Mendocino County Today: Sunday 8/10/2025

Hot | Moonrise | Starfish Bacterium | Lake Pillsbury | Dog Shot | Pet Red | Sunday Brunch | Gualala Crane | Offshore Oil | Panther Volleyball | Ouch! | Bishop Pine | Marco Radio | Panther Cross-Country | Yesterday's Catch | Good Day | Continuous River | Delta Caucus | Clown Swings | Giants Lose | Mac Debut | Backstage | Fiction Writing | Big Boy | 1959 | No Rights | Extortion Money | No Character | Grope Again | Terrible Touch | Giant Food | Most Dumb | Lead Stories | Bad Doctor | Bird Man | Blood Libel | Canned Goods

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YESTERDAY'S HIGHS: Covelo 104°, Ukiah 104°, Laytonville 101°, Yorkville 100°, Boonville 97°, Fort Bragg 66°, Point Arena 65°

HOT AND DRIER weather conditions expected through Tuesday. Moderate to localized Major HeatRisk through Monday. A gradual cool down is expected by mid to late next week. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A foggy 51F this Sunday morning the coast. The fog arrived ahead of forecast. Back to our usual mix of clouds & sun for a while. Maybe a shot of drizzle Tuesday night - Wednesday morning? We'll see.

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STARFISH DIE-OFF MYSTERY SOLVED, offering hope for Mendocino’s ocean life

by Matt LaFever

After more than a decade of mystery, scientists have identified the bacterium responsible for the devastating sea star wasting disease that has wiped out billions of starfish along the West Coast — including those off Mendocino County’s rocky shoreline.

The culprit, Vibrio pectenicida, was pinpointed after researchers induced the disease in controlled experiments using tissue, fluid, and water from infected sunflower sea stars. These tests, along with deep genetic sequencing, confirmed the bacterium as a causative agent.

The findings are particularly significant for Northern California’s coastal ecosystems. The collapse of sunflower sea star populations removed a key predator of purple sea urchins, whose numbers have since exploded. On the Mendocino Coast, these urchins have grazed vast stretches of kelp forest down to barren “urchin barrens,” disrupting marine habitats and fisheries.

By identifying the cause of the epidemic, scientists can now develop recovery strategies — from culturing healthy sea stars in labs to monitoring and managing bacterial presence in the wild — offering a path toward restoring the region’s kelp forests and the biodiversity they support.

(mendofever.com)

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NEW CALIFORNIA DAM REMOVAL COULD RESTORE A RIVER — AND DESTROY A COMMUNITY

by Kurtis Alexander

For those living on the shores of this mountain lake, the bone-rattling drive along a gravel road to get here is a small price to pay for the California dream.

Tucked amid towering pines and firs and gleaming with cobalt-blue water, Lake Pillsbury in the Mendocino National Forest is home to about 100 year-round residents and thousands of summer dwellers, lured by the pleasures of lakefront living: boating, fishing, swimming or simply enjoying a cold drink on a hot day.

“I don’t know if it will knock your socks off,” Frank Lynch, a third-generation cabin owner, said as he motored his pontoon boat across the sun-splashed reservoir on a recent afternoon. “But it’s a really nice lake.”

This vacation outpost about 3½ hours north of San Francisco, however, may not last much longer. The dam that impounds the lake is owned by Pacific Gas and Electric Co., and the company wants to take it down. The move would drain the 2,000-acre reservoir, with its 31 miles of shoreline, and deliver a debilitating blow to the community.

Removing the Scott Dam, alongside the removal of the smaller Cape Horn Dam downstream, both on the picturesque Eel River, is part of PG&E’s plan to retire a century-old hydroelectric operation known as the Potter Valley Project, which the company says has gotten too expensive to run.

Last month, PG&E filed the paperwork to decommission the project, officially putting the two dams and corresponding power facilities on course for demolition. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees power-producing operations, has final say over whether and when the company moves forward.

Downstream communities along the Eel River as well as environmental groups and tribes have cheered dam removal as a way to restore the river’s natural flows. Long-declining salmon and steelhead runs stand to benefit from the restoration.

At the same time, the plan has raised concerns about power and water supplies in Northern California. Perhaps most discussed is the potential to lose water that is tunneled out of the Eel River for power generation miles away, then released into the east fork of the Russian River, where it’s long served cities and farms in Mendocino, Sonoma and Marin counties.

Much less talked about is the fate of Lake Pillsbury.

“People will no longer be able to enjoy what the lake has to offer,” said Lake County Supervisor Bruno Sabatier, among those leading a long-shot campaign to stop the dam removal. “If we don’t fight for these small rural communities, who will?”

A bygone way of life

There aren’t any boat tours on Lake Pillsbury — or hotels, restaurants or grocery stores — but the next best thing may be Lynch’s pontoon.

With 70 summers on the water and an active role in the community’s advocacy group, Lake Pillsbury Alliance, Lynch knows the place better than most, and he’s happy to share.

From the captain’s seat of his 22-foot Sun Tracker, he pointed out the distant herd of tule elk that roams the lake’s north shore. He talked about the ghost town of Hullville that lies beneath the water, submerged with reservoir construction in the early 1920s. He mentioned the landing strip next to the reservoir that served soldiers during World War II. And he noted the possibility of losing it all.

“You’d hear people screaming and yelling if they were going to take down a lake that was more accessible,” Lynch said. “People don’t know about this spot so they might not care if it’s gone.”

Beyond losing a cherished destination, Lynch and other residents worry that draining the reservoir would mean less water for fighting wildfires and a reduction in taxes for the county as visitation drops and real estate values plunge.

Lynch’s brother, who also owns a home in the area, has been trying to sell his place for 11 months, but with the lake’s future on the line, “he hasn’t had a nibble,” Lynch said.

Lynch moored his boat at the Lake Pillsbury Resort, a primitive vacation spot that may be the most developed visitor accommodations in the region: about a dozen rental cabins and 40 campsites on a bluff above the water. All were full at the height of summer. A handful of other campgrounds and boat launches similarly front the lake.

The resort sells maps, ice and a few kitchen staples such as milk and cereal as well as T-shirts that read “Save Lake Pillsbury.” Like all homes and businesses here, the resort operates off the grid — in this case, getting power from generators. It has robust Wi-Fi that’s often sought out by campers, given there’s no cell service anywhere around.

“Some of the parents come in and say, ‘Don’t give my kids the Wi-Fi (code),’” said Andrea Coppa, a friendly woman working at the office.

Indeed, many visitors are looking to escape the routines of daily life.

“The things we don’t do anymore are still here,” said Joey Friedman, a Martinez resident whose extended family had settled in across several camp sites, as they’ve done each year for decades. “We’re playing games, telling stupid stories, sitting around the campfire.”

The manager of the resort, Mike Ahearn, says most of the roughly 7,500 guests he counts each summer are return customers.

“It’s all about tradition here,” he said, noting that he’s kept the business going because people keep coming back. “We’ve never had a record of making money. It’s been a labor of love.”

Without the lake, Ahearn said, the place is “done.”

A new vision for recreation

Dam removal would bring a whole new look and feel to the area.

The reservoir would dry up, and the Eel River, which descends from the rugged, upper reaches of the Mendocino National Forest, would resume its historical course through the mostly empty lake bed.

PG&E has committed to revegetating the lake bed with native plants and trees, in keeping with the surrounding forest, beginning a rewilding that supporters of dam removal say would reverberate far downstream — with more natural flows of water and greater vitality across the Eel River basin.

“It’s going to restore our habitat, our fishing and our way of life,” said Lewis “Bill” Whipple, former president of the Tribal Council of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, a federation of Native American communities that has grappled with the exploitation of their ancestral lands in the watershed.

