Mendocino County Today: Wednesday 10/15/2025

Cool | Seen Vang? | Outdoor Burning | Thomas Brigham | AV Track | Burn Permit | Sauna Concession | Pelicans | Mobile Sauna | Abalone Room | Emergency Services | Cabrillo Lighthouse | Caring Bags | Circus Circus | Open Mic | Old Boonville | Record Ab | Extended Family | Yesterday's Catch | Sad Fall | GG Clouds | Broke Hippies | Station B-71 | Waymo DDOS | Enemy Mine | Softies | Kerouac Story | Trumpet Practice | Benevolent Assimilation | MeshugaNation | Vietnam Love | Erskine Tate | People Running | Lead Stories | ICE Raid

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COOL AND MOIST conditions will persist across the area through Wednesday with slight warming and drying into the weekend. Another rain event is most likely around Sunday. (NWS)

STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A cloudy 50F on the coast this Wednesday morning. Clearing later today then a lot of sunny is forecast thru the weekend. No really.

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WHERE’S JOHN VANG?

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) Major Crimes Division (MCD) is seeking the public’s assistance as part of an ongoing investigation involving a missing person last known to be in the Southern Humboldt area in August 2023.

With the 2-year anniversary of John’s disappearance upon us, investigators are asking anyone who may have seen or had contact with John Starr Vang, age 36, around mid-August 2023 to come forward. John is described as a Hmong male adult approximately 5’2”, 165 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. John was reported missing by his family and loved ones in March of 2024 and was believed to be working on a marijuana grow at a rural property in the Panther Gap area near Honeydew in the Southern Humboldt area during the time of his disappearance.

As part of this effort, the Sheriff’s Office is also attempting to identify three adult Hmong females (shown below) who were seen in the company of John at the Walmart in Eureka on August 14, 2023. The HCSO is also attempting to locate a Hispanic male known only as Mateo who used to work with John on the same farm. These individuals may have important information that could assist in the investigation.

Anyone who may have interacted with John during the summer of 2023 or who may have knowledge of individuals residing or working in the Panther Gap area of Southern Humboldt during that time is urged to contact Investigator Buihner with the HCSO Major Crimes Division at (707) 445-7251 and reference case number 202401065.

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BURN BAN LIFTED

As of Monday morning, the ban on outdoor burning in Mendocino County was lifted, the Mendocino Unit of the California Department of Forestry and Fire protection reported.

In a press release, Cal Fire officials reported that the suspension of of residential outdoor burn permits would be lifted on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, at 8 a.m., noting that “Mendocino Unit Chief Brandon Gunn is formally cancelling the burn permit suspension and advises that those possessing current and valid agriculture and residential burn permits can now resume burning on permissible burn days.”

The release also explains that “agriculture burns must be inspected by Cal Fire prior to burning until the end of the peak fire season, (and that) inspections may be required for burns other than agriculture burns.” The permits are available online at: https://burnpermit.fire.ca.gov

Cal Fire officials also stressed that its “Burn Permits are only for residents who live in the State Responsibility Area, or where Cal Fire has jurisdictional authority. It is the responsibility of the landowner to check with local fire agencies to determine any additional permits that might be required and if there are any additional burning restrictions for their area. You must have possession of a signed permit while you are conducting a burn. If you lose your permit or it expires, you will need to obtain another permit before you start burning.”

The release adds that “state, federal, and local land management and fire agencies will also be utilizing this same window of opportunity to conduct prescribed burns aimed at improving forest health and resiliency on private and public lands. Before you burn, call Mendocino County Air Management District at (707) 463-4391 to confirm that you have all the required burn permits and to ensure it is a permissive burn day. Burning can only be done on permissive burn days and is prohibited on non-burn days.”

For additional information on how to create Defensible Space, on how to be prepared for wildfires, as well as tips to prevent wildfires, visit https://ReadyForWildfire.org

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THOMAS S. BRIGHAM, J.D.

Attorney Thomas (Tom) Brigham passed away in Ukiah, California on October 7, 2025, at the age of 81. Tom was born in San Mateo, California on December 16, 1943, to William and Elizabeth Brigham who predeceased him. He is survived by his wife, Carrie Brigham, his daughter Brooke Brigham and granddaughter Layla Island, his daughter Tess Brigham, son-in-law Steve Pogatch and grandson Max Pogatch, and his siblings William Brigham, Kathleen Brigham and James Brigham.

Tom spent his childhood in San Mateo at a time when the San Francisco suburbs were growing quickly and he was among students who were the first to attend the new Junior and Senior High Schools in the Hillsdale area. He excelled in sports, most particularly golf. He represented Hillsdale High School, College of San Mateo and Fresno State College where he was awarded a golf scholarship. Among numerous other victories Tom was the California Community College Men’s Golf State Champion in 1962. In 1963, he set a new course record at Peninsula Golf and Country Club in San Mateo with a score of 64. Golf played an important role throughout Tom’s life as he played many courses throughout the state and the country.

Tom graduated from Fresno State College in 1966 with a B.A. in Social Science. He went on to graduate from the George Washington University School of Law in Washington D.C. in 1969 where he was admitted to The Order of the Coif in recognition of his academic achievements. In 1970 he was admitted to the California State Bar after which he spent almost two years with a large San Francisco law firm.

In 1971 Tom moved his family to Ukiah to take the position of Director of The Legal Services Foundation for Mendocino and Lake Counties. He served in that position for a short time, but his impact was significant. He routinely challenged attempts by the county to curtail free speech and protest against the Vietnam War and fought to protect the constitutional rights of the county’s residents during a time of great tension in the country. Tom believed deeply in justice for all and kept his tattered copy of the Constitution from law school in his desk.

After Legal Services, Tom opened a private practice in Ukiah. A few years later he joined the Ukiah law firm Rawles, Golden, Hinkle & Finnegan. After several years the firm evolved to become Rawles, Hinkle, Carter, Brigham, Gaustad and Behnke. Tom left the firm to partner with Scott Gaustad as Brigham & Gaustad. When that partnership ended, Tom was on his own again, but not for long. Brooke joined him in the practice in 2004 and they worked together for the next 20 years until Tom’s retirement in 2024, after 54 years of practicing law.

Tom was an accomplished civil litigator and trial attorney. In the courtroom his usual reserved demeanor switched to a zealous advocate for his clients. He took on the most difficult of cases, he loved the challenge. Tom loved the law, he loved golf, and he loved his family.

