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TEMPERATURES start trending down today, but high temperatures remain warm. There is a slight chance for thunderstorms in northern Trinity County this afternoon and evening. (NWS)
STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A foggy 54F this Tuesday morning on the coast. Yesterday was another lovely day, what will today bring? Don't look at me..... Our forecast remains the same with a mix of fog & sun, ever changing but sometimes not changing?
TWO ARRESTED IN RECENT HOMICIDE: SWAT RAID IN ARCATA, TRAFFIC STOP ON 101 CONNECTED
A shooting near Fieldbrook on Glendale Road on July 8 that left one man dead has led to two arrests, following a coordinated SWAT operation and a felony traffic stop on Highway 101.
This morning, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that 41-year-old Danielle Roberta Durand and 38-year-old Deunn Antoine Willis have been arrested in connection with the July 8 homicide of Joshua Lee McCollister, a 37-year-old Fort Bragg man. The homicide occurred on Glendale Drive, east of Fieldbrook.
The arrests came after days of investigation by the Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Division. Just before 9 a.m. on July 11, the HCSO SWAT team moved in to execute an arrest warrant at a residence in the 100 block of H Street in Arcata. At the same time, Durand was stopped and taken into custody during a felony traffic stop on Highway 101 near the Bayside Cutoff.
As SWAT officers secured the Arcata residence, Willis was located inside and detained. Further investigation identified him as the primary suspect in McCollister’s killing.
Both Durand and Willis were booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on suspicion of murder (PC 187), conspiracy (PC 182), and robbery (PC 211).
McCollister was found with a gunshot wound on Glendale Drive late Monday night and was declared deceased at the scene. The Sheriff’s Office had previously stated that they believed he and the suspects knew each other.
Authorities say the investigation remains active and are encouraging anyone with information to contact the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Major Crimes Division at (707) 445-7251 or the Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.
(KymKemp.com)
SHERIFF KENDALL
I’ll get those to the Major. There has to be some redactions to meet current laws.
When all of these allegations were made at the BOS meeting on the coast [in September of 2023], Ms Johnson received a round of applause for her performance. Several folks actually applauded being lied to. I found that to be insulting. The truth doesn’t stand a chance against those wanting to believe a lie.
When contacted by the media, I made the statement that I hoped all of those so quick to condemn my deputies would be equally fast in apologizing to my deputies.
Well the phone hasn’t rung yet. No one has reached out to say, “Hell, I’m Sorry.” I find that a little bit shameful, and I won’t hold my breath waiting for that call.
We pay a lot for our camera systems capturing the audio and video of our contacts, and they are worth every penny.
I sure do miss the world I grew up in.
SUPERVISOR MAUREEN MULHEREN (facebook)
I adopted this section of the County Road before I was elected back in 2019-2020 when I was trying to figure out how to help these neighborhoods down on the south end. Since then the lines have changed a bit but here’s a map; pink is the Second District, Green is the Fifth District and the yellow line is the City limits.
County DOT has a lot more roads and can’t get to all of the weed whacking. All across the County property owners are responsible for maintaining the areas for fire prevention and litter removal in front of their own properties. I’m not that great of a weed whacker to be honest, but I try to get to it when I can. It’s just interesting that I’m responsible for maintenance in front of businesses opposed to annexation and if they were in the City limits this would have been taken care of months ago. I’ve been asked to be more specific and direct when I speak, so this is not any shade against our County DOT workers at all. It’s about capacity and maintaining urban areas and what the City can do vs what County roads can do for rural roads. Speaking of which the whole stretch from the Airport to Norgard is mine and I can use some help with the trash if you want to meet up. Happy Sunday! Hope you stay cool and drink water!
JEFF DeVILBISS with a simple solution for saving abalone from extinction: “If Fish and Game and all the others were serious about limiting the take or ‘saving the species’, all they have to do is ban the use of Wetsuits in the gathering of abalone. Enforcement would be simpler, and cheaper, as only the hardy and knowledgeable few would be out there on minus tides.”
AN ICONIC CALIFORNIA LANDMARK IS FOR SALE, and locals are livid
For $7 million, you can buy the Mendocino Coast view that locals were denied
by Matt LaFever
The Albion Headlands — 84 acres of raw bluffs, windswept hills and crashing surf jutting off the iconic Mendocino Coast — are on the market, and the sale has galvanized locals. With no house, no driveway and no utility hookups, the $6.95 million listing at 3400 North Highway 1 isn’t your typical real estate play. It comes with something far more valuable to some: the chance to own and subdivide one of the last undeveloped oceanfront properties on California’s North Coast.
Long considered the crown jewel of the unincorporated hamlet of Albion, population 150, the headlands are now being marketed as 16 residential parcels. Conservationists say that claim is misleading, pointing to failed subdivision attempts and zoning restrictions. Still, the fear remains: One deep-pocketed buyer could step in and close the gates for good.
“Some very rich person or developer could still swoop in and grab it,” Conrad Kramer, executive director of the Mendocino Land Trust, told SFGATE in a phone interview. “We think that that won’t happen right away, and I’m knocking on wood here.”
Founded in 1976, the land trust has helped protect thousands of acres along the North Coast, mostly through conservation easements, Kramer explained. But with the Albion Headlands, they’re going all in. The only way to save the property — and make it open to the public — is to buy it outright on the open market.
As a nonprofit, the land trust can’t just outbid anyone. “We have to get an appraisal done and we can’t pay more than that appraised value,” Kramer said. He believes the current asking price is “considerably over the actual value.” The land trust is moving quickly to finish the appraisal and hopes the seller will accept their offer. If not, “we might be out of luck,” Kramer said.
The path to funding, Kramer explained, depends on a mix of state support and private donations. “We’re really lucky here on the coast of California,” he said. “The state of California has long had it be a priority to acquire lands for public access on the coast through the state Coastal Conservancy.” He added, “We think that they’ll come in and maybe cover half of the price of this property. And then the rest will have to come from somewhere else.”
That “somewhere else” is where the community comes in. “We are hoping that, you know, the rest of it will come from private donors,” Kramer said.
“There are a lot of people on the coast that feel passionate about their beautiful coast, and we’re fortunate to have a number of them as donors,” he added.
Support is already rolling in — even before the campaign has launched. “Donations for this property are starting to come in even though we haven’t actually launched a campaign,” Kramer said. “… That’s really exciting.”
The land trust’s vision is modest: a small parking lot, an accessible bluff trail, and hilltop viewpoints where visitors can sit in their cars and watch the sunset.
“Albion has no public access right now,” Kramer said. If the deal goes through, he hopes the headlands will finally be open: a place to hike, breathe, and, as he put it, “sit there and watch the sunset or, you know, take in the view.”
