Mendocino County Today: Saturday 1/10/2026

Partly Sunny | Starlight | Davis Sentenced | Boonfire | County Notes | Ralph Arreguin | Disturbing Trend | Lloyd Kelsey | EV Stations | Karen Poplawski | Donkey King | Porter Dinehart | Yesterday's Catch | Yea MTG | Painful Minutes | Follow Up | Weapons | Soup Making | Enraged Bull | Marco Radio | No Bonds | Best Rest | Cold Sissy | Butterfly Story | PG&E Bill | Exhibition | Jesse James | Newsom Speech | Missouri History | Walmart | Lift Off | Obnoxious Behavior | Lead Stories | Police Control | Wits End | ICE Cold | False ID | Five Cases | Mississippi Murder

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STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A brisk 38F with partly cloudy skies this Saturday morning on the coast. Cool nights, a mix of cloud covers & dry skies lead our forecast until further notice. Some much needed good ole boring.

COOL conditions will steadily warm through mid next week. Conditions will remain unseasonably dry, clear, and calm through next week. (NWS)

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ANDERSON VALLEY MUSICIAN SENTENCED TO MORE THAN TWO YEARS IN PRISON FOR CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

by Sydney Fishman

An Anderson Valley musician was sentenced Wednesday to more than two years in prison after previously pleading guilty to child sexual abuse charges in Mendocino County Superior Court in Ukiah.

Ryan Clayton Davis, a 42-year-old Navarro resident, a longtime bandleader, guitarist and touring musician, pleaded guilty to two felony charges — oral copulation of a person under 18 years old, and contacting and communicating with a minor for the purpose of engaging in lewd and lascivious behavior.

Davis was charged in March of last year and pleaded guilty in late September.

On Wednesday, Davis was sentenced to two years and four months in prison. He was remanded into custody at Mendocino County Jail following the sentencing hearing.

The Mendocino Voice reached out to Davis’ attorney Robert Boyd, who declined to comment.

According to Mendocino County Deputy District Attorney Eloise Kelsey, who is the lead of the county’s coastal office, Davis will likely be transferred to Wasco State Prison or North Kern State Prison, which are the common reception centers for Mendocino County inmates.

Kelsey said there was exorbitant evidence in the case, including an account by the victim, referred to in court as Jane Doe. She said Jane Doe’s statement during the sentencing, as well as the family’s statement, was emotional.

“She realized that he was manipulating and he was abusing her … and the judge really felt it. I never thought that it was a close case,” Kelsey said in an interview. “It was done in a predatory, deliberate manner, he seduced her. That’s a big word to use for someone who is still a child, but from his perspective, this was a planned seduction of a child.”

Kelsey also said that Davis will be required to register for life as a sex offender. If Davis remains law abiding for a minimum of 10 years, he can petition the court for relief from those requirements.

According to a family member of the victim who was present Wednesday, and who wished to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the case, the courtroom was packed with community members wanting to witness the sentencing. She said Davis had about 15 to 20 supporters there.

“He was taken in after a brief statement asking for leniency. It was a long, harrowing day,” the family member added in an interview.

The family member said that the sentencing provides them with a small sense of resolution after an arduous experience in the judicial process. This family member submitted a victim impact statement to The Mendocino Voice.

“The sentencing of Ryan Clayton Davis brings a sense of accountability, but it does not erase the trauma the victim endured. We are relieved that the legal process has concluded and that the system responded appropriately,” the statement reads. “We are grateful to the advocates, investigators, and legal professionals who treated this case with seriousness and care. Most importantly, we hope this outcome encourages other survivors and families to speak up and seek help especially at a time when cases like this are at an all-time high.”

(MendoVoice.com)

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COUNTY NOTES

by Mark Scaramella

For the first time since the CEO started generating a “Year-To-Date Budget Report-General Fund” a few months ago, the report is listed as a Board agenda topic. Previously it has been buried several layers deep in the CEO Report that few look at (including the Supervisors) because the CEO report is otherwise full of info-free departmental propaganda and boilerplate. But the Year-To-Date Budget Report is a step forward in financial reporting, despite the fact that it is full of accounting jargon and bureaucratese and is unannotated leaving major budget variances unexplained.

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Also on next Tuesday’s agenda is a presentation from Mendo’s obscure “Risk Management” department. Risk Management is a “department” because insurance companies require that insured organizations have risk reduction plans in place to (theoretically) reduce incidents that result in claims, thereby (theoretically) reducing insurance payouts and (theoretically) reducing insurance rates.

Although the presentation offers no case status or claim rundown, it says that Mendo’s insurance rates are increasing because “losses” are increasing across the state — “losses” being payouts by insurance companies when government or companies settle claims or when they lose in court. Those receiving the payouts probably do not refer to them as “losses.”

“What’s driving losses?,” (i.e. why are rates so high?) asks a boilerplate topic provided by a generic insurance consultant.

Answer:

• Frequency and severity of nuclear verdicts. [Although not explained in the presentation, “Nuclear verdicts” are what the insurance industry calls “exceptionally high jury awards” in excess of $10 million. These are usually the result of juries finding that the defendant organization has committed some kind of gross injustice.)
• AB218 [the recent State law that expands the definition of childhood sexual abuse and extends the statute of limitations].
• Inflation – medical, litigation financing [i.e., increased outside attorney fees/costs], social [? — “social inflation”?]
• Decreased # of Insurers willing to participate in California’s liability market [i.e., the insurance monopoly].
• Increased Severity of Workers Compensation Losses. [In this case, “losses” means “injuries to workers, not insurance losses mentioned above.]
• Increasing Cyber Threats [No explanation how cyber threats translate to insurance payouts.]
• Increases in Jail claims from AB 109 and State Prison closures [which shifted large groups of inmates who have committed serious felonies back to county facilities].
• Increased natural disasters and catastrophic losses

This generic state-level list provides no breakdown of these “risk” increases and losses as they apply to Mendocino County, making the presentation nearly useless in terms of the County taking steps to reduce its “risk.” All Mendo can do is sit back and pay up.

