hours, a t-shirt and the knowledge that they are helping the community.
The garden was planted just before school let out. The plants have been growing. We are happy to say our first donation will be 36.49 lbs zucchini, broccoli, green onions, a cabbage, kale, and kohlrabi. Soon we will have cucumbers. We hope to have plums and peaches if the ravens don’t get them first.
Anderson Valley FFA
AV SKATE PARK NEWS
We’ve got dirt!
Things are movin’ and shakin’ in the AV Community Park these days. The high school all-weather track project is in full swing next door, and a symbiotic agreement has been made for the AV Community Park/Skatepark development project to receive their surplus soil! Our project calls for LOTS of fill so this will save money and preserve resources.
A solid start for great things to come!
Students Talk AVSP in State Capitol
AV Service Learning Team students headed to the State Capitol in March to learn about the legislative process and meet with our representatives about the AV Skatepark Project! Thank you to Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire and Assemblymember Chris Rogers for taking the time to hear about our community’s needs and the students’ work. It means so much for young people to see that their voice matters.
Mosaic Pilot Project Installed
Thanks to a grant from the Community Foundation of Mendocino, two beautiful mosaic trash and recycling receptacles were installed in the Community Park this Spring. The mosaic panels were created as a collaborative project involving AVUSD students and community volunteers, under direction of local artist, Martha Crawford. The splash of color and creativity adds so much to the park; it’s exciting to imagine that there is much more of this to come!
AVSP “Day of the Child”
The AVSP mini skatepark (new and improved DOUBLE volcano version) was in full effect at beautiful ‘Day of the Child” community event in May.
A beautiful day of AV community and Skatepark Project love!
FRANK HARTZELL SAYS LOCAL MEDIA ARE WORTHLESS
On the discussion about using Facebook or Instagram to communicate any sort of dissent or ICE criticism. I say DON’T. I have been told by a Republican in a fairly high govt that musk and his geeks at DOGE set up very sophisticated monitoring of Facebook and other social media run by globaliNsts such as Next Door. If you are a federal worker and complain over there, you will be cleaning out your desk.
The MCN listserve is safe from that, I can say as a moderator and we remain so. I will have an in-depth article about this on Mendocinocoast.news. If l you can sign up for free, please do. Eventually we will break even at least if we can use hits and subscribers to show we have an audience.
I have two pieces to share Id appreciate all thoughts on. In the first, I got into why I think we must embrace old fashioned myths and symbols and use our collective power. Its on the 4th of July Parade and it does criticize, the Thin Blue Line Flag, the Thin Blue Line Flag and those on left andk right who have been using the upside down flag for political purposes. See if. you agree with my take…
In my second story, I finally tell you how worthless the local media has become and why. I take my own pledge to stop the universal bad reporting and reporting ONLY from the mouths of power. That’s all the rest in Mendo County do now! I pledge not to run guilty as arrested stories anymore. I will try, without your help, to tell the stories of victims and suspects. OTHERING is killing us all right now.
Please agree, disagree, share, cuss me out (usually I only get comments from the right wing in Mendo county, but I LOVE THEM for at last commenting. Right-wing anti-conservative radical have taken over everything partly because they are not afraid to speak out, wrong though they may be and I’m one to tell them so and visa versa. We have to come together to save our country.
Frank Hartzell
Fort Bragg
707-964-6174
ED REPLY: Easy Frank, easy big champion. In living fact, Mendocino County media have never been better. Led by the redoubtable Jim Shields at the Mendocino County Observer, who has reliably and thoroughly kept his gimlet eye fixed on county affairs going on forty years — the guy is truly an excellent reporter. And, in no particular order, the county is fortunate in journalo-talents like Justine Fredericksen at the Ukiah Daily Journal, Monica Huettl at MendoFever, Feve himself, although he’s more focused these days on his work for SF Gate, the young woman at KZYX, Elise Cox, who has just been offed by the perennially Borgia-like management of Mendocino County Public Radio, and before her, Sarah Reith, also a first-rate reporter. And right in your own fogbelt, Frank, the young women reporting for the Advocate are quite good, Megan Wutzke and Mary Benjamin. Modesty forbids mention of the venerable AVA, but all by itself the AVA redeems whatever media deficiencies you seem to think prevail.
MARTIN BRADLEY: Bad Moon Rising over Ukiah
Fogerty claims the song is about "the apocalypse that was going to be visited upon us".
Wikipedia - Bad Moon Rising - 1969 Credence Clearwater Revival song
EX-ROHNERT PARK SERGEANT BREAKS SILENCE ON FAKE TRAFFIC STOPS, STOLEN CANNABIS AND CASH
Brendan “Jacy” Tatum testified Tuesday that he and fellow officer Joseph Huffaker posed as federal agents to steal cannabis and cash during fake traffic stops, a scheme that began as a joke but spiraled into a criminal conspiracy.
by Colin Atagi
A former Rohnert Park police sergeant has broken years of silence in federal court, testifying that he and another officer impersonated federal agents, pulled over unsuspecting drivers along Highway 101, and stole their cash and cannabis.
Brendan “Jacy” Tatum, once head of the city’s now-defunct drug interdiction team, took the witness stand Tuesday in the criminal trial of former officer Joseph Huffaker. The trial, unfolding this week in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, centers on a conspiracy that prosecutors say began even after California legalized recreational cannabis.
The federal case focuses on activity in late 2017, but allegations against Tatum stretch back years. Huffaker’s defense attorney, Richard Ceballos, pressed Tatum on when his client got involved. December 2017, Tatum said.
Tatum, who pleaded guilty in 2021, told jurors he agreed to cooperate with the government in hopes of a more lenient sentence. He revealed how the pair targeted drivers — often young white men in rental cars with paper license plates — and fabricated their authority.
“We made sure we didn’t call dispatch or tell anybody,” Tatum testified, describing stops that took place far outside Rohnert Park’s jurisdiction. “The more we talked about it, the more realistic and comfortable it got.”
Ceballos asked why Tatum never told Huffaker he’d already been involved in earlier cannabis thefts.
“I was ashamed and embarrassed,” Tatum said.
He said they posed as agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. They seized drugs and funneled the cannabis to a dealer, William “Billy” Timmins, who received immunity and is expected to testify later in the trial.
Tatum’s testimony also revealed the personal toll of his cooperation. He recounted the moment he told Huffaker in 2022 that he was working with investigators: “He hates me. We don’t talk,” he said.
For years, Rohnert Park residents have expressed outrage over Tatum’s continued presence in the community despite his admission of wrongdoing. His sentencing has been repeatedly delayed. On Tuesday, he told the court and Judge Maxine Chesney his future now hinges on full transparency. He is set to be sentenced in September.
The scandal traces back to the Rohnert Park Department of Public Safety’s drug interdiction team, which Tatum led until resigning in 2018. The team operated along Highway 101 — sometimes up to 40 miles outside city limits — until it was disbanded after cannabis was legalized.
Even then, the stops continued. Prosecutors say Huffaker and Tatum used their training to identify targets and never reported the encounters. Tatum estimated they conducted five or six illegal seizures.
A pivotal moment came Dec. 18, 2017, when two California Highway Patrol officers happened upon one of their stops. Tatum testified he recognized at least one of the officers, who left after about five minutes. That brief encounter left a trace that helped investigators connect the dots after a driver lodged a complaint with Mendocino County officials.
“Looked like we had the heat on us,” Tatum said. “We couldn’t get away with it. We were in trouble.”
He testified that months later, as news coverage of another suspicious stop surfaced, the FBI reached out. He and Huffaker fabricated a police report to mislead investigators, referencing the Dec. 18 stop rather than a Dec. 5 encounter that neither officer was involved in. That lie helped launch an internal probe.
Tatum said he repeatedly lied to cover up the misconduct. He resigned from the department soon after the internal investigation began. Around the same time, then-Public Safety Director Brian Masterson also abruptly retired.
Huffaker, after being found to have violated department policy, accepted a $75,000 settlement to leave the force in 2019. He has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges.
In 2020, Rohnert Park paid $1.5 million to settle federal lawsuits filed by eight drivers who accused officers of robbing them during unlawful stops.
Tatum’s testimony is expected to play a central role as Huffaker’s trial continues through next week.
Once praised for leading the interdiction team, which brought in 3,000 pounds of cannabis and $2.8 million in illegal drug money over three years, Tatum testified that the department was “overwhelmed” by the volume of cannabis seized.
But his testimony also revealed illicit behavior during that period. He admitted to burying cannabis on property along Snyder Lane and keeping some to sell.