According to Tom Wodetzki, a longtime Albion resident and environmental advocate, the stakes go beyond property lines. “Albion is about the only community on the coast that doesn’t have its own headlands proper,” he said on a phone call. He pointed out that neighboring towns — Fort Bragg, Mendocino, Little River, even tiny Cleone — all have public headland trails.
“People have not been able to go up there without trespassing,” Wodetzki said. He said he believes it is “extra important for locals to get our way [that] we can go watch the sunset from the headlands.”
He’s also skeptical of the listing’s claim that the 84 acres can be split into 16 parcels, telling SFGATE, “they won’t stand up in court.”
Justin Nadeau, the Sotheby’s broker representing the listing, pushed back. Nadeau told SFGATE on a recent phone call that the parcels are remnants of workforce housing from the Mendocino Coast lumber boom — a patchwork of small, 5,000-square-foot lots created for mill workers.
“That’s one of the unfortunate misconceptions from people in the community — that these parcels are not buildable. Well, according to Mendocino County building and planning, they are,” he said.
From the moment Nadeau secured the listing, he said conservation was top of mind. He reached out first to the Mendocino Land Trust, then to nearby tribal leaders, and finally to a private contact he believed might help protect the property. “The first party, Mendocino Land Trust, stepped up right away and they’ve made this public,” Nadeau said.
In his conversations with locals, Nadeau has met people who’ve lived in Albion for 50 or 60 years — “and yet they’ve never actually been out there.” The listing, he said, has stirred up deeper frustrations about the lack of public ownership and open space.
“The campgrounds down below are privately owned. Albion Headlands are privately owned. The property to the north of Albion River and the Albion Bay there — it’s all privately owned,” he said. “It’s a unique place. … Albion is one of the only communities that doesn’t have public access to the water.”
As both a Mendocino Coast local and the listing agent, Nadeau knows he’s in a delicate position. “My intentions of this is not just, ‘Hey let’s get this great listing and sell off this beautiful chunk of land,’ you know, to make a bunch of money,” he said. He said he believes the community is better served by a local broker handling the sale — someone operating with intention, care and compassion.
Chris Skyhawk, a longtime Mendocino Coast resident and outspoken advocate for putting the headlands in public hands, told SFGATE over the phone that the land’s beauty evokes something primal — a feeling “you can just feel in your soul when you sit up there and just get real quiet and look.”
He took issue with the language in Sotheby’s marketing video, especially the idea of “reimagining” the headlands. To him, that misses the point: “Let’s reimagine heaven. How can we improve it?”
Nadeau challenged Skyhawk’s characterization. “When I talk about reimagining the future of the Albion Headlands, I’m actually talking about reimagining it in a way for the public to be there and use it,” he said. “The current imagination of the property is houses and condos.”
From Skyhawk’s perspective, developing the Albion Headlands “is about as popular as offshore oil drilling.”
To him, the sale points to a deeper imbalance. “We’re becoming kind of a Disneyland for rich people,” he said. He called the privatization of such landscapes “part of the sin of capitalism.” He questioned a future where only “rich people can be up there now and enjoy that view.”
For many, the message is simple: This stretch of blufftop doesn’t need to be transformed. It just needs to be opened.
Nadeau made the stakes plain: “If a private individual decides, ‘Hey, I’m going to buy the property and I’m going to build a single house,’ the property is then basically lost to the public forever.”
(sfgate.com)
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING, PINT ARENA
Notice is hereby given that the Point Arena City Council will conduct a public hearing via teleconference on July 22, 2025 at 6:00 p.m., or as soon thereafter as possible, on the following:
Public Hearing will be held Approving/Denying the Following Projects:
Case: cdp# 2025-01
Date filed: april 1, 2025
Owner: adrienne sutton & john meyer
Applicants: adrienne sutton & john meyer
Agents: amy wynn, wynn coastal planning & biology
Zoning: agriculture exclusive (ae)
Request: Coastal Development Permit (CDP 2025-1) to construct: 1) a 2,010 SF Single-Family Residence; 2) a 640 SF Detached Garage with a second floor 640 SF accessory dwelling unit; 3) planting beds and greenhouses for row and tree crops agricultural business; 4) a driveway and septic system, 5) conversion of a test well to production well and installation of a pump house and underground and above ground water storage tanks; and 6) connect to utilities.
APN: 027-041-35
Location: 890 bluff top road, point arena, ca
Public hearing date: july 22, 2025
Documents: CDP 2025-01 Full Report
(https://cityofpointarena.us14.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c164a8c82a2a5af8db4de85b1&id=81dcad2a01&e=d0e3cdc057)
Case: CDP# 2025-02
Date Filed: June 26, 2025
Owner: Kyle Rand & Elyse Poppers And Tatyana Rand
Applicants: Adrienne Sutton & John Meyer
Agents: Amy Wynn, Wynn Coastal Planning & Biology
Zoning: Agriculture Exclusive (AE)
Request: Coastal Development Permit (CDP 2025-1) to construct a gravel driveway and define a road easement to serve northerly neighbor at 890 Bluff Top Road (APN 027-041-35).
APN: 027-041-33
Location: 780 Bluff Top Road, Point Arena, Ca
Public Hearing Date: July 22, 2025
Documents: CDP 2025-02 Full Report
(https://cityofpointarena.us14.list-manage.com/track/click?u=c164a8c82a2a5af8db4de85b1&id=4d9f26315f&e=d0e3cdc057)
The Point Arena City Council is soliciting your input. All interested parties are invited to attend and be heard at this time. Applicants or their agents must appear for their hearings. If you challenge the above matter(s) in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the City Clerk at, or prior to, the public hearing. All documents are available for review in the City Clerk’s Office. The City Council’s action regarding the item shall constitute final action by the City unless appealed to the Coastal Commission. Appeals to the Coastal Commission must be made in writing within 10 working days following Coastal Commission receipt of a Notice of Final Action on this project. Should you desire to request notification of the City Council’s decision you may do so in writing by providing a self-addressed stamped envelope to the City Clerk.
For further information contact the City of Point Arena:
Mailing Address: PO Box 67, Point Arena, CA 95468
City Hall Location: 451 School Street, Point Arena
Telephone: 707 882-2122
Website: pointarena.ca.gov
PHOTOGRAPHERS: START PREPARING FOR THE COUNTY FAIR
One of the many wonderful aspects of our County Fair is that there’s plenty of room for everyone to submit their animals, arts, crafts, and food to competitive judging. In more populous urban counties, entrants are limited to just a few submissions.
We are lucky, we can submit plenty of items and our Fair Board listens to us and occasionally creates new categories.
I’m particularly excited about a new category for photography, which allows us photo bugs to submit images that more closely match what we see in our cameras.
