Mendocino County Today: Thursday 7/24/2025

AN UPPER LEVEL LOW is expected to linger near the area Thursday and Friday and finally move past the area for the weekend. Thunderstorms are possible in the interior Thursday and Friday and these may contain gusty winds. Near normal to slightly below normal temperatures expected this week. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): In the interest of not sounding repetitive, let me say the same thing slightly differently: Temperaturas brumosas de 53 grados este jueves por la mañana en la costa. Salvo una mención de más sol que niebla este domingo y lunes, podemos seguir con más normalidad por ahora.

MAN AND HIS DOG RESCUED BY JET SKI FROM MENDOCINO CLIFF

by Olivia Hebert

A man and his dog were rescued after spending hours on a steep cliffside in Mendocino on Tuesday night, after the dog reportedly fell into the water and the man became stranded trying to retrieve it, according to the Mendocino Volunteer Fire Department.

The fire department received a call at 8:36 p.m. about a person stranded on a rock under the arch at Portuguese Beach, part of Mendocino Headlands State Park.

Assistant fire Chief John Pisias told SFGATE the man had attempted to climb down to get his dog and became stuck on the rockface.

Ten Mendocino fire volunteers responded with Jet Skis, a cliff rescue vehicle and a medical unit, assisted by two state park lifeguards, two sheriff’s deputies, an ambulance crew of two, and a Cal Fire engine crew.

“There were no injuries,” Pisias said. “We had to launch boats with our Jet Skis, and we had our cliff truck, so we had to drop ropes down and get them onto the skid of the Jet Ski to bring them to shore.”

Conditions on the water were ideal, Pisias noted, but the darkness posed a serious challenge. “It is very dangerous to be on the water after dark, but we had perfect conditions,” he said.

He urged caution when exploring cliffside areas, especially with pets.

“Dogs are way more capable than you are in climbing cliffs,” he said. “They are very self-sufficient.”

(SFGate.com)

PORCH PIRATE PICKED UP

On Sunday, July 20, 2025 Ukiah Police Department Officers became aware of social media posts depicting multiple “porch pirate” incidents where subjects associated with a dark gray Toyota Camry were involved in stealing packages in the areas of W. Standley St, W. Mill St, and Hillview Dr, on the west side of Ukiah.

UPD Officers proactively contacted one of the victims who posted a Ring camera video of a subject stealing packages on W Standley St. Officers obtained the video and more information about the items stolen. UPD Officers and Dispatchers researched our Flock Camera System and located the vehicle used in the thefts. A UPD Sergeant had contacted that vehicle prior to the thefts on June 28, 2025 and identified the driver. The driver was believed to be one of the subjects involved in the thefts.

UPD Officers again used the Flock Camera System to locate the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop on it. The driver was identified as Carlos Magana-Macedo, 34, of Clearlake. Magana-Macedo admitted to two of the thefts and admitted to driving the vehicle while another subject stole the packages for the third theft.

Magana-Macedo agreed to return the items he was still in possession of. The items taken from W. Standley St were later returned to the victim. Magana-Macedo was transported to the Mendocino County Jail where he was booked and lodged on 3 counts of Petty theft, and 3 counts of conspiracy.

The Ukiah Police Department acknowledges and appreciates the local Facebook Community pages and their efforts to help locate the suspects involved. As always, our mission at UPD is to make Ukiah as safe a place as possible. If you would like to know more about crime in your neighborhood, you can sign up for telephone, cell phone, and email notifications by clicking the Nixle button on our website; www.ukiahpolice.com

Editor:

A series of package thefts in Ukiah was quickly resolved thanks to community tips, home surveillance footage, and Ukiah Police's Flock Safety License Plate Reader (LPR) technology, which helped officers identify and track down the suspect vehicle.

On July 20, Ukiah Police became aware of social media posts showing a dark grey Toyota Camry involved in multiple “porch pirate” incidents on the city’s west side.

Using the Flock LPR system, officers quickly located the vehicle seen in doorbell camera footage and connected it to a prior contact with a known driver.

With this information, officers located the suspect, who admitted to his involvement in all three thefts. He voluntarily returned some of the stolen items to the victims and has been charged on three counts of theft and three counts of conspiracy.

Best,

Holly Beilin, Communications Manager

Flock Safety Systems

Atlanta

LOCAL EVENTS (this weekend)

FIRE WEATHER WATCH ISSUED as storms threaten Mendocino County backcountry

by Matt LaFever

The National Weather Service has issued a Fire Weather Watch for interior Mendocino County on Friday as forecasters warn of dry lightning storms and gusty winds—conditions ripe for fast-moving wildfires.

The storm system is expected to roll south out of the Klamath Mountains, where scattered thunderstorms are already forecast for Thursday. By Friday, the threat zone expands into Mendocino’s backcountry, especially the Yolla Bollys and the eastern edge of the Mendocino National Forest. The concern? Lightning without rain, and outflow winds up to 50 mph.

Mapping of the watch area shows northeastern Mendocino County in the crosshairs, including Round Valley, Laytonville, and large swaths of the Mendocino National Forest.

The watch means fire weather conditions are likely. The agency says, “Scattered thunderstorms are possible in the afternoon, mostly over the higher terrain,” and warns that “any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly.”

The same setup has triggered Red Flag Warnings across Siskiyou, Trinity, and Humboldt counties, and Mendocino could be next if forecasts hold.

Locals are urged to stay alert and hold off on anything that could spark a blaze. Outdoor burning is strongly discouraged, and residents in fire-prone areas should be ready to move quickly if conditions escalate.

(mendofever.com)

REMEMBERING SISTER JANE KELLY, PBVM (1927–2025)

We invite you to a Memorial Mass in honor of our beloved former parish sister, Sister Jane Kelly, PBVM, who passed into eternal rest on June 7, 2025.

Wednesday, August 6th

12:00 PM

St. Mary of the Angels Church, Ukiah

Celebrated by Fr. Gary Lombardi

Sister Jane faithfully served our parish community in the 1970s as Director of Religious Education and later co-founded Plowshares Community Dining Center in Ukiah, a peace and justice center serving the poor and homeless. Her heart for justice, prayer, and the marginalized touched many lives.

Following the Mass, all are welcome to join us for a reception in the parish hall, graciously hosted by Friends Who Care.

Let us come together in prayer, remembrance, and gratitude as we celebrate the life and legacy of a woman who lived the Gospel with unwavering devotion.

AV FOOD BANK ACCEPTING EXCESS PRODUCE

What excess produce could you donate to the Food Bank?

There is still time to deliver it to the AV Grange in Philo.

Distribution starts at 2:30pm.

The next Food Bank will be in two weeks on August 6th.

200 families are helped by the Food Bank twice a month.

PG&E HOSTING VIRTUAL TOWN HALL next month on Potter Valley Project

by Justine Fredericksen

The Pacific Gas and Electric Company will be hosting an online Town Hall to update the region on its plans to decommission its more than 100-year-old hydroelectric plant in Mendocino County.

According to a press release emailed by PG&E spokesman Paul Moreno, “on Aug. 11, from 3 to 5 p.m., PG&E will host an online meeting to share information on the Potter Valley Project Surrender Application and Decommissioning Plan. The plan will be submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by July 29.”

Moreno added that “during the town hall, PG&E will discuss the overall regulatory process and note opportunities for public participation in the regulatory process.” A link to the meeting provided by PG&E is here.

At another online meeting hosted earlier this year, PG&E officials gave an update on the plans to remove the dams created for the Potter Valley Project, and to build a new water diversion facility at Cape Horn Dam.

Most of the meeting was comprised of a presentation by Tony Gigliotti, the Senior Licensing Project Manager for PG&E, who provided a detailed outline of the long and multi-faceted process involved in the utility’s application to decommission and surrender the once critical, but now prohibitively expensive, aging hydroelectric plant that diverts water from the Eel River to the Russian River.

When asked for more details about the process of removing both dams created for the PVP, Gigliotti said the removal of Scott Dam would be a “three-year process, with the first year involving lowering the reservoir, then installing a large hole, then plugging the hole, then when the reservoir comes back (during a high-flow year) we remove the plug, possibly with explosives, allowing the sediment to be flushed down.”

However, given that a “high-flow year” may not immediately follow the first year of the project, the first two years of the project may not be consecutive years, he said, explaining that “the first year will be preparing the site, then we need a wet, high-flow year to remove the sediment.”

More recently at a meeting of multiple local boards in Ukiah, Scott Shapiro, legal counsel for the Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission, explained that PG&E has decided that the cost of operating the Potter Valley Project, “particularly of operating the dams, far exceeds its value. And stopping the project means taking out the dams, which are the way the water has been stored in the Eel River, specifically to bring into the Russian to generate power.”

Because the project generated power, Shapiro said, it is regulated by FERC, which will oversee PG&E’s surrendering of the hydroelectric plant, and the utility will submit its application to do so by the end of July

“Now that the project is on this path, I’m told that the path cannot legally be undone now that we are on it,” Shapiro said, noting that one key success for the region is that PG&E’s application includes “the concept of continuing to divert water into this watershed through the New Eel-Russian River Facility, which was not a forgone conclusion.”

As for the decommissioning process for the PVP, 3rd District Mendocino County Supervisor John Haschak asked whether FERC had been affected by recent layoffs, and whether its “regulations (were) set in stone, or can they be manipulated, given the current (federal) administration?”

Engineer Tom Johnson, a consultant speaking at the “All Boards” meeting held at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center in May, said his understanding was that “FERC is relatively unscathed (in terms of layoffs), and that the federal regulations outlining the decommissioning process are the result of “100 years of case law, (so it would) probably literally take an act of Congress” to circumvent the process at this point.

When Haschak pointed out that it will be quite an adjustment for people who are now paying only $18 per acre-foot for water to potentially pay $312 per acre-foot for water, Shapiro said “unfortunately, there will be an economic adjustment, but the alternative is no water. It is unfortunate, but it is either (the higher cost), or there isn’t any water.”

(ukiahdailyjournal.com)

SUPERVISOR MAUREEN MULHEREN (facebook): Psychiatrist Health facility updates: Construction continues on the building's interior, exterior, and site finishes, including sprinkler rough-in, insulation, windows, drywall, roof panels, exterior door frames, stucco, and grading and flatwork on Whitmore and State Street.

ALBION DEVELOPMENT (Coast Chatline)

Bill Cornelius: Does anybody know what's happening on the corner of Hwy 1 and Albion Ridge Road, next to the hardware store? Looks like they plowed the blackberries and put in a driveway. What's the plan?