Ceballos seized on that point in an attempt to discredit him.
“How many people do you think you extorted and wronged during this period of time?” he asked.
Tatum said he didn’t know.
Ceballos asked if there could have been a hundred victims, and whether Tatum remembered the first time he acted irresponsibly.
He repeated he did not.
“This is over nine years ago and I’m ashamed and I took responsibility for what I did,” Tatum added. “I tried to move past the bad things I did and become a better person.”
(Santa Rosa Press Democrat)
LOCAL EVENTS (this week)
REDWOOD FUELS MITIGATION RESEARCH PROJECT SITE TOUR; Jackson Demonstration State Forest; Saturday, July 12th; 10am-2pm
Join UCCE and CAL FIRE for a tour of the redwood fuels mitigation research project to talk about post-prescribed burn fire effects in different types of fuels treatments.
The Redwood Fuels Mitigation research project is testing the benefits and tradeoffs of six different fuels treatment strategies (lop and scatter, lop and scatter + prescribed burn, mastication, mastication + prescribed burn, no prep prescribed burn, and no management control) for managing wildfire risk in the redwoods. The findings of this research can help forest stewards make informed decisions when adapting to increasing wildfire activity in the redwood region while managing for multiple goals and objectives.
When: Saturday, July 12th, 10am-2pm
Where: Jackson Demonstration State Forest, Rd 457
Who: Landowners, managers, stewards, and community members who are interested in learning more about this research project.
Registration is free but limited and required. Register here: https://link.ucanr.edu/ffmtour2
Additional logistics information will be provided to workshop participants.
THESE LAZY DAYS OF SUMMER
by Terry Sites
Here we are, it’s really summer and time to enjoy all that summer brings. Inland Mendocino and Sonoma Counties may be uncomfortably hot during the day but there’s a lot to like about these summer nights.
To beat the heat the Mendocino and Sonoma coasts beckon. When it is 100 in the Anderson Valley, Ukiah, Cloverdale or Healdsburg it is likely to be in the 60s by the ocean — so there is always a way out. However, there are some tasty solutions closer to home. Paysanne Ice Cream in Boonville makes fresh original flavors everyday. If Ukiah is your stomping grounds you can cool off by visiting the Paleteria Corazon Purepecha popsicle stores at either 1252 Airport Park Blvd. near Friedman’s or Walmart or 1311 N. State near Raley’s. (A new branch in Lakeport is in the works.) Many flavors await, all with absolutely the freshest fruit ingredients: crowd favorite is strawberries with cream. Established by locals Elizabeth Echeverria and her husband Luciano Mendoza this business makes Michoacan-style Mexican treats.
If you are looking for something more solid or need a coffee to perk you up, at the Redwood Drive-In the Suarez family offers authentic Mexican specialties, fresh homemade donuts and all American coffee. Just down the street Pilar Echeverria’s Mosswood Market makes homemade empanadas, many featuring tangy goat cheese, plus pastries, scones and salads. Here you can get any custom coffee drink you choose. While you’re thinking about a Ukiah visit remember that the city hosts a summer concert series “Sundays in the Park” at Todd Grove Park July 13 through Aug. 17 at 6 PM.
Continuing your summer wander you might range into Sonoma County for “Friday Night Live” in Cloverdale’s downtown plaza. A great family-friendly outing, there is lots of good food and drink and the bands are always rocking. Come at 6 and stay until 9; bring your own lawn chair. The Russian River runs right through Cloverdale and there is a very nice path open to pedestrians and bikes that goes right along the river route (pretty dry in the summer). A stroll and a conversation with a friend at dusk is a nice way to close out a hot summer day. After you work up an appetite walking, head back downtown for some excellent non-corporate pizza, beer or wine at Papa’s Pizza 105 N. Cloverdale Blvd.
Further down 101 in Healdsburg the Gazebo in the town square hosts music 6-8pm, July 15 through Aug. 26th at “Tuesday in the Plaza.” Also at the Gazebo are interesting talks on the history of West Sonoma County every Saturday 10-noon.
Next up, Windsor offers “Summer Nights on the Green” from July 10 to Aug. 28 at 5 PM. Windsor now has its own Smart Train station making it possible to ride all the way to Larkspur. From Larkspur you can take a ferry to SF putting all those big city attractions within reach. If you are a senior or a student you ride absolutely free on the Smart Train. Park your car at a Smart Train station and leave the driving to the train engineer. Most of these summer musical adventures require no outlay of cash beyond what you decide to spend on food and beverages.
Some other kinds of cooling summer stops include the beautiful and peaceful water garden at Ferrari Carano Vineyards at 8761 Dry Creek Road. Here you can sit in the shade and contemplate your future with a tinkling waterfall as background music. Continue down Dry Creek Road to the old Dry Creek General Store. Sit on the broad plank porch and gaze out over acres of developing grape vines. Have some of their excellent deli food and a coffee or enter their bar for some wine on tap. The bar features actual saddles as seats and lots of locals discussing daily developments in the Dry Creek Valley.
Other general cooling advice includes having oscillating fans in your house, which cool at a fraction of the cost of air conditioning. Every room you spend much time in should have its own moving fan. When out and about on the hottest days try carrying a thick terry hand towel and washrag with a good supply of water bottles. Dump a lot of water onto both wrapping the towel around your neck and putting the washrag under a broad brimmed straw hat. Even at 115 degrees these two saturated pieces of terry cloth can keep you amazingly cool.
It will be fall before you know it so savor these sweet days of summer while they last. Take a glass of chilled wine or iced tea into your backyard during the “golden hour” when the light is just beginning to fade. Sit in a comfortable chair while waiting for that slight evening breeze to blow. Summer truly is here.
MOVING CABINS IN WINERY GULCH, ALBION
The handwritten note on the back of the photo states: “Two at rear are George Escola-engineer & Tom Gunser. This engine called the “Goat” ran all the way up but was yard engine after.”
CATCH OF THE DAY, Tuesday, July 8, 2025
MICHELE CROZIER, 57, Ukiah. Under influence.
JONATHON DELBELLO, 34, Willits. DUI, suspended license.
JAMES DODD, 64, Ukiah. Paraphernalia, failure to appear.
DAMIAN FEAGAN, 20, Ukiah. Resisting.
JAIME GREGG, 21, Ukiah. Domestic battery, assault with deadly weapon not a gun, stolen property, criminal threats.
RUAN HARDIN, 18, Willits. Disorderly conduct-under influence.
AUBREY HOFFMAN, 45, Ukiah. Felon-addict with firearm, ammo possession by prohibited person.
DEVIN KESTER-TYER, 32, Ukiah. Controlled substance with two or more priors, paraphernalia, probation revocation.
ANTHONY KOCHIE JR., 38, Ukiah. Vandalism, attempt to take police officers firearm, resisting.
KCAJ LARSON, 44, Ukiah. Controlled substance, paraphernalia, unspecified offense.
JASON LIONETTI, 46, San Francisco/Ukiah. Stolen vehicle.
JINEZ LOPEZ-FERNANDEZ, 65, Ukiah. Recklessly causing a fire, restricted use of fire.
KYLE MASON, 38, Ukiah. Controlled substance, paraphernalia, probation violation.
STEVEN NOVOA, 45, Ukiah. Probation violation, resisting, unspecified offense.
AIDAN ROBERTSON, 22, Willits. DUI.
SAMUEL SIERRA, 35, Ukiah. County parole violation.
CA=ATM
Editor,
There is something that Californians can do besides wring our hands about the passage of the Budget Bill.
We are a “donor” state. In fact, California’s donation is by far the largest in the nation, providing about $83 billion more to the federal government than it receives. (The Rockefeller Institute of Government and Cal Matters).
Yet, we are worried about losing funds for medical, food and other benefits needed by our middle class and working poor.
Our food banks are concerned that federal funding cuts will deprive Californians of food.
But, is not California the food bank of the nation?
The value of California’s agricultural crops is the largest in the US, with a total value of more than $33 billion. (USDA)
We can feed the rest of the country, but we cannot feed our own people?
It would seem fair that California should withhold some of the money it pays to the federal government, to offset the cutbacks that are hurting our people.
A polite letter to the White House explaining our logic might not be well received, but nothing about California, except money, is well received by the current administration.
California serves simultaneously as the nation’s whipping boy and its ATM machine.
Will we allow the federal government to raid our state? If defunding continues, California will be stripped of assets and discarded when the last of our natural resources and money have been extracted. And it will be our fault for letting it happen.