This might sound like a minor tweak to some people, but if you care about the photos you take, it’s big. The “big” comes from what photographers call the “aspect ratio,” or the ratio of height to width. The cameras in most phones, for example, have an aspect ratio of about 4 inches high to 5 inches wide (also known as 8x10). But any good digital camera shoots an aspect ratio of 4 to 6. In other words, digital cameras take wider images. And that’s what many of us see when we compose a shot. If we then have to trim that shot back down to a 4 to 5 ratio we’re often forced to cropping away essential background and context.
The Fair Board recognized this and has created a two new categories in addition to the 4 to 5 that allow us to print our photos very close to the aspect ratio we shot them in or just a little cropped. They are 4 to 6 and 5 to 7.
Here’s an example of a photo that I took at the rodeo a few years ago.
Along with the horse, rider and bull, you get the fences and billboards behind them, which we recognize as our own fairgrounds arena. In prior years, I would have had to trim that image down to this second version of the photo.
You can see that this version loses part of the rider, part of the bull, and most of the indicators that this is a local photo. Not what we want for a picture submitted to our own County Fair!
Of course, many photos look great in the 4 by 5 aspect ratio, and those categories are all still available to amateurs and professionals alike. The new category just adds room for more creativity and more context, which any photographer will tell you are a big part of the fun of taking pictures.
Now for the caveats. The new aspect ratio comes in under the “professional” category, which means the submission fee to the fair is three dollars per image instead of two. There’s also a potential increase in cost for slightly different openings in the “mats” – the neutral framing material that surrounds the image.
I personally am getting around this latter issue by buying mats with custom openings in volume, which reduces the unit cost a lot, and makes it easy for me to submit in the new category for several years, not just one. As for paying an extra dollar for the new aspect ratio? It feels like validation of the extra creativity, careful composition and context I get when I submit my photos, so I’m taking it as a positive.
And don’t forget, the fair awards prize money for photographs, so if you enter in the new category, you might come out ahead in the end!
If you want more information about these new categories, and how we can do group purchasing of the right mats, I have posted detailed info on myFacebook page. You can also find the fair’s photo submission information at https://mendocountyfair.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/13.-FINE-ARTS-2025.pdf.
Scroll down to Section 30.
Antoinette von Grone, Philo
ED NOTE
My fave restaurant (Windmills Cafe, Ukiah)
SWINGIN’ ON THE COAST!
The hippest place in Mendocino is a newish multi-use space called Valerie. Right downtown it’s a shop by day, but on July 18, we’re clearing the floor and turning it into a 1940’s style dance hall. At 7 pm the Death and Taxes Swing Band provides a short dance lesson and then it’s an evening of shaking the rafters with 1940’s big band tunes. Come to dance or come to watch, but be sure to come!
The Death and Taxes Swing Band is unavoidably swinging’ and travels all over the world, from Florida to Singapore playing their brand of big band favorites that have been called, “The best of swing, with a tiny touch of AC/DC.”
This is an 18 and up event and dancers are welcome as well as complete novices or folks that just want to sit and watch the fun. Dress up or dress casual!
Death and Taxes Swing Band at Valerie Mendocino
10546 Lansing St, Mendocino, CA 95460
July 18 at 7 pm
Tickets $25 at https://bit.ly/swingdance_mendocino
Rebecca Roudman, [email protected]
ANDERSON VALLEY BREWING COMPANY
Join us for an early evening of incredible live music, cold beer, and mouthwatering food as we welcome While We’re Young to the AVBC beer park.
Date: Jul/18/2025
Time: 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
This all-star Mendocino County band blends Americana, blues, and rock with tight harmonies and deep musical roots. Frontman Dennis Hogan (Tasmanian Devils, Warner Bros.) brings decades of songwriting and touring experience, while guitarist and keyboardist Reginald Dunham draws on a Las Vegas Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame career and a flair for the theatrical. Drummer Ken Ingles, owner of Russian River Records, lays down the heartbeat with style and precision, and bassist Rique Pagan brings a groove forged on San Francisco stages, channeling legends like Zappa and Joni Mitchell.
Food by Boonmex: Serving up bold, authentic flavor from their beloved Boonville taco truck, Boonmex will be onsite slinging tacos, quesabirria, elote, and more—all made fresh and packed with flavor.
No cover • Just good vibes. Bring a friend, grab a pint, and ease into the weekend with us!
JOHN SAKOWICZ:
I always thought it strange that the polar opposites of good and evil coexisted side-by-side in Ukiah.
There was Jim Jones…the personification of evil.
And there was Rick Warren, perhaps America’s evangelical minister. He is the founder of Saddleback Church, an evangelical Baptist megachurch in Lake Forest, California. The church averages nearly 20,000 people in attendance each week.
Warren has been invited to speak at national and international forums, including the United Nations, the World Economic Forum in Davos, the African Union, the Council on Foreign Relations, Harvard Kennedy School, TED, and Time’s Global Health Summit.
He has been a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) since 2005. In December 2008, President-elect Obama chose Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration ceremony.
Also…
In 2004, Warren was named one of the “leaders who mattered most in 2004” by Time. In April 2005, Warren was named by Time as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World”. Warren was named one of “America’s Top 25 Leaders” in October 2005, by U.S. News & World Report. In 2006, Warren was named by Newsweek one of “15 People Who Make America Great”.
Finally…
Rick Warren is the author of “The Purpose Driven Life”. In 2006, “The Purpose Driven Life” sold more than 30 million copies, making Warren a New York Times bestselling author.
I’m a big fan of Rick Warren.
Here’s the thing…
Rick Warren is the son of Jimmy and Dot Warren. His father was a Baptist minister in Redwood Valley; his mother was the Ukiah High School librarian.
Rick Warren graduated from Ukiah High School in 1972, where he founded the first Christian club on the school’s campus.
In other words…
Jim Jones’ Peoples Temple was located right next door to Jimmy Warren’s Baptist Church in Redwood Valley.
And when Jim Jones was getting appointed public guardian to the poor unfortunates who were getting discharged from the old Mendocino State Hospital when it closed — and funneling those same unfortunate souls straight into the Peoples Temple, along with their SSDI checks — Rick Warren was starting a Christian club at Ukiah High School.
Good and evil.
Existing side-by-side.
In plain sight.
Steve Heilig:
The Jonestown physician who mixed the lethal cynanide potion was a UC Irvine med school classmate of one of my family members: “Very smart guy, but some of us felt there was also something weird there.” Here’s a story about him by someone who knew him well: https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=30877
CATCH OF THE DAY, Monday, July 14, 2025
ROBERT BELL, 42, Laytonville. trespassing/refusing to leave, damaging railroad bridge, vandalism, resisting.
KEITH BROWN, 35, Ukiah. DUI.
JARED KIDD, 33, Ukiah. Under influence. (Frequent flyer.)
SEFERINO NUNEZ-LEON, 27, Redwood Valley. Hit&run resulting in injury or death, failure to appear.