Christine Berchen: The Fire Dept is yes, putting in a driveway, to ease exit and entry to the fire station. To avoid the store and Post Office congestion. That's what Lisa said at the hardware store.

SENIOR PEER COUNSELING

Redwood Coast Seniors offers free in-home support through its Senior Peer Counseling and Friendly Visitor Programs, providing comfort and companionship to community members aged 60 and older. Whether you’re coping with the loss of a loved one, living alone, or simply seeking someone to talk to, trained volunteer counselors and visitors are available to lend a compassionate, nonjudgmental ear while respecting your privacy. The programs aim to ease the emotional challenges that often come with aging, including stress, depression, and physical changes. To request a visit or learn more, contact program coordinator Helen at [email protected] or call 707-961-4310.

BRUCE MCEWEN: Maybe our esteemed editor will reprint my story of the three illegal desperados who murdered another illegal in the hills of Yorkville to steal his guerrilla grow, then gut-shot one of their own raiding party and left him to die—or maybe an excerpt from Robert Mailer Anderson’s story where the illegals are burying an illegal grower south of Boonville. Fact or fiction, bad actors in the country illegally were bad news—and what about the Argentinian who robbed Mi Esperanza at gunpoint and tried to fly home with all the payroll for the grapevine laborers? These stories would be good pointers for ICE but I, unlike you, do not believe the agents read all that many alternative newspapers, and the AVA being more rad than the run of the mill alt media, naw, I don’t think they are getting the message even when you address them directly in your posts. But I would like to see some intrepid reporter like Justine or Matt go into Covelo with the troops as a kind of war correspondent for the AVA and get us the scoop!

WILLITS BOOK JUGGLER CELEBRATES 20 YEARS

In just a few months Chris and I will celebrate 20 years of stewarding The Book Juggler. This milestone has me reflective and this morning as I was cleaning the front doors, something we do every day, I found myself thinking about one of my old college professors at Cal Poly, Dan Lassanske.

I was a horticulture major and Lassanske taught classes on retail nursery management. (Before we bought a bookstore we thought we’d have a nursery.) I remember him saying one morning that he could tell immediately if a new nursery would make it based on one simple act: whether the entryway was swept and tended each day. He said, “no one ever notices if you sweep and wash the windows, but they definitely notice if you don’t.”

In his view, businesses that took care of those details would always thrive. It’s something I’ve never forgotten, and whether or not it’s played into our staying power, it’s a nice ritual to start the day.

Someday we’ll retire and we’ll leave the sweeping and window washing to the next Book Jugglers. But for now, here’s to Dan Lassanske!

KZYX LAUNCHES ‘174 CAMPAIGN’ IN RESPONSE TO CONGRESSIONAL RESCISSION

Imagine being told from one day to the next that your income will be cut by 25%. That’s what happened to KZYX this July 17th when Congress voted to approve President Trump’s request to rescind already-obligated monies for public media. For KZYX that amount was $174,000, received through an annual grant, now rescinded.

According to KZYX General Manager Andre de Channes, the KZYX staff and board have responded to these cuts by launching a fundraising effort dubbed the ‘174 Campaign’ which urges listeners, members, donors, and “all others who care about the future of public broadcasting in Mendocino County to show support by donating $17.40, $174.00, or $1,740,” said de Channes.

He continued, “Donating this symbolic amount sends a strong message that KZYX matters to our community and adds to the generous donations KZYX has already received in response to the rescission. These donations let the staff, volunteer programmers, and board of directors know that the community wants KZYX to stay on the air and build ever-greater self-reliance and community service with its support. Instead of crumbling in the face of this devastating financial hit we are determined to find a way forward that will make KZYX stronger and more self-reliant.”

The donations will also materially help support KZYX operations, including the costs of equipment and maintenance, programming fees, and the work of its small staff. A few examples: $17.40 supports the cost of 8 minutes of local news; $174 helps replace the tie-line materials needed to provide emergency broadcasting services; $1,740 covers the cost of NPR and Pacifica satellite connections for 1 week; and $17,400 covers 87% of the cost of needed repairs for KZYX’s three transmission towers.

On the loss of funding, Board President Susan Baird offered a word of encouragement and thanks to KZYX supporters, “KZYX is so grateful to all the listeners and supporters who took the time to get the word out to family and friends and advocate for public media with elected representatives. Together, we wrote letters, made calls, sent emails, and took to the streets. Everyone’s efforts made a difference--but unfortunately it was not enough. KZYX is far from alone; hundreds of small and rural public radio stations across the country are facing the same budget crisis. In fact, nearly one in five NPR member stations could close down without federal funding, according to one analysis. But KZYX’s board, staff, and volunteer programmers are determined to avoid that fate. Now more than ever, public radio means community radio. Let’s show what’s possible when our Mendocino County community rallies around its public radio station,” said Baird.

KZYX, a non-profit community radio station serving Mendocino County since 1989, relies on several dozen volunteer dj’s or ‘programmers’ to produce a variety of local public affairs and music shows for broadcast throughout the county and into portions of Humboldt, Sonoma, and Lake counties. In addition to the radio airwaves, their broadcast is available to stream at kzyx.org.

Donations to the KZYX 174 Campaign can be made at the designated link on kzyx.org or by sending a check for $17.40, $1,740, $17,400 or any other amount to KZYX, PO Box 1, Philo CA, 95466.

ROAD TRIPPING - VALENCIA PEAK - Home of the best picnic table in California?

by Justine Frederiksen

Do you have a favorite picnic table? Because I do. In fact, I have two.

The first table I fell in love with is in Wilder Ranch State Park, a wooden one placed in a lovely spot along the Wilder Ridge Trail where you can stop and eat, drink, or just soak in the views of the Pacific Ocean in Monterey Bay. The views are so expansive, I think you can see all of the bay, which to me is one of the most beautiful sights in the world, though I will admit that growing up along that stretch of ocean most-definitely makes me biased in that department.

When I first found that table a few years ago, I remember thinking: “Wow, is this the best picnic table in California?! Like, could this table have the best view you could possibly see from a humble wooden table, completely open to the public?”

I definitely thought so at the time, and kept thinking that until this summer, when I found another picnic table with an even better view: another humble, weathered picnic table atop Valencia Peak in Montaña de Oro State Park near San Luis Obispo.

That table also is on the central coast of California, but a bit further south, and a lot higher up, so you can see for a lot more miles. And since it is higher up, of course, it is more than a bit harder to reach, as the top of Valencia Peak is more than 1,340 feet in elevation.

And I almost never made it up all those feet to my new favorite picnic table, because heat and hunger had me turning back about halfway up the mountain on that first Sunday morning. But luckily I came back the next day, setting out much earlier with more food in my belly to happily discover that the trail was basically empty of other humans on a Monday morning, and so I finally made it to the top to see just about the best view in California.

(Yes, last summer I found what I also thought was the best view in California, atop the Sierra Buttes fire lookout, but that view does not have the Pacific Ocean, so to me it just can’t be the best anymore.)

If you have the opportunity to head to Valencia Peak, located about six hours south of Ukiah on Highway 101, try to climb it early in the morning, preferably a weekday one, as the trail is very popular and gets very narrow near the top.

Also, be sure to continue up past Valencia Peak sign, as the picnic table is another 50 feet or so past it at the very top.

And while Wilder Ranch charges vehicles a day use fee to enter its parking lots, Montaña de Oro allows all vehicles to drive into its sprawling gorgeousness, and does not charge them to park at trailheads.

Which is yet another reason why I’ve decided that the picnic table sitting atop Valencia Peak in San Luis Obispo County is the best picnic table in California.

Until I find the next one, of course.

Which brings me to a request for you readers: What is your vote for the best picnic table view in Mendocino County?

(Ukiah Daily Journal)

THIS EVENING'S DISCUSSION WITH A CROW

by John Sakowicz

In the Little League Field at the end of Gobbi Street looking up

I saw no one,

and in the moment when the Russian River seemed still

I heard a crow call my name over and over again.

The crow called from an old redwood fence --a fence

bewildered by its own age.

The fence separated Riverside Park from the Thomas family

homestead --

the Thomas' originally settled in the Ukiah Valley in the 1880s

and grew Red Moon Mendocino Mountain Bartlett Pears.

Much earlier, the Pomos who lived here were either wiped out

or restricted to the dried out, hard land of the hill reservations.

I heard the crow say love can exist even in a murderous heart.

I heard the crow say humans are complicated.

You forget what you were about to say when you hear crows

say things like that.

You think to yourself: "You can't say things like that about us

humans.

But then again, you are a crow."

GALINA'S GETTING HER BOOK UNDERWAY

Galina Trefil:

About my writing a true crime book… Fine. I give in. You're going to get your way.

Two weeks ago, my fiancé, Joshua Lee McCollister, was robbed and shot in Humboldt County by Deunn Antoine Willis and Danielle Roberta Durand. They left Josh to die like he was garbage.

Why was Josh in Humboldt County in the first place though? What had happened to him that left him feeling safer, sleeping there under a bridge, than in actual housing in Mendocino County? Our stalkers. If not for the stalking, if not for what they put us through, Josh would never have been there at all.

Sometimes the stalking was so bad, all I could do was sit on the couch, curled into a ball, and sob. It just did not let up. Josh wanted me to be more proactive with law enforcement and Project Sanctuary. MAKE them listen to what was happening to us. I tried. We didn't get the help that we needed.

There was violence. There were break-ins. There was a smear campaign.

The most frightening aspect was their truly warped psychology regarding my children. They used my kids as tool, a means to enlist other people to come at us. They portrayed it as though, by people hurting us or harassing us, they were saving my kids. ("Flying monkeys" is the clinical term for this behavior.) My children should never have been used as a means to an end.

Josh could have left me. It would have been a lot easier for him if he had, but that wasn't him. He didn't walk out on the people that he loved, and he knew the stalkers' intentions towards one of my autistic children was particularly disgusting and cruel.

Josh put himself in danger for me. He put himself in danger for the kids. He absolutely sacrificed himself for his family.

He was very much afraid, for months, that this stalking situation was going to end with both of us dead. The last time I saw him, when he was leaving, he told me, "We're not out of the clear yet. They can still kill me. They can still kill you. We have to get out of here."

We didn't want to leave Fort Bragg. We had loved ones here. It was home.

It just wasn’t safe to stay.

We decided to try for Eureka. Josh was going there to see if it was a good place to raise kids, particularly disabled kids. We wanted to make sure that it had all of the resources that they would need. We wanted someplace where we could be unknown; unrecognized. We talked about changing our last names.

We were vulnerable apart. Bad things happened to both of us when we separated that wouldn't have happened otherwise.

To our stalkers, I say this: maybe you didn't pull the trigger that killed Josh, but you absolutely did put him on the road to his death.

