Mendocino County Today: Thursday 9/4/2025

---

ANOTHER HOT and dry day expected today for the interior. There is a slight chance for dry thunderstorms in Del Norte County this afternoon and evening. Stratus likely to remain persistent on the coast. Sunday night into Monday there is a chance for a wetting rain in the northern portion of the area and interior highs down into the 70s. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A warm 56F under clear skies this Wednesday morning on the coast. Clear skies currently but there is plenty of fog near the shore. Our forecast is for sunny today then more of the off & on routine to follow.

---

WE are shocked and saddened to learn tonight that Jim Shields has died. The long-time publisher and editor of the Laytonville-based Mendocino County Observer, Jim was a good friend and colleague whose first-rate reporting on County affairs for almost fifty years never got the high praise it deserved. We will have a full memorial account of this gifted man's life in editions to come.

---

FORT BRAGG POLICE SEIZE STOLEN GUN, ARREST SUSPECT IN VEHICLE VANDALISM

On September 3, 2025, at approximately 12:15AM, Officers were made aware of a vandalism which had just occurred in the 300 block of N Corry Street. Officers contacted the reporting party who identified as Javier Almazan-Naal, 18 of Fort Bragg, as the suspect and had fled the area in a vehicle.

As officers were responding to the area of vandalism, they observed a vehicle matching the suspect’s traveling in the 300 block of E. Alder Street attempting to leave the area. Officers initiated a traffic stop detaining both the driver, and Almanzan Naal, who was determined to be a passenger in the vehicle.

Officers continued their investigation and determined that Almazan-Naal, while a passenger in a vehicle, was involved in a road-rage style incident during which he brandished what appeared to be a firearm and followed the victim to their residence. Once at the residence Almanzan Naal vandalized the victim’s vehicle and fled the scene.

A search of the suspect vehicle revealed a loaded 9mm Glock handgun inside a backpack belonging to Almazan-Naal, as well as gang-related paraphernalia. A records check of the firearm showed it to be stolen from Reno, Nevada.

Almazan-Naal was arrested and booked into the Mendocino County Correctional Facility on the following charges: Carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in public, Possession of a stolen firearmVandalism, Brandishing a firearm at an occupant of a motor vehicle, Participating in a criminal street gang.

After Almazan-Naal was transported, Officer’s obtained a bail enhancement, raising his bail to $250,000.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact Fort Bragg Police Sergeant Frank at (707) 961-2800 ext. 223.

This information is being released by Fort Bragg Police Sergeant Jonathan McLaughlin. All media inquiries should contact him at [email protected].

---

LOW CONCENTRATIONS OF BLUE-GREEN ALGAE DETECTED AT LAKE MENDOCINO

Advisory signs were posted at Lake Mendocino recently after water samples revealed “a small amount of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae),” officials reported.

According to a recent Facebook post by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, “Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) have been detected in low concentrations at Lake Mendocino. Current levels do not pose a significant health risk, but as a precaution, please be aware of potential symptoms like skin irritation, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea if you come into contact with the water. Advisory signs have been posted at water access points with guidelines.”

Giving further details about the test results, officials noted that “testing of the water sample showed a small amount of cyanobacteria, which can produce toxins, but the levels were very low. We also found a very small amount of one type of toxin, anatoxin, but it was at the lowest level our testing could detect.”

The month before that notice, in July, Lake Mendocino officials posted that “we’ve recently received some questions about harmful algae blooms at Lake Mendocino, and a possible pet-related incident. Last week, water samples were collected from the South Boat Ramp, North Boat Ramp, and Pomo-A Swimmers Area. The good news is that while some cyanobacteria are present, the levels found were low, and we didn’t detect any of the common toxin-producing cyanobacteria. We haven’t seen any obvious algae blooms on the lake surface. However… HABs can be very localized and can form and dissipate rapidly. We’re still waiting for additional test results from other areas of the lake that aren’t commonly tested.”

Officials also advised:

• Please don’t swallow any lake water. Even a small amount of cyanobacteria or toxins can cause stomach upset, and larger amounts could be more serious.
• Rinse off with clean water after any contact with the lake. This can help prevent skin or eye irritation.

(ukiahdailyjournal.com)

---

STUART DEAN DENEVI
June 1, 1961 - August 15, 2025

Stuart Dean Denevi, 64, of Fort Bragg, California, passed away peacefully on August 15, 2025, surrounded by his loved ones.

Born in Fort Bragg to Gerald and Lina Sue (Miles) Denevi, Stuart spent the majority of his life in the community he loved so deeply.

He is survived by his wife, Cheryl Denevi; children, Jeremy and Kymber Denevi; stepchildren, Kristy and Kevin Gomez; and many extended family members and friends.

Stuart will be remembered for his hardworking spirit, love of the outdoors, and his warm, generous heart.

A lifelong hard worker, Stuart spent more than 20 years Millwrighting at Georgia Pacific before continuing his career at Universal Plant Services. He was also a dedicated volunteer firefighter for over 20 years, proudly serving his community.

Though a big man, Stuart’s heart was even bigger. He had the kindest smile and was often the happiest person in the room. He was a selfless father, husband, and friend whose legacy of love, generosity, and hard work will continue to inspire all who knew him.

A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, September 6, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. at the Fort Bragg Fire Department. All who knew and loved Stuart are welcome to attend.

---

CITY OF WILLITS PREPARES FOR LAYOFFS AS BANKRUPTCY LOOMS

by Elise Cox

Confronted with a $2.23 million deficit, the Willits City Council will consider proposed budget scenarios at its September 10 meeting, including options that involve staff cuts.

“If we continued the city of Willits budget the way we’ve done it for the past five years, in less than two years the city would file for bankruptcy,” Mayor Tom Allman warned at a council meeting last week.

Councilmember Gerry Gonzalez pointed out that staffing is the biggest cost driver. “We can sit there and say we’re going to cut cell phones, we’re going to cut paper clips, but the reality is the biggest cost is staffing,” he said.