TONY PANIAGUA, 35, Ukiah. County parole violation.
SALVADOR RAMIREZ-SALINAS, 49, Ukiah. Indecent exposure.
PETER SMITH, 49, Redwood Valley. DUI-any drug.
WHY WOULD ANYONE…
Editor:
From fire science we learn of the fire triangle. It consists of three elements: heat, fuel and oxygen. Take away one of these elements and the fire cannot survive. American greatness, I’ll opine, is like the fire triangle in that it comprises three elements: education, innovation and hard work. Eliminate one and American greatness may not survive. U.S. colleges and universities foster two of these elements and successful graduates practice the third. Thus the question is begged: Why would anyone trump up excuses to impede from the missions or defund universities like Harvard and Columbia and Penn, where much of their effort aligns with their charters? Isn’t the point to keep America great?
Dave Delgardo
Cloverdale
ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY
SNAP (formerly food stamps) has been cut to the bone. As a senior full-time spousal caregiver and elderly disabled wife, our SNAP has been cut to $23.00 a month for both of us -- and grocery prices are high. Those groceries will likely become scarcer and more expensive due to ICE raids and the disappearing of agriculture and food processing workers. Our Medicaid will be next now that Trump’s big ugly bill has passed. Trump’s malign reign of vengeance is an assault on working people, seniors, minorities, children and the most vulnerable as well as hard-working immigrants, refugees, and any who dare to speak out. This is a national security issue and must be brought to an end.
GEORGE RAFT
In 1932, George Raft, the suave and sharply dressed actor known for his iconic gangster roles, was a frequent sight on Sunset Boulevard, the beating heart of Hollywood’s Golden Age. At this point, Raft was on the verge of stardom, having recently earned attention for his standout performance in Scarface (1932), where he played a memorable coin-flipping gangster—a role that became one of his signature trademarks. Raft’s portrayal of cool, streetwise characters made him a natural fit for the crime films that were all the rage during this period, and his persona resonated deeply with audiences who admired his tough yet charming on-screen presence.
Raft’s street-smart image was bolstered by his real-life background. Growing up in Hell’s Kitchen, New York, and having connections to the criminal underworld, he brought an authentic edge to his performances that many of his contemporaries lacked. This authenticity made him an ideal choice for Hollywood’s gangster films, and by 1932, Sunset Blvd. was alive with movie premieres, speakeasies, and legendary nightclubs. It was the perfect setting for a rising star like Raft, who was beginning to solidify his place in Hollywood’s elite.
Despite his tough-guy image on screen, Raft was known for his impeccable fashion sense. He was often seen sporting tailored suits and slicked-back hair, projecting an air of old-school Hollywood elegance. Raft frequented Sunset Blvd., where he mingled with Hollywood icons like James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart, cementing his status as a rising star in the industry. His career would soar throughout the 1930s and 1940s, earning him a reputation as one of Hollywood’s quintessential tough guys. However, Raft’s legacy is also marked by some notable roles he turned down, most famously Casablanca (1942). The image of him in 1932 on Sunset Blvd. captures a man on the cusp of greatness, ready to leave an indelible mark on Hollywood’s gangster film era.
UKIAH BECKONS
Not Just Another Humid Afternoon in Washington, D.C.
Warmest spiritual greetings, We are maintaining the Peace Vigil in front of the White House 24/7 365 in opposition to nuclear annihilation. That, in addition to a growing list of environmental and social concerns. Every day features groups from around the world with political messages in Lafayette Park. Behind the security iron fencing around the WH, is a huge American flag recently installed in front of the fountain, with the shrubbery and the building behind. The sniper stands partially hidden on the roof, relaxed and smiling.
At this time, I am interested in moving out of the Catholic Charities homeless shelter, because I have contributed everything possible during my sixteenth time being supportive of the vigil. I am available for whatever the Spiritual Absolute wills. The general health is really good at age 75. There is $1307.84 in the bank checking account and $42.68 in the wallet. The Social Security SSA monthly amount is $488. Otherwise, the SSI timed out or perhaps I missed a phone interview in the midst of it all, the EBT card does not work, in spite of being notified via email that the monthly benefit amount has been posted to my account; have contacted EBT offices in both California and Washington, D.C. but haven’t received a response yet, and the federal housing voucher timed out but nobody in social services can offer a rational explanation.
From the standpoint of a senior citizen who went all out for the past 50 years to be an earth steward, while serving society (23 years of providing meals with Catholic Worker), and cultivating a full spiritual life, this is worse than ignorant on the part of the American government. I am packed and may leave the homeless shelter at any time. Thank you for appreciating this message, and I look forward to your solidarity, camaraderie, and mutual aid now and always.
Craig Louis Stehr, [email protected]
MARTIN CRUZ SMITH, ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF ‘GORKY PARK,’ DIES AT 82
by Hillel Italie
Martin Cruz Smith, the best-selling mystery novelist who engaged readers for decades with “Gorky Park” and other thrillers featuring Moscow investigator Arkady Renko, has died at age 82.
Smith died Friday at a senior living community in San Rafael, California, “surrounded by those he loved,” according to his publisher, Simon & Schuster. Smith revealed a decade ago that he had Parkinson’s disease, and he gave the same condition to his protagonist. His 11th Renko book, “Hotel Ukraine,” was published this week and billed as his last.
“My longevity is linked to Arkady’s,” he told Strand Magazine in 2023. “As long as he remains intelligent, humorous, and romantic, so shall I.”
Smith was often praised for his storytelling and for his insights into modern Russia; he would speak of being interrogated at length by customs officials during his many trips there. The Associated Press called “Hotel Ukraine” a “gem” that “upholds Smith’s reputation as a great craftsman of modern detective fiction with his sharply drawn, complex characters and a compelling plot.”
Smith’s honors included being named a “grand master” by the Mystery Writers of America, winning the Hammett Prize for “Havana Bay” and a Gold Dagger award for “Gorky Park.”
Born Martin William Smith in Reading, Pennsylvania, he studied creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania and started out as a journalist, including a brief stint at the AP and at the Philadelphia Daily News. Success as an author arrived slowly. He had been a published novelist for more than a decade before he broke through in the early 1980s with “Gorky Park.” His novel came out when the Soviet Union and the Cold War were still very much alive and centered on Renko’s investigation into the murders of three people whose bodies were found in the Moscow park that Smith used for the book’s title.
“Gorky Park,” cited by the New York Times as a reminder of “just how satisfying a smoothly turned thriller can be,” topped the Times’ fiction bestseller list and was later made into a movie starring William Hurt.
“Russia is a character in my Renko stories, always,” Smith told Publishers Weekly in 2013. “‘Gorky Park’ may have been one of the first books to take a backdrop and make it into a character. It took me forever to write because of my need to get things right. You’ve got to knock down the issue of ‘Does this guy know what he’s talking about or not?’”
