Mendocino County Today: Saturday 8/9/2025

Hot | Wasp Nest | Scooter Injury | BOS Priorities | Bite Night | Hospital Modernization | PVP Plan | Yorkville News | Volunteer Platform | Talmage 1937 | Hospital History | Talmage 1951 | Remember Angela | Talmage 1957 | Yesterday's Catch | Cell Phones | IRS Reinterpretation | Whale Skull | ROTR Return | Possum Zen | Dead Again | Marco Radio | Summer Wildings | Giants Win | Artists Group | Seed Oils | Oncoming Storm | Dem Spiral | Visit Grandparents | Trump Chapter | Lead Stories | Home Twilight | What Is

---

YESTERDAY'S HIGHS: Boonville 102°, Ukiah 102°, Laytonville 101°, Covelo 100°, Yorkville 98°, Fort Bragg 73°, Point Arena 61°

HOT and drier weather conditions expected through Tuesday. Moderate to localized Major HeatRisk this weekend and Monday. Gusty offshore winds are expected over the higher terrain in Del Norte County through this morning, with breezy offshore flow tonight into Sunday. A gradual cool down is expected by mid to late next week. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A clear 53F this Saturday morning but the haze is close by & the fog is moving back up the coast, already past Point Arena. Hence, while our forecast is for mostly sunny, you know the rest.

---

---

ANDERSON VALLEY SCOOTER CRASH LEAVES ONE SERIOUSLY HURT

by Matt LaFever

A scooter accident at the Anderson Valley Brewing Company in Boonville on Friday night resulted in major injuries, according to scanner traffic and the California Highway Patrol.

The crash was reported around 9:50 p.m., when a person riding a scooter in the brewery’s parking lot reportedly struck a parked vehicle, sustaining a possible head injury. CHP logs indicate no other vehicles were involved in the incident.

Emergency crews requested an air ambulance, which was instructed to land on Toll House Road, to transport the patient for treatment.

(mendofever.com)

---

JIM SHIELDS:

Although Supes John Haschak and Ted Williams did the right thing by voting in favor of cutting Supervisors salaries, they were out-voted by their colleagues (Mo Mulheren, Bernie Norvell, and Madeline Cline) who evidently have a different set of priorities when it comes to balancing a deficit budget, even though CEO Darcy Antle estimates next year's budget has a $16 million "structural deficit", some $10 million more than this year's deficit of $6 million.

Meanwhile, in the unincorporated areas of the county, local economies remain in ruins thanks in large part to the ongoing economic disaster brought about by the failed, convoluted, and tortuously unworkable cannabis ordinance. But a majority of the Board demonstrates they have their priorities in order by refusing to make even a minimal sacrifice toward balancing a budget by reducing their pay from $110,715.00 to $103,008.

The Board is now on a 6-week summer hiatus with their next public meeting not occurring until September 9th.

---

---

MENDOCINO COAST HEALTHCARE DISTRICT EXPLORES COAST HOSPITAL MODERNIZATION OPTIONS

At its August 7 workshop, the MCHCD board reviewed four important capital improvement scenarios centered on enhancing the Emergency Department (ED), Surgical Department, and overall campus seismic safety. Emergency Department (ED) Expansion Options

Option 1: A major expansion and renovation, featuring 18 exam rooms but larger new construction, estimated construction cost of approximately $55,880,000.

Option 2: A slightly smaller expansion — about 12,000 square feet of impacted area with 1,500-2,000 square feet less new build than Option 1 — and 5,000 square feet of significant renovation. This plan maintains 18 exam rooms and frees up vacated space for future functions like labs, imaging, or infusion services, estimated construction cost of approximately $53,500,000.

Board feedback favored Option 2 for its lower cost — and potential for phased implementation — while maintaining department functionality during construction.

Surgical Department & Central Sterile Services (SPD)

Surgery Expansion: Envisions about 15,000 square feet total — 11,000 square feet of new build plus 4,000 square foot renovation — with 2 operating rooms, 15 pre-op/PACU bays, and endoscopy rooms. Vacated space can be repurposed later, estimated construction cost of approximately $61,800,000.

Discussion of replacement of the aging sterilization unit. The board emphasized the urgency of a compliant SPD, suggesting new construction — adjacent to the surgical area — and repurposing current space for support functions (offices, locker rooms). A detailed cost estimate and design direction were requested for a phased SPD solution.

Full Ancillary Building Alternative

Presented was a bold alternative: constructing an entirely new standalone building — approximately 27,300 square feet — east of the existing campus footprint. This structure would integrate both ED and surgical functions, with new public and ambulance entrances, and minimal disruption to current services. This alternative appears to be beyond the financial means of this district with estimated construction cost of approximately $108,000,000.

Seismic Compliance & Cost Considerations

A comprehensive seismic retrofit of the rest of the facility — comprising structural, non-structural, and systems upgrades — was previously estimated in mid-2024 at roughly $18 million, though this remains conceptual and needs updating.

Cost Summary (Ballpark figures from presentations)

ED Option 1: $55.8 million

ED Option 2: Approximately $2 million less than Option 1

Surgical Expansion: Approx. $61.8 million

New Ancillary Building: Approx. $108 million

Board members highlighted cost-per-square-foot ranging between $3,500-$4,000, aligning with regional construction realities.

Funding, Phasing & Planning Direction

Funding Landscape: The district anticipates revenues and capital available totaling about $60-$70 million, including potential loans (up to $50 million in bonds) and maintenance reserves. -

Instruction from the Board:

1. Prioritize the SPD solution with quick feasibility and cost analysis.
2. Proceed with ED Option 2 as the most budget-sensitive yet functional choice.
3. Explore phased execution — for instance, constructing surgical areas first, with the ED added later as funding permits.

Seismic compliance remains non-negotiable; efforts will focus on cost efficiencies by combining modernization needs with compliance upgrades.

Next Steps

The project team (contractors and planners) will develop a high-level plan and ballpark cost for the SPD expansion and surgical enhancements — expected within a few weeks.

The Board will consider hiring an expert construction representative to be brought on to build a master project timeline, ensuring SB-1953 seismic mandates are met while modernizations proceed efficiently.

The district’s planning and finance committees will convene in mid-August, with a full board meeting slated for August 28 to refine financial strategy and determine next-phase actions.

Contact information:

---

PG&E SUBMITS PLAN THAT WILL ERASE LAKE PILLSBURY AND CHANGE THE RUSSIAN RIVER FOREVER

by Monica Huettl

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has filed its Final Surrender Application and Decommissioning Plan for the Potter Valley Project with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), marking the official start of a process that will dismantle two dams, change water flows between the Eel and Russian rivers, and alter recreation and water supply for communities in Mendocino and Lake counties. The July 25 filing outlines dam removal timelines, restoration goals, and unavoidable economic and environmental impacts, as well as the proposed construction of a new diversion facility.
Summary of PG&E’s Filing

In its July 25 press release, PG&E said the filing includes a request for the Eel-Russian Project Authority (ERPA) to build the New Eel-Russian Facility (NERF) at the current site of Cape Horn Dam. The NERF would allow continued seasonal diversions from the Eel River to the Russian River watershed after PG&E removes Cape Horn and Scott dams. Dam removal would reopen fish passage to the Upper Eel River.