Frances K. Ransley
Garberville
BUTTERBEAN
“The biggest joy for me in all of this has been the way people take to me. I’m meeting so many people now, and I don’t know who most of them are. But I try to be nice to everyone I meet, and most people are nice to me. I know I have limitations as a fighter.
What I do now is fifty percent fighting and fifty percent promotion, but I give a hundred percent to both of them. And the fat jokes don’t bother me. All they do is give me the opportunity to prove people wrong, and I love proving people wrong, especially when they look down on me.”
EXSANGUINATED TO DEATH
To the Editor:
If democracy dies by a thousand cuts, the most recent and especially deep one being the passage of President Trump’s big bill, the question is: Have we bled out yet? Perhaps we’re so exsanguinated that we’re too weak to notice.
Susan Teicher
Urbana, Illinois
RURAL CALIF. TOWN DEVASTATED AFTER FIRE DESTROYS LANDMARK
Frank Ernaga Field was the center of Susanville’s baseball cosmos
by Matt LaFever
Eric Perry has spent countless hours at Frank Ernaga Field in Susanville, a town of just over 15,000 residents tucked into the high desert of Lassen County. He’s been a baseball coach in the community for nearly a decade, watching young athletes grow up beneath the old grandstand and witnessing the small-town pride that lives in every pitch. For local families, the field at Susanville’s Memorial Park is the emotional and cultural heart of the town.
“Any baseball player in Susanville that starts from Little League or T-ball dreams and looks forward to playing at that field,” Perry told SFGATE.
On Saturday, that iconic landmark went up in flames. A former player sent Perry a video of the park’s beloved grandstand — built 78 years ago — fully engulfed, a visual that Perry said made him “burst into tears.”
In this remote corner of California — Susanville is the largest town in this sparsely populated county of about 28,000 people — baseball is one of the few things that brings everyone together, Perry explained. “You come up here and you watch a high school playoff game and the place is packed,” he said.
He later added: “That park is all we have.”
According to a news release from the Susanville Fire Department, crews responded at about 10 a.m. Saturday to reports of a debris fire under the grandstand. When they arrived, they saw only “light white smoke,” with “no noticeable fire.” But that quickly changed. The fire department described a “rapid acceleration,” with flames spreading through the structure in minutes.
Susanville Public Safety Chief Michael Bengoa-Bollinger told SFGATE via telephone that in the time it took to mobilize the full response, the fire had already exploded in size. “Within probably 20 minutes, it was completely gone,” Bengoa-Bollinger said.
The blaze burned so hot it melted utility lines, damaged the field’s light poles and warped parts of the newly built restrooms. A fire engine on scene was also partially melted by the intense heat. Firefighters were able to halt the flames before they reached the concession stand and dugouts.
“The Grandstands at Memorial Ball Park in Susanville have been a staple of the Northern California baseball community for nearly a century!” Lassen College baseball head coach Frank Avilla wrote in a statement shared with SFGATE. “The ultimate fan experience was beautifully engineered and carefully constructed of the finest lumber and timber from a generation built on perseverance. It literally was the last of its kind!”
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Susanville Fire Department officials have asked residents to review surveillance footage from the morning of July 5 for “someone or something suspicious at the time of the fire.”
Bengoa-Bollinger emphasized that investigators are urgently seeking footage of anyone near the grandstand around the time of the fire. In a town as tight-knit as Susanville — where “everybody knows everybody,” he said — this could be the key to identifying a person of interest.
The grandstand opened to the public on Memorial Day in 1948, according to a local news report. The structure was upgraded over the years with added lighting and seating. In 2019, the field was renamed in honor of Frank Ernaga, a Susanville native who began his career at Lassen Community College, later played for the Chicago Cubs, and famously homered and tripled off Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn in his MLB debut.
The field is the only one of its kind in Susanville and hosts a range of teams: Perry’s Lassen High Grizzlies, the Susanville Renegades American Legion team, local Little League programs, and Avilla’s Lassen College Cougars.
For decades, teams from across the region have traveled to Susanville to play under the lights at Ernaga Field, a testament to its lasting place in Northern California baseball. As Perry put it, Susanville’s ballpark was “one of the most popular baseball fields for young players to play at in Northern California.”
GIANTS STUN PHILLIES on Bailey's 3-run, inside-the-park walkoff HR
by Shayna Rubin
The qualities typically required to hit a walk-off inside-the-park home run don’t fit the Patrick Bailey mold.
An inside-the-parker calls for speed, and Bailey, who spends most of his time in the squat, isn’t the fleetest of foot. The feat often requires a hot hitter, or even a lucky one, and Bailey hasn’t had many moments that check either box this year. The San Francisco Giants’ catcher has lived below the Mendoza line at the bottom of the lineup.
But in a perfect moment — bottom of the ninth inning, his team down two with the tying run at first base against the first-place Philadelphia Phillies — Bailey beat expectations to deliver a heroic moment, one of the unlikeliest plays in baseball amid a Giants season that’s stacking up quite a few.
Bailey launched reliever Jordan Romano’s first-pitch fastball to the deepest part of Oracle Park. It would have been a home run in every other MLB ballpark — inches shy of a much less tiring walk-off — but this one ricocheted off the top of the right-field bricks so hard that it bounced well into center field.
“Once it shot the other way, everyone was thinking inside the park,” manager Bob Melvin said.
As Phillies center fielder Brandon March chased the ball along the warning track, Casey Schmitt trotted home from third, pinch-runner Brett Wisely momentarily tied the game and Bailey chugged across home plate to win it, 4-3, on Tuesday night with a scrum of teammates waiting to mob him.
After he realized the ball didn’t leave the yard and shortly before he blacked out on adrenaline, Bailey remembers thinking one thing as he rounded second base and saw third base coach Matt Williams furiously waving his arm: Don’t trip.
“I picked (Williams) up, but I had a feeling I was going,” Bailey said. “I saw he was waving and I just thought, ‘Don’t fall over, don’t fall over.’”
It was the MLB's first walk-off inside-the-park home run since Cleveland’s Tyler Naquin did it in 2016 and first by a Giant since Angel Pagan on May 25, 2013, against the Colorado Rockies. It is also the first time a catcher has hit a walk-off inside-the-parker since Bennie Tate in 1926, and marks only the third time a catcher has ever done so.
The walk-off itself wasn’t possible without the set-up. Schmitt led off the inning with a double and pinch-hitter Wilmer Flores, not before switching out his bat mid at-bat, singled up the middle to put runners on the corners.
“Once Flo gets a hit, we have a chance,” Melvin said. “Patrick has been struggling some but got a good pitch to hit. I thought it was out, but kicked off the wall — you don’t see many inside-the-park home runs. It was Ichiro-esque in the All-Star Game, maybe a different speed.”
The Giants’ ninth walkoff of the year might have ignited the most joyous celebration of them all.
Momentum had carried Bailey to the side of the opposing team’s dugout, and his teammates met him there. Willy Adames, typically the first guy out of the dugout in a big moment, was again ahead of the bunch.
“Insane. I was just trying to rip the jersey,” Adames said. “I don’t know what everyone else was doing.”
Everyone else had pushed Bailey to the ground and playfully punched him into the fetal position.
But not lost in the moment were the implications. The win ensured at least a series win against the NL East co-leading Phillies with the Dodgers coming to town on the final weekend before the All-Star break. After a dismal stretch in which they dropped seven of 10 against the Marlins, White Sox and Diamondbacks — and fell nine games out of first in the NL West and a game out of the third wild-card spot — the Giants have won four straight and six of seven to pull within five of the Dodgers (who have lost five straight) and into sole possession of the final wild-card slot.
“Great teams, they go through those tough stretches throughout the year,” Adames said. “For me, personally, I’d rather have that moment now than going into September. I feel like when you go through this it makes the team stronger. We know what to do to bounce back.”
The moment of joy eclipsed an otherwise grindy game before it.
Last week, an aggressive Arizona Diamondbacks lineup helped Robbie Ray get through his second career complete game. The Phillies made life more difficult.
Ray needed nine pitches to get through the first and struck out the side in the second inning, but a leadoff walk to Alec Bohm bumped his pitch count to 33. He needed 30 pitches to navigate the third inning, in which Trea Turner worked a 10-pitch at-bat to a single shortly after Ray issued a walk, his second, to Johan Rojas. A successful double-steal added to the stress, but Ray blew a 96 mph fastball by Kyle Schwarber and Adames made a tricky play on Bryce Harper’s soft ground ball to strand the runners.