Josh was autistic. He had seizures. Our stalkers took up all of our energy. We were completely worn through by decision fatigue, trying to stay one step ahead of the nightmare. Josh couldn't even focus on the fact that he was afraid that his cancer was returning, because all of his psychological energy was directed towards self-protection and protecting me and the kids.

The man that I loved is dead. Nothing I can do about that, but there is one thing that I can do for him. I can WRITE.

People have given me every conceivable kind of crap for being a writer. It's baffled me. No one could write the book about my serial killer father that I could because no one else was there. No one else saw him do the things that I saw. Bullying me to keep quiet doesn’t help his victims or their families.

Regardless, now the naysayers are going to get their way. I'm going to write a book about the murder of Joshua Lee McCollister; all the events that led up to it in Fort Bragg, CA, with our stalkers. We hoped that, if we just ignored them, they'd deescalate. The more that we tried to ignore them, the more frantic they seemed to get for attention though.

Whether it's self-publication or a publishing contract, I don't care. The proceeds can go to the things which most mattered to Josh: an autism charity and to Josh's family. I don't want a dime for my work; won't take one either.

All I ever wanted was a peaceful domestic life. A house with love and no slamming doors. Josh would have given me that.

These stalkers wanted attention? They didn't want to be ignored? Well, they're going to get that. In spades.

I didn't come forward before because they got their hands on three months of my private correspondence, which included my rape history, my medical information, information about my childhood abuse, and even my reproductive history. Again though, the man that I loved, my beloved, is dead. So, I don't care. They can do their worst and it won't be worse than what I'm already dealing with.

A book it is. Non-fiction. True crime. A love story set against the backdrop of hunting serial killers and stalking.

One final note to those stalkers: I once wrote 70,000 words for NaNoWriMo in one month. Think I can't do this? Go on. Underestimate me again. You'll see what happens.

CATCH OF THE DAY, Wednesday, July 23, 2025

LEONARD CAMPBELL JR., 53, Hopland. Indecent exposure, petty theft with two or more priors, failure to appear.

DEREK EASTER, 39, Ukiah. Lewd/lascivicious upon child under 14 years of age, failure to appear.

SELENE GONZALEZ, 30, Ukiah. Narcotics for sale.

MICHAEL JOHNSON, 25, Fort Bragg. Domestic battery, domestic violence court order violation.

BOBBY MILLER, 47, Fort Bragg. Disobeying court order.

LUIS SANCHEZ-GIL, 41, Ukiah. Probation revocation.

READY TO MOVE ON

Warmest spiritual greetings,

Up early at the Adam's Place Homeless Shelter, because it is deep cleaning day. All belongings from the bed area must be removed to a secure outdoor space, or they will be thrown away. Blankets may be stored in the assigned locker. Check-in is at 5 p.m. to get a new wrist band, in order to keep one's assigned bed. Otherwise, it is understood that one has chosen to go "camping", a challenging situation in the District of Columbia.

I am interested in leaving the shelter because I've no reason to be there any further, having completed my 16th time of being supportive of the D.C. Peace Vigil in front of the White House. I am seeking others to establish an "automatic writers" group. Automatic writing is allowing God, or the Dao, or the Spiritual Absolute, to work through the body-mind complex without interference. India's Sri Aurobindo wrote the classic Savitri that way. He said that sometimes he would hold a pen over the paper, and nothing would happen for two hours. Other times, pages would be filled. Regardless, automatic writing is the highest form of authorship, and anybody willing to do this is blessed. Please contact me if you are interested. I need to move on from the homeless shelter in Washington, D.C. and set up shop for what is beyond the past 50 years of peace & justice and radical ecological activism. I look forward to hearing from you.

At present, I've got $1,017.59 in the bank, and $46.66 in the wallet. General health is excellent at age 75.

Craig Louis Stehr, [email protected]

MERCURY MINE CLEANUP BRINGS MILLIONS IN WORK TO LAKE COUNTY

by Matt LaFever

A long-awaited cleanup of one of California’s most toxic sites is finally moving forward—and local businesses are being invited to help.

Jacobs Engineering, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s lead design contractor, will host a virtual outreach event on Tuesday, July 30, from 9 to 11 a.m. to share upcoming business opportunities tied to the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine Superfund cleanup near Clearlake Oaks.

According to a press release, the EPA plans to spend an estimated $94 million over the next five years to remediate the 160-acre site, once home to an open-pit mercury mine that operated into the mid-20th century. The cleanup will be rolled out in four phases beginning in 2026.

Perched on the eastern shoreline of Clear Lake, the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine has long been a source of environmental concern for tribal communities, lake advocates, and federal agencies. The site was officially added to the Superfund list in 1990 after studies showed elevated mercury levels in surrounding soil and water, posing health threats to both humans and wildlife.

Jacobs Engineering emphasized the importance of involving local small businesses in the massive remediation effort. The firm is seeking subcontractors for a range of tasks in the near term and expects many more bidding opportunities as the project progresses.

Interested businesses can register for the virtual event and receive login details by completing a short online questionnaire at https://forms.office.com/r/6q3znv7sM0.

For more background on the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine Superfund Site, visit epa.gov/superfund/sulphurbankmercury.

THE VOICE OF CALIFORNIA'S REDWOOD COUNTRY IS UNDER ATTACK

In California's Emerald Triangle, KMUD's rebel radio signal faces its greatest threat yet

by Matt LaFever

When wildfires spark, the power goes out and phones die, one voice still cuts through the static in Northern California: KMUD.

Since 1987, this small-town radio station has pulsed through the Emerald Triangle — connecting Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties with music, news and emergency alerts. It’s more than a station. It’s a lifeline.

But that voice may soon go silent.

Congress recently passed the Rescissions Act of 2025, cutting $1.1 billion from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. President Trump is expected to sign it in the coming days, gutting the federal support that KMUD — and rural stations like it — have relied on for decades.

In a news release, KMUD announced that the station “has just lost roughly 25% of its annual operating budget due to the elimination of federal funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a critical source of support for rural and underserved broadcasters nationwide.”

The danger isn’t just financial. “It’s a serious threat to the continued operation of a service that thousands of local residents depend on,” the station said. In disasters, when cell towers fail and the internet goes down, KMUD stays on the air. “Almost everyone can afford a radio,” the release noted. “And we’re still on the air.”

That signal, improbably, comes from a blue and white shack tucked behind Redway Drive, shaded by redwoods and splashed with hand-painted signs. Hung inside are string lights, bumper stickers and Grateful Dead skulls, coupled with shelves of dusty tapes. A toddler toddles between records. Volunteers huddle at the soundboard. Rock ’n’ roll is on deck.

‘Everybody’s hurting’

Sarah Starck, KMUD’s financial manager, told SFGATE over the phone that looming cuts have already triggered a financial balancing act. “Staff is our biggest expense, but also, who’s going to do the work if we don’t pay people to do it?” she said. “Everybody’s overworked and underpaid and putting in more than they can even mentally handle, but they keep showing up.”

Starck told SFGATE that potential sacrifices include newsroom coverage, staffing, and transmitter leases — all of which could fundamentally shrink the station’s reach.

On Saturday morning, she said, she spoke with someone who used to be a big donor. His income was now less than 7% of what it used to be, and while he’s still supportive, “he just doesn’t have the money anymore.” It’s a pattern she sees across the board. “Everybody’s hurting for money — and yet, we’re so vital.”

For many, KMUD is more than a station — it’s a companion.

When asked what happens in a world without KMUD, Starck said, “My first thought is the people in the hills that are, you know, isolated and lonely,” Starck told SFGATE. “And KMUD is their connection to the world.”

She described how listeners often view the talk show hosts, DJs and programmers as friends. “They know that there’s people right there because they’re hearing it in their homes through KMUD.”

‘The soundtrack to my life’

Lauren Schmitt, who served as KMUD’s news director for nearly seven years, said the station shaped both her personal and professional life.

“I always joke, you know, KMUD is the soundtrack to my life,” she told SFGATE. Living off the grid in the isolated village of Whale Gulch — with no internet, no newspaper — she and her friends would pause everything for the news. “I’d tell all my friends … everyone pipe down, the news is on. We got to hear what’s going on.”

“At KMUD, it very much was … the spark of my career,” she said.

A Station Born In The Hills

Jimmy Durschlag, 77, has been with KMUD since day one, serving on its board of directors and hosting a talk show along with two music programs. He still remembers what life was like before the station existed.

“There were all these disparate communities in different areas that were starting to come together,” he told SFGATE. Ever since KMUD went live, he said “there was a real connection with people just feeling like this is a way for us to communicate with our peer groups and learn about what was going on.”

He said the station’s programming reflected its community. “We kind of went with what the people brought to us,” Durschlag told SFGATE. “If they liked country music, if they liked folk music, if they liked jazz, … then they brought it, the concept of a show.”

‘Part Of The Fabric Of The Community’

Simon Frech, another KMUD original and the station’s longtime technical director, helped install some of the station’s transmitters in the 1980s. He told SFGATE over the phone that the station’s strength is its reach — physical and emotional.

“KMUD became such a part of the fabric of the community,” Frech said. “And had a big influence in connecting the different parts of the community.”

Federal funding, he said, was key to building that. “In the mid-90s, we were accepted into the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and received the community service grant.” That funding source has been “tremendous” in sustaining KMUD, Frech said.

With that funding now gone, he said he’s worried. “I’m not sure where KMUD can really save a lot,” he said. “I’ve always tried to spend as little as possible, but there are things that we just have to pay for, like… replacement parts, etc.”

The Minutes That Matter

Lois Cordova, 68, has volunteered with KMUD since 2012 as part of the station’s emergency response team. During a phone call last week, she told SFGATE that the station’s value becomes crystal clear when natural disasters strike.

“We’ve got a little text group,” she said. “There’s several people that can be in the station and on the air inside of 10 minutes.”

To her, the fun stuff — music, talk shows — is just the container. “All the cool s—t, the talk shows and the music and all that, that’s the space holder for that minute that we really need it. And those minutes are coming faster and more often.”

As for suggestions to replace KMUD with tech solutions such as emergency alert apps?

Cordova disagreed. “People say, ‘Oh, they should just get the Watch Duty app,’” she told SFGATE. “That doesn’t work when your cell phone doesn’t work.”

An Uncertain Future

KMUD now sits at a crossroads — and it’s not alone. Across the country, small rural stations face similar fates as CPB funding evaporates.

The Rescissions Act of 2025, if signed as expected, will eliminate $1.1 billion in CPB funds starting Oct. 1. For stations such as KMUD, which have become the invisible infrastructure of rural America, the consequences may be devastating.

