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ISOLATED THUNDERSTOMS are possible on Wednesday afternoon over the Trinity Horn. Generally cooler and calmer conditions will build for the end of the week with some more afternoon sun possible for the coastal areas. (NWS)
STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A balmy 56F with 86% humidity this Wednesday morning on the coast. Does "balmy" apply here? or do we need a bit warmer & a bit more humidity to qualify as "balmy"? (just buying time as I have nothing new to say with our forecast)
LOCAL EVENTS (this weekend)
GIGANTIC INCREASE IN WATER/SEWER RATES FOR HOPLAND
To whom it may concern:
The Hopland Public Utility District plans to increase our water rates by 100% over the next two years and ultimately by 200% in 5 to 7 years.
Local business people feel that there has been a mistake in the HPUD analysis.
The whole thing seems very fishy and the Hopland Public Utility District is not responding to our emails.
None of the news agencies in Ukiah or Hopland seem to be interested in covering the story.
Vernon Budinger
Hopland
NEW RECRUITS
The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office sponsored two recruits to attend the basic police academy at the Santa Rosa Junior College, who graduated on Thursday 8/21/2025.
Parker Del Fiorentino and Santiago Olea Vargas attended the 20-week training course and will begin their assignments and training at the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office.
There were 27 graduates who comprised the 217th Class at the Santa Rosa Junior College, Public Safety Training Center campus in Windsor, CA.
Please join Sheriff Kendall in congratulating Parker Del Fiorentino and Santiago Olea Vargas on their accomplishment of graduating from the police academy and their commitment to serving Mendocino County.
NO MORE COMPLAINT-DRIVEN ENFORCEMENT
August 17, 2025
Dear Supervisor Haschak and the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors,
When we spoke on the phone the other day I was quite upset and do not feel that I was able to clearly express my feelings about the complaint driven code enforcement policy.
In theory, I agree with the policy that code enforcement officials will not seek out violations, but will respond to complaints. That seems reasonable. In theory. In practice, it doesn’t seem to work so well. I am assuming that the policy was intended to gradually bring everyone up to code with the people who had really egregious violations that were harming their neighbors in some way being the first to be cited. Makes sense. Your neighbor has something going on that impinges on your ability to enjoy your own place, you have asked them to fix it, they don’t, you talk to your other neighbors, they don’t like it either, you get together and turn them in to code enforcement as a last resource and they are forced to make some changes. Fair enough. Nobody really likes to be either the complainant or the violator, but fair is fair.
Recently, I am not seeing things go this way.
In the past few months I have been the object of two different complaints. One at home, one at my business. At my home, we had one neighbor who turned in 8 different properties in our neighborhood anonymously. We all know who it was-he was angry at everyone and decided this was the way to retaliate. We have all lived together in our neighborhood for many years with no problems. We all keep to our side of the fence, argue at our road association meetings and are there for each other if we need to be. Otherwise, we leave each other alone and everything is fine. This one complaint has put everyone in a position of having to spend a huge amount of money that they don’t have in order to fix things that don’t affect anyone but themselves. I realize that I made decisions to do things without permits-some of which I was aware of and some not-and now I have to pay the piper. I get that. I don’t like it, but I get it. Making the complaint was petty and vindictive in my opinion, but I acknowledge that I was going around the rules and am trying to fix all the things. This whole thing is a drag and secondary really to the problem at my business.
My husband and I own Long Valley Feed & Supply in Laytonville. The feed store has been in business since 1947. It runs out of an old building that has lots of charm and isn’t super practical, but we do our best and make it work. We don’t make lots of money-but enough that it has supported our family (with my husband doing some other work on the side) for almost 22 years. I work 6 days a week mostly, I have had some employees, less now with the economy what it is, we don’t go on vacation barely ever, or out to dinner, but we make it work. I love my job, my customers are very supportive and I am fortunate and grateful to still be in business. However—last week I received a visit from ‘the code enforcement guys’. They walked in and I knew it was going to be a bad day. I asked if they were here to ruin my day and they said yes, they were. They told me that someone had anonymously turned in 100 complaints, mostly businesses, across Mendocino County. They were very nice, apologetic, said they really didn’t want to come to me because they know that I do a lot for the community and this was going to be hard. And yes, it will be hard. I have a few outbuildings that I use to store things-hay, grain etc. Those buildings will all need permits.
I have lots of customers in and out all day. The comments that I get are along the lines of “oh, nice, this place is so cute, I brought my out of town visitors to see the store because it’s great”. I have NEVER had a complaint from a neighbor except when I had some roosters that crowed at 3 in the morning, and we fixed that.
I have tried, in the past, to get permits to build new stuff. I spent thousands of dollars to put in a permitted septic system (there wasn’t one) and to apply for, and receive, a use permit, so I could apply for a building permit to put up a building to store hay in. I wanted to put in a bathroom to attach to the septic system, but in order to do that I would have to bring all kinds of other things up to current code-parking places, paving. I couldn’t do it. By the time the use permit was granted, the cost of putting the building up had increased to the point where it was not affordable. So I just stuck with what I had, got a porta-potty-and that’s where we are. I would love to have a beautiful (or even an ugly) barn to store hay in. I’d like to have an ADA accessible bathroom. I’d like to have all the things the way they should be and not have a hammer hanging over my head. But I’d also like to stay open. The feed store business is not going to make me rich. I struggle every month to make it all work. I do what I can, try to pay my part time people a reasonable amount per hour, pay my sales and property taxes, support my community in the best way possible, but it’s not a walk in the park.
If I have to bring everything up to current code-I will have to close the doors. There is no way that I can see to do it. I have had friends say-“oh, maybe you can get around it like this-or that” and while a really appreciate that they want to help me find a way-I don’t want to ‘try to get around it’. I just want to keep the doors open and go to work. I want Mendocino County to take a long hard look at the policies that they have put in place and decide if this is what they want in the county.
I want to live here. I want to have a little shop and donate straw to the Halloween Carnival and receive people’s packages when they live too far away for UPS or whatever and take the extra roosters and help reunite lost dogs with their people and employ a couple people and encourage people to raise chickens and have a spot where people run into each other and chat. I want to run the kind of place I want to have in our town.