The surrender application contains information directly tied to the FERC license. PG&E said it will now begin developing detailed management and construction plans for the decommissioning process, with additional filings expected.
Unavoidable Adverse Effects on Water Supply

The application acknowledges “unavoidable adverse effects” from dam removal. These include the loss of irrigation water for the Potter Valley Irrigation District and the end of diversions to the East Branch of the Russian River, returning flows to natural conditions. Water temperatures in the East Branch are expected to be slightly warmer, “similar to unimpaired conditions.”

In the Russian River watershed, economic impacts may include changes to water reliability and cost, reduced agricultural opportunities, diminished recreation value, and effects on community life.
Dam Removal Process

Scott Dam’s removal is projected to take two years, though high or low rainfall could extend the schedule. About 12 million cubic yards of sediment are stored behind the dam.

Cape Horn Dam, which is smaller with less sediment buildup, would undergo a similar deconstruction process expected to last one to one-and-a-half years. The phased removal approach is intended to control sediment release.
Fire Suppression Concerns

Lake Pillsbury has historically been used by firefighting aircraft for water supply. PG&E proposes Clear Lake as an alternative source once the lake is gone.
New Eel-Russian Facility (NERF) Plans

PG&E’s surrender application incorporates ERPA’s NERF proposal through a separate filing—the Final Application for Non-Project Use of Project Lands. ERPA was created to represent multiple stakeholders in negotiations with PG&E.

If approved, ERPA would construct the NERF to divert Eel River water seasonally through the existing tunnel into the East Branch of the Russian River in Potter Valley, then into Lake Mendocino for storage. PG&E has asked FERC to approve both the surrender application and the NERF application together, and to remove the NERF from the FERC license.

The construction footprint would be about 290 feet along the Eel River at the Cape Horn Dam site. The area would be dewatered during construction.

ERPA has signed a Water Diversion Agreement setting diversion amounts, transferring PG&E’s water rights to the Round Valley Indian Tribes, and establishing payment terms. This agreement is outside of FERC’s oversight.
Pike Minnow Spread

Scott Dam’s removal will release invasive pikeminnow into the Eel River, although the species is already present after passing over the dam’s spillway during high flows.
Recreation Without Lake Pillsbury

PG&E’s plan confirms Scott Dam will be removed and Lake Pillsbury will revert to a river. Much of the surrounding land is part of Mendocino National Forest, and some campgrounds will remain. Private communities will lose lakefront access.

The utility says there will be opportunities for river recreation once the lakebed is restored and replanted, though this is “small consolation” for families who have visited the lake for generations.

Trout Creek Campground, about two miles from the Eel River Road bridge in Potter Valley, will stay open. The stretch of river between Trout Creek and Cape Horn Dam, mostly owned by PG&E, is popular locally for kayaking, fishing, swimming, and floating. How flows will change and how quickly sediment will clear remains uncertain.
Lake Pillsbury Restoration

PG&E’s filing states it plans to restore the inundation zones of Lake Pillsbury and Van Arsdale reservoirs, along with adjacent riparian, wetland, and upland areas affected by decommissioning.
Local Governments’ Role in Negotiations

Lake County officials and other entities seeking to address the loss of Lake Pillsbury will need to negotiate directly with PG&E. Issues include water security for domestic wells, fire suppression, potential drops in property values, tax revenue loss, and redesigning recreation facilities for river-based activities such as kayaking and fishing.
Separate Water Storage Feasibility Study

Separate from PG&E’s application, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mendocino County Inland Power and Water Commission, and the Lytton Rancheria are sponsoring a study to explore increasing water storage, including the possibility of raising Coyote Dam at Lake Mendocino.

PG&E’s filing notes Potter Valley groundwater recharge comes from about 18,187 acre-feet of rainfall and 8,157 acre-feet of irrigation annually. Water diverted by the NERF would be stored in Lake Mendocino, which currently has a capacity of 118,000 acre-feet. Increasing storage is considered critical for future water security.
How to Read the Filing

PG&E’s full surrender application can be read online. After entering the password “PV_Surrender” under the “Documents” tab, click on the July 24, 2025 “Final Application” folder. It contains:

• Volume IA – Final Application for Surrender of License – Public Information, a 66-page summary.
• Volume IB – Final Application for Non-Project Use of Project Lands – Public Information, a 28-page summary.
• Volume 2 – Exhibit E – Public Information, over 2,000 pages split into three separate files.

Upcoming PG&E Town Hall

PG&E will host an online Town Hall to discuss the surrender application on August 11 from 3 to 5 p.m. The meeting will be held on Microsoft Teams, not Zoom.

(mendofever.com)

---

YORKVILLE NEWS

Let them eat Ice Cream!

Once again, we are roaring through summer and careening towards Labor Day. Do you know what that means? The most important event of the Yorkville calendar!! It’s Ice Cream Social time, Monday September 1st, 11:00-4:00. Join us and all your friends and neighbors for a fun filled day at the Yorkville Post Office/Community Center/Fire Station.

The highlight of the day is, of course, Ice Cream! But we’ll also be grilling’ burgers and sausages, serving up Street Tacos, shucking Oysters, dishing up tons o’ homemade salads, cookies, cakes and pies. For fun for all ages the Galbreath Preserve will be educating us on all sorts of cool nature things. There’ll be games and face painting. Check out how to improve the fire safety around your home. Play corn hole and Ping Pong. Frosty and Joanie will be dancing round the Cake Walk, where you can actually win an entire cake! And, of course, there is the Book Sale. Hundreds of gently used books for sale by the inch. Come stock up your library for the winter months. Oh, and bring your wallet because you’ll want to bid on all the amazing items in the Silent Auction.

Please join us all on Labor Day Monday, you won’t want to miss a minute! All proceeds from this event go directly to support the Yorkville Fire Station. If you'd like to volunteer for set-up, day of activities, or break down please contact Valerie Hanelt We are also looking for donations of salads, cookies, cakes and pies.

Please contact Valerie Hanelt for that as well. And, if you have a cool adventure or interesting item to donate to the Silent Auction we'd love to have it. Please contact Lisa Bauer.

Spring Flinging 2025

This year, in our becoming-annual Spring Fling on April 26th, we had the pleasure of premiering our awesome and highly collaborative new Yorkville mural.

We hope it will welcome visitors and residents for years to come. If you have not done so already, walk around the back of the new Fire Station, and look at the lovely artwork that is included in each letter. More about this mural elsewhere in this newsletter.