Nearing 100 pitches, Ray succumbed in the sixth. A hit-by-pitch and walk were followed by a Nick Castellanos single and Otto Kemp’s game-tying RBI double — Philadelphia’s first hit with runners in scoring position since July 4. He departed one out into the sixth having allowed the one run and four hits with five strikeouts and three walks. He threw his knuckle curveball, one of his least-used pitches this year, 22 times of his 99 pitches.
Technically, this plots out to be Ray’s final start before the All-Star break — an All-Star himself, he’s on track to be available in Atlanta — but it’d be shocking if the Giants don’t use the off-day on Thursday to have Ray pitch on Sunday in the series finale against the Dodgers.
That would mean Hayden Birdsong, who has struggled with his command mightily in his previous two starts, would skip a start. Landen Roupp, emerging more reliable by the start, would start Saturday with Logan Webb going Friday.
Reliever Spencer Bivens surrendered what was the biggest hit of the game until Bailey’s: Schwarber’s off-balance, two-run Splash Hit in the seventh on a 90 mph pitch down in the zone. Philadelphia had the lead until the ninth when it vanished thanks to one crazy carom and a wild sprint.
(sfchronicle.com)
RED SOX ANNOUNCER CLAIMS THERE’S DRAMA BETWEEN AN SF GIANTS STAR AND LEGEND
by Alex Simon
Rafael Devers has been a San Francisco Giants slugger for a little more than three weeks now, but his contentious relationship with the Boston Red Sox before the blockbuster trade that sent him to the Bay Area has some folks back in Boston still hunting for controversy.
The latest attempt came on Monday on WEEI-FM, Boston’s notable sports talk radio station. Red Sox broadcaster Will Flemming, the brother of Giants broadcaster Dave Flemming, stopped by the “WEEI Afternoons“ show and was asked if the players in the Red Sox clubhouse had moved on from Devers being their teammate.
Fleming answered affirmatively and praised Craig Breslow, the much-maligned Red Sox chief baseball officer, for being willing to make the “full-on, balls on the table” deal. The radio voice of the Red Sox also took a verbal jab at the new Giants star, sharing a moment from the Giants-Red Sox series right after the trade that he said showed Devers’ lack of commitment.
“They don’t yet know what is gonna happen with the player,” Flemming said. “I was there the second day Will Clark was there to work on ground balls with him at first base and Rafi didn’t show up. So that’s the person that these guys [in Boston] have been dealing with for a long time.”
Quick recap: Devers refused to play first base for the Red Sox when he was asked to do so in May. That came after Boston reportedly told Devers that he was their third baseman in the offseason, and the team then signed a new third baseman and told Devers they were moving him to designated hitter. Devers said the message was “put away my glove” and focus exclusively on hitting.
It’s a stark contrast from Devers’ remarks upon arriving in San Francisco: “I’m here to help the team with whatever they need and whatever they want,” he said in Spanish through Giants interpreter Erwin Higueros. “I’m just another member of the team, and I’m going to be willing to give my 100 percent wherever they put me. I don’t have any ‘buts.’ I don’t really have a say. They’re my bosses, so I’m going to play wherever they put me.”
That quote clearly seemed to irk folks in Boston. So obviously, if Devers was already skipping first base workouts with the Giants, that would be like catnip for Red Sox fans (and former legends) wanting to prove that Devers needed to go, even though he’s considered one of the best hitters in the sport.
There’s just one problem. Clark already discussed this incident on his “Deuces Wild“ podcast with Eric Byrnes last week. The Giants legend confirmed that he didn’t work out with Devers despite being asked to help by two ex-teammates, manager Bob Melvin and third base coach Matt Williams. But Clark seemingly already knew why Devers didn’t show.
“He did not come out early at all. Period. Not at all. Matter of fact, he didn’t even hit on the field,” Clark said. “And everybody’s like, ‘Oh my god, I’m so sorry, Will, I’m so sorry.’ I’m like, ‘Hey, don’t worry about it.’ I said, ‘I know what the f—k happened.’ I said, ‘He didn’t want to go out and be at first base and be 20 feet in front of their freaking dugout with, you know, what went on in Boston, and now he’s working with me at first base.’”
“He didn’t want to have to go through all that bulls—t through the press and the media,” Clark added. “And so anyway, … I completely understand.”
The weekend the Red Sox were in town, Melvin said Devers was dealing with a groin injury that was slowing down the planned work at first base. It isn’t stopping the work entirely, either: Getty photographers snapped Devers taking grounders at first base on June 20. (Clark may have been busy with an Autism Acceptance Night event during that time.)
Clark said on the podcast that they weren’t going to “go through anything physical” but rather work on the basic fundamentals of the position and talk through playing first base. In his old-school way, Clark made it clear he’s planning on making Devers come talk to him about the position in the future.
“Rafael Devers, next time I’m in San Francisco, your ass will be on the field at first base,” Clark said. “Just letting you know that. … Hey look, even if I’ve got to go grab you by the f—king back of the neck and drag your ass out there, you will be at first base.”
Perhaps if Devers is a no-show at that time, there will be an actual controversy. Until then, folks from New England will have to be satisfied with only minor grievances.
(SFGate.com)
CALIFORNIA WANTS NEW EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS FOR POLICE OFFICERS. ARE THEY WATERED DOWN?
by Cayla Mihalovich & Adam Echelman
Amid calls for police reform in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder in 2020, California lawmakers set out to raise education standards for incoming law enforcement officers. Five years later — as California faces a widespread shortage of police officers — those reforms are being debated once again.
In 2020, former Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer introduced a bill that would have required prospective police officers 18 to 25 years old to earn a bachelor’s degree before entering the police force. A growing body of research shows that college-educated law enforcement officers tend to use less force and exercise better decision making.
The bill was ultimately revised after it was criticized as too restrictive by law enforcement and labor leaders. In an updated version, which was signed into law the following year, lawmakers agreed to raise the minimum age of a police officer to 21 years old, and they asked local police and school officials to create recommendations for new higher education requirements.
This year, Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, a Democrat from Thousand Oaks, is proposing a new bill to establish education standards based on those recommendations, but some law enforcement and criminal justice reform advocates are skeptical — albeit for different reasons.
Starting in 2031, Irwin’s new law would require incoming officers to get a policing certificate, associate degree or bachelor’s degree, although there are some exceptions within 36 months of graduating from a police academy. It also creates a law enforcement recruitment task force to identify and recruit candidates for law enforcement agencies throughout the state.
In an interview with CalMatters, Jones-Sawyer said the current bill by Irwin undermines the original intent behind his 2021 law by allowing a loophole for incoming officers to satisfy the education requirement through a certificate, prior military experience or out-of-state law enforcement experience.
Some policing experts, such as former justice department official Arif Alikhan, echoed those concerns and said the exceptions swallow the whole. “It completely obviates the need to have any educational background,” said Alikhan. “Officers who have a college education tend to perform better.”
Representatives from some law enforcement unions, by contrast, think the bill still goes too far. Dustin Smith, president of the Sacramento Police Officers Association, said the new requirements “would be catastrophic to staffing statewide,” limiting the supply of incoming officers.
Those concerns haven’t stopped the bill from sailing through the Legislature, where it has received widespread support from many law enforcement agencies. It’s supported by all of California’s statewide law enforcement advocacy groups, including the California Police Chiefs Association, the California State Sheriff’s Association, the California Association of Highway Patrolmen and the umbrella labor organization that lobbies on behalf of police unions, the Peace Officers Research Association of California. It has received no formal opposition.
In introducing his bill, Jones-Sawyer viewed a college education as paramount to law enforcement training because it would expose incoming officers to new perspectives, healthy debate and critical thinking skills.
“We keep looking at law enforcement as if anybody can do it,” said Jones-Sawyer. “No. You need a certain type of person to have the skills and ability to deal with modern-day policing.”
Instead of requiring an associate degree in modern policing, as Jones-Sawyer said he intended, the new bill allows incoming police officers to meet the education standards with four years of military or out-of-state law enforcement experience. While Jones-Sawyer intended to carve out certain exceptions for people with prior specialized military or law enforcement experience, they would have only been given some credit – not all.
New officers also have the option of attaining a “professional policing certificate” from an accredited college or university, although that curriculum has not yet been developed.
The new bill “does not make policing better, it makes it devolve back into what it used to be,” said Jones-Sawyer. Irwin maintained that the bill advances his efforts and will help police officers improve themselves as they rise through the ranks.
Many police chiefs and sheriffs view the bill as a meaningful way to raise education standards while affording incoming officers the flexibility to meet them.
