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INTERIOR SHOWERS and isolated thunderstorms this afternoon and early evening over the higher terrain across the eastern portion of the forecast area. Drier and warmer conditions Friday and Saturday, followed by a period of more rain possible on Sunday. Drier and warmer weather trend return early next week. (NWS)
STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A cloudy 58F on the coast this Thursday morning, The rain is gone leaving a lot of clouds behind it. Scattered clouds next couple days then mostly sunny for the weekend? We'll see.
TO MY DAD, JIM SHIELDS, EDITOR/PUBLISHER OF THE MENDOCINO OBSERVER, LAYTONVILLE
by Jayma Shields Spence
I told myself, I even vocalized it to my dad, that I bet one day I would find him either at the Water District Plant or The Observer office. When I received an email from the good folks at Western Web [printing] asking if everything was ok and they hadn’t received the Observer yet I knew something was wrong.
I walked into the Observer office on Wednesday September 3 and found my dad kicked back in his office chair. But this time I couldn’t wake him from his nap.
As many of you know, my dad (age 78) had more jobs than one could comprehend. His love was publishing our weekly family newspaper, The Observer. His second job was being the long-time District Manager for the Laytonville County Water District. His third was caring for our horse Lily and various colonies of cats that quite frankly, adopted him because they know a sucker when they see one. His fourth job was chairing our “town council” as he called it. His fifth job was giving advice, solicited or not to many of you.
The last email I saw he sent was to Meadow at the Feed Store saying he would talk with her tomorrow about her recent issues with County Code Enforcement.
His #1 job was being father to me and my brother Jim. With my dad’s passing, there will be a large hole to fill. Just like when my mom passed, the enormity of the work she did for our community and the many lives she touched is immeasurable. I try to comprehend just how we will all move forward with this incredible loss. So many questions we all have for him will now go unanswered.
My dad taught me so much, and yet I know so little. I was always amazed by how much knowledge he was able to store. And his ability to recall so many things. Even when I could see he was wiped out or not feeling well, he could still drum up that memory, or story or answer.
At this time, I am unsure when we will hold a celebration of his life, but it will happen. I am uncertain of the future of this newspaper, but I am confident something will work out. Many of you are asking how you can help and when I figure that out, I will be sure to let you know. If you would like to write something in memory of my dad, I would like to fill next week’s Observer with your letters. Please email them to [email protected].
In the meantime, please spread love and kindness to one another, give someone a hug who needs it, call someone you haven’t spoken to in a while, help your neighbor, help a stranger, feed a feral cat, take a shot of Irish Whiskey and chase it down with Guinness Stout… Whatever you do, please do it for Jim Shields.
Dedication from Jim Shields’ son, Jim, of Sacramento:
Dad I am sure you are already stirring the pot and raising hell on the other side. You always said to leave the world in a little better place than you found it and you certainly accomplished that. Hope you are blasting Rolling Stones songs with Susan. Happy Trails until we meet again.
— Love, Jim
FORT BRAGG POLICE DEPARTMENT:
Please join us in giving a warm welcome to Officer Logan James!
On September 5th, Officer James was officially sworn in with the Fort Bragg Police Department after successfully graduating from the Butte College Law Enforcement Academy.
When asked what inspired him to pursue this path, Officer James shared that he is the first in his family to enter law enforcement, grounded in the strong morals and standards needed to serve his community.
We’re proud to have him on our team!
If you see Officer James around town, be sure to say hello and welcome him to Fort Bragg.
BAWK-BAWK:
The Ukiah City Council voted unanimously to do away with most of the red tape residents have to go through to have chickens, rabbits and bees in their yards – including reducing the $1,000 permit requirement.
ROGER H. LORI, SR.
Roger Harry Lori, Sr., a resident of Bakersfield, California, passed away in Hollywood, Florida, on September 3rd, 2025, at the age of 73.
Roger was born to Harry and Barbara Lori in Ukiah, California, on May 17th, 1952. He grew up and attended school in Redwood Valley, of which he always had an affection for.
Roger began working early in life and first started working in the funeral industry at the age of 13, helping with various duties at Anker-Lucier Mortuary in Willits. After graduating high school, he went to work for Jones and Lewis Mortuary in Lower Lake, with one of his duties consisting of driving the ambulance. It was at this time that he met his wife Gina Rose Montgomery. They were married on August 21st, 1973, at the Assembly of God Church in Ukiah.
Roger and Gina moved to Southern California where he worked as a pathologist’s assistant, and upon turning 21 he began working as a prison guard at Chino Prison. It was at this time that Roger and Gina welcomed their first child, Roger H. Lori, Jr., into the world. Shortly after the birth of their son, Roger and Gina purchased their first mortuary, Lori & Montgomery Funeral Home, in Riverside, California, where Roger began operating the mortuary during the day, while also working the night shift at the prison to support his young family. Roger and Gina went on to expand their family with the birth of their daughter, Tamara R. Lori, and the birth of their son, Charles J. Lori. As Roger’s career also began to expand, Roger and Gina went on to own Chapel of the Desert in Indio, Bade’s Mortuary in Tujunga, Bade’s Newhall Mortuary, Rose Mortuary in Desert Hot Springs, Chapel of the Palms in Coachella, Bakersfield Family Funeral Home, Westside Family Mortuary in Taft, and Lori Family Mortuary in Santa Maria. However, later in life Roger preferred to focus on trade embalming for numerous mortuaries throughout the San Joaquin Valley, Lancaster, as well as the Central Coast, while also performing as an expert witness in the judicial system, with all 3 of his children going on to also join the funeral industry.
He had a love for animals, especially his boxer dogs and most recently his cat Pouncer.
Roger was greeted in Heaven by his parents; his grandson, Tyler; along with other cherished family members.
He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Gina; children, Roger Lori, Jr. and wife Ana, Tamara Vradenburg and husband Jordan, and Charles Lori and wife Amber; grandchildren, Tatum, Jayden, Jenna, Bella and Samantha, Angel and Vicente; sisters, Judy Keys, Pam Leon (Bob), Vickie Lori (Kathleen), and Gloria Lori, as well as nieces, nephews, and other loved family members.
A Graveside Service will be held at the Russian River Cemetery District (940 Low Gap Road, Ukiah) on Monday, September 15th, 2025, at 2:00 P.M.
ROBERT SOMER (Westport): A few photos from another residential construction project in Westport. Willits contractor: Timothy Mys is leading the crew. Corner of Shoreline Hwy & Cahto Mtn Rd.
TIME FOR THE COUNTY FAIR
by Carol Brodsky
The 101st Annual Mendocino County Fair and Apple Show takes place Friday, September 12th, through Sunday, September 24th, at the Boonville Fairgrounds.
On Friday, Seniors 65 and better pay only $6 for admission all day, and children 12 years and under are admitted free. Seniors may purchase 3-day passes for $25 prior to the fair.
Pre-sale carnival wristbands are available at the Fair Office, Lemon’s Market in Philo, Anderson Valley Elementary, and online at the Fair website. Attendees save $10 by pre-purchasing in advance. Wristbands are for one day and allow for unlimited rides.
Friday, at 8:00 a.m., the fair kicks off with a 4H, FFA, and Open Horse show in the Rodeo Arena. At 5:00, the Arena will be hosting a soccer game.
Saturday night features the CCPRA Rodeo beginning at 8:00 p.m., and repeating on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. On Saturday night, following the rodeo, dance to Dean Titus and the Coyote Cowboys, from 9:30 to midnight.
Sheep Dog Trials take place on Sunday at 10:00 a.m., along with classic car judging. The Trials are held in the Rodeo Arena, and the judging takes place in the Rodeo parking lot.
Don’t miss the parade from Highway 128 to the Rodeo Arena, beginning Sunday at noon.
There will be plenty of free entertainment all weekend long, suitable for everyone in the family. Godfrey the Magician will be offering shows throughout the weekend on the Lawn Stage, along with Scott Forbes. Robin Lara will be strolling through the Fair. Look for Bri Crabtree’s Silly Circus Show, the Cutest Show on Earth, and the Pony Land Petting Zoo, open from 10-6 p.m.. Sunday, watch out for the Freaky Fruit Contest!
There will be daily apple and wine tasting, as well as the 27th Annual California Wool and Fiber Festival and the 98th Annual California National Wool Show.
In addition to the carnival and the cotton candy, enjoy livestock shows, floral and garden displays, apple displays, arts and crafts, and the Parade of Champions, featuring the Announcement of the Apple Jack Contest Winners on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. There will be shearing and skirting demonstrations on Saturday and a spinning contest on Sunday.
The Fair is open from 9:00 a.m. to midnight daily. For more information, phone (707) 895-3011 or visit www.mendocountyfair.com
(Ukiah Daily Journal)
LOCAL EVENTS (this weekend)
FORT BRAGG FOOD BANK STRUGGLES UNDER NEW FEDERAL BUDGET CUTS
by Mary Benjamin
The Fort Bragg Food Bank, the proactive flagship of the county-wide Mendocino Food Network, has faced the impact of federal funding cuts first announced by the government in March and later mandated by the passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Standard reimbursements for some basic food services are not coming.
It’s one thing to trim a family’s food budget. It’s quite another to do the same for over 14,500 families living from paycheck to paycheck who otherwise could not afford to eat healthy. Social service nonprofits will find themselves competing for limited dollars, affecting every aspect of the state’s government budget.
As part of the massive federal bill passed by Congress in July, severe cutbacks to federal safety net services are now taking effect. Americans won’t feel the pain of losing their Medicaid for another year or so. Critical basic needs for the elderly, children living below the poverty line, the physically or mentally challenged, and the homeless will be felt very soon.
Amidst this chaos and uncertainty, Amanda Friscia, Executive Director of the Mendo Food Network, which includes the Fort Bragg Food Bank, took Fort Bragg Mayor Godeke’s advice and gave a status presentation to the Fort Bragg City Council in May. In her presentation, Frisica said, “The reduction of our operational budget has forced us to make difficult decisions, including reducing the frequency of our distributions and limiting the quantity of food we can offer per household.”
She continued, “We are witnessing a growing number of families, seniors, and individuals who are unable to meet their basic food needs. The ripple effect of these cuts extends beyond just the food bank; it impacts the health and welfare of our entire community. Children are going to school hungry, seniors are making difficult choices between food and medication, and families are facing increased stress and hardship.”
In March this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture withheld 330 truckloads of food intended for California food banks. This was part of the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. This specific commodities delivery was to be a “bonus round” ordered in December of 2024 by President Biden to supplement the regular deliveries by the USDA.
Following that unexpected loss, food banks across the state then suffered deeper losses with the final passage of the federal budget bill. The programs chosen to cut or eliminate seem arbitrary.
Since funding streams are designated for specific food bank services, funds for senior boxes have been severely cut back, but funds for kids’ bags have not been impacted. Even more draconian, the federal Local Food Purchase Assistance program (LFPA), a win-win for local farmers and low-income families that targeted access to locally grown, farm-fresh foods, has now ended.