The Spring Fling was developed by the YCBA to offer our community a no-cost opportunity to get together, break bread and celebrate each other and all that is wonderful about Yorkville. We highlight good things that have happened during the previous year, and welcome folks to share stories and camaraderie after a long winter inside.

Generous community members have underwritten the cost of food in years past. We hope you have enjoyed the event, and if you haven’t attended one yet, plan on doing so next Spring. It’s a fun time for all.

The Yorkville Mural Unveiled!

The new Yorkville Mural was officially unveiled at this year's Spring Fling. The unveiling of the mural marked the conclusion of over a year’s efforts by members across our community. Five artists both designed and executed these letters, donating their time - Adrian Card painted the I and second L, Curtis Frost (Frosty) painted the K, Paula Grey painted the V and first L, Sterling Hoffmann painted the O, and Tom Rodriquez painted the Y and E. All 5 artists worked collaboratively on the R onsite in the Mailliard redwoods. Other Yorkville Community members donated funds, or custom-made letter fasteners. Some volunteered hours of time, ordering supplies, cutting out the letters, cutting down brush and trees to facilitate a good view, and installing the letters on the building. Your YCBA funded the materials for the execution and installation of the mural. This mural and its installation truly represents the community working together to make something wonderful that we all can enjoy for years to come. Thanks to all who helped to make this happen.

We Are Keeping It Cool (or Warm)

Yorkville now has a heating and cooling center. The YCBA has purchased and installed a heater and air conditioner in our community room, and we are now installing a generator. These pieces of equipment will allow us to offer the community a place to get warm in the cold weather if the power is out, and also a place to cool down on exceptionally warm days.

We will watch the summer temperatures, and if the forecast is for 100° F or more for the following day, we will open the Community Room from noon to 4 PM that next day, and make sure the air conditioner is turned on and cooling to 72Ëš D. There will be cool drinks in the fridge, and the wifi password for checking your emails or working if you need to. In the winter, we will also watch the weather forecast, and if the power goes out for more than a day, we will open the Community Room as a heating center for those who might only have electric heat options.

There may be other emergency situations in which we will open the Community Room for those who may need to use it. If that is the case, we will send out an email to notify the community of the opening of the Community room for this purpose. Your donations have helped to fund this process, in conjunction with a grant from the Community Foundation of Mendocino County. We are also grateful to Rick DeWitt for his skill and donated installation time.

Thank you, Yorkville!

The latest Community Scholarship Recipients!

Natalie Marcum-Soto and Cinthia Garcia-Parra, both high achieving students and athletes from the Anderson Valley High School graduating class of 2025, were awarded the Yorkville Community Scholarship to support their desire to continue their education. Cinthia will be attending Sacramento State University and Natalie will attend Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. We are immensely proud of these young Yorkville women for all they have accomplished thus far and all they will accomplish moving forward.

Yorkville Community Garage Sale Benefits All

The YCBA is trying out some new things… to see if they reflect the needs and wants of the community. I think we have a new winner! On Sunday July 6th we hosted a sweet little Garage Sale in the parking lot of the Community Center/Post Office/Fire Station.

Some comments made by sellers reflect just how successful this event really was. “I had a good day at the Garage Sale. I made $130 and got rid of a lot of stuff. Loved how friendly and talkative folks were. I had a bunch of memorable conversations. I hope we plan another one next year.” The most unique response was, “All proceeds from the sale (for this seller) approximately $300 were sent to Kenyan student, Eddie Ochieng who is studying at the Mombasa Technical Institute.”

Summing it all up another seller said, “It was an enjoyable community event- everyone won, the sellers, the buyers, the community and the planet (lots of goods were recycled and repurposed that might have otherwise ended up at the dump). There were 9 sellers, one of which was a group of local kids selling lemonade and horchata, the rest were selling everything from scented soaps to machine shop quality chain saw sharpeners. The YCBA loaned the tables and set up 10 x 10' pop-ups for shade which was great as the day was very sunny and hot.

We also had a FireWise Yorkville table, sharing all sorts of great ways to improve your home's fire safety. It was advertised for weeks in advance with posters all around the Valley and our traditional "Burma Shave" signs on the highway. And we had many, many out-of-towners/bright lighters stop to shop our wares as well as a horde of locals looking for bargains and Yorkville unique stuff. We plan on hosting this fun event again next year and would love your participation and comments. Currently we are looking for that perfect spot on the calendar, your suggestions for this and any other new events are really welcome.

Reach out to us anytime [email protected]

The 2025 Quilt is beautiful, of course!

You can get your quilt tickets now. Contact Tina at [email protected] Tickets are $2 each, 3 for $5 or 12 for $20. This lovely artistic masterpiece is created and donated to the YCBA thanks to the Yorkville Ladies Sewing Circle and Terrorist Society. This will be the 33nd year of their creative collaboration and generous donation. You’ll also be able to purchase tickets at the Social and the Apple Fair, but why wait when you can get them now.

Please Visit our Website: https://theycba.org/

---

CITY OF FORT BRAGG LAUNCHES NEW VOLUNTEER PLATFORM

Connecting Residents to Meaningful Opportunities to Serve the Community

The City of Fort Bragg is excited to announce the launch of a new online Volunteer Platform in partnership with Volunteer Central, designed to make it easier than ever for residents to get involved, give back, and help shape the future of our community.

This easy-to-use platform connects volunteers with City-led programs, community projects, and local nonprofits seeking extra hands. From event support and park beautification to public safety programs and special City initiatives, the system offers a central hub for matching volunteers with opportunities that align with their interests, skills, and availability.

“Fort Bragg’s strength has always been its people,” said City Manager Isaac Whippy. “This platform makes volunteering simpler, more accessible, and more rewarding. Whether you can give a few hours a month or want to be deeply involved in ongoing projects, there’s a place for you to make an impact.”

The Volunteer Platform provides:

• One-Stop Access- Browse and sign up for volunteer opportunities across City departments and local organizations.
• Custom Matches- Create a profile highlighting your skills and passions to receive tailored opportunities.
• Flexible Scheduling- Find options that fit your availability, from one-time events to ongoing commitments.
• Real-Time Updates- Receive notifications on new opportunities, training, and community needs.

As part of the launch, the City is inviting residents of all ages to sign up now and help ramp up the volunteer base ahead of upcoming community events and projects, including downtown revitalization, park clean-ups, the Fort Bragg Longest Table, and seasonal programs.

Residents can explore opportunities and create their volunteer profile by visiting www.volunteer.fortbraggca.gov. Organizations interested in posting opportunities can also register directly through the platform.

---

---

HELP UNLOCK THE FORGOTTEN HISTORY OF MENDOCINO STATE HOSPITAL

by Matt LaFever

For nearly 80 years, the Mendocino State Hospital stood as one of the most prominent institutions in the Ukiah Valley. Operating from 1893 to 1972 on the valley’s eastern edge, the state-run psychiatric facility shaped the lives of thousands — from patients and their families to the many Mendocino County residents who worked there.