I have seen a lot of businesses close down for all kinds of reasons. I really don’t want to be another one. I’m not hurting anyone. My ‘unpermitted buildings’ aren’t hazardous. They’re not going to fall on anyone. It’s just a cover so the hay doesn’t get wet and a little covered storage for the grain. None of the neighbors object-just some anonymous person with nothing better to do than drive around and make problems. Is that the kind of system we want in place?
I’m not saying anything that hasn’t been said before. But now it’s affecting me, so I am feeling it directly.
If this county can’t see a little more clearly how it’s policies are affecting its population, there’s going to be a lot less population to affect. How does this generate more revenue for the county? If I go out of business, there goes my sales tax revenue, that’s a couple less jobs, I can’t support local non profits with donations to their silent auctions, I can’t be a supplier for small livestock producers, and a business that has been in operation for 78 years will be gone.
I am absolutely not the most savvy business person, but I’ve managed, with help and support from my family, friends and customers and the community as a whole, to keep the doors open for 22 years. I’d hate to have to close because of someone who doesn’t even have the courage to say who they are.
In a perfect world I would like the Board of Supervisors to halt the complaint process and its repercussions for a little while and really look at the way it is being used. And while you’re at it-look at the Planning and Building permit process. Why not try to have a process that encourages improvement instead of punishing past behavior-a lot of which was not even a problem when it happened? The process that is in place now makes change so difficult and costly that it absolutely requires applicants to try to get around the system.
So please, please can you look at what you have done. Please.
Thank you,
Meadow Shere, Owner, Long Valley Feed & Supply
Laytonville
THE PHILO BOOKERY has finally arrived! Stop by for a visit in the Philo Post office. Artwork by Kerri Sanchez.
BEHIND CLOSED DOORS IN FORT BRAGG
To the Editor:
Members of the local government and the Fort Bragg Police Department have been acting in an unethical way for some time. Much of the public is aware but don’t know what they can do about it. Bernie Norvell, Lindy Peters and Chief Cervenka need to be called out and the public needs to be aware of what they have been doing and what they are trying to pull off now.
Bernie Norvell has been an advocate of Cervenka for some time. Bernie is the one who got him a salary completely out of line with the average for that position. He is the one who tried to place him as a back up city manager, while in his role as chief.
Many people have approached Council members and the City Manager with documentation, photos, etc. documenting the PD’s and Chief's immoral conduct. People have raised concerns during City Council meetings about the PD as well. Nothing was done about it
In addition to the immoral conduct by staff of the PD, the Chief has misused funds earmarked for specific purposes, such as Asset Forfeiture money used to paint the PD saying it was a safety issue, etc.
Regarding the immoral behavior by the PD, a local citizen finally filed a civil lawsuit stating the Chief was covering for his employees. The City Defendants filed. Motion to Dismiss and the judge denied the request (attached) and the case is ongoing
In the meantime, the City Manager finally opened an investigation on the Chief. About two days after the City Manager informed the Chief of the investigation, he responded that he would retire. However, he came back shortly after and told a someone in Human Resources that he would stay if Isaac Whippy, Scott Hockett and Marcia Rafanan stepped down. He was told that will not happen. Cervenka told Isaac Whippy he had been faced with a hostile working environment and he would sue the City. The Council offered him the three month salary, which was in his contract. The Chief rejected it
He then wrote his own press release announcing his retirement, which rarely occurs.
Bernie Norvell’s Letter to the Editor on MendoFever.com, singing Cervenka’s praises, while being fully aware of the ongoing issues with the PD since Norvell was mayor was interesting as well. This was placed online after while the lawsuit was in progress and the investigation had already been initiated.
In one of their many closed sessions, which have been used most recently to discuss the ongoing lawsuit details and investigation, Lindy Peters proposed they pay Cervenka an additional severance of six month’s salary of close to $100k of taxpayer money; which Rafanan and Hockett opposed vehemently. The taxpayers have no idea what is happening behind closed doors.
Captain O’Neil, who is the center of recent developments of his own, is slated to be Cervenka’s Interim Chief, then stay in the position long term. The same Council members who are discussing paying Cervenka the additional severance proposed Cervenka stay on as a consultant to assist O’Neil in his transition. This is what Captain O’Neil told the Sheriff’s Department.
The mayor, Lindy, Tess and Whippy's lack of transparency, by using closed sessions to hide behind has been abhorrent, arrogant and is an insult to the people in the community who elected them in good faith. The Chief, Norvell and Peters are trying to hide something and are banding together to do it.
This matter needs to be escalated appropriately. I hope this is a good place to start.
Name Withheld
Fort Bragg
HOWLING COYOTE’S 20TH ANNIVERSARY FRIDAY! PLUS RILEY LEMONS SATURDAY!
This Friday from 6–9pm, we’re beyond excited to bring the Howling Coyote Tour to our taproom for their 20th Anniversary showcase! For over two decades, this original singer-songwriter tour has been lighting up stages across the Southwest, and now it’s making a special stop here in Mendocino County.
We’ll be welcoming our dear friend Charlie Lustman, a powerhouse on keys and guitar whose one-man show at the Santa Monica Playhouse was a smash hit. Charlie’s toured all across Europe, cut his teeth in New York City, and sharpened his craft at Berklee in Boston. His songs are heartfelt, joyful, and impossible not to get swept up in.
Sharing the stage with him is the incredible Caelen Perkins. You might know him from Jacklen Ro on Lollipop Records, but now he’s stepping into a solo career that’s already turning heads. A graduate of Idyllwild Arts, Caelen’s energy, charm, and raw talent light up every room — and his acoustic style will bring an intimate spark to the night.
Pair these performances with our fresh craft beer and the beautiful valley vibes, plus some amazing food from Fairall’s Farm, and you’ve got the perfect Friday evening. Come howl with us and celebrate 20 years of unforgettable music!
Then Saturday keep the party going with Riley Lemons!
The beer park comes alive with his soulful sounds, bringing a perfect soundtrack to your holiday weekend. From 5-7pm, Riley’s rich voice and heartfelt originals set the stage for a relaxing evening under the Mendocino sky. To make it even better, we’re firing up the grill. That means juicy burgers and classic hot dogs will be sizzling alongside our world-class beers. Gather your crew, bring the pups, and soak in the festive vibes. No cover, family-friendly, and full of flavor, it’s everything you want from a Saturday at the brewery.