Rising Payroll, New Positions

At a budget workshop last month, discussion focused on the rapid expansion of staff, significant payroll increases, and past financial maneuvers that have left the general fund in a precarious position.

The proposed general fund budget stands at $6.8 million in expenditures against $4.6 million in revenues. The city already logged a $2.2 million deficit in 2023-24.

City salaries have grown from $2.9 million five years ago to an estimated $4.5 million in 2025-26 — a 55% increase. Between 2019 and 2025, the city created nine to ten new positions, including an assistant city manager, additional planning staff, administrative positions in the police department, facilities and parks staff, and multiple streets maintenance positions.

Contentious Budget Talks

At an Aug. 20 budget meeting, councilmembers debated freezing noncritical vacancies, limiting training, travel and capital improvements, imposing wage cuts on nonunion staff, and halting pay raises.

Councilmember Bruce Burton suggested cutting the council’s $49,000 health insurance benefit, outsourcing police dispatch, and eliminating specific positions. He called the council’s health insurance coverage “a big ticket item.” Allman disagreed, calling it “a pittance” and an important incentive for serving on the council.

The proposal to outsource police dispatch, currently budgeted at $851,000, drew more serious discussion. Fort Bragg contracts with Ukiah for dispatch for roughly half that amount. Gonzalez, a former Willits police chief, warned that Willits dispatchers also provide records management services.

Enterprise Funds Under Strain

Enterprise funds, particularly water, wastewater and the airport, also came under scrutiny. Previous councils reassigned salary costs to those funds, masking the depth of the general fund deficit. “Without casting stones, it appears as if people have been trying to justify positions by reallocating their responsibilities to funds that had more money,” Allman said.

The wastewater fund became a flashpoint due to the need for a $3.7 million one-time transfer for a solar project at City Hall and the sports park. Councilmembers expressed concern about draining the fund’s $4.2 million working capital and directed staff to pursue a loan.

The airport fund also raised alarms when it appeared $700,000 in the red. Allman pressed Interim City Manager Rod Wilburn for clarity. Wilburn acknowledged that much of the expense “didn’t go up there and work on the runway,” and should have been general fund costs. “In essence, we’re just digging a deeper hole,” Gonzalez added.

Limited Options Ahead

The $2.2 million deficit discussed on August 27 reflects staff reallocations back to the general fund.

Some had pinned hopes on Measure K, a 0.75% sales tax passed in 2020 to support essential services. After a $2 million transfer, that fund holds about $1.7 million. Gonzalez dismissed it as a long-term solution. “I don’t think that’s realistic. I think we need to make some cuts,” he said.

Allman floated tapping roughly $1 million from a defunct successor agency fund. Burton opposed using either Measure K or successor agency dollars.

Wilburn warned that continuing to operate with a deficit leaves the city unable to handle emergencies or economic downturns. He cautioned against relying on Measure K to preserve staffing, noting the tax sunsets in 2031.

He urged the council to set a goal of building a $2.5 million general fund balance within five years. “For that to happen, there has to be a $500,000 average annual surplus,” Wilburn said.

“This is a very, very difficult situation to manage with not very much money to manage it,” he added.

(If you enjoyed this post, you can tell Mendo Local that their writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription at [email protected]. You won't be charged unless they enable payments.)

---

---

WE COULDN’T HELP NOTICING the idea of the City of Willits “outsourcing” their dispatch services to the City of Ukiah (which already does Fort Bragg’s dispatch). In Ms. Cox’s fine report of Willits’ precarious financial situation she doesn’t say whether former County Sheriff (now Willits Major) Tom Allman supports the idea or not. But he certainly did more than a decade ago when he first proposed that County dispatch services be consolidated. Back when he was Sheriff Allman pointed out that there would be substantial savings if the County and the cities and CHP combined their four (!) law enforcement dispatch centers into one operation because, besides the obvious savings, these operations need 24/7 coverage and the smaller dispatch operations are not very busy for at least half the time, so the dispatchers are badly under-utilized. Or maybe consolidate the night shift, at least. Now here comes the subject again, this time from Willits. While everybody agrees that there’s lots of money to be saved, both from the County and the cities, the idea hasn’t got anything but occasional lip-service, and limited lip service at that.

---

GROWING PAINS

by Mark Scaramella

Probably sensing that Ukiah wasn’t exactly a hot-bed of investment opportunities in 2017, the Bank of America closed their downtown branch office.

BofA placed their form-does-definitely-not-follow-function of an eyesore of a building on the market for about $1.5 million.

Nobody wanted it, mainly because it was over-large and nonsensical for banking, much less desirable for a downtown retail business.

So in 2019 the City of Ukiah made a low-ball offer of about $750k and BofA snapped up that offer. Ukiah city staff claimed in 2019 that they could use the building for additional office space as the city was feeling a bit cramped at their cush main offices on the Westside.

Six years passed, and the building sat vacant, so we can safely conclude that there wasn’t really much need for additional office space.

Then last year, as Ukiah started ramping up for expansion, including their grandiose plans to annex most of the Ukiah Valley, terrifying the property owners who would be absorbed, Ukiah saw an opportunity to move some of their staff (mainly the City’s expanding water bureaucracy) into the old BofA building.

As usual, grandiosity was the City’s plan. They hired an architect to completely reconfigure the cavernous old bank offices into a two-story office buiilding (aka “annex”), complete with a costly new elevator "to meet ADA requirements."

Then earlier this year they went out for bids for the remodel project and ended up with only two qualified bidders: Cupples Construction, a long-time, well-regarded Ukiah area contractor with an excellent reputation and track record for get'er done on time and on budget; and a Santa Rosa outfit called DMR construction.