Today, the sprawling grounds house the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, a Buddhist community that includes Developing Virtue Secondary School. Researcher Q.Z. Lau, an alumnus of that school, remembers attending classes in former hospital wards and wondering about the lives once lived there. “Having grown up attending classes in buildings that I knew to be former hospital wards, I was always interested in the history of the campus and the stories of the people who had lived and worked there,” Lau said. That early curiosity would eventually guide his academic path — earning a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Studies at Princeton University, then a Master’s in History at UC Santa Barbara — and lead him back to the hospital’s story.

“After I obtained graduate training in history, I decided that I wanted to help shed light on this institution that was so important to Mendocino County for eight decades, and collect and contextualize information about MSH to new audiences,” Lau said. The result is The Mendocino State Hospital Project, a public history initiative dedicated to preserving the hospital’s legacy.

In its current form, the project already offers an impressive, meticulously organized collection at MSHProject.org. Visitors will find nearly all issues of the hospital’s newspaper The Pomo News from its first two years, a complete list of superintendents, a growing trove of official records, and striking details about the architecture and grounds — including photographs and descriptions of the many hospital buildings and the surrounding structures that supported them.

Lau hopes to expand the project further and is seeking help from the community. If you or a family member have photographs, documents, or personal stories connected to Mendocino State Hospital — whether as a patient, employee, or neighbor — Lau would like to hear from you.

To learn more or to share your experiences, visit MSHProject.org or email [email protected].

(mendofever.com)

---

---

ANGELA PINCHES IN RIVERSIDE PARK, UKIAH

Editor,

When I met Angela Pinches two days ago at Riverside Park in Ukiah, I knew who she was.

And I knew she was homeless. I knew she was bipolar. I knew she had struggled with meth.

I knew because Johnny Pinches told me.

Johnny also told me he took custody of Angela's youngest child 15 years ago when Angela "spun out" (Johnny's words, not mine).

He also told me his daughter was one of Redwood Community Services' (RCS's) "biggest failures".

Think about that Bruce. Think about that Mark. The poster child of RCS's failure -- the "public face" -- is the very own daughter of one of Mendocino County's most beloved leaders.

Mendocino County gives RCS $25 million every year. Maybe $30 million. And RCS can't help Angela Pinches?

Really?

This is shocking!

This is what I saw two days ago: Angela Pinches in Riverside Park in Ukiah with a bike and two knapsacks, and she protects herself with a gold club. She seemed homeless. Two homeless men passed us and said hello to her. She knew them. It was 100 degrees earlier in the day. Angela asked me if I had any bottled water. I didn't. But I gave her a $20 bill.

Meanwhile, RCS C-level folks pay themselves healthy six-figure salaries.

Meanwhile, RCS resists "performance audits" on their contracts by hiding behind HIPAA.

The following RCS payroll data is several years old.

Compensation Key Employees and Officers Compensation

Denise Addison (Program Supervisor) $184,777

Heather Allison Eccarius (Mental Health Rehab Specialist) $147,054

Sarah Livingston (Crisis Program Director) $145,721

Victoria Kelly (Chief Executive Officer) $144,975

Paulita R Peredia (Program Supervisor) $120,970

Tawny Bailey (Chief Operating Officer) $120,570

Jolene M Treadaway (Clinical Program Director) $119,754

Brittany Nichole Lucas (Chief Financial Officer) $112,707

Meanwhile, RCS's founders, Camille and Tim Schraeder, are getting rich at Redwood Quality Management Corporation (RQMC). RQMC functions as a corporate shell company. It is used to offset expenses, hide salaries, and evade taxes.

My battle cry?

"Remember Johnny Pinches by Remembering Angela Pinches!"

What will it take to hold RCS accountable?

John Sakowicz

Ukiah

---

---

CATCH OF THE DAY, Friday, August 8, 2025

KEENAN COCHRAN, 41, Little River. Domestic battery, probation revocation.

SKYLAR DOTY, 28, Ukiah. Domestic battery, criminal threats.

AUSTEN DOW, 42, Ukiah. DUI, no license, suspended license for DUI, probation violation.

ANGELO FREASE, 19, Covelo. DUI.

MICHAEL HILBURN, 40, Willits. Domestic battery, disorderly conduct-alcohol.

WILLIAM LINCOLN-GARICA, 19, Covelo. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

JESSICA MAXFIELD, 33, Willits. Dumping hazardous material on roadway.

ROY ROBINSON, 41, Loleta/Ukiah. Disobeying court order.

NIKEEL SHARMA, 35, Willits. Dumping hazardous material on roadway, vandalism.

DONALD SHARP, 38, Hopland. Controlled substance with two or more priors, paraphernalia, unspecified offense.

ERIK SMITH, 59, Ukiah. Suspended license, registration tampering, probation revocation.

---

---

THAT'S WHY…

To the Editor:

A recent article tited ‘How Conservative Christians Cracked a 70-year old Law’ details how right-wing evangelical groups successfully lobbied the Trump administration to undercut the Johnson Amendment, which since 1954 has banned partisan political endorsements by houses of worship and other nonprofits.

But the article does not note that the I.R.S. “reinterpretation” of the law — which allows congregations to endorse candidates from the pulpit — is deeply unpopular among a vast range of nonprofit groups, religious communities and many Christians.

In a letter to President Trump, put together by the Interfaith Alliance and other leading NGOs, over 1,000 nonprofits that signed oppose this dangerous change to law and policy. The groups warn: “This is not a matter of religious freedom or speech. … It would open the door for political actors to use charitable nonprofits as conduits for anonymous campaign funding.”

A 2023 Public Religion Research Institute poll found that three-quarters of Americans, including majorities of every religious group surveyed, don’t want political endorsements by tax-exempt churches. Current law strikes the right balance, allowing houses of worship to engage in moral advocacy, but not to tell their congregations whom to vote for.

The radical change is intended to co-opt and weaponize organized religion as a tool of partisan political power. That’s why faith communities nationwide are sounding the alarm.

Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons

Washington

---

---

RETURN TO REGGAE ON THE RIVER

by Casey O’Neill

We arrive at Reggae on the River on Friday late in the afternoon after finishing farm chores. Squash and beans are picked, seedlings and beds of tender crops are watered and we’re excited for our adventure. We missed last year, so it’s our first time at Reggae for many years, and my first experience of the new site. Last year I was floored by illness, grateful to be able to listen to the KMUD live broadcast but feeling badly disappointed not to be able to go.

As we walk towards the main stage, the entrance way is lined by banners with the posters for each of the preceding years of Reggae, all the way back to the beginning. It’s a walk down memory lane, a flood of memories and good feelings that brings me deep joy. I am reminded of community, of shared experience, of celebration, of good herb, good food, good friends. A covenant of fellowship in a world that feels increasingly dissociated. I am transported back to earlier times in my life, a kaleidoscope of images flashes through my brain.