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NEARING SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE AV HIGH SCHOOL TRACK!

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

Following a couple of false starts, Anderson Valley Unified with the partnership of CalTrans Clean California is off to a clean finish with a remarkable partnership of installing the new natural field and synthetic track as part of the Clean California AV Track and Field for Health Project.

The almost five million dollar transformative project in the picturesque Anderson Valley will serve a community with few health amenities and keep citizens from running on the highway. Integral to the grant design is a health and fitness component to reduce diabetes in the community and provide an amenity to serve the high socio-economically challenged community with a health and fitness opportunity to transform rural recreation. The grant was received under the Cal Trans Clean California Grant opportunity truly transforming under-served communities.

Related Superintendent Kristin Balliet-Larson, the project had some significant challenges and initial bids came in over budget for an all weather field and the project had to be redefined to fit budget parameters. “We are so grateful to CalTrans for their partnership as we redefined scope and we are exceptionally grateful to Rege Construction and Don Alamedia, Architect, for their work.” The grant was originally awarded under the former Superintendent Louise Simson and Chris Vetrano related Larson, but the current team has led the field to fruition; the Ribbon Cutting will be November 21st at 1:15 p.m.

“It is an amazing community amenity for the citizens of Boonville and we are truly grateful to CalTrans for the partnership" related Larson-Balliet. “Congressman Huffman was extremely supportive of this “ask” and we are grateful.”

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BILL KIMBERLIN: This is the beautiful new “Rubberized” (they call it synthetic) track at Boonville High (they call it AVHS) that is the result of millions of dollars of investment… I run on one of these near me in Berkeley and hope to run on this one if the school doesn’t lock me out. Even if you just walk it you will feel a spring in your step.

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SAUNA CONCESSION HAS NO BUSINESS IN BIG RIVER SMCA!

So easily we forget that in 2010 the Big River Estuary was placed into a State Marine Conservation area (SMCA). Big River SMCA was created to protect the fragile estuary ecosystem, wildlife, and the natural beauty of the coastline.

State Parks has allowed a sauna concession to operate located right in the middle of our spectacular and extraordinary estuary. Right across from the concession on the other side of the estuary not more than 40 yards is a year round haul out area for seals to rest and give birth to their young during spring. Off a little further are Osprey and Great Blue Heron nesting areas. Smoke associated with sauna activity will disrupt wildlife and the natural experience sought by hikers, swimmers, kayakers, birdwatchers, and families on the beach.

Operating three days a week from 7am to sunset and on weekend events, this wood-fired sauna burns fuel releasing smoke, fine particulates, and greenhouse gases directly into the protected coastal environment. It creates a constant commercial presence in what should remain a quiet refuge — it is a commercial intrusion into a State Marine Conservation Area.

It is common sense that introducing a commercial, wood-burning sauna fundamentally conflicts with the purpose of a Marine Protected Area. The CA Dept. of State Parks are entrusted with the stewardship of Big River MPA. But of instead of prioritizing ecological health and preservation, State Parks is transforming the sanctuary into a commercialized attraction.

State parks and conservation areas are places of reflection, healing, and cultural connection. True wellness in a park comes from immersion in nature itself—clean air, wild beauty, silence—not from a paid service that degrades the very setting it depends upon.

If a smoky wood-fired sauna can operate here, what stops future proposals for concessions like juice bars, rental cabanas, or spas? Each exception chips away at the integrity of a conservation area until it is no longer a refuge, but another commercialized attraction. We must keep conservation areas true to their mission: places where nature comes first, not profit.

State Parks Public Comment is open until October 30th. Please send your comments to: https://www.parks.ca.gov/post/67

Respectfully,

Robert Jamgochian, Biologist

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SAVE THE SAUNA

I would like to respond to the recent negativity and projections surrounding the proposed mobile sauna at Big River State Beach. I want to say, with respect, that I disagree.

I’m genuinely excited to see this business come to life — and so are many of my friends and people in my community. I think it’s a wonderful idea and a unique way to experience the cold waters of Big River in a healthy, mindful, and community-oriented way.

The concerns that have been voiced seem greatly inflated. I would be curious to know what research or data was used to support those claims. It’s my understanding that the people behind this sauna proposal went through years of careful planning and extensive permitting with California State Parks. They’ve put in the work, followed the rules, and considered the environmental and community impact thoroughly. I applaud their dedication and thoughtfulness in creating something that enhances our connection to nature and supports local wellness.

One complaint mentioned was “what’s next? More vendors popping up?” But that argument has nothing to do with this specific business. If there are concerns about other potential vendors, that’s a separate issue and should not be used as a reason to deny this thoughtful, well-managed project. Predicting negative outcomes that haven’t even happened yet only stirs unnecessary fear.

Mendocino already has very few small businesses, and this one stands out as something positive. It encourages people to engage with nature, promotes health and relaxation, and creates a new way to gather that doesn’t revolve around alcohol, noise, or waste. To me, this represents exactly the kind of innovation and spirit our community should support.

In my view, opposition to this project seems rooted more in fear and close-mindedness than in fact. I believe the mobile sauna will enrich the Mendocino experience and provide a meaningful, restorative activity for locals and visitors alike.

I encourage everyone who appreciates the idea of enjoying a warm sauna followed by a refreshing dip in the cold waters of Big River to please write in support of this business. Let’s show encouragement for those who bring creative, healthy, and mindful experiences to our community.

If you believe Mendocino should continue to foster innovative, nature-based, and community-oriented businesses, I urge you to voice your support for the mobile sauna project. Together, we can help ensure that thoughtful, low-impact ventures like this one have the chance to thrive here.

If anyone would like help drafting their own letter of support, I’m happy to assist or provide a simple template to make the process easy.

Respectfully,

Lauren Wazwo

Mendocino

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SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL EMERGENCY SERVICES

Editor,

Every time a pager goes off in Anderson Valley, volunteers drop what they're doing and race to help. Whether it’s a fire, a car accident, a medical emergency, or search and rescue, we are grateful that you trust us to be there. We depend on having the right equipment to serve you well. This has always been a challenge that we face with your support.