As a partial, but undefined, offset to “losses,” Mendo has experienced a measurable decrease in workers comp claims over the past five years and workers comp premiums have come down somewhat.

“What Can We Do?” asks the Risk Manager:

• Encourage Teams meetings to reduce exposures from travel related accidents or injuries. [Teams meetings? Is Mendo really experiencing “travel-realted accidents and injuries”? Why?]
• Make sure policies and procedures are up to date and compliant with the law. [They might not be?]
• Departments should work with the Executive Office, County Counsel and Human Resources on potential liability issues. [They’re not already?]
• Work with nearby Counties and public entities to make sure we are handling sensitive matters consistently. [How consistent handling of “sensitive matters” translates into lower risk and/or insurance cost savings is not explained.)
• Maintain our legislative platform and speak with our legislators on the ramifications of new laws. (A pointless and quixotic suggestion, to say the least. Sheriff Kendall has repeatedly pointed out that Sacto doesn’t listen to Mendo, or other rural counties.)

There’s no correlation whatsoever between any of these obvious suggestions and reduced insurance costs.

The Risk Manager makes no mention of avoiding liability by not abruptly suspending elected officials without pay on flimsy charges based on inapplicable law.

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The recent $800,000 State Audit is listed as a topic on the workshop agenda, but no breakdown of topics to be addressed is provided.

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Buried in the Transpo Department workshop presentation is a cryptic summary of a “Potential Local Sales Tax for Roads”:

“County may pursue sales tax in unincorporated area only – No overlap with incorporated areas.

1 cent sales tax could provide approximately $6 million annually IF dedicated for Roads, thus receiving State “Self-Help County” share ($5.5 million without “Self- Help County” share)…”

We don’t know where they got the $6 million annually tax revenue estimate. We seriously doubt that a 1 cent sales tax increment that applies only to the unincorporated area of the County will generate anywhere near that much money.

“New $5.5 million budget could provide about 20 miles per year – ability to treat all 317 miles not in the RMRA [Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation] 20-Year Plan in 18 years:

• 5 to 9 miles paving per year – sharp curves - steep grade
• 9 to 13 miles, In place recycle w/ chip seal (double layer)
• 43-67 miles chip seal (double layer)
• $1⁄2 million to restore maintenance crew staff by 7 to 9 positions.

The Transpo presentation goes on to note that a road tax proposal may compete with other sales tax proposals under consideration and would face an uphill climb for approval given the public’s low opinion of the Board of Supervisors. The author of the presentation adds that the voter approval percentage that a sales tax measure requires depends on whether it is proposed as a “general tax,” meaning the revenues go into the general fund and are distributed by the County as discretionary outlays, or a “special tax,” where the money is legally restricted to be spent only on designated road projects.

The road tax presentation is preliminary and riddled with unanswered questions and unexplained options, particularly the potential revenue levels. If the Supervisors, already prone to inarticulate, ill-prepared, vague and aimless discussions, are able to translate this into any kind of specific, supportable road tax proposal, it would be a near-miracle.

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RALPH NIETO ARREGUIN

Raul “Ralph” Nieto Arreguin passed away in Willits California on January 2nd, 2026. He succumbed to a three year illness.

Ralph was surrounded by the love of those who knew him best and left behind a legacy rooted in service, resilience and community.

He is survived by his four children: Andres Arreguin, Marcos Arreguin, Adrian Arreguin, and Marie Arreguin. Son of Joel and Luisa Arreguin of Redwood Valley, CA Brother to: Yolanda Lopez, Mike Arreguin, Art Arreguin, Margie Lopez, and Connie Waggle. Also leaving behind numerous uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews and many friends who became family along the way.

Ralph was born in Fortuna, California and raised in Mendocino County where his roots ran deep. Graduated from Ukiah High School and attended Sacramento State before returning back to his home of Redwood Valley; a place he carried in his heart and chose to build his life.

He was a man of many trades including butcher, welder, grape grower and vineyard owner. Ralph was a butcher at the Redwood Valley store for over 40 years where he made endless connections in the community. He enjoyed spending time in the vineyard with his children and attending close celebration gatherings with family. His enjoyment also included camping at the coast, abalone diving, trips to Reno, and watching his beloved 49ers go to the super bowl “Go Niners!” Ralph, Dad, Son, Brother, and Uncle. His life was one of hard work, loyalty, and love for his family and community. Ralph’s memory will live on in the lives he touched, the stories shared, and the example he set of what it means to care for others.

He will be deeply missed and forever remembered.

“Vivi mi vida a mi gusto” (I lived my life the way I wanted)

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YEAH, AND WHY IS DAVE GURNEY BANNED?

To the List Serve Moderators and Community Members,

I am writing to express my serious concern regarding a disturbing trend I have observed on this platform recently. As a member of this community, it has become increasingly apparent that there is a distinct double standard regarding what content is permitted here and what is systematically silenced.

It is obvious to any objective observer that voices aligned with left-leaning ideologies are being excessively scrutinized or removed entirely. Specifically, I have noted that contributions from Michael Hilburn appear to be targeted for censorship. Regardless of one’s personal stance, silencing a community member for expressing their views while allowing others to violate civil standards is unacceptable.