Pato Banton is playing on stage, songs I haven’t heard in so long I don’t know when the last time was. Songs I remember listening to in high school, songs I saw him play at Reggae decades ago. My smile widens, becomes a toothy grin that I couldn’t wipe off my face if I wanted to. I sing along, words coming back as though no time had passed. I feel the sweetness of memory, of nostalgia, mixed with the joy of a reincarnated experience that I thought I might never have again.

Reggae has been a part of my life for more than 30 years. I remember working in the snow cone booth as a kid, helping to raise funds for our mountain school and helping myself to as many snowcones with extra syrup as I could eat. Watching Third World play the late show from mattresses that the parents had hauled up the slope so we could look down on the main stage at French’s Camp.

I remember the first time I went to Reggae as an adult, in 2001 watching Toots and the Maytals, Mr. Vegas, Luciano. Reggae 2005 when we went with a bunch of college friends, our camp pure squalor on the rocks, everyone too high on brownies because we made a ton of them thinking to sell them but ate them instead. Reggae Rising 2009, fresh out of jail for cultivation, smoking tough and then having to meet my probation officer on the following Wednesday (he said I had to have a medical recommendation and I couldn’t cultivate while on probation but I could smoke).

Reggae on the River 2015, working site crew, feeling the experience of shared effort, being part of production. Helping set up the volunteer kitchen, moving propane tanks and troubleshooting, working together to move the huge cookstove from the Mateel to the site. Camping in the shade in Volunteer camping, so close to the main concert bowl. Volunteering in the subsequent years but slowly stepping back as the demands of the farm grew.

This year I didn’t volunteer, but we traded produce and flowers for tickets and it felt good to return to Reggae with Pops, reminiscing about the good times and experiencing new ones. Such a flood of good memories, reflections on the many ways that shared community effort shaped me as a child and the ways I strive to carry those traditions forward in my life.

I think about the work we do on the farm, the love we put into the crops we grow, the way that the cycles of farming bring me joy. I think about the ways that I end up overworking, taking on too much, not finding time to step back and see the forest for the trees. I am reminded that I must make time for joy, for experience, that all work and no play makes me less fun to be around.

We leave before dark, making our way to the van for the trip back to the mountain. On the way home Pops tells old stories about the family and the fleet of volkswagons (14) that my uncles, aunties and grandparents drove. Hilarious anecdotes I have never heard before, laughing and appreciating our shared time, the experience of returning to Reggae, the companionship of family and a mission well accomplished. I drop Pops off at home, finish up evening chores and feel called to sit down and write.

I treasure community and my place within it. I’m glad to live here in this time and place, and I’m glad to see us still striving, still building. Big shout out to Hot Milk Entertainment, the Mateel and all the people working to breathe life into a shared community event; I’m deeply grateful to get to participate. As always, much love and great success to you on your journey!

---

POSSUM ZEN

by Michael Riedell

They come in behind Buddha
through the hole they dug
under the fence and I filled
and they dug and I filled
and they dug and dug and
dug each time I filled it
until I gave up.
 
They used Buddha against me:
 
He sat there, cross-legged and calm,
asking what the harm was,
and since I had no answer I figured he’d go for,
I relented and let them have their way
until they, the possums,
began to smell
like skunk.
 
And now what, dear Buddha?
You’re letting a skunk come in each night!
And you can say you don’t see him—
what with having your eyes closed and all—
but you sure as shit smell him.
What’s the harm? I hear you asking already.
 
The porch boards are starting to stink, though,
and my lady’s much less Zen about it
than me, let alone you.
 
Somewhere in your cement meditation
I hope you come up with a plan.
We’ve got a skunk about to discover
impermanence.

---

HONORING THE DEAD

by Steve Heilig

Over half a century ago, way back in 1974, the Grateful Dead announced they were retiring, and going out with a five-night run of final shows at Winterland in San Francisco. They’d been at it and on the road for nearly a decade already and were nearly broke and burnt out. Understandably so, but as Southern California high school fans, it seemed we’d better do anything we could to catch at least one of those last concerts. I’d only seen them live once, with their legendarily massive Wall of Sound system, and that couldn’t be all, could it? So off we headed up to the big city in my 1969 VW camper van, hopefully bound for glory or something like it.

Winterland was in what was then a sketchy neighborhood for clueless suburban surfer boys who showed up after dark with no tickets, so the merciful doorman ushered us in, shaking his head at our naïveté. The New Riders of the Purple Sage, a Marin-based Dead offshoot with a more country sound, were playing the Rolling Stones’ “Dead Flowers.” The hall already reeked of pot and sweat. My friends and I were soon separated and I spent the evening wandering on my own, or rather, as part of a mass moving gathering the likes of which I’d never experienced before. The music was enthralling. Beautiful older (20?) hippie girls madly twirled about. The whole vibe was utterly cool, even cosmic. I felt I was experiencing the last of the fabled Sixties at their finest, just in time before everything ended, including the band.

Fifty-one years later, of course, that “retirement” was a bit premature, and the Dead soon reappeared and carried on for another 20 years. But I faded from the ranks of the faithful, only catching them in person about a dozen or so more times, some of those in a work or volunteer capacity. And then Jerry Garcia was gone. Some would say he’d been increasingly gone for some time already.

Garcia was both the musical and spiritual center of the band, even though he hated being deified as some sort of guru figure. “I’m just a guitar player, man,” he was known to say. The times I met him, briefly, he was humble, humorous. But still. “Ninety percent of their songs were just there to show off Garcia’s playing,” opined keyboardist Tom Constanten, part of the band during one of their early peak adventurous phases (see: 1969’s classic album Live Dead). Garcia’s folk roots and leanings soon took them into another peak, the era of Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty albums. When another original leader Pigpen, the closest they had to a blues frontman, bowed out with the fabled Europe ’72 tour/album, and then died, they put out a couple more very decent studio albums and then that aspect of the band was basically kaput. They soldiered on as a live band so revered that when they finally had a hit song in the late ‘80s they became the biggest touring act of all. Not bad for a bunch of Haight hippies.

Some veteran fans feel that was their downfall. For those not fully part of the true faithful, the shows were very hit or miss. The main factor seemed to be what kind of shape Garcia was in. As he declined, with hopeful resurgences, the juggernaut rolled on, the money too big, too many family and friends and staff dependent on them, too much of everything, until Garcia’s prematurely aged body just gave out. One could say “success” killed him, because it wouldn’t let him stop, or even take a real break. I’ve long felt he could have been still be alive today, happily playing bluegrass and whatever else in smaller venues only when he felt like it, had he really had the chance. But no such luck.

It’s a true American tragedy, and still saddens me, 30 years later, so much so that I’ve never much wanted to catch one of the ongoing legacy bands, even those of the late great “lead bass” player Phil Lesh. I’ve listened to lots of their music since but most of it’s just not for me. Now the main remnant group, Dead and Company, have returned to San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, where they began with free shows long ago. Our Mayor, who introduced them onstage, has noted it will bring many millions of dollars into the city. If tens of thousands want to spend big money to see whoever’s on offer, fine. Why not? But musically it seems to me something of a shadow of the actual group. There are Dead cover bands some feel are actually better (one of them is in West Marin). So be it.