The undammed Eel would become the largest free-flowing river in California. The main stem of the river runs about 200 miles, generally northward, through the mountains of the Coastal Range to Humboldt County, where it empties into the Pacific near Eureka.

One of the expectations of dam removal is that fish migrating from the ocean will find new spawning grounds in the river and creeks above Scott Dam. The dam has been an obstacle to fish passage for more than a century.

Liberating the headwaters, environmentalists say, could boost fish reproduction and ultimately fish populations. Historically, as many as 800,000 chinook salmon swam up the Eel annually. The migration now numbers fewer than 20,000.

For residents and visitors, the former reservoir site would remain accessible, per an existing conservation easement on the land. But how the land is used would obviously change. Activities would skew toward hiking instead of swimming, and kayaking instead of motorboating. Hunting and off-roading would probably remain pervasive.

A series of community meetings to envision the future of the area, both with or without the dams, has yielded countless ideas, most leaning into the region’s identity as a recreation hot spot.

Among the proposals, should the dams come down, is building a hiking trail along the Eel River that follows a onetime Native American trade route. Another possible trail would climb from the river to the nearby Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. Many in the community also want to improve the area’s roads, telecommunications and fire protection.

“As an undiscovered gem, there’s a real opportunity,” said Mark Green, executive director of CalWild, the nonprofit that was commissioned to hold the brainstorming sessions.

Officials at the Mendocino National Forest, which manages most of the land around Lake Pillsbury and counts the reservoir as one of its top attractions, declined a request for an interview. But in an emailed statement, District Ranger Frank Aebly said that the Forest Service was committed to “public recreation and habitat management” if and when the dams are razed. The federal agency hasn’t taken a position on dam removal.

Aebly said he expects most of the Forest Service campgrounds in the area to stay open, “though some may close.”

PG&E, which owns most of the land beneath the reservoir, told the Chronicle that it intends to sell or give the lake bed to another party, possibly a land trust or tribe, to manage like a preserve. The new owner hasn’t been determined.

The earliest that deconstruction of the dams and power facilities might begin is late 2028, pending federal approval, company officials said. The work would take two to three years to complete. The estimated cost, to be paid by PG&E and its customers, is $530 million.

PG&E officials said the decision to retire the project wasn’t taken “lightly.” But they felt it was necessary to stop saddling ratepayers with the high cost of running the aging operation, especially given the small amount of electricity it generates. The lost power, they said, would be replaced with cheaper energy purchased from the open electricity market.

As for the water that the project provides, the company’s decommissioning plan supports having a new agency take over the infrastructure that tunnels supplies for power generation from the Eel River to the Russian River. Going forward, however, the new water agency, which won’t produce electricity, has committed to moving less water, a setback that communities in the Russian River basin will have to contend with.

Appealing to the feds

At the Soda Creek Store, shortly after the 9 a.m. opening, Robert “Buzz” Ogneff was behind the cash register prepping for the day. First order of business was fixing the front door after a bear tried to break in.

“He got in the laundry room (in the back), busted a couple of things,” Ogneff said, as he stood at the counter, shirtless and ready for the morning heat to kick up. “If the bear got in here, it’d be a real mess.”

As the major retailer on the lake, the store is often the first — or last — stop on a visit. Besides offering gas, snacks and beer, there’s a small selection of camping equipment, auto accessories and tourist trinkets. For those wanting to commemorate the dust-choked, hourlong drive from Potter Valley (Mendocino County), which is the closest town, koozies for sale at the register proclaim, “I survived the road to Lake Pillsbury.”

The shop, for locals, is also a hub of communications. People come to inquire about road conditions, hunting season, the cannabis harvest and remote residents who haven’t been seen or heard from in a while (and probably don’t want to be).

Nick and Edie Uram have run the store for nearly 35 years. They live on site with their many cats, which means they respond at all hours to lost vacationers, car breakdowns and wildfires. The Urams, both in their 70s, plan to continue operating the business for as long as they can, though they’re bracing for change with dam removal.

“It will still be kind of a recreation area,” Nick said. “But the lake and the waterskiing and the jet skis, if they take out this dam, that’s over.”

A poster on the front of the store honors Lake Pillsbury as a “hero” for saving the community during the August Complex fire, the largest wildfire in California history. The lake was used for aerial water drops.

The community’s efforts to save the lake haven’t gone as well, though it has secured support from the county brass. The Lake County Board of Supervisors has sent letters to PG&E and state and federal politicos, making their case that Scott Dam should remain.

The board has even petitioned the Trump administration for help, appealing to the president’s nationwide directives to boost water supplies and power generation. The federal government hasn’t given any indication it will intervene to halt dam removal.

Lynch, who stopped at the Soda Creek Store on the way to his permanent home in Sonoma County, doesn’t like to think about Lake Pillsbury without a lake.

His father and grandfather built their family cabin here in the late 1940s, with only hand tools, and he’s never missed a summer on the water. He’s even spent the offseason at the lake before, hunkered down in the dark of winter and occasional snow.

“Will I still come when it’s 100 degrees and there’s only a trickle of a river?” Lynch asked himself aloud. “No. Not a lot. Well, yeah, I guess I’ll still come.”

(SF Chronicle)

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THE DIFFICULT JOURNEY OF GALINA TREFIL

One month ago today, my fiance, Joshua Lee McCollister, was murdered. The love of my life was shot in the abdomen and left to die.

This morning, when I woke up, the first two words to come into my mind, before any other thing: “He’s dead!” It hit me like an all-encompassing wave of panic; hit me hard like it does every morning.

I just don’t understand. Still keep thinking that the last month has been some kind of terrible nightmare. I’m going to wake up on July 7th, be able to contact him on Facebook, and say, “Baby, I can’t take it anymore. Please, get out of Humboldt County, and just come home. Home to me. Home to the kids. Just come home!”

Josh was only in Humboldt County because he was assessing Eureka for a potential home for us. We were desperate to get away from the stalking in Fort Bragg, but we also both had a tremendous amount of hope that, maybe, just maybe, we could have a normal, domestic future together, somewhere where people didn’t know us; wouldn’t recognize us.

When I heard that the two people, Deunn Antoine Willis and Danielle Roberta Durand, conspired to rob Josh before shooting him…I just assumed that it was over his phones. Josh was autistic. He always had those phones. He needed them to be playing music. He played music absolutely constantly, as a lot of autistics do. His version of stimming, it was dancing. Throughout the day, all the time, that man was dancing. I miss that dancing of his so much.

He’d already been robbed of pretty much everything that he had in Eureka about a month before he was killed. All that he had left was his phones. I knew that, if someone had tried to take them, he’d have fought back. He’d have defended himself, and defended the only way that he had to contact me and contact his family, especially his very beloved mother. He wouldn’t have gone down easy.

I’ve since heard though that he wasn’t shot over his phones. He was shot over a dog. A dog.

I don’t know how to even wrap my head around this.

My fiance’s life was worth more than a dog. My children’s stepfather--he was so incredibly devoted to those kids--was worth more than a dog. We were haggling on baby names for our kids. Hibiscus and Hibatchi were what he wanted. I wanted Anna-Laura and Michael. Well, none of those names will ever be used because Deunn Antoine Willis fired what he’s alleging is a “warning shot” into my fiance’s stomach. Over a dog.

I could have understood being robbed of a phone and killed for putting up a fight. Crackheads will do something like that.

I can’t understand how Deunn Willis, who supposedly worked with disabled people for over a decade, could decide to murder an autistic man, a man who took care of disabled children, over an animal.