Boonville Fair Parade, 1962. Jim Doggett's Falcon pick-up, Jeanne Doggett on roof looking left, Chris Marcott p.u. bed looking left, Sue Marcott probably as Panther, Anna Avery. Know the rest but can't name.
FRANK HARTZELL RE MCN CHATLINE:
Everyone loves to debate national politics here. Why not local issues instead. We can do something about local politics and then when we do together, we can actually impact the wider world. Turn off the billion follower blogs and cable TV and tune in locally! I would suggest a topic of the day and putting some thinking and typing cells to work on that, even if we feel more like arguing about celebrities.
Things like—
Future of our hospital Assemblymember Chris Rogers. State Senator Mike McGuire. the mayor and council. the supervisors.
Caspar Forest
Logging- from a local perspective
Butterflies.
The broadband now being installed everywhere in FB
Skunk Train future
Local music.
Birds or bears, or dogs or starfish
Some issues people are arguing here are arguing by people who have only heard lies on Fox News or Joe Rogan. Forget all of the TV news and don't feed off national right or left. If you want to argue immigration, tell us how you think its helping or hurting the local scene based on actual facts, not made-up stuff from national sources who are lying to you and you somehow cant see it.
My opinion:
Ask yourself if you could change your mind on this? If not you are preaching, not discussing.. Analyze your sources of information and try to find fresh viewpoints and do your own research.. Think!
FISH FEST AT THE POINT ARENA PIER, this Sunday August 31, 12-6pm.
Music Lineup:
12:30pm — Funkasaurus
1:45 pm — Bryn and Blue Souls
2:45 pm — Burnt
3:50 pm — Buckridge Racket Club
Plus great food, family activities, and more!
WHEN MENDO’S FIRST GRAMMAR SCHOOL BURNED DOWN
by Carol Dominy
The first Mendocino Grammar School was a landmark in the town’s history, serving local children for more than four decades. Before it was built, students attended classes in a small schoolhouse near the corner of Ukiah and Lansing Streets. By the early 1880s, the community had outgrown that building, and in 1884, the school board purchased more than four acres of land at the northeast corner of School and Pine Streets from the estate of Captain David Lansing. A San Francisco architect designed the new school, and local contractor W. R. Hamilton built it for $6,500. Completed in 1885, the structure was one of Mendocino’s largest public buildings, complete with four classrooms, a library, cloakrooms, and an impressive bell tower.
For many years, the school was the center of community life. Its grounds hosted baseball games, social gatherings, and grand balls that raised funds for improvements. Parents and townspeople contributed labor, money, and landscaping to beautify the site. The building was carefully maintained and modernized over time. In 1925, modern plumbing was installed, and a hot-air furnace replaced the individual stoves that once heated the classrooms.
Tragedy struck just four years later. On December 3, 1929, shortly after students returned from recess, smoke was spotted in one of the classrooms. Teachers quickly evacuated the children, who marched out in orderly lines under the direction of Principal Nicks. The town’s fire engine was brought to the scene, but the blaze had begun in the space between the ceiling and roof, making it nearly impossible to fight. Without water pressure nearby, firefighters could not contain the flames, dooming the building. When the fire was over, only the bell tower and the central brick chimney remained, the latter still bearing its “1885” plaque.
A stray horse may have played a part in the disaster. Earlier that day, a horse from a nearby farm had wandered onto the school grounds. During recess, children chased it, and the animal ran up the steps and through the building. Decades later, former student Frank Shine recalled, “About thirty minutes later, smoke started billowing from the attic. Mr. Dietz, the janitor, had a big fire going in the wood stove, and when the horse ran through the hall, it shook the pipes loose - and next thing we knew, the grammar school was burning down.”
Though the destruction of the Mendocino Grammar School was a great loss, the community quickly rallied. A bond issue was passed soon after, and in 1930 a new grammar school was constructed on the same property. That building still stands today, repurposed as Mendocino’s Community Center.
(KelleyHouseMuseum.org)
CATCH OF THE DAY, Tuesday, August 26, 2025
DEBORAH ANDERSON, 53, Ukiah. Controlled substance, failure to appear.
CARLOS BANDERAS-CAMPOS, 53, Ukiah. Metal knuckles.
JESSICA BAUER, 37, Ukiah. Failure to appear.
JOY CUNNINGHAM, 44, Mendocino. Failure to appear.
IMAN DALBOKAMAR, 24, Potter Valley. DUI-alcohol&drugs.
PETE GONZALES, 23, Fort Bragg. Unspecified offense.
JOHN HOAGLEN, 40, Covelo. Parole violation, probation revocation.
ARTHUR JUDICE JR., Ukiah. Petty theft with two or more priors.
NATHANIEL KUGLER, 22, Fairfield. Under influence, resisting.
CORDUROY MAYER, 23, Willits. Disorderly conduct-alcohol.
DENA MORRIS, 63, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, parole violation. (Frequent flyer.)
BROOKLYN NEWCOMB, 28, Bend, Oregon/Ukiah. Controlled substance, paraphernalia.
JOHN PALACIOS, 56, Ukiah. Attempted car theft, vehicle tampering, probation revocation.
TROY THORNTON, 29, Willits. Controlled substance, contempt of court, failure to appear, probation revocation, resisting.
A ‘LIVING WAGE’ WON’T PRODUCE RESPONSIBLE ADULTS
Editor:
Imagine a young person jumps into “adulthood,” having never worked hard for things wanted, with an entry-level job, gets married and starts a family (like a responsible person). Also imagine one (or both) of these “adults” never finished high school or attended Santa Rosa Junior College. They have cellphones and cars, but never held part-time jobs before jumping into adulthood. Is it any wonder that some adults end up with no real skills or abilities — stuck in dead-end $7.25 per hour jobs?
If older, wiser, responsible adults don’t teach our young to prepare for true adulthood, we will always have working poor people stuck in low-paying jobs. If we raise the minimum wage to a living wage (“Make the minimum wage a living wage,” Letters, Aug. 18), there would be no temporary or part-time jobs for students finishing their schooling (or gaining skills through internships or apprenticeships). I don’t think we can legislate responsibility or patience (to eliminate jumping into adulthood).
We have to do a better job of linking (in young people’s minds) why they go to school and obtain skills (through 4-H, FFA, internships or apprenticeships) with a good adulthood experience.