For days and nights, Deadheads from all over the nation and maybe beyond swarmed into the Haight, looking to see and feel a bit of Dead Ground Zero. It was like a happy circus, with live bands on the corners, vendors of tie dyed everything and more on the sidewalks, and a feeling of jubilation. I sat outside my local market with coffee and talked with many happy pilgrims of all ages, ranging from dreadlocked “crusties” to straight-looking All-American southerners. The band has always stayed resolutely apolitical, albeit with benefit shows and more that tipped their hand towards “sixties” values of ecology, peace, and helping the disadvantaged. There are MAGA or libertarian Deadheads but they must be a small minority. Though I didn’t venture political questions to those folks I met, some, even the All-American types, offered comments like “San Francisco is such an oasis from the Trumpy madness out there,” and “The country is a mess as of this year, but this too shall pass,” and “We’re not worried about ICE here as we’re almost all white!” (True, but, ugh). The younger ones just shrugged and had other priorities just then, especially those who didn’t have the costly tickets but were hoping for a “miracle” gift of one. One young guy said he’d come from forty shows in Las Vegas. I didn’t ask how he afforded that. Another guy wished for a Deadhead dating site as “That’s the first question I ask, man, if they are into the Dead, as otherwise it’s just pointless.” I later looked around, and yes, there is such a site.

Having been gifted a pass, miraculously or not, but being an averse to huge crowds I just visited strategically. On Friday opening night, a foggy cold one in the big park, leader Weir, who one kid said looked like Gandalf with his grey beard and cape, seemed and sounded frail, so much so that I worried about him, and the whole sound suffered. One rumor was that he’d had emergency dental surgery just before and might still be on pain meds. But the next night they rallied, and by Sunday night, actually a clear one, they soared some. In person and online Deadheads endlessly debated every aspects of the shows and everything else about the group. Call it a cult if you wish, but it’s largely a very happy one, and the wide drug abuse that long plagued their scene seemed largely more benign than before, with nitrous oxide, pot, and psychedelics in evidence but without many negative incidents. In a “town” of over 60,000 each evening, especially one including lots of older folks, there’s bound to be some incidents and there were, but maybe even less so than in a comparable-sized non-Deadhead burg.

So really the whole big weekend was celebratory. I just wish that the Dead & Company folks might project a bit more of the original “grateful” spirit with, if not free shows, some benefits for worthy causes in these perilous times, when the movements of the whole “‘60s dream” are under severe attack. But when I raised that modest idea regarding the impending Golden Gate Park shows in a San Francisco Chronicle letter, my proposal was met with silence from the band and corporations presenting the shows, and a bit of “how dare you” blowback from the ever-faithful. I’ve been told it’s all a corporation now, with the bottom line the primary goal, and Weir and drummer Mickey Hart, the two remaining players from Garcia’s days, just love to still play on but don’t even have controlling votes about what goes on. Weir has in the past prompted some fine philanthropy, and the Dead still have a charitable arm, the Rex Foundation. But an elder Deadhead with insider knowledge just sadly advised “Nice try, but Jerry and the Sixties are long gone and Dead & Company is just that: a company.” Ouch.

However, having lived in The Haight for 42 years now, I know firsthand that their still-living legacy lives on in countless hearts and memories and jam bands. The only tie I wear is the official beautiful autographed Jerry Garcia one he once gave me. They have about a dozen classic songs, mostly by Garcia and his lyricist Robert Hunter. But what really made the real Dead different? I think one key is that they never completely severed their roots in blues, country, folk — American roots music, in other words, even when steeped in LSD. They started as a jug band in fact. The legendary founder of “country rock”, the doomed Gram Parsons, strove to make what he termed “Cosmic American Music.” The Dead made that vision real. Garcia found a perfect lyrical partner in Robert Hunter, (“Wharf Rat” is an Americana literary marvel, and “Ripple” a timeless quiet anthem, and there are more) and a twangier foil in Bob Weir. They covered Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Chuck Berry, and outer space, sometimes in the same sequence. And “Dark Star,” well, that will always be the Holy Grail of psychedelic music. I still listen to their 1969-74 peak period with pleasure, with careful forays into later years. And while I’ve shared skepticism about former John Mayer, the divisive pop star who took on the impossible task of filling Garcia’s fingers, after these shows he gratefully and humbly posted “It must be said… I'll never come close to playing like Jerry Garcia. But if I can somehow get you closer to him - and to the spirit he created 60 years ago - then I suppose l've done my job. Thank you for accepting me.”

Bruce Springsteen, one of the few other musicians with a comparable cult like following, was initially unimpressed, but later said this about the Dead: “I don’t know if they were great but I know they did something great. Years later, I came to appreciate their subtle musicality, Jerry Garcia’s beautifully lyrical guitar playing and the folk purity of their voices…. They had a unique ability to build community and sometimes, it ain’t what you’re doing but what happens while you are doing it that counts.”

Indeed. And there’s more to come. I do intend to catch the August 14 “Meet Up At The Movies” theater showing of The Grateful Dead Movie, filmed at those 1974 retirement shows and “directed” by Garcia, even though it sunk them further financially. It’s yes, a “community” thing. Plus after all, somewhere in that footage is the teen version of me, utterly and thankfully amazed at the wild splendor of it all.

---

MEMO OF THE AIR: Good Night Radio all night Friday night on KNYO and KAKX!

Soft deadline to email your writing for tonight's (Friday night's) MOTA show is 5pm or 6. If that's too soon, send it any time after that and I'll read it next Friday. That's fine. There's no pressure.

Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio is every Friday, 9pm to 5am PST on 107.7fm KNYO-LP Fort Bragg and KNYO.org. The first three hours of the show, meaning till midnight, are simulcast on KAKX 89.3fm Mendocino.

Plus you can always go to https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com and hear last week's MOTA show. By Saturday night I'll put up the recording of tonight's show. You'll find plenty of other educational amusements there to educate and amuse yourself with until showtime, or any time, such as:

Playing guitar in an echoey nuclear power plant. (via New Atlas) (Skip ahead to 10:45.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHOsPXcPVPA

A fun finger exercise, but I saw this and immediately realized that every piano, potted plant, toilet, evening hat, fender or rear car dashboard, refrigerator interior, and so on, needs fairy lights all over in and around it. They sell strings of them at the $1.25 store, and also batteries for them, though if they take two 1.5v batteries (3v total) you can easily adapt them with scissors and tape to run from a USB charger, which they also often sell at the $1.25 store. (Never plug your phone or tablet into a cheap charger, it can ruin your expensive thing and you'll be sorry.) https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IlLxx9FeX38

And some photographs of different things, many of them grotesque, that doctors had to cut out of people and pets, mostly because they ate them, but not always. (via Miss Cellania) https://www.buzzfeed.com/audreyworboys/pictures-things-removed-from-bodies

Marco McClean, [email protected], https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com

---

GET BACK TO UKIAH, PRONTO!