I’m going to also note that my fiance wasn’t just autistic. He didn’t just have seizures. He also had a very VISIBLE disability--a malformed spine. One look at him and you knew that he had serious health problems; that he wasn’t able-bodied. Willis and Durand knowingly murdered a disabled person.

I’m over 20k words in the book about Joshua Lee McCollister’s murder. I take a lot of comfort from knowing that the money earned from that book will go to Josh’s mom and to autism research. Both things would have meant so much to him. But it can only go so far.

He made this world, definitely my world, such a better place. Him not being here with me or the kids, I am completely gutted. Wake up just feeling like screaming.

A dog.

Josh’s first wife, Colleen, of blessed memory, had the nickname “Puppy.” Josh loved and respected her so much. I remember, whenever he’d see dogs, he’d always walk up to them and say, “Hey, pup pup. Wag, wag, wags.” I always felt as though, by showing kindness to animals, he was sending Colleen just a little bit of love.

Unfathomable that he could wind up at the coroner’s office because someone wanted to take an animal away from him.

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UKIAH SHELTER PET OF THE WEEK

Handsome Red is a sweet dog who’s been at the shelter for too many months. He can appear rough around the edges due to past experiences, but his affectionate side will be apparent when he finds a loving home and guardian. In the shelter environment, Red feels comfortable in his kennel, and recently he has refused to go out for walks. A good match for Red is a home with folks who will appreciate his sweet qualities, and have experience with shy and anxious dogs. Red really is a love, but his spirit has ebbed, and he needs to get out of the shelter and into a loving home asap. We’re not sure how Red reacts to all dogs, so he will need to meet any potential canine housemates at the shelter before being adopted. Red is 2 years old and 80 pounds.

For information about all of our adoptable dogs and cats and our services, programs, and events, visit: mendoanimalshelter.com

Join us the first Saturday of every month for our MEET THE DOGS Adoption Event.

For information about adoptions please call 707-467-6453.

Making a difference for homeless pets in Mendocino County, one day at a time!

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SUNDAY BRUNCH AT ANDERSON VALLEY BREWING! To Close Out Boontfling Weekend!

Open to Everyone!

From 10am to 3pm Sunday, August 10th, Tina Eaton from Eaton Good Catering will be here serving up some amazing food for purchase!

Check out the menu, and come on by — meet the competitors from this weekend, make some new friends, and have some amazing food!

Italian Brunch Torte - $17 - Ham, salami, provolone, spinach, mushrooms, roasted red peppers, and eggs are wrapped in a flaky pastry crust and served with a side of arugula salad

Breakfast Nachos - $14 - Whole grain tortilla strips, served with Chorizo gravy, topped with queso fresco and cilantro

Pulled Pork Hash - $17 - Potatoes, onions, bell pepper, topped with pulled pork, a fried egg with lime-crema and chives *Add extra Egg - $2

(www.avbc.com)

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Tax dollars at work in Gualala (Randy Burke)

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THE 1988 FIGHT TO PROTECT THE COAST

by Averee McNear

For years, Mendocino has fought to protect the beauty of our coastline. In the eighties, this fight came to a head as the people turned out in droves to testify at the Department of Interior’s public hearing against Lease Sale 91. The proposal would have put 1.1 million acres of undersea land for sale, allowing oil companies to purchase it at $25 per acre. Up to 24 oil rigs, each an acre in size, could have been built off the Mendocino Coast. In 2007, Rachel Binah, a long-time ocean defender and one of the organizers of the opposition to Lease Sale 91, spoke at the Kelley House about the fight to preserve the coast. You can watch the entire event on the Kelley House Museum YouTube page. The following is an excerpt from Rachel’s address.

“It started in 1984 for me. Our famous hearings took place in 1988, but in 1984, an oil company came to Mendocino for a hearing that took place in Crown Hall. This company made an application to do exploration off the coast. This oil company called my inn to make a reservation for the people who were coming here to testify. I said, “Well of course, I’ll be happy to have you come,” and they requested a room with an ocean view. So, I gave them one.

“I told them I was opposed to what they wanted to do, and that I would be testifying. When it was my turn to speak at the hearing, I said, “Everyone who comes to Mendocino wants a room with an ocean view, including this engineering company and these people who speak before you tonight, arguing that it will do no harm to tourism.” I actually used them as a prop. We were successfully able to prevent them from doing that.

“Everyone was clearly opposed to offshore oil development, but it was not front and center for most people until Jane Kay, a reporter for the San Francisco Examiner, wrote an article about Lease Sale 91, which was from the Oregon border to Sonoma County.

People who read the newspaper were nervous about it, because there was going to be just one hearing. It was going to be the final step in a process which had been going on for years and years, and people had not been paying as much attention to it. Around November 1987 this article came out, and the last hearing before the sales were going to happen in February of the following year.”

Through early meetings, it was decided that a filibuster would be held at the February hearing, to let anyone who wanted to speak do so. 1,400 signed up to testify.

“We wanted to get celebrities to draw media attention. What was happening at that time in Mendocino? Murder, She Wrote. So I thought, “Well, let’s get her involved,” Angela Lansbury would be a great spokesperson for this issue. It was being filmed at Don and Pam’s (Hahn) house.

Pam introduced me to Angela’s husband (Peter Shaw), and he said in his very British accent ‘Oh yes, we should be happy. Oh yes. I’m sure she would love to be involved in this situation. She would be happy to help you. I tell you what, come over to the set, and I’ll introduce you to her.’

“I went over to the set, which was in front of the Blair House, and the director said, ‘Well, why don’t you just become an extra and be in this scene?’ He gave me a costume and said ‘She (Angela) is going to come through there and end up right here. Then you can talk to her.’ Everybody was in on this; it was a conspiracy. We did the scene, and she ended up standing right in front of me. Angela said ‘Oh, my dear. I could never be the sole spokesperson on something like this. I don’t know enough about it, but I’m happy to support you in whatever you want to do. If you write something for me, I’ll sign it.’ So that’s what we did. She signed on and I read that statement for her at the hearing.”

The hearing was a resounding success, attended by approximately 5,000 people. In June 1988 the plans for offshore oil drilling were halted. In a future Kelley House Calendar, the hearing will be discussed in further detail. If you can’t wait to hear more of the story, go to the Kelley House Museum YouTube channel to listen to Rachel’s full retelling of the event.

The Kelley House Museum is open Thursday-Monday, 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Walking Tours of Mendocino are available throughout the week; the cost is $25. Visit the Kelley House Event Calendar for a Walking Tour schedule.

(kelleyhousemuseum.org)

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OUCH!

My ears are burnin’

…Belly achin’

……Toes are jammin’

………Back is breakin’

My tongue is waggin’

…Joints are jumpin’

……Gut’s a bustin’

………Heart’s a thumpin’

My bones are creakin’

…Fingers poppin’

……Lips are smackin’

………Knees are knockin’

My eyes are cryin’

…Feet are draggin’

……Hips are shakin’

………Shoulders saggin’

My nose is runnin’

…Skin is crawlin’

……Ribs are cracked

………Arches fallin’

My body’s reached

…It’s rhymin’ limit

……I’m headin’ to

………The free verse clinic

— Steve Derwinski

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Bishop pine, Tomales Bay State Park (Andrew Lutsky)

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MEMO OF THE AIR: Zotz!

/The Lord’s our shepherd, says the psalm, but just in case… we’re gonna get a bomb.” -Tom Lehrer/

Marco here. Here’s the recording of last night’s (9pm PDT, 2025-08-08) 8-hour-long Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio show on 107.7fm KNYO-LP Fort Bragg (CA) and also, for the first three hours, on 89.3fm KAKX Mendocino, ready for you to re-enjoy in whole or in part: https://tinyurl.com/KNYO-MOTA-0656

Coming shows can feature your own story or dream or poem or essay or kvetch or announcement. Just email it to me. Or send me a link to your writing project and I’ll take it from there and read it on the air.