Diane H. Davis
Penngrove
ICE OFFICERS SHOULD BE ACCOUNTABLE FOR BEHAVIOR
Editor,
I am writing in response to the recent article regarding the Trump administration’s threat of sending federal troops to Oakland.
I am equally concerned about the threat of masked officers from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency appearing to raid schools and farms. Some of these incarcerations of workers and even children definitely appear to be illegal.
I wonder when Congress, the courts and the American public will finally have seen enough. We should all, Democrats and Republicans alike, be very afraid of these continuing and escalating aggressive tactics, especially since these “soldiers” are apparently so ashamed of what they are doing they have to hide their faces.
Noel Robertson
Fairfax
JR MICHAEL REDDING
File this under "What Could Possibly Go Wrong?"
The president of our beloved utility, PG&E, is Patricia Poppe. She made these remarks at a recent forum of the World Economic Forum (I wish she hadn't gone in the first place.):
"Demand management with modern technology can be automated,” said Poppe. “We shouldn’t have to send a text message.”
This statement was made in the context of discussing how AI-powered smart grid technology could automatically manage energy demand by controlling household appliances and electric vehicle batteries, reducing the need for manual interventions like text alerts.
PG&E in my opinion is just an extension of Newsom and the Democrat supermajority in Sacramento. Which means PG&E should never have this ability. I'd say the same of Republicans.
ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY
I wonder what would happen to me if I illegally entered Honduras or Sudan or Nicaragua or Mexico and publicly burned that country’s flag at a demonstration.
The 1989 SCOTUS decision was outrageous and just plain wrong.
And btw the flag does not represent the government. It represents the country.
“Loyalty to the country always. Loyalty to the government when it deserves it.” – Mark Twain
Citizens should learn to differentiate between the two.
If you hate this country so much that you are in favor of burning its flag, you really should leave. You’ll be so much happier.
IF
by Rudyard Kipling (circa 1895)
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!
GIANTS BEAT CUBS as Chapman homers and Verlander notches 1st home win
by Shayna Rubin
With the San Francisco Giants’ return home, Matt Chapman decided to switch up his walk-up song. He’d previously gone with recent hits by Kendrick Lamar and Travis Scott, but Tuesday night he picked a throwback, the Talking Heads hit “Burning Down the House.”
Chapman said he just wanted to change with the Giants in their music-themed City Connect jerseys, but it didn’t take long to realize the 1980s classic had juice. Feeling better timed at the plate since his return from the injured list Saturday, his two-run home run — his first since July 27 — was the dagger in the Giants’ 5-2 win over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night.
He’s sticking with the song.
“When you hit a homer and change your walkup song, you usually stick with it,” Chapman said. “At least for a little while.”
A change in Chapman’s walk-up song was one element to a noticeable energy shift in energy at Oracle Park. Before a roadtrip through San Diego and Milwaukee, the Giants had been toiling in a major home slump, losing 15 of 18 games there. Momentum from a series win against the Brewers — in which they ran into big hits that had eluded them — carried over into the series opener against the Cubs.
Chapman’s two-run home run put a bow on a night full of timely hitting against one of baseball’s toughest left-handed starters in Matthew Boyd. Heliot Ramos had three hits, including a game-tying RBI double in the fifth inning. That put him in position to score the go-ahead run on Rafael Devers’ opposite-field bloop single between converging defenders.
Wilmer Flores gave the Giants an early lead with a solo home run in the second inning, alleviating any stress the dugout might’ve had about their bleak past against left-handed starters.
“Flo’s homer helped quite a bit early on and relieves that ‘here we go again’ feeling we might’ve had against lefties earlier in the year,” manager Bob Melvin said.
The shifting tides were so strong that it redirected Justin Verlander’s fate.
Verlander said his loss in San Diego last week was one of the most frustrating of his career. It’s been a familiar feeling for the veteran starter this year. He’s been off at points, searching for the right mechanical tweaks. And when he finds his rhythm he’s either received very little run support or sloppy defense behind him, as was the case against the Padres.
Seven times this season Verlander had exited a game in line for a win and only once — in Atlanta — did he notch the victory. He took that familiar walk on Tuesday, holding a tough Cubs lineup to two runs over six innings on 101 pitches with a pair of walks and five strikeouts. This time, there was no shoddy defense, enough run support and a sturdy (though injured) bullpen to guarantee his first home his first win at Oracle Park and second win of the entire season.
“That was a well fought game, the boys did a good job scoring against a tough pitcher in Matt,” Verlander said. “I haven’t been here that long, but the Giant way is good hitting and defense. And timely hitting. If that’s your motto, you have to play clean. Do little things the right way and good things happen. We’ve shown we’re capable, just have to keep doing that and to expect that from each other.”
The win was not only Verlander’s first at home as a Giant, but was also his first at Oracle Park in his 20-year career — one of his two career starts in San Francisco before signing with the Giants was Game 1 of the 2012 World Series.
“No offense,” Verlander said. “But I wish I had one in 2012.”
A second win has him at 264 in his career, an inch closer to the exclusive 300 club. Adding to the record books, he passed Walter Johnson for ninth all-time in strikeouts when he got Kyle Tucker swinging in the first inning on a changeup with 12 inches of horizontal break, the 3,516th of his career. He’s now at 3,520, 14 shy of Giants Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry for eighth all-time.
Though he tends to get lost in his craft and has been vocally frustrated with the way his season has gone, it doesn’t escape Verlander that he’s leaping Hall of Famers and baseball icons on this leaderboard.
“Maybe when I rest my head on my pillow tonight I’ll be able to take it in — or maybe in the offseason,” Verlander said. “I try to do a better job of being more present. Last few years, especially coming back from Tommy John, it’s been an emphasis of mine to pay attention a little bit more — not only on the field but off the field with my family.
“You can get so stuck in the mindset of grinding, and this year has been really tough for that. It’s been hard not to crawl into my own shell. My family helps a lot off the field and we have a great group of guys here.”
(sfchronicle.com)
THE BOSS SPEAKS
by Fred Gardner
I’m gonna charge tariffs
You’re gonna have to pay
And pray for your sad little
4 0 1 K
You’ll do it my way
I’m gonna close food banks
No more surplus cheese
Until I hear thank you
And pretty pretty please
From down on your knees
I’m gonna make you pretend
That you love the Jews
I’m gonna make you depend
On Fox News
I’ll ban the blues
Who needs public schools?