The federal SNAP program, known as CalFresh in California, was significantly reduced. This mandate is described as “the largest cut to the SNAP/CalFresh in the program’s history.” According to the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano Counties, “These cuts to SNAP will more than double the need food banks are already facing.”
Federal cuts to CalFresh, California’s basic food program, led the legislature to consider reducing the program’s funding from $60 million to $8 million. However, heavy lobbying from the state’s food banks led the state legislature to vote to maintain funds at their previous levels. However, this will only help a portion of what food banks have provided to those in need.
What does all this mean to the Fort Bragg Food Bank’s clients? According to Amanda Friscia, the word came in March that the federal CCC program, which operates under the federal Farm Bill, was cancelled. That loss of $75,000 affects the food bank’s senior box program.
Friscia explained, “We’ve been limited to the number of boxes we can give out. It was 250 boxes a month. Now it’s 200-215 boxes a month.” She noted that they would run out and may have to prioritize who will get a box. She continued, “That doesn’t mean no food at all. They will get the supplemental food that comes along with the box.”
Before the legislative renewal of CalFood, the food bank had already made purchasing cuts while waiting for news about the vote. Friscia said the food bank network had previously received a CalFood grant of $250,000, giving them $300,000 to purchase food, including local farm products, from July of this year to April of next year.
Friscia is hoping to reallocate some CalFood funds to programs that the federal government has ended. However, this time the state legislature authorized the bill for only one year rather than the usual three years.
The problem is how to plan when you don’t know, from April to about August, what you will be allotted for the upcoming quarter. Friscia said, “I’m going to try to source as many dry and frozen products as possible for that April timeframe to keep us going.” Currently, Friscia is applying for the period from January to June 2026 for the USDA, hoping to receive the usual amount.
Friscia also noted that increases in food costs have had an impact. “We’re trying to be smarter about what we’re purchasing, including freight costs. A couple of years ago, a case of green beans cost about $9. Now it’s $13 to $14.
She commented that other food banks in the state had begun severe cutbacks. Other actions Friscia has taken include eliminating two part-time positions at the Fort Bragg Food Bank, along with a pay cut for herself and Jim DiMauro, the head of the Fort Bragg warehouse.
Ironically, the expansion of the food bank network’s services, including new distribution locations, has made a noticeable impact on communities. For example, the creation of a pop-up service at the Albion pantry meant those who couldn’t travel to Fort Bragg would now be able to acquire the basics close to home.
With the establishment of multiple pop-ups throughout the county, the food bank gained 1,700 new clients, mainly in the more rural areas. Friscia calls this “meeting them where they are.” By the end of this year, the network will have supplied more than four million pounds of food in Mendocino County.
The challenge now is how to keep offering food at the levels the network worked so hard to achieve. Last year, the Fort Bragg site saw a 20% increase in clients, and there has been no drop-off since then. Friscia expects to see an increase of about 10%-15% this year. She was happy to report that the food bank is managing to keep its diaper supply stocked.
Space for the food increased dramatically with the purchase of a central hub warehouse in Willits. A second delivery truck was purchased, and fortunately, the new equipment and vehicles are fully paid for. The network is holding a loan on the construction remodeling costs of the Willits warehouse, but Friscia says what was budgeted as a five-year loan payoff will now probably take ten years.
The new building provided more storage space at the Fort Bragg Food Bank, enabling them to operate a pantry service inside, rather than offering curbside service only.
The Fort Bragg City Council voted to grant the Fort Bragg Food Bank $58,000 to help it maintain its programs. Friscia said that in the worst-case scenario, there are dire steps she could take to keep the food bank open. “I feel like we’re already operating with a bare bones staff in some aspects,” she said.
Friscia says the food bank “is holding steady (fingers crossed)” and is counting on the strong community base the Fort Bragg Food Bank has developed over the years. She said, “I have a really dedicated and strong staff that’s working together really well.”
She continued, “I have a really big crew of volunteers who are really supportive and a community that cares and is checking in. We’re all invested in this work. We know why we’re invested in it.”
In her worldview, humans share what they have with others. The Fort Bragg Food Bank is happy to accept donated food, any money you can spare, or any time you may have to help out.
“To the people who know what good the food bank is doing,” she said, “keep supporting it because it is making a difference. However you are helping, I can use it in even the smallest amount. Sometimes we think our small part doesn’t matter, but it does.”
(Ukiah Daily Journal)
A COAST RESIDENT addresses David Gurney:
Sorry.. I can’t stay quiet on this one. I’m sorry to Isaac Whippy our city manager, who currently is also taking on overseeing 2 other departments until the positions are filled. He isn’t collecting 3 salaries.. This immigrant talk is racist and rude.
Your comments are uncalled for and false! This isnt the only false statements you have made.
There have been many.
You don’t make any point, even if your mistruths were factual(but they are not) when you spew such hateful words.
What part of your actual brain thinks your hate is okay? Its not. And I hope everyone who sees you calls you out. I have already sent Mr. Whippy an apology, not for you but for the 2 times at meetings this week you have said hateful words when he can’t even respond to you. We all had to see and hear your hate.
You Mr. gurney are out of line. Shame on you. I hope you do some reflecting and I await your thoughtful apology at our next council meeting.
Video..Council meeting public comment this past Monday and comments at the Coastal Commission meeting today.
THE FIRST OPUS CONCERT of the Season; Carrie, Marius and the Maestro, is coming up on Sunday, September 21st at 3 PM.
Join us for a truly eclectic afternoon of beautiful music sung by CA artist Carrie Hennessey. She will be joined by Mendocino favorite Marius Constantin, and Symphony of the Redwoods Music Director Bryan Nies. The artists will explore French and English art song, masterpieces by Amy Beach and new works by local composer Graham Sobelman. Maestro Bryan Nies will add a few pianistic surprises that are sure to delight!
As always, doors open at 2:30 and we have tea, cookes and coffee avaialble before the concert and during intermission.
More info at symphonyoftheredwoods.org 707-964-0898
SARAH STIERCH: As monarch butterfly populations decline rapidly, California State Parks are asking the public to track their sightings to help with conservation efforts.
TRUMP TURNS MENDOCINO WATER FIGHT INTO A NATIONAL BRAWL
by Matt LaFever
PG&E’s plan to decommission the Potter Valley Project and remove Scott and Cape Horn dams has exploded into national politics after U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins blasted the proposal on X as putting “fish over people.”
PG&E says the plan would retire the diversion tunnel and replace it with a smaller, fish-friendly facility that drastically reduces Eel-to-Russian River transfers to help salmon recover. The utility pushed back on claims that recent flow cuts were tied to decommissioning, saying August reductions—from 75 to 5 cfs—followed a request from the Potter Valley Irrigation District and a separate FERC approval to preserve Lake Pillsbury storage.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office dismissed Rollins’ criticism, noting PG&E is a private company, while Rep. Jared Huffman warned the secretary’s rhetoric could jeopardize a workable “two-basin” path that includes a new diversion and a water rights deal for the Russian River.
Local reactions split along the watershed. Mendo Matters’ Kerri Vau praised Rollins’ engagement and said organizers will pursue a town hall and urge county supervisors to formally oppose decommissioning.
Potter Valley farmer and small hydro operator Guinness McFadden described the cuts as a “regulatory drought” already harming operations. Environmental groups countered that dam removal offers broader community benefits:
Friends of the Eel River’s Alicia Hamann argued the “fish over people” frame is misleading and warned that if aging Scott Dam fails, Russian River users could lose Eel diversions entirely.
(mendofever.com)
TRUMP SEIZES ON CALIFORNIA DAMS AS NEWSOM FACES GROWING PRESSURE
Gavin Newsom and Donald Trump are bracing for a high-stakes fight over PG&E's Potter Valley Project in California
by Matt LaFever
For more than a century, PG&E’s Potter Valley Project has funneled water from one Northern California river to another. Now, the century-old system has become the center of a political firestorm, cast by the Trump administration as a battle of “fish over people.”
Earlier this summer, PG&E submitted its final proposal to federal regulators: Dismantle the project’s two dams, drain its reservoir and retire the diversion tunnel that has long carried Eel River water into the Russian River watershed. The company would replace the infrastructure with a smaller facility that sharply curtails diversions in order to restore the Eel River’s struggling salmon populations. Supporters along the Eel see a long, overdue chance to undo generations of ecological damage. On the Russian River side, critics warn of heightened wildfire danger, worsening water shortages and severe economic strain for farms and communities that rely on the supply.
The controversy leapt into national politics on Sunday when U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins blasted PG&E’s plan in a post on X. “The work to protect our farmers against a weaponized and often radical government continues,” she wrote, adding that she had met with “farmers, ranchers, and community leaders in Potter Valley.” Rollins accused PG&E of “cutting water flows and pushing to tear down the Scott and Cape Horn Dams,” which she called “lifelines for farmers and over 600,000 residents.” She went further, charging that Gov. Gavin Newsom and his allies were “putting fish over people, destroying century old farms and leaving families vulnerable to more drought and wildfire. Is this really America?”
Local activists quickly aligned with the secretary’s message. Kerri Vau chairs Mendo Matters, a Mendocino County group that says it “serves as the unified voice of its members in local government, while keeping them informed and empowered on the policies, regulations, and issues.”
Vau said the group recently joined a discussion with Rollins alongside federal officials and local advocates, calling it “critically important and productive.” In a statement, Vau added: “‘Mendo Matters Group’ is proud to stand with federal leaders, local advocates, and our community in the fight to protect the water, farms, and livelihoods of over 600,000 residents across Mendocino, Lake, Sonoma, and Marin Counties. Together, we are proving that when citizens raise their voices, even Washington listens.”
Vau said Mendo Matters and other locals will coordinate a town hall, with the goal to “defeat the efforts by PG & E, Jared Huffman and Gavin Newsom to take away an integral part of the water to save the ‘fish’ which will severely impact our domestic water, fire protection, destroy our agriculture and livelihood as well as possibly bankrupt the County of Mendocino.”
She added that the group has asked county supervisors to put an opposition vote on the next agenda and to submit “a letter of support to oppose the decommissioning of Scotts and Cape Horn Dams.”
The secretary’s attack wasn’t made in a vacuum. Since January, the Trump administration has been hammering California’s environmental policy as a case of “fish over people.” After wildfires in Los Angeles destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 31 people, Trump claimed the devastation was due to water shortages caused by Newsom’s desire to protect a “worthless fish called a smelt.” On Jan. 20, Trump issued an executive order titled “Putting People over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California.” The order directed the Army Corps of Engineers to release more than 2.2 billion gallons from Lake Kaweah and Lake Success over three days — a move Trump said would give firefighters more water, though the releases had no effect on Los Angeles’ firefighting efforts.