Smith’s other books include science fiction (“The Indians Won”), the Westerns “North to Dakota” and “Ride to Revenge,” and the “Romano Grey” mystery series. Besides “Martin Cruz Smith” — Cruz was his maternal grandmother’s name — he also wrote under the pen names “Nick Carter” and “Simon Quinn.”
Smith’s Renko books were inspired in part by his own travels and he would trace the region’s history over the past 40 years, whether the Soviet Union’s collapse (“Red Square”), the rise of Russian oligarchs (“The Siberian Dilemma”), or, in the novel “Wolves Eats Dogs,” the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
By the time he began working on his last novel, Russia had invaded Ukraine. The AP noted in its review of “Hotel Ukraine” that Smith had devised a backstory “pulled straight from recent headlines,” referencing such world leaders as Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine,Vladimir Putin of Russia and former President Joe Biden of the U.S.
Smith is survived by his brother, Jack Smith; his wife, Emily Smith; three children and five grandchildren.
CALIFORNIA WEED SALES ARE DOWN — BUT SOME COUNTIES STILL HAVE SKY-HIGH NUMBERS
by Julie Zhu
After a billowing rise during the pandemic, legal cannabis sales in California have been in steady decline since the summer of 2021 thanks to high-as-a-kite taxes for consumers and retailers, the decline of wholesale cannabis prices, oversupply from big operators in the state, changing consumer preferences and competition with the illicit market.
Data from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration shows that the state’s legal cannabis market experienced a sharp rise in taxable sales during the first two years of the pandemic, growing more than 160% from the spring of 2020 to a peak of $1.57 billion in the summer of 2021. However, since that high, sales have declined 30%.
After A Spike During The Pandemic, California Cannabis Sales Have Fallen
Those data come with caveats, and include all transactions made by legal cannabis retailers, including the sale of merchandise and paraphernalia as well as cannabis itself. Still, it’s clear the industry isn’t performing as well as lawmakers expected.
Flying High, Bumming Out
The initial spike happened in 2018, in the aftermath of the state’s legalization of recreational cannabis, said Duncan Ley, the head of the San Francisco Cannabis Retailers Alliance and owner of the California Street Cannabis Company. The increase in legal weed found ready markets with the stress and uncertainty people were dealing with during the pandemic.
But after that first surge, a myriad of causes may be contributing to the cooling in sales. Dr. Amanda Reiman, a cannabis industry researcher and advocate, said that a chunk of California’s cannabis sales came from visitors from other states. Since then, recreational cannabis has become legal in nearly half of U.S. states.
It’s also possible that enthusiasm died down and tastes settled.
“People were curious and some of them may have never tried cannabis before, and they wanted to try a lot of products,” said Reiman. “Over time, they settle into [their] purchasing habits.” (Even now, it’s clear that sales go up in Q2, which coincides with “4/20,” and in Q4, which coincides with the holidays).
Paradoxically, some of the sales decline could also be because of a supply glut. Ley said that as major operators in the industry have become established, they’ve driven prices down. These larger operators can afford to take losses in retail while pushing gains into distribution and cultivation, where they pay no tax.
Meanwhile, some smaller retailers have found it hard to make a profit at such low prices and have been forced into the illicit market.
Where The Grass Is Greener
Overall, the decline in cannabis sales is driven mainly by big urban counties like San Francisco, Santa Clara and Los Angeles, where market saturation, high prices and competition from illicit sellers have dragged down sales. But some places have still seen growth.
Counties that started late or were slow to roll out legal cannabis sales, like Contra Costa, are still well above the 2020 baseline. The same is true for counties that neighbor “cannabis deserts” that still ban or limit cannabis businesses, Reiman said.
Late starts characterize some of the state’s historically conservative, more anti-cannabis counties, like San Bernardino, which saw a nearly 115% increase in legal sales over the past five years. Some of these places have even become relatively easier to do business in, granting more permits than traditional cultivation areas like the “Emerald Triangle” counties of Mendocino and Humboldt, where sales have stagnated after a pandemic-era spike. (Sales in Mendocino County have seen the second-biggest net statewide decline, after San Francisco.)
As the pandemic-era spike subsides and legal sales proliferate across the state, the highest per capita sales are no longer in vanguard counties like San Francisco and Humboldt. Instead, several counties in the Sierra Nevada and along the coast more broadly have the highest sales per resident.
That’s true even of relatively conservative places like El Dorado and Calaveras Counties, where “the legalization process … itself gives [cannabis] more credibility,” said Ley. The wider availability of vapes and edibles may also appeal to demographics who would have never smoked cannabis.
California’s cannabis excise tax rose from 15% to 19% on July 1 last week, bringing further headwinds to both consumers and producers. Ley believes it will put more legal operators out of the business.
“Cannabis is the only business in the state that has a two excise penalty: on delayed excise tax reimbursement and sales tax,” said Ley, “so the huge tax burden coupled with an increased excise tax will destroy a lot of businesses and job opportunities.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom expressed willingness to sign a proposal halting the tax increase if it reached his desk, according to a statement from a Newsom spokesperson.
“The administration is committed to trying to keep costs as low as we can,” said Clint Kellum, deputy director of the California Department of Cannabis Control.
(SF Chronicle)
DID IN-N-OUT REALLY SWITCH TO BEEF TALLOW TO HELP ‘MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN’?
by Elena Kadvany
The White House touted in a Monday press release examples of prominent food companies that had made changes aligned with President Donald Trump’s promises to “Make America Healthy Again” — including California’s In-N-Out Burger, which, the announcement claimed, had switched to only using beef tallow.
But in fact, the burger chain continues to use sunflower oil to cook its French fries, the company’s customer service line confirmed.
In a comment provided after publication, In-N-Out Chief Operating Officer Denny Warnick said that “Information was recently published in error stating that In-N-Out Burger has transitioned to beef tallow for cooking French fries. We continue to work on an upgrade to our current sunflower oil, however we have not yet made a change.” He did not answer questions.
The White House press release linked to a viral April 1 X post appearing to announce the company was “transitioning to 100% pure beef tallow.” The post was from a In-N-Out fan account that quickly clarified it was an April Fool’s joke.
“Just delete it bruh,” responded political commentator Dominic Michael Tripi. “Everyone thinks it’s real.”
In-N-Out operates more than 400 locations in California and beyond. A privately held company, its family-owners have drawn criticism from some customers in liberal-leaning California for their donations to Republicans.
The burger chain announced last month that it would remove artificial dyes from two of its drinks and change to a ketchup made with real sugar rather than high-fructose corn syrup. In-N-Out president Lynsi Snyder said in a May 15 Facebook post that the company is “researching an even better-quality oil for our fries” but did not mention beef tallow.