Programmers at KMUD often refer to the station simply as “the voice of the free” — a phrase that captures its fiercely independent spirit. At its core, the station is a “vital lifeline to the community,” Schmitt told SFGATE.

(SFGate.com)

MUIR WOODS EXHIBIT BECOMES FIRST CASUALTY OF WHITE HOUSE DIRECTIVE TO ERASE HISTORY

by Olivia Hebert

A visitor reads a sign called “Saving Muir Woods” in Muir Woods National Monument on Aug. 23, 2021. The sign was recently removed from the park. (Douglas Zimmerman/SFGATE)

The National Park Service has taken down an exhibit at Muir Woods National Monument that aimed to tell a more complete history of the site, SFGATE has learned from a former park ranger who helped to develop the exhibit. It’s the first confirmed removal of what the Donald Trump administration has referred to as “improper ideology” under a directive from Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued earlier this year.

Installed in 2021, the “History Under Construction” exhibit was an effort by staff at Muir Woods, a 544-acre forest site protecting old-growth coast redwoods in Marin County, to expand upon the timeline that had long been displayed on a large placard. Annotated with sticky notes, the revised exhibit added missing context rather than replacing any of the information. A message on the display read: “Alert: History Under Construction. Everything on this sign is true but incomplete.”

The notes highlighted previously untold narratives: the Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo peoples who stewarded the land for centuries, the role of colonial violence in their displacement, and the efforts by the California Club — a women’s organization — to save the forest in the early 20th century.

Rangers also filled in historical gaps left by the original exhibit. One note referenced 1769, when Spanish missionaries began enslaving Native Americans. Another highlighted that John Muir, the park’s namesake, used racist language in his writings about Native Americans in 1869. Other annotations called attention to Gifford Pinchot’s 1898 appointment as chief of what is now the U.S. Forest Service, noting his involvement with the American Eugenics Society, and Congressman William Kent’s support for California’s Alien Land Laws in 1920, which targeted Asian immigrants.

“We didn’t want to take anything out. All we wanted to do was add in,” Elizabeth Villano, the former park ranger who worked on the signs, told SFGATE. “It gives the average visitor, who maybe wasn’t super drawn towards the importance of history, the chance to see how history is traditionally taught and then what it looks like to start adding in some of these narratives that we skate over so quickly and so regularly.”

The sign was removed in response to Secretarial Order 3431, a directive signed by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in January that instructs agencies to eliminate any sign that “disparages” the United States.

“As we implement the order, we will review all signs in the park as well as all the public input we receive about the signs,” Joshua Winchell, a spokesperson for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, told the New York Times.

The order has drawn criticism from current and former park service employees, many of whom see it as a move to erase uncomfortable or inconvenient aspects of American history.

“To me, the biggest irony is that the Trump administration says it wants to tell a more balanced version of history, and that’s exactly what this sign did,” Villano said. “It didn’t remove anything. It just layered in what had been missing.”

She described the decision as a perfect example of the administration’s true intent, adding: “They’re trying to take away any nuance of history that might be a challenge to power.”

The sign’s removal marked a symbolic turning point for Villano and her former colleagues, who spent years researching lesser-known histories tied to the monument. Among their findings: The first effort to protect the Muir Woods grove wasn’t launched by prominent political figures like Theodore Roosevelt, but by the California Club, a women’s organization that mobilized to save the trees in the early 1900s, years before they even had the right to vote.

“That’s a story that teaches me that … even if I’m not a politician, if I’m not wealthy, if I’m not a man who holds a lot of power, my voice still matters,” Villano said. She added that the sticky notes also acknowledged the long history of Indigenous land management, including the use of cultural burns to steward the forested landscape.

To her, the removal of the sign undercuts the park service’s mission.

“One of the most underrated aspects of the National Park Service is that we are the largest federal institution tasked with telling American history,” she said. “That includes good history, bad history, boring history, ugly history — it’s all history.”

Villano, who left the park service after her temporary position with the agency’s Climate Change Response Program ended, now works in public lands advocacy. She described the directive as “paternalistic.”

“They’re basically saying they don’t trust Americans to make their own decisions,” she said. “They want to censor all of this for us. And no matter if you agree with the content of the sign, it’s the idea that they’re telling you what you can and can’t learn. That’s anti-American.”

With staffing cuts looming and interpretive programs already under strain, she fears more of the site’s history could be lost or left unknown.

“One of the first things that will go if we lose more staff is our ability to research and surface history that hasn’t been told before,” she said. “In order to know your role in history, you need to see yourself in it. Right now, there are big groups of people who don’t, not because they weren’t there, but because their stories haven’t been uncovered.”

(SFGate.com)

JUSTIN VERLANDER GETS HIS FIRST GIANTS VICTORY, BEATS BRAVES TO END RECORD RUN WITHOUT A WIN

by Shayna Rubin

Verlander in the dugout during the fifth inning (Dale Zanine)

In the middle of the fifth inning, the skies opened up and unleashed rain over Truist Park. Justin Verlander scurried to the mound to get the ball and whatever intel he could from home plate umpire Ryan Wills on the passing storm clouds.

It was imperative that Verlander get through the next half inning. With the San Francisco Giants’ three-run lead and the Atlanta Braves without a run, or even a hit, Verlander’s first win as a Giant was on the line. His 16-game streak without a win had come with plenty of bad luck. It would have been par for the course had Wednesday’s bout of rain wasted his best shot yet.

“I figured something like that would happen,” Verlander said. “It’d be like, OK, this would be the game that gets rained out and there’s going to be a two-hour delay and they won’t let me back out. … It was so light it didn’t matter that much.”

After a refreshing interlude to a hot, humid afternoon on the mound, Verlander got back to business. Eli White blooped a single just fair in right field, representing the first hit Verlander allowed. Matt Olson also drew his third walk of the afternoon, but Verlander stranded the runners with his third strikeout.

The Giants went on to beat the Braves 9-3, claiming the series and handing Verlander his first victory of the year. It took more than half the 2025 season, but the shoo-in Hall of Famer is now 37 wins from the exclusive 300-win club. His 16-game streak without a win sits as the longest by a Giants starting pitcher in a single season, beating Matt Cain’s previous 15-game streak set in 2017. Verlander was one shy of tying Mark Davis’ 17-game winless streak that spanned three seasons from 1984-86.

Giants 9, Braves 3

The streak weighed heavy on Verlander’s teammates, who celebrated snapping it by gifting him a bottle of wine. For Verlander, chasing a single win put into perspective the magnitude of his pursuit of 300.

“Sometimes when things are going well you take wins for granted, and you just go out there and pitch every five days and you’re winning most of them, and you’re in the high-five line afterward and you’re thinking I did my job and we won,” Verlander said. “It’s been a tough stretch for me physically and on the mound a bit, so hopefully this gets the ball rolling in the right direction.”

The Giants, too, are hoping to shift in the right direction. This win showed signs that they’re getting right.

After Monday’s sloppy loss to the Braves, their sixth straight defeat, the team gathered for a kick-in-the-butt talk. With the trade deadline fast approaching and the team technically in position to add for a run at the postseason, it was not a good time for the Giants to play unfocused, losing ball.

“Sometimes you need to just hear it and hit the reset button and move forward. We’re all big boys here, the goal never changed, but it’s good to all get on the same page,” third baseman Matt Chapman said. “We need to play better, we put ourselves in a position to play for an opportunity to play in the playoffs, the division still in reach. We’re in the hunt. So to come out and play that kind of baseball, especially the first game being sloppy and unpolished, it’s not what we worked hard for all year.”

The next two games the Giants outscored the Braves 18-3, played clean, and saw some of their most important bats start to light up.

Wednesday, Rafael Devers played to his star status.

Devers, back at designated hitter after making his debut as a first baseman on Tuesday, hit two home runs and singled (with a 114.2 mph exit velocity, his hardest hit of the year). The first home run was perhaps the most impressive: He golfed a Spencer Strider’s slider that was less than a foot off the dirt into right field, giving the Giants a lead in the fifth inning. Two batters later, Chapman added a two-run homer to right-center field.

In the sixth inning, Devers blasted Dylan Dodd’s cutter down and in 410 feet for a more traditional-looking three-run shot, making it 6-0. Since the All-Star break ended last weekend, Devers is 10-for-26 (.385) with two home runs and two doubles in six games.

“When he gets extended he has power behind it. Off the bat I had a pretty good feeling about it,” manager Bob Melvin said of the golfed home run. “His swings have been really good recently. … He’s starting to heat up, which we would expect. And when he gets hot, he can carry a team.”

Verlander’s win didn’t look likely in the first inning. The Braves’ bats worked him for long at-bats and three walks to load the bases. Verlander burned through 40 pitches — he would have been out of the game if he neared 50 — but managed to escape the inning without allowing a run. He was far more efficient in the middle innings, facing near the minimum until White’s single in the rainy fifth. His fastball velocity averaged 94.8 mph and he gave up little hard contact. This time, it was enough.

“This team all year has fought, you see our character on the field quite often,” Verlander said. “We fell into a rut where that wasn’t showing up as far as we’d like, but it’s still in there.”

Briefly: Chapman was hit on the left elbow with a pitch in the seventh inning, but he remained in the game until he scored on Dom Smith’s single in a three-run inning. Brett Wisely later pinch-hit for Chapman, who underwent an X-ray that came back negative, Melvin said.

CLIMATE ACTIVISTS STORM BIG OIL NEWSOM'S OFFICE, DEMANDING HALT TO ZOMBIE OFFSHORE OIL PIPELINE

by Dan Bacher

Sacramento — Governor Gavin Newsom’s campaign to build the environmentally destructive Delta Tunnel and Sites Reservoir to enrich his Big Ag Donors and his role in overseeing the destruction of Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations are not the only anti-environmental policies he has become notorious for.

Yesterday a dozen outraged climate justice activists descended on Governor Gavin Newsom's office, demanding that he stop caving to Big Oil and block a new offshore drilling pipeline and expanded onshore drilling in California.

Last Friday, Texas oil company Sable moved one step closer to restarting the same corroded offshore drilling pipeline that caused the disastrous 2015 Refugio oil spill the fouled miles of California Coast, after a Santa Barbara County Superior Court ruling, according to the Oil and Gas Action Network.

