Mendocino County Today: Wednesday 10/8/2025

Cooling | 6% Solution | Skunk Denied | Copter Crash | Senior Panthers | Ballot Locations | Longest Table | Social Opportunities | Local Events | Yesterday's Catch | Elder Fun | Plum Eater | Government Shutdown | Busted | Melting Glaciers | True Song | AVHC Celebration | Water Supply | Rosenberg Trial | Social History | Not-Speedy Trial | Every Moment | October Poem | Worrying | Always Young | Don't Sleep | Too High-Hat | My England | Pleads Security | Lead Stories | Democratic Party | Warrior's Path | Narrative Control | 'Nuf Said | Swift Wood | Christmas Gifts | Dying Young | Horned Owl

---

AN APPROACHING TROUGH will cool temperatures today. Rain chances increase early Friday with much cooler conditions likely. Cooler and perhaps wetter weather likely to continues into the weekend and early next week. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): Did you enjoy the recent warm & sunny days ? GOOD, because that is OVER ! A foggy 52F ( sunny later ) with dropping temps begins today leading to a rainy Friday. Clearing on Saturday then more rain on Monday.

---

‘KIND OF A WASTE OF TIME’

by Mark Scaramella

As expected, the Supervisors were flummoxed on Tuesday by their CEO’s attempt to dump some raw staffing requests at their podium without any recommendations, budget data, or analysis.

The first item to be plopped before the Board was the District Attorney’s request to fill a couple of prosecutor vacancies and a victim-witness office staffer.

It immediately dawned on the Board that not only did they have no idea who to hire in the DA’s office, but they had no idea how much money they have or don’t have, nor do they know where the DA and the other departments stand in meeting their designated 6% budget reduction target.

When they last spoke of this subject, CEO Darcie Antle told the Board that they were seeing about 50% of the $6 million savings they had hoped for by leaving budgeted positions vacant. But, as usual, she provided no data or breakdown. Nobody asked about that on Tuesday.

Each Supervisor whined about there not being enough money to go around and not having enough budget information to approve hiring requests which would draw on the General Fund. Supervisor Ted Williams won the blather sweepstakes by repeating himself at length over and over, saying, essentially, that the County should not hire people that they can’t pay for, as if that was some kind of Jedi-inspired wisdom he alone possesses.

Supervisor Madeline Cline simply read the agenda item:

“Discussion and Possible Action Including Approval or Denial of Requests from Department Heads and Elected Officials Regarding Budget Impacts, Funding and Recruitment of Vacant or New Positions Following the Strategic Hiring Process…”

Apparently, only Supervisor Cline had noticed the part about “budget impacts,” and “funding.”

CEO Antle admitted that she could provide budget versus actual budget data on salaries for each department, which — ahem — was the whole point of the discussion. But she didn’t offer it to the Board.

Assistant DA Scott McMenomey told the Board that he couldn’t say what the DA’s budget status was. So the Board tabled the DA’s requests until next month.

County Assessor-Clerk-Recorder Katrina Bartolomie opened her remarks by apologizing for even having to be there to ask for a couple of assessor’s office vacancy hires; Then, after hearing the Board moan and groan about not having budget info, she accurately added, “So, this is kind of a waste of time.”

But her staff had done some of their own budget analysis and the Board approved her modest staffing request.

The Board also approved new hires for public health because the positions were non-General Fund. A couple of new library hires were approved after it was explained to the Supervisors (again — are they children? deaf?) that the positions would be funded by the Library sales tax increment, not the General Fund.

The subject was put off again for the November 4 meeting where CEO Antle promises she’ll provide the budget info she said she had and should have provided on Tuesday, but didn’t.

The Board also said they wanted to see each department’s plan for how they are going to magically cut 6% of their (general fund) budget for the current fiscal year. (Never mind that the smaller departments don’t have staffing levels that allow such precise quantitative cuts and some departments have already been cut and are now being asked to absorb additional cuts.)

Nobody, not even Supervisor Cline who had at least noted what the agenda item called for, could bring themselves to complain directly that CEO Antle had again failed to provide the Board with the obviously necessary budget status info, and that therefore Assessor Bartolomie’s “assessment” was, well, on the money.

---

U.S. SUPREME COURT DENIES “SKUNK TRAIN” APPEAL

Federal Abstention Doctrine is left unresolved

by Elise Cox

The Supreme Court on Monday denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by the Mendocino Railway, ensuring the dismissal of the company’s federal lawsuit challenging local and state regulation of its rail activities in Northern California.

Mendocino Railway CEO Robert Pinoli said he was disappointed the Supreme Court declined review of the federal court’s dismissal of the railway’s federal-preemption claims.

“Now, it will be the California state court’s job to decide the claims,” he noted. “But with the Surface Transportation Board’s recent declaration that Mendocino is, in fact, a common carrier railroad within the Board’s exclusive jurisdiction and entitled to federal preemption, we trust the state court will do the right thing and make clear, once and for all, that the City and Coastal Commission have no regulatory authority over Mendocino’s railroad development and operations.”

Mendocino Railway and the City of Fort Bragg are currently engaged in settlement discussions. A trial is expected in June 2026 if a settlement is not reached.

Fort Bragg City Manager Isaac Whippy said he “respects” the Supreme Court decision. “This ruling provides further clarity on the path forward,” he said. “As we have consistently emphasized, the City remains committed to working in good faith with Mendocino Railway to resolve outstanding issues and to facilitate the responsible redevelopment of the Mill Site in a way that serves the best interests of our community.”

The City of Fort Bragg filed suit against the Mendocino Railway in October 2021 in state court after the train company used the power of eminent domain to acquire around 300 acres of land belonging to the former Georgia Pacific mill site. In its lawsuit, Fort Bragg sought a judicial declaration that Mendocino Railway was subject to state and local regulation, as well as civil penalties and an injunction obligating it to comply with applicable laws.