In May, Los Angeles Sheriff Robert Luna wrote a letter to Sen. Jesse Arreguín, an Oakland Democrat and chair of the Senate’s public safety committee, arguing in favor of Irwin’s bill. The sheriff’s office once required all applicants to have a bachelor’s degree, wrote Luna, but the requirement was “short-lived” because the office saw “an immediate decline in applicants by about 50 percent.”
Luna said Irwin’s bill is a “more workable, more inclusive path forward” because it includes exceptions for those with non-academic experience.
Although the vast majority of local law enforcement agencies nationwide only require a high school diploma, having a college degree can often create more opportunities for better pay and promotions.
Police Officer Shortage: Truth Or Myth?
All across the state, law enforcement officials say staffing is an ongoing problem, which more education requirements might exacerbate. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office is short roughly 1,500 officers as of June 1, according to spokesperson Miesha McClendon. The office was able to respond to recent protests through the support of staff from other areas of law enforcement, including its jails and detective division, McClendon said.
In rural areas, such as Plumas County in the northeast corner of the state, Undersheriff Chad Hermann said a single officer is sometimes responsible for covering communities that are as far as 70 miles apart. If that officer needs to make an arrest and drive a suspect to jail, a town could spend hours without any nearby police on duty, he said.
Sheriffs and police officers say the shortage is due to several factors, including low wages in some communities, an aging workforce and negative perceptions of police following high-profile instances of misconduct. Departments are offering starting bonuses and other incentives, such as better benefits, as a way to recruit new officers.
Some agencies gave record-breaking raises to officers coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. In some places, including the California Highway Patrol, entry-level officers can expect six-figure salaries and top notch benefits.
But not all agencies can offer those perks.
“We’re not a rich county — we can’t offer the big hiring stipends,” said Hermann. “By adding a requirement like an associate degree, it’s going to make it harder to get people from our hiring pool.” He said even exceptions for those with military service may not help the recruiting problem since the hiring pool is so small in a county with just under 19,000 residents.
While the new law enforcement recruitment task force in Irwin’s bill is designed to ease some of those staffing challenges, Christy Lopez, a law professor at Georgetown University said it’s troubling to see that it would only comprise people from law enforcement.
“We need to be moving towards a recruiting approach that seeks to screen in the right people, not just screen out the worst people,” she said. “And to make sure that we develop that sort of approach to recruiting, you need perspectives broader than just law enforcement.”
She said the police recruiting crisis is a myth. “The idea that there’s a crisis in recruiting presupposes that we know what the right number of police officers is and that we’re not there,” she said. “And we don’t know that.”
What It Takes To Become A Police Officer
Devin Nisbet grew up in Calaveras County and as a kid, he had a positive experience with one of the officers when he prank-called 9-1-1. Instead of just disciplining Nisbet, who was around 6 years old, the officer gave him a tour of the police cruiser and handed him a patch with the sheriff’s office logo. “It made me want to be part of it,” said Nisbet in an interview with CalMatters.
After dropping out of college, Nisbet was working for a grocery store in Calaveras County when that same sheriff’s office held a recruiting event in a nearby parking lot. The agency promises a $10,000 bonus, spread out over three years, for new recruits. At the time, he said he thought to himself, “Why not try to do this?”
It took Nisbet roughly seven months to pass the county’s background checks and exams, which include a written test, a psychological exam and a medical exam. He then received a tentative job offer from the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office, contingent on completing a police academy.
In January, he enrolled in the police academy at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton. Police academy training in California typically takes a minimum of six months, but some police departments require far more training. Nisbet is paid by the Calaveras County Sheriff’s Office for the entirety of this training, just under $34 an hour.
The college program requires students to learn CPR, first aid, and various laws about use of force, search and seizure and firearms. They’re tested in scenarios that can include chases or combat. In one timed exam, they must pull a 165 lb dummy, cross a 25 yard obstacle course, run 500 yards and scale a 6-foot fence.
Some students fail to pass the academy’s courses. Others never get hired because they fail the police department’s background checks or have low scores.
Nisbet is set to graduate on July 2, at which point he’ll begin working, but his training won’t be over. New officers must complete weeks of field training and a year of probation.
“I believe that people, if they want to do this job, they need to get evaluated first,” said Nisbet, though he said an associate degree shouldn’t be required. He said many of his classmates don’t have a college degree.
(CalMatters.org)
ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY
Can you please describe for me how one rents a crowd? I have heard this assertion many times but no one has ever demonstrated how it works or shown evidence supporting the conclusion that a process for hiring crowds exists. Please, link to an ad in Variety or the website of a talent agency that specializes in such things. How does one pursue a career as a protestor?
LEAD STORIES, WEDNESDAY'S NYT
Trump Got the Green Light to Fire Federal Workers. Now, They Wait
Trump Escalates Criticism of Putin After Restoring Arms Shipments to Ukraine
As Truth Social Business Struggles, Trump Media Goes Big on Crypto
T.S.A. Officially Tells Fliers They Can Keep Their Shoes On
Youth Sports Are a $40 Billion Business. Private Equity Is Taking Notice
“ANYTHING worth dying for is certainly worth living for.”
― Joseph Heller, Catch-22
SUPREME COURT CLEARS WAY FOR MASS FIRINGS AT FEDERAL AGENCIES
The justices announced they were not ruling on the legality of the specific downsizing plans but they allowed the Trump administration to proceed for now with its restructuring efforts.
by Abbie VanSickle
The Trump administration can move forward with plans to slash the federal work force and dismantle federal agencies, the Supreme Court announced on Tuesday. The decision could result in job losses for tens of thousands of employees at agencies including the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, State and Treasury.
The order, which lifted a lower court’s ruling that had blocked mass layoffs, was unsigned and did not include a vote count. That is typical in such emergency applications. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote a public dissent.
The case represents a key test of the extent of President Trump’s power to reorganize the government without input from Congress. The justices’ order is technically only temporary, guiding how the administration can proceed while the challenge to Mr. Trump’s plans continues. But in practice, it means he is free to pursue his restructuring plans, even if judges later determine that they exceed presidential power.
In a two-paragraph order, the justices wrote that they had concluded that “the government is likely to succeed on its argument” that President Trump’s executive order announcing plans to downsize the government was legal. The justices added that they had not expressed a view on the legality of specific layoffs or reorganizations by the Trump administration.
It was the latest in a series of recent victories for the Trump administration before the Supreme Court on emergency requests related to the president’s efforts to rapidly reshape government.
The decision followed a major ruling on June 27, when the Supreme Court limited the ability of judges to block President Trump’s policies nationwide.
Although the vote count was not listed, the order included a short public concurrence by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, one of the court’s three liberals, suggesting broad agreement among the justices on the outcome. Justice Sotomayor wrote that she agreed with the court’s decision, but she added that the trial court was “free to consider” the legality of the specifics of the Trump administration’s downsizing plans.
In a 15-page dissent, Justice Jackson sharply criticized the court’s decision, calling it “not only truly unfortunate but also hubristic and senseless” and arguing that it undercut the authority of trial court judges.
“It is not this court’s role to swoop in and second-guess a lower court’s factual findings,” Justice Jackson wrote, echoing her dissent last month in the case limiting the power of lower-court judges to block administration policies nationwide.
(NY Times)
PRESIDENT HEIGHTENS CRITICISM OF PUTIN AFTER RESUMING MILITARY SHIPMENTS TO UKRAINE
Ukraine-Russian war: President Trump accused President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia of duplicity on Tuesday, a day after he reversed course and said Ukraine needed more weapons to defend itself. “We get a lot of bullshit thrown at us by Putin, if you want to know the truth,” Mr. Trump told reporters during a cabinet meeting. Mr. Trump refused to say whether he knew in advance about the pause in deliveries of munitions to Ukraine, and said he didn’t know who had ordered it.
Trade war: Mr. Trump promised to send more letters to U.S. trading partners detailing the tariffs he intends to impose on imports from those countries starting Aug. 1, if they do not reach trade deals. Mr. Trump, who has repeatedly pushed back deadlines he’s set for trade agreements insisted that date was firm. The new threats have left countries wondering how to move forward.
Netanyahu visit: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was set to visit the White House for the second time in two days, his office said. The prime minister, who has also met with Vice President JD Vance and Speaker Mike Johnson, is in Washington amid negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza. Earlier in the day, his office released a letter in which he nominated Mr. Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.
The State Department is investigating episodes in which one or more people used artificial intelligence to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio in messages to top foreign diplomats and U.S. officials, according to an official at the agency.
Mr. Rubio’s office sent a cable, or an agency memo, last week to State Department employees about the efforts to impersonate him.
(NY Times)
“THEY’RE TRYING TO KILL ME,” Yossarian told him calmly.