Thousands of advocates and nearly half of California’s Democratic Congressional delegation, have demanded that Newsom halt this disastrous pipeline. So far, he’s remained silent, advocates noted.…

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/7/22/2334640/-Climate-Activists-Storm-Gov-Newsom-s-Office-Demanding-Halt-to-Zombie-Offshore-Oil-Pipeline

HUFF THE BOLD

Editor,

I read a piece in the New Yorker, ‘Follow the Leader: A culture of obedience reigns in Washington.’ In Trump’s Washington,” Antonia Hitchens writes, “the imperative has never been more plain: if you want to get ahead or stay out of trouble, praise the President as much as he praises himself.” She lists myriad instances of obsequious bootlicking from Cabinet members to congressmen to media figures. A mere whisper of dissent will land a person in the crosshairs, their lives threatened by MAGA zealots if they should oppose King Donald.

The one bright spot in the article was when the House Natural Resources Committee convened to consider Marjorie Taylor Greene’s proposal to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. That’s when, Hitchens writes, “Jared Huffman, the ranking Democratic member, leaned into the microphone. ‘There is crazy, destructive, incompetent, corrupt things happening in the executive branch of our government right now, and the independent branch of government, Article One branch that our Founders created in order to serve as a check on Presidential abuses of power, as a check on corruption and incompetence, is totally missing in action.”

I’m glad we have someone like Huffman, speaking truth to power, representing us in Congress, and not another shameless, craven, groveling Republican bootlicker.

Michael Morey

Forestville

ED NOTE. Congressman Huffman roars out when it's safe to roar out. Even if he had a principle or two, and even if he did speak out in defense of them, his district is gerrymandered to keep a Democrat representing the Northcoast forever.

DAS VEDANYA

by Michael Nolan

The two Russian guys were in their 40s and both spoke perfect English, but other than that they were the odd couple. Gennady Alferenko was lithe, charming, funny and energetic. He had come to America before with a ballet troupe and had found the experience delightful. He was back looking for adventure. His friend, Rustem I. Khairov, was large, pudgy, pale and apprehensive.

My client, benefactor, problem, and friend, Harry Kislevitz, a wealthy American of Russian heritage, had attracted these two. Harry had the concept of establishing a sister-city relationship between his hometown, Santa Barbara, and Yalta in Russia. Gennady and Rustem thought it a worthwhile project and arranged for us to go to Russia. Gennady was friends with Boris Yeltsin, the president of Russia at the time, so everything was open to us everywhere. There were no formalities and it was easy for them to take us into strange and interesting places. We flew to Paris then on to Moscow. We booked in to the National Hotel in August, hot and humid, and were surprised that the heated towel racks were further stoking the room. They showed us the Kremlin and Red Square, of course, and GUM, the major department store. But it was the spectacular Saint Basil's Cathedral which just enthralled me. A joyous colorful fancy, so unlike the gloomy Gothics of Europe.

We went to a big red-brick building that looked like a factory from outside and we entered it through an inconspicuous small door. Revealed inside was an Old Believer's Russian Orthodox Cathedral with dozens of gold icons gleaming through smoky layers of age and worship. We were introduced to and blessed by the patriarch of the Old Believers, an old man in high gracious space. This was not the only time we saw the deeply spiritual side of Russia underlying the secular state. At Zagorsk, in an Eighth Century stone chapel, simple clean peasants entered reverently and sang hymns in pure angel's voices.

One evening we went to a women's dress shop full of flashy and expensive clothing. Gennady and Rustem walked right through the store and opened a back door to reveal a large nightclub full of flashy and expensive people drinking and dancing. Russia sometimes seemed like those matryoshka dolls — one inside another, inside another.

Moscow was unexpectedly amazing, but we were on a mission and soon flew Aeroflot south to Simferopol Airport in the Ukraine. We were driven in an escorted limousine which cleared all traffic in our way down to Artek on the Coast. Artek is the camp for the Young Pioneers, which is the Russian version of the Girl and Boy Scouts.

Anne got right in to it with the Young Pioneers and we have a happy picture of her in their midst. I have two favorite memories of Artek and Gurzuf, the village nearby, both right on the Black Sea: In Artek one day our lunch consisted of a large bowl of black caviar, fresh from the Black Sea, with a big spoon in it: help yourself. Perfect ripe local tomatoes, freshly baked black bread and butter (Russian daily goods were better than ours, much to our surprise). On a sunny terrace overlooking the Sea.

I got invited to a sauna in Gurzuf next evening. The way they do it is hot and steamy of course, but you get beaten pleasantly with aromatic leafy shrubs and drink walnut-infused vodka. Followed by a run off the dock and a plunge into the Black Sea. Wow!

Then there was business. I stood in front of the Yalta City Council and got to see the commissars in full regalia: suits and scowls. The official photo behind them was Lenin. Gorbachev was in disgrace and Yeltsin was not yet firmly in control. Lenin was safe. They started out wary and formal. But I had years of negotiating with their Chinese counterparts, who had patterned their system on Russian Communism, so I was relaxed and persuasive. When they actually understood what I was proposing they became friendly and helpful.

They showed me two splendid sites, one in downtown Yalta with an ocean view and another in Livadia Nature Park right on the coast for our Santa Barbara Center. I still have our signed and sealed contract in Russian and in English, full of hopeful phrases, for establishing a Santa Barbara Center, built in an environmentally ideal method, for American tourists and Russian people to enjoy each other's company. I read it now and want to cry; it is so sweet. We all want it.

And then comes Vladimir Putin.

We had no idea of what was coming and left Yalta and the Ukraine in high spirits. Gennady and Rustem wanted to go down south to Russia's vacation playground so we flew to Sochi in Georgia and while there learned what “Georgian Style” meant to Russians. “Georgian Style” is about generosity, about abundance, about flair. About Living Large. The officials there rolled out a lavish feast in a lovely rustic garden trellised with grapevines. The many dishes were exotic, delicious, colorful and served with copious amounts of Georgian champagne in artful blown glasses. A bottle of Georgian champagne was so fine that I took it as my only physical souvenir of the Soviet Union.

Then we drove down to Abkhazia, through Gagra, to Pitsunda, our destination. Pitsunda is a vacation beach town on the Black Sea, the Waikiki of Russia. A shingle beach is ringed by hotels each of which is owned by an industry that rewards its best workers with vacations here. We danced in a roof-top penthouse to the Beatles while a TV was showing a speech by the Prime Minister — ignored by everyone.

We noticed that way down here, almost to Turkey, the people looked, sounded and felt nothing like the residents of Moscow. We also met lots of Russians from Siberia who are Asiatic — the first people in the New World. Russia is the largest country in the world, spanning seven time zones, and from the Ural Mountains west it is Europe and from the Urals east, it is Asia.

So back to Moscow. The wives of Gennady and Rustem joined us. Marina and Svetlana were as delightful as their husbands. When I described our late 60s “back to the land movement,” expecting that our tales of goats and firewood would be exotic to them, Marina said, “That's what we did too! We left the city and went to the farthest away place we could and lived in the woods up near Finland.” They did what we did at the same time — neither of us having any clue about the other.

You know that moment that is so outrageous, so unbelievable that you and your companion just look at each wordlessly in a moment you will always remember? Harry and I are sitting in the luxurious comfort of a ZiL, the limousine that the rulers parade in, on our way to the Pushkin Museum, a long way from Montecito. I had one of the best trips ever in Russia and I couldn't wait to go back, in a Russian Winter I'd imagined.

Then came Vladimir Putin.

THIS MONSTER SHOULD BE SHOT DEAD:

Bryan Kohberger's subtle final insult that's so depraved it's sick

by Maureen Callahan

Some people just need killing. Bryan Kohberger is one of them.

Instead, thanks to a controversial plea deal, Kohberger was sentenced on Wednesday to four consecutive life terms — one each for the savage murders of college students Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21 — with no chance for parole.

Is this justice? Depends who you ask.

Kaylee's father, Steve Goncalves, said the deal 'wasn't justice'.

The Goncalves family had long been vocal about wanting a trial and the death penalty, which likely would have had Kohberger killed by firing squad — and said the state of Idaho had 'failed us' and that they were 'beyond furious'.

Steve Goncalves also said that prosecutors told him Kaylee had been stabbed more than 30 times.

'It was horrific what Kaylee went through', he said outside of court. She had, he said, 'quite a bit of damage to her face.'

Kohberger may never say why, may never give up a motive, but it seems obvious: driven by rage at young, beautiful, happy girls who would never give him the time of day.

So let him keep what he thinks is his sick little secret. We could all see it on his face in court — the lack of shame, remorse, or even self-pity.

Kohberger is likely proud of what he's done, while the rest of the world sees him for what he is: a pathetic shell of a psychopath pretending to be human.

Xana's father, Jeff Kernodle, told the New York Times in a statement that he was against the plea deal – in part because it did not require Kohberger to provide details of the crime or motive.

'I do not agree with this outcome and expressed my concerns before the deal was negotiated,' Kernodle said. 'After nearly three years of waiting and being told there would be a trial, with evidence presented to convict him, I'm disappointed in the prosecutors' decision.'

The Mogen family, however, was relieved to avoid a trial.

Chapin's parents also approved of the plea deal, with Ethan's father Jim saying that when he learned about it, 'If I could physically do a handstand at that time, I would probably do one. Because I am so ready for it to be done.'

Yet it's hard not regard this plea deal as a true failure of the system. Of a police department so small and inexperienced they initially told the public that the killings were targeted before contradicting themselves, days later, with Moscow Police Chief Jason Fry announcing, 'We cannot say there is no threat to the community' — prompting droves of college students to flee.

But it's the FBI who may be at most to blame here.

As weeks went by with no suspect and no theory of the crime, the FBI — clearly desperate — resorted to running the DNA on a knife sheath left behind through two private, commercial databases: GEDmatch and MyHeritage.

Now, does that seem like a big deal when a mass murderer is on the loose, and the only clue is DNA not found in criminal databases meant for law enforcement?

The moral answer is no. But the legal answer is much more complicated, and had Kohberger gone to trial — even though the judge in this case ruled the DNA admissible — his lawyers could have filed a solid appeal based on the 'fruit of the poisonous tree' doctrine, or evidence obtained illegally.

If this is the real reason that prosecutors moved for a plea deal, we all deserve to know.

Because it doesn't seem as if this prosecution was coming from a place of strength.

In fact, lead prosecutor Bill Thompson made a spectacle of himself in court on Wednesday, delivering his closing as if through tears.

It was completely undignified. Thompson's self-serving theatrics were grotesque.

The same holds true for Judge Steven Hippler, who delivered the agreed-upon sentence with a tremulous voice and far too much emotion.

That's not the job. Not since Judge Ito lorded over the OJ trial as if it were the role of a lifetime have such disgusting histrionics been needlessly injected into proceedings.

In rending their garments — rather than delivering cold, clinical justice that would starve Kohberger of satisfaction —Hippler and Thompson insulted the victims, their families and survivor Dylan Mortensen.