Josh Mathias, volunteer and Lieutenant of the Boonville Station, describes our current situation:

“The call came in just before 11am: a rollover accident on a remote stretch of Highway 128. Within minutes, Anderson Valley's Volunteer Firefighters were on the road in our Rescue engine, carrying the Jaws of Life and other gear needed to free a trapped driver. But on the way back, the engine's warning lights lit up. Another mechanical problem. Another trip to the shop. Even today, when returning from a medical call, the light came on only 10 days after returning from the shop. The Rescue engine is no longer keeping up with our needs. We need a replacement that is reliable, spacious, and ready for the wide range of calls we face!”

This has been our reality far too often. Even when the Rescue is running properly, it doesn't have the space to carry all the equipment today's emergencies demand. That's why the Anderson Valley Volunteer Fire Fighters Association (AVVFFA) makes this urgent request: Help us replace our Rescue engine.

For over 40 years, the AVVFFA has worked with this community to equip the Anderson Valley Fire Department with the tools needed to serve you. Because of your generosity, we've been able to help purchase a new ambulance, a fuel station, water tenders, a wildland engine, and satellite fire stations — all assets that have made a difference when minutes matter. Your gift isn't just a donation, it's a lifeline in the most critical moments.

Every contribution brings us closer to putting a new Rescue engine on the road to better protect the places and people that we have the honor to serve. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We would like to close with Josh's words:

“Your support doesn't just buy equipment, it makes rescues possible. It means the right tools are in the right hands at the right time. I want to personally thank you for equipping me and my fellow volunteers to serve you and our neighbors to the best of our ability!”

Thank you for standing beside us as we work to keep Anderson Valley safe.

With deep gratitude,

Sandy Mailliard, AVVFFA President

Andres Avila, Anderson Valley Fire Chief

AV Volunteer Firefighters Association

PO Box 414, Boonville, CA 95415

707 895-2020 (Firehouse)

Tax ID #: 94-2864556

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MENDOCINO PUBLIC SAFETY FOUNDATION PRESENTS “CARING BAGS” TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT

During crisis situations, children may require comfort and support. First responders sometimes provide assistance to children under these circumstances. Although officers receive training for such scenarios, their resources can be limited. In collaboration with law enforcement personnel, The Caring Bags project was developed.

Caring Bags are small, portable bags containing basic comfort items such as blankets, diapers, wipes, small toys, and baby bottles. These bags have been placed in Mendocino SheriƯ, Ukiah Police Department, Fort Bragg Police Department, and Willits Police Department vehicles to assist officers in supporting children during critical incidents.

The funding and materials for these bags were provided by Mendocino Public Safety Foundation. The bags were assembled by Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts at Slam Dunk Pizza and then distributed to local law enforcement agencies. Bags contain: various sized diapers, individual wipes, small toys, small stuffed animals, baby toys, baby bottles and fleece blankets. After use, the bags will be restocked as needed.

Ross Liberty, President of the Foundation, stated that the program benefits children in need, improves community engagement with law enforcement, and encourages youth participation in community service.

Donations of similar items or monetary donations to the Caring Bag program can be made via the Mendocino Public Safety Foundation website (protectmendocino.org) or by dropping off items at Factory Pipe (1307 Masonite Road, Ukiah) or DFM Auto Repair (575 S State Street, Ukiah).

Mendocino Public Safety Foundation continues to work with local organizations on initiatives supporting public safety and encourages those interested to learn more at protectmendocino.org.

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THE CIRCUS IS IN TOWN! October 23 - 26

Do not miss this! Get your tickets now – it WILL sell out, and you WILL regret it when your friends all tell you how it changed their lives!

The Bridge is an original fairytale from Flynn Creek Circus that lands right here in Boonville from Thursday, October 23 through Sunday, October 26. Inspired by Nordic legend, this year’s show brings a troll, a goat, a wolf, and a cast of mischief-makers to life with breathtaking acrobatics, playful humor, and live music. Kids will fall in love with the characters, while parents get swept up in the artistry and surprise.

And for those looking for something a little less wholesome, Flynn Creek also stages an Adults Only version at select showtimes: raucous, outrageous, and more than a little punk rock. Beer, wine, and light concessions will be available at the tent, making it a perfect night out whether you come for the family matinee or the after-hours spectacle. This is an all-human spectacle.

These shows (especially the adult shows) sell out, so get your tickets early!

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MENDOCINO OPEN MIC POETRY SERIES

Dear Poets and lovers of poetry,

Please join us Saturday, October 25th for the Mendocino Poetry Open Mic at the Mendocino Art Center. We will be meeting in the Stevenson Gallery from 4-6 pm. This event is free to the community but donations are appreciated.

We will begin with two featured poets in the first hour, Joan Stanford and Alyson Noele Sagala. We take a brief break after our featured poets and follow with an open mic in the second hour.

Where: Mendocino Art Center, The Stevenson Gallery, 45200 Little Lake Street

When: Saturday, October 25, 4-6 pm

Featured Poets:

Joan Stanford is a registered art therapist and author of The Art of Play: Ignite Your Imagination to Unlock Insight, Healing, and Joy. She has been leading creativity groups for over thirty years, encouraging people of all ages, especially non-artists and non-writers, to expand their awareness through 'creative play.' Joan offers imagination playshops and creativity retreats at the Stanford Inn which she and her husband have owned and operated since 1980. She enjoys spending time outdoors and playing with her grandkids

Alyson Noele Sagala is a writer from San Jose, California, currently based in the Anderson Valley. Her writing is focused on the intersection of place, identity, and our relationship to land.

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BILL KIMBERLIN:

A few years ago I was wandering around a ranch next to my aunt’s old summer resort. There is a great big apple dryer on this neighboring property, as well as several interesting old barns. But the best part that day was discovering a cache of old Model-T era cars and trucks under some trees.

One truck was particularly interesting because, while it had emblems identifying it as a “Reo Speedwagon”, there was a pretty big tree growing through the middle of it, where the truck bed should have been.

To be able to still find this kind of stuff is to be able to still find what I call “Old Boonville”. My uncle Dewitt once told me that as a kid hiking the Valley hills in the 1930’s he came across an abandoned cabin that used old newspapers to insulate its interior walls. Taking a closer look at the papers he found that they were from the Civil War era. There was no telling how long this place had been there. Time frozen, is still an intriguing aspect of living here.

Sometime after discovering the Reo I called the owner of the property for permission to take some photos. When I mentioned the Speedwagon he said that he got it from his neighbor (my uncle Avon) and that, “It had been your grandfather's. He used it to haul bootleg liquor during prohibition. It had some hidden places for the booze.”