DMR’s bid for the large remodeling project came in at about $3.5 million, roughly $300k less than local guy Cupples bid of around $3.8 million. Despite Cupples being local and well-regarded, the City of Ukiah, which apparently doesn’t have a buy-local policy with a 5%-10% preference discount, gave the job to DMR.

Remember, this was a building that had an estimated value of $1.5 million in 2018, and Ukiah now plans to “remodel” it for an estimated $3.5 million — assuming there are no overruns or add-ons.

When Ukiah presented their grand annexation proposal earlier this year, the town's widely derided leadership claimed that Ukiah's planning bureaucracy was much more efficient than the County’s and, therefore, supposedly, Ukiah could do a better job of new development if they annexed the proposed 2500 additional County parcels. That expansion proposal, unanimously howled down by the people to be annexed is now in permanent limbo, waiting for the County to re-evaluate the present city-county tax sharing agreement and for Ukiah to re-evaluate how much they want to annex.

But if the BofA remodel/annex job is an example of Ukiah's ability to accomplish things, with its six years in planning and financing along with the loss of assessed value and taxes with the departure of the bank and government acquisition of the property, we don’t see where Ukiah is in any position to claim the high ground in the planning bureaucracy and efficiency department. But they certainly are better than the County at growing themselves and shafting local contractors.

---

MABLE FRANCES CAITO

Mable Frances Caito passed away at her home July 28, 2025, on her 96th birthday surrounded by family.

Mable was born in Manchester, California to George Dewey and Rose (Bavo) Stornetta on July 28, 1929.

Mable was preceded in death by her loving and devoted husband John, her brothers Norman, Henry and her sister Dora. She leaves behind her sister Carmel Gilroy, her four children Joe, Jim (Karen), Jeanette, John (Aimee), nine grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren, and many other loving family members.

Mable’s greatest joys were being with all her family and attending their many sporting events, dance recitals, and cooking dinners especially her Sunday menu of pasta and meatballs. Her favorite hobbies included working 1000-piece puzzles, playing cards, crocheting blankets, working crossword puzzles, making her Italian breadcrumbs, watching old westerns and pro tennis matches, tending to her orchid plants, and feeding her many feathered friends. Mom (Noni) was loved by all and will be greatly missed.

A Funeral Mass will be held at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, September 17th at St. Patrick Church, 114 King Street, Larkspur, CA 94939. Donations may be made to By the Bay Health, Attention Donations, 17 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Larkspur, CA 94939 or donations to a charity of your choice.

---

SUPERVISOR MAUREEN MULHEREN WANTS A DEI PLANNING COMMISSIONER (facebook)

Friends! I need a Second District Planning Commissioner. Someone asked why I have such a hard time filling this role (I’ve had several commissioners over my term) and I think it’s because I am encouraging a younger person, a business owner, someone with or without a family, a female, a minority or someone that understands and supports everyone in our community to apply for the role. I know it’s a tall ask to committ the time but we have some big housing projects coming up that are going to need a thoughtful eye from someone that understands our need for thoughtful development and planning. Text me at 707-391-3664 and we can do a walk and talk or meet for coffee. Here’s a map of the Second District and you can watch the videos on YouTube to get an idea of the work Mendocino County Video Planning Commission.

Thank you all for your concern, no discrimination here just looking for someone that represents a currently underrepresented demographic in local Government. It’s definitely not a partisan position and I didn’t say that. It’s an unpaid position (although you receive a small stipend for travel and lunch) that’s why it’s such a big ask, especially for business owners but again we need more representation in local Government.

If you’re interested and qualified please reach out. Have a blessed day

PS. The Facebook algorithm loved this post. I think it’s all the talk about inclusion. I’ve had 10 people reach out.

---

LOCAL EVENTS

---

KMUD SHOW ON GERRYMANDERING

OUR SHOW

On Thursday, September 5, at 9 am, Pacific Time (12 noon EST) our guest is Richard Eskow. We'll talk about the wave of gerrymandering now sweeping across the U.S. 

Is the State of Texas gerrymandering so that Republicans can hold on to their slim majority in Congress? Are Democrats retaliating by "re-gerrymandering" California?

RICHARD ESKOW

Richard Eskow is host and managing editor of "The Zero Hour", a program on cable TV, broadcast radio, and podcast. He is a longtime progressive, journalist and consultant. He was also the chief writer and editor for the 2016 Bernie Sanders campaign; a Fortune 500 healthcare executive; a student activist; an economic consultant in more than 20 countries; a songwriter and a musician. Much of his writing is published at the Zero Hour Report (www.zerohourreport.com).

See Richard Eskow with John Nichols, "Democrats Must Be the Anti-Gerrymandering Party", on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlNLWwTFi88

KMUD

Our show, "Heroes and Patriots Radio", airs live on KMUD, on the first and fifth Thursdays of every month, at 9 AM, Pacific Time.

We simulcast our programming on two full power FM stations: KMUE 88.1 in Eureka and KLAI 90.3 in Laytonville. It also maintains a translator at 99.5 FM in Shelter Cove, California.

We also stream live from the web at https://kmud.org/

Speak with guest live and on-the-air at: KMUD Studio (707) 923-3911. Please call in.

We post our shows to our own website and YouTube channels. Shows may be distributed in other media outlets.

Wherever you live, KMUD is your community radio station. We are a true community of informed and progressive people. Please join us by becoming a member or underwriter.

— John Sakowicz

---

THE MENDOCINO TROUBADORS

by Carol Dominy

The Mendocino Troubadours were a much-loved local ensemble dedicated to bringing the music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance to life. Formed in the early 1970s by Sue Erlenkotter and Jerry Pitsenbarger, the group quickly became known for their festive holiday concerts and performances at the Mendocino Art Center, local churches, and community gatherings.

Their repertoire ranged from 13th-century Spanish cantigas and English carols to Renaissance dances and motets. Concerts were lively occasions, often enhanced with period costumes, seasonal decorations, and even a wassail bowl at intermission.