Besides all that, at https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com you’ll find a fresh batch of dozens of links to not-necessarily radio-useful but worthwhile items I set aside for you while gathering the show together, such as:

Get your kids their shots on the scientific evidence-based-medicine-recommended schedule. Get your pets their shots. Get your own shots. Immunity you get because of vaccines is better than immunity after catching disease, because you don’t have to suffer or spread disease. Some of them, like measles, actually remove your immunity to other diseases. Vaccines never do that. https://misscellania.blogspot.com/2025/08/why-children-get-so-many-vaccines.html

Intelligence correlates to a high brain to body mass ratio. This works across all intelligent animals. Among birds, say, a species with heavier brains relative to their body weight are likely more clever. Fish, monkeys, everything. When a human drives a car or truck or backhoe, it’s an extension of the human body, so your brain-to-body-mass ratio goes down, and that explains it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBGtsuU4xj0

The Big Lebowski but only the swears. Before this cut, the only swear I remembered from the movie was the one famously bowdlerized to /This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps, Donny./ I just hear right past swearing, I guess. It’s like a story that Charles Tyler, born in Britain, once told me: His father would often begin a sentence by barking, “Attenerit!” Charles thought that was something you just say to alert for attention. When he was twelve he finally realized his father was saying “At any rate…” Swears are like that; they don’t have to mean anything. They can be seasoning, or punctuation. They can be funny and true. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU2ZgaQ_H-Y

Speaking of which: Carsie Blanton – Rich People. (via Ron) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD_eZg70Ms0

And how children of a self-absorbed parent often struggle to find a strong sense of self. This perfectly describes the world of the children in The Umbrella Academy, raised by a man who is literally inhuman. Though that is a spoiler, it’s not much of one. The show is terrific. Four years, 36 episodes, total. But this, first: https://laughingsquid.com/missing-strong-sense-of-self/

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

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CATCH OF THE DAY, Saturday, August 9, 2025

RICHARD CAUCKWELL, 62, Ukiah. Failure to appear, probation revocation. (Frequent flyer.)

ERIC DARE, 45, Ukiah. Controlled substance for sale while armed with loaded firearm, armed with firearm in commission of felony, loaded handgun not registered owner, alteration of firearm ID, felon-addict with firearm, ammo possession by prohibited person, paraphernalia, metal knuckles.

JESSE DAVIDSON, 52, Covelo. Under influence while in possession of firearm, controlled substance while armed with loaded firearm, felon-addict with firearm, ammo possession by prohibited person, paraphernalia.

AMANDA FIGG-HOBLYN, 24, Willits. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

LAMONT JONES JR., 49, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs, paraphernalia.

JARED KIDD, 34, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, probation violation. (Frequent flyer.)

DANIEL KOWALSKY, 55, Fort Bragg. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

MICHAEL KUBAS, 45, Willits. Under influence, probation revocation, resisting.

MIGUEL LEMOS, 44, Ukiah. Controlled substance with two or more priors, paraphernalia.

DAISY MARTINEZ, 26, Santa Rosa/Ukiah. DUI.

LOREN MILLSAP, 44, Ukiah. Suspended license, false ID.

MIGUEL RORIGUEZ, 29, Ukiah. Loaded firearm, brandishing.

JEREMY SEGURA, 22, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs, annoying-molesting children under 18, child endangerment, fighting in public, resisting.

JOSEPH SOUTHWICK, 32, Willits. DUI, controlled substance, suspended license.

SHANNON TOBIN, 47, Willits. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.

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EXPLANATIONS

There Is No Solution Except a Brand New Civilization Based on the Immortal Atman

The very warmest spiritual greetings,

Sitting here on a public computer at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in Washington, D.C., listening to Bhagya Suktam, which is a powerful vedic mantra to the Goddess of Fortune, Lakshmi (wife of Vishnu the Preserver in the Trimurti), the purpose of which is to increase prosperity. This echoes my visit in the summer of 1994 to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in the south Indian coastal city of Pondicherry, where I witnessed the senior ashramites playing the lottery. I asked why they were doing this. They informed me that they buy lottery tickets because if God wishes them to have more money to carry out his divine will, then there must be some way for them to receive it!

As I sit here in the District of Columbia, living in a homeless shelter in a region that is falling apart due to pervasive crime, chaos, and insanity, (in addition to the upheaval due to the change of Presidential administrations), I have fully supported the Peace Vigil in front of the White House for the 16th time. >>>Am witnessing the mind’s activity and the bodily changes, identified only with the nameless formless Absolute; sending out a continuous river of networking emails in order to realize a change of mundane circumstances.<<<

Does anybody want to do anything? A spiritual automatic writing group? More effective environmental direct action? Rituals to neutralize the demonic and return this world to righteousness? I can be out of the homeless shelter in 20 minutes. $852.60 in the Chase checking account, $66.46 in the wallet. General health is okay at age 75. I would like to leave the shelter because I do not need it anymore, and it is time to move on to the next highest good. The Goddess wants this. She does. She really does. Ask her. Thank you.

Craig Louis Stehr, [email protected]

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DELTA CAUCUS CALLS ON LEGISLATURE TO ONCE AGAIN REJECT NEWSOM’S PLAN TO FAST-TRACK DELTA TUNNEL

by Dan Bacher

Sacramento — In all of my years of journalism and activism, I can’t remember a single project that is as strongly opposed by such a diverse coalition, ranging from Tribes to family farmers, from environmentalists to Southern California ratepayers, as the Delta Conveyance Project. 

In Yogi Berra’s immortal words, “It’s deja vu all over again” as Governor Gavin Newsom continues his seemingly endless battle to get the Delta Tunnel built, despite such massive opposition, including the five Delta Counties and many prominent California legislators.

And once again, the California Legislative Delta Caucus on August 6 had to urge leaders of the California Senate and Assembly to reject Gov. Gavin Newsom’s renewed effort to fast-track the salmon-killing Delta Tunnel Project.…

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/8/6/2337188/-Delta-Caucus-Calls-On-Legislature-To-Once-Again-Reject-Plan-To-Fast-Track-Delta-Tunnel

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UNDEAD CLOWN STATUES HAUNT IDYLLIC CALIFORNIA SMALL TOWN

Decades of curiosity surround Mount Shasta’s rusting figures, which are now fading into the overgrowth

by Matt LaFever

Near the end of summer 2019, David Henderson went out to celebrate his 21st birthday with friends. They spent the night in Mount Shasta, California, beneath the quiet mass of the roughly 14,000-foot volcano that looms over the town.

At one point, Henderson said, they “decided to take a walk in the park.”

Mount Shasta City Park is no pocket park. Its trails wind through meadows and pine forests. Two public lodges — and a building called the Dance Hall — look like Western film set pieces. The 26-acre park carries a kind of gravity.

It was here, in the middle of the night, that Henderson stumbled onto something unforgettable.

Henderson had “wandered off a bit from my friends,” he recounted to SFGATE, eventually finding himself off the park’s main path. He paused, noticing how quiet it had become. Then, out of the dark, two strange figures emerged. Tall. Gaunt. Arms outstretched. When they finally came into focus, things only got weirder.

Henderson had discovered long-abandoned play structures: one with a clown head, its eyes x-ed out; the other, a confused scarecrow. “Things felt pretty ominous when I spotted them,” he told SFGATE. After he realized he was safe — just unsettled — he returned to his friends, but not before collecting some evidence.