The bias becomes undeniable when looking at the content that is allowed to remain. I frequently see posts from individuals such as John Johnson and Thomas Tetzlaff that contain what can only be described as misinformation and hostile rhetoric. It is baffling that their posts, which often border on spreading hate and demonstrable falsehoods, are allowed to run rampant without intervention from the moderators.

Why is "ignorance" and hostility protected, while differing political perspectives are suppressed?

This is a call to the moderators to explain this disparity. It is also a call to the community: Are we comfortable with a public forum that curates a specific narrative by silencing dissenters while giving a pass to those spreading hate?

We should demand a fair playing field where rules apply to everyone, not just those the moderators disagree with.

Sincerely,

Theodore Romanski

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LLOYD KELSEY (1942-2025)

Lloyd Kelsey, “Mike” to his friends and family, passed away at home on December 11th, 2025.

He is deeply missed by his sons, Tim and Chris, and his wonderful granddaughters, Heaven and Piper, with a new granddaughter arriving soon.

Mike was born in a concentration camp in the Philippines to his mother, Iris, and his father Lloyd Henry Kelsey, who was killed after surviving the Bataan Death March.

Despite difficult beginnings, he built an extraordinary life of service and accomplishment, becoming a U.S. Army veteran, a real estate agent, and an accomplished defense attorney certified to argue before the Supreme Court of the United States.

His memorial will be at Saint Francis in the Redwoods Episcopal Church on Thursday, January 15th at 10 AM.

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MENDO GOES INTO THE ELECTRICITY SELLING BUSINESS

Exciting News for EV Drivers in Mendocino County!

The County of Mendocino is pleased to announce the installation of 24 new Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (including 2 ADA-accessible) located at two convenient locations in Ukiah:

• 501 Low Gap Road: Mendocino County Administration Center
• 727 South State Street: Yokayo Social Service Center

This project is made possible through a partnership with the California Energy Commission under Grant ARV-22-003, bringing essential EV infrastructure to our rural community.

Electric vehicle charging stalls are expected to be online and available to the public on February 14, 2026.

About the new charging stations:

• Competitive Charging Rates
• 24-hour availability
• Public and openly visible locations
• Close to restaurants, shopping, schools, and local businesses

All 24 charging stalls will feature:

• 8” touch display
• Contactless payment options (Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, credit/debit)
• Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity
• Seamless interface with the ChargePoint mobile app

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KAREN EMILIE POPLAWSKI

Beloved wife, mother, and grandmother Karen Emilie Poplawski passed away on December 30, 2025 surrounded by family after a brief battle with cancer.

She was born July 19, 1949 in Chicago to Erich and Frieda Gatzke. She moved with her family at a young age to San Gabriel, California where she attended high school. Karen had a curious mind and many interests; she took numerous courses at USC and Cal State. She married the love of her life Terry Poplawski of West Bend, WI on April 4, 1970 at Ellis Island, a commune in Los Angeles that she helped found. When their son Orion was six years old, Karen and Terry moved to Ukiah, where they have resided since September 1977. She was involved in the establishment of Project Sanctuary, a battered women's shelter and did child care for them for about a year. She started as a rural relief letter carrier at the US Post Office and worked there for a few years before handing it off to Terry, who went on to a 30 year career with the U.S.P.S. After taking classes in computer programming, Karen worked for 12 years as a computer analyst for Mervine & Palleson. She then began to pursue her interest in Feldenkrais movement. She became a certified Feldenkrais practitioner and loved working with adults and children to help them move easily and without pain. Karen offered Feldenkrais classes through the City of Ukiah’s park and recreation program right up until her last month of life.

Terry has always thought of and referred to Karen affectionately as “ Karen super!” They enjoyed a strong and loving marriage. She was a loving mother to her son Orion, creating a nurturing home with lots of opportunities to explore and learn. Friends were always welcome at her house. She started dinner clubs with friends that lasted for many years; these gave her lots of pleasure. Karen thrived on connections, and maintained many life long friendships from all periods of her life.

Karen loved to play and had many hobbies. She loved being outdoors. She was an avid gardener, growing much of her own food. In summer, you would find her out on Lake Mendocino rowing or sailing with Terry. They also explored many places together, enjoying kayaking, hiking, and biking. She had a passion for music and theater, and enjoyed many concerts and performances. She was a house manager for the Ukiah Players for many years and held many cast parties in her home. She loved to regularly visit her grandchildren Alex and Éowyn, spending many happy hours playing board games, creating art, taking walks, and camping. She loved watching them grow and explore their own interests. She especially enjoyed listening to them play music. She will always be remembered for her kindness and generosity, and the care she showed others.

Karen is survived by her husband of 55 years, Terry Poplawski, her son Orion Poplawski (Kim), and her grandchildren Alex Poplawski and Éowyn Poplawski of Boulder, Colorado, as well as sisters Marge Furman, Susan Ruth (Bill) and brothers Allan Gatzke (Kathleen) and Bruce Gatzke (Janice). A memorial service will be held at a future date. Donations in her honor can be made to https://projectsanctuary.org

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MENDOCINO COUNTY DONKEY RESCUE IS THE STAR OF A NEW REALITY TV SERIES

by Charles Swanson

A former magazine executive who became the head of a Mendocino County donkey sanctuary is returning to the world of media as the star of a new reality television program, “Donkey King,” which premiered nationwide earlier this month.

Ron King, who co-founded the 75-acre Oscar’s Place ranch in Hopland in 2021 with Phil Selway, now leads a team of more than 20 full-time employees who care for donkeys surrendered by owners or rescued from auctions where they would otherwise be sold for their hides.