A highlight of every performance was their remarkable collection of early instruments, many handmade by Sue Erlenkotter. Their instruments included the rebec, vielle, psaltery, krumhorn, viols, lutes, harps, recorders, bells, and drums. These are the same instruments audiences in medieval and Renaissance Europe would have heard centuries ago. The Troubadours’ concerts were celebrated not only for their historical authenticity but also for their warmth, humor, and sense of community.

Over the years, many Mendocino Coast musicians took part, among them Sue Erlenkotter, Jeannie Doe, Juliette Dillard, Susan Waterfall, Don Stark, Ellen and Jerry Pitsenbarger, Anne Heider, Beth Smith, Danny Ross, Anne Kapit, Beth Seaward, Bessy Krauss, Beverly Moore, Barbara Faulkner, Juliette White, and Jim Denton.

(kelleyhousemuseum.org)

---

WHERE HAVE THEY GONE?

John Stephenson, Ralph Maize, and Ronald Parker

It all began in the summer of 1968. Three young men—John Stephenson, Ron Parker, and I, Ralph Maize—found ourselves bound by duty and camaraderie at the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office. That summer, we worked the graveyard shift, 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., patrolling the quiet roads and not-so-quiet calls of Mendocino County. We were rookies then—John and Ron just starting out, I already five years into the job. But from those long nights and shared patrol cars, a lifelong friendship was born.

Fifty-seven years is more than a career—it’s a lifetime. We cuffed the bad guys and placed them in the backseat, just like deputies do today. The tools have changed, the uniforms have evolved, but the fundamentals of the job—and the bond it creates—remain the same.

John and Ron both retired as lieutenants, proud of the work we did and the lives we touched. My path took me even further—rising to Undersheriff before joining the federal ranks, conducting investigations across the country. Each of us carved out a legacy in law enforcement, shaped by integrity, grit, and a shared sense of purpose.

Now, in the twilight of our lives, we look back not with regret, but with gratitude. This isn’t breaking news—it’s just the truth. And truth is something we’ve always lived by in our chosen profession.

One day, we’ll have that seven-point badge pinned on us from above. But until then, we’ll keep showing up for our Wednesday coffee breaks. Because how many people can say they’ve had the same coffee buddies for 57 years?

Come September 2025, we’ll still be sipping, reminiscing, and laughing. And that, my friends, is the kind of legacy no badge can measure.

R. Maize

09/03/2025

---

---

CATCH OF THE DAY, Wednesday, September 3, 2025

NAAL ALMAZAN, 18, Fort Bragg. Stolen loaded weapon, loaded firearm in public, brandishing, vandalism, participation in criminal street gang.

JESSICA BELL, 36, Willits. Controlled substance, paraphernalia.

JOHN BIASOTTI, 64, Ukiah. Domestic battery.

BENJAMIN BICKNELL, 36, Fort Bragg. Disorderly conduct-solicitation of lewd act, probation revocation.

TYLER CALES, 28, Willits. Assault with deadly weapon with great bodily injury.

SANTIAGO DELFINO, 35, Covelo. Assault with deadly weapon not a gun, criminal threats.

JONATHAN HICKS, 35, Arcata/Ukiah. DUI-any drug, controlled substance.

AARON KING, 61, Ukiah. Resisting.

VALEN LOPEZ, 25, Ukiah. Probation revocation, resisting.

JEREMIAH MCOSKER, 47, Ukiah. Probation violation.

CHRISTOPHER MORAN, 42, Fort Bragg. Narcotics for sale.

ANDY NAVARRO JR., 39, Rohnert Park/Ukiah. Failure to appear.

FRANKLIN PATTY, 59, Ukiah. Controlled substance, paraphernalia, concealed dirk-dagger, parole violation.

ADALBERTO TINAJERO JR., 19, Ukiah. Reckless driving, suspended license for DUI, resisting.

SCOTT WELL, 33, Clearlake/Ukiah. Controlled substance.

CESLEY WILLIAMS, 33, Ukiah. Domestic battery.

---

---

ANOTHER MASSACRE, AND STILL NO EFFECTIVE GUN SAFETY LAWS

Editor:

Of all the crimes and assaults on our democracy and its people perpetrated by this administration, none is more soul-crushing than witnessing the slaughter of our children. Donald Trump has targeted urban crime in his usual random and ineffective way to the point that National Guard troops in Washington are relegated to picking up trash. There is no plan.

Finding a solution to the mass shootings that are a weekly occurrence is something Trump is neither capable of fixing nor inclined to address. It’s not in his nature. These horrific acts of violence are largely not committed by criminals but by mentally unstable persons who can simply go out and buy guns to fulfill their delusional missions.

Trump is also unlikely to confront the National Rifle Association and stand up like a president should. An internet headline regarding the recent tragedy in Minneapolis said, “Yet another city learns what it is like to see their children and communities traumatized.” Given its history, the NRA doesn’t seem as though it will be satisfied until all cities have found what it’s like to suffer such tragedy.

John Brodey

Santa Rosa

---

ENOUGH TO GET YOU BACK TO UKIAH

Trusting in God

Warmest spiritual greetings, Whereas the social security SSI has timed out, the EBT food stamps card does not work, and the federal housing voucher has timed out, this leaves the liberated soul with 1. excellent general health at age 75, 2. $523.04 in the Chase checking account, and 3. $94.21 in the wallet. The postmodern American experiment with freedom and democracy has failed me.

I am ready to leave the Washington, D.C. homeless shelter, since my support of the D.C. Peace Vigil in front of the White House (for the 16th time since June of 1991) was accomplished during the past year.

I am accepting cooperation to move on to my next highest good. Simple as that. Thank you.

Craig Louis Stehr, [email protected]

---

---

SOUNDS LIKE… (via Marco McClean)

Here's a list I read in Futility Closet. I got them all eventually, but blistering and Venezuela gave me some trouble. My favorite is wisteria.