Only 19 at the time of the murders, Mortensen pushed through sobs and near-hyperventilation to explain her torment as Kohberger sat just feet away, expressionless.

'I was barely 19 when he did this,' Mortensen said. 'I had to sleep in my mom's bed because I was too terrified to close my eyes. Terrified that if I blinked, someone might be there. I made escape plans everywhere I went. If something happens, how do I get out? What can I use to defend myself? Who can help?'

She went on to describe her ongoing PTSD, her body 'reliving everything over and over again. My nervous system never got the message that it is over, and it won't let me forget what he did to them.'

Firing squad.

But no — unless Kohberger gets the kind of prison justice meted out to Jeffrey Dahmer (one can hope), he will live out his days fielding calls from Netflix and podcasts and maybe even working with his one-time criminal professor on a book, despite Judge Hippler declaring, with unearned certainty, that this sentence marks the end of Kohberger's '15 minutes of fame'.

How infuriating to watch this prosecution team and judge act as if they had just delivered the harshest punishment possible — the end of infamy! — when they failed.

When the harshest punishment possible would have been the death penalty.

Hippler, it turned out, had one more legal note after that display, telling Kohberger that he could still file a notice of appeal.

And Kohberger, in that moment, finally expressed emotion, however faint. He smirked.

How's that for justice?

October 4, 1982. Frank “Lefty” Rosenthal, the former casino executive and mob associate who ran multiple Las Vegas casinos for the Chicago Outfit, slid behind the wheel of his Cadillac Eldorado outside Tony Roma’s restaurant on East Sahara Avenue in Las Vegas. Moments later, a massive explosion ripped through the underside of the car—an assassination attempt by car bomb, the mob’s signature message. But in a twist worthy of a Hollywood script, Rosenthal survived. Barely singed. Shaken, yes—but alive.

What saved him was an obscure, almost accidental detail: a factory-installed steel plate located under the driver’s seat of 1981 Cadillac Eldorados. Originally fitted to correct a design-related weight imbalance, the plate unknowingly acted as a blast shield—absorbing and deflecting the worst of the explosion. Without it, Rosenthal would have been torn apart by the force erupting beneath him. It wasn’t mob loyalty, instinct, or luck that saved him—it was Detroit engineering.

The story later inspired a key scene in Martin Scorsese’s Casino (1995), where Robert De Niro’s character, based on Rosenthal, survives a similar hit. But the real-life incident was even more chilling. Rosenthal never fully re-entered public life after that day. He moved, stayed low, and died in 2008 in Florida. But that steel plate? It became the stuff of underworld legend—a mundane fix that accidentally outsmarted the mob.

TOE THE LINE

Crimes concealed

By powerful men

Will be revealed

Someday when

Hell grows cold

And Heavens fall

The meek grow bold

And show us all

They’ve grown a pair

And found their spine

Willing to go there

Not toe the line

— Elvin Woods

WHY THE EPSTEIN FILES SHUT-DOWN?

To the Editor:

If there’s nothing to be found in the Jeffrey Epstein files, why is Speaker Mike Johnson so eager to shut down any discussion by cutting the House session short?

Until recently, conservatives were pushing for full disclosure. Instead, the administration is offering only token gestures, such as the release of grand jury testimony.

In fact, the Justice Department has contacted lawyers representing Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime Epstein associate. It seems to me that it wants her to “clear” President Trump in exchange for a reduced sentence.

She should serve her full sentence. And anyone involved, no matter who, should be exposed and punished for these horrific crimes.

Tamara Beeler

Chicago

A BORING HOAX?

To the Editor:

Is it just me, or does it seem as if President Trump is overreacting, even by Trumpian standards, to the Jeffrey Epstein case?

Especially if, as he insists, it is boring and a hoax.

Tom Fritschler

Port Angeles, Washington

TRUMP TOLD HE WAS NAMED IN EPSTEIN FILES MONTHS AGO BY PAM BONDI, BOMBSHELL REPORT CLAIMS

by Katelyn Caralle

Donald Trump was informed months ago by Pam Bondi that his name appears 'multiple times' in the Jeffrey Epstein files the same day she recommended against releasing all documents, according to a new report.

Senior administration officials claimed that Attorney General Bondi told Trump during a May 2025 meeting that his name was found in the Epstein documents more than previously thought, among hundreds of other high-profile individuals.

The files contained 'unverified hearsay' about Trump and the individuals who had social connections to Epstein, the officials claim.

Bondi recommended in that same meeting, according to the Wall Street Journal, that the administration not release more files because they contained child pornography and personal information for victims.

Trump, the sources claim, deferred to his attorney general on whether to make additional files public.

Just because the president is named in the files does not implicate him in any wrongdoing or connect him to Epstein's child sex trafficking crimes.

Administration officials told the Journal that Bondi's May meeting with Trump was a routine briefing covering a number of topics - and the Epstein files weren't the focus.

White House communications director Steven Cheung slammed the Journal's report as 'fake news' in a statement to the Daily Mail.

'The fact is that the President kicked him out of his club for being a creep. This is nothing more than a continuation of the fake news stories concocted by the Democrats and the liberal media, just like the Obama Russiagate scandal, which President Trump was right about,' he said.

Bondi has drawn ire and confusion from the MAGA base for a shady timeline on the documents.

It's fueling conspiracies that there's a wider 'cover-up' being hatched by the administration.

In February, Bondi said on Fox News that she had the Epstein 'client list' sitting on her desk ready for review.

She then put out a 'Phase I' of the Epstein report shortly after, which did not contain any bombshell new information as promised, further angering his base.

And according to a joint DOJ-FBI memo leaked months later in July, no such 'client list' was ever found in the agencies' review of Epstein-related documents.

During a Cabinet meeting on July 8, Bondi sought to clarify that she was actually referencing the complete paperwork related to the investigation into Epstein's child sex trafficking crimes.

She then said that the reason more evidence was not released was because it contained child pornography.

'They turned out to be child porn downloaded by that disgusting Jeffrey Epstein,' the attorney general said. 'Never going to be released, never going to see the light of day.'

A week later on July 15, Trump denied that Bondi told him his name was flagged in the files after he emerged from another meeting with her.

He replied, 'No, no,' when asked by a reporter whether his name being in the files came up at the briefing.

Trump told reporters on the South Lawn that Bondi had 'given us just a very quick briefing' on their contents before accusing former FBI Director James Comey of 'making up' the files.

A DOJ official told the Daily Mail that communications failures are to blame for the botched Epstein files review.

And the entire fallout was 'avoidable.'

The Trump administration, in an effort to be transparent, demanded the release of highly-secretive grand jury testimony from the Epstein case.

However, Obama-appointed Judge Robin Rosenberg slapped down the request from Attorney General Pam Bondi to unseal proceedings on Wednesday.

The move comes as a blow to Trump's MAGA base as they demand all details of the investigation into the disgraced financier and convicted child sex offender be made public.

According to an exclusive Daily Mail/JL Partners poll out Wednesday, the Epstein drama, although taking over the news cycle, is not impacting how Americans view the president.

Forty-nine percent of voters now approve of Trump's job performance as president, up one point from the tracking survey conducted earlier in July.

But the pressure is still mounting on the administration to deliver on its key campaign promise to put out documents related to Epstein.

It's already known that Trump's name appeared on Epstein's flight logs, as well as the names of his second wife Marla Maples and his son Eric and daughter Tiffany.

Epstein's 'black book' contact list also included entries for Trump's first wife Ivana, their daughter Ivanka and the president's brother Robert.

Names who are in the address book include Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, actor Alec Baldwin, Ethel Kennedy, Andrew Cuomo, Naomi Campbell and Courtney Love.

Trump has had recent beef with the Wall Street Journal, threatening to sue the publication and its owner Rupert Murdoch for publishing last week a piece claiming he sent Epstein a 50th birthday card with a hand-drawn outline of a naked women.

The paper claims that Trump wrote in the card's note: 'May every day be another wonderful secret.'

'I never wrote a picture in my life. I don't draw pictures of women,' Trump fired back when asked if he transmitted such a card. 'It's not my language. It's not my words.'

This was followed up by many of his past doodles coming back up, including mostly outlines of buildings and the New York City skyline.

The Justice Department told the Wall Street Journal that Trump was made aware of the findings of the Epstein files as part of the 'routine briefing.'

Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche reportedly said that nothing was found in the files that would mandate an additional investigation - or even prosecution.

'As part of our routine briefing, we made the President aware of the findings,' they told the Journal.

The Daily Mail reached out to the Justice Department for additional details on the meeting.

(DailyMail.uk)

THE DAVENPORT ASYLUM FOR ORPHAN FEMALES

On July 19, 1864, the Davenport Asylum for Orphan Females opened its doors in Bath, New York. The castle-like home was built by Ira Davenport, who also left a generous endowment to ensure the girls were well cared for.

Over the next 94 years, the home served hundreds — perhaps thousands — of young girls. Even through the hardships of the Great Depression, the “Davenport Girls” enjoyed an enriching childhood: tennis, horseback riding, their own orchestra and Girl Scout troop, field trips, and hikes on nearby Mossy Bank (which was part of the property).

This lovely photo, taken in 1939, captures just a glimpse of the history and spirit of the Davenport Home — a place where care, education, and community gave countless girls a strong start in life.

RUSSIAGATE EXPLAINED: THE SINS OF THE 2017 INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT

by Matt Taibbi

A key part of the House Permanent Selection Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) review is about then-CIA director John Brennan’s reliance on an obscure fragment to determine in the 2017 ICA that Putin “aspired to help Trump’s chances of victory when possible.”

The fragment, which is in bold below, comes from a raw human source intelligence report, or HUMINT in intelligence-speak. “Putin had made this decision [to leak DNC emails) after he had come to believe t h a t the Democratic nominee had better odds of winning the U.S. presidential election, and that [candidate Trump], whose victory Putin was counting on, most likely would not be able to pull off a convincing victory.”

You might think that means Putin wanted Trump to win. That’s one interpretation.

But there were five different interpretations among the five people who wrote the ICA.

A senior CIA operations officers remarked: “We don’t know what was meant by that,” and “five people read it five ways,” the HPSCI reports says.

Usually that’s no problem, because as the Intelligence Community Directive standards (ICD 203) make clear, alternative interpretations should be included. Incredibly, the ICA failed to do that even though there was great disagreement on the fragment’s meaning.

The significance of this fragment to the ICA case that Putin "aspired" for candidate Trump to win cannot be overstated. The major "high confidence" judgment of the ICA rests on one opinion about a text fragment with uncertain meaning, that may be a garble, and for which it is not clear how it was obtained. This text — which would not have been published without DCIA's orders to do so — is cited using only one interpretation of its meaning and without considering alternative interpretations.