“No one’s trying to kill you,” Clevinger cried.
“Then why are they shooting at me?” Yossarian asked.
They’re shooting at everyone,” Clevinger answered. “They’re trying to kill everyone.”
“And what difference does that make?”
― Joseph Heller, Catch-22
“I WAS BROKEN HEARTED and at a crossroads in my life when I first went up the Skrang River in Sarawak, Borneo. The people I met there, ten years ago, who hosted me and my crew in their longhouse, who fed us and looked after us, treated me with great kindness. When the Chiefs invited me back for their yearly harvest festival, GAWAI, I said I would come.
It took me a while, but in the end I did return.
I have to admit, I was wondering if all the bad shit running through my head the first time I went up that river was still lurking there — if I’d managed to entirely put it away. I was fulfilling a promise. And I was curious to see how things had changed.
The Iban people are wonderful hosts. It is true that once, not too long ago, they were headhunters — a proud tradition reflected in the faded tattoos on the fingers of the elders — and the dusty bouquet of skulls that hung over my head in the longhouse the first time I was there.
The skulls are gone now. And there are more TVs and cell phones… And when I arrived this time, friends and relatives from all over the world had returned for the festival. The forest has been somewhat denuded by timbering, but much is the same.
We went to great lengths to retrace our steps — so some of you might feel you’ve seen this show before. Which you have.
But things are different now.
The drinking was non-stop. The Iban karaoke, insane. And my idea to get a traditional, hand-tapped jungle tattoo on my sternum was probably ill advised.
But it’s one of the most beautiful places on earth — as remote and as different from where I grew up as anyplace could be. The people are lovely — and the food, as everywhere in Malaysia, incredible.
It was, in the end, the best kind of adventure.”
— Anthony Bourdain
ESCAPE VELOCITY
by Alex Abramovich
“There are ten thousand freedoms,” the late Joshua Clover once said, “but rock freedom is definitely set – in the first instance – in a car, when it’s late outside. It can be ecstatic, it can be boring, it can be adjectiveless freedom, but you have reached escape velocity, faster miles an hour, you have no particular place to go, and you have the radio on.”
Chuck Berry’s ‘Maybellene’ recently turned 70. Recorded on May 21, 1955 in a studio on the South Side of Chicago, it tells the story of a man chasing his girlfriend down the highway. He’s in a Ford V8, she’s driving a Cadillac. She’s cheating, the car’s overheating, he’s trying to catch her before she gets away for good. ‘Maybellene’ isn’t Chuck Berry’s best song but it was his first single. Without it there’d be no Bob Dylan. No rock and roll as we know it. It’s a miracle.
There’s a story about the song, too. The demo tape that Chuck Berry gave Leonard Chess included a slow blues, ‘Wee Wee Hours,’ and a faster number that Berry called ‘Ida Mae.’ Chess wasn’t interested in the slow blues but the up-tempo track caught his ear. He thought the name sounded too rural. They changed it to ‘Maybellene,’ inspired by a mascara box lying on the studio floor. Invariably, in the accounts that followed, Berry’s breakthrough was described as a fusion: a country melody played with a rhythm and blues backbeat. A white form electrified by Black energy. Rock and roll, the story goes, was born of that blend.
But country music was already a blend – of string band traditions, blues forms and parlor ballads carried down from Appalachia. Jimmie Rodgers, who’d performed in blackface, kept singing the blues when his make-up came off. Hank Williams sang the blues, too. Western swing, the subgenre most often cited as an antecedent in the ‘Maybellene’ lineage, was itself a hybrid: part jazz, part fiddle breakdown, part dancehall stomp. Here, and elsewhere, the color line – which was also the line that Johnny Cash walked – got weird.
Bob Wills, the Western swing fiddler and bandleader, recorded ‘Ida Red’ in 1938 and reprised it many times after. In The Rolling Stone History of Rock and Roll, Ed Ward writes that Berry “whipped out an old fiddle tune, ‘Ida Red,’ which had been recorded by everybody from Bob Wills to … Cowboy Copas.” In his own History of Rock and Roll, Ward leans more heavily on Copas: Berry “probably emulated” that version because it was more current, and because Copas had supposedly turned the old song into a car chase. (As far as I can tell, there is no Cowboy Copas recording.) In his thorough biography, Chuck Berry: An American Life (2022), R.J. Smith says the song was “built on the outline of a country fiddle tune, ‘Ida Red,’ popularized by the Western swing bandleader Bob Wills.”
Wills’s ‘Ida Red’, especially the 1946 Tiffany Transcription, with Junior Barnard on electric guitar, is fantastic: hard-charging and joyous. Lyrically, it’s not much more than a collection of floating couplets: “Chicken in the bread pan pickin’ out dough/Granny does your dog bite? No child no.” There’s no chase, not much of a narrative arc, just momentum and charm. It doesn’t have much in common musically with ‘Maybellene’ either.
‘Maybellene’ is more like Arkie Shibley’s ‘Hot Rod Race,’ a talking blues in Western swing clothes. Released in 1950, the song follows a Ford and a Mercury racing “side by side” – phrasing Berry would use five years later. The song spawned sequels and helped fix the open road as a postwar musical staple. But if ‘Hot Rod Race’ gave Berry his frame, Bumble Bee Slim handed him the voice. Slim’s own ‘Ida Red,’ which predates ‘Maybellene’ by three years, shares little with Wills’s except for the title. It does have a Ford, a Cadillac and a complaint though, and the tone and the cadence are eerily close, in contour and intent, to Berry’s own.
But ‘Hot Rod Race’ is racially charged, if not outright racist: the singer brags about “rippin’ along like white folks might.” An admission, in other words, that the open road was not open to everyone. Slim’s ‘Ida Red’ was the opposite: too Black and too out of the way. Neither fit the narrative. Neither got remembered, and to complicate things further, Berry did take something from Wills: the rhythm. That driving, straight-ahead rhythm in cut time. The official version has Berry laying a “blues” backbeat under a country melody. In reality, the melodic elements drew on the blues; the rhythm on Western swing. It’s the exact inverse of what we’ve been told.
Chuck Berry was doing something far stranger and sharper: not meeting in the middle but cutting across. Getting that wrong means missing the point of the record, not just where it came from but what it was trying to do. And did. It trains us to hear the same way, but genius moves faster than whatever boxes we’ve built to contain it.
(London Review of Books)
SWEDEN’S SECRET TO WELL-BEING? TINY URBAN GARDENS.
Known as koloniträdgårdar, they provide city dwellers access to nature, fresh produce and community.
by Ingrid K. Williams
On an unseasonably warm June morning in Stockholm, Stina Larsson, 98, stood among fragrant lilacs, lilies and lavender, inspecting the garden that she has tended for more than 40 years. Rabbits had been nibbling the nasturtiums, she noticed, and there were weeds that needed pulling.
Ms. Larsson’s garden, situated on a postage stamp of land beside the Karlbergs Canal, is one of more than 7,000 garden allotments, known as koloniträdgårdar, in Stockholm. The gardens, established as part of a social movement around the turn of the 20th century, offer city dwellers access to green space and a reprieve from crowded urban life.
Though most are modest in size — Ms. Larsson’s garden is about 970 square feet — koloniträdgårdar are prized for providing a rare kind of urban sanctuary, a corner of the city where residents can trade pavement for soil, and the buzz of traffic for birdsong.
The garden programs were specifically designed to improve the mental and physical health of city dwellers, said Fredrik Björk, a lecturer at Malmö University who specializes in environmental history.
“The idea was that a working-class family would be able to spend the summer there and work together but also have some leisure and fun,” Mr. Björk said on the phone from his own koloniträdgård in Ärtholmen, a garden association in Malmö that dates back to the 1940s.
“In those days, there was lots of heavy drinking,” Mr. Björk said. But at the garden colonies, he said, “instead of drinking alcohol, you would grow potatoes.”
The health benefits of gardening are well established, both for the physical activity and for the time spent in nature. Cecilia Stenfors, an associate professor of psychology at Stockholm University, said her research shows that those who frequently visit green spaces, whether a forest or a koloniträdgård, “have better health outcomes, in terms of fewer depressive symptoms, less anxiety, better sleep and fewer feelings of loneliness and social isolation.”
These positive effects can be particularly pronounced in older people and can help combat symptoms of age-related mental and physical decline. Maja-Lena Säfström, 80, who owns a cotton-candy-pink cottage in a garden association outside of Uppsala, said she had seen many wellness benefits from having a koloniträdgård.