The California Coastal Commission later intervened in the state lawsuit, seeking a declaration that its permitting authority under the Coastal Act and the City’s Local Coastal Program (“LCP”) is not preempted. The Commission also sought an injunction requiring the railway to cease “all actions taken by the Railway without a coastal development permit” and to obtain authorization before commencing or resuming “any such development.”

The railway challenged the legal basis of the city’s suit and argued it was subject only to regulation by the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act of 1995 (ICCTA).

The trial court ruled against the railway, which sought a review by the California Court of Appeal and the California Supreme Court. The railway also moved to disqualify the judge who ruled against it. That motion was denied. In June 2022, the railway asserted federal preemption as a defense against the city’s complaint in state court.

In August, the railway filed a federal lawsuit seeking declaratory and injunctive relief concerning federal preemption rights under the ICCTA.

Federal preemption is a legal doctrine asserting that when a conflict exists between federal and state laws, federal law takes precedence and overrides the state law.

In October 2022 Mendocino Railway removed the state case to federal district court. Fort Bragg and the commission requested the case be remanded back to state court, and the district court granted that motion on May 11, 2023.

The following day, May 12, 2023, the district court granted a motion to dismiss the railway’s original federal cause using the Colorado River abstention doctrine. This doctrine allows federal courts to relinquish jurisdiction in favor of parallel state-court proceedings only in “exceptional circumstances.”

“Such exceptional circumstances are present here,” the district court wrote in its opinion, noting that the issue of federal preemption under the ICCTA is squarely before the state court.

Indeed, the court pointed out that “federal preemption is the sole issue raised in Mendocino Railway’s complaint in this action, and for the Court to adjudicate that claim would necessarily duplicate the state court’s efforts and risk the possibility of this Court and the state court reaching different results.”

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal, issuing its decision on August 28, 2024, and its order denying rehearing on December 10, 2024.

Both the Pacific Legal Foundation and the Western Manufactured Housing Communities Association supported the railway’s request for review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Pacific Legal Foundation said the case dealt with “an exceptionally important question regarding the ability of private citizens to vindicate their federal rights in federal court.” The foundation said it “has seen time and again how governments wield doctrines like Colorado River to shield themselves from federal court scrutiny.”

The mobile home park owners wrote that application of the Colorado River doctrine “has been a story of confusion and unpredictability” and argued that “the court should stop the creep of improper circumlocution of jurisdiction and resolve the manifest confusion about concurrent jurisdiction.”

The denial was issued on Monday without explanation or comment. The California Coastal Commission declined to comment on the denial.

Read more Mendo Local stories about the mill site:

Federal Agency Affirms Mendocino Railway’s Carrier Status

Default Notice Issued as Stormwater Contamination Battle with Fort Bragg Escalates

---

REACH DOWN: A Rare Tragedy Reverberates Across the Mendocino Coast

by Linda Little

SACRAMENTO, CA — A REACH Air Medical Services helicopter, based in Redding, crashed onto eastbound Highway 50 near 59th Street on Monday evening, critically injuring all three crew members aboard—a pilot, a paramedic, and flight nurse Suzie Smith, who was pinned beneath the wreckage and rescued by civilians and first responders.

The aircraft had just departed UC Davis Medical Center and was en route to pick up a patient—destination still unconfirmed—when it experienced an in-air emergency. Miraculously, no motorists were injured despite the helicopter crashing in the center of a busy freeway.

For Mendocino County residents, this tragedy isn’t just news—it’s personal. REACH helicopters are a lifeline for rural hospitals in Fort Bragg, Willits, and Ukiah, connecting patients to trauma centers and specialty stroke and heart care in Santa Rosa, Sacramento, and beyond. When the roads are closed, the weather’s dicey, or the clock is ticking, REACH crews fly in—literally.

Founded in 1987 by Dr. John McDonald Jr. of Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, REACH (Redwood Empire Air Care Helicopter) now operates 30 bases across eight states. The company recently acquired former rival Calstar, expanding its reach and resources. Their crews typically include two paramedics and a pilot, many trained to fly in adverse conditions—even without instruments. They don’t just transport—they stabilize, they intervene, they save.

How Rare Are REACH Helicopter Crashes?

According to FAA and NTSB records, REACH has had only three serious incidents in the past decade:

2015: A training accident in Apple Valley involving a towel sucked into the tail rotor. No injuries. 2022: A bird strike near Yuba City injured a pilot’s leg. No other injuries. 2025: This week’s Sacramento crash. Cause still under investigation.

REACH averages about 1,800 flights annually nationwide. With 30 bases and a strong presence in Northern California, Mendocino County likely sees hundreds of those flights each year. That means the three incidents represent less than 0.2% of total flights over a decade—and even fewer when narrowed to our coast. Statistically, REACH flights remain among the safest forms of emergency transport.

Local Voices, Local Impact

Fort Bragg nurse and longtime REACH collaborator Maria Lopez reflected, “We see these crews as part of our extended hospital family. They don’t just fly—they show up in the worst moments and make survival possible.”

And they do it without fanfare. No sirens, no headlines—just a rotor hum and a promise kept.

But this week, that promise faltered. And with the FAA and NTSB both impacted by the ongoing government shutdown, it remains unclear whether federal investigators are actively involved in the Sacramento crash review. A silence that feels especially loud in rural communities that rely on transparency and trust. The NTSB website said no cases are being updated nor are new cases being added during the shutdown.

Suzie Smith, the flight nurse critically injured in the crash, is known not only for her service across Northern California but also for her work as a medical missionary in Nicaragua and Sri Lanka. Her family and friends describe her as “tough as nails” and “dedicated to serving others,” and have asked for prayers for the recovery of all three crew members. She was publicly identified by her family, while the names of the other two people were unavailable.

As the community rallies around Smith and her crew, Mendocino County residents are reminded of the quiet heroism behind each flight—and the fragility of the systems that keep rural healthcare connected.

These helicopters don’t just skim the skies—they stitch together the fractured edges of rural medicine. They rise through fog, wind, and bureaucratic silence to deliver what the coast cannot always provide: time, expertise, and a fighting chance.