Cardiologists believe that vegetable oils are healthier than animal fats, citing decades of research. Still, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has championed tallow over seed oils, and some Bay Area restaurants have made the switch. Critics claim without medical evidence that seed oils like canola, soybean and sunflower oil cause inflammation and worsen health problems such as obesity and heart disease. Steak ‘n Shake, a burger chain in the Midwest, has announced it’s moving away from seed oils, and is now cooking fries, onion rings and chicken tenders in beef tallow.
(SF Chronicle)
QUOTE OF THE YEAR:
“For nearly four years you have had an Administration which instead of twirling its thumbs has rolled up its sleeves. We will keep our sleeves rolled up. We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace — business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering. They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob. Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me — and I welcome their hatred. I should like to have it said of my first Administration that in it the forces of selfishness and of lust for power met their match. I should like to have it said of my second Administration that in it these forces met their master.”
— Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1936
JACK DEMPSEY:
“There isn’t a man alive who had to hustle more for his daily bread. I was as far down as a fellow could go when I took on my first fight. I was a silver miner, earning five dollars a day and working like a slave, but the work agreed with me. I didn’t mind it, but with a big family sharing that salary, there was nothing in it for me. I liked fighting and I took on a few amateur bouts. But I didn’t remain an amateur long.
“I fought my first professional fight in Colorado, and my opponent was a fellow named the Fighting Blacksmith. They called me Young Dempsey, and Young Dempsey scored a knockout in the third and got two and a half dollars. Wasn’t that sweet! Well I spent that money on a couple of tramps who looked hungry. We all had a hearty meal on that prize money and, believe me, we all enjoyed it. That’s why that bird who just caught me got that five bucks.
“I can’t resist giving that type a helping hand for they always bring back to me the days when I was hungry and tired and didn’t have the guts to ask others to give me some help or I didn’t know who to ask. I’d roam and roam - I’d hop the freight and sell my services at any kind of work, just to get enough to buy myself some grub.”
Dempsey never forgot where he came from, and that’s what made him more than a champion. The hunger in his belly became the fire in his fists, but even after the glory, he still looked out for the kind of man he used to be. That’s real fighter, and real heart.
LEAD STORIES, TUESDAY'S NYT
Behind Trump’s Tough Russia Talk, Doubts and Missing Details
Supreme Court Clears the Way for Trump’s Cuts to the Education Department
24 States Sue Trump Over $6.8 Billion Withheld From Education
Will the Conspiracists Cultivated by Trump Turn on Him Over Epstein?
Homeless Population Declines in Los Angeles for a Second Straight Year
Mark Snow, Who Conjured the ‘X-Files’ Theme, Is Dead at 78
PRESIDENT TELLS RUSSIA IT HAS 50 DAYS TO MAKE PEACE WITH UKRAINE
by Steven Erlanger
President Trump said the United States would help Europe send more weapons to Ukraine and warned that Russia would be hit by “very severe tariffs” if there was no peace deal with Ukraine in 50 days. Mr. Trump’s remarks came as he met at the White House with NATO’s secretary general, Mark Rutte, who has been coordinating European efforts to send Ukraine more weapons to defend itself against Russia’s invasion. Under the arrangement, NATO would buy American weapons and pass them to Kyiv. The tariff threat could have minimal impact on Moscow; Russia sells very little to the United States — less than $5 billion in 2023, and smaller amounts since.
Also:
Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee were set to release a report on Monday that accuses the Trump administration of ceding global influence to China. The report says the administration has eroded American soft power by shuttering international aid operations, slashing funding for basic research and alienating allies. Read more ›
The European Union’s trade commissioner, Maros Sefcovic, warned that Mr. Trump risked upending trans-Atlantic trade if he followed through on his threat to impose a 30 percent tariff on goods from the bloc starting Aug. 1. He voiced frustration before a meeting of trade ministers in Brussels, saying he felt the two sides had been “very close to an agreement.”
Trump has threatened Russia with tariffs of 100 percent. But Russia sells very little to the United States, less than $5 billion in 2023, and smaller amounts since then, so tariffs would make little difference to Russia.
Sanctions that punish Russia’s energy sector and its customers, as a proposed Senate bill would do, would hurt Moscow much more. Trump also promised to hit such customers with “secondary sanctions,” but he did not specify what he meant.
As President Trump was praising Europe, the European Union and many of its leaders were reacting angrily to his threat that tariffs on all European imports would go up to 30 percent by Aug. 1 if there was no deal to Washington’s liking before then.
Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, said the E.U. had already prepared a list of tariffs worth 21 billion euros (about $24.5 billion) on U.S. goods if the two sides failed to reach a deal. The Danish foreign minister, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, called the tariff threat “absolutely unacceptable.”
(NY Times)
SUMMER STORMS
by James Kunstler
“It’s dark on the Left now. They’ve reached that predictable moment where inflicting pain is all they have left.” — Sasha Stone
Theories on the Epstein mess fly around like a murmuration of starlings wheeling across an angry summer sky. The birds are just birds. They are not the storm clouds in the background. Mark the difference.
You can rightly say that Mr. Trump has handled this Epstein business rather awkwardly — especially last Wednesday’s little show of vexation in the cabinet meeting, barking, nothing to see. . . just move along. What? You’ve been watching the Epstein psychodrama unspool for nearly twenty years, so how can it possibly come to this?
Looks like Pam Bondi fumbled badly in those early days on the job, promising things she was less than fully informed about. The public was already convinced that the entire power structure of the nation — of all Western Civ, actually — was a convocation of perverts, and that a vast trove of evidence was sitting there waiting to be laid on them. And then Mr. Trump slammed the door shut. Mssers. Patel and Bongino at the FBI got caught flat-footed, and “Danny Boombatz” especially freaked, seeing his reputation as a truth-teller likely to shred all over cable TV. Most unfortunate, the whole appalling episode.
But then, Sunday, the president suggested on his social media that the Epstein business had become a Democratic Party op. He did not elaborate. And maybe it sounds suspiciously spurious. But, is it not worth considering? Consider also: In all of Epstein’s dark activities there was surely a there there. He did run a concerted blackmail enterprise for some combo of Israel’s Mossad, the CIA, and the UK’s MI6 intel outfit. And, since blackmail requires documentation, there was a ton of it, eventually scooped out of his various domiciles by the FBI.
The key is: had become a Democratic Party op. Didn’t start out that way, but might have turned into one. Consider: The Democratic Party was up to its eyeballs in ops against Mr. Trump since he rode down that fabled escalator in 2015. The “intel community” was the chief player in these operations. The intel community ran rings around Mr. Trump with all manner of fabricated nonsense during the election campaign of 2016 and throughout his first term. You could say — and I believe the DOJ under Ms. Bondi will say in cases waiting to brought — that these many operations amounted to one continuous seditious conspiracy to overthrow a president. It ran from the Steele dossier, through the Mueller Investigation, through the Norm Eisen / Adam Schiff engineered impeachment No 1, through the gamed election of 2020, through the J-6 committee, and through all the nefarious lawfare gambits against Mr. Trump during the “Joe Biden” fake presidency.