“I had to take a picture because I wasn’t sure my friends would believe me if I said there were clowns lurking in the bushes,” he said. He fired off a quick Snapchat with an appropriate caption: “good god why are these here.”

The towering terrors are parts of old swing sets tucked in the park’s far corner. They are often referred to as the “clown swings” by locals, and older residents remember them as a full-fledged T-frame swing set: two cartoonish heads mounted and centered on the structure, with arms outstretched with strange, white and mittened approximations of hands. Chains once hung from those arms, holding seats for children to swing in beneath the fixed, frozen faces.

Today, however, the chains are long gone. The frames linger in an overgrown corner of the park — visited less, weathered more and standing as silent sentinels of a forgotten era.

‘A Stephen King novel’

Nichole Solga Smith, 45, sparked a recent online outpouring of memories about the clown swings. In a Facebook post on the “Mount Shasta History: If the mountain could talk” page, she wrote, “How old are the scary clown swings at Mt Shasta City Park and were they always meant to be kinda spooky? What’s the backstory there? I remember them feeling old when I was young.”

She told SFGATE that she was inspired to ask online about the clowns after revisiting the park with her daughter during a school field trip. “I was feeling very [nostalgic],” she wrote to SFGATE, describing how she “grew up playing in that park” and remembered how the “clowns were always around” with their swings.

Seeing them again with her daughter, she wrote, “The clowns must have a backstory; they’re just too unique.”

Bill Craig, 58, a Mount Shasta native, responded to Smith’s post by sharing two black-and-white photos of the clown swings with the community. He went down memory lane with SFGATE, describing how he and his fellow Gen X kids got the full brunt of playground designs prior to safety regulations. He recalled a “merry-go-round that was like scalding hot metal” and that “burned off 12 layers of your skin,” as well as “these little horses on a spring where, you know, you just beat yourself up on them.” Off to the side, always watching, “there were two different clown swing sets.”

As a kid, he “didn’t even give it a second thought.” Beneath those cartoonish heads, he said, “You just go and you play on the swing set.” But he’s since come to realize their presence is rather alarming.

Craig returned to the park years later and saw how the clown swings had become “really dilapidated,” he said. Through the lens of his camera, the scene shifted: “All of a sudden, it is a Stephen King novel, right?” In his haunting photos, the clown with x-ed out eyes looms lifeless, while the scarecrow’s arms reach into the dark.

“I don’t know the history of it,” Craig said. “I wish I did. I wish I knew how they got there.”

Fortunately, Smith’s Facebook post created a trail of digital breadcrumbs — vague references, obscure catalogs and half-remembered stories — that together sketch out an origin story for the erstwhile swings.

Piecing together the timeline

Shannon Shaw, a district administrator with Mount Shasta’s Recreation and Parks District, said the best information she could offer to SFGATE about the structures’ origin was that “they were manufactured by GameTime in Litchfield, Michigan, and seem to have been part of a clown-themed playground equipment and amenities production.”

GameTime began making playground equipment in 1929 in rural Michigan, according to the company’s website. In 1979, GameTime moved to Alabama, later becoming part of Playcore. SFGATE reached out to the company but did not receive a response before the time of publication.

The Mount Shasta Sisson Museum offered up a stronger lead when SFGATE called: Mike Rodriguez, Mount Shasta’s first full-time Recreation and Parks director. Rodriguez started that job in 1973 and lived in a cabin at Mount Shasta City Park. If anyone knew how the swings got there, perhaps it would be him.

But Rodriguez quickly shut that door. ”I don’t know who put them in,” he told SFGATE. “When I arrived in ‘73, they were there.”

Still, he remembered how unusual they were. “Very unique back in the early ‘70s,” he said.

Later in the interview, Rodriguez noted that the swings “drew a lot of attention over the years, where people would want to go swing down there.”

Eventually, the swings were removed because of safety concerns, he said, as the area became “highly overgrown by the creek, and it wasn’t a real safe area for a playground.” The frames — cartoonish heads and all — were left behind.

Redding resident Noah Everett joined the community’s discussion on the “Mount Shasta History: If the mountain could talk” Facebook page, offering a lead that could help solve the mystery. About 70 miles downstream, in the town of Anderson, three similar GameTime swing sets stand in a riverside park, Everett wrote, but instead of clowns, they feature characters from “The Wizard of Oz”: the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. In photos provided to SFGATE by Everett, they look to be in far better condition than the swings at Mount Shasta City Park. SFGATE reached out to Anderson’s Parks and Recreation Department to ask about when its GameTime swings were installed but did not receive a response before the time of publication.

Separately, an SFGATE scouring of the internet turned up a 2017 auction catalog with a listing for “Amusement Park Garbage Can Toppers” — two of them bearing the same clown and scarecrow faces as Mount Shasta’s swings, alongside the Tin Man and Cowardly Lion. The items were dated to around 1950. A blogger who documents vintage playgrounds found a version of the X-eyed clown behind a kitschy roadside stop in Hamer, South Carolina, and dated it to 1971.

If the blogger is right, then the swings likely arrived between 1971 and Rodriguez’s hiring in 1973. Newspaper searches from the era turned up no ribbon cuttings or announcements, but quiet clues appeared. A November 1971 article mentioned a new nature trail and noted that the park “offers a variety of playground equipment.” A map included in that piece marked the playground’s exact location — the same spot where the figures still stand. By May 1972, another article described plans to install “two playgrounds with swings and slides.” A May 1973 tourism ad invited families to spend “a day at Mt. Shasta’s city park with its busy playground.”

The clowns become myth

It seems the clown and scarecrow arrived without fanfare — slipping into the park and into memory before becoming legends. By now, these quiet landmarks have taken on a mythic quality. There’s little documentation, few photos of them and no easily discoverable formal recognition of their existence, yet nearly every local knows them.

In 2016, author Rob Murphy published “Miller’s Park,” a novella loosely based on the Mount Shasta City Park. The clown swings loom large in the text, described at one point as “intrusive and out of place.” The narrator notes that “every kid stayed away from them” and that “the clowns were even positioned like they didn’t belong.”

Photos of the swings have also made it to the r/weird subreddit, where images of the rusting structures racked up hundreds of upvotes. The top comment reads: “That would be horrifying at night.”

Shaw, the district administrator with Mount Shasta’s Recreation and Parks District, acknowledged the clown swings’ eerie pull. “It’s interesting how their current out-of-commission state and the overgrowth around them contribute to their mysterious and even unsettling aura,” she wrote in an email to SFGATE. “They certainly do spark a lot of conversation!”

Even those who played beneath them can’t quite shake the feeling. “I can’t quite wrap my head around them ever being not spooky,” said Smith, whose Facebook post sparked a nostalgic reunion for Mount Shastans of a certain age. “The one with the ‘x’s for eyes is especially so.”

Over his roughly five decades running Mount Shasta’s parks, Rodriguez saw the swing sets become more than rusting relics. They endured through seasons, through changes in the town around them, until they were woven into its fibers. To him, the haunting clown and the melancholy scarecrow hold “a little bit of a nostalgia and a little bit of history.”

(SFGate.com)

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CARSON WHISENHUNT SERVES UP THREE HOMERS as Giants fall to Nationals

by Shayna Rubin

Carson Whisenhunt is known for his nasty changeup, but the effectiveness of his sinker helped him get through his first two big league starts, including his first win in New York last week.

In his third career start, the sinker betrayed him.