And when one of them falls, we feel it in our bones. In every ER hallway where a REACH crew once landed. In every family that got one more day. In every nurse who knows the sound of rotor blades means hope.

This week, we don’t just pray for recovery—we recommit to the truth: that rural lives deserve swift care, clear answers, and the kind of infrastructure that doesn’t vanish when the government shuts down.

Because out here, heroism isn’t loud. It flies low, lands hard, and saves quietly. And when it’s grounded, we rise.

(mendocinocoast.news)

---

---

BALLOT DROP OFF LOCATIONS

All Active Registered Voters In Mendocino County To Receive A Ballot In The Mail.

For our voter’s convenience, our traditional polling locations will be open on Election Day, November 4, 2025, from 7am to 8pm. A list of all “Polling Locations” and all “Ballot Drop Box Locations” are included with your ballot and are on our website: https://www.mendocinocounty.gov/government/assessor-county-clerk-recorder-elections/elections/election-candidate-information.

If you return your voted ballot in one of our Official Ballot Drop Off locations, only Elections Officials touch your ballot. Ballots are retrieved from the Drop Boxes twice daily, counted, logged and stored in a secure place within each location. The Elections office picks up ballots frequently and brings them to the Ukiah Election Office for processing. We have been using Ballot Drop Boxes for a few years with great success.

Ballot Drop Box Locations within Mendocino County:

Dates to remember: October 20, 2025 - the last day to Register to Vote; October 28, 2025 – the last day to request a ballot be mailed; and November 4, 2025 is Election Day, your ballot must be postmarked by this date.

For additional information or questions, please call the Election / County Clerk’s Office at 707 234-6819.

---

CITY OF FORT BRAGG THANKS COMMUNITY FOR A SUCCESSFUL ‘LONGEST TABLE’ EVENT

The City of Fort Bragg extends heartfelt thanks to everyone who joined the community at Sunday’s “Longest Table” gathering. Hundreds of residents, families, and friends came together to share a meal, connect with neighbors, and celebrate our city’s spirit of belonging and hospitality.

City Manager Isaac Whippy praised the outpouring of community support: “Fort Bragg showed up in a big way. The Longest Table wasn’t just about sharing food—it was about strengthening relationships, meeting new neighbors, and building the kind of community we’re proud to call home. In a world where people can often feel divided, it was heartwarming to see so many come together in the spirit of unity and connection.”

---

WHAT’S A SENIOR TO DO?

by Terry Sites

At a recent local party a woman from Oakland approached me to ask, “But what do seniors DO here? It’s so rural!“ The quick answer is that we socialize a lot. That answer doesn’t really give a clue as to how much, how often, and in what way we really do get together.

When I lived in a San Francisco apartment I didn’t know the names of most of my neighbors. Here in this valley I probably recognize at least 500 people by name.

There are a crazy number of organized groups available to join. Also, there’s the old school reason for making sure you know your neighbors – you just might need their help one day. The potential for fire, injury, and power outages all make close knitting a practical choice. On my road, Big Oak Drive in Yorkville, there are 12 houses and we all help each other when we can. It’s a good feeling.

When someone moves to Anderson Valley, they may (and many do) choose to be reclusive. If you want to disappear from view down a dirt road, you can definitely do that.

Some who retire here, particularly those who have lived very active lives, want to be around people. People born here in the Valley have very strong, lifelong bonds supporting each other heavily. Both groups often come together in our civic, service and social clubs.

The focus in this article is on Seniors since they have the most discretionary time. So if you are a Senior or approaching Seniorhood, here are some ways you might “find your tribe.“

If you are service oriented, the organizations focused on helping the community are the obvious choice. There are the service clubs, and the community service organizations.

Service clubs welcome all comers. They include the Lions Club, the Grange, the AV Foodshed… Women are welcome to join the Unity Club. Men and women who have served our country are welcome to join the AV veterans.

Community service organizations is a much longer list. The AV volunteer fire department and first responders, the Community Services District, the Yorkville Community Benefits Association, the Mendocino County Fair Board, the AV Cemetery District, the Boonville airport and various road associations all need volunteer help. There is a preschool, a grade school, a junior high, a high school and an adult school that welcome volunteers and tutors. The Anderson Valley Senior Center, Unity Club library and Unity Club Garden Section all offer service but can also use volunteers.

The Anderson Valley Senior Center hosts lunches on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They have exercise and dance classes. Medical equipment is available for loan. Many types of transportation are available. Shopping trips are scheduled. It is ground zero for all things Senior oriented. Director Renee Lee was born in the Valley and knows just about all there is to know. She sets a friendly and easygoing tone for the Senior Center.

Just for fun there are lots of options. Independent Career Women (ICW) sponsor scholarships for Anderson Valley High School seniors but their monthly potluck dinner is mostly a chance to socialize and relax. The Anderson Valley brewery offers cold beer any day and disc golf, sponsors events, and has live music every Friday night. Several different groups meet for game playing including; Bunco, Rumikub, Mahjong and Poker. There is a group of horseback riders. Several different book clubs meet. The bookmobile visits the Fairgrounds from Ukiah once a week for browsing and to deliver inter-library loans. You can meet for coffee or treats at the Redwood Drive-in, the Mosswood Market or the Boonville General store, all in Boonville.

Meet for drinks at the Distillery, the Boonville Hotel, the Disco Ranch in Boonville or Jumbos in Philo. More formal meals can be found at the Distillery, the Boonville Hotel, Offspring, or the Sushi Bar in the Live Oak building.

For a small place this is a lot of opportunities to meet, greet and eat. So many ways to serve the community and make friends with other like-minded individuals. With the Anderson Valley’s population of around 3,000 people, it is really a stunning array. To learn more about any of these options the Internet can be your friend. If you are Internet-challenged just start by asking the people you meet. Before long you’ll have the information you need to move forward and join up.

---

LOCAL EVENTS (this week)

---

CATCH OF THE DAY, Tuesday, October 7, 2025

RANDALL ADDISON, 39, Willits. DUI.

OCEAN CAMPBELL, 25, Redwood Valley. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, resisting.