Entries from the Complete Uxbridge English Dictionary:

Beehive: what Australian teachers tell you to do

Blistering: someone you enjoy calling on the phone

Cannelloni: Scots refusal to give one an overdraft

Cherish: rather like a chair

Colliery: sort of like a collie but even more so

Emboss: to promote to the top

Female: chemical name for Iron Man

Flatulence: an emergency vehicle that picks you up after you have been run over by a steamroller

Icelander: to tell lies about Apple

Ivy: the Roman for four

Lamb shank: Sean Connery’s sheep has drowned

Laundress: grass skirt

Pastrami: the art of meat folding

Quick: noise made by a New Zealand duck

Splint: to run very fast with a broken leg

Venezuela: a gondola with a harpoon

Wisteria: a nostalgic form of panic

Xylophone: the Greek goddess of Scrabble

And a foible is something coughed up by a New York cat.

---

---

CALIFORNIA’S WINE HARVEST IS SHAPING UP TO BE EVEN MORE BRUTAL THAN LAST YEAR

by Jess Lander

Driving on Napa Valley’s Highway 29 looks a little different this harvest. Dirt fields have supplanted many of the region’s prized vineyards. Menacing piles of dead vines sit atop the fallow ground, stripped of the chance to produce wine ever again.

The scene paints a somber picture of the wine industry’s foremost struggles: Alcohol consumption has hit a 90-year low and there’s a major oversupply of wine and grapes. Tens of thousands of acres of vineyards have been ripped out across the state, and despite mostly ideal weather conditions this growing season, more than 100,000 tons of California wine grapes will likely be left on the vines to rot — for the second consecutive year.

“We’re living in two worlds right now,” said Stuart Spencer, executive director of the Lodi Winegrape Commission. “This is some of the best-looking Zinfandel we’ve had in years. I’m optimistic from a quality perspective, but the broader market conditions are driving everything down.”

In 2024, California wine experienced its lightest harvest in 20 years — a 23% decrease from 2023 — as many California wine growers failed to find buyers for their crop. Some slashed their prices by more than 50% in an attempt to cover a small portion of their farming costs. Industry experts estimated that between 100,000 and 400,000 tons of grapes went unharvested, and 35,000 to 40,000 acres of vines were ripped out.

This year, the situation is “not any better,” Spencer said, “and could be worse.” He estimated that roughly 15,000 to 20,000 acres of Lodi vines have been ripped out in the past few years, resulting in a 15%-20% decline in total acreage. Jeff Bitter, the president of Allied Grape Growers, a cooperative that represents around 400 growers in California, projects that another 35,000 to 40,000 acres of vines will be removed this year, and noted another recent development: tens of thousands of acres of vineyards have been abandoned.

“That wasn’t the case in 2024,” Bitter said. “There’s nothing that has improved between 2024 and 2025.”

The abandoned vineyards are a sign that many California grape growers have reached their breaking point. That’s the case for Jason Smith, a second-generation grapegrower in Monterey County, who decided to shut down his business after more than 50 years. At its peak, Smith’s vineyard management company, Valley Farm Management, had 50 full-time employees and farmed roughly 3,200 acres of grapes — 2,500 of which his family owned. But about five years ago, after two decades of solid growth, the market began to shift.

In 2024, Smith said 90% of his grapes were under contract, and while he took a loss, “it wasn’t a nightmare.” But heading into 2025, only 40% of his fruit was under contract. No one was looking to buy, he said, and any offers would likely be $500-$1,000 under what it costs to farm per ton. Without contracts, the banks wouldn’t give him the loans he depends on each year to cover his farming costs ahead of harvest. “It became a quick reality,” Smith said, “like, holy cow, if I don’t make some hard decisions, we could go bankrupt.”

Smith decided that the 2025 harvest would be his last. He’s down to a single, 106-acre vineyard. “We will not be in the industry come January,” he said. “Do I want to do this? No. This was our family business, our family legacy. It’s very emotional, but the bottom line is the bottom line.”

Monterey County and Lodi have struggled more than most wine regions, but the crisis has even infiltrated California wine’s crown jewels.

Last year was “better than expected,” said Sonoma County Winegrowers president and CEO Karissa Kruse, but “it’s definitely trickled down” this year.

The Sonoma County Winegrowers have projected that roughly 10% of the region’s vineyard acreage will be pulled out this year, totaling about 5,000 acres. Two thousand of those acres are unlikely to be replanted, said Kruse, as the growers did not obtain replant permits. The organization also projects that 30% of the region’s wine grapes won’t be contracted this year. Those grapes will either be purchased later in the season (likely at a steep discount), left on the vine or made into bulk wine, which sells for significantly less than grapes. Moreover, Kruse said the Winegrowers foresee a 7% drop in grape prices.

In Napa Valley, “there has been a decent amount of vineyard removal since last harvest,” said Caleb Mosley, the executive director of the Napa Valley Grapegrowers. He didn’t provide an estimate of how many acres have been pulled in the region, but said some growers don’t have plans to replant. Mosley added that some vineyard owners are using the downturn as an opportunity to pull out old and diseased vines. Red blotch, a devastating and complex grape vine disease, has surfaced in many of Napa Valley’s vineyards in recent years; removing the vines, Mosley said, is “a great way to prevent insect movement.”

It’s early in the harvest season, but Natalie Collins, president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers, said thus far, there hasn’t been “really any movement” on the grape market where uncontracted grapes are sold, even with popular grape varieties like Chardonnay. In an August report, wine and grape brokerage firm Ciatti called the market “stubbornly sluggish,” and Wine Business reported that listings for grapes and bulk wine sales on its website have hit a new high this year. Total listings through June were up 2% from last year and nearly 60% from 2023.

“A lot of the smaller producers that (typically) pay better pricing have cut back, too,” said Spencer. “It feels like we’re bouncing along the bottom and waiting for some sort of good news.”