The Washington Nationals pummeled three of Whisenhunt’s fastballs for a trio of home runs to hand the San Francisco Giants a 4-2 loss on Saturday afternoon at Oracle Park. Hitters were 1-for-18 against the lefty rookie’s sinker heading into the game, but Whisenhunt didn’t have his best command of the pitch to maintain that.

“I didn’t have my best stuff,” Whisenhunt said. “The home runs, I left them pretty much middle of the plate. Just have to be a little better with command.”

James Wood hit a leadoff home run on a letter-high sinker. In the third inning, Paul DeJong and Josh Bell hit back-to-back home runs on 93 and 92 mph sinkers that caught too much zone to make it 3-0.

Unhelpful for Whisenhunt’s deception was that he wasn’t able to locate his changeup, often missing low. But once he got hitters to change eye levels with his slider and sinker, the pitch was enticing enough to Washington’s hitters to generate 11 swing-and-misses of 19 Whisenhunt got. He struck out five, but walked three and allowed five hits through four innings.

“Pretty much most of the changeups early on were down, didn’t have a great feel for it, so tried to raise the eye level and made a couple adjustments with it. Just have to be better,” Whisenhunt said. “Today it was a little too much in the zone on the heater. I left everything too middle, but the changeup was too down to have a great feel for it and the slider started playing better in the game. Just have to be better early on.”

Andrew Knizner beat out an infield hit for their first hit with two outs in the third inning, leading to their lone scoring opportunity against Lord; Ramos singled up the middle, extending his on-base streak to 22 games, and Rafael Devers drew a walk to load the bases. But Willy Adames struck out to strand them.

Devers hit his second home run in as many games — an opposite field, 418-foot solo shot — to get the Giants on the board against Lord.

“Pretty good velocity, short arm and moving a lot — probably as much as we’ve seen anybody’s — into right handers and away from lefties,” manager Bob Melvin said. “And it was late. Lot of times with guys with that much movement, you see it out of the hand and his was really late. We knew it going in, we didn’t have a ton of guys who’ve faced him before, but he kind of ate us up with that.”

They threatened a comeback against the bullpen in the eighth inning, loading the bases against reliever Cole Henry with back-to-back singles from Ramos and Devers and an Adames walk. Wilmer Flores, who could play Sunday after dealing with a sore left hamstring, delivered a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to get them a little closer, but that’s all they’d squeeze out.

Briefly: Landen Roupp, out with right elbow inflammation, left San Francisco for Sacramento on Saturday afternoon to make his first rehab appearance with the River Cats on Sunday. He’s expecting to pitch three-ups, which means he hopes to pitch into the third inning. He said he feels he could pitch now, but knows it’s best to be cautious with an elbow injury. Melvin said there’s a chance he’ll need another rehab start after Sunday before he slots back into the rotation…Left-handed reliever Erik Miller (elbow sprain) threw 24 pitches in his first rehab appearance with the River Cats on Friday and Melvin didn’t express concern over an ugly stat line that included three hits and two runs (one earned) while recording just one out, a strikeout.

(sfchronicle.com)

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MAC JONES’ 49ERS DEBUT reflects career in preseason rout by Broncos

by Eric Branch

The man who will be one snap away from becoming among the San Francisco 49ers’ most important players this season began Saturday night resembling an A-plus insurance plan.

On the game-opening drive of the preseason opener, quarterback Mac Jones aced an exceedingly difficult test. Brock Purdy’s new backup was tasked with leading nine other offensive reserves — left guard Ben Bartch was the lone exception — against the Broncos’ mostly first-string defense, a group filled with players who allowed the NFL’s third-fewest points last year.

Jones responded by completing 3 of 3 passes, including a picturesque 50-yard strike to rookie wideout Jordan Watkins, and added a successful fourth-down QB sneak to direct an eight-play, 71-yard touchdown drive.

So the 49ers are in good hands if Purdy is hurt this season? Hold on, because the good vibes were gone before Jones’ evening ended. After his impressive opening, Jones finished with a fizzle, undone by his second-string supporting cast and his own inaccuracy in a 30-9 loss to Denver.

In his three drives, Jones completed 4 of 7 passes for 74 yards, tossed an ugly interception, was dropped for two sacks and posted a 54.2 rating.

In other words, he looked like the 2021 first-round pick who led the Patriots to the playoffs as a rookie. And he resembled the turnover-prone castoff who is on his third team in the past three seasons. All in the span of 15 snaps.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters he was pleased with Jones’ performance, saying he did a “real good job.” But Jones wasn’t as charitable and indicated he’s still finding his way in the 49ers’ offense.

“I was talking to some of the guys and it’s been a minute since everyone played football, a real game,” Jones said. “For me, I’m on a new team again. You just get more comfortable as time goes along. Definitely started off fast against their No. 1 defense, which was good … Really, (I) just have to play better in those other two drives. Hopefully, another chance next week to go out there and do it.”

Jones signed a two-year, $7 million contract in March, and arrived Sunday riding the momentum of what had been a strong training camp. He completed 24 of 28 passes in the past two practices and his first-drive TD march was his most impressive work of the summer.

However, the 49ers’ second possession featured a Keystone Kops performance by his blockers that highlighted a roster issue: The lack of a proven backup tackle, a position the 49ers failed to address in the offseason. After a 12-yard completion to wideout Demarcus Robinson, Jones was dropped for a sack due to a missed block by tight end Luke Farrell. His next snap: Sacked again when left tackle Spencer Burford, a converted guard, whiffed on pass rusher Nick Bonitto. The third-down snap: Jones was immediately pressured (missed block: Burford) and heaved a harried pass toward the 49ers’ bench.

Shanahan said it would be “unfair” to completely blame Burford on the two pressures he allowed, saying there were other breakdowns on those snaps. On third down, he said, Burford was supposed to get help with a chip block from a teammate who blew his assignment.

After he had no chance due to pressure, Jones ended with zero accuracy. On his three-snap final possession, he bounced a screen pass to Watkins and followed by throwing a pass near Watkins’ feet that was intercepted by sliding cornerback Ja’Quan McMillan.

Shanahan, who said Watkins had a “typical rookie game,” said there was a miscommunication on the route. Jones indicated he expected Watkins, a fourth-round pick, to be in a different spot.

“Me and him — he’s a rookie, right — so we’re working on our timing,” Jones said. “I thought he played well overall. … We’ll just continue to grow. It was his first NFL game and I thought he did a good job.”

Jones’ mixed-bag performance was part of a night that included a consistently impressive effort from the 49ers’ largely backup defense against a host of Denver starters that included QB Bo Nix. The 49ers played just three potential starters, linebacker Dee Winters, safety Jason Pinnock and rookie defensive tackle CJ West, and dominated Denver. Nix’s three possessions featured a punt, safety and a 26-yard field-goal drive.

On the 49ers’ second defensive series, nickelback Chase Lucas, along with defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, played starring roles. On the first snap, Lucas blitzed and his pressure forced an incompletion. On the third snap, Lucas blitzed again and forced a safety when Nix was called for intentional grounding after heaving an out-of-bounds pass from the end zone.

Briefly: Lucas served as the first-string nickelback because rookie third-round pick Upton Stout did not play due to calf tightness. Stout is the favorite to win the role. … Shanahan confirmed rookie defensive tackle Mykel Williams suffered a hyperextended knee in Thursday’s practice. The first-round pick is expected to be out for about a week. … Defensive end Robert Beal (groin), safety Marques Sigle (knee) and running back Ameer Abdullah (ribs) did not finish the game.

(sfchronicle.com)

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TAIBBI & KIRN

Matt Taibbi: Walter, I want to start the show. I want to get deep with you about something-

Walter Kirn: Okay, good.

Matt Taibbi: … quick. I want to ask you a rhetorical question.