Warmest spiritual greetings,

The District of Columbia is coming unglued due to summer wildings by teen age ne'er do wells, gangsta rappers and their ilk, and the usual criminal element dealing narcotics. The August 8th 5 a.m. news on Channel 4 featured film footage of hordes of out of control teenagers rampaging through Washington, D.C.,gang car jackings, assault and battery, property destruction, and the collapse of civil society.

I am seeking cooperation to leave. Am packed up at the homeless shelter and can walk out in twenty minutes. I need a place to go to. Obviously, we may continue being active insofar as peace & justice and environmental activism is concerned. I have $852.60 in the bank, and $99.05 in the wallet. Health is just fine at age 75.

Craig Louis Stehr, [email protected]

---

RAFAEL DEVERS HOMERS EARLY and Giants blank Nationals 5-0

San Francisco beat Washington to snap their longest home losing streak in more than a decade.

by Michael Wagaman

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Rafael Devers and Casey Schmitt homered, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Washington Nationals 5-0 on Friday night to snap their longest home losing streak in more than a decade.

Matt Chapman had two hits and an RBI for the Giants. Dominic Smith added two singles to extend his hitting streak to 12 games.

Kai-Wei Teng (1-1) pitched five smooth innings in relief for his first major league win. The 26-year-old from Taiwan followed opener Matt Gage and allowed three hits with one walk with four strikeouts.

Joey Lucchesi, José Buttó and Tristan Beck each retired three batters to complete the four-hitter.

The Giants had lost eight straight at Oracle Park — one shy of their longest home skid of the San Francisco era — before beating the Nationals for the third time in four meetings this season.

Devers, acquired from Boston in June, launched his 21st home run of the season off Jake Irvin (8-7) in the first. Chapman’s RBI single later in the inning made it 2-0.

Schmitt’s homer, a two-run drive in the sixth, was his second in six days.

San Francisco added a run in the eighth on Patrick Bailey’s infield single.

Irvin allowed eight hits and four runs (three earned) in 5⅓ innings.

After the Nationals loaded the bases with no outs in the fifth, Devers fielded a grounder to first base and threw out Josh Bell at home plate before the next batter, Jacob Young, grounded into a double play.

Teng threw 64 pitches in five innings and allowed only two runners past second base.

Giants top pitching prospect Carson Whisenhunt (1-0, 4.35 ERA) faces Nationals right-hander Brad Lord (2-6, 3.42) on Saturday.

---

---

THE TROUBLE WITH FRENCH FRIES IS NOT THE OIL

by Emily Oster

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is right when he says that chronic disease is on the rise in America and that our food system is at least partly to blame. Where he and his “Make America Healthy Again” movement err is in relying on flawed evidence to target particular foods.

Let’s take seed oils. Mr. Kennedy has claimed that oils made from seeds — sunflower, safflower, canola — have “poisoned" Americans, and are “one of the driving causes” of the obesity epidemic.

The fear over seed oils stems from the fact that they tend to be high in one type of unsaturated fat, omega-6 fatty acids, whereas olive oils have more omega-3 fatty acids. Studies have found that people who consume a higher ratio of omega 6 to omega-3 fatty acids in their diet tend to have worse health.

The problem is that most of those studies are poorly designed to show how omega-6 fatty acids, or seed oils that contain them, are actually causing the negative health effects.

Seed oils are prevalent in processed and fast foods. That’s because they are cheap and also have a high smoke point, which is good for frying. There’s evidence that many ultraprocessed foods harm our health, but is the problem the seed oils, or the foods they are used in? A meal from Taco Bell is more likely to contain seed oils than a salad and chicken breast cooked at home with olive oil, but the oils probably aren’t the reason the former is less healthy.

People who eat a lot of ultraprocessed foods may differ in other ways that affect health, like their education levels, exercise habits and whether they smoke. Research papers commonly address this concern by trying to adjust for differences across individuals, but they simply can’t control for all the factors that are associated with different dietary choices.

It’s not just seed oils. Studies that show only patterns, not cause and effect, are pervasive in the field of nutrition research. Those headlines linking red meat to cancer or coffee to longevity are based on studies that find connections between foods and health but that cannot determine if one causes the other. When we fixate on individual foods or ingredients, we miss the bigger picture — implying that chronic disease would be fixed by, say, removing food dyes from Skittles.

Often, with better data, the conclusions of nutrition studies based on observational findings turn out to be wrong. For decades, people thought fat was the enemy and dietary guidelines encouraged people to eat less of it, and more carbohydrates. Then, a landmark study in 2006 showed that women randomly assigned to follow a low-fat diet were no less likely to suffer from heart disease or stroke than people who ate more fat.

It is not that we know nothing about nutrition. A large randomized trial has shown benefits of a Mediterranean style-diet, and evidence from high-quality nutrition studies has shown a diet high in ultraprocessed foods results in eating more, leading to weight gain. The general advice to eat mostly whole foods and not too much is reasonable. Where the evidence falls apart is when it turns to specific foods.

If it is so bad, why is this deeply flawed evidence so widely produced and so popular in the media? One reason: These kind of studies make health changes seem easy. If only you quit seed oils or drink more coffee, you’ll be healthier. Focusing on individual ingredients also benefits policymakers who want to claim wins. There is no good evidence to suggest sugar is healthier than high fructose corn syrup, and yet fear of the latter has allowed Mr. Kennedy to claim a victory when Coca-Cola promised to offer American consumers a version of Coke sweetened with cane sugar instead of corn syrup.

A skeptical person may ask: If association studies are all we have, shouldn’t we rely on them until we know more? What’s the harm with cutting out seed oils?

Relying on bad evidence can lead to significant mistakes. Correlational evidence about the health risks of butter led people to substitute margarine instead; at the time, this contained trans fats, which turned out to be more concerning than butter for heart health. Mr. Kennedy has promoted replacing seed oils with tallow, nevermind that the saturated fat in tallow is probably worse for one’s health. Worse, the current panic over seed oils has led some parents to worry about seed oil use in infant formula. These oils are necessary for the formula to mimic the nutrient composition of breast milk, but there are now parents seeking to make their own formula to avoid them.

Given the poor state of health in the United States, we desperately need better nutrition data. Scientists need to stop producing and amplifying so much flawed research. Journals should be more skeptical of publishing this research; media organizations should cover it less.

That will free up resources for more creative and ambitious studies that can establish not just associations, but whether something is actually causing the health effect in question. An example is a recent publication in the journal Science that examined the impact of sugar exposure in childhood by comparing children born during sugar rationing in Britain after World War II or just after the rationing ended. They found that early sugar exposure leads to more disease later in life.