PG&E disputed Rollins’ claims. Spokesperson Paul Moreno said the recent cuts were not tied to decommissioning. He said that on Aug. 4, two things happened: The Potter Valley Irrigation District asked PG&E to reduce releases, and, separately, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved PG&E’s request to lower East Branch flows “to preserve Lake Pillsbury storage.” Following those actions, releases dropped from 75 to 5 cubic feet per second.
Newsom’s office also pushed back. Spokesperson Tara Gallegos said Rollins “doesn’t understand that PG&E is a private company owned by shareholders, not the Governor or the legislature. Once she learns how Google works, she should reach out to PG&E.”
Rep. Jared Huffman, who represents California’s North Coast and helped craft the so-called Two-Basin Solution — a compromise that promised both fish restoration on the Eel and continued diversions to the Russian — warned that Rollins’ approach risks undermining real progress.
“If the Secretary cares about water supply reliability, the worst possible thing she could do is blow up the PG&E decommissioning plan because it includes a new fish-friendly diversion and a water rights agreement for the Russian River basin,” Huffman said in an email. “Frankly, the policy making by snarky tweets from this administration is unserious and unhelpful, especially on something as complex as water.”
For some in Potter Valley, the impacts of reduced flows are already being felt. Guinness McFadden, who has farmed in the valley for 55 years and also runs a small hydropower facility, said the August cuts left him unable to generate and sell power and had him paying higher charges while the plant sat idle, as well as being short on irrigation water. He calls the combination of dam removal and ongoing cutbacks a “regulatory drought” that threatens his farm, his hydro plant and the community that depends on the diversion. McFadden is doubtful that federal involvement will make a difference, noting that “there is very little that can be done by the federal government to sort of force this issue because it is private property. I’m not sure how their involvement, if there is any involvement, is going to have any effect.”
Environmental groups counter that Rollins is framing the issue in misleading terms. Alicia Hamann, the executive director of Friends of the Eel River, wrote in an email that the Trump administration’s “fish over people” narrative ignores the broader benefits of PG&E’s plan.
“Secretary Rollin’s assertion that PG&E’s proposal for dam removal and a new diversion is ‘fish over people’ ignores the multi-benefit nature of the proposal as well as the fact that people rely on fish for healthy economies, cultures, and lifestyles,” she said. She warned that federal intervention could leave Russian River farmers worse off, noting that “when Scott Dam inevitably fails,” they could be left without supplemental Eel River water entirely.
Huffman said the episode illustrates how far political discourse has shifted. “In a normal world, she would reach out and talk to me about these things,” he said, “but there’s not much left of normal these days.”
(sfgate.com)
SHERIFF MATT KENDALL:
I have always cringed when people begin comparing anyone to the Nazi regime. I’ve had people compare myself and my deputies to Nazis when we make an arrest of someone who needed to be arrested. This always seemed very foolish and here is the reason:
Historians estimate that six million Jewish people were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators during the holocaust. I read somewhere this was nearly two thirds of the Jewish population in Europe prior to World War 2. That is pure evil, plain and simple. When someone compares the largest mass murder and ethnic cleansing I can think of to a deputy arresting someone for a crime, it doesn’t hold water. This doesn’t make the deputy look bad for making an arrest. Sadly, it makes the Nazis look not so bad, and that shouldn’t ever happen. We erode their guilt every time this occurs.
BRUCE ANDERSON:
On the general subject of political confusion, the only people who have shouted me down, boycotted the ava, banned the paper, tried to stop me from speaking, have always described themselves as “liberals,” even “progressives.” Off my long life as a left lib-lab, circa 1960 until now, the only fascists I’ve encountered have been people who vote Democrat.
KENDALL:
“Left lib-lab” from the 60s, lol Bruce. I dislike the D and R labels mostly. I like to believe one party doesn’t fit everyone within it and I don’t like being judged by party preference, but it certainly is happening.
My father was a dyed in the wool Democrat. I largely agree with what the party stood for when they seemed to stand for things. He was pretty conservative, to me, back then, the Democratic Party didn’t seem liberal. All of the Dems I knew were loggers, carpenters and mostly blue collar people. But, those were the folks I was around when I was young, so maybe that isn’t a good representative slice of society.
I still know some pretty conservative democrats but I think they are afraid to let anyone know how they feel. That’s a big shift from the party which championed free speech and I think that’s sad.
I think the party walked away from those folks and became something different.
There’s a saying I once heard, don’t hate the players, hate the game.
CATCH OF THE DAY, Wednesday, September 10, 2025
SHILOH ALONSO, 33, Fort Bragg. Tear gas, parole violation.
NATASHA BABATUNDE, 38, Ukiah. Parole violation.
ISAIAH BROWN, 30, Covelo. Grand theft.
SHYNETTE BROWN, 29, Citrus Heights/Ukiah. Grand theft.
ROLAND ESKIND JR., 55, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol&drugs, parole violation.
JESTIN GOTT, 40, Redwood Valley. Under influence, paraphernalia.
LEBARADO RAMIREZ, 50, Laytonville. Attempted murder with great bodily injury-victim over 70 years old, use of firearm, security assessment.
KELLY STANTON, 49, Ukiah. Mandatory supervision violation.
CONDITIONS FOR PT. REYES RANCH WORKERS WERE ROUGH
Editor,
I have long supported the cessation of private ranching and associated agricultural activities on National Park Service lands at Point Reyes National Seashore. I also support efforts by Marin County, the Nature Conservancy, West Marin Community Services and others to address the needs of displaced agricultural workers.
The feudal-looking conditions at some of the ranches in the park have long been eyesores, along with the erosion, fouled water and vegetation damage caused by cows.
I consider this confirmation that some ranchers have been slumlords, while feeding at the “public trough” for decades. The ranchers are going away with millions of dollars from the deal to shut down. I think their legacy comprises displaced workers dependent on the kindness of strangers, slum housing and thousands of acres of cow-stripped wastelands in a national park.
Tom Kucera
San Rafael
A DYING NORTHERN CALIFORNIA MALL TELLS THE STORY OF A REGION IN DECLINE
Humboldt Bay’s struggling Bayshore Mall reveals a region caught between past and future
by Matt LaFever
Deep in California’s Redwood Curtain, on the shores of Humboldt Bay, a fading landmark tells the story of a region reckoning with what comes next. The Bayshore Mall was once a bustling hub of retail on the far edge of Northern California, but now only a fraction of its 3,000 parking spaces are filled. Nearly two dozen storefronts are dark and empty. Leaks in the roof inundate multiple stores, and rats were discovered at Mrs. Fields cookie shop.
As the industries that sustained Humboldt County — logging and, more recently, cannabis — continue to falter, the mall’s decline is forcing a new conversation: What should become of the massive property that greets Highway 101 travelers at Eureka’s southern edge?
In July, an employee of Humboldt Clothing Company, one of the longest-running storefronts in the Bayshore, reflected on its heyday: “Back when I was a kid, this was like the happening place to be. It was full.” Then, after a pause, he added: “But, no more.”
Things Fall Apart
The Bayshore Mall opened in 1987, built for scale: early maps showed capacity for 103 stores and 610,000 square feet of leasable space — about 14 acres, just over 10 NFL fields. Over the past two decades, the anchors peeled away: Mervyn’s, Gottschalks, JCPenney, Sears. The movie theater closed, then Hometown Buffet and Bed Bath & Beyond. Today, Walmart and Kohl’s are the only majors left.
Brian Reeves has spent seven years repairing phones and gadgets from a booth inside the Bayshore, watching businesses vanish one by one. “Business has been dropping steadily,” he told SFGATE, blaming the loss of anchors like Sears: “There was quite a few businesses in the mall … brought a lot of people, and then they closed down.”
“COVID destroyed it,” said Michael Smokrovich, co-owner of Northern Realms Trading Cards, which has been in the mall for a year. His partner, Ben Matsuda, agreed: “Before COVID, you know, [the mall was] probably doing OK, and then during COVID, it just plummeted. And [the owners] just didn’t care to reincentivize stores to come back. They didn’t lower rent — they increased rent, actually.”
Another layer of problems: The mall sits in a tsunami hazard zone on low-lying coast, making it prone to flooding and liquefaction in earthquakes. Sea-level rise adds long-term risk.
Paradoxically, it’s still one of Eureka’s busiest spots — about 420,000 visits a month — thanks to multiple bus lines converging there. Yet the steady foot traffic hasn’t slowed the slide. On a mid-July afternoon, SFGATE found the ghost of Bed Bath & Beyond lingering on the facade — its white letters stripped away, the outline still visible against blue tile. Potted palms at the entrance struggled to grow. Inside, the long white-tiled floor gleamed under dim light, music drifting faintly from a handful of open stores. Otherwise, silence.
The cavernous food court had just one restaurant open. A bank of kiddie rides — a Thomas the Tank Engine, an ice cream truck painted with an exuberant smile — sat motionless, with no children in sight. They looked frozen in time.
Security guard John Robinson soon approached, telling SFGATE, “They don’t want anybody photographing in here without their permission.” He directed all questions to mall management, Spinoso Real Estate Group. After agreeing to put the camera away, a walk through the mall revealed nearly two dozen empty storefronts. Then, for a moment, the silence broke — a few dozen shoppers gathered on benches, chatting and resting, and the mall briefly evoked the lively hub it once was.
‘Stabilizing Operations’
Among employees, one complaint surfaced again and again: the roof. Leaks, they said, had driven stores out. “That’s why a bunch of stores were leaving,” recalled Matsuda. “They refused to fix the roof.”
Reeves said leaks still plague Cricket Wireless and Claire’s. Smokrovich remembered hearing water dripping directly onto arcade machines. Still, rumors of change are spreading under Spinoso’s management. Reeves said they told him, “They’re trying to fix the roof.” Smokrovich had heard the company was working to bring more stores back.
City officials have also caught wind of interest. Cristin Kenyon, Eureka’s development services director, confirmed Home Depot had inquired about sites in Eureka. “We have gotten calls of interest for Home Depot coming to Eureka,” she said, acknowledging the Bayshore would be “an ideal location if they did come here.”
SFGATE reached out to Spinoso Real Estate about its plans. CEO Carmen D. Spinoso said his company assumed management of the Bayshore Mall about two months ago through receivership.
“We recognize the significance of Bayshore Mall to Eureka and the broader North Coast,” he wrote, adding that the firm was “actively assessing the property, engaging with tenants, and evaluating opportunities that will guide the long-term revitalization of the center.” While he gave no specifics, Spinoso said priorities included “stabilizing operations, supporting tenants, and exploring strategies that align with the mall’s role in the community and the evolving retail landscape.”
For Reeves, his optimism is cautious. “I don’t know yet,” he said. “It’s too early to tell at the moment if they’re actually going to get people to come in here, open stores in these empty spaces.”
Kenyon told SFGATE that despite the city’s deep stake in the mall’s future, it has no active relationship with ownership right now. That gap spurred her to work with a Cal Poly Humboldt economics professor and four students on a semester-long study, presented to the city council in May. Ownership declined to participate.