To date, the nonprofit has rescued more than 400 donkeys, placing them with vetted adopters or providing lifelong sanctuary on the ranch and an additional property recently acquired in Potter Valley.

King came up with the idea for the 17-episode series, airing Saturday mornings on ABC, after the nonprofit was featured in a CBS TV segment in 2023.

King, who was let go from an executive position at Time Inc. in 2017 amid the media company’s restructuring, first learned about the animals’ plight in a 2019 article on the British news site The Guardian, which reported that donkey populations were being “decimated” by demand for their hides to produce a gelatin-based traditional Chinese medicine. He said a combination of that article and a TikTok video by a Bakersfield woman who rescues donkeys inspired him to act, according to a 2021 Press Democrat article.

In a phone call Tuesday, King said it was the 2021 article in The Press Democrat that first generated widespread interest in his operation.

After that story, other outlets, including The Washington Post and Oprah Daily, published pieces about Oscar’s Place. The ranch received another boost in 2023 when a segment aired on “CBS Mornings.”

The coverage prompted a flood of donations, showing King the power of television to raise awareness and funds for his work.

“In the world of animal welfare, there are thousands of charities that are all targeting the same people for donations – they’re out there finding donors,” King said. “We decided to switch our approach to let donors find us.”

In addition to raising awareness and funds for Oscar’s Place, King said the goal of “Donkey King” is to change the narrative around donkeys.

“For whatever reason, people don’t hold donkeys in high regard; they think they’re stubborn and stupid,” he said.

But, according to King, donkeys are more like dogs.

“They’re emotional and they’re amazing,” he said.

King said that while seeking a production company for a reality TV series, most people wanted “The Real Housewives of Mendocino County.”

“That’s not who we are,” he said.

Finally, he teamed with Salt Lake City-based Monument Productions, which King said “captured the heart” of the nonprofit’s work.

Shot over the past three years, “Donkey King” premiered Jan. 3 on ABC stations across the country. The weekly series is part of the station’s Weekend Adventure programming block. Each week’s episode will also be available to watch for free at donkeyking.com after the broadcast.

Each episode follows a different rescue donkey.

In the debut episode, Oscar’s Place takes in a beloved mini donkey named Hoorah from a woman who can no longer care for him. During the episode, Hoorah transforms from a stressed outsider to a welcomed member of the donkey family with the help from the dedicated ranch staff.

King said the staff was largely excited to have camera crews following them for weeks at a time during filming.

“It’s an ongoing joke with the staff,” he said. “The first time I sat them down and told them they needed to sign a talent release (a form allowing the series to use their image), they were like, ‘I never thought when I answered a Craigslist ad to scoop poop at a donkey ranch that I’d need a talent release.’”

While King acknowledges that running an animal welfare nonprofit is not always easy, he said the series will showcase the group’s success stories and share his hopeful, positive attitude toward helping animals.

“I want to be the Ted Lasso of reality television, I want people to feel good,” he said, referencing the Apple TV series about an American football coach recruited to lead a down-and-out British soccer team and known for its warm-hearted characters. “The idea is that you can exhale, sit back, and we’re going to give you 30 minutes of joy.”

(Santa Rosa Press Democrat)

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PORTER DUMAR DINEHART

Age 67, of Ukiah, California, passed away peacefully on December 31, 2025. Born in Mill Valley, California, Porter was the beloved daughter of Robert and Polly Dinehart, who preceded her in death.

Porter lived a life defined by advocacy, compassion, and fearless individuality. In her younger years, she earned recognition as the California female yo-yo champion, a reflection of her discipline, creativity, and determination—qualities that would continue to define her life’s work.

Professionally, Porter devoted herself to justice and service. She was a passionate legal advocate for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, standing alongside survivors with unwavering commitment and empathy. Her work gave voice, protection, and hope to countless individuals, and her impact will be felt far beyond her years.

Porter was deeply dedicated to her friends, her community, and the animals she loved so dearly. Known for her loyalty, strength, and fierce sense of fairness, she formed lasting bonds and offered steadfast support to those fortunate enough to know her.

She is survived by her brother, Mike Dinehart and his wife Robin; her son, Jesse Ramirez, His wife Julie and grandchildren Joshua and Tyler; her niece and nephew, Livia and Ryan Dinehart. Porter’s legacy of courage, compassion, and advocacy will live on through her family, her community, and all those whose lives she touched.

She will be profoundly missed and lovingly remembered.

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CATCH OF THE DAY, Friday, January 9, 2026

GABRIELA AHUMADA-ORNELAS, 44, Fort Bragg. Disobeying court order, suspended license, failure to appear.

EDUARDO ALVAREZ, 30, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

JAMES CLAUSEN, 55, Ukiah. Domestic violence court order violation, probation revocation.

JUAN GARCIA-RAMIREZ, 24, Ukiah. DUI, suspended license for DUI, probation violation.

TASHA ORNELAS, 39, Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-under influence, controlled substance, paraphernalia.

KAMARA PAGE, 37, Ukiah. Failure to appear.

CHRISTOPHER POLK, 21, DUI.

STEFANI SMITH, 33, Fort Bragg. False ID, failure to appear, probation revocation.

MATTHEW WILSEY, 36, Clearlake/Ukiah. Failure to appear.

JOSEPH ZYGADLO, 53, Woodland/Ukiah. Evasion.

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FRED GARDNER:

Right on, Marilyn (re Marjorie Taylor Greene).