Who wants integration?
Why should we cancel
The Birth of a Nation
Instead of Fruitvale Station?
I’ll deport Latinos
Who have bold tattoos
Then I’ll sink Green Peace
Torpedo their canoes
They were born to lose
Who says the glaciers
Can’t be bought and sold?
Greenland is but real estate
Servers need the cold
Denmark will fold
I’ll own the Gaza beach front
Bibi’s clearing space
I’ll let them build a temple
To glorify their race
And keep them in their place
I’ve got the Orthodox
Priests making room
For me to build a grand hotel
On top of Lenin’s tomb
Putin is my choom
I’ve got the Saudi princes
I’ve got El Salvador
I’m never satisfied
I always want more
And more and more and more
I’m gonna mine crypto
I’m gonna mint wealth
I’m gonna rewrite the script
Why bomb with stealth?
Why pay for public health?
I’ll use the Bill of Rights
To wipe my big white ass
The Second Amendment?
That I’ll give a pass
To show some class
I’m gonna live forever
Which might not take that long
I’ll see the end of everything
And sing the final song
(I’m never ever wrong)
HARD FOUGHT: THE WINNER OF THE MEAN MR. MUSTACHE LYRICS CONTEST
Numerous runners-up trail two runaway leaders in a photo finish in the Beatles-themed Thomas Friedman contest. Who won the Rollie Fingers jersey.
by Matt Taibbi
Wow. There are far more witty writers and poets lurking in the substack site’s readership than I suspected. The entries in last week’s “Write the best lyrics for a Thomas-Friedman-themed spoof of ‘Mean Mr. Mustard’” contest were numerous and inspired. Recapping:
The Runners-Up
The idea of the contest was to rewrite the lyrics of the Beatles song “Mean Mr. Mustard” to create a Friedman-themed “Mean Mr. Mustache.” A few complaints came in suggesting the contest itself didn’t quite scan — “Mustard and Mustache” apparently don’t have exactly matching rhythm to some — but the syllable count seemed close enough according to my Weird Al style guide, so it was, Game on. Many of the entries were contenders on a few lines alone, and to those writers we’re sending “Got Stache?” t-shirts. I detect a possible newspaper background for Mary K.H., who wrote:
Recycles columns of old,
Leans on the soul that he sold.
Everything goes under the fold.
Meanwhile, David L. out-lexiconned your author, rhyming two words I’ve never used in “visqueen” and “rapine”:
He rolls them up in see-through visqueen
And cooks them in his frying machine
So he can use them for his latest rapine.
Ben R.W. got to a rhyme by spelling out the letters of a word, creating a Fabolous-meets-Wu-Tang-meets-Beatles-meets-Friedman effect:
Tryin’ to export democracy
’Specially to the Middle East
Even if people D-I-E.
Doug R. went hard to the paint with Spews nonsense with Mika and Joe/It’s Ok, it fits with the show, while Michael R. worked in a joke about Bret Stephens and Friedman with Takes him in to scowl at Big Vlad/Only take that he’s ever had!
Amy M. gets a t-shirt for Creeps up the assholes of toads; that could have rhymed with Jeremy W.’s Keeps a giant pole up his coach.
Many others were deserving, but it came down to two in the end:
The Winner(s)
Two entries had me laughing out loud multiple times. One wasn’t even technically an entry, since I don’t believe “Dunboy2020” sent in his lyrics from the article comments. The flattery for Walter and me at the end was nice, but the eye-catcher was the rhyme of a Swiftian land, which may never have been done:
“Mixed metaphors are his bag/Thinks we live in Brobdingnag/Gray lady is a rotten old hag.”
I can’t give two autographed Rollie jerseys, but Dunboy can claim a “Da Bears” sweatshirt if he (she?) so chooses, by writing to [email protected].
In the end the Rollie award has to go to Christopher W., who had two laugh-out-loud triplets. The judging here may strike some as unfair since I never disclosed that I’m inclined to laugh at serial killer imagery. Also, I love the bold wrong-tense dismount:
Creeps out the girls in HR
Tries to get them into his car
Apologist is just what he are
I also liked this because you have to pronounce every little syllable in journalism, even the -m, to make the second line scan:
He thinks that he is nobody’s fool
Yellow journalism is cool
It paid for his house and his pool
Winners, please send your addresses to the same email. Thanks, everyone, that was fun.
MAMA TRIED
by Merle Haggard (1968)
The first thing I remember knowing
Was a lonesome whistle blowing
And a young'un's dream of growing up to ride
On a freight train leaving town
Not knowing where I'm bound
And no one could change my mind but Mama tried
One and only rebel child
From a family meek and mild
My mama seemed to know what lay in store
Despite all my Sunday learning
Towards the bad I kept on turning
Till Mama couldn't hold me anymore
And I turned twenty-one in prison doing life without parole
No one could steer me right but Mama tried, Mama tried
Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading I denied
That leaves only me to blame 'cause Mama tried
Dear old Daddy, rest his soul
Left my mom a heavy load
She tried so very hard to fill his shoes
Working hours without rest
Wanted me to have the best
She tried to raise me right but I refused
And I turned twenty-one in prison doing life without parole
No one could steer me right but Mama tried, Mama tried
Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading I denied
That leaves only me to blame 'cause Mama tried
AS WITH SO MUCH ELSE, it’s not about the individuals, it’s about the system. The unjust system upon which the Zionist state is based has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that it can never exist without nonstop violence and abuse, so that system needs to be dismantled and replaced with something radically different, just as was the case with Nazi Germany and apartheid South Africa. And just as was the case with Nazi Germany and apartheid South Africa, external pressures will probably need to play a role in forcing that change to take place.
— Caitlin Johnstone
LEAD STORIES, WEDNESDAY'S NYT
The A.I. Spending Frenzy Is Propping Up the Real Economy, Too
Full Weight of American Tariffs Slams Into Effect Against India
FEMA Suspends Staff Who Signed a Letter Criticizing Trump
A Spate of Fake Shooting Calls Disrupts College Campuses
What Does It Take to Get Men to See a Doctor?
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Announce Their Engagement
A TEEN WAS SUICIDAL. CHATGPT WAS THE FRIEND HE CONFIDED IN.
by Kashmir Hill
Two grieving parents have filed the first known wrongful death case against OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.