A better future
For the students, the mall isn’t just a dying retail center — it’s a blank canvas. Their proposals stretched far beyond storefront shopping and into the kinds of uses Eureka needs most.
At the top of the list: housing. With rents climbing and affordable options scarce, they suggested carving apartments into the mall’s vast footprint. Empty corridors and acres of parking could be repurposed for festivals, concerts or art exhibits, transforming the mall into a cultural hub instead of a relic.
The site’s location adds to the potential. Sitting directly on the Humboldt Bay Trail, the mall could connect Old Town Eureka and Arcata by foot or bike, bringing new life — and new customers — without relying on cars.
The students also pressed for environmental fixes: restoring part of the north parking lot to its original salt marsh for natural flood protection, adding bioswales to filter stormwater, even constructing a tsunami evacuation tower that could double as a tourist lookout.
And the vision didn’t stop there. Vacant space could house medical clinics or professional offices, while expansive roofs and parking lots could be lined with solar panels, turning the Bayshore into a renewable-energy hub with backup power for emergencies.
Whatever the future holds, city leaders and residents alike see the Bayshore Mall as more than an eyesore. As Kenyon put it, “the most important thing is for it not to be vacant.”
(SFGate.com)
FOR HEALTHY FOOD, ADOPT EUROPEAN STANDARDS
Editor:
Robert F. Kennedy makes lots of noise about food safety, but there is a simple solution — set our food standards to match those of the European Union. I was in Sweden recently, and the food there is healthier and tastes better than what we get here. Even gluten-intolerant people can eat the bread as they use different wheat and fermentation methods. Of course, the industrial food conglomerates here would never accept that willingly. Even though Kennedy tries to promote healthy food, he isn’t going to take them on.
But this would solve many issues Donald Trump complains about. The rest of the world would allow our meat exports if we removed hormones and antibiotics. People here would have better tasting fruit and vegetables, and kids would end up healthier. Tie that in with a plan to end food deserts, undo cuts to SNAP (food stamps) and school meals, promote local farms and in general do what Kennedy says he wants to see. And then let science set vaccine schedules and all the rest.
Of course, this will never happen under this administration. Who believes Trump cares about anyone but himself and his cronies? It’s about tax cuts for the rich and increased taxes through tariffs for the middle and lower classes.
Hans Van Boldrik
Santa Rosa
BILL KIMBERLIN:
Spielberg shot, “Schindler’s List” in black & white in order to try and achieve the classic look of some of the great films of the past. Also, because he felt the subject deserved it.
We tried to do tests using color film and removing all the color except for the girls coat. We couldn’t satisfy him so we found a way to essentially matt in the red jacket. It worked but there was an additional problem.
How do you release a black & white film with thousands of prints world wide and have some scenes with a red dress? Printing a shot with color in it onto black & white release prints would obviously result in the dress coming out black & white. What could we possibly do?
This was my shot and I knew there was only one way to do it, but I never thought the studio would go for it. This was long before computer graphics. How did we do it?
What they decided to do was to print out our shots, which we printed on color stock but with all the color except for the dress masked out. Our optical department was able to get a decent black & white alongside the coat in color. The amazing thing was that all these individual shots had to be cut into finished black & white release prints which numbered in the thousands, once the film became a hit and went into wide distribution.
All this is keeping in mind that by now home video was wagging the tail of theatrical sales. The whole distribution world had changed with home video sales out grossing ticket sales by huge numbers. The studios knew that audiences did not want to see black & white movies, foreign sales did not want them, and worst of all they were box-office poison for home video.
So what happened? The audiences came out in droves and the film became a landmark. There is a famous Hollywood quote, “Nobody knows nothing,” this film led me to believe that is true. Hollywood wisdom is true, until it’s not.
FAWNGATE SUMMER 88
by Fred Gardner
Well-bred in the Capitol,
her mother would’ve worked for a very big man
Stylish and beautiful
Like Goldwyn had the whole thing planned
We’ll do a B movie called Victory
or History I don’t recall
I didn’t even plan to go until
I caught Fawn Hall
He’ll be a fundamentalist pug at Annapolis
Welterweight class
get him a daddy rabbit and get promoted
perhaps a little bit too fast
Despite missing records, Secord connections
soon have him holding forth:
The Marine Corps’s man in the White House
Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North
Take a letter, Miss Hall, Better stay late tonight:
Dear Ayatollah, do ya need any help in your fight?
Oh it might seem wrong to some but ooh it feels so right
Honey so let’s do it more, let’s do it for old glory
Jetsetting off to Jerusalem
he pursues the meshuganah plan
with Bibles autographed “Ronald Reagan”
To deal around Tehran
Then he’ll take the rap back in Babylon
Mini-cameras close on the myths
in the troubled eyes of America’s hero
as he takes the Fifths
And she’s dating the playboy son of the Contra
leader Arturo Cruz
Then she calls it off on Thanksgiving Day
Did someone insist that she choose?
Security reasons, she tells Arturito,
Safe sex means no sex at all
And out for a drink with a preppy in pink
goes beautiful Fawn Hall
Take a letter Miss Hall, better stay late tonight
Lay a little WordStar down against Managua’s might
Might seem far out to some but ooh it feels far right
Honey, so let’s do it more, let’s do it for Old Glory
Now ambitious officers from all the services
Check out the scene
They see factions of capital, Kissinger messengers
Behind every Bush in every wing
And comes right down to 12 angry persons
who cannot let the Gipper fall
and who but the beautiful Rita Hayworth
could ever play Fawn Hall?
Take a letter Miss Hall better come back tonight
Help me shred Contra-dictions in a world that’s all Red & White
where everybody gets 15 minutes in the light
Honey, let’s do it more, let’s do it for Old Glory
Let’s do it more –let’s do it for Old Glory
I never taped this, but I never forgot it because Larry Bensky always wanted to hear it. (He provided gavel-to-gavel coverage for Pacifica.)
THE HARD LESSONS THE 49ERS MUST LEARN FROM THE JAKE MOODY SAGA
Cutting Moody May Not Solve the Bigger Problem
by Eric Ting
At long last, Jake Moody’s reign of terror has come to an end.
But, as with all terroristic regimes, the Moody era should have ended much sooner. One can only handle so much terror, after all.
In a perfect world, the now-former San Francisco 49ers kicker would have been released before, during or after a 2024 campaign that was somehow even worse than Joe Biden’s. If not then, he should have been released after struggling through the preseason.
Instead, the 49ers let him try his hardest to blow their season opener against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. While one might be tempted to call such a decision inexplicable, it actually make perfect sense in the broader context of the Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch era.
Moody’s prolonged employment is symptomatic of two broader traps the 49ers in the Shanahan-Lynch era keep falling into: sunk-cost fallacy and irrational stubbornness.
To be clear, the 49ers have been very successful under Shanahan and general manager John Lynch. What do you think the New York Jets or even the Dallas Cowboys would give for four conference championship and two Super Bowl appearances in six years? (If you ask Jerry Jones, he might give you Micah Parsons for free. Not for team success, just for free.)
But San Francisco keeps coming up short, in large part thanks to sunk-cost fallacy and stubbornness. Beyond the obvious lesson of “don’t draft a kicker in the third round,” the 49ers should zoom out from the Jake Moody saga and understand that it is just the latest mistake made because of the same miscalculations in decision-making.
Starting with sunk-cost fallacy, consider the Shanahan-Lynch’s regime first major investment: making quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo the highest-paid player in NFL history after just five starts in 2017. The contract was defensible at the time because Garoppolo looked very good in his limited action, the deal was soon surpassed by other quarterback contracts, and, critically, the contract contained an out after three seasons.
But Garoppolo suffered an ACL injury in 2018, lost mobility and was shaky late in the 2019 postseason, including the team’s first Super Bowl loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. In the 2020 offseason, the 49ers could have understood that continuing their weighty investment might not make sense anymore. Garoppolo wasn’t the quarterback they signed after 2017, and a player named Tom Brady reportedly wanted to come home to the Bay Area.
After the 49ers told him off, Brady went on to win a Super Bowl for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020. He then turned in a 2021 season that was statistically even better than his first year in Tampa. Garoppolo, meanwhile, was so hideous at the end of the 2021 NFC Championship Game the 49ers were unable to trade him afterwards.
Around the same time, the 49ers ate large contracts awarded to the oft-injured Dee Ford and Jerick McKinnon longer than economically reasonable in the hopes they would eventually contribute again. They did not, and those dollars could have gone to other investments.
The 49ers have since gotten better at avoiding sunk cost fallacy. Trey Lance, for whom the team gave up a bounty of draft capital, was quickly jettisoned in 2023 after the emergence of Brock Purdy. Defensive linemen Javon Hargrave and Leonard Floyd were released this offseason after a low return on investment. And the team was reportedly still willing to move Brandon Aiyuk earlier this year after his 2024 training camp hold-in, bizarre wrong-colored shorts controversy and injury.
But the sunk-cost fallacy trap came back with a vengeance with how they handled Moody. It was an enormous investment to take a kicker in the third round, and the only thing worse than missing on the pick was doubling down on that bad investment, which in Moody’s case meant more misses. When the Buccaneers took Roberto Aguayo in the second-round of the 2016 NFL Draft and he struggled, he was gone after just one season.
While many NFL teams fall into sunk-cost fallacy, it is useful for the purposes of this article to identify a rival that notably does not fall into this trap. That would be the Philadelphia Eagles, the only other NFC team besides San Francisco that has made three or more conference championships in the past eight years. When Carson Wentz went from MVP candidate to C.J. Beathard lookalike? The Eagles moved on in a timely manner. When they whiffed on first-round receiver Jalen Reagor? He was gone after two years, and in came A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. The Eagles avenged a Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs while the 49ers did not. That is not a coincidence.
Somewhat related, but separate from sunk-cost fallacy, is this regime’s at-times irrational stubbornness. That is, the belief among key decision-makers that this time, the thing they’ve been doing over and over that hasn’t been working consistently, or used to work but no longer does, is suddenly going to work again.
This stubbornness has manifested in a few ways over the years. For one, there’s Shanahan’s play-calling. He is very, very good at his job, but, for whatever reason, insists on predictable first-and-goal runs. Red zone offense is a perennial problem for the 49ers, and Shahanan’s most recent bout of “let’s run straight into a run blitz on first-and-goal” left even the team’s most sympathetic beat writer exasperated by the futility on Sunday.
Coaching stubbornness shows up on the other side of the ball as well. The Shanahan-Lynch regime is so dogmatically wedded to the 4-3 Cover 3 base scheme popularized by the 2010’s Seattle Seahawks that when they hired Steve Wilks — who had no background in that scheme — they mandated he use it anyway. That arrangement ended with Wilks getting fired following their second Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs.