Some farmers were hopeful that President Trump’s tariffs on European goods could help with one of the biggest contributors to the oversupply issue: cheap bulk wine imports. But the tariffs aren’t large enough to push large U.S. wine companies to buy from domestic producers, Collins said, and 2025 bulk wine imports were up 17% through June, according to a report from wine industry data analyst Gomberg, Fredrickson & Associates. “The price gap is still too big,” she said. “It would have to be a 50%-150% (tariff) to make an impact.”

Canada’s ban on U.S. alcohol, a retaliatory move to the Trump administration’s tariffs, has been another blow to the California wine industry. But last week, Canada agreed to remove its 25% retaliatory tariff on U.S. wine. If the country’s provinces also decide to allow U.S. alcohol back on their shelves, some California producers may choose to purchase extra grapes to export wine there.

Wildfires could create some minor demand, too, Collins said, as wineries with smoke-tainted grapes might look to purchase replacement fruit. The August Pickett Fire in the eastern hills of Napa County damaged roughly 1,500 acres — over 3% of the region’s vineyard acreage — according to Napa County’s preliminary damage assessment survey. Twenty percent of the surveyed producers reported fire or heat damage, and 80% reported potential smoke effects. Meanwhile, the impact on the grape crop from the 130,000-acre Gifford Fire in the Central Coast is still being determined.

Yet neither wildfires nor Canada is likely to break open the grape market’s floodgates. Bitter predicts it will require a 2025 grape harvest of just 2.5 million tons or less — last year’s was 2.8 million — to correct the oversupply.

“The answer,” he said, “is to produce less until we’re in balance.”

(SF Chronicle)

---

A DAY AFTER SHOVING, GIANTS’ MATT CHAPMAN COMES OUT SWINGING TO LEAD SWEEP OF COLORADO

by Susan Slusser

DENVER — Matt Chapman could have chosen to serve his one-game suspension for shoving Kyle Freeland during the San Francisco Giants’ skirmish with the Rockies one night earlier.

After a chat with president of baseball operations Buster Posey, Chapman opted to appeal the suspension. Good thing for the Giants: Chapman belted two homers, including a much-needed three-run shot in the sixth after the Rockies had rallied to take the lead the previous inning. Chapman also walked and doubled in San Francisco’s 10-8 victory.

“I think we all kind of agreed that we would appeal it and we see what will happen,” Chapman said, adding that Posey “felt like me being in there today was important, and I’m glad I was in there.”

“That was an easy call,” manager Bob Melvin said of the appeal, “and thank goodness.”

Chapman and rookie Drew Gilbert, who hit his second homer of the series, extended the Giants’ string of games with at least one homer to 17, the most in San Francisco history, second only to the franchise-record 19 games in a row in 1947. The Giants have hit 36 homers in that span.

“Better late than never” Chapman said. “It’s been a lot of fun. We obviously hit a rough patch, but we’re really coming into our own right now and playing good baseball. We’re just trying to keep it rolling.”

In winning for the 10th time in 11 games, San Francisco moved four games behind the Mets (New York holds the tie-breaker) for the third wild-card spot, bypassing the Reds in the process. The Giants also swept the three games at Colorado and showed a lot of moxie doing so, winning Tuesday’s game despite losing Chapman and Willy Adames to ejections and Wednesday’s after starter Robbie Ray crumpled a bit after a bad call in the fifth.

The Giants took an early four-run lead, but the Rockies got one back in the fourth off Ray. In the fifth, Ray looked understandably irritated after a non-strike three call to Tyler Freeman that would have ended the inning with no damage. “I made my pitch, I threw a ball in the zone and didn’t get called,” Ray said. “I was out (of the inning) there. It was a big inning, it was a big situation, and it was unfortunate.”

Ray hadn’t allowed a hit or walk in the first three innings, but over the fourth and fifth innings, he threw 70 pitches. Melvin likes to allow his veteran starters to work their way out of their own jams, especially if it keeps them in line for a win. In this case, the extra consideration for one of his All-Stars backfired as Ray flagged.

“I stuck with him one hitter too long, but I’m trying to get him through that inning,” Melvin said. “You try to be a little bit patient with your starters, but there was more to it than that. I felt like he was out of that inning and he deserved one more hitter. Obviously it didn’t work out, but it’s too bad, because the inning is over there (if the strike were called), and he can go out the next inning and do what he’s been doing for the entire game.”

After the clear strike three to Freeman was called a ball, the Rockies leadoff man poked an RBI single to center. Ray then walked Ezequiel Tovar and allowed back-to-back singles by Hunter Goodman and Jordan Beck. In the midst of that, there was also a worrisome moment when Freeman tore around to score on Goodman’s single to left and slammed into catcher Patrick Bailey, who’d moved to take a tailing throw from Heliot Ramos; both men were slow to rise but remained in the game.

Bailey said after the game he was feeling OK; he’d taken a ball off the mask earlier in the game and he’d been dealing with some neck pain even before being run into, so it’s possible he’ll get a day off Friday in St. Louis to get him two days off in a row. If there is a need, the Giants could bring hot-hitting Jesus Rodriguez up as a third catcher.

Collisions at the plate are rare since the “Posey rule” and subsequent refinements defined the runner’s lane clearly; after a review, the crew announced that Freeman had not deviated from his path so he was safe.

Ray came out after Beck’s single, and during the pitching change, Melvin had an animated discussion with home-plate umpire Dan Bellino about the missed strike call in the Freeman at-bat, and was ejected for the fourth time this season.

Bailey demonstrated quickly that he was able to play, with an RBI single in the sixth, and Ramos sent in another with a base hit before Chapman’s two-out blast to left center. His young buddy, exuberant rookie Gilbert, drilled one out to right in the seventh.

Chapman’s first homer, off starter Germán Márquez, went a whopping 450 feet, his second, off Juan Mejia, went 423 feet.