Now that was a real surprise. I just happened upon an abandoned old truck that used to belong to my grandfather and he used it during prohibition to haul liquor?

I had heard the family stories for years. I had pestered my Aunt Leonore to tell me them over and over again when I was a kid living at the resort. So now I started to look into them a little more.

The image at the head of this article is of my great grandfather John Mason’s San Francisco Brewery. It is a photo taken from a lithograph that hangs in my uncle DeWitt’s dining room.

Mason’s Brewery was one of the first in San Francisco. It was a Steam Brewery and they also made Irish Whiskey. Masons was founded in 1854. It moved to Sausalito in 1892 as Mason’s Malt Whisky Distilling Co. and by 1925 was producing one sixth of all the alcohol in the country. The site of the old distillery is now called Whiskey Springs and is a condominium development.

John Mason had come to California from Ireland in 1849 but his wife died and he had to go back to get another one. The one he got this time was from New York and her name was Mary Hayes. Her father, Jacob Hayes was the first Chief of Police in New York City. That was in 1803, and he held the position for fifty years.

Stumbling upon what was left of that old truck and finding some ties with my own past illustrates one of the pleasures of Old Boonville for me. But there is more to it than just nostalgia. This small country town allows us to sometimes get a glimpse of simplicity that is harder to discover in the outside world. While chopping wood, working on the well, or occasionally going without electricity may not sound like amenities, they can be when they slow things down just enough so that a metaphorical Old Boonville can come clearly into view.

I read a story recently about a Silicon Valley executive that was so busy that when the lights at his home failed one winter he just didn’t have time to fix them so he went without and used only candles for light. Over time he came to love the soft flickering glow so much that he never did fix the lights, he just kept the candles. At first his girlfriend would come over and complain bitterly about it, but soon, she too lit her own home with candles. They each had accidentally introduced themselves to something they would never have otherwise chosen.

Now I actively look for and try to celebrate Old Boonville when ever I can find it.

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MARY SWEENEY:

I was raised in an extended family that included my mom as well as grandparents, a great-grandmother, and aunts and uncles living either in the same house or nearby. The result was that if one or two adults were tired or stressed-out I had other adults I could go to if I needed help with something. Also, I grew up with a wider variety of viewpoints than I would have had in a nuclear family. And, different adults had different strengths and interests so there were just more chances to learn new skills. Last but not least, the older members of the family were there to offer advice to the adults too. An 80-year-old has a lot of experience that may be lost to the family if they live far away. To me, the nuclear family seems limited in a lot of ways and more likely to produce various types of toxic behavior.

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CATCH OF THE DAY, Tuesday, October 14, 2025

JACOBY JOHNSON, 28, Fort Bragg. Failure to appear, probation revocation.

NATHANIEL KUGLER, 22, Fort Bragg. Public nuisance, probation revocation.

WILLIAM MARSHALL, 45, Willits. Failure to appear.

SHIDEEWUM MARTINEZ II, 26, Redwood Valley. DUI.

NOE PEREZ, 36, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

JENNIFER SERR, 44, Ukiah. Disobeying court order.

REALIA SPECIALE, 43, Willits Under influence, contempt of court, probation revocation.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, 41, Ukiah. Under influence.

LYDELL WILLIAMS, 36, Ukiah. Petty theft with two or more priors, probation revocation, resisting.

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“YOU EXPECTED to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintery light. But you knew there would always be the spring, as you knew the river would flow again after it was frozen. When the cold rains kept on and killed the spring, it was as though a young person died for no reason.”

— Ernest Hemingway, ‘A Moveable Feast’

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PAUL MODIC:

Damn, I knew I was probably forgetting some items and folkways from the broke hippie daze in my story “Country Living” last week. For example clothes: no needless expense for bras, underwear and swimming suits! In the early days we, or me anyway, just slept in the sleeping bags we’d hitchhiked out in, then after moving inside still slept in them on thin foam pads and I don’t remember any sheets or even pillows. (No phones or dogs, never remember any hitchhiker with a dog.)

Many came up because they already knew someone living up here, though many also, like me, just wandered in. I’ve heard there was a New York connection out in Salmon Creek, for example, and one big Whale Gulch connection was Antioch College, from where a good amount of graduates or dropouts came. (Coincidentally, though I just wandered in the back door not knowing anyone, my mother and sister had both gone to Antioch.)

Getting rides in Sohum in those early days was very easy, like a religion, for many if not most of the drivers weren’t that many years from hitchhiking themselves. (When night fell whoever was giving you a ride often just took you to their nearby cabin for dinner, a joint, and a floor or couch to crash on, ah the delightful “hippie ethic.” )

Your mobile status could change in a moment: One day Judi Quick is standing up on the county road above her trailer with a huge duffle bag of laundry waiting for a ride, the next week she’s got an old green ‘62 Valiant which was often loaded with us car-less folks for rides to town in her “bus.”

I’ve probably missed even more obvious facets of cheap living, maybe someone remembers more to add to the list.

There’s something delicious about looking back like this…

(Once settled in, it was a 90 minute drive through Humboldt County to vote at Piercy in Mendocino, later we applied for the absentee ballots.)

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CALIFORNIA'S REDWOODS HID A SECRET WAR MACHINE

In Redwood National and State Parks, one of California's strangest World War II secrets still stands in silence

by Matt LaFever

A coastal fog softens the dramatic plunge where the American continent meets the Pacific. Nearly 350 miles north of San Francisco, just south of Crescent City and beyond the mouth of the Klamath River — one of California’s wildest waterways — the redwoods crowd to the edge of the sea. Here, on a lonely bluff within Redwood National and State Parks, the forest thins to reveal what looks like a weather-beaten barn and farmhouse tucked into the hillside.

Yet the humble farmstead below is no ordinary ruin. Built in 1942, these unassuming structures once hid a secret U.S. Army radar outpost — Station B-71 — as part of a covert coastal defense network created in the panicked months after Pearl Harbor to help defend the continental United States against possible Japanese air and naval assaults during World War II.

When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, a war many Americans had viewed as distant suddenly struck home. Fear spread up and down the West Coast. Within two weeks, Japanese submarines began prowling California waters, testing defenses and stoking panic. On Dec. 20, the oil tanker SS Emidio was shelled off Crescent City, killing five crewmen and leaving the vessel to drift, battered, toward shore. That same week, another submarine fired on an oil tanker near Santa Barbara’s Point Arguello and missed; a second torpedoed a ship off Cambria, spilling millions of gallons of crude oil into the Pacific.