To replace Wilks, San Francisco thought in-house option Nick Sorensen would be better equipped to run their scheme in 2024, but he fared even worse. (Frankly, they have to be counting their lucky stars no one wanted Robert Saleh and got him back for 2025.) Do you know which team did not care about commitment to a specific scheme, but instead hired the best defensive coordinator available? The Eagles in 2024, when they added Vic Fangio, who brought in a new scheme, new ideas and so thoroughly dominated Patrick Mahomes in February’s Super Bowl even 49ers fans who don’t love the Eagles had to admire the bloodbath.
But where this 49ers regime’s stubbornness has been most destructive is in roster construction. Staying on the Eagles (last time I swear), general manager Howie Roseman repeatedly invests premium draft picks in his team’s offensive line, while the 49ers openly boast about a strategy that involves using higher-round draft picks and cap space on skill positions and defense, and hoping that they can coach up bargain-bin investments on the offensive line.
Of the 49ers’ offensive line strategy, I will observe only two things. One, after the 49ers blew their chance at revenge against the Chiefs in a Super Bowl, their offensive linemen engaged in public sniping over blown pass protection assignments. Two, Brock Purdy has multiple injuries after being harassed most of Sunday, and the nation may now be subjected to Mac Jones this week.
On the topic of injuries, this is where the brain trust’s stubbornness has burned the team the most. Much ink has been spilled trying to explain why the 49ers in the Shanahan-Lynch era are consistently one of the most injured teams in the NFL year after year. By far the most persuasive rationale has come from San Francisco Standard columnist Tim Kawakami, who wrote earlier this year: “The 49ers of this era have been a little too eager to add players with recent injury histories and a little too dismissive of some veterans who aren’t flashy but habitually stay healthier than most.”
This regime has added too many players with pre-existing injury woes to count, so let’s just focus on their most recent first-round draft picks. Mykel Williams battled ankle injuries most of his final year at Georgia, then proceeded to miss a large portion of training camp with a new injury. Ricky Pearsall, prior to getting shot, missed a big portion of his rookie training camp thanks to a shoulder injury the team reportedly ”knew about before they drafted him and were hoping wouldn’t be a thing.” And Javon Kinlaw was known to have knee tendinitis before the 49ers drafted him, and he proceeded to miss many games with that very issue.
Whether the 49ers stubbornly believed that Moody would figure it out, or simply could not admit to their mistake, is immaterial. This team is often too set in its ways, and those ways hold them back.
Moody is gone, and that is cause for fans (and evidently some helmet-throwing players) to celebrate. But the 49ers must realize that the Moody situation is emblematic of deeper, repeated decision-making flaws. If those flaws aren’t recognized and corrected, Moody will one day return in another form to terrorize fans, players (and perhaps goalposts) alike.
GIANTS CAN’T FINISH SWEEP AS DIAMONDBACKS HOLD ON AFTER EARLY OUTBURST
by Shayna Rubin
The way the San Francisco Giants were playing, a sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks appeared plausible. But momentum took an abrupt halt on Wednesday afternoon.
The Giants got just two hits in six-plus innings against Diamondbacks lefty Eduardo Rodriguez and lost 5-3, their fourth defeat in the past 17 games.
Having been feeding off their own positive energy, the Giants gave themselves few opportunities to get riled up. Casey Schmitt got the Giants’ first hit with one out in the fifth inning. Matt Chapman got the second against Rodriguez, singling in the seventh.
Rafael Devers got the Giants on the board in the eighth with one of the most frustrating doubles he’ll have in his career. With two aboard, Devers launched Andrew Saalfrank’s sinker 418 feet into the deepest part of the ballpark in right-center.
The ball bounced off the top of the bricks, scoring two easily. Devers has been nursing a sore ankle having twisted it earlier this week, which is why he hasn’t been playing first base lately, so an easy trot around the bases would have been preferred. Not to mention the extra run. It would have been a home run in every MLB ballpark except Oracle Park, per Statcast.
“When he hit it, I thought it was going into the Bay,” manager Bob Melvin said. “But that’s a pretty tough spot to hit it out, even in the daytime. It gave us a little momentum, we felt good about where we were.”
The Giants threatened a comeback in the ninth. Chapman drew a walk and Schmitt had his second hit of the game, a oneout double. They got one across with Jung Hoo Lee‘s groundout, but Schmitt was stranded at third. With that, the Giants fell to 16-25 in games against left-handed starters, the fourth worst record in baseball.
The offensive stutter wasn’t the only pitfall.
The offense has ignited San Francisco’s postseason push, scoring so many runs and hitting so many homers that, at times, it has masked the gaps in the pitching staff, which has a completely different look without Tyler Rogers, Camilo Doval, Erik Miller and now Randy Rodriguez. Joey Lucchesi, who didn’t start the year with the team, often pitches the eighth inning. Others who weren’t with the Giants in the first half — Jose Butto, Matt Gage, Joel Peguero and Keaton Winn — are relied on. Ryan Walker is the de-facto closer despite inconsistencies all season.
Robbie Ray, Logan Webb and Justin Verlander are atop the rotation, but there’s little certainty in the fourth and fifth spots. With an off day Thursday, it’s likely they Giants will stay on turn and have Verlander start Friday, Webb on Saturday and Ray on Sunday in a crucial series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, skipping Kai-Wei Teng.
Teng and Carson Seymour are still navigating highs and lows, pairing impressive starts with clunkers. Seymour made his third start on Wednesday on the heels of his first big league win, an impressive one-run outing. But he’s also still navigating the learning curve with the Giants in no position to expand the margin for error.
“There have been some good ones and some bad ones,” Melvin said. “That’s what we have right now and they’ve gained experience every time they go out there. Last time out for Carson was a good one and today wasn’t as good. Just trying to find a balance and if we have to cut him short, we cut him short.”
Geraldo Perdomo led off Wednesday’s game with a home run and, in the following inning, the Diamondbacks scored two runs on four singles off Seymour, who was aggressive in the zone. Seymour was out after 1⅓ innings, replaced by Spencer Bivens, who allowed a sacrifice fly in the inning.
“I thought I was getting ahead of hitters and they were kind of hitting them where they weren’t,” Seymour said. “As a starter you have to set the tone and I didn’t do that to the best of my ability today, so definitely a bummer.”
The Giants’ off day means the bullpen game that ensued wasn’t as painful. Bivens, Winn, JT Brubaker and Butto were used to get through 7⅔ innings.
(SF Chronicle)
NEW CALIFORNIA LAW TO MAKE HOUSING PROJECTS EASIER CAN ALSO MAKE THEM COST MORE
by Dan Walters
Two months ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislators from both parties celebrated enacting landmark legislation to remove the California Environmental Quality Act as an impediment to new housing construction.
Lopsided votes in the Legislature for Assembly Bill 130 and Newsom’s immediate signature seemingly ended decades of debate over how the environmental law, signed by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan more than 50 years ago, was being used to delay or kill residential developments.
“Saying ‘no’ to housing in my community will no longer be state sanctioned,” said Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, an Oakland Democrat who has long advocated for CEQA reform. “This isn’t going to solve all of our housing problems in the state, but it is going to remove the single biggest impediment to building environmentally friendly housing.”
Newsom took obvious pleasure in achieving what had eluded other governors, including predecessor Jerry Brown, who once described overhauling CEQA as “the lord’s work.”
As Newsom signed the measure into law he thanked legislators and housing, labor and environmental leaders “who heeded my call and came together around a common goal — to build more housing faster and create strong, affordable pathways for every Californian.
“Today’s bill is a game changer which will be felt for generations to come,” he said.
While AB130 does remove CEQA as a weapon for labor unions and opponents of high-density projects to stall construction, there’s a provision buried in the lengthy bill that could create a new impediment.
Two sections, 137 pages in, declare that if a residential project has “significant transportation impact,” local governments or regional agencies can impose fees to “mitigate the transportation impact to a less than significant level by helping to fund or otherwise facilitating vehicle miles traveled-efficient affordable housing or related infrastructure projects….”
The so-called vehicle miles traveled, or VMT, fees are “a new housing tax families simply cannot afford,” the California Building Industry Association publicly complained, adding that impact fees are already major factors in housing costs.
Local traffic impact fees are not new. In fact, a dispute over a $23,420 traffic mitigation fee imposed nine years ago for a factory-built house in El Dorado County is still pending after going all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
However, AB 130 appears to broaden the potential use of these fees not only for roadway improvements, but also to pay for low-income housing projects throughout the state by contributing to the state’s Transit-Oriented Development Implementation Fund.
Drafting AB 130’s CEQA language was a complex process involving multiple stakeholders, not only housing advocates but environmental groups that often employ CEQA to slow or kill major public and private developments and labor unions, which have used the threat of CEQA lawsuits to compel developers to use union workers. The latter issue was a major hang-up that required last-minute amendments to the measure.
The language about traffic fees was never mentioned in analyses of the bill nor in the debates that preceded legislative passage. It’s another example of how such budget trailer bills are used by governors and legislators to enact major legislation on the sly, with little or no public airing of the issues.
Trailer bills often contain language that has little or nothing to do with the budget and are often fleshed out just hours before enactment. Under the guise of being budget-related, the bills can be passed with simple majority floor votes, take effect immediately upon being signed by the governor and cannot be taken to voters via referendum.
Those factors make trailer bills convenient vehicles for legislation that might not survive close scrutiny. Newsom has been especially willing to utilize them for his legislative priorities.
(CalMatters.org)
JANE LEAVY’S SCATHING, FUNNY LOOK AT BASEBALL REVEALS A PROBLEM BIGGER THAN SPORTS
by Anne Killion
Jane Leavy did not talk to Rob Manfred for her new book “Make Me Commissioner: I Know What’s Wrong With Baseball and How To Fix It,” even though it is a bid to replace the commissioner of Major League Baseball when Manfred steps down in — what he has proclaimed — will be early 2029.
“I have not spoken to Rob,” Leavy said recently. “I asked for an interview but I didn’t get one. This (book) was sort of liberating. I didn’t have to speak to anyone I didn’t want to. I didn’t have to speak to idiots. I wanted to interview people who would speak their mind.”
The latest book from Leavy, who has written highly acclaimed biographies of Sandy Koufax, Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth, is part love letter and part comic takedown of the sport she has adored her entire life. She set out to find out what had gone wrong with a game that many, including Koufax and Joe Torre told her was unwatchable and with a league that had to hire Theo Epstein in 2021 to “fix” its product.
“All the headlines were ‘Baseball is Broken,’ ‘Baseball is Dying,’” Leavy recalled. “I wanted to find out why and how this happened.
“When did baseball lose America?”
The result is a scathing but funny look at baseball. And who wouldn’t want to read a book with an entire chapter devoted to Dusty Baker? There’s another chapter built around Ron Washington, and plenty of Savannah Bananas thrown in as an example that baseball can actually be fun.