Great moments on TV: Leslie Stahl’s self-righteous surprise when MTG called her a bully. Stahl had noted that MTG went on “The View” and expressed regret about toxic things she’d said and done. Leslie asked Marjorie to apologize again for 60 Minutes viewers. Majorie said, “You’re bullying me now.”

People are attributing her resignation from Congress to all kinds of motives. I take her at her word –she’s a mother whose children’s lives have been threatened by people she reckons to be armed and dangerous.

When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And wonder if my lib-lab stock would rise
If I apologized so very late
And reappeared as one more moderate
Who never deigned to dis the classy left
Or said their leaders’ souls were counterfeit,
And their minds of hip ideas bereft.
When in these thoughts severely self-critical
Lately I think of Marjorie Taylor Green
And then my heartbeat becomes political
Suggesting I should revisit the scene
Her honky-tonk perspective such hope brings
I don’t regret I ever said those things

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FOLLOW UP LETTER

Editor, 

A quick note on Netflix sanctioned Pay-To-Play: I wouldn’t blame the instructors, who are coerced by the recording studio to keep getting work. And I wouldn’t blame the recording studio, who are coerced by Netflix execs to keep getting work. 

I would also suggest artists and their reps start demanding perpetual residuals based on streaming metrics and subscriber revenue. YouTube and Spotify do something like it, so why can’t Netflix? Imagine what Ted’s lunch probably cost today. And if they act like it’s impossible, don’t worry: I can show them exactly how it would work, with detailed examples. 

Not to let music industry execs off the hook: if anyone wonders why talent unions are important, go to YouTube and take a look at “Nebraska musician Matthew Sweet recovers from stroke at Madonna” posted by the hard working and sweet people at Madonna Rehab. When a major artist and saint like Mr. Sweet has to rely on the kindness of strangers for medical care, maybe the Goblin Kings aren’t sharing enough. Imagine the fate of artists in similar situations who are less known and loved. 

Netflix exec Goblin Kings, maybe you will find some peace with your stranglehold removed from WB, DC, movie theaters, comic book stores, and a big piece of humanity’s joy. 

And to future corporate vampires who get similar ideas— I’ll paraphrase another life, via Grant Morrison. 

Movie Theaters and Comic Book Stores (check out Wade’s Comic Madness, they do fun online auctions) and the dreams they help humanity access, and the artists and audiences who love them, have natural defenses none of you could have imagined. Those defenses can take many forms and are always just a Rubik’s Cube click away. 

What was Superman’s wish on the miracle machine? He only wished for the best for all of us. 

Wednesday Tinasky, Fort Bragg

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ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

The wood bat is superior to the aluminum one for self-protection.

Even better if you drill out the end of the bat and insert around six ounces or so of lead at the tip for swing weight.

If you are going to buy one gun, make it a shotgun.

My preference is a Remington 870 Magnum Express six in the pipe one in the chamber, and do some combat training, fire load type training, so it never runs empty.

Get really good at this, it could save your life.

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TRUMP

Like an enraged bull
On which the whole country rides
Dumbstruck and stupid

— Jim Luther

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MEMO OF THE AIR: Good Night Radio all Friday night on KNYO and KAKX.

Soft deadline to email your writing for tonight's (Friday night's) MOTA show is six or eight. If that's too soon, send it any time after that and I'll read it next Friday.

Memo of the Air: Good Night Radio is every Friday, 9pm to 5am PST on 107.7fm KNYO-LP Fort Bragg and KNYO.org. The first three hours of the show, meaning till midnight, are simulcast on KAKX 89.3fm Mendocino.

Plus you can always go to https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com and hear last week's MOTA show. By Saturday night I'll put up the recording of tonight's show. You'll find plenty of other educational amusements there to educate and amuse yourself with until showtime, or any time, such as:

Transitioning seamlessly from Old English to current New Jersey English. https://laughingsquid.com/old-english-modern-american-english-monologue/

A common exam for eighth graders in November of 1912. https://nagonthelake.blogspot.com/2026/01/1912-eighth-grade-exam.html

And the disturbing true origin of Peter Pan. https://misscellania.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-curse-of-peter-pan.html

Marco McClean, [email protected], https://MemoOfTheAir.wordpress.com

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KEEP BONDS OUT OF HALL

Editor,

Regarding the recent column, “Baseball has always had a doping problem. So why is Barry Bonds still not in the Hall?”: It’s certainly true that Barry Bonds was only part of baseball’s doping scandal. But he and the others can’t claim the honest pride of achievement others have.

I support reserving the Baseball Hall of Fame for athletes who play fair.

Carol Denney

Berkeley

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MITCH CLOGG:

The hooch that doubtless anti-froze Johnnie Stevens in a Chicago alley in 1951, is unsurpassed for making you feel warmer than you are. For instance:

The Master Mariners' Regatta is a sailboat race in San Francisco Bay. If I want to see young, tan ladies in bikinis, I don't go to San Francisco Bay. The young tan bikini ladies of San Francisco Bay are all escapees from San Francisco General's mental ward. No sane person hangs around SF Bay in a skimpy outfit.

Crewing on Betty Mann's "Grisette" for that race, I ducked when I heard what sounded like God crushing a grand piano in his fist. It was Grisette's mast. It broke about nine feet up and fell outboard, held and tangled in rigging. It was the mighty thrum of all those cables and the crunch of that long, tall mast that caused me to hit the deck. Nobody was hurt.