“When you’re in an apartment, you don’t move much, but if you have a garden, you move around in a different way, and that makes you feel better,” she said. Garden associations can also help foster social connection, Ms. Säfström explained, giving residents a chance to meet other people with similar interests.
Rising interest in koloniträdgårdar, particularly among younger Swedes, has led to an increase in prices in recent years. Mr. Björk said cottages in his association can sell for over 1 million Swedish kronor (about $105,000). In Stockholm, however, prices are regulated to help ensure the gardens remain affordable, said Katrin Holmberg, a board member of Stockholms Koloniträdgårdar.
“It’s a great leisure activity for people; it’s healthy, and you’re outdoors a lot,” she said. “I think the city understands that, as well as the fact that it contributes to biodiversity in urban areas.”
Stockholm residents who can’t afford to buy their own plot can still enjoy the benefits of the koloniträdgårdar, which are all open to the general public to enjoy. But for those who wish to own a garden of their own, the biggest obstacle, apart from the price tag, is availability.
There are more than 50,000 plots across Sweden, but demand far outpaces supply. Eriksdalslundens Koloniträdgårdsförening, an association of 143 plots on the southern island of Södermalm that is among the most popular garden colonies in central Stockholm, has over 1,100 people on the waiting list. And the wait times can be incredibly long. One couple I spoke to, Bengt and Susanne Kopp, were on a waiting list for 17 years before they were finally able to buy a cottage in 2023.
For many Swedes like the Eklundhs, a koloniträdgård is more than just a storybook cottage and thriving garden. It’s also an active hobby with wide-ranging health benefits and a restorative escape from the city without ever needing to leave it.
EXILE’S LETTER
Translated by Ezra Pound from the Chinese of Li Po, written while in exile, about 760 A.D., to the hereditary War-Councillor of Sho, "recollecting former companionship."
SO-KIN of Rakuho, ancient friend, I now remember
That you built me a special tavern,
By the south side of the bridge at Ten-Shin.
With yellow gold and white jewels
we paid for the songs and laughter,
And we were drunk for month after month,
forgetting the kings and princes.
Intelligent men came drifting in, from the sea
and from the west border,
And with them, and with you especially,
there was nothing at cross-purpose;
And they made nothing of sea-crossing
or of mountain-crossing,
If only they could be of that fellowship.
And we all spoke out our hearts and minds …
and without regret.
And then I was sent off to South Wei,
smothered in laurel groves,
And you to the north of Raku-hoku,
Till we had nothing but thoughts and memories between us.
And when separation had come to its worst
We met, and travelled together into Sen-Go
Through all the thirty-six folds of the turning and twisting waters;
Into a valley of a thousand bright flowers …
that was the first valley,
And on into ten thousand valleys
full of voices and pine-winds.
With silver harness and reins of gold,
prostrating themselves on the ground,
Out came the East-of-Kan foreman and his company;
And there came also the “True-man” of Shi-yo to meet me,
Playing on a jewelled mouth-organ.
In the storied houses of San-Ko they gave us
more Sennin music;
Many instruments, like the sound of young phœnix broods.
And the foreman of Kan-Chu, drunk,
Danced because his long sleeves
Wouldn’t keep still, with that music playing.
And I, wrapped in brocade, went to sleep with my head on his lap,
And my spirit so high that it was all over the heavens.
And before the end of the day we were scattered like stars or rain.
I had to be off to So, far away over the waters,
You back to your river-bridge.
And your father, who was brave as a leopard,
Was governor in Hei Shu and put down the barbarian rabble.
And one May he had you send for me, despite the long distance;
And what with broken wheels and so on, I won’t say it wasn’t hard going -
Over roads twisted like sheep’s guts.
And I was still going, late in the year,
in the cutting wind from the north,
And thinking how little you cared for the cost -
and you caring enough to pay it.
Then what a reception!
Red jade cups, food well set, on a blue jewelled table;
And I was drunk, and had no thought of returning;
And you would walk out with me to the western corner of the castle,
To the dynastic temple, with the water about it clear as blue jade,
With boats floating, and the sound of mouth-organs and drums,
With ripples like dragon-scales going grass-green on the water,
Pleasure lasting, with courtezans going and coming without hindrance,
With the willow-flakes falling like snow,
And the vermilioned girls getting drunk about sunset,
And the waters a hundred feet deep reflecting green eyebrows—
Eyebrows painted green are a fine sight in young moonlight,
Gracefully painted—and the girls singing back at each other,
Dancing in transparent brocade,
And the wind lifting the song, and interrupting it,
Tossing it up under the clouds.
And all this comes to an end,
And is not again to be met with.
I went up to the court for examination,
Tried Layu’s luck, offered the Choyu song,
And got no promotion,
And went back to the East Mountains white-headed.
And once again we met, later, at the South Bridge head.
And then the crowd broke up—you went north to San palace.
And if you ask how I regret that parting?
It is like the flowers falling at spring’s end,
confused, whirled in a tangle.
What is the use of talking! And there is no end of talking-
There is no end of things in the heart.
I call in the boy,
Have him sit on his knees to write and seal this,
And I send it a thousand miles, thinking.
ARTHUR KAUFMANN (German-American, 1888-1971) was born on this day.
After serving in WWI, Kaufmann established the Young Rhineland artists’ association. In 1922, he organized the “First International Art Exhibition” with other artists from the Young Rhineland, Uzarski and Gert Wollheim. In 1929, Kaufmann was the founding director of the City School of Decorative Painting in Dusseldorf.
Jewish in origin, Kaufmann was labeled “non-Aryan” by the Nazis and driven out of his post in 1933. He went into exile, settling in Scheveningen in the Netherlands. He was the first artist whom the Nazis sacked in Dusseldorf. His family followed him into exile. He emigrated to the US in 1936. He was able to do this because the composer George Gershwin stood surety for him. Kaufmann earned his living in New York by painting the portraits of American personalities and German exiles. In 1944, Kaufmann became an American citizen.
DIMENSIONS, PLEASE
We have a rectangular cardboard box. The top has an area of 120 square inches, the side 96 square inches, and the end 80 square inches. What are the exact dimensions of the box?
When Comrade Bruce, esteemed editor of this common sense mouthpiece, mentioned in his column last year that in his youth he liked to have an extra girlfriend on the side, I thought, yeah, right dude. Then I saw that photo in the AVA when he was nineteen and thought jeez, that’s one handsome guy, and so my question is: what happened? Must have been all that warring on the palaces, the right, the left, the center, the dumb, the smart and all the rest? (He did throw a bone to capitalism by keeping “Advertiser” in the name.)
Now he’s in a place of extreme discomfort I presume, but of all those in similar situations, Mr Anderson has something to keep him interested and in touch, this flock of opinionistas, these smartphone sheep (not “flip-phone Paul”) who still linger under his purview, with more coming daily to expound. (Sure, the comment section has become a variety show at times, but why not?)
The Geezer Gazette shuffles along, the puppet master pulls the strings, and it’s probably the best time for Major Mark, the power behind the thrown, to go on strike and demand a raise.
Beth Bosk responds:
Show some respect, please. Perhaps the most consequential citizen in Mendocino County throughout the past 50 years.
I also hold Bruce in high regard,
He gives me and others the opportunity to write for this lively rag, besides everything else the ava reports on…
(There’s a word for those who think they’re funnier than they actually are: obnoxious.
I was just playing around and didn’t mean any offense…)
top = 12 x 10
side = 12 x 8
end = 10 x 8
The problem can be expressed as 3 simultaneous equations: a = 120/b, b = 80/c, c = 96/a. It’s obvious at this point that 12, 10, and 8 are factors of the areas of the sides, so a more formal solution isn’t necessary.
I got 10”X12”X8”
Good Morning Mendo, ☀️🌷
For Sheriff Kendall,
I am curious what you think about the suggested new education requirements for law enforcement? Also that article stated that the police recruiting crisis is a myth do-you disagree with that statement?
Also remember a few years back when Riley Hsieh went missing? Right before that happened officials made mandatory training for all County employees to be educated in DEI, it was supposed to be ongoing and tracked and reviewed? Curious if that is happening because I have yet to see any information that it is continuing?
DEI ongoing education would solve some of the issues faced by public through police interactions.
Law Enforcement may not be Mental Health Workers but you are often the first line of intervention so being aware and knowledgeable is key in discerning proper action to take.
mm 💕
Good morning Mazzie, I’m at a dead run this morning but will take a break at lunch and give you my thoughts.
Sheriff,
Thank you
mm 💕
Would somebody please move that ,”back to the top” arrow at the bottom of the A.V. page? It is too close to the, “page down” button and I frequently am shot to the top of the page unwillingly. Thank you.