You probably won’t be surprised by Leavy’s conclusion that the biggest culprit in what has ruined baseball is the rise of analytics and the mathematical suffocating of the game by people who never played it. The stripping away of what many of her interview subjects call “the human element” by the guys behind computers has perhaps irreparably changed the game, making it less fun, charming and compelling.
“Analytics have destroyed the narrative of the game,” Leavy said.
As has the devaluing of the experience of those who have devoted their lives to baseball.
“They try to sell me some ‘bulls—,’ Baker says of the analytic army. ‘And I’m saying, ‘That ain’t what my eyes tell me. Their next comment was: ‘Your eyes will lie to you.’’’
When I mentioned that Baker is back with the San Francisco Giants, ready to impart his wisdom if asked, Leavy said forcefully, “They really need to listen to him.”
Even the people who were the early pioneers in the analytic world, the nerds who found the numbers in sport intriguing and created publications and spreadsheets and new ways to consume the game, regret what baseball has become.
One of those people is my sports editor Christina Kahrl, who was an original contributor to Baseball Prospectus. For three decades, Baseball Prospectus has been at the vanguard of the analytics revolution.
“How did we get to this place where effectively people who don’t play the game, but ‘game it’ — use it as entertainment and then project the entertainment they’ve created back onto the original source?” Kahrl asked Leavy.
Leavy quotes Kahrl as saying: “We turned human beings into commodities and then we applied a value judgment to them, about whether they’re good or bad commodities, whether they’re overpaid or underpaid, all according to a metric.”
That revolution started with “Moneyball” and the Oakland A’s, which Leavy covers. She also spends time with Scott Hatteberg, who calls himself Patient Zero in the analytic revolution. Hatteberg, famously dismissed by A’s scouts but signed by Billy Beane and turned into a first baseman by Washington, is now a scout for the A’s, a development he finds “ironic.”
Sandy Alderson tells her that “Moneyball” “had more of an impact on owners than it did on GMs.” And that’s certainly the case for A’s owner John Fisher, who used the philosophy to justify being cheap. Leavy mocks the A’s for self-relegating themselves to Triple-A with the move to Sacramento and has no faith that Las Vegas will work out for the franchise.
“Nobody’s going to stumble drunk out of a casino and think, ‘I need to see the A’s,’” she said.
She stays away from the Giants, even though Farhan Zaidi was flipping the organization into an analytics-driven club at the time of her reporting. But Leavy drew some of the same conclusions that Buster Posey stated when he took over as president of baseball operations and said he didn’t want to overload players with information.
“It paralyzes your brain,” Leavy said. “You can’t function.”
Leavy explores “max heave” and the search for velocity that has led to a rash of Tommy John surgeries, including at the youth level. She wonders why players can’t spend more time signing autographs or engaging with the fans. She decries the disappearing Black player in the game and goes to visit former Giant Marquis Grissom, who put a million dollars of his own money into creating the Marquis Grissom Baseball Association to fill that void. On Leavy’s first visit, Grissom wondered why MLB created academies in Latin America but wasn’t doing the same thing to find talent in underserved parts of the United States. But, later in her reporting, MLB had stepped in to support Grissom, one of the things it is doing right.
Among the other things Leavy thinks baseball got right: implementing the pitch clock and eliminating the shift. But there is still plenty wrong and she offers some solutions, like using all the profits from online gambling to build academies and fields to support youth baseball.
She said the most popular idea she came up with was letting every child age 10 and under and accompanied by an adult into games for free.
“You look at the swaths of empty seats, there’s so much inventory in baseball,” Leavy said. An economist ran the numbers for her and determined that if each kid bought a cap, a hot dog and a soda, those free tickets would only cost a team a few million a year. Not much when they’re doling out mind-boggling contracts. And it would create fans for life.
Leavy says that what she learned was bigger than baseball. She thinks baseball is the canary in the coal mine for what can happen when numbers and machines replace humans.
“The thing that’s so troubling is the disparagement and loss of respect and utilization of wisdom and experience,” Leavy said. “The notion that that has no role in a world where machines can make certain kinds of thinking and predictions easier.
“This isn’t just a baseball problem. This is what happens when the human element is relinquished.”
(SF Chronicle)
AN AGONY, AS NOW
by Amiri Baraka (1964)
I am inside someone
who hates me. I look
out from his eyes. Smell
what fouled tunes come in
to his breath. Love his
wretched women.
Slits in the metal, for sun. Where
my eyes sit turning, at the cool air
the glance of light, or hard flesh
rubbed against me, a woman, a man,
without shadow, or voice, or meaning.
This is the enclosure (flesh,
where innocence is a weapon. An
abstraction. Touch. (Not mine.
Or yours, if you are the soul I had
and abandoned when I was blind and had
my enemies carry me as a dead man
(if he is beautiful, or pitied.
It can be pain. (As now, as all his
flesh hurts me.) It can be that. Or
pain. As when she ran from me into
that forest.
Or pain, the mind
silver spiraled whirled against the
sun, higher than even old men thought
God would be. Or pain. And the other. The
yes. (Inside his books, his fingers. They
are withered yellow flowers and were never
beautiful.) The yes. You will, lost soul, say
‘beauty.’ Beauty, practiced, as the tree. The
slow river. A white sun in its wet sentences.
Or, the cold men in their gale. Ecstasy. Flesh
or soul. The yes. (Their robes blown. Their bowls
empty. They chant at my heels, not at yours.) Flesh
or soul, as corrupt. Where the answer moves too quickly.
Where the God is a self, after all.)
Cold air blown through narrow blind eyes. Flesh,
white hot metal. Glows as the day with its sun.
It is a human love, I live inside. A bony skeleton
you recognize as words or simple feeling.
But it has no feeling. As the metal, is hot, it is not,
given to love.
It burns the thing
inside it. And that thing
screams.
POLITICAL SCIENCE
by Randy Newman (1972)
No one likes us, I don't know why
We may not be perfect but Heaven knows we try
But all around, even our old friends put us down
Let's drop the big one and see what happens
We give them money but are they grateful?
No, they're spiteful and they're hateful
They don't respect us so let's surprise them
We'll drop the big one and pulverize them
Asia's crowded and Europe's too old
Africa is far too hot
And Canada's too cold
And South America stole our name
Let's drop the big one
There'll be no one left to blame us
We'll save Australia
Don't wanna hurt no kangaroo
We'll build an all American amusement park there
They got surfin' too
Boom goes London and boom Paree
More room for you and more room for me
And every city the whole world 'round
Will just be another American town
Oh, how peaceful it will be
We'll set everybody free
You'll wear a Japanese kimono
And there'll be Italian shoes for me
They all hate us anyhow
So let's drop the big one now
Let's drop the big one now
THE TRUMP TRAP
If you make everything about Donald Trump, as the press has for ten years, the simplest headlines quickly become tortured
by Matt Taibbi
A brief note on headlines inspired by the Charlotte murder of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska: “A Gruesome Murder in North Carolina Ignites a Firestorm on the Right” by the New York Times, and “How the lives of a Ukrainian refugee and a Charlotte man with a criminal history converged in a fatal stabbing,” by CNN.
When you cover everything in the world through the lens of Donald Trump, and Trump must not only always be wrong but the avatar of ultimate evil, outlets like the Times and CNN are forced forever to find opposing angles to anything he criticizes. A horrific murder can’t just be that, but an “accelerant for conservative arguments about the perceived failings of Democratic policies.” CNN’s account was like the screenplay to Crash, about how “the paths of two people fatally converged,” culminating in an act “decried by the Trump administration and conservative politicians as an example of the violent crime they say plagues many Democrat-led cities.”
Forget about attacker Decarlos Brown’s mental health, these stories (and others, like the Axios report “Stabbing Fuels MAGA’s crime message” and Brian Stelter’s bizarre outburst about the reaction being “baldly racist”) show the press is in the grip of severe monomania and madness. Nothing exists outside of Trump, the subject of every line of every story. Incredible, and unsettling, to watch.
ART ECKSTEIN:
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles in response to the murder made the statement, “We will never arrest our way out of issues such as homelessness and mental health.”
Is that really true? If DeCarlos Brown had been in jail, instead of out on “cashless bond”, the poor Ukrainian refugee woman he slaughtered would still be alive.
The Democrats fall into Trump’s trap by twisting every way they can, as they are doing now, to avoid ascribing responsibility to the monster who slit this innocent girl’s throat in public on the Charlotte Light Rail Train.
But in any case there is a larger issue. And someone smart wrote this about the general incoherence of Democratic position: if you want the kind of urban life Democrats say they want — with mass transit, dense housing and a diverse population — then public order, controlling not just violent crime but also disorderly conduct, is an absolute must.
People won’t take mass transit if they feel unsafe on it, and mass transit, by definition, forces you into proximity with strangers.
If you can’t trust those strangers to behave themselves, people will choose alternatives —go armed, or abandon cities entirely and move to places where the surroundings are more congenial.
IF I HAD POSSESSION OVER JUDGMENT DAY
by Robert Johnson (1936)
If I had possession over judgment day
If I had possession over judgment day
Lord, the little woman I'm loving wouldn't have no right to pray
And I went to the mountain, looking as far as my eyes could see
And I went to the mountain, looking as far as my eyes would see
Some other man got my woman and lonesome blues got me
And I rolled and I tumbled and I, cried the whole night long
And I rolled and I tumbled and I, cried the whole night long
Boy, I woke up this morning, my biscuit roller gone
Had to fold my arms and I slowly walked away
(I didn't like the way she done)
Had to fold my arms and I slowly walked away
I said in my mind, "Yo' trouble gon' come some day"
Now run here, baby, set down on my knee
Now run here, baby, set down on my knee
I wanna tell you all about the way they treated me
ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY
We “boomers” of the “something’s happening here” generation, thought ourselves the great transformers of culture and country. Looking back we produced the Clintons of the body politic, the hollowing out of industry and the American workforce, and now the flood of gray ponytails and aging hairdos that mark the supposed “everyone is DC” protesters. The transformers, who largely live in the suburbs where they can pretend “crime is down” don’t have to face the live fire in cities like DC, Baltimore and Chicago, the dystopian city streets of LA, SF, Portland and Seattle. They climb the purity spiral to revile Trump while the people who live in their liberally governed mess have to suffer the consequences.
LEAD STORIES, THURSDAY'S NYT
Charlie Kirk Assassination Raises Fear of Surging Political Violence
Putin’s Message to Ukraine, Europe and Trump: I Won’t Back Down
Boat Suspected of Smuggling Drugs Is Said to Have Turned Before U.S. Attacked It
Firefighters Condemn ‘Greed’ as Fire Engine Prices Soar
Scammers Are Using Fake Reviews to Extort Small Businesses
THE FATAL SHOOTING OF CHARLIE KIRK AT UTAH VALLEY
Mr. Kirk, 31, the founder of a right-wing youth activist group, was shot while speaking at the university on Wednesday.
by Pooja Salhotra
Charlie Kirk, a conservative political activist and a close ally of President Trump’s, was shot and killed on Wednesday afternoon at an event at Utah Valley University.