Walter Kirn: Okay.

Matt Taibbi: Actually, it’s not even a rhetorical question, it’s a philosophical question. Do you view fiction writing, what you do for a living, on some level as a quest for truth? In other words, are you trying to write something that’s true the way Hemingway described it, like one true sentence. Hunter Thompson once said, “The best fiction is truer than any journalism.” Do you view what you do as a quest to find something that’s eternal and true?

Walter Kirn: Well, after you are forcing me to contradict both Hunter Thompson and Hemingway, if I say, no-

Matt Taibbi: No, it’s okay. No, I’m interested.

Walter Kirn: But the answer is yes. I’m not kissing Hunter’s ass or coming after Hemingway, but the answer is, of course, yes. I am after that kind of truth that people feel when they close a book or they finish a chapter and they go, “Oh my God, that cut deep. Oh, I just heard the bell ring in my soul.” That kind of truth.

Matt Taibbi: Right. And I think this is something that’s consistent across all genres of art. Comedy. Seinfeld talks about how the audience’s reaction is true. You can’t fake it. It’s either funny or not. Certainly, for most of my career, I view journalism, yeah, it’s kind of a junior league version of what art is, right? It’s a quest for truth. It’s not as highfalutin and exalted as fiction writing or comedy or any of those things, but it comes close, right? You’re trying to be accurate. You’re trying to get to something that’s lasting.

Walter Kirn: I think especially journalism, which synthesizes smaller stories into a bigger story, getting down the record of what happened that day and what spokesman said what, and the numbers that come out of an accident or something, that’s factuality. But journalism, I think, does seek truth when it put together stories and create a sense of what’s really happening and gets into human motivations and things like that.

Matt Taibbi: So just, again, to go to Hunter because he’s the American icon of our business. Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72, that’s a very true book about what campaigning is like.

Walter Kirn: Right.

Matt Taibbi: You know what I mean? The sights, sounds, smells, emotions, all those things, I think they were very lasting for a long while.

Walter Kirn: Well, and I’ll say one more thing. Fiction often misses the truth because fiction gets caught up in tropes and conventions very easily, and it loses touch with reality. And one of the things that I think great journalism like Hunter’s does is it refreshes our ability to see reality. We really had political campaigns in fiction that didn’t resemble real ones for a long time. We had the conventions, we had the whistle stops, or a ton rhetorical exaggerations of the candidates and the pom-pom girls and so on, but he really got the tedium of it and the weirdness of it and so on.

Matt Taibbi: Yeah, the weird adrenaline rushes in between all the dead spots, right?

Walter Kirn: Yes.

Matt Taibbi: The weird fascinations you have with candidates, the disillusionment, all that stuff, right? And conversely, that’s why I don’t love books by people like Henry James. Things are too polished. They’re too perfect. It doesn’t feel like reality to me. It’s not weird enough. There’s something missing.

Anyway, I say all this as a preface to, what if suddenly the game changed? We all, for all of our lives, imagine, for instance, journalism to be about trying to find answers to underlying questions and get things right. What if suddenly it wasn’t about that anymore? What if the standard was to have enough quantitative convincing power to force a version of reality onto people that isn’t real?

Walter Kirn: Well, Matt, I think our audience has waited for this moment because whether you know it or not, I think you’re reaching a conclusion that underlines and underlies a lot of my assumptions for a long time here on these big mega stories. Because you are so dogged and single-minded in your pursuit of the truth, I think you’ve lost touch sometimes with how badly the rest of the field does it, and how completely changed their priorities have been. You continue to see the best in them. I, of course, look for the worst, first of all, never wanting to be disappointed.

It’s because I’m a lightweight. I always want the bad news first so I can get used to it. And you’re absolutely right, impact, leverage, the projection of pure brute power, getting people to do things. When we remember that Catherine Maher speech that she gave about there not being truth because she said, “We want to get you to do things.” And that’s, I’m afraid, what so much journalism has become, and I think I know where you’re going, it’s where it might go in a turbocharged fashion soon.

Matt Taibbi: Yeah. And I think we’re in that moment of acceleration.

Walter Kirn: Yes.

Matt Taibbi: And what are we talking about? We’re talking about AI, but it’s AI in addition to all the things that Walter and I have been talking about for years is about anti-disinformation and other things. Essentially, AI is about to become the dominant factor in information and how it’s related not just in journalism, but in academia and all kinds of other things. And we’re going to see some of the stories that have come out just in the last few weeks.

Journalists are now realizing that you don’t have to apologize to audiences for getting things wrong anymore because it’s not the human audience that really matters, it’s the AI audience, it’s the algorithms, it’s the platforms, and it’s how they weigh how authoritative you are, and they will continue to present a wrong version of reality, if so programmed, right? Am I getting that wrong, or is there a better way to put this?

Walter Kirn: No, I think it’s a great way to put it. I would just footnote what you said. Their authority is something that they carry from the pre-AI age into this one. In other words, the paradox of this is that the authority is not based on how often you told the truth recently, but how much of a reputation you developed in the old world.

In a strange way, you can be a liar now if you developed a reputation for truth in the past because your statements are favored algorithmically by the AI. A lot of these places are harvesting the fruits of their past integrity, which gave them the reputation or the market share or whatever it might be. The pure number of hits that caused the AI to favor their input.

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1959

by Gregory Corso

Uncomprising year—I see no meaning to life.
Though this abled self is here nonetheless,
either in trade gold or grammaticness,
I drop the wheelwright’s simple principle—
Why weave the garland? Why ring the bell?

Penurious butchery these notoriously human years,
these confident births these lucid deaths these years.
Dream’s flesh blood reals down life’s mystery—
there is no mystery.
Cold history knows no dynastic Atlantis.
The habitual myth has an eagerness to quit.

No meaning to life can be found in this holy language
nor beyond the lyrical fabricator’s inescapable theme
be found the loathed find—there is nothing to find.

Multitudinous deathplot! O this poor synod—
Hopers and seekers paroling meaning to meaning,
annexing what might be meaningful, what might be meaningless.

Repeated nightmare, lachrymae lachrymae—
a fire behind a grotto, a thick fog, shredded masts,
the nets heaved—and the indescribable monster netted.
Who was it told that red flesh hose be still?
For one with smooth hands did with pincers
snip the snout—It died like a yawn.
And when the liver sack was yanked
I could not follow it to the pan.

I could not follow it to the pan—
I woke to the reality of cars; Oh
the dreadful privilege of that vision!
Not one antique faction remained;

Egypt, Rome, Greece,
and all such pedigree dreams fled.
Cars are real! Eternity is done.
The threat of Nothingness renews.
I touch the untouched.
I rank the rose militant.
Deny, I deny the tastes and habits of the age.
I am its punk debauche …. A fierce lampoon
seeking to inherit what is necessary to forfeit.

Lies! Lies! Lies! I lie, you lie, we all lie!
There is no us, there is no world, there is no universe,
there is no life, no death, no nothing—all is meaningless,
and this too is a lie—O damned 1959!
Must I dry my inspiration in this sad concept?
Delineate my entire stratagem?
Must I settle into phantomness
and not say I understand things better than God?

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EXTORTING MONEY FOR TRUMP’S OWN PURPOSES

Editor:

Does anyone seem to care that the president is extracting extortion money from universities (Columbia settles for $221 million), the media (Paramount paid $16 million) and law firms (pro bono work). This is by threat of withholding federal funds, blocking mergers and denial of contracts. Federal funding should be the job of Congress and not presidential fiat. And where is the accounting? Where does this money go? It seems fitting that his name is “Don.”