The National Institutes of Health should fund a large-scale, randomized controlled trial to evaluate the impact of different diets on health. The study could evaluate not only health outcomes, but also how easy it was for people to stick to the recommended diet, perhaps the most significant challenge in changing people’s eating habits.

Such a study, which would ideally include perhaps one million people followed for several years, would be extremely expensive. But in the end, we would actually learn what drives health outcomes. If the current administration wants to get serious about fixing nutrition science, this is the place to start.

(Emily Oster is the founder and C.E.O. of ParentData.org and a professor of economics at Brown University.)

---

---

GOING, GOING, GONE…

by James Kunstler

“Because they can no longer distinguish between fantasy and reality, they are too crazy to lead this country, and Americans know it.” —Sasha Stone on the Democratic Party

In case you’re wondering why the Democratic Party is in a death spiral, it is the proportionate response to the damage they have done to American culture and politics. You might think that they fell haplessly into error, but their turn to Marxian idealism was a cover for a matrix of hustles and rackets to make up for a void of any sane political program.

Coming into the 21st century, our country was beset by looming decline. Our industrial base was going, going, gone, and with it millions of well-paying blue-collar jobs, the Democratic Party base. It was replaced by a so-called “financialized economy,” which was sanitized language for sets of swindles and frauds allowed to operate in the de-regulated banking system, in concert with the politicized Federal Reserve and crooked Congressional interests — you notice how many politicians paid $175-K a year somehow acquired multi-million-dollar fortunes?

What mainly grew in this period was government and things that fed off of it, such as the war industries, computer tech allied with the Intel gang, and especially the burgeoning universe of government-sponsored non-profit advocacy orgs, which became the jobs program for otherwise unemployables churned out of higher education, a racket that fed on federal loan guarantees. It was in the racketeering ecosystem that billionaires such as George Soros and Bill Gates could use their fortunes to advance their own personal obsessions through webs of non-governmental orgs (NGOs) to influence public affairs.

By 2016, that was really all that the Democratic Party had left. It was the source of their money and their power. They also had the accumulated political capital of race advocacy, starting with the civil rights crusades of the 1960s. After our victory over manifest evil in World War Two, the Jim Crow system had to go, or else America could not pretend to lead the so-called “free world.”

By some paradoxical alchemy of government policy and human nature, the civil rights campaign eventually produced a larger and more intractable “underclass” than existed before. This baffled liberal idealists who had expected a new era of brotherhood and equality. They could only account for it by “structural racism,” and the Marxian trope of “oppressors-and-victims” fit into that scaffold perfectly. It lured them into Marxian “praxis” generally, which by then was already failing everywhere else in the world it had been tried as “communism.”

One way to counter “structural racism” was to declare a new ethos of “multiculturalism,” meaning each ethnic or racial group could behave according to its own particular standards and values. It was like waving a magic wand to make failure disappear and it worked through the 1990s, (which happened to be the fattest years of cheap oil production in America). The trouble with multiculturalism was that it negated the thing that had held America together through vicissitudes such as the Great Depression and World War Two: The American common culture, the thing that belonged to everyone.

The MAGA movement has largely been an effort to reconstruct an American common culture, a consensus of values and behaviors we can all agree on. The Democratic Party opted to oppose that — a poor choice. In fact, they apparently viewed that effort as an existential threat to the hustles and rackets that were sustaining the party. For instance, the jobs program for otherwise unemployable college grads who styled themselves as “activists” working for NGOs under the umbrella of USAID.

This was the party’s army of influencers, organizers, ward-heelers, and ballot-harvesters, laboring on behalf of the “victims of oppression.” Quite a few of them resided in Academia, where they cultivated a whole lexicon of arcane, gnostic, crypto-Marxian ideology aimed not just at opposing the recovery of a common culture, but destroying whatever remnants of it remained.

The catch was: they didn’t believe in “social justice” or “diversity, equity, and inclusion.” That was just a smokescreen of verbiage over their race hustle, which means extorting money, unearned advantages, and status dishonestly. Thus was DEI birthed. And, with it, colossal frauds of “victimhood” such as the beatification of George Floyd and a long line of similar “justice-involved” cases that generated an impressive revenue flow for the Democrats.

That revenue flow and its utility for holding power was all they had left in 2024. It explains the empty symbolism of running Kamala Harris for president. Now, the money flow is gone and so is the party’s power and perhaps its last remaining reason for existence: the maintenance of its own power. Notice that the Democrats can’t even advocate for the return of USAID, now that it has been unmasked as rife with financial fraud and crime.

There is surely a need for an opposition party to any in-party, which happens to be Mr. Trump’s Republicans at the moment, if only because power corrupts. You can see the outline of what that new opposition party might be: a party of re-localization, of small business and small farmers, of traditional towns as opposed to still-rampant and malignant suburban sprawl. Some related issues already belong to MAGA, such as smaller government, the protection of privacy, respect for the Bill of Rights — but these would be implicit in the restoration of an American common culture, a set of values and standards of behavior that both parties in a two-party system can subscribe to.

---

---

“THE TWO PILLARS of America’s global power – military and financial – are still firmly in place. What has ended is any claim on the part of American democracy to provide a political model. This is certainly a historic break. Trump closes the chapter begun by Woodrow Wilson in the First World War, with his claim that American democracy articulated the deepest feelings of liberal humanity. A hundred years later, Trump has forever personified the sleaziness, cynicism and sheer stupidity that dominate much of American political life.”

– Adam Tooze in the London Review of Books, ‘The End of the American Century?’

---

LEAD STORIES, SATURDAY'S NYT

Mexico’s President Says U.S. Forces Are Unwelcome in Her Country

Zelensky Rejects Ceding Territory to Russia After Trump Suggests a Land Swap

Trump Says He Will Meet With Putin in Alaska Next Week

Europeans Seek Details Ahead of Trump-Putin Summit

Secret Compartments and Cartel Lookouts: How Fentanyl Reaches the U.S.

How Three Journalists Tracked the Deadly Aid Crisis in Gaza

---

COMING HOME AT TWILIGHT IN LATE SUMMER

by Jane Kenyon

We turned into the drive,
and gravel flew up from the tires
like sparks from a fire. So much
to be done—the unpacking, the mail
and papers … the grass needed mowing ….
We climbed stiffly out of the car.
The shut-off engine ticked as it cooled.

And then we noticed the pear tree,
the limbs so heavy with fruit
they nearly touched the ground.
We went out to the meadow; our steps
made black holes in the grass;
and we each took a pear,
and ate, and were grateful.

---

I HAVE BEEN ALONE but seldom lonely. I have satisfied my thirst at the well of my self and that wine was good, the best I ever had, and tonight sitting staring into the dark I now finally understand the dark and the light and everything in between. Peace of mind and heart arrives when we accept what is: having been born into this strange life we must accept the wasted gamble of our days and take some satisfaction in the pleasure of leaving it all behind.

— Charles Bukowski