Their 16-year-old son initially used ChatGPT for help with schoolwork. But over time he confided in it more, and he eventually told it that he was thinking of ending his own life. They discussed suicide extensively. When he asked for advice on nooses, the bot furnished suggestions. He later hanged himself.
“This tragedy was not a glitch or an unforeseen edge case — it was the predictable result of deliberate design choices,” the lawsuit says.
The suit may serve as a test case for an area of the law that does not yet have much precedent: When a machine with some capacity for decision-making has a role in a person’s death, who bears the responsibility?…
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/26/technology/chatgpt-openai-suicide.html
BODIES BY JOE
by Alma Guillermoprieto
Sometimes in the depths of winter, when I consider trudging through a cutting wind and the promise of sleet to a strenuous 50-minute session on the machines for muscular improvement invented by Joseph Pilates more or less a century ago, I remind myself that the legendary movement teacher was famous for wearing tight black shorts and canvas slippers—and nothing else—not only at the Manhattan studio in Hell’s Kitchen where he taught for so many years, but outdoors as well, no matter the weather, on his daily jogs around the neighborhood. And remembering this I tell myself that if he could venture into even New York’s worst blizzards in tiny shorts, then I certainly can bundle up and get myself to a Pilates session, knowing that after a stint on the Reformer, followed by the Cadillac and an occasional ten minutes on the Barrel or even the dreaded Chair, I will emerge a physically and morally improved human being.
Pilates died in 1967, and I am grateful to have missed the opportunity to train with the master. There was the showering thing, for example: according to John Howard Steel, a devoted pupil who wrote a fair-minded and helpful book about him, ‘Caged Lion,’ Joe (everyone called him Joe) insisted that immediately after a session students leap into a cold shower, where he would occasionally make an unannounced appearance, scrubbing them down vigorously, front and back, with a stiff brush. There was, in the studio, his prim, unsmiling wife, Clara, dressed in a white nurse-like uniform. There were the endlessly repeated stories he told about his youth in Germany as a boxer and his years in an internment camp for German nationals in northern England, where he devised his machines using springs from the beds for inmates with tuberculosis and other diseases — stories that are hard to prove but that some of his followers stand by.
A compulsive self-mythologizer, Pilates said he was born in 1880, though he was actually three years younger. He said he had developed his technique in order to help wounded soldiers in World War I. There is no evidence that this is so. He said he was of Greek background, a direct descendant of Pontius Pilate, and a victim of bullying because of that traitorous origin. Again, some of his most devoted followers have tried and failed to find the evidence for this, as we learn in books like ‘Hubertus Joseph Pilates’ by an obsessive Spanish couple, Javier Perez Pont and Esperanza Aparicio Romero. Pilates trainers themselves, they treat us to the untos and begats not only of the Pilates family but of Joe’s in-laws and even several of his collaborators, all the way back to the 17th century. We get a meticulous description of an English internment camp for Germans during World War I, only to learn that it is not the camp where Pilates spent four and a half years. There’s a technical description of a tank, even though he was never a soldier, and so forth. And it’s no use skipping around in the book, because buried somewhere in that mass of facts we find the date of his marriage to his first wife and entire chapters of useful and carefully sourced information.
According to Perez Pont and Aparicio Romero, Hubertus Joseph Pilates was born into a typical German working-class family in the small town of Monchengladbach. His father was a locksmith, his mother a housewife. The family moved from apartment to apartment, always in the same neighborhood, whenever they were unable to scratch up enough money for the rent. The elder Pilates obtained a membership at the local turnverein, or community health club — a great German invention—and soon his firstborn son, who was weakly and asthmatic, was training compulsively there. Josef, as he liked to call himself until he immigrated to the US, worked for some time as a brewer in the local beer factory. He married, had a child, became a widower, married again and had another child, and displayed a strange ability to move between worlds. In 1913 or so, looking for opportunity and sensing his country’s gradual collapse into war, he moved to London. It would appear that he did some boxing there and also performed what was then a popular circus act, dusting himself with vaseline and flour and striking “Greek poses” to show off his muscled physique.
This adventure lasted six months. He spent the war years on the Isle of Man in an overcrowded and sordid internment camp.
Pilates may or may not have saved thousands of his fellow prisoners from the Spanish flu, as he claimed. Perez Pont and Aparicio Romero point out that the absence of flu in the camp was more likely owing to its remoteness. There is no question, though, that Pilates was already thinking about machine-aided exercise during that time.
Back in Germany after the war he tried to find success, first in staged boxing exhibitions and then as a match promoter. Simultaneously he started identifying himself as a Heilkundiger, which Perez Pont and Aparicio Romero translate as an “expert in the science of natural healing,” and he landed a job as a physical education instructor with the Hanover police.
(New York Review of Books)
Sabbaths 2008, IV.
by Wendell Berry
A man is walking in a field
and everywhere at his feet
in the short grass of April
the small purple violets
are in bloom. As the man walks
the ground drops away,
the sunlight of day becomes
a sort of darkness in which
the lights of the flowers rise
up around him like
fireflies or stars in a sort
of sky through which he walks.
Interesting anonymous letter you published today in which alleged closed-session discussion and action by the Fort Bragg City Council was “revealed”. Closed session is just that. So if this author thinks they know what happened? That means a Council member has violated the Brown Act. And that is a much bigger story than these allegations.
if “name withheld” is going to make accusations of that magnitude, I think the name should be public ?
What’s maybe more curious is why there seems to be no previous reporting locally (so far as I know) of a federal lawsuit being filed.
Apparently federal civil rights laws are alleged to have been violated. What are the specifics claims (aside from the couple mentioned by anonymous)?
The current federal civil rights case against the City of Fort Bragg and its Police Department that is in Federal Court in Eureka is public information. You can get court filings and read relevant documents. I suspect that after this that some local newshound will look into things and report on that case at least.
I have to agree with Lindy, violating the confidentiality of closed sessions is a serious concern and we have closed sessions for a reason. It is important that the City Council and City Manager be able to discuss litigation with the City Attorney and other personnel matters involve people’s privacy rights. We have strong transparency laws in California but there have to be limits in certain confidential and sensitive matters. No one should bash the City for discussing these types of things in private, particularly since the information will eventually become public (e.g., any settlement agreement related to particular litigation).