The HPSCI gives some examples of alternative interpretations for “whose victory Putin was counting on.” Since the information was acquired in July 2016, it could have meant Putin “expected” a Trump victory at the upcoming Republican National Convention. The HPSCI notes that the convention’s outcome “was still uncertain to do active efforts to deny Trump a majority of convention delegates. This was a headline issue for the US political media at the time, though many pundits nonetheless expected — or ‘counted on’ — a Trump victory.”

I encourage you to read the declassified HPSCI report for yourself. In the meantime, some other findings from the report are listed below. There are enough findings that make clear the ICA reeks to make even turn a roach turn away. Unfortunately, too many pols in the Adam Schiff mold have lower standards.

Three of the 15 HUMIT reports the ICA relied on contained flawed information, yet “these three became foundational sources the ICA cited to claim Putin aspired to help Trump win.”

The three reports were published “on DCIA (then-CIA director John Brennan) orders, despite veteran CIA officer judgments that they contained substandard information that was unclear, of uncertain origin, potentially biased, implausible, or in the words of senior operations officers, ‘odd’.’”

“The original report does not directly say, as the ICA implies, that Putin launched lead operations to help Trump win.” “The ICA omits critical report context which, had it been made available to the reader, would show the report to be implausible — if not ridiculous — and missing so many key details as to be impossible.”

“The ICA selectively excluded information from reliable intelligence sources that senior Russian officials had serious reservation about how a potential Trump administration could be bad for Moscow and complicate repairing relations with Washington.”

“Far from showing a consensus ‘clear preference for Trump’, the evidence indicates Putin and Russian officials saw downsides to a potential Trump administration. The intelligence also showed, that regardless of who won, Moscow expected a prolonged struggle to repair strained relations with Washington.” Citing intelligence findings that don’t exist

The ICA report says, “We assess that Russian leaders never entirely abandoned hope for a defeat of Secretary Clinton.” However, the intelligences the ICA cites to make that conclusion report does not say that. The raw intelligence, the HPSCI report says:

Does not state — not does it infer — that Russian leaders "never abandoned hope" for defeating Clinton, nor does it even use the word "hope" or similar phrasing.

Does not in any way describe the aspirations, plans or intentions of Putin or other Russian leaders.

Does not describe Putin's "aspiration to help Trump's chances of victory" nor does it propose contrasting Clinton unfavorably to Trump.

The SVR’s “Derogatory Information” on Hillary Clinton

The HPSCI report says that “Putin's decision not to leak additional derogatory information on Secretary Clinton as the polls narrowed undermine the ICA's claim that he ‘aspired’ to help Trump win and “never entirely abandoned hope for a defeat of Secretary Clinton.” Racket has asked Clinton to comment on the below “derogatory information” that SVR compiled. We haven’t heard back from her office. It’s important to clarify the assertions about Clinton may be important without being true. Even if it was bad intelligence, it existed, and the ICA chose not to include it. Meanwhile, it ignored the multitude of problems with the intelligence relied on to denigrate Trump.

The HPSCI report says the “generic description of the material Putin held back makes the reader unaware of significant information available to Moscow to denigrate Secretary Clinton. This violated ICD 203 directives that analysis ‘be informed by all relevant information available’ given that documents leaked during the election were far less damaging to Secretary Clinton than those Putin chose not to leak.” Examples of the derogatory information held back.

“As of September 2016, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) had Democratic National Committee (DNC) information that President Obama and party leaders found the state of Secretary Clinton's health to be ‘extraordinarily alarming’ and felt it could have ‘serious negative impact’ on her election prospects. Her health information was being kept in ‘strictest secrecy’ and even close advisors were not being fully informed.” “The SVR possessed DNC communications that Clinton was suffering from ‘intensified psycho-emotional problems, including uncontrolled fits of anger, aggression, and cheerfulness.’ Clinton was placed on a daily regimen of ‘heavy tranquilizers’ and while afraid of losing, she remained ‘obsessed with a thirst for power.’” “The SVR also had information that Clinton suffered from ‘Type 2 diabetes, Ischemic heart disease, deep vein thrombosis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.’ “

“The SVR possessed a campaign email discussing a plan approved by Secretary Clinton to link Putin and Russian hackers to candidate Trump in order to ‘distract the [American] public’ from the Clinton email server scandal.”

“The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) in August had details of secret meetings with multiple named US religious organizations, in which US State Department representatives offered - in exchange for supporting Secretary Clinton-’significant increases in financing’ from Department funds and "the patronage" of State in dealing with ‘post-Soviet’ countries.

The Steele Dossier

The ICA referred to the dossier as "Russian plans and intentions," falsely implying to high-level US policymakers that the dossier had intelligence value for understanding Moscow's influence operations.

Two senior CIA officers-one from Russia operations and the other from Russia analysis — argued with DCIA that the dossier should not be included at all in the ICA, because it failed to meet basic tradecraft standards, according to a senior officer present at the meeting.

The same officer said that DCIA refused to remove it, and when confronted with the dossier’s many flaws, responded, “Yes, but doesn’t it ring true?”

CIA veterans noted that they could not imagine any previous director allowing such information in a formal CIA product, much less one intended for two Presidents, and then overriding the objections of experienced senior officers to do so. (emphasis HPSCI) This list is far from incomplete, as you’ll see from the HPSCI report listed below and Matt’s story, “In Brutal Disclosure, Russia Hoax Finally Revealed.”

Many of these findings will come as no surprise to a lot of people, although it might be still be eye-opening to them and maybe others who haven’t reached a conclusion on the merits of the ICA. For sure, there will also be people who remain convinced that nothing untoward occurred. Nonetheless, it appears the highest levels of government during the final days of the Obama administration orchestrated a deception designed to deceive us all.

SCOTLAND'S EX-FIRST MINISTER HUMZA YOUSAF: ISRAEL IS STARVING MY WIFE’S FAMILY

by Rachel Fergusson

Former first minister Humza Yousaf has said Israel is starving his wife’s family in Gaza.

In a video posted online, Mr Yousaf and his wife Nadia El-Nakla said her cousin Sally, her four children and husband were being deliberately and forcefully starved by the Israeli government.…

https://www.scotsman.com/news/humza-yousaf-israel-gaza-5239198

LEAD STORIES, THURSDAY'S NYT

Attorney General Told Trump His Name Appeared in Epstein Files

Judge Denies Request to Unseal Epstein Grand Jury Transcripts in Florida

Columbia Agrees to $200 Million Fine to Settle Fight With Trump

Trump Plans to Give A.I. Developers a Free Hand

Facing Outcry Over Corruption, Zelensky Says He Will Reverse Course

How Many Steps Do You Really Need in a Day?

DO PALESTINIANS HAVE A RIGHT TO EXIST?

States are not sacred. Lives are.

by Sarah Kunstler

One of the questions that has surfaced in these communications is this;
Do you believe in Israel’s right to exist?

The short answer—though it’s hardly sufficient—is this: No.

No country has a “right to exist.”

Edward Said made this point in The End of the Peace Process, where he observed that the “right to exist” claimed by Israel is “a formula hitherto unknown in international or customary law.”…

https://open.substack.com/pub/sarahkunstler/p/do-palestinians-have-a-right-to-exist

ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

So starving people who haven't gotten proper food or water in a month are being shot in the head for the unspeakable crime of checks notes walking to food distribution sites, there's a forced relocation affecting 50 percent of Gaza, 80 percent or more of all buildings are destroyed, hospitals bombed, infrastructure exploded, and in the West Bank, Jewish terrorists beat and kill Palestinians with impunity. But it's not, in the illuminated, all-knowing mind of the NYT, a genocide-genocide, so I guess it's just a good old-fashioned atrocity? I feel so much better.

TRUMP IS BUILDING A MACHINE TO DISAPPEAR PEOPLE

by Jeff Crisp

In May, the United States flew a group of eight migrants to Djibouti, a small state in the Horn of Africa. For weeks, the men — who are from Cuba, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Vietnam and South Sudan — were detained in a converted shipping container on a U.S. military base. More than a month later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the men, who had all been convicted of serious crimes, could be transferred to their final destination: South Sudan, a country on the brink of famine and civil war. Tom Homan, the border czar, acknowledged that he didn’t know what happened to them once they were released from U.S. custody. “As far as we’re concerned,” he said, “they’re free.”

Deporting foreign nationals to countries other than their homeland has quickly become a centerpiece of the Trump administration’s immigration policy. Thousands of people have been sent to countries in the Western Hemisphere, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Mexico and Panama. At a recent summit of West African leaders, President Trump pressed them to admit deportees from the United States, reportedly emphasizing that assisting in migration was essential to improving commercial ties with the United States. All told, administration officials have reached out to dozens of states to try to strike deals to accept deportees. The administration is making progress: Last week, it sent five men to the tiny, landlocked country of Eswatini in southern Africa after their home countries allegedly “refused to take them back,” according to an assistant homeland security secretary, Tricia McLaughlin. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In some ways, this is nothing new. It has become increasingly common for the world’s most prosperous countries to relocate immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees to places with which they have little or no prior connection. Previous U.S. administrations from both parties have sought third-country detentions as easy fixes. In the 1990s, Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton both sent thousands of Haitian refugees to detention camps in Guantánamo Bay before forcibly repatriating most of them to Haiti.

What is new about the Trump administration’s deportation efforts, unlike previous European or even past U.S. attempts, is their breadth and scale, effectively transforming migrant expulsions into a tool for international leverage. By deporting foreign nationals to often unstable third countries, the Trump administration is not only creating a novel class of exiles with little hope of returning to either the United States or their country of origin, but also explicitly using these vulnerable populations as bargaining chips in a wider strategy of diplomatic and geopolitical deal making.

This strategy marks a significant evolution in a practice that has been gaining traction throughout the developed world. In the early 2000s, Australia devised the so-called Pacific Solution, an arrangement that diverted asylum seekers arriving by boat or intercepted at sea to holding centers in the island states of Nauru and Papua New Guinea in exchange for benefits, including development aid and financial support. In 2016, amid what was then the largest displacement of people in Europe since World War II, the European Union struck a deal that allowed it to send migrants arriving in Greece from Turkey through irregular means back to Turkey — to the tune of six billion euros.

Some of these efforts have faced legal challenges. Starting in 2022, for example, the United Kingdom attempted to establish a program that would have automatically deported some asylum seekers and migrants entering the U.K. illegally to Rwanda, costing over half a billion pounds — more than 200 million of which were paid upfront. The British Supreme Court ruled that the policy was unlawful, and Britain’s prime minister scrapped the plan last year.