RIVERA CORNEJO, 57, Talmage. DUI.

DEREK EASTER, 40, Ukiah. Child neglect, controlled substance, evidence destruction, failure to register, probation revocation, resisting.

JAIRO ESPINOZA, 39, Boonville. Disorderly conduct-solicitation of lewd act.

LUCIA GONZALEZ, (age not listed), Ukiah. DUI while on probation.

ROYCE GOOD, 56, Laytonville. Under influence, contempt of court.

LISA HOEHLE, 65, Fullerton/Ukiah. DUI.

GREG HOLMES, 67, Ukiah. Trespassing.

JORDAN LOHN, 18, Ukiah. Contributing to delinquency of minor.

BLAKE MORELAND, 40, Willits. Petty theft, paraphernalia.

ANDRES RENTERIA, 45, Fort Bragg. Failure to appear.

ALBERT SCOTT, 64, Laytonville. DUI, evasion.

LARRY WOLFE JR., 35, Ukiah. Controlled substance, false compartment, disobeying court order, failure to appear, offenses while on bail.

---

---

THIS IS JUST TO SAY

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

— William Carlos Williams (1934)

---

A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN BECAME A NECESSITY

Editor:

I never thought a government shutdown was particularly good for the nation, our citizens or the economy. It smacks of desperation, of not being able to get your way because you don’t have enough votes. That all changed:

— The dominant political party ceded congressional authority to the executive branch.

— Free speech is no longer guaranteed.

— Science is no longer at the heart of health policy.

— Bribery and flattery — both foreign and domestic — are the way to access power.

— Due process can no longer be expected.

— Combat troops are being used for the sole purpose of political intimidation.

Under such circumstances a government shutdown is not just politically smart, it is a patriotic necessity.

David O’Rear

Santa Rosa

---

---

BYE BYE TO CALIFORNIA MOUNTAIN GLACIERS

Warmest spiritual greetings,

Please accept this most recent example of the devastating effect of global climate destabilization, which is the primary existential threat on the planet earth. The California mountain glaciers have melted out!! https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2025-10-01/californias-glaciers-vanishing

Having now established a Washington, D.C. residency, which includes the driver's license, the SSI restarted with the retroactive disbursement in the bank, and the EBT approved, I am ready to leave the homeless shelter which Catholic Charities let me in to, in order to be able to be supportive of the D.C. Peace Vigil in front of the White House for the sixteenth time.

In terms of a nomadic spiritual action group, and the great beyond…talk to me.

Craig Louis Stehr, [email protected]

---

I'LL SING YOU A TRUE SONG

I'll sing you a true song
'Bout Jeffrey Epstein
Sing songs 'bout terrible
Things that he did

Screwed up many kids' lives
Pleasing friends in high places
Till he got put away
Where he couldn't leave traces

I'll sing you another
'Bout Ghislane Maxwell
Sing songs 'bout terrible
Things that she did

Her case went to trial
She got twenty years
Now her only hope left
Is to prey on Trump's fears

— Jim Luther

---

---

CALIFORNIA'S WATER SUPPLY AT START OF THE RAINY SEASON

Amid the state's escalating climate extremes, experts reflect on the past year in rainfall

by Anna FitzGerald Guth

California’s wet season started with a bang, or at least a drizzle, as rain pitter-pattered on the Bay Area last week.

But the state’s water experts say at this time of year, they still have to prepare for floods, drought or even both. Oct. 1 officially began the rainy season in California, and with this seasonal shift, they sealed their record of annual rain and snow and started a fresh tally.

Between Oct. 1, 2024, and Sept. 30, 2025, California received nearly average precipitation. But that good news does not reflect the high variability of precipitation by month and region. While the state technically got enough water last season, the rain was extraordinarily late to arrive in Los Angeles and left it vulnerable to horrific wildfires in the normally wet month of January.

Recent yearly counts have fluctuated dramatically, with 2023 marking a banner water year after the three driest years on record — and climate scientists expect this “precipitation whiplash” to ramp up.

“Just in the past two winters, deceptively average rain and snowfall totals statewide masked the extremely dry conditions in Southern California that contributed to devastating fires as well as flood events across the state from powerful atmospheric river events,” Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources, said in a statement marking the new water year.

Total precipitation averaged statewide came in at about 23 inches of rain, amounting to 96% of normal. But zooming in on the Bay Area, rainfall totals were all over the place. San Francisco’s rainfall amounted to 87% of normal, while Oakland was down to 50%. Meanwhile, Santa Rosa clocked 123%.

All told, the water year for Northern California was slightly above average — even though November and February were unusually wet, while January proved dry. By contrast, Southern California’s water fell below average overall. Some southern counties had the third-driest year on record, according to preliminary counts from the Department of Water Resources.

“The higher variability we have in California means the fire season can be really extended,” Jay Lund, the vice director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC Davis, told SFGATE. “This happens when warmer temperatures dry everything out faster, and then there are delays in the wet season starting.”

Right now, most major California reservoirs reflect slightly above-average water levels for this time of year. But groundwater, the largest supply of water during droughts, is still depleted in some places after years of dry conditions and overdrafting.

Looking ahead, California’s new water year could still go either way. The count that began last Wednesday already recorded a few drops in the Bay Area, with 0.12 inches in downtown San Francisco and a bit more in the North Bay and Santa Cruz Mountains.

“Usually it trends dry for most of the summer going into the fall, so it’s not lost on me that having a rain event that split the water year start date is kind of rare,” National Weather Service meteorologist Brayden Murdock told SFGATE.

Forecasters reported a 71% chance of La Niña beginning this fall. The seasonal climate pattern can signal parched conditions in Southern California but leaves precipitation in the northern part of the state mostly a mystery. Meanwhile, a three-month outlook shows California temperatures overall leaning warm.

“The bottom line is to expect extremes, with dry periods interrupted by large or long-lasting atmospheric river conditions,” the state climatologist for the Department of Water Resources, Michael Anderson, commented during a recent press briefing.

Lund said it’s impossible to predict the future, especially when it comes to water in the Golden State.