Why wouldn’t the Epstein files now turn out to be an extension of these same operations? The DOJ first moved against Epstein in 2005. The case culminated in 2008 with a plea deal on some Mickey Mouse state prostitution charges and a non-prosecution agreement with the feds under US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Alex Acosta — who was reported later saying that Epstein “belonged to intelligence,” and that the case was therefore “beyond my pay-grade” to prosecute.
Between 2008 and 2019, Epstein returned to his international swashbuckling ways. Strangely, he was finally busted on June 6, 2019, by then-AG William Barr, whose father, Donald Barr had been headmaster of New York City’s Dalton prep school, where Jeffrey Epstein, age twenty-one, was hired to teach math and physics in 1974, though he lacked a college degree. All that may just be coincidental, of course.
A little more than a month after his arrest on sex trafficking charges in the summer of 2019, Epstein died in the Manhattan federal lockup under mysterious circumstances. The outstanding question even afterward was: trafficking with-and-to whom? And the general assumption among the public was: trafficking teenage girls to a long list of public officials, movie stars, financial bigshots, and miscellaneous celebs such as Prince Andrew of the British royal family.
Astoundingly little was learned from the prosecution of Ghislaine Maxwell in 2021-22, which was led by Maurene Comey, daughter of former FBI Director James Comey (fired in 2017). Small world. The case only covered Ms. Maxwell’s activities between 1994 and 2004. Why only that period? Never explained. Rumors of a “client list” being among the evidence have never been substantiated, and were repudiated last week by AG Pam Bondi and President Trump.
Okay, all very well, such as it is. But consider: all the evidence, in all the cases against Jeffrey Epstein and his associate Ghislaine Maxwell, has been in the possession of the FBI and the DOJ since at least the first Epstein case in 2005-08. If there was any evidence of Donald Trump caught in some indecent act, why did it not get leaked during the campaign of 2016, or any time since then? His political adversaries tried virtually everything else to knock him out of the arena, up to even assassination — but not that?
The DOJ and FBI were arguably in their most roguish phase as weaponized agencies during the “Joe Biden” years. All the Epstein evidence resided in the New York City field office of the FBI. These were also the years when the apparatus of the Democratic Party — and its rank-and-file — fell into a fugue of vicious, psychotic animus against Mr. Trump and the populist movement he led, not just in the USA, but spreading throughout Western Civ.
Do you suppose that the FBI might have worked some hoodoo with those Epstein evidence files, especially to set the table for the 2026 mid-term elections, when knocking a few Republicans out of office might flip the House and Senate back to the Democratic Party? I would suppose it’s not just a thing; I think it’s the thing. I would imagine that this is exactly what Mr. Trump was hinting at the other day when he referred to this business as yet another Democratic Party op. He knows the mainstream media will never investigate it or report it. And the alt-media is too momentarily disconcerted to entertain the idea. So, he just slammed the door shut.
Nobody likes it, but it may be necessary. Other storms are brewing: financial gales, geopolitical thunderheads, and apparently — we are officially informed — the coming cases against John Brennan, James Comey, and other figures who initiated the coup, which is a much bigger deal than who might have been having sex with whom sixteen years ago.
SUMMER READING TO SPARK CIVIC ACTION
by Ralph Nader
A Genocide Foretold: Reporting on Survival and Resistance in Occupied Palestine by Chris Hedges (Seven Stories, 2025). With brilliant narratives, both historical and contemporary—Pulitzer Prize winner Chris Hedges provides the framework that explains how the mass-murdering Netanyahu regime can destroy the lives of 500,000 civilians, innocent babies, children, mothers, and fathers—and get away with it. Mr. Hedges enriches his insight as a war correspondent for the New York Times by recently re-visiting the repressed people of the West Bank. Although well known nationally, Hedges has been kept out of most mainstream media after his book was published, including the New York Times. You can be the person-to-person media for his intense and magnificent book.
Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful (Mariner Books, 2025) by David Enrich. A deep exposé of the broad campaign orchestrated by plutocratic Americans to overturn sixty years of Supreme Court precedent. David Enrich is a very accurate, engaging journalist. A gripping and revelatory book.
Who Is Government?: The Untold Story of Public Service (Penguin Books, 2025) by Michael Lewis. Bestselling author Lewis and other writers tell stories of the dedicated but unsung federal government workers—who defend us from pandemics, climate violence, air and water pollution, hunger, infectious diseases and corporate crimes—now under attack from Trump and, until recently, Elon Musk. Their vicious message to many thousands of these civil servants is: “You’re Fired.” (Mark Green and I foreshadowed Trump’s penchant for destruction of basic democratic institutions that serve the people in our 2020 book Wrecking America: How Trump’s Lawbreaking and Lies Betray All.)
Policing White Supremacy: The Enemy Within (The New Press, 2025) by Mike German and Beth Zasloff. Mike German, a former FBI agent, wrote this book before the re-election of Donald Trump, but it is quite current in terms of the lawlessness of the federal government under Trump, the violation of constitutional rights, statutory rights, and due process of law.
White Poverty: How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy (Liveright, 2024) by Rev. Dr. William Barber with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove. Rev. Barber is a supremely proven motivator. This compelling, usable book emphasizes CLASS BONDING against impoverishment and powerlessness.
Hubris Maximus: The Shattering of Elon Musk (St. Martin’s Press, 2025) by Faiz Siddiqui. This is a very important book. It reflects a man who has unprecedented political and corporate power with the potential to affect every aspect of life in America—look at what he did under Trump with DOGE. It’s very readable and a book that increases your sense of awareness of who’s controlling what in our country.
The Power to Destroy: How the Antitax Movement Hijacked America (Princeton University Press, 2024) by Michael J. Graetz. If the American people and their Congress had listened to Michael Graetz over the years, we would have a much better political economy.
Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning (Knopf, 2025) by Professor Peter Beinart. A short book, less than 150 pages, but it is very, very courageous, thought-provoking and very deeply probing of many of the obstacles to peace in the Middle East.
Zionist Betrayal of Jews: From Herzl to Netanyahu (2024) by Stanley Heller. A historical exposé that brings us to modern-day Netanyahu’s genocidal destruction of Gaza and its people.
The Power of Where: A Geographic Approach to the World’s Greatest Challenges (ESRI Press, 2024) by Jack Dangermond. Dangermond—founder of ESRI—shows us how and why geography is so compellingly important.
Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection (Crash Course Books, 2025) by John Green. Tuberculosis, the ancient scourge of humans, takes over a million lives a year, making it the world’s most deadly infectious disease. Bestselling novelist John Green tells the true story of how this disease shaped humanity.
Exposed: A Pfizer Scientist Battles Corruption, Lies, and Betrayal, and Becomes a Biohazard Whistleblower (Skyhorse, 2025) by Becky McClain. To be released later this year, this memoir by a molecular biologist details her courageous fight against corporate retaliation after revealing dangerous biosafety failures in biotech labs. She raises the larger issue of poorly regulated biolab hazards near you.
They Poisoned the World: Life and Death in the Age of Forever Chemicals (Crown, 2025) by Mariah Blake. A ten-year investigation into the chemical industry’s campaign to hide the dangers of forever chemicals. “We are in the midst of the gravest contamination crisis in human history,” journalist Blake told the Corporate Crime Reporter.
Growing Costs of U.S. Health Care Corporate Power vs. Human Rights (Copernicus Healthcare, 2025) by John Geyman. The latest from Dr. John Geyman—a former family practitioner, professor and author of many books on the healthcare industry. He describes how costs and other problems can be resolved for the benefit of all Americans.
American Empire Before the Fall (2010) and Congressional Surrender and Presidential Overreach (2023) by Bruce Fein. These two books from constitutional expert Bruce Fein draw persuasively from his deep historical and contemporary knowledge of American legal history.
(Civic Self-Respect (Seven Stories, 2025) by Ralph Nader. I wrote this book so readers can identify their own potential for wrapping civic awareness and activity around their daily roles as Citizens, Workers, Consumer-Shoppers, Taxpayers, Voters, Parents, Veterans, Philanthropists. If you would like an autographed copy, visit nader.org.)
NO, MR. PRESIDENT, CLIMATE CHANGE IS NOT A HOAX
by Bernie Sanders
In the midst of everything else going on, it’s easy to ignore the extraordinary planetary crisis we face from climate change. But we just can’t allow ourselves to do that.
The past 10 years have been the warmest 10 years on record. 2024 was the warmest year in recorded history. January 2025 was the hottest January on record. Western Europe just had its hottest June on record. The recent heat wave in the United States put nearly 190 million Americans under heat advisories and broke heat records in more than 280 locations. Over the past 60 years, the frequency of heat waves in the United States has tripled. According to a new study from Yale University, 64% of Americans think global warming is affecting the weather in the U.S. and almost HALF say they have personally experienced its effects.
From May 2024 to May 2025, 4 billion people — half of the world’s population — experienced at least one extra month of extreme heat due to climate change. Climate change exacerbated Hurricane Helene last fall in the American Southeast, flooding in Texas this past week and in Vermont and Brazil last summer, recent wildfires in Canada and Los Angeles, and health waves in the United States, Europe, India and Pakistan.
And what is President Trump’s response? He just fired the last remaining State Department employees who work on climate change, which is undoubtedly one of the greatest threats to our national security.
Donald Trump is putting the planet and future generations at risk for the short-term profits of his fossil fuel executive friends.
Triangle 5
Square 8
Circle 1
My guess was they all have a value of zero
But in this case I’ll go with what you have to say.
JEFF DeVILBISS with a simple solution for saving abalone from extinction:
An even simpler solution is limiting human reproduction. Overpopulation is the main cause of earth’s deterioration. It will be the death of us if left unchecked. All this talk of “clean energy is pure nonsense. How much fossil fuel is involved in manufacturing of “clean” energy, like the batteries for electroeggmobiles that are so loved and lauded??? We are basically being fed a line of BS by those who rule us. It is they who profit from our idiocy.
Rick Warren was in my high school class of ‘72. He started a club, The Fishers of Men. This was the time of Jesus Christ Superstar, and followers like Rick were called Jesus Freaks, with a mixture of respect by some and ridicule by others. He has not attended class reunions and I believe that local media has reached out to him for interviews but he has always declined. Inevitably he would be asked about any association with the Peoples Temple and Jim Jones, so not surprising that he declines. I remember him as a nice guy, good student, I think he graduated early half way through senior year. Didn’t he give the invocation at Obama’s first inauguration?
I met Rick at one of your class reunions, it was at the Lake Mendo Club House. He sat alone, no one really talking to him. I found him to be very nice. Perhaps he hasn’t attended more reunions because it seemed to me he wasn’t very welcomed.
Wow, Photo-Op MO’s Facebook post says it all!
She is admitting in a roundabout way her and and the BOS failures. Maybe instead of cutting departments to the bone to balance the budget, and leading the County into frivolous lawsuits and outside attorneys fees there might be enough money to weed wack your precious highway cleanup area. So the answer is annexation?
Here is a fact, ex- Supervisor, John McGowan, goes around the city of Ukiah cleaning up trash left by homeless for no pay, and doesn’t need a Facebook page to look for glory. The real reason Mo sponsored the highway is for recognition, in other words the sign posted with her name on it.
“Kayak Parade on the Battenkill, Shushan, New York (2024)”
Something I can actually appreciate by Grump in Chief Kunstler.
I like the blue poster of the band; it reminds me of the concave-3D-effect singing portrait gallery busts in the Haunted House ride, while Thurl Ravenscroft sings, “Gray grinning ghosts go out to socialize.”
And re: rodeo pictures. Horses and bulls are exhausted, tortured, terrified and often mutilated for the enjoyment of sadistic screaming monkeys. If you’re going to kill an animal for meat to eat, kill it quick, I say. Make it a surprise in an otherwise sweet life. If you caught your children chortling over pulling the wings off insects and making them fight in a jar you’d stop that, and you’d let them know why: because it’s cruel and crazy and you don’t like the idea of them growing up into expanded pleasures of that nature.
Thurl Ravenscroft was a neighbor when I was a kid. Anytime we saw him out in his driveway we’d yell “Hey, do that Tony the Tiger thing!” and he’d sigh and say “ Frosted Flakes, they’re greeeaaat!” Poor guy.
I met Thurl Ravenscroft once when I was five. My grandfather came into the back room of the restaurant, where I was making a city of rocketships and dinosaurs out of old ruined dough. He said, “Come here, I want you to meet somebody.” I said, “Who.” He said, “Tony the Tiger.” I followed him out to a booth full of people. Tall guy on the right end smiles a big smile at me, says, “They’re grrrrrr-ATE!” I looked at my grandfather, like, huh? He said, “That’s Tony the Tiger.” I said, already headed back to my project, “That’s not Tony the Tiger. Tony the Tiger is – a – /tiger/.”
Kellogg’s Sugar Frosted Flakes were very good for Thurl Ravenscroft. I loved Tony the Tiger, but I had him mixed up in my mind with the tiger who Esso gasoline put in your tank. I thought of them as the same tiger.