Yachtsmen, gentlemanly gentlemen all, are barbarians when racing. Sailboat races are decided by fractions of seconds. Whatever gets in your way will hear how loud you can holler. Betty and crew were stunned and dead in the water. Grisette was an Englishman's toy for sailing the North Sea, built in 1904--built to go fast. Now we wallowed stupidly in the midst of a fleet of classic sailboats, determined to clock winning times, everybody in our crew too shocked to know what to do, with our motive power dangling, dragging and sagging off the deck into the water, and the other racers cursing and yelling at us as they changed course almost imperceptibly to get by.

Betty's adolescent daughter, Valerie, was close at hand. I said, "Val, go below, open any liquor that's down there and fill a tray up with healthy shots. Don't ask--just hand 'em out."

I didn't know what to do, either, but that turned out to be a useful move. People gulped down their whiskey, vodka, schnapps and rum and turned to business. Among us were genuine master mariners.

Somebody got the engine going, and a bunch of people heaved the broken mast into a manageable posture, lashed against the hull, and we headed lamely into the Berkeley Marina, where Grisette lived.

It was a lousy way to not-finish a race, but Grisette was still afloat, nobody was hurt, we were secured to the dock, and there was nothing more to do than whatever. I jumped overboard. Two or three shots of liquor went in with me, and the water felt fine. I shouted to the others, the ancient, deadly, laughing invitation: "Come On In--The Water's Fine!" Other idiots joined me.

I'm a sissy about the cold, but not always.

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IN DECEMBER 1997, Julia "Butterfly" Hill climbed a 1,000-year-old California redwood tree as part of efforts to keep it from being knocked down by loggers. Initially, she only intended to stay there for a couple of weeks. But instead, Hill didn't touch the ground for 738 days, far surpassing the previous record for the longest tree sit of 90 days. During her protest, she lived on platforms 180 feet above the ground, surviving off of food and water brought up by other environmental activists and enduring the freezing rain and winds of a particularly brutal El Niño season. Hill also faced near-constant harassment and threats from employees of Pacific Lumber Co., the logging company trying to cut the tree down. But despite the many setbacks she faced, her protest was ultimately successful and she was able to save the tree.

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A BIG CHANGE IS COMING TO YOUR PG&E BILL

by Madilynne Medina

Beginning with your March statement, your PG&E bill will look a little different.

That’s when a previously bundled charge, which covered electricity fees and maintenance, will be separated and labeled as a “base service charge.” Although it’s not a new fee, PG&E said the fixed, monthly charge could still change some customers’ bills depending on how much electricity they use.

The change, which follows a 5% rate cut that went into effect Jan. 1, comes on the heels of rising tensions between the utility, its customers and Bay Area leaders. Multiple blackouts just before Christmas and New Year’s Day left tens of thousands of San Francisco residents without electricity for several days, drawing widespread attention and even prompting some government officials to call for a shift away from PG&E infrastructure.

As those frustrations loom, customers will likely wonder what exactly the new charge is and how it’s applied. Here’s what you need to know.

What exactly is the new base charge?

The base charge will cover infrastructure and maintenance costs, such as connecting people to the grid, customer service and energy programs, PG&E said. Currently, those costs are included in your electricity usage charges. But starting in March, the base charge will be separated from the usage charges on your bill.

Most customers’ base charge will be around $24 per month, and the base charge for those who participate in lower-income programs will be between $6 and $12. The utility said that the base is calculated per day, and it could change slightly depending on how many days are in each month.

PG&E said adding the base charge and separating the energy pricing will not increase the utility’s revenue.

Will this result in cheaper bills?

PG&E said the new billing structure could lower costs for some customers, but not for everyone.

For customers that use a lot of electricity, their bill could be lower because the price per kWh is cheaper following the January rate cut (a spokesperson for PG&E told SFGATE the price per kWh is decreasing by about 5 cents per customer, excluding those on income assistance plans). Customers who use little electricity, however, could pay more because they are required to pay the fixed base pay regardless of how much electricity they use.

A graphic from PG&E shows several estimates of how the base services charge could affect people’s bills.

For someone who uses 200 kWh of electricity, which is considered low usage, a current bill amounts to approximately $75. That total comes from $29 in generation fees (what it costs to create the electricity to power homes and businesses) and $46 in delivery fees (the actual electricity usage cost).

But starting in March, they would be paying a total of $91 for that same bill, which consists of $29 in generation, $38 in delivery and the $24 base charge. And that’s where the now-separated base charge hit hardest: Though the customer is paying less to get electricity, the savings aren’t enough to offset the base charge once it’s separated out.

But for someone who uses a large amount of electricity, 700 kWh, the overall bill will go down. For example, a high-use customer’s bill could total $304, which is $102 in generation costs and $202 in delivery. Their new bill would be cheaper, totaling $296, with $102 in generation costs, $170 in delivery charges and the $24 base charge.

The average customer typically uses 500 kWh and does not receive low-income discounts, the PG&E spokesperson said. By late February, the utility will have a better idea about how the base charge will affect customers’ bills.

Why is PG&E doing this?

PG&E said the new base charge is required under Assembly Bill 205, a law passed by the California Legislature in 2022.

According to the bill text, the law requires utilities to set a fixed charge on electricity bills, with the amount depending on income. PG&E said other utilities in the state have already separated their charges in a similar way and the separation makes bills more “transparent.”

What else is going on with PG&E?

PG&E has been facing massive backlash in recent weeks after a series of unplanned outages left hundreds of thousands of Bay Area customers without power.

The biggest outage was on Dec. 20, when a fire at the utility’s substation on Eighth and Mission streets in San Francisco left 130,000 people across a large section of the city without power. Some areas didn’t regain power until several days later.

One San Francisco neighborhood, the Richmond District, had two more outages on Dec. 27 and on Dec. 30. Another fire in the South Bay at the utility’s Saratoga station also caused an outage for thousands on Christmas Eve.