Among those who have studied this era is Justin Ruhge, a 91-year-old amateur historian who has spent decades documenting California’s forgotten military past. He told SFGATE on a phone call that the massive mobilization of coastal defenses was born from one overwhelming sentiment — fear.

“We were very scared,” he said. “It had a big effect on everybody. We didn’t know what was going to happen.”

Air patrols, coastal artillery and lookout stations were quickly established from San Diego to the Oregon border. Japanese commanders, seeing the coastal buildup, reportedly abandoned plans to shell U.S. cities that Christmas. But the fear didn’t fade. In 1942, a Japanese submarine fired on Fort Stevens near the Oregon border, and months later, a seaplane dropped incendiary bombs over the state’s forests, hoping to start wildfires.

That same climate of panic led to darker decisions at home: the forced incarceration of more than 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, most of them U.S. citizens. Ruhge said the mood was one of pure fear. “Everyone was scared,” he said.

As the Pacific war crept ever closer to American shores, the U.S. military turned to technology to watch the skies. By late 1942, a chain of early warning radar stations began to rise along the coast, disguised as barns, farmhouses and rural homesteads. One of them still stands on a bluff south of the Klamath River: Station B-71.

A National Register of Historic Places nomination form from the late 1970s offers one of the clearest surviving records of Station B-71. It lays out in precise military detail the site’s origin, purpose and peculiar disguise. Station B-71 was the northernmost California post in a network of coastal radar sites meant to guard against enemy attack. Officially designated “Trinidad,” the outpost was perched on a bluff just south of the Klamath River, its placement chosen for both elevation and isolation.

From the sea, it looked perfectly ordinary — a weathered farmstead with a house and barn tucked into the hillside. The “farmhouse” was built of concrete block but faced with false wooden siding and fake windows, its roof topped with sham dormers to complete the illusion. The “barn” concealed the operating center, with a fake barn door and even a decoy pulley hoist that would be used for lifting hay in a real barn. Even the privy out back was part of the ruse.

Inside, soldiers worked around the clock monitoring aircraft movements and relaying information by direct line to the Army’s filter office in Berkeley. The station operated under strict security, guarded by military police armed with rifles and, according to one corporal who served there, “vicious dogs.” Three .50-caliber machine guns were mounted nearby, and the 35-man crew lived in barracks down the road in Klamath, rotating through shifts that never stopped.

Station B-71 operated in near-total isolation. Crews rotated through day and night shifts, monitoring radar scopes and maintaining equipment while the Pacific winds battered the bluffs outside.

By mid-1944, the danger of a Japanese invasion had faded, and the need for constant coastal surveillance diminished. Station B-71 was reassigned that summer to rescue duty, and its equipment was adapted to help locate downed pilots and distress signals offshore.

When the war ended, the little “farm” overlooking the Klamath Bluffs was abandoned. The Army left. The land reverted to ranchers. Over the years, locals stripped away parts of its wooden camouflage siding for lumber. Sheep wandered in and out of the concrete buildings. Mudslides from the steep slope above eventually filled parts of the interior.

Decades later, after the creation of Redwood National Park, the National Park Service took over the site. The structures were battered and half-buried, but enough of the disguise survived — the false siding, the wooden framing, the fake windows layered over cinderblock walls — to preserve its story.

Today, the site is little more than a pullout on a narrow road deep within Redwood National and State Parks — a relic tucked among the trees, marked by a modest sign. Those who find it are usually alone, with only the wind in the redwoods and the surf below.

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TECH PRANKSTER SENDS 50 WAYMO ROBOTAXIS TO A SAN FRANCISCO DEAD END STREET

by Aidin Vaziri and Rachel Swan

Fifty driverless cars converging on a single dead-end street sounds like a software glitch. In reality, it was a coordinated prank.

Over the summer, Riley Walz — a 23-year-old software engineer and self-described “tech prankster” — enlisted dozens of participants to order Waymo rides at the same moment on San Francisco’s longest dead-end street.

“The plan? At dusk, 50 people went to San Francisco’s longest dead-end street and all ordered a Waymo at the same time,” Walz revealed Sunday on X. “The world’s first: WAYMO DDOS.”

The term, short for “distributed denial of service,” refers to a type of cyberattack that overwhelms a system with traffic to disrupt its normal operation — in this case, a tongue-in-cheek nod to how dozens of simultaneous requests briefly jammed Waymo’s network.

No one boarded the cars, Walz said. After about 10 minutes, the autonomous vehicles departed and charged each requester a $5 no-show fee.

“Waymo handled this well,” Walz said, noting that the company temporarily disabled all pickups and drop-offs within a two-block radius until the next morning.

Online, the stunt drew a mix of fascination and alarm.

“Nice job I guess? What’d you get out of it?” one user asked. Another warned, “This would be a felony under the current computer access and abuse laws.”

Some saw darker implications.

“Someone will figure out how to use this to jam up traffic in targeted urban centers on election day,” another user wrote. Others viewed it as a useful stress test. “They were not vandalizing the vehicles and they paid the no show fees,” one commenter wrote. “Waymo should be doing this kind of thing itself.”

The July prank fits neatly into Walz’s pattern of projects that blur the line between satire and systems analysis.

A North Beach resident, Walz previously made headlines for creating a viral map that tracked San Francisco’s parking officers in real time before city officials shut it down. He also transformed a fake Google Maps listing into a real one-night steakhouse, and built “Bop Spotter,” an app that uses music app Shazam to log music playing on city streets 24/7.

Walz, who co-founded a data company called Numerous.ai, has said his pranks are driven by curiosity, not malice.

“You have to follow through on your ideas because if you don’t, you might stop having them,” he told the New York Times earlier this month.

Waymo did not immediately comment on the incident.

(SF Chronicle)

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BILL KIMBERLIN:

On the set of "Enemy Mine" which starred Dennis Quaid and Lou Gossett Jr.

The studio had fired the original direrctor and hired Wolfgan Peterson to direct. Peterson tossed what film had already been shot and started over.

Because the two stars had pay or play provisions in their contracts the studio had to pay them whether the film was ever made or not. Plus they had to pay them a "so called" holding fee while they cooled their heals, because they couldn't take any other work during this down time.

I heard they each made enough to buy extra houses. All this shot the budget from $18 million to $40 million and it didn't do well in release. However, it has become somewhat of a cult classic.