“At this time of year, California’s water managers have to be concerned with both floods and droughts,” he said. “The year could be wet, dry or a little bit of both. I think the truth is that nobody will really know until around next March when most of that rain has fallen.”

(SFGate.com)

---

BERKELEY GRAD’S CHICKEN ‘RESCUE’ TRIAL BEGINS IN SONOMA COUNTY WITH QUESTION OF INTENT VS. CRIME

by Connor Letourneau

During the first day of a trial that could carry major ramifications for the animal-rights movement in America, jurors inside a Sonoma County courthouse faced a fascinating question: How much does a positive intention disable the rule of law?

Zoe Rosenberg, a 23-year-old recent UC Berkeley grad, faces up to five and a half years in prison for taking four chickens valued at around $24 from a Petaluma-area poultry processing facility in June 2023. But as her defense team made clear Monday, she doesn’t deny removing those birds. After all, her Berkeley-based activist group, Direct Action Everywhere, or DxE, posted video of the incident online.

“This is not just about conduct,” one of Rosenberg’s attorneys, Kevin Little, said during his opening statements to the jury. “It’s also about why.”

Rosenberg spurned a plea agreement in favor of a high-stakes trial to force an examination of the meat industry’s practices. If the jury finds her not guilty of one felony conspiracy charge and four misdemeanors, it could help DxE — and, by extension, animal-rights activists throughout the country — establish a legal right to rescue any creature they believe is treated inhumanely.

For well over a decade, this controversial activist group has recorded itself taking animals from factory farms or slaughterhouses that it accuses of abuse. The long-term goal: the elimination of slaughterhouses worldwide. At a time when American meat consumption continues to rise, DxE is hoping another win at trial will jolt its stagnating membership and help legitimize its practices.

Sonoma County represents a significant challenge. Just two years ago, in the same Santa Rosa courthouse where Rosenberg will soon learn her fate, DxE co-founder Wayne Hsiung was sentenced to 90 days in jail and two years of probation for his role in two factory farm protests in Petaluma.

Throughout her opening statements Monday, district attorney Jessalee Mills stressed that Rosenberg’s activism became criminal misconduct when she made four unauthorized visits to Petaluma Poultry in the spring of 2023. The culminating incident came during an early morning protest on June 13 outside the Perdue subsidiary’s facilities, where Rosenberg removed those four chickens she claims were covered in scratches, bruises and parasites.

“This case isn’t about what Ms. Rosenberg believes,” Mills said. “It’s about what she did, and what she did was unlawful.”

During his opening statement, Little argued that the evidence will reveal that what matters is not what Rosenberg did, but, rather, what compelled her to take such extreme measures. California’s animal cruelty laws make it a felony to subject an animal to “unnecessary cruelty” or “needless suffering.” For the same reason a bystander is legally allowed to break a window to rescue a dog trapped in a hot car, her defense team is expected to argue that Rosenberg had a right to take those chickens.

Judge Kenneth Gnoss had previously ruled against notifying jurors of what constitutes a “necessity defense,” which deems that a person’s actions were justified if they had exhausted every other option before breaking the law. Gnoss wrote on June 30 that extending that defense to “situations where the harm is to nonhuman beings would not be appropriate” because it would “open the flood gates” and “allow individuals to violate the law whenever” they felt warranted.

Still, even when the necessity defense wasn’t permitted as a formal defense strategy, DxE activists have managed to land favorable verdicts.

In October 2022, a Utah jury acquitted two DxE activists of burglary and theft for taking two allegedly sick piglets from a farm owned by the world’s largest pork producer. The following year, a jury in Merced County acquitted two DxE activists — including former “Baywatch” actress Alexandra Paul — of misdemeanor theft for removing two allegedly sick, slaughter-bound chickens from Foster Farms, the fifth-largest poultry company in the U.S.

Rosenberg’s situation is different because her trial is unfolding in Sonoma County, which is believed to have prosecuted more animal rights activists than any other jurisdiction in the country. Farmers in this agriculturally rich region known as “America’s Provence” have long felt scapegoated by DxE’s highly visible protests. Last November, a ballot measure the group helped write that sought to end factory farming in the area was soundly defeated, with 85% of voters rejecting it.

But in Santa Rosa on Monday, there were no angry protesters decrying Rosenberg or her fellow activists. The courtroom was only about half-full. Almost every spectator wore a fake, pinkish-orange poppy, which DxE organizers had passed out to supporters as a nod to Poppy, one of the chickens Rosenberg took from Petaluma Poultry.

Some of those spectators were in tears when Little showed the jury a picture of the “condemnation pot,” which he said is where all chickens Petaluma Poultry deems not suitable for human consumption end up. He went on to display video of chickens flapping their wings as they hung upside down in a slaughter line.

“As you can see, some of them are still alive,” Little said. “They were not properly stunned.”

This all served as a sort of introduction to the larger point his defense team hopes to make: Though Rosenberg is technically the one on trial, they plan to force a deep review of the often-unsavory practices occurring at meat-processing facilities across the country. It’s why DxE’s often-viral “rescues” are a dare to law enforcement to charge the trespassers with crimes, and why Rosenberg is facing prison time when she could have settled for a plea deal.

As Mills mentioned Monday, the group has a stated mission of eradicating all animal farming by 2040. Considered “cult-like” and “extremist” by some of its critics, DxE wants worldwide veganism, legal personhood for animals and an Animal Bill of Rights.

“We were able to talk quite a bit about what the chickens go through at Petuluma Poultry during our opening statements,” Rosenberg, who’s expected to testify on her behalf as soon as next week, said while walking out of the courthouse after trial. “I hope the jury was moved by that.”

The trial is expected to last throughout the month.

(Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

---

---

MY BROTHER KILLED A MAN IN 2016. CALIFORNIA STILL HASN’T GIVEN HIM A TRIAL.

by Lance Justice Mayhew

My brother’s trial was supposed to start last month. Instead, it was vacated — again. Nearly nine years since the crime and eight since his arrest, we’ve now been told to wait until January 2026.