Thanks to the AVA for the various artworks that are posted. I’m really enjoying them.
Casey Hartlip Pinetop AZ
So Lindy, are you implying that the allegations are true?
Trump on Mount Rushmore
There are petitions at hand to deny Trump’s boorish wish that his face be added to Mount Rushmore. Americans can respond in writing to this madness, a small thing among his larger crimes now. Here’s my contribution:
VAINGLORY!
Trump on Mount Rushmore—
Imagine how lovely, how fine
America cannot wait—
That face chiseled for all time!
But really, it’s a sorry thought
He yearns, dreams, pleads—
Yet the man’s many bad acts
Assure us he can’t pass muster.
Lying, stealing, cheating, bragging,
Grabbing women here and there,
Breaking laws, rules and norms—
A sordid, unfit president—that we swear.
A new companion for the great ones—
Roosevelt and Jefferson,
Washington and Lincoln?
Please, God—we’re not that dumb!
So a resounding “NO” to Trump–
No room on Mount Rushmore
Quoth The Raven:
“Nevermore-Nevermore!”
All good points made by Meadow Shere from Laytonville. To say we have a dysfunctional building permit process is an understatement. We need to get back to the fundamental question, do we need building permits in the first place? I think what we will find is, yes for some things. No for most others, or at most a permit process that involves getting a permit on line, at little to no cost. CalFire does this with getting a burn permit, and it seems to work.
Most construction is done without a permit, even though a permit is legally required. Is this creating a societal emergency? Does the fire department have to respond to illegally done constructed failures? Rarely. Shoddy electrical work, is a notable exception, along with a few other examples. Otherwise shoddy work is the homeowners problem, and not anyone else’s. And shoddy work happens with a permit as well.
What’s with people turning their neighbors in for construction done without a permit? To those who like turning others in, I have one question, how much that you are doing or have done is illegal as well? You most likely have lost track, or “that’s different”.
+1 Much more common sense grounded in reality is needed. Thank you, George.
I want to let everyone know that at this week’s Laytonville Municipal Advisory Council meeting, we’ll be discussing developments with the county-wide Planning and Building Code Enforcement issue, where an anonymous person has papered P&B with over a hundred separate county-wide complaints alleging that businesses and individuals have allegedly violated building code provisions. Evidently, PBS Code Enforcement treat individuals and entities who file such complaints to do so “anonymously”, as is the case with those filing complaints regarding the county’s failed Cannabis Ordinance. One of the folks affected by these mass building code filings is Meadow Shere, co-owner with husband Paolo of the Long Valley Feed & Supply in Laytonville. Meadow has written a very informative letter-to-the-editor appearing on page 2 of this week’s Observer, so be sure and read it. As I said, the LAMAC will be discussing the issue at our Wednesday, August 27th meeting, at which Meadow will be present to address the issue. Two Supervisors, John Haschak and Bernie Norvell, will also be at the meeting, and I will report back to you next week.
Jim Shields
Chairman
LAMAC
Wonder if the 100 + code enforcement complaints are from Planning and Building staff who were directed to do proactive code enforcement to increase permit revenue?
Lindy Peters-this information has been circulating throughout the community for weeks maybe even months!
True but some of this so-called information isn’t even accurate, from what I understand, and some if it is new. For example, the Chief receiving six month’s salary as severance is actually part of his employment agreement with the City, not some secret back-room deal they just cooked up. I know this because I objected to that aspect of his contract when it was discussed by the City Council because he was already employed by the City and I thought we had no benefit from paying severance we might not have had to otherwise. This isn’t some big secret deal, it was literally negotiated in advance and agreed to by the City Council at the time, which involved all of the current council except Scott Hockett. Marcia voted to approve it just like Lindy, Tess, and Jason. Isaac wasn’t the City Manager then so he had nothing to do with it. People need to check their facts before they accuse people of secret shenanigans. I am often one of the first to call out things when I think they are wrong but this is not one of those times.
Near was i can tell from the anonymous note and the Google AI, there’s not too much specific identifying of the lawsuits’ causes of action:
“Yes, a federal lawsuit was filed in the Northern District of California against Chief Neil Cervenka and the City of Fort Bragg, among other defendants, in Kisliuk v. City of Fort Bragg et al (Case Number 1:24-cv-03440). The case involves claims of alleged civil rights violations under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, with a Third Amended Complaint filed in May 2025, though the specific details and nature of the lawsuit’s allegations remain unclear in the provided summaries.
Case Details
Case Name: Kisliuk v. City of Fort Bragg et al.
Court: U.S. District Court, Northern District of California.
Docket Number: 1:24-cv-03440.
Filing Date: The case was filed in 2024.
Plaintiff(s): Daniel Kisliuk.
Defendant(s): Includes Neil Cervenka, City of Fort Bragg, and Mendocino County, among others.
Nature of Suit: Other Civil Rights.
Cause of Action: 42 U.S.C. § 1983 Civil Rights Act.
Recent Development: On May 7, 2025, the court granted a motion to file a Third Amended Complaint.
What It Means
This is a civil rights lawsuit against Chief Cervenka and other entities.
The plaintiff claims violations of federal civil rights laws.
The case is moving forward in the federal court system, with an amended complaint recently filed.”
You can download the actual court filings (for a fee) and read up on the details, which are only allegations at this point since the lawsuit is ongoing. That said, what I have read is pretty disturbing if it is true.
Lindy Peters need to cite exactly what aspect of the Brown Act is being violated by a City Council member for leaking to the press or to the public the rank corruption going on behind closed doors in these so called “closed sessions” of the Fort Bragg City Council.
I believe Lindy is referring to California Government Code section 54963, which can be viewed at https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=54963.&lawCode=GOV
1 – This is NOT the Brown Act
2 – Divulging corruption or malfeasance in a “Closed Session” is NOT a crime
3 – The bottom line of your posted CA Gov Code 59463 states:
“(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit disclosures under the whistleblower statutes contained in Section 1102.5 of the Labor Code or Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 53296) of Chapter 2 of this code.”
In other words, “whistleblowing” against corruption is legal.
. . .
Good Morning Mendo, ☀️🌷
Re, anonymous letter
If this is true, been played, hook, line & sinker!