— Leland Davis, Santa Rosa

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“IT WAS MIRACULOUS. It was almost no trick at all, he saw, to turn vice into virtue and slander into truth, impotence into abstinence, arrogance into humility, plunder into philanthropy, thievery into honor, blasphemy into wisdom, brutality into patriotism, and sadism into justice. Anybody could do it; it required no brains at all. It merely required no character.”

— Joseph Heller

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PRESIDENT MIDAS’ TERRIBLE TOUCH

by Maureen Dowd

When I was little, my mom told me a Cinderella story that happened to be true.

Once upon a time, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson held a competition for the design of the house of our presidents. Well-established architects submitted proposals, but the winner was a young Irishman, James Hoban. He also supervised construction of part of the Capitol.

My dad, another Irishman, worked at the Capitol. And sometimes my mom and I would drive down and gaze at the White House and Capitol, so proud that an up-and coming Irishman could have beaten out all the other architects to play such a central role in conjuring the seats of our new Republic.

I would think about that when I grew up to be a White House reporter, interviewing President George H.W. Bush in the Oval Office. The room where it happens was a place of wonder, baked in history — good and bad. A famous old ivy, which had lasted through so many administrations and eavesdropped on so many remarkable conversations, was the main item on the mantel, flanked by porcelain vases. (Now there are nine gold decorative objects and counting.)

Back then, the room was understated and overwhelming. As Michael Douglas’s chief executive said in “The American President,” showing off the Oval Office, “The White House is the single greatest home court advantage in the modern world.”

Real power doesn’t need to shout. In fact, it can whisper.

But Donald Trump was shouting down to reporters on Tuesday as he surveyed his desecration from the White House roof. He looked at his Brutalist Rose Garden renovation, a stone slab with Florida-esque patio furniture and the site of the proposed $200 million ballroom, encroaching on the East Wing and encompassing 90,000 square feet, nearly twice the size of the White House residence.

Trump vowed to pay for the ballroom with private funds, which means, of course, that someone else will curry favor and pay.

(Trump bulldozed the Rose Garden, which Melania helped renovate, just so reporters covering his outdoor pronouncements and White House staffers would not sink into the grass.)

Trump has long been a human wrecking ball, but now his chaos has splattered onto the usually serene White House. He’s obsessively terraforming the place to be an extension of his attention-crazed id.

Ever since he escaped what he considered a drab existence in Queens, Trump has bedazzled his life — everything from tweezers to seatbelts to TV remotes were gilt. Even as president, he’s selling gold sneakers, gold watches and gold phones.

Now he has tarted up the Oval; it’s the modern version of worshiping the golden calf and just as profane.

Trump’s tacky rococo gold adornments are growing exponentially. He’s piling on more and more garish features — from cherubs to mantelpiece swirls — and sycophants add to the gold rush by bringing offerings to truckle to King Midas.

A groveling Tim Cook came to the Oval on Wednesday with a gift for the president: a glass plaque with a 24-karat gold base.

Trump is trying to turn the people’s house into a Saudi palace — “dictator chic.” It is symbolic of this president: He’s refashioning our democracy as an autocracy.

“In one year, we’ll celebrate 250 years of independence from a mad king,” David Axelrod told me. “Would you not give anything to invite Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln back to comment on what they’re seeing? It’s blasphemous.”

Trump is making the Justice Department a wholly owned subsidiary of Trump Inc., turning the F.B.I. into his personal, political police force, pursuing his foes with a Javert-like fever. Justice is investigating Letitia James and Adam Schiff, and another agency is investigating Jack Smith. After Democratic legislators left Texas to block Trump’s gerrymandering power grab there, and after Trump said the F.B.I. “may have to” get involved, a Republican senator from Texas said the bureau agreed to help locate the lawmakers. Trump sent his former lawyer, now deputy attorney general, to interview Ghislaine Maxwell, who was then summarily transferred to Club Fed amid whispers of a possible pardon. Brian Driscoll, who briefly served as acting head of the F.B.I., was dismissed because he tried to protect agents from Trump’s purge of anyone involved in investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. This, even as Jared Wise, a rioter who egged on the mob that day to “kill” the police, has been named an adviser to the Justice Department task force seeking vengeance against Trump’s perceived political foes. Trump slapped Brazil with a 50 percent tariff because the government is prosecuting his far-right buddy Jair Bolsonaro, known as “the Trump of the tropics,” for trying to overturn the election he lost.

The president’s unbridled gilt reflects his unbridled greed.

King Midas of legend paid for his vanity. He was horrified that he could not control the golden touch. He turned his daughter, his food and his drink into gold. Aristotle said his “vain prayer” led to starvation.

It is a lesson Trump will never learn: The flashiest is never the truest.

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ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

There are a lot of bright and serious members of Congress. But a lot (most) are really dumb. If you meet and talk to them it is shocking how dim witted and ignorant they are. Both parties are represented, but lately the Dems are trying to with the stupid sweepstakes.

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LEAD STORIES, SUNDAY'S NYT

In a Trump-Putin Summit, Ukraine Fears Losing Say Over Its Future

After Almost Losing Trump, Putin Gets His Ideal Meeting

Ukraine and Europe Project United Front Ahead of Summit

The Quiet Technocrat Who Enacts Putin’s Ruthless Agenda

Former Putin Aide Lost Power to Kiriyenko After Balking at Ukraine War

Key Takeaways From The Times’s Reporting on Putin’s Powerful Aide

Behind Europe’s Anguished Words on Gaza, a Flurry of Hard Diplomacy

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TELLING PEOPLE TO INVEST their hopes in the Democrats and future elections is like telling someone having a heart attack to take two aspirin and go to their regularly scheduled appointment with a really bad doctor in 2026 or 2028.

— Paul Street

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HOW THE 'BLOOD LIBEL' PARADOX KEEPS THE WEST SILENT ON ISRAEL'S GENOCIDE

The more depraved Israel’s actions, the more antisemitic it is to point out the truth. The painful reality is that, through Israel, the West can dress up boilerplate colonialism as a 'Jewish' project

by Jonathan Cook

There’s a dangerous paradox that helps to dissuade people, especially public figures, from speaking up even as Israel’s genocide in Gaza grows more horrifying by the day. Let us call it the “blood libel” paradox.

It works like this. In Medieval times, Jews were accused of murdering non-Jews, particularly children, to use their blood in the performance of religious rituals. Every time a Jew is accused of murdering a non-Jew, so the thinking goes, this endangers Jews by fuelling the very kind of antisemitism that ultimately led to the gas chambers of Auschwitz.

Responsible people, or at least those with a reputation to protect, therefore avoid making any statements that might contribute to the impression that Jews – or in this case, the soldiers of the Jewish state of Israel – are killing non-Jews.

If such criticisms are made, they must be carefully couched by western politicians, the media and public figures in language that makes the killing of non-Jews – in this case, Muslim and Christian Palestinians – appear reasonable.

Israel is simply “defending itself” in killing and maiming 100,000s of civilians in Gaza after Hamas’ one-day attack on 7 October 2023.

The enclave’s masses of dead innocents are just the unfortunate price paid to secure the “return of Israeli hostages” held by Hamas.

Israel’s active, months-long starvation of Gaza’s children is a “humanitarian crisis”, not a crime against humanity.

Anyone who dissents from this narrative is denounced as an antisemite, whether they be millions of ordinary people; every respected human rights organisation in the world, including the Israeli group B’Tselem; the World Health Organisation; the International Criminal Court; genocide scholars like Omer Bartov, himself an Israeli; and so on.

It is the perfect, self-reinforcing loop, one entirely divorced from the reality being live-streamed to us daily.…

https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/how-the-blood-libel-paradox-keeps

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