Local leaders have been speaking out amid the outages, including San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie. In a Dec. 22 press conference in light of the city’s blackouts, he called PG&E’s outages “obviously unacceptable.”

“I’m frustrated and we need them to do better,” he said.

The outages happened during a major holiday weekend, shutting down power at restaurants, bars and other events throughout the city, which Lurie said likely cost the city millions of dollars.

Similarly, state Sen. Scott Wiener condemned the blackouts and is pushing for legislation.

In an Instagram video, Wiener said he introduced a “placeholder” bill this week to start the process of creating legislation that would make it easier for San Francisco residents to separate from PG&E and establish their own public utilities. He also referenced the “horrible blackouts” as a catalyst for the bill.

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JESSE JAMES

Jesse James was a man
And he killed many men
He robbed the Glendale train
And he took from the richer
And he gave that to the poorer
He'd a hand and a heart and a brain

Oh Jesse had a wife to mourn for his life
Three children they were so brave
But that dirty little coward
That shot Mr. Howard
Has laid Jesse James in his grave

On Wednesday night
When the moon was shining bright
They robbed that Glendale train
And the folks from miles about (yeah they can)
They all said without a doubt
It was done by her Frankie and Jesse James (yes it was)

Oh Jessie had a wife, to mourn for his life
Three children they were so brave
But that dirty little coward
That shot Mr. Howard
Has laid (poor) Jesse James in his grave

Well the people held their breath
When they heard about Jesse's death (yeah)
And they wondered how poor Jesse came to die (how did he die?)
It was one of his guys, called Little Robert Ford
And he shot Jessie James on the sly

Oh Jessie had a wife to mourn for his life
Three children they were so brave
But that dirty little coward
That shot Mr. Howard
Has laid Jesse James in his grave
Has laid poor Jesse in his grave
He laid Jesse James in his grave

(American folksong, composer unknown)

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NEWSOM’S CONTRADICTORY STATE OF THE STATE SPEECH DOESN’T BODE WELL FOR PRESIDENTIAL RUN

by Emily Hoeven

One of the strangest, most dissonant lines in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s final State of the State speech on Thursday came near the end.

“To those with California Derangement Syndrome, I’ll repeat — it’s time to update your talking points,” Newsom said in an address to state lawmakers at the Capitol in Sacramento. “California remains the most blessed and often the most cursed place on Earth.”

After all, how can a place with so much natural beauty also be the site of so many horrific natural disasters, such as the Palisades and Eaton wildfires that devastated Los Angeles County a year ago?

What Newsom didn’t seem to recognize was that California’s contradictions are often what rankle the state’s critics. How, they ask, can a place with so many natural advantages also be the epicenter of our nation’s homelessness, mental illness and drug crises? How can the world’s fourth-largest economy also be the state with the nation’s highest poverty rate when the cost of living is taken into account? How are we reaping the financial benefits of the world’s biggest artificial intelligence companies and simultaneously facing estimated annual budget deficits of $35 billion starting in fiscal year 2027-28?

For many critics, the answer to these questions is mismanagement by Newsom and the state’s supermajority-Democratic Legislature.

If Newsom intended his last State of the State to be a corrective to this perspective — to cement his legacy as governor and to serve as an opening salvo in his likely 2028 presidential campaign — he did not succeed.

Why? Because his speech was rife with its own contradictions. It also underscored warring impulses within Newsom that will become increasingly difficult to explain in the polarized, high-pressure environment of a presidential campaign.

Perhaps the most glaring inconsistency came during Newsom’s comments on wealth inequality.

“Plutarch was right when he warned us 2,000 years ago that this imbalance of the rich and the poor ‘is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics,’” he proclaimed, slamming President Donald Trump’s administration for increasing the tax burden on the middle class “to benefit the top 10% of this country, people who already own two-thirds of the household wealth.”

By contrast, Newsom declared, “In California, we proudly built one of the most progressive tax systems in the nation.”

Left unsaid was the fact that Newsom has repeatedly opposed what many Democrats view as efforts to make California’s tax system more progressive.

In 2022, he aggressively campaigned against Proposition 30, which would have raised the income-tax rate on earnings above $2 million to help pay for electric-vehicle rebates and charging stations. He also opposes a potential 2026 ballot measure that would require California billionaires to pay a one-time tax of 5% on their net worth; some of his allies have formed a committee dubbed “Stop the Squeeze” to campaign against it. The measure, proposed by a powerful labor union, the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, would raise an estimated $100 billion to patch federal health care cuts.

This has galvanized other potential presidential candidates to attack Newsom from the left. Rep. Ro Khanna, a Silicon Valley Democrat, is backing the initiative — prompting some infuriated tech investors to consider mounting a primary challenge against him.

Newsom has countered that “state-level wealth taxes” aren’t effective because they merely encourage rich residents to move elsewhere. Indeed, some billionaires, including Larry Ellison, Larry Page, Peter Thiel and David Sacks, have already taken steps to move their homes and businesses out of California.

Nevertheless, it won’t be easy on the national stage for Newsom to reconcile his Plutarch citations with his history of blocking efforts to increase taxes on wealthy Californians.

And how will he effectively respond to claims — made not only by Trump but also by Democrats such as Khanna — that California’s spending is rife with fraud and abuse?

Trump’s recent decision to freeze billions of federal dollars for child-care programs in five Democratic-run states, including California, was obviously motivated largely by his desire to punish his political enemies. He’s promised a new investigation into California social programs, seizing on the fallout from a vast child-care fraud scheme involving Somali immigrants in Minnesota that bilked taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of dollars and prompted Gov. Tim Walz to drop his reelection bid.