On Halloween night in 2016, my brother killed an unarmed burglar at his home in Turlock (Stanislaus County). When police officers arrived in March 2017 to arrest him, he exchanged gunfire with them before he was taken into custody. He has remained in the county jail ever since. He is not serving a sentence; he is simply warehoused, year after year, awaiting a trial that never seems to arrive.

I write not as his advocate — I’m estranged from him and uninterested in excusing his actions — but as someone who’s lived tethered to a justice system so paralyzed that this violent case has lingered unresolved for nearly a decade.

The U.S. Constitution guarantees a “speedy trial” for a reason. In many states, felony cases resolve within months, not years. Even taking into account COVID-era backlogs, many such cases were concluded in two to three years once courts reopened. Yet thousands, especially cases involving mental illness, have stretched far longer — sometimes more than a decade. That this one lingers nearly nine years is not a fluke; it’s a symptom of systemic failure.

California’s courts are overwhelmed and underfunded. Investigations have shown defendants stuck for years in county jails because their cases cannot move forward. Disability rights groups have documented how programs meant to help people found incompetent to stand trial often fail to reduce wait times. State documents in 2022 identified more than 1,800 defendants deemed mentally incompetent who were stuck waiting for state hospital beds or services. These delays aren’t rare — they are red flags of collapse in the system.

When justice stalls, everyone loses. The victim’s family has carried unanswered questions for nearly a decade. Each anniversary passes without resolution. Every hearing forces them to relive the trauma. Closure remains a promise, not a reality. Years of uncertainty grind people down. Some victims’ relatives move away or pass away before a verdict ever arrives. Children grow up under the shadow of an unresolved case, learning early that the system cannot be counted on. That slow-motion harm is invisible in court filings but devastating in real life.

Defendants lose, too. Keeping a mentally ill man like my brother in county jail for almost nine years without trial drains public resources and denies him both treatment and accountability. County jails are designed for short-term stays — mental health care is not their function. So everyone is trapped in suspended time.

These long delays also erode public trust. Communities see violent crimes unresolved for nearly a decade and conclude that the courts cannot deliver fairness. Prosecutors lose credibility. Law enforcement officers who risked their lives making arrests watch their work evaporate in endless continuances. When people stop believing the system will respond, they stop cooperating with it. That cynicism makes everyone less safe.

Families like mine live with stigma and strain. I’ve tried to distance myself from my brother’s actions, but my name still ties me to this. Now I live in Washington, but people in the Central Valley know the story. My wife and children — who had no part in this — carry the shadow.

When a violent crime takes nearly a decade to reach trial, it’s not just broken — it’s perilous.

California can do better. Other states prove it.

Florida enforces strict speedy-trial deadlines: 90 days for misdemeanors, 175 days for felonies. If deadlines slip, judges must act — cases risk dismissal. California has no similar safeguard; continuances stretch for years.

Colorado maintains a statewide case-tracking system that flags stalled cases for judicial review. California has none; case data remain fragmented, making oversight impossible. Without reliable tracking, lawmakers and judges are insulated from accountability. They can blame backlogs or budgets, but no one owns the problem. Meanwhile, cases like my brother’s slip deeper into limbo, with no single authority responsible for moving them forward.

New Jersey gives every victim a liaison through its Office of Victim-Witness Advocacy, ensuring proactive updates. California has no statewide equivalent; many families go without answers. In California, it is not uncommon for families to discover a continuance only after appearing in court. Proactive communication — something as simple as automatic text or phone updates — would relieve a portion of the trauma. In other states, these small systems reassure families that they have not been forgotten. California could replicate them easily, but hasn’t.

The money isn’t the issue. The judicial branch budget for 2023-24 was about $5 billion. California allocates roughly $3 billion to trial courts. Redirecting just 5% (about $150 million) could fund 500 competency-restoration beds, dozens of case managers and reliable victim-support services. That’s a drop in the bucket — but enough to prevent the next decade-long breakdown.

Justice delayed nine years isn’t justice — it’s abandonment disguised as due process.

When the courts lose public trust, communities fracture. Victims despair. Families unravel. Defendants vanish into limbo without healing. If California lets a violent case drag nearly a decade, what message does that send to anyone who believes in fairness?

We need more than promises: transparent funding, enforceable timelines, expanded competency services and better communication with victims. For victims, defendants, law enforcement and families, California must decide: Is justice closure or endless drift?

(Lance Justice Mayhew lives in Washington state and grew up in California’s Central Valley.)

---

---

POEM IN OCTOBER

It was my thirtieth year to heaven
Woke to my hearing from harbour and neighbour wood
And the mussel pooled and the heron
Priested shore
The morning beckon
With water praying and call of seagull and rook
And the knock of sailing boats on the net webbed wall
Myself to set foot
That second
In the still sleeping town and set forth.

My birthday began with the water-
Birds and the birds of the winged trees flying my name
Above the farms and the white horses
And I rose
In rainy autumn
And walked abroad in a shower of all my days.
High tide and the heron dived when I took the road
Over the border
And the gates
Of the town closed as the town awoke.

A springful of larks in a rolling
Cloud and the roadside bushes brimming with whistling
Blackbirds and the sun of October
Summery
On the hill's shoulder,
Here were fond climates and sweet singers suddenly
Come in the morning where I wandered and listened
To the rain wringing
Wind blow cold
In the wood faraway under me.

Pale rain over the dwindling harbour
And over the sea wet church the size of a snail
With its horns through mist and the castle
Brown as owls
But all the gardens
Of spring and summer were blooming in the tall tales
Beyond the border and under the lark full cloud.
There could I marvel
My birthday
Away but the weather turned around.

It turned away from the blithe country
And down the other air and the blue altered sky
Streamed again a wonder of summer
With apples
Pears and red currants
And I saw in the turning so clearly a child's
Forgotten mornings when he walked with his mother
Through the parables
Of sun light
And the legends of the green chapels

And the twice told fields of infancy
That his tears burned my cheeks and his heart moved in mine.
These were the woods the river and sea
Where a boy
In the listening
Summertime of the dead whispered the truth of his joy
To the trees and the stones and the fish in the tide.
And the mystery
Sang alive
Still in the water and singingbirds.