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ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY:

The current generation of Americans has never truly experienced a period of economic hardship. They feel goods and services are their right and they will simply swipe their credit cards and charge things to zell while complaining that no one is bailing them out.

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LOST JACK KEROUAC STORY FOUND AMONG ASSASSINATED MAFIA BOSS' BELONGINGS

by Andrew Chamings

A lost story written and signed by legendary San Francisco writer Jack Kerouac has been found among the belongings of an infamous mafia boss who was gunned down in 1985. The two-page story, titled “The Holy, Beat, and Crazy Next Thing,” was written shortly before the publication of Kerouac’s 1957 masterpiece “On the Road.”

The story details, in Kerouac’s typical ecstatic and spontaneous style, an evening of joy and yearning in Denver with Neal Cassady, LuAnne Henderson and Allen Ginsberg, using their alter egos Dean Moriarty, Marylou and Carlo Marx. The typed story is signed by Kerouac with a green fountain pen, something he was known to do at the time.

The story’s existence was unknown to the public until recently, as it spent many years among the belongings of the former head of the Gambino New York crime family Paul Castellano. After succeeding Carlo Gambino to become don in 1976, Castellano was shot dead in front of Sparks Steak House in Manhattan in 1985.

It’s not clear exactly how and when Castellano took ownership of the literary relic, but whispers of the existence of the story arose in 2024 when an estate sale was organized at Castellano’s former mansion.

“A friend of mine tipped us off that there was an estate sale going on that day and they had seen some ephemera in the auction,” Jerry Braunfield of online auction house Your Own Museum told SFGATE on Monday. “There were roughly 10 to 15 people attending, and we were serendipitously bidding against no one interested in the items. It happened by pure fate. It was an unexpected and fortunate opportunity.”

After winning the auction and authenticating the manuscript, Braunfield listed the manuscript this weekend for $8,500. “It sold almost immediately,” Braunfield said.

Before it found its way into a crime boss’ private collection, the manuscript was owned by another San Francisco literary icon. “This piece originates from the collection of a noted San Francisco-based poet and friend of the Ferlinghetti circle, who received it directly from the author,” the auction house stated.

Kerouac’s fame soared in the 1950s, after “On the Road” became a literary sensation. The breathless, jazz-inflected chronicle of restless youth and the search for meaning in postwar America, written in a single, three-week burst on one 120-foot scroll of paper, cemented his status as the voice of a generation. The original scroll of “On the Road” last sold in 2001 for $2.43 million.

The Massachusetts-born writer’s life and work was long intertwined with San Francisco and the Beat movement on the West Coast. In 1952, Kerouac lived with his friend and muse Neal Cassady at a small house at 29 Russell St. on Russian Hill.

His final years, lost to alcoholism before his death at the age of 47, were also largely chronicled in San Francisco. On one evening in 1960, Kerouac arranged to visit writer Henry Miller in Big Sur. Instead of making his way down the coast, he spent the night drinking in Vesuvio, calling Miller through the night from the bar’s pay phone to apologize for choosing that little corner of San Francisco over the rest of the world. The scene was immortalized in the writer’s last great novel, “Big Sur.”

The newly discovered story has been described as a “lost chapter” from “On the Road,” an idea perhaps backed by the title page naming the seminal work before the title, “The Holy, Beat, and Crazy Next Thing.” The story was written in April 1957, five months before the book’s release.

The brief tale describes a manic Denver evening between Kerouac and his friends, punctuated by a moment of reflection, while looking over the Rocky Mountains. “We drank until the wine was gone and the stars turned into one smeared light,” Kerouac writes. “We talked about everything and nothing, our words tumbling into the vast American night.”

(SFGate.com)

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MASSACRE UNDER THE STARRY FLAG

by Vicente L. Rafael

President William McKinley presented imperialism as a gift to Filipinos. In an 1898 executive order, issued days after he signed the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Spanish-American War and ceded sovereignty of a number of territories held by Spain to the US, he described the broad aim of colonial occupation of the Philippines as “benevolent assimilation”:

“We come, not as invaders or conquerors, but as friends, to protect the natives in their homes, in their employments, and in their personal and religious rights… It should be the earnest and paramount aim of the military administration to win the confidence, respect, and affection [of Filipinos] by proving to them that the mission of the United States is one of benevolent assimilation, substituting the mild sway of justice and right for arbitrary rule.”

This was a moral imperative that resonated with what Rudyard Kipling had called “the white man’s burden” in his poem urging the US to annex the islands. Annexation would safeguard Filipinos from the chaos of “arbitrary rule” created by their revolution against Spain, which began in 1896. Though the US had initially promised to support Filipino independence because it needed Filipino ground troops to help defeat the Spaniards, self-governance was deemed impossible: Filipinos were, in the words of William Howard Taft, the first civilian governor-general of the Philippines (and later US president), in a “hopeless condition of ignorance… subject, like the waves of the sea, to the influence of the moment.”

But instead of returning the US government’s fatherly love, Filipino insurgents seemed intent on making war. Fighting erupted in the outskirts of Manila in February 1899. “Why these hostilities?” the Schurman Commission, appointed by MeKinley to investigate conditions and guide US policy, asked a month later. “What do the Filipinos want?” By demanding recognition of the independence that they had just wrested from Spain and attacking US forces, the commission wrote in their report, Filipinos appeared to have “misinterpreted” the “pure aims and purposes of the American government and people.” They needed to be disciplined, according to McKinley, “with firmness if need be, but without severity so far as may be possible.” This disciplinary action took the form of the Philippine-American War, which began in February 1899, raged until its official end in 1902, and then continued in episodic insurgencies throughout the next quarter century.

Faced with the superior arms of the Americans, Filipinos engaged in guerrilla warfare. The US saw this not as a necessary tactic but as a sign of native barbarity and cowardice. White soldiers responded with what they thought was an equivalent savagery, plundering and burning villages and food supplies, torturing captives, killing prisoners, and forcing communities into concentration camps to deprive fighters of local support. The Americans — many of whom had previously fought in military campaigns against Native Americans-referred to Filipinos with racial slurs like “n*s” and “Injuns.” The military ceased to distinguish between fighters and civilians, and the war quickly became exterminatory. The most popular marching song linked the white man’s burden with mass murder:

“Damn, damn, damn the Filipino

Pockmarked khakiac ladrone;

Underneath the starry flag

Civilize him with a Krag,

And return us to our own beloved home.”