But many countries remain undeterred. In 2023, Italy signed a deal that allowed it to send certain migrants rescued by Italian ships in international waters to detention centers in Albania, and is persisting with the effort even in the face of legal setbacks. This spring, the European Union proposed establishing “return hubs” in third countries for rejected asylum seekers.

Although these deals take various forms, states that enter them are motivated by similar concerns. The world’s richer states wish to retain control of their borders and are particularly aggrieved by the arrival of people who enter by irregular means, especially when they are coming from low-income countries that many associate with crime, violence and terrorism. Governments in destination countries are attracted to such deals by the promise of financial, diplomatic and military support.

Throughout much of the West, as public sentiment has turned against newcomers, policymakers and pundits alike have portrayed migrants as a threat to national security and social stability. These migrants, they argue, impose an unsustainable burden on government budgets and public services and deprive citizens of jobs. Racism and xenophobia, fueled by populist politicians and right-wing media outlets, have also played an important part in creating a toxic environment in which the expulsion of migrants to arbitrary destinations is increasingly considered legitimate.

But how legitimate is it? Third-country deportations often sidestep due process and violate international law, under which it is forbidden for states to deport such people to any place where their life or liberty would be at risk. It is also plainly unethical, imposing additional stress on people who have undergone traumatic journeys and who are then dumped in far-off, unfamiliar places.

Several of the countries slated as deportation destinations have bleak human rights records and are unsafe for all civilians, let alone foreign deportees, who are likely to be targets of abuse and exploitation. In the worst instances, as with U.S. deportees in El Salvador, they can find themselves in jails where the authorities routinely inflict physical and psychological violence on inmates.

These deportation deals also have corrosive consequences for international politics. They encourage smaller, weaker countries to engage in transactional behavior, commodifying human life by trading immigrant bodies for cash, development aid, diplomatic support and international impunity. They may even strengthen the impunity of authoritarian regimes that violate the human rights of their own citizens. In the case of El Salvador, for example, deportees from the United States reportedly included some leaders of the criminal gang MS-13, who were thought to be in a position to expose links between President Nayib Bukele and the gang.

For nearly three-quarters of a century, a network of international instruments, institutions and norms have acted as guardrails, if imperfect ones, to ensure that refugees, asylum seekers and other migrants are treated humanely. Now it seems as though the president is looking to rewrite the rules of this system to one in which people are pawns.

By expanding the practice of forced relocation, Mr. Trump is using migrants as currency in a global network of geopolitical negotiation. His administration is normalizing the use of vulnerable people as bargaining chips to extract better deals with friends and foes alike. He is setting a dangerous precedent for other democratic countries by ignoring the moral and reputational cost of shipping desperate people into terrible conditions. As Mr. Trump works to bring this new paradigm to life, leaders the world over will be watching closely. If he can pull it off, so can they.

(Jeff Crisp is a research fellow at the University of Oxford’s Refugee Studies Center and was formerly the head of policy development at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.)

BLINK

by John Calton, Jordan Minton, Jacob Robert Durrett, Taylor Delmar Phillips, Blake Pendergrass (2023)

Out there where the four-wheelers only need 2 'cause you lean 'em
And the yeti ice don't quite melt 'fore you drink 'em
And the Sunday morning words
Kinda hurt when they preach 'em
'Cause your Saturday got a bit wild

Where your friends ain't blood
But the bond runs thicker
And the Chevrolets all got whip antennas
And the long hard days end with six-o-clock dinners
I've been missing that for a while, damn

Yeah, you grow up just to get out
Think you won't ever think about that town
Once you're gone
But you're wrong
Now you're right there
Wishing every back road would take you back where
Where them hey yall's and them hell yeah's keep a small-town world slow spinning
Take it from me
Yeah, the second you leave
All you gotta do is blink
And you'll miss it

Out there where them black ice pines hang on rear-view mirrors
And the dirty river water turns a mason jar clear
And the grass is greener than them John Deers steering
In a field plowing turn row miles
That way of life ain't going out of style
Naw

Yeah, blink and you'll miss it
All you gotta do is blink and you'll miss it

I-24's best-kept secret
80 on the dash and you might not see it
I could use me a little two-lane treatment
Where the hair pin turns into creek bends

Blink and you'll miss it
All you gotta do is blink and you'll miss it

THE ANSWER to Tuesday's Puzzle, One Question, is "Which door would the other guard say is unsafe?"

9 Comments

Casey Hartlip July 24, 2025

I’ve got to think that Trump might be somewhere in the Epstein files. But with the Dems holding the White House for four years, I find it hard to believe that they would have played that card sometime during the 2024 election season. I think there is likely MANY rich and powerful people involved including the likes of Bill Clinton and some kind of a deal has been struck with the Trump team to keep it all buried.

- George Hollister July 24, 2025
  
  Epstein was a huckster who made his money from selling himself and being hired by monied people to manage their money, a task he was scantly qualified to do. He was a high school math teacher. An essential part of the ruse was to advertise his association with money people to bring in more monied people. Most who hired him discovered he was a sham, and went embarrassingly off quietly licking their wounds. The files likely contain those names of monied people he duped, along with those he shared sexual perversions with, and the names of the victims. The last group it seems should remain confidential. Any assumptions about the other two groups can easily be wrong. When the Epstein story first emerged some years ago, this information was in the WSJ.
  
- Kirk Vodopals July 24, 2025
  
  I can’t believe how ridiculous this whole Epstein issue is. One of the main drivers behind the original force electing Trump in 2016 was the Qanon, pizzagate, Alex Jones, Nobody Died at Sandy Hook contingency. Trump was the savior that was supposed to rid the world of (mostly Democrat) elite paedophiles.
  Trump and many of his psychophants explicitly stated they they would release all the files if he was elected to a second term.
  To watch all of them deflect and obfuscate is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve seen in politics. I hope it splits the moron MAGA base in half
  
  - Harvey Reading July 24, 2025
    
    I’m happy with the effect it is having on MAGAt morons. Gives me something to laugh about in these authoritarian times. Those idiots were a major factor in bringing those times to us.
    
John Sakowicz July 24, 2025

LOVE LETTER

Let me say this plainly: I love the AVA, and I love Bruce and Mark, and I love Mendocino County.

I’ve lived in Mendocino County these last 25 years, and although I’m only an “adopted son” of the county, and although it took some time for me to get acquainted with the county and for the county to get acquainted with me, I have come to that place in my life where I call Mendocino County my home.

Home.

I like to go there alone.

I like to sit alone with my crow at Riverside Park in Ukiah and do a duet…caws and rattles and clicks and gurgling and whistles and murmurs.

I like sit alone at the picnic table under Gowan’s oak tree and take in the smells of the farm stand…apple pies, apple cider, apple sauce (always for sale).

I like to sit alone by the Navarro River at Hendy Woods in late-August and watch the children swim and play…the children are like light movement in the river, occasionally answering to Mom, but, more often than not, shouting louder to be heard by the kid downstream.

I like to sit alone under the biggest, oldest redwood tree in Montgomery Woods and to meditate and pray…something almost gleams through the day, and that something else is my joy pouring through me, so immense.

Home.

Marco McClean July 24, 2025

Re: KZYX’s $17.40, $1740, $17,400. This rescission situation increasingly has the feel of the scene in the film Magnolia where William H. Macy has been humiliated by Alfred Molina and his henchperson, leading to where he, later, driven mad by so much unfairness of things, warble-screams, “I want my MONEEEEEEEEEEE!”

To put things in perspective, $1740 would /fully fund/ all of KNYO for more than a month and a half. It’s actually cheaper to run a real, small radio station than to rent and heat a single house in town anymore. That same $1740 would just pay Andre the CEO of KZYX Corp. personally to sit around the office for ten working days, that is, ten working days for the airpeople, the ones actually doing the work, who are paid nothing for it. I made about half that this month in the real world at plumbing and carpentry and yardwork and electrical wiring, and spent it all on the dentist and one car tire. Thank Christ for Social Security. Or rather thank FDR.

$17,400 would fully fund all of KNYO for 15 months. The Manager/CEO of KZYX Corp. sucks exactly that much out of KZYX into his own personal bank account in 15 weeks. If there are economies to be made, that might be a good sector of the picture to examine. Another area: the more than $700,000 (!) KZYX somehow mysteriously pisses away every year, no matter who manages it, when it costs less than a third of that to actually run the station, including paying all rent and fees and water and electricity and maintenance and equipment, every last thing that keeps all the shows on the air.

Also the eyedrops scene in the play Lydie Breeze, set in the 1890s. The father mistakes the eardrops bottle for eyedrops and applies them to a child’s eye, with excruciating, piercing results. He’s like, “Eh, don’t be such a baby. Hold still. Just three more drops…” And the scene where actress Carie Warner, in the 1990 Mendocino Theater Company production, barked, “YACHT! YACHT! YACHT!” Her character had been on top of the world for years, living and partying on a Gilded Age rich man’s yacht, but the Panic of 1893 stuck a fork in that, and she bitterly missed it.

- Harvey Reading July 24, 2025
  
  You people with a grudge against your competitor station need to get real. Apparently you have great envy of it. The figures you folks come up with as mud to throw at your competitor are piddling to say the least. Mendo always did seem weird to me.
  
- Bruce McEwen July 24, 2025
  
  All sound scotch advice, Marco, every little economy in these dire financial straits, went to the mall and it was deserted, the vast parking lots vacant and bleak, drove through the downtown and the stores were quiet, plenty of convenient street parking available, the big parking barns mostly empty, but we stopped at the new secondhand store, Savers, a department store-style of secondhand shop, which recently moved into a defunct Rite Aid building, and we couldn’t get a parking place at all. Several cars ahead of us were patrolling steadily up and the parking lanes of a respectably spacious lot, waiting for an opening and we left without finding one. What this says about the state of the economy is unsettling….
  
  - Bruce McEwen July 24, 2025
    
    Oh yes, I should mention the President will enjoy the weekend in Scotland, home of his sainted auld mither, and the ministers have been gearing up for a lot of genuflecting, scraping and bowing, like at a royal visit, and perhaps King Charles will very graciously descend the throne to make our President a knight, Sir Donald, has a nice ring to it so I looked up the various orders (as they’re called in the service, a kind of slang from the BBC comedy Yes, Minister): “the CMG means Call Me God; the KCMG means Kindly Call Me God; the GCMG means God Calls Me God.” That will do, Bernard, that will be quite enough out of you.
    
    Let’s ask the readers which would be the most appropriate for our illustrious President?

States are not sacred. Lives are.

9 Comments

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