And there could I marvel my birthday
Away but the weather turned around. And the true
Joy of the long dead child sang burning
In the sun.
It was my thirtieth
Year to heaven stood there then in the summer noon
Though the town below lay leaved with October blood.
O may my heart's truth
Still be sung
On this high hill in a year's turning.

— Dylan Thomas (1944)

---

---

“AND THEY WERE ALWAYS YOUNG, Air Corps pilots and ensigns, and good-looking girls in fur coats, and always the government secretary or two, the working girl as a carry-over from the fraternity parties when she was always the girl who could be made because in some mysterious way the women of the lower classes could be depended upon to copulate like jack rabbits. And they all knew they were going to die soon with a sentimental and unstated English attitude which was completely phony. It came from books they had never read, and movies they shouldn’t have seen; it was fed by the tears of their mothers, and the knowledge quite shocking, quite unbelievable, that a lot of them did die when they went overseas. Its origins were spurious; they never could connect really the romance of their impending deaths with the banal mechanical process of flying an airplane and landing and living in the barren eventless Army camps that surrounded their airfields. But nevertheless they had discovered it was a talisman, they were going to die soon, and they wore it magically until you believed in it when you were with them. And they did magical things like pouring whisky on each other’s hair, or setting mattresses afire, or grabbing hats on the fly from the heads of established businessmen. Of all the parties those were perhaps the best, but he had come to them too old.”

― Norman Mailer, The Naked and the Dead

---

“DON'T SLEEP any more than you have to. I usually sleep about four hours per night. I'm in bed by 1am and up to read the newspapers at 5am. That's all I need, and it gives me a competitive edge.”

— Trump

---

---

“THE INDUSTRIAL TOWNS were far away, a smudge of smoke and misery hidden by the curve of the earth's surface. Down here it was still the England I had known in my childhood: the railway-cuttings smothered in wild flowers, the deep meadows where the great shining horses browse and meditate, the slow-moving streams bordered by willows, the green bosoms of the elms, the larkspurs in the cottage gardens; and then the huge peaceful wilderness of outer London, the barges on the miry river, the familiar streets, the posters telling of cricket matches and Royal weddings, the men in bowler hats, the pigeons in Trafalgar Square, the red buses, the blue policemen—all sleeping the deep, deep sleep of England, from which I sometimes fear that we shall never wake till we are jerked out of it by the roar of bombs.”

― George Orwell, ‘Homage to Catalonia’

---

LIKE OTHER STATES, Israel pleads ‘security’ as justification for its aggressive and violent actions. But knowledgeable Israelis know better. Their recognition of reality was articulated clearly in 1972 by Air Force Commander (and later president) Ezer Weizmann. He explained that there would be no security problem if Israel were to accept the international call to withdraw from the territories it conquered in 1967, but the country would not then be able to ‘exist according to the scale, spirit, and quality she now embodies.’

For a century, the Zionist colonization of Palestine has proceeded primarily on the pragmatic principle of the quiet establishment of facts on the ground, which the world was to ultimately come to accept. It has been a highly successful policy. There is every reason to expect it to persist as long as the United States provides the necessary military, economic, diplomatic, and ideological support. For those concerned with the rights of the brutalized Palestinians, there can be no higher priority than working to change U.S. policies, not an idle dream by any means.

— Noam Chomsky, from The Real Reason Israel "Mows the Lawn" in Gaza (2014)

---

LEAD STORIES, WEDNESDAY'S NYT

Comey to Appear in Court in Case That Has Roiled Justice Department

Pressed on Justice Dept. Politicization, Bondi Goes on Attack

Federal Workers Express Uncertainty During Government Shutdown

White House Signals It May Try to Deny Back Pay to Furloughed Federal Workers

Anxious Investors Push Gold Above $4,000 an Ounce for the First Time

Cheer Up, or Else: China Cracks Down on the Haters and Cynics

Recruiters Use A.I. to Scan Résumés. Applicants Are Trying to Trick It

---

DEMOCRATS:

[1] I do not understand how, in the face of the inanity, the outright stupidity, of the Democratic party of today, that any thinking American can support them. Are there really 81 million idiots roaming around this country?

[2] Yes. Yes, unfortunately, there are. They all subscribe to the NYT or WaPo. Watch "Rachel" every night for their nightly dose of self-satisfying bullshit, and walk around as if all is well with the Biden Administration - because - My GOD - what if TRUMP??? (Who went to Wharton, but actually GRADUATED from the PT Barnum school of "One Born Every Minute".) What on earth will it take to wash the crazy out? The depth & breadth is staggering. (Hey, could it be more contagious than COVID?)

---

---

PROGRESSIVE darling Zohran Mamdani has come out and described Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro and Cuba President Miguel Diaz-Canel as “dictators”, just as the Trump administration ends diplomacy with Venezuela in yet another step toward possible war. So that’s some nice timing.

The Democratic Party is a US empire party. The very best Democrats just want a slightly more polite and humanitarian empire. All of them support war and militarism. All of them support the subjugation of the global south by tyrannical force. Everyone needs to get clear on this.

---

I SAW A GOOD TWEET from Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello saying “It’s wild how people can effortlessly understand the righteousness of everybody from Robin Hood to Andor and then in real life simp for the Sheriff of Nottingham and the Death Star.”

This happens because in Robin Hood and Star Wars the storyteller is sympathetic to the rebel characters while the pundits, editors and reporters who tell the stories of our time are sympathetic to those in power.

David Attenborough can get you cheering for the seal or for the polar bear depending on whose journey is being followed as a sympathetic protagonist. The narrators in our stories are those who control the narrative.

---

THE THING ABOUT OCTOBER 7 is that if Israel supporters are going to insist on using it to justify everything that’s being done in Gaza, then the rest of us have no choice but to refuse to give a fuck about it.