Reliever J.T. Brubaker, called up Monday when rosters expanded, made his Giants debut in the seventh and the former Pirates starter went 2 1/3 innings, allowed three hits and a walk and struck out two. He left with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth when bench coach Ryan Christenson called for closer Ryan Walker.

Tovar hit a sacrifice fly and Goodman a two-run double but Walker struck out Beck to end the game.

Rookie Joel Peguero, who took over for Ray, earned his first major-league win.

(sfchronicle.com)

---

---

“FRIENDSHIP … is born at the moment when one man says to another "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .”


― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

---

ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

ChatGPT is a bit sociopathic in its programming, It'll always look for ways to affirm your point of view. Try it sometime. State an opinion that you believe in and it'll praise you for your brilliant take. Then state the opposite with equal conviction and it'll pivot to support that. It won't feel embarrassed for the quick about face because it can't.

The programming seems to be that way to sort of flatter you into continue using it. It's probably what the product team calls "stickiness."

Now imagine being a confused, depressed kid. ChatGPT is going to find ways to agree with you that the world is unfair, that life perhaps is not always worth living, now that you put it so brilliantly.

It's an amazing tool. As someone in these comments put it, it's a super-duper autocomplete. But it's a product. It cost a lot of time and money to make. And its creators want you to use it, no matter what.

This, to me, is the creepy power of tech. ChatGPT is a piece of code that seems human, but has no real POV, no ethics, and experiences no feelings at all. But it seems like a it does. And it'll be your grinning yes-man no matter what fucked up thing you want to do.

---

“TO LOVE AT ALL is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”


― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

---

"When I first started out in pictures, I was doing some Hopalong Cassidy western. They’d brought this girl in from New York to be the leading lady, and she and Hopalong were off riding the range somewhere. So there I was, sitting in a tumbledown shack with the lady’s driver, a guy they called Father Rivers. There were a lot of horse turds around, and I watched as he’d pick them up and examine them, putting any perfect ones in her carryall bag. And I thought I had found a home with a character like him. Can’t be all bad humors in this business.”

He leans back on the couch, with his hands behind his head, thinking God knows what. The image he affects here is not unlike the one he projects in the movies: what you see is a strong man, lying low and on his own. There is no PR team running interference for him as they do, or did, for his pals Frank Sinatra and the late John Wayne.

“I’m not as visible as Frank. He has an organization. So did Duke Wayne. Duke was six four, but he wore four-inch lifts and a ten-gallon hat. He had a station wagon modified to fit all that paraphernalia. He even had the overheads raised on his boats so that he could walk through the doorways with the lifts on. And he was bigger than them all.

“I was with him one time and he was cussin’ everybody out. ‘You goddamn assholes,’ Duke was saying. Then he turns to me and says, ‘Come on.’ So we walk into his office, he pours out a drink and says, ‘You gotta keep ’em Wayne-conscious.’”

Mitchum leans over conspiratorially, stretching out the last two words.

“That’s what he had to sell,” Mitchum shrugs. “It was his business.”

Mitchum claims to have avoided such image conjuring. At least in the movies.

“I was unclassifiable,” he says. “I am not a leading man. I am not a heavy. I enjoy playing heavies, and I can be a most convincing heavy, but really, I just have a baritone voice, that’s all.”

— From "Robert Mitchum Gives a Rare Interview" by Barry Rehfeld for Esquire February, 1983.

---

“I AM AN INVISIBLE MAN. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids -- and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves, or figments of their imagination -- indeed, everything and anything except me.”


― Ralph Ellison, ‘Invisible Man’

---

---

THE POND AT DUSK

by Jane Kenyon

A fly wounds the water but the wound
soon heals. Swallows tilt and twitter
overhead, dropping now and then toward
the outward-radiating evidence of food.

The green haze on the trees changes
into leaves, and what looks like smoke
floating over the neighbor’s barn
is only apple blossoms.

But sometimes what looks like disaster
is disaster: the day comes at last,
and the men struggle with the casket
just clearing the pews.

---

LEAD STORIES, THURSDAY'S NYT

States Go Their Own (and Contradictory) Ways on Vaccine Policy

Kennedy Faces Senate Grilling After Vaccine Changes and C.D.C. Shake-Up

Trump Administration Says Boat Strike Is Start of Campaign Against Venezuelan Cartels

White House Orders Agencies to Escalate Fight Against Offshore Wind

What We Know About the Funicular Crash in Lisbon

As Starbucks Slumps, a Chinese Coffee Giant Sees an Opening in New York

---

“YOU CAN NEVER get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”


― C.S. Lewis

---

---

WHAT OUR CONTINUED FASCINATION WITH UFOS SAYS ABOUT US

by Martin Gum

By 2024, 87 percent of scientists and 86.6 percent of astrobiologists, by one measure, believed in the likelihood of life in other planets.

In September 2018, at 11 o’clock at night, as I strolled with my wife and daughter along the edge of the lagoon in Venice, Italy, I witnessed what is formally known as Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).

A dozen bright lights flew in tight formation high in the starry night, then started twirling around each other in an impossibly playful way, and finally disappeared in a flash over the horizon. Not a sound was heard. Nothing I know could have moved like that. These weren’t drones or planes.

So what did I see?

I grew up reading Robert Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke and watching the original “Star Trek” series on television. I therefore took it for granted that the universe teemed with other sentient species.

Back then, these came in two kinds: Bug-Eyed Monsters, or BEMs, who looked like giant versions of Kermit the Frog and made modern-music sounds; and Highly Evolved Minds, or HEMs, who had traded their physical bodies for the enviable capacity to play tricks on Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock.

Both varieties conformed to old archetypes. There were once monsters in the dark. There were spirits in the woods and the clouds.

We may have driven these mythical entities from our planet, but why couldn’t they endure in outer space?

In the war-torn 20th century, Martians were the stuff of horror and adventure. Flash Gordon kept stopping Ming the Merciless – a dead ringer for Genghis Khan – from destroying Earth. Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” taught us that the best planetary defense was the common cold.