Mr. Kirk, who was 31, was on the university’s campus in Orem, Utah, for the first stop on his American Comeback Tour, in which he was set to visit campuses across the country to talk about conservative politics and engage in question-and-answer sessions.
Mr. Kirk was delivering remarks while sitting under a tent when he was struck in the neck. A person who had been taken into custody was released on Wednesday evening after being interrogated by law enforcement officials, the F.B.I. director, Kash Patel, wrote on social media. Officials said that the investigation was ongoing.
The attack was quickly condemned by Democrats and Republicans, and Mr. Trump ordered that American flags be lowered to half-staff until Sunday evening to honor Mr. Kirk.
Mr. Kirk was about 20 minutes into speaking at the campus event when he was struck by a bullet, soon after noon local time, according to the university. Mr. Kirk had been seated under a tent with the slogan “The American Comeback.”
Blood spilled from Mr. Kirk’s neck as he fell from his chair, videos showed, and he was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A university spokeswoman said that Mr. Kirk’s attacker had fired from the Losee Center, a building more than 100 yards away.
Before he was shot, Mr. Kirk had been responding to a question about transgender mass shooting suspects, Andrew Piskadlo, who attended the event, told The New York Times.
Cellphone videos posted online showed a chaotic scene on campus, as people tried to take cover and run away. Utah Valley University closed its campus and canceled classes until further notice.
Who was Charlie Kirk?
Mr. Kirk was a young conservative activist and media personality known for his relentless activism on college campuses and his broad influence in the MAGA movement. He had also developed a following for his brash posts on social media, despite comments that even some conservatives found distasteful.
When he was 18, Mr. Kirk founded Turning Point USA, which has become the nation’s pre-eminent conservative youth organization, with chapters at colleges and high schools across the country. Mr. Kirk garnered early support from Republican donors, including members of the Trump family, who appreciated his push to gain traction among young voters.
Mr. Kirk was part of Mr. Trump’s inner circle. He said he had visited the White House “a hundred plus” times during Trump’s first presidency. After Mr. Trump won a second term in November, Mr. Kirk became part of an intimate group of advisers who vetted potential White House appointees to make sure they had shown unflagging loyalty to Mr. Trump.
Mr. Kirk was a close friend of the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and was among a small group to attend the president’s private party at the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia two days before the inauguration.
In addition to Turning Point USA, Mr. Kirk created Turning Point Faith to “eliminate wokeism from the American pulpit,” according to the organization’s website. He was highly critical of what he considered gender ideology and indoctrination on college campuses and urged students to call out professors who promoted such ideas.
Mr. Kirk amassed a following through his podcast, books and social media, on which he frequently posted inflammatory comments about Jewish, gay and Black people.
Mr. Kirk was married to Erika Kirk, a former Miss Arizona who hosts a podcast and has a line of faith-themed streetwear. The couple lived in Scottsdale, Ariz., and had two children together.
What is Turning Point USA?
Turning Point USA is a right-wing political organization with more than 850 campus chapters. The group organizes students around conservative values such as free markets and limited government and brings conservative speakers to college campuses.
The group also provides training and networking to organize activists and has funded conservative student-government candidates. Turning Point established the Professor Watchlist, a project that seeks to expose college professors who, according to the group’s website, “advance leftist propaganda.”
The organization claimed a critical role in drawing young people to vote for Mr. Trump, who made considerable inroads with Gen Z voters. Turning Point also hosts several popular podcasts, including “The Charlie Kirk Show” and “Culture Apothecary.”
In June, the organization hosted the largest young conservative women’s event in the country, where wellness influencers, including Mr. Kirk, talked to attendees about putting marriage before their careers.
Have they found the shooter?
Shortly after the shooting, university officials said that a person had been taken into custody. Officials later determined that the person detained by police officers was not the gunman. That person, identified as George Zinn, was booked and accused of obstruction of justice, officials said.
Another person, whom Mr. Patel initially identified as the “subject for the horrific shooting,” was released after being interrogated by law enforcement officers, Mr. Patel wrote on social media.
(NY Times)
FRANK SINATRA’S DRESSING ROOM RIDER
HOPES FOR A FAST CAPTURE OF KIRK’S SHOOTER FADE AFTER PATEL BACKTRACKS
Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, said that the agency’s investigation was continuing, reversing his earlier announcement that someone had been apprehended.
by Glenn Thrush and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs
Hopes for the fast capture of the person who fatally shot the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in Utah evaporated on Wednesday when Kash Patel, the F.B.I. director, announced that the authorities had released a man he had described as a central subject of a multiagency manhunt.
“The subject in custody has been released after an interrogation by law enforcement,” Mr. Patel wrote on his X account, adding: “our investigation continues.”
Two hours earlier, Mr. Patel had stoked expectations of a fast end to the search by congratulating state, local and federal officials for taking into custody “the subject for the horrific shooting today.”
The release of the subject capped a day of shock, fear and uncertainty over what officials described as political assassination, committed in broad daylight in front of thousands of people who had come to participate in a discussion with Mr. Kirk, 31, at Utah Valley University.
The backtrack was a source of significant embarrassment for the F.B.I. director on a day when three former F.B.I. agents filed a lawsuit against Mr. Patel that portrayed him as a partisan neophyte more interested in social media, and swag, than in the day-to-day operations of the nation’s flagship law enforcement agency.
That the director of the F.B.I., historically known for careful messaging on fluid investigations — and deferring to local leaders — would personally take the lead in releasing information about the shooting was unusual.
It was even more unusual that he chose to post that information minutes before Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah and officials from the F.B.I. and local law enforcement were scheduled to provide the first on-camera briefing on the shooting.
Moments after Mr. Patel’s post, Beau Mason, the commissioner of Utah’s Department of Public Safety, told reporters that his agency and the F.B.I. would be working together “to find this killer,” suggesting the search was ongoing.
Mr. Cox spoke next, saying that the authorities had “a person of interest in custody,” but also that the police would find whoever had committed the crime.
In response to reporters’ questions about Mr. Patel’s post, the governor repeated his statement that authorities were questioning someone in custody.
Another person who had been taken into custody immediately after the shooting — and seen in videos that circulated widely on social media — was determined not to be the shooter, the authorities said.
(nytimes.com)
ELITE SNIPER BREAKS DOWN CHARLIE KIRK ASSASSIN’S SICK PLOT
… and reveals tiny detail everyone’s missed: The gun. The planning. And his critical slip
by Wills Robinson and James Grant
One of America’s greatest-ever snipers has revealed how he believes Charlie Kirk’s assassin pulled off the brutal killing.
Sergeant Nicholas Ranstad broke down the shooting in minute detail based on his raft of experience around high-powered weapons and long-distance shots.
He outlined what he believes could be in the killer’s background and the meticulous planning that went into such an attack.
Ranstad also said he believes those claiming the gun used was an AR-15 were wrong, as hidden details he spotted suggest it was a more powerful rifle.
Kirk, the founder and CEO of MAGA-faithful Turning Point USA, was horrifically gunned down on Wednesday afternoon during a rally at Utah Valley University.
A college spokesman said the killer shot him from a building about 200 yards away from where he was sitting addressing a large crowd.
Ranstad, whose 6,778ft kill in Afghanistan set a record for the longest by an American in Afghanistan at the time, spoke to the Daily Mail about the shooting.
He said the amphitheater-like site was a ‘fish bowl’ for any shooter, pointing out how much easier it is to hit a target when shooting down from a roof.
He said: ‘The security was super light, no crime at that school. So I guess the threat was low apparently.
‘That’s a buffet for someone who wanted to kill someone. It looked like a fishbowl, like an amphitheater, and high ground is money for shooters. Shooting down is easy.’
He continued: ‘When you have events like that you look at the security, if you push 250, 300 yards, it’s an easy shot.
‘And not to mention out in the open, wind is low out in the country. It’s not like in the city where a bullet flying past the buildings will move more.’
He added: ‘Any bloke can go to the range three or four times and make that shot. I would start looking at range time if I was police.
‘They should get all the videos, who’s got what rifle and who isn’t properly trained so don’t know how to control their blood pressure and adrenaline.
‘They’re probably just an internet shooter, not a sniper or trained soldier.’
Ranstad also dispelled claims the shooter was using an easily-accessible AR-15, commonly used in school shootings across America.
He said he thought it was likely a more powerful rifle, based on the sound during the shot heard across multiple videos.
He continued: ‘It sounded like a high-powered rifle, possibly bolt action. I heard the crack and saw him shot so I’m thinking long rifle.
‘I don’t think it is that far of a shot for a high-powered rifle. I think it was maybe a 308 bolt action, or 762.’
He went on: ‘I don’t think it was an AR, the crack had too much base in it, not a crack like an AR.’
But Ranstad suggested the shooter may have made a small error during his attack, which makes him think he was not highly trained.
He said the reason Kirk was hit in the neck, rather than the head or chest as a trained soldier would aim for, was down to his failure to control external factors.
Ranstad said: ’He was probably aiming for the head but didn’t take into consideration the wind and the bullet pulled a bit.
‘He didn’t take into consideration the drop or angle by the looks.’
He continued: ‘Him getting shot in the neck means I think he went for the head, but his adrenaline would have been going crazy, probably got a trigger pull.’
He added: ‘I think he was right handed from the videos, so probably had a bad trigger pull.’
Sickening videos captured the moment Kirk rocked back as the bullet lodged into his neck and blood burst out from his body.
The huge crowd immediately started screaming and rushed to flee the ‘fishbowl’ area where the debate was taking place.
Ranstad said: ‘In my opinion he was dead on the spot. I’ve seen arterial bleeds like that and you have seconds.
‘They didn’t do any quick clot as they probably didn’t have any on them. It works but you’ve got to be so quick with it. The way he kicked back left, yeah he was done.
‘Even that angle with him up top on the concrete wall looking down at Charlie, it looked like it came from that guy’s left.’
The shooting sparked a huge manhunt with the FBI descending on the scene and local cops piling into the area.
An elderly man was seen being led away in cuffs muttering to himself, but police later said he was not connected to the case.
Later on Wednesday evening officers revealed they had taken another man into custody in connection with the case. He was also quickly released.
Ranstad said the fact that only one shot was fired and the suspect disappeared for a number of hours suggested he had a solid exit plan after the killing.
He said: ’He probably had an exfil plan. Normally it’s crazy people who shoot 30 rounds. This was one shot, that was it.’
‘In my opinion they had a plan. If you think about it, one shot, he’s not caught… when I saw the old dude I knew it wasn’t him.’
He added: ‘I pray for Charlie and I lowered my flag to half mast.’
Kirk leaves behind his wife Erika Frantzve, with whom he had a three-year-old daughter and a son, 16 months. They had their fourth wedding anniversary in May.