If someone is using something as a weapon to hurt people, then you need to take their weapon away. If sympathy about October 7 is being weaponized for genocide propaganda, then you have an ethical obligation to withdraw your sympathy.

I don’t enjoy mocking and dismissing people who try to harness sympathy for October 7. It wasn’t particularly fun raining on the big sympathy parade the hasbarists threw for the second anniversary as they make a desperate effort to win back some of the global support they’ve been hemorrhaging all year. That’s just what you need to do when people are using something to facilitate crimes against humanity. It would be irresponsible to do otherwise.

— Caitlin Johnstone

---

---

TAYLOR SWIFT WROTE A SONG ABOUT TRAVIS KELCE'S PENIS

by Drew Magary

A quick disclaimer before we get to the penis stuff: I am NOT a Taylor Swift hater. I don’t listen to her music all that often, but I like some of her songs (the 1980s guitar sound to “Style” does it for me). I don’t hold it against people who obsess over this woman’s creative output. You wanna be a Swiftie, knock yourself out. You wanna be one of those parents who are like, “I wasn’t a Swiftie until I paid $4,000 so my daughter could go to an Eras show, now I love her!” — again, knock yourself out. You do your music, I do mine.

So keep that in mind for this review, because I am not frothing at the bit to rip Taylor Swift into fine, glittery shreds. I come to her latest album, the tepidly received “The Life of a Showgirl,” with fresh ears and an open heart. You might even say I’m excited for this one-man listening party, because I’ve just received word of a track on Swift’s new opus titled “Wood.”

“Oh,” you ask, “is that a cover of Alice In Chains’ ‘Would?’ — one of the defining grunge anthems of the 1990s?” No, that’s a different song with a different spelling. This “Wood” is a Swift original, and it’s about her fiancé, Chiefs superstar tight end Travis Kelce.

More specifically, it’s about his hog.

Now, popular music has a long, veiny history of phallocentric compositions. Gene Simmons alone accounts for hundreds of such tracks. So Taylor Swift isn’t breaking new ground by penning an ode to her man’s dig ol’ bick. But when you consider that Swift’s catalog almost exists as its own genre, and when you consider that she normally writes about topics that she, at 35, should have aged out of decades ago, “Wood” represents a foray into a bold, engorged new territory for our princess. With that in mind, I decided to first listen to this song minus any peeks at the lyric sheet, to see if its penile themes sprang out at me. Then I went back and relistened with the lyrics, to see if it enlarged the song by 10%-20%.

Here’s the lyric-free embed:

I don’t hate this. The opening chords to “Wood” have a 1970s, Jackson 5-style sound that has me bouncing right from the top. Taylor Swift’s singing voice has never been anything special, but her songwriting and production have always been a good fit for it. That’s true again here. Spin this tune at a wedding (how outré!), and I’d have a good time with it. “Wood” is missing a truly distinguishing hook for its chorus: the kind that bores into you and stays there for the rest of your life (“Shake It Off”). It’s more a vibe than a song. But it’s inoffensive sounding, which tracks with the rest of Swift’s oeuvre.

Now let’s get to the offensive shit.

And baby, I'll admit I've been a little superstitious
/Fingers crossed until you put your hand on mine
/Seems to be that you and me we make our own luck
/A bad sign, is all good 
I ain't got to knock on wood…

I’m not an English professor, but I can still parse this verse pretty easily. She was a little bit worried that Travis would be a bad lay. But then BOINNNNG! His Kansas City Chief stood upright, and that’s when Tay-Tay realized that she didn’t have to worry about this night being a dud. Big Chief Energy!

Forgive me, it sounds cocky…

I sense a double entendre there.

He (ah!) matized me


And opened my eyes…

Look at our girl, slipping a mom joke into the lyrics just for all the middle school parents out there to enjoy. On paper, turning “traumatized” to “(ah!) matized” is some wordplay that would make even an Irish sailor groan. But in song, the showgirl knows how to serve it up so that you know that she knows she’s being stupid. It’s the kind of G-rated fun that Swift has forever specialized in. I have analyzed this couplet for too long now, so let’s move on.

Redwood tree…
It ain't hard to see
… His love was the key
… That opened my thighs…

OK, now she’s 5% closer to a Madonna song. Baby steps.

Girls, I don't need to catch the bouquet
… To know a hard rock is on the way…

Wait a second, do you mean to tell me that these two are having sex out of wedlock? Is nothing sacred?

And baby, I'll admit I've been a little superstitious
…The curse on me was broken by your magic wand…

I think you get it. “Wood” is a fun, but not terribly memorable, ode to Travis Kelce’s sexual prowess. It’s provocative only when you compare it with the rest of Swift’s work. On its own, you’d never notice the randy parts unless someone (me) told you the backstory. Now that you know the backstory, and that Travis Kelce is well-endowed, you can gasp and giggle for a few minutes before moving on to something else.

Because for all of Swift’s talents, provocation isn’t one of them. In fact, the whole idea of provocation has been ruined over the past few years by comedians, journalists, politicians and Bill Mahers who think being a provocateur just means saying some racist shit. A good provocateur, like Madonna at her peak, will outrage you while forcing you to think about why you’re really upset. They push their art out of the normal, accepted bounds of good taste in order to redefine art as a whole. Sabrina Carpenter has proved to be the rare pop star in 2025 who knows how to do this well. Taylor Swift, forever one of our safest artists, wants to provoke, using her man as the primary … tool … for the job. She just doesn’t have it in her. But hey, she’s got Travis in her, and I think we can all be happy for her on that end.

PS. Kelce’s Chiefs lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday night and are now 2-3.

(SFGate.com)

---

---

TO AN ATHLETE DYING YOUNG

The time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.

Today, the road all runners come,
Shoulder-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.

Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields where glory does not stay,
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose.

Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears.

Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man.

So set, before its echoes fade,
The fleet foot on the sill of shade,
And hold to the low lintel up
The still-defended challenge-cup.

And round that early-laurelled head
Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,
And find unwithered on its curls
The garland briefer than a girl’s.

— A. E. Housman (1896)

---