Even “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” supposedly a benevolent vision, left the future of humanity in the hands of robots that pretended to be pacifists but seemed happy to pulverize anything they disapproved of.

With the success, later in the century, of “E.T.: The Extraterrestrial,” a third archetype achieved dominance over popular culture: space aliens, it turned out, were Just Like Us, only cuter – and somehow able to make bicycles fly through the air.

They still looked like Kermit the Frog, but in a good way.

In “E.T.,” the eponymous alien was a plot device, used to separate good humans from bad humans. Good humans embraced the Other. Bad humans tried to dissect the Other, just to see what was inside.

This moralistic touch sometimes made for a good story – see, for example, “Starman” – but more often, as in “E.T.” itself, it was a dreary bore that left us longing for the return of Ming the Merciless.

A case can be made that “E.T.” was the illegitimate offspring of TV scientist Carl Sagan, begat on Steven Spielberg’s Hollywood. Given his unblinking stare and weird mannerisms, Sagan had something of the extraterrestrial in him – he seemed uncomfortable impersonating a human.

In 1980, two years before “E.T.” was released, he made the following pronouncement: “In the vastness of space, there must be other civilizations.”

Who knows? Maybe he had inside knowledge.

But with that, acceptance of hyper-civilized aliens, once the sole possession of sci-fi nuts like me, began its long march to respectability. By 2024, 87 percent of scientists and 86.6 percent of astrobiologists, by one measure, believed in the likelihood of life in other planets.

For some, the existence of aliens is an act of faith, almost of desperation – what William James labelled the “will to believe,” translated from religion to science.

The thought of being alone in the “vastness of space” induces a kind of cosmic vertigo.

The universe must be filled with creatures Just Like Us, or preferably Slightly Better Than Us, and they must be here, close by, watching, judging, endowing every human action with a certain weight of importance.

We crave recognition, and in a performative age that can only come from the existence of a secret audience.

At the extremes of obsession, we get the Richard Dreyfuss character in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” who forsakes family and society to seek the aliens, imitating St. Francis in the latter’s search for God.

At some point, there will be contact.

Not unreasonably, we used to worry about being discovered by slimy galactic psychopaths, as in “Alien” and “Independence Day.”

With a modesty typical of the 21st century, we now prefer to believe that a race of space therapists will be happy to cross millions of light-years of the trackless void just so they can talk to us about ourselves.

We know from “Arrival” that the session goes well.

Human self-esteem, shaken since the inexplicable rise of Taylor Swift, is restored. Our place in the scheme of things, we will be told, is moderately significant, which is better than nothing.

To the sound of chords in a minor key, the nations will remain eternally at peace – just like in “The Day the Earth Stood Still” only without the terrifying nanny-bots.

Since a lot of this is shameless wish-fulfillment, we should take a deep breath and ask a few pertinent questions.

What is the hard evidence for life outside this lonely planet? There is none.

How likely is a super-civilization to emerge in another world? Well, Earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old, while our civilization first touched outer space 68 years ago. That makes for a probability of 1 over 0.00000001.

Why would massively intelligent beings embark on an epic interstellar journey, only to play hide-and-seek like human five-year-olds once they get to their destination? I can think of no reason.

Wait, though, what about those scientists who endorsed E.T.? Scientists, just like nonscientists, will say whatever they think will make them sound cool.

We do have the UAPs. I can attest to them personally.

After years of increasingly preposterous explanations, the federal government has given up on blaming swamp gas.

Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence, has confessed her belief in aliens.

Dr. Eric Davis, physicist, has briefed Congress on the existence of four alien species: “Grays, Nordics, Insectoids, and Reptilians.”

That would explain why Scandinavians tend to be so nice to us Earthlings.

Yet the government could be wrong again. It’s possible.

Trapped in the new conventional wisdom, DNI Gabbard and Dr. Davis could have toggled to the opposite error from that of the perpetrators of the Swamp Gas Hypothesis.

What, after all, did I see above the lagoon in Venice?

I saw fantastic twirling lights. To posit a superior civilization of people-watchers from that data point seems a bit extreme.

Centuries ago, the lights might have become the Virgin Mary. A magnificent basilica would be erected on the site.

Ignore Hollywood – it’s always the smart thing to do. So far as we know, we are alone.

Ours may be the only minds in the enormity of Einsteinian spacetime – our thoughts may be the only thoughts to be had anywhere.

The notion feels slightly shocking, and not just because of the claustrophobic loneliness it evokes.

If the universe attains self-awareness solely in the human race, what kind of burden does that place on our shoulders?

Shouldn’t we dream on an infinite scale? Shouldn’t our intellects span deep and wide?

That won’t happen, of course. Human thoughts tend to be homely and small. The mental content of those who get paid to think big can be summarized in three words:

“Trump! Trump!! TRUMP!!!”

This, however, is a sterile line of reasoning – what might be termed the ecologist’s fallacy. Nobody gets to speak on behalf of the universe.

Whatever burden we assume because of our place in it is human-made and derived from human need rather than cosmic imposition.

The universe keeps its own counsel.

And as for life in other planets, we only know that we don’t know much.

That cuts both ways. Without fear of contradiction, I’m perfectly free to retain my teenage faith that the galaxies swarm with trillions of BEMs and HEMs.

For me, the most inspired vision of a pan-galactic encounter takes place in the most famous scene of the most popular science fiction movie.

The cantina in the “Star Wars” world of Tatooine is filled with outlandish organisms, all of them surly and seedy-looking. Alien music screeches danger. Without warning, a fight erupts.

The human hero outdraws the challenger, who falls dead to the floor – and suddenly we realize where we are.

It’s the Wild West. It’s the final frontier. Americans have been here before, and whatever facts we come to learn about alien species, we can be there again if we so decide.

(DailyMail.uk)

---