When they encountered criticism from Congress, colonial officials reasserted the benevolent aims of the war. For example, David Prescott Barrows, an anthropologist and the head of the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes of the Philippines (and later a professor at Berkeley), stated in the Senate hearings of 1901 that the practice of administering the water cure — similar to waterboarding — to get Filipino insurgents to talk could not possibly have harmed them. Indeed, he said, civilians had willingly abandoned their homes and fields to seek US protection in concentration camps at the height of the war.

Taft claimed that torture was the only way to get Filipinos to cooperate. “There was never a war conducted, whether against inferior races or not, in which there was more compassion and more restraint and more generosity than the war against Filipinos,” he Said. Despite the fact that the number of Filipino deaths from artillery fire, famine, and ecological havoc would reach more than 250,000 by 1902, Barrows described the war as a “real blessing… for without it, Filipinos would never recognize their own weaknessess…”

(New York Review of Books)

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MESHUGANATION

by Fred Gardner

Charlie Kirk was assassinated by a young man madly in love with a member of the furry community.

"You Call it Madness, But I Call it Love"
On the radio in the Depression
Nailed the dichotomy right in between
The thought and its expression.
In the Annals of Romantic Gesture
You've got your Taj Mahal,
Your Trojan War, which showed how far
Men will go to score;
Your Abelard and Eloise
Defied the pope's decree,
Your vast Hearst Castle
Oversees the sea,
Your Hanging Gardens of Babylon...
Comes now, Tyler Robinson.

He thought for a while that he had gotten away with it. He had driven up to the Utah Valley University campus in Orem that morning from his home in St. George. At 12:23 pm he aimed a rifle and fired one fatal shot from the roof of a one-story building. Then he ran across the roof, jumped off it, and ran towards the northeast end of the campus. He stashed the weapon as he fled through a wooded area, intending to retrieve it when the coast was clear. Then he found a vantage point from which he texted his lover, Lance Twiggs. Their exchange:

Robinson: Drop what you are doing, look under my keyboard. I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I'm going to take it.
Twiggs: What?????????????? You're joking, right????
Robinson: I am still ok my love, but am stuck in Orem for a little while longer yet. Shouldn't be long until I can come home, but I gotta grab my rifle still. To be honest I had hoped to keep this secret till I died of old age. I am sorry to involve you.
Twiggs: You weren't the one who did it, right????
Robinson: I am, I'm sorry.
Twiggs: I thought they caught the person?
Robinson: No, they grabbed some crazy old dude, then interrogated someone in similar clothing. I had planned to grab my rifle from my drop point shortly after, but most of that side of town got locked down. It's quiet, almost enough to get out, but there's one vehicle lingering.
Twiggs: Why?
Robinson: Why did I do it?
Twiggs: Yeah.
Robinson: I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out. If I am able to grab my rifle unseen, I will have left no evidence. Going to attempt to retrieve it again, hopefully they have moved on. I haven't seen anything about them finding it.
Twiggs: How long have you been planning this?
Robinson: A bit over a week I believe. I can get close to it but there is a squad car parked right by it. I think they already swept that spot, but I don't wanna chance it.
Robinson:  I'm wishing I had circled back and grabbed it as soon as I got to my vehicle. I'm worried what my old man would do if I didn't bring back grandpa's rifle. I don't know if it had a serial number, but it wouldn't trace to me. I worry about prints. I had to leave it in a bush where I changed outfits. Didn't have the ability or time to bring it with.
Robinson: I might have to abandon it and hope they don't find prints. How the fuck will I explain losing it to my old man... Only thing I left was the rifle wrapped in a towel.
Robinson: Remember how I was engraving bullets? The fuckin messages are mostly a big meme. If I see "notices bulge uwu" on Fox News I might have a stroke.
Robinson: Alright I'm gonna have to leave it. That really fucking sucks.
Robinson: Judging from today I'd say grandpa's gun does just fine idk. I think that was a $2k scope ;-;
Robinson: Delete this exchange.
Robinson: My dad wants photos of the rifle... he says grandpa wants to know who has what, the feds released a photo of the rifle, and it is very unique. He's calling me, not answering.
Robinson: Since Trump got into office, [my dad] has been pretty diehard MAGA.
Robinson: I'm gonna turn myself in willingly. One of my neighbors here is a deputy for the sheriff.
Robinson: You are all I worry about love.
Twiggs: I'm much more worried about you.
Robinson: Don't talk to the media please. Don't take any interviews or make any comments. If any police ask you questions ask for a lawyer and stay silent.

Tyler Robinson made it back to St. George without grampas's rifle and without getting caught. Next day, Thursday, 9/11, the FBI found the murder weapon in a bush, wrapped in a towel. Also that day, Tyler took part in a group chat online with some fellow gamers. As reported by Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs in the New York Times,

"The F.B.I. had just released two grainy surveillance images of a skinny young man in a cap and sunglasses walking in a stairwell on the Utah Valley University campus, and had asked for the public’s help in identifying the suspect.

"Tagging Mr. Robinson’s username on Discord, a messaging platform, an acquaintance attached the images and wrote 'wya' — where you at? — with a skull emoji, suggesting that Mr. Robinson, 22, looked like the man being sought.

"Mr. Robinson replied within a minute. His 'doppelganger,' he wrote, was trying to 'get me in trouble.'

“'Tyler killed Charlie!!!!' another user wrote, apparently in jest.

"That was on Thursday afternoon, around 1 p.m. local time. It was not until later that night, nearly 34 hours after the shooting, that Mr. Robinson was arrested on suspicion of carrying out the assassination of Mr. Kirk, 31, a conservative pundit whose killing has inflamed the political world.

"The Discord messages were the clearest glimpse yet of the suspect’s demeanor in the hours after the killing. They were shared with The New York Times by someone who knew Mr. Robinson in high school and has kept up with him in the group chat — which includes about 20 people — but said he had not seen Mr. Robinson in person for several years. He spoke on the condition that his name not be used, fearing harassment for being an acquaintance of the suspect...

"After Mr. Robinson joked that the gunman was his look-alike, another user suggested that the group could turn Mr. Robinson in and get the $100,000 reward that the F.B.I. was offering.

“'Only if I get a cut,' Mr. Robinson responded.