If the people behind it are playing these kinds of games, how much can the community really trust the system they built? That includes the CRU which as I have said many times has one redeeming quality, hand holding.
mm 💕
Here’s the statute that’s the basis for lawsuit….from what Jacob says it takes a fee to see details for filed cases
“42 U.S.C. § 1983 is a section of the United States Code that allows individuals to sue state and local government officials who have deprived them of their constitutional rights or federal statutory rights while acting “under color of law”. This law provides a way to seek legal redress, such as monetary damages or injunctions, for these violations, covering various rights like free speech, due process, and protection against unreasonable searches.
What it means:
Civil Rights Lawsuit:
42 U.S. Code § 1983 is a civil rights statute that creates a cause of action for individuals whose rights have been violated.
“Under Color of Law”:
This refers to the misuse of authority granted by a state or local government, such as a police officer or other public official.
Deprivation of Rights:
The government official must have deprived the person of rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the U.S. Constitution or federal laws.
Examples of Violations:
This can include violations of freedom of speech, the right to due process, protection against excessive force by police, and other constitutional rights.
Key Aspects:
Liability:
The law makes the person acting under color of law liable to the injured party.
Remedies:
Plaintiffs can seek damages for their injuries, injunctive relief (an order to stop certain actions), and attorney’s fees.
Origin:
The statute was passed as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1871, partly in response to abuses by the Ku Klux Klan in the Southern states. “
Another way to get access to the court filings would be to file a Public Records Act Request with the City of Fort Bragg for all court filings related to that case. The City would have them all too as a party to the case and they can’t and don’t charge for public records. You can email [email protected] or use the online tool at: https://cityoffortbraggca.nextrequest.com/
All the details are here:
https://cases.justia.com/federal/district-courts/california/candce/1:2024cv03440/430935/63/0.pdf
It all started when the cops tricked him away from his car so that they could tow it. They chatted over the radio about his reported missing cat being found injured at a location, knowing he listened to the scanner. The car was his shelter and had all his belongings. That’s just the start of a chain of events.
The latter part of the story re the “verbal hold order” being alleged to deny his release after he paid bail seems to be a stipulated fact too so knowing that happened creates unease (of course) but there’s no risk of a Trumpian DOJ filing charges i suspect.
Hiya Mike, ☀️😎
I looked at the filings, and while the details vary between documents, the core point is the same: the plaintiff is alleging constitutional violations while he was a homeless guest at Hospitality House. He wasn’t just anywhere, he was a homeless guest at Hospitality House, a shelter that was working hand-in-hand with police through CRU. That connection is what makes this case so important.
mm 💕
Looks like he and the cops extensively interacted with him sometimes legally filming police actions. The plaintiff in this federal lawsuit says he listened to the scanner alot.
The police creating the cat ruse so they could tow his car is not exactly a legit or professional way to go about things.
The “verbal hold order” episode is a criminal act, a very serious one.
Mike,
That phrase isn’t in the filings, but I get what you’re pointing to. What he’s saying is the police told him to stay put, and that counts as being detained. They’re allowed to do that if they’ve got probable cause, but his whole point is they didn’t. That’s why the judge let that part move forward in court.
Definitely will be interesting to see what comes out.
mm 💕
Hi Mazie,
The phrase comes from what was revealed in a court hearing re his 2nd arrest when he was told by a jail deputy that there was a “verbal hold order” disallowing his payment of the bail. The judge noted there was no such thing and freed him. This arrest was due to him not moving 300 feet away from the cops after being told to do so by cops detaining a woman and her child. He had gone there to film the action when he heard it on the scanner. He had just gotten out of jail from the first arrest for making a threat after they towed his car and was in a motel. His 2nd arrest seems due to not moving back fast enough from scene he was filming.
All of this is described in above pdf I linked. (Looks like original filing.)
Thanks Mike,
That makes sense now, the “verbal hold order” part was thrown out, but the case still moves forward on other alleged violations that happened while he was a homeless guest at Hospitality House tied in with CRU and the police.
mm 💕
That bail issue was dealt with in our local court when the jail here refused to release him, citing a verbal hold order despite him paying bail and the bond people here finding no hold order. The local judge released him. I guess the cops were angry that he said he wanted to kill them. He was of course upset they tricked him away from his car which they had towed. I wonder how he’s doing now and his whereabouts.
“shelter that was working hand-in-hand with police through CRU. That connection is what makes this case so important.”
Your note seems to be pointing to a key element in all this. Though they need to carefully sort this all out in federal court. The ground seems to be shifting where the “tough guy love” approach to homeless people is being adopted in this state.
Mike, 🌷
Exactly, and that’s the shift that scares me, police are being placed at the center of homelessness and mental illness, even though they admit they’re not trained for it and repeatedly insist it’s not their job.
mm 💕
That’s correct!
The shift has been recent following the related Supreme Court ruling overturning a Des Moines appeal court ruling that Obama and Holder had supported decriminalizing having no home.
That Obama era ruling cited the 8 th amendment prohibiting cruel stuff: they noted people have to sleep somewhere.
Mike,
Yes… people do have to sleep somewhere, just not here or over there, or in a house. You can call me Ms..Suess!!! 🤣🥰
And on top of that we also have public policing of homelessness via Facebook groups.
I do not see any of this getting any better at all.
mm 💕
“THE BOSS SPEAKS”
Excellent! Especially like the last 2 stanzas. Good Job, Fred Gardner.
Hope you sent a copy to the White House.
FALSE FLAG SYNTHETIC HYPOCRISY DISTRACTION
RE: If you hate this country so much that you are in favor of burning its flag, you really should leave. You’ll be so much happier.
WEAR IT OUT FOR DEMOCRACY (ORGANIC FIBER)
—>April 4, 2024
If you need to say farewell to your faded flag, you should never just throw it away. After all, it’s a sacred symbol. Actually, according to the U.S. Flag Code, the preferred method of disposal is burning. Many organizations will hold flag burning ceremonies on Flag Day and are happy to include your flag in their observance.
You can find disposal boxes outside of Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion posts as well as some state and county government offices. Other groups, such as the Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, and local fire departments, may also collect flags.
https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/home-lifestyle/a60299242/how-to-properly-dispose-of-american-flag/
https://www.legion.org/advocacy/flag-advocacy/flag-code
Jacob-
So when you “retire” you still get a six month severance package? this doesn’t make any sense, I wonder if others who “retired” received the same payout?
You can read his whole contract for context