Donald Trump led the tributes for the late political commentator. ‘The Great, and even Legendary, Charlie Kirk, is dead,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social.
‘He was loved and admired by ALL, especially me, and now, he is no longer with us. Melania and my Sympathies go out to his beautiful wife Erika, and family. Charlie, we love you!’
The President has ordered all American flags to be lowered to half-staff until Sunday evening at 6pm EST in honor of Kirk.
(DailyMail.uk)
TRUMP TURNS MENDOCINO WATER FIGHT INTO A NATIONAL BRAWL
Hell, I’ll take fish over people any day! The monkeys are over-breeding themselves to extinction.
RE: There’s a saying I once heard, don’t hate the players, hate the game…
RE: The ranchers are going away with millions of dollars from the deal to shut down. I think their legacy comprises displaced workers dependent on the kindness of strangers, slum housing…
—>. September 10, 2025
Regarding neighborhood-level conditions, there’s one other financial beneficiary of our current policies, in a different category of for-profits: The worst apartment complexes, institutional investors in housing, and other commercial investors, which often — like in my neighborhoods — facilitate local conditions that create crime.
My constituents and I perpetually play whack-a-mole with these problems, and there’s no end in sight, because far from holding them accountable, policies like the “One big beautiful bill” at the federal level… will only put more money in their pockets.
So: The government is failing to invest in people to divert them from crime. In community infrastructure that could divert crime. And even in public structures like prisons that, if we properly invested in them, could do the most to prevent crime, which is still happening even once people have been removed from society — just like deportations do.
Instead, government is creating conditions for more crime to occur — and letting private businesses profit from it.
Not surprisingly, I personally don’t feel safer. Do you?
https://www.ajc.com/opinion/2025/09/as-immigration-enforcement-ramps-up-georgia-fails-to-invest-in-public-safety/ via Apple News
—>. August 25, 2025
Marin County is racing to develop a homeless shelter near the coast to house dozens of workers and their families who will be displaced from jobs and housing when 12 dairies and ranches in Point Reyes National Seashore close early next year.
On Tuesday, the Marin County Board of Supervisors is expected to approve the purchase of a vacant lot in Point Reyes Station for a homeless shelter, property that would eventually be used for permanent affordable housing.
On Friday, the board of supervisors approved a $300,000 contract with West Marin Fund for additional housing programs to serve the 26 households, or 89 people, that have to leave Point Reyes National Seashore by February. The initiatives are also meant to support other West Marin agricultural workers living in substandard housing as West Marin struggles with a punishing housing crisis.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/marin-to-build-a-homeless-shelter-near-point-reyes-20895329.php via Apple News
To “A COAST RESIDENT” doesn’t have the courage or integrity to identify him (her) self while making false accusations of racism (though I strongly suspect the initials are J.P.):
The only one making reference to race is this jive hypocritical worm, with his reverse racism. I would call out a corrupt, incompetent city official if he were fresh off the boat from Ireland, Lithuania, Zimabwe, New Zealand or wherever.
Judging by his actions alone, in destroying our city park and now staunchly advocating for an idiotic 83 unit apartment complex at a terrible and contested location, much less his illegally sequestering THREE important City government positions all to himself, should raise anyone’s eyebrows, even if the pro-development puppet was from the planet Mars.
. . .
More BS, David, I always identify myself when I post anything so it wasn’t me, although I agree your weird and somewhat unhinged comments didn’t benefit from you highlighting that Isaac is an immigrant, which has no bearing on anything. You are crazy to think anyone takes your comments seriously. Isaac wasn’t advocating for anything when he spoke about the apartment complex appeal hearing, he was supporting the official City of FB position, which was the City Council approving the permits (twice). Had the City Council voted to deny the project permits, he would have advocated for that as well. The City Manager is supposed to (and does) follow the majority direction of the City Council. Moreover, there is nothing illegal about the CM also serving as acting department directors and that is just more of your nonsense. Finally, a lot of times items in MCT in the AVA look like they are anonymous because submitters forget to sign their names and assume it will show up through their email address but the AVA just prints the body of the email not the address. Your spurious allegations are just more of your nonsense. It is sad because I actually agree (and said this several times during my public comments) with you that the City of FB should have prepared a CEQA analysis for the artificial turf and playground surfacing (where the crumb rubber is literally being installed as I type) but your other BS means many people just write off your entire comments as nonsense from an unhinged crackpot.
Mr. Jacob,
I wouldn’t believe anything you say, because like so many of the FB City Hall Creatures, you talk a lot of voluminous crackpot BS, not much of which is true.
—> “Moreover, there is nothing illegal about the CM also serving as acting department directors and that is just more of your nonsense. ”
Nothing illegal, except for the fact that the City Manager is responsible for hiring the two other positions, and if nothing is done, the former high-paid position occupied by Marie Jones as “Community Development Director” will be all Mr. Whippy’s, as well as control of Fort Bragg’s purse strings since he’s also the official “Finance Director.” If this isn’t blatant, outright corruption I don’t know what is.
Hilarious that yesterday, during Mendocino Railroad’s sales-junket tour for the Coastal Commision, when asked about former government officials influencing City Planning decisions as highly paid “consultants,” Ms. Jones instantly denied that she’s ever been a government official! She was quickly corrected by former City Manager Linda Roofing, who was standing right there.
You just can’t make this stuff up.
. . .
Still nonsense, you don’t like something so you claim it is illegal but that has no basis in reality
Mr Jacob writes:
—> “Still nonsense, you don’t like something so you claim it is illegal but that has no basis in reality.”
Sorry pal, but your sentence doesn’t even make sense, much less nonsense.
Lord almighty what did I do, to now be trolled by the awful and notorius fb City Hall anti-body of truth?
. . .
The seemingly never-ending pandemic unique to the USA is the abuse and malignant mis-application of the second amendment.
+1.
To the Editor:
My deepest sympathies to the children of Jim Shields: his daughter, Jayma Shields Spence, and his son, Jim Shields.
Two hundred and fifty years ago, the founders of our country enshrined what was best about America in the phrase “public citizen”. Public citizens protect us all. They oversee our government, our democracy, and our health, safety and wellbeing. Your dad was Mendocino County’s Public Citizen.
Another term for the same concept is “overwatch”.
Overwatch is a force protection tactic in modern warfare where one lone sniper supports his unit, usually a platoon, while the platoon executes fire and movement tactics. The term was coined in U.S. military doctrine in the 1950s.
An overwatching sniper typically takes a vantage position (usually a high ground or tall structure with good defilade) where he can observe the terrain far ahead, especially likely enemy positions and movements. This allows him to act as a warning system against hostile aggression and provide effective covering fire for his platoon.
Jayma and Jim, your dad provided overwatch for the rest of us here in Mendocino County.
John Sakowicz
Ukiah
.
Charlie Kirk went around our country spewing hate-speech that included comments about how slavery wasn’t that bad, that guns are great and women should be barefoot and pregnant. Personally, I don’t want to go back to 1850, and I don’t think the majority of Americans do either. When the Democratic representatives in Minnesota were killed, and they are just as dead as Kirk, Trump said nothing about flags at half-mask, or that they should be given posthumous medals. I’m not in favor of shooting people I disagree with, but I think Charlie reaped what he sowed.
I hate the double standard shown by this administration and its supporters towards political violence. That said, double standards are Donald Trump in a nutshell.
Julie, I spent a few minutes looking up those claims, can’t find any quotes of him saying those things. But it was just a short internet search.
I’ve seen a lot of people killed, many during the commission of crimes such as robberies and attempted murders etc. it’s easy to say they are reaping what they sowed. Hell, I’ve been guilty of that myself. I think it helps us accept things, cause and affect.
It’s harder to think about how their families feel right now. Sometimes I think we should try to look from that perspective. It’s hard to do and maybe that’s why we should try.
Freedom of speech is protected and the reason it needs to be protected isn’t because of the speech we like, it’s for the things we don’t like. I agreed with him when he said we have to be able to talk about things. When we stop talking is when war begins.
Prayers for his wife and kids.
So, why does the martyrization of Charlie Kirk remind me of the glorification of Horst Wessel?
Because it turns out that Charlie Kirk is useful after all.
You’re not suggesting . . . . ?
—>. September 11, 2025
A conservative movement committed to Charlie Kirk’s ostensible ideals — to free speech and open discourse — would respond to his assassination by decrying political violence in all its forms and rejecting the pernicious notion that the government must suppress certain ideas to keep the public safe. But such a movement does not exist.
Today’s conservatism is animated by resentment, fear, and a consequent will to dominate its opponents. Kirk’s assassination has reinforced these authoritarian impulses and provided a pretense for indulging them. In doing so, it has thrown our already imperiled democracy into even greater jeopardy.
https://www.vox.com/politics/461254/charlie-kirk-shooting-trump-radical-left-violence
RE: TRUMP TURNS MENDOCINO WATER FIGHT INTO A NATIONAL BRAWL
—> September 10, 2025
On the brink of a devastating canal collapse, a GOP district waits for Trump’s help
In an era of federal staffing and spending cuts, a small Washington state irrigation district is desperate for a lifeline.…
YAKIMA, Wash. — Six mornings a week, Walter Burson Jr. hikes roughly six miles along a century-old irrigation canal here that funnels snowmelt out of the Cascade foothills — a system that keeps apples, cherries and grapes alive in the dry valley known as the fruit bowl of the nation.…
But the most alarming part of Burson’s job with the Yakima Tieton Irrigation District — and the reason even taking Sundays off makes him anxious — is that the canal is coming apart at the seams. A year ago, the Retreat Fire burned through 45,600 acres in this area, including nearly all of the canal’s 12-mile route.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2025/09/10/washington-yakima-tieton-canal-trump-funding/
Anne Killion’s piece on Jane Leavy’s book has me interested – think I’ll get a copy. There’s also an element of good timing, as just yesterday I attended a game between the Athletics and the Red Sox at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento. I have been meaning to get to a game there, because it’s one of those rare opportunities: Big league ball in a minor league park. I thought it was a great experience, and I recommend it to baseball fans. I loved Leavy’s quote ““Nobody’s going to stumble drunk out of a casino and think, ‘I need to see the A’s’”. I agree with her that the new pitch clock has been good, but disagree on the shift. Players used to defeat the shift by learning to hit around it, and that skill is now mostly lost. But the one rule I’d most like to be changed is the designated hitter, which has removed a large strategic aspect of the game.
Life long baseball fan like you Norm. I hate the DH, the pitch clock, and the shift. But the final straw for me was putting a man on second base in extra innings. I haven’t watched a game since.
At the ballpark it was funny when, at the beginning of the 10th inning, people would say “how did that guy get on second base?” I did it too, the first time.
What do you do instead?
There is no joy in Mudville: the National League has adopted the designated hitter. Dinosaurs like us will lament for five minutes then somehow get on with our lives. (Excerpt from letter to B A, 2022, full letter posted upon request)