"Someone posted, 'Whatever you do, don’t go to a mcdonalds anytime soon,' a reference to the arrest of Luigi Mangione, who was found at a McDonald’s restaurant and charged with the killing of a health insurance chief executive in Manhattan.

"Mr. Robinson agreed and offered a supposed joke of his own, writing 'better also get rid of this manifesto and exact copy rifle I have lying around.'

"When another user suggested that the killing of Mr. Kirk would lead President Trump to send the National Guard to Utah, the suspect replied, 'in a red state??? nah CLEARLY the shooter was from california.'

"The suspect sent messages that suggested he was closely following the news: 'I heard the ammo had somethin about trans stuff on it, but they aren’t releasing photos or exact quotes,” he wrote. He added: “and also the claim wasn’t backed by the official fbi, just some dude in the briefing room.'

"A few minutes later, he joked: 'I’m actually Charlie Kirk, wanted to get outtapolitics so I faked my death, now I can live out my dream life in kansas.

"Mr. Robinson’s messages on Discord appeared next to his avatar, which was from a Garfield comic and depicted the confused face of Garfield’s owner, Jon Arbuckle..."

After Tyler turned himself in that night, a member of the group chat texted,  “I truly cannot distinguish if this is for real.”

Lance Twiggs now resides at an undisclosed location.  In one of the texts love-crazed Tyler sent from the scene of the crime, he singled out one of the messages he engraved on the bullets: "If I see 'notices bulge uwu' on Fox News I might have a stroke."

According to the transgender cartoonist Sophie Labelle, "'Notices bulge owo what's this?" is a "hateful meme used to harass the furry community, a common target of the far-right."

I didn't know there was a furry community, but AI brought me up to speed: "The furry community consists of people who have an interest in anthropomorphic animals (animals with human characteristics). Members often create their own animal-like characters, called fursonas, to represent themselves, and they engage in various artistic activities like art, writing, and creating elaborate costumes called pursuits. The community provides a space for creative expression, friendship, and for people to explore different aspects of their identity, with many members identifying as LGBTQ+ for feeling a connection to non-human forms."

I had to look up "kigurumi." It means "wearable stuffed toy" in Japanese.

There are some ads on TV designed to appeal to the furry community!

According to the New York Post site, "The transgender boyfriend of Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson, bounced between homes during his later years of high school because he and his family clashed over their Mormon faith." A Reddit account gave Lance's version: “Was told I was possessed by a demon and then within 30 mins kicked outta the house because I started laughing and wouldn’t go to the bishop for a blessing."

Relations with his parents were not totally severed, and at some point Lance moved into a three-bedroom townhouse in an apartment complex they owned. Tyler Robinson, a fellow gamer and internet chatter, moved in and another roommate moved out. Relatives of Lance's told the Post that he was addicted to online gaming. One told Fox News, "He hates conservatives and Christians. He hated us. He was not raised that way, but over the years, has become really detached  and been radicalized."

Tyler Robinson's mother blames Lance Twiggs for the changes her son has gone through in the past year.

Erika Kirk, was at the White House today (Oct. 14) accepting  a posthumous Medal of Freedom awarded to her late husband by Donald Trump. She is the former Miss Arizona and he is the former owner of the Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA pageants.

It's remarkable how fast Tyler Robinson has disappeared from the news. Usually assassins have legs, media-wise for a minute. It looked like Tyler would too. Steve Bannon said on the War Room that the text messages between Tyler and his Lance were "too stilted, too much like a script to be authentic." Bannon suspected a connection to antifa (whoever they are).  He should have recognized grampa's rifle as proof of Tyler's textual authenticity

Although no one with Steve Bannon's heft is now questioning the Official Version of the Kirk Assassination, the great American tradition of not believing the O.V. is being carried on by a valiant few online. For example: "My wife and I watched the video of him jumping from the roof a dozen times. There is no rifle in his hands. He has his backpack or his long sleave shirt blowing in the breeze, but it is not a long gun. You can tell for sure that it is not. He is running full speed, so its not stuffed down his pants –not that you could stuff a 30.06 with a scope down your pants anyway, let alone run, and jump a roof. After the 10th time or so she turned to me and said 'He is the patsy.'  That is the only reasonable explanation."

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“I CAN’T SAY what made me fall in love with Vietnam - that a woman’s voice can drug you; that everything is so intense. The colors, the taste, even the rain. Nothing like the filthy rain in London. They say whatever you’re looking for, you will find here. They say you come to Vietnam and you understand a lot in a few minutes, but the rest has got to be lived. The smell: that’s the first thing that hits you, promising everything in exchange for your soul. And the heat. Your shirt is straightaway a rag. You can hardly remember your name, or what you came to escape from. But at night, there’s a breeze. The river is beautiful. You could be forgiven for thinking there was no war; that the gunshots were fireworks; that only pleasure matters. A pipe of opium, or the touch of a girl who might tell you she loves you. And then, something happens, as you knew it would. And nothing can ever be the same again.”

— Graham Greene, ‘The Quiet American’

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THE BOROWITZ REPORT:

Washington DC: Justifying his characterization of Chicago as a crime-ridden war zone, Donald J. Trump claimed on Monday that thousands of the city’s residents were seen “running for their lives” over the weekend. “They were running like dogs,” he said. “You’d run, too, if you were being chased by Antifa.” Trump said that thousands of people running in the streets was a common occurrence in “Democrat cities,” noting that what happened in Chicago over the weekend has also taken place in New York and Boston.

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LEAD STORIES, WEDNESDAY'S NYT

ICE Is Cracking Down on Chicago. Some Chicagoans Are Fighting Back

Trump Renews Threat to Cut ‘Democrat Programs’ During Shutdown

Trump Dangles $20 Billion Lifeline for Argentina, With Strings Attached

Trump Awards Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Lead Found in Popular Protein Powders and Shakes, Report Says

London Became a Global Hub for Phone Theft. Now We Know Why

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JEFFREY ST. CLAIR:

ICE raided a Walmart on E. 106th Street in Chicago this week. One of the agents chased down a young black man in the store for “running” during the raid and tackled him to the sidewalk outside the building, as a woman yelled, "He's a U.S. citizen! He's American! He's my brother-in-law!” While he knelt on the man's back, the ICE agent barked at people filming the brutal takedown: "Get the fuck away! Get the fuck away!!" The store was shut down for several hours. A customer told a reporter for a local TV station: ”This is crazy, he [the manager] said they're closed for some ICE stuff going on. I’m just trying to get some dishwasher liquid."