Besides, pressing the “Home” key does the same thing. Or, maybe modern keyboards lack that key?
The home key sends you to the top of the page which I don’t want to do. Yes, I could press the “down arrow key” but I prefer on screen one.
MILTON BRADLEY?
Some words, names, are memorable like nursery rhymes
Milton Bradley (1836-1911) was an American game pioneer and publisher, best known for founding the Milton Bradley Company, a major board game manufacturer. He’s credited with launching the board game industry in North America. The company, later acquired by Hasbro, produced numerous popular games like “The Checkered Game of Life,” “Candy Land,” “Operation,” and “Battleship”.
So now I have a couple of minutes and I know I tend to get a little long winded but there’s a lot to unpack here.
I have always been a proponent of more training for law enforcement personnel. I just want it to be regarding what law enforcement should be doing. That being said the state can easily extend the hours of police academy’s to include more in depth training for various topics.
Many of the changes in law enforcement are largely due to the state wanting law enforcement officers to take on roles which don’t belong to them. Which is in direct conflict with what the courts are saying.
Specifically, a Ninth Circuit ruling has impacted how qualified immunity applies to officers responding to non-criminal mental health calls. The court’s decision suggests that officers wont have qualified immunity if they use force in these situations, as it might be viewed as outside the scope of duties typically covered by such protections.
This case decision, caused some law enforcement agencies concerns and have reconsidered their response policies for mental health calls that don’t involve criminal activity.
For example, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office announced they would no longer respond to such calls unless a crime had occurred or someone other than the person in crisis was deemed to be in imminent danger
My father was a fireman and before that he was a soldier. He and I had a discussion about roles and duties. When you’re a fireman you put out fires, or train to put out fires or care for the equipment used to put out fires. That makes life much simpler. Many folks will say they have a duty to respond to vehicle accidents and provide basic life support care as well. That is an optional response for firefighters.
Law enforcement is being asked to take on roles which were never intended for law enforcement officers. We aren’t counselors or clinicians of mental health. The court decisions regarding these roles are based on the belief law enforcement should be investigating crime and enforcing the laws, they have been clear. When we arrive on scene we need stay within the lane which has been set for us. And if the call we receive isn’t criminal we shouldn’t be going. That’s the direction of several court decisions, but law enforcement has remained the easy button for many things.
I hope that answers some of your questions. Hang in there and I hope you have a great summer!!
That is an interesting take by the court, and I hope that it is struck down. My father was a sheriff, soldier, volunteer firefighter, and an airline pilot. We often had these discussions as well. His take was similar, he destained mental health calls saying they were among the most dangerous. Husband and wife being right there with it. But he also said there was no one else, at his time that was certainly true as society did yet believe in mental health. The stories he told are lessons to me to this very day about knowing anything is possible from anyone at any time. Firefighters may view responding a car accident as optional, but I say, who else? Pretty sure it should be whoever get there first. My father always wanted and thought everyone should be cross trained. There are two different philosophies. The Air Force for instance will not take someone who has been in the Navy, they are cross trained and found not suitable for a single task. My late older brother the Navy SEAL, couldn’t do anything but SEAL stuff. Fortunately for him he became a triple MBA before he left the service. So, in the end it is a very good and hard question that has asked since I was a child. Being a sailor and because of my training as a healer, I believe in multi-tasking and cross-training, why I’m pushing for more CIT training. Hope Dr. Miller is reading this…
Mark,
I am glad you see the value in CIT however that was being worked on between a person from NAMI and the Sheriff and has never been initiated. I have a friend very involved in CIT in Humboldt County they did not initiate it there until something completely terrible happened. Officers do not need to be cross trained in mental health, they need to be understanding and aware and able to discern what mental illness especially Serious Mental Illness episodes looks like and how they manifest so that appropriate intervention occurs. I do not believe CIT will be a reality for us but please push for it maybe you can Contact NAMI and find out what is happening in that regard.
mm 💕
Thanks Sheriff,
I have to be honest, you didn’t actually answer my original questions.
Do you believe the police recruiting crisis is a myth, as mentioned in the article?
Is the DEI training that was implemented before Riley Hsieh’s disappearance still happening? Is it ongoing and being tracked as intended?
I do appreciate the broader context you provided about qualified immunity and the scope of law enforcement roles but those weren’t the questions I had asked. My concern is about accountability and appropriate interventions.
You said, “we aren’t counselors or clinicians of mental health,” which I understand. But when your agency is the first response when someone is in a serious mental health crisis training, compassion, and consistency are necessary.
As a side note an interaction an intervention a transport to the hospital to have psych eval by no means makes LE 👮the Mental Health Experts in charge.
That narrative has not budged probably never will, imagine saying we are part of the solution instead of nope not our job not qualified to do it.
I’m asking these questions as someone who has had to live through the disparity in how these situations are handled this is not just theoretical to me. It’s deeply personal.
mm 💕
Ok Mazzie lots to unpack again. And I am not sure exactly what it is you’re asking.
Not certain on the question of DEI but….. I have officers scheduled for the CIT international training this year and we complete the MCIT training in Mendocino County as well.
Law enforcement recruitment issues are not a myth. I can tell you when I was young (long time ago, and I know we are the same age but you’re holding up better) we would have 50 qualified applicants for one job opening. Now we have 5 and most won’t pass the background.
The court’s have clearly weighed in on “that is not the job of law enforcement” to the point officers can be personally sued for actions on non criminal calls. That was a very clear statement from the court of appeals. Therefore many law enforcement agencies just won’t respond to non criminal calls, (mental health issues absent a crime) that is simply the outcome of many court decisions which have created case law.
I believe in caring compassionate interventions but the job is to investigated crime and enforce the law. Our responses to MH are with Mental Health professionals whenever possible, as our job in that case is to protect the mental health professionals and not do their jobs. With the new case law even that is a slippery slope.
Firefighters respond to a lot of calls. At times people perish in fires and that is a sad reality. If a fireman could be jailed or sued and lose their livelihood over a house burning to the ground or a person losing their life to smoke exposure, I’m certain there would be a lot less firefighters applying for jobs in the fire service. Would that cause a recruiting problem for the fire service? I think there’s a good possibility it would.
We are humans and therefore we are flawed imperfect beings, that doesn’t mean we don’t try.
Many times assistance is offered and turned down by those suffering and in need. That SUCKS for everyone, for sure. But it doesn’t make the person offering guilty of something, it’s just a crummy situation. Sometimes it leaves us shaking our fist at the Almighty because that’s all we can do and there certainly isn’t much satisfaction in that.
Sheriff,
Oh yes, lots to unpack. I’ve been doing it for five years. Sometimes my brain wants to burst with all these puzzles and conundrums. 🤣 Seriously though these issues run deep, and our response to them is deeply flawed for many reasons.
What I was specifically asking, in regards to the article on education for law enforcement, was what you thought of it. You’re right, though — it was a loaded question because I threw DEI into the mix: diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Here’s the thing, I don’t necessarily believe police officers need a college degree to do police work. (Maybe a psych evaluation… but not a degree. Just kidding. Kinda. 🤣)💕
But DEI training? That’s different. That’s something that could and should be implemented. It helps officers understand real-world circumstances better, especially when dealing with people in crisis or on the margins.
And I’m going to say what no one else will: I know the only reason the response for missing Riley Hsieh was so swift and profound was because the county had just implemented DEI training a week or so earlier. As much as that’s wonderful, it’s also disgraceful. Why? Because not everyone gets that kind of response.
And here’s the part that gets me: Riley is the exact same age as my son. All I ever heard was: No. We can’t help you.
Now about officers being sued for responding to non-criminal calls: how likely is that, really?
As for the staffing shortages, I hear you. You answered that well.
But for me? It’s not about trying. That’s for the birds. It’s about doing what’s right!
Ahhh yes — the narrative that “we offered, but they refused.” Did they? What was actually offered? And more importantly what was understood about the needs of those people?
If you offer someone food, shelter, or a safe place to rest would they really refuse?
I have a well mind. If you offered me something unnecessary to my immediate survival, I’d probably decline too.
All that said, I am grateful for you. You always step up, and I do appreciate that.
mm 💕
Indeed, Sheriff Kendall does step up in this discussion, as well as others. I really appreciate your clarity, humanity and engagement in discussing these tough, complex issues, Sheriff. And same for you, Mazie. Such dialogue is key to helping solve many of our issues.
Chuck,
Thanks 💕
mm 💕
Back at you
You dandy Corker!