In his speech, Newsom rightly slammed Trump for “putting at risk the most significant expansion of child care in America” by freezing California’s funds.

But he didn’t acknowledge that California is to blame for financial risks, too. A recent state auditor report found that the California Department of Social Services’ high error rate for calculating food benefits for low-income families could end up costing the state $2 billion annually under stricter new federal criteria. Another independent audit released in December found that California “did not materially comply” with certain requirements for various federal programs, including the child care funds Trump is targeting.

Nor did Newsom effectively assuage Californians’ concerns that their hard-earned money is being well spent.

Newsom touted that the budget blueprint his administration is set to unveil Friday will propose spending a “record-breaking” $27,418 per student. California’s investment in education, he proclaimed, is paying off with “improved academic achievement in every subject area, in every grade level, in every student group.”

That’s true, but a closer look at the most recent data paints a far more sobering picture. Despite an uptick in the 2024-25 school year, Smarter Balanced standardized test scores still lag pre-pandemic levels, and concerningly, fewer than 50% of kids met or exceeded the standard in English language arts, science and math.

If I’m not mistaken, that’s an F.

Newsom also boasted that early data shows unsheltered homelessness fell by 9% in California in 2025, a drop not seen in two decades.

Any decline in homelessness is encouraging. But is that really that impressive, given that the Newsom administration has funneled upward of $27 billion into housing and homelessness programs?

I think we all know the answer.

Ultimately, one of Newsom’s most telling contradictions came from something he didn’t say — at least, not in this speech.

“The federal government is unrecognizable, protecting the powerful at the expense of the vulnerable,” Newsom said. “The president believes might is right.”

Yet Newsom seems to be guided by that axiom, too.

“Given the choice,” he told the Atlantic in a profile published this week, “the American people always support strong and wrong versus weak and right.”

If that’s how Newsom views his political career, perhaps it’s time he updated his own talking points.

(sfchronicle.com)

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WALMART

I saw a toddler eat a cigarette
On a cart of Keystone beer
I was eyeing art supplies
Some dude named Tanner called me queer

I do not wanna go
To Walmart today

To Walmart today
Or tomorrow
Or the day after that
Don't go misunderstand me for some pinko commie rat
I hold close the belief
Rising waters raises ships
But was burying the living
Good ole Sammy's dyin' wish?

I saw a woman, stranded, hummin'
To the tune of Delta Dawn
On a dead battery scooter
With just pajamas on
I saw a family of thirty-three
Red-headed, boiling over
Pick the clearance aisle apart
Like some buzzards on the shoulder

I don't wanna go to Walmart today

Or tomorrow
Or the day after that
It's a mirage in a desert of bullshit
They created
That's a fact
I also do believe to the victor
Goes the prize
But to keep a good man down
Is just the something
I despise

I saw a serpent in the produce
Coiled, hissin'
Talkin' smack
He was talkin' about prices
Some shit about rolling back

I do not want to go
To Walmart today

I saw 104 year old woman
Bolted to a register, countin' change
Her manager was ten years old
With a smartphone for a brain

I do not wanna go
To Walmart today

To Walmart today
Or tomorrow
Or the day after that
Don't go misunderstand me for some pinko commie rat
I hold close the belief
Rising waters raises ships
But was burying the living
Good ole Sammy's dyin' wish?

— Jessie Welles (2024)

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ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY #3

Rude And violent behavior by adults and parents can really discourage people from wanting to coach and referee. I’ve been to countless games and had my kids in sports. For example, one guy I know was a ref at one of the hoopsters’ city games years ago and was levelled at half court by a drunk dad that didn’t like his kid getting DQd from the game for using taunts, various obscenities and a couple of personal fouls. The dad was told to leave the building after being previously told to STFU for being obnoxious. A couple of minutes later, he came back in and tackled my friend. The game was called, and cops arrested the guy. Even the mother was losing her mind, so the whole family got tossed from the game.

Don’t get me started on some of the pee-wee football and little league games. Parents can be seriously obnoxious, and if you add a little alcohol (or…they bring their own pre-game mixes), they get vicious.

All in front of the kids and other parents. And there can be more than one of them. N-words getting tossed around is just the tip of the iceberg. Take a trip to kids’ games in the valley or the east Bay. It is worse, as in, police departments have to staff officers at games because of previous altercations.

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LEAD STORIES, SATURDAY'S NYT

A (Lawyerly) Spat Erupts Over the Defense of Nicolás Maduro

Iran’s Protests Were Set Off by a Plunging Currency

Iran Is Bracing for a Weekend of Unrest. Here’s What to Know.

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POLICE FAILURE: “There is one matter in which many democracies have been unsuccessful, and that is the control of the police. Given a police force which is corrupt and unscrupulous, and judges who are not anxious to discover its crimes, it is possible for ordinary citizens to find themselves at the mercy of a powerful organization which, just because it is supposed to enforce the law, has exceptional facilities for acting illegally. I think this is a danger which is much too little realized in many countries. But in many countries he is viewed with terror, as a man who may, at any moment, bring grave trouble upon any person whom he happens to dislike or whom the police, as a whole, consider politically objectionable.“

— Bertrand Russell

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IN ICE COLD BLOOD

by Jeffrey St. Clair

Many of the people who have spent the last five years denouncing the killing of Ashli Babbitt for raiding the Capitol in an attempt to overturn an election are celebrating the murder of Renee Nichole Good, a terrified mother killed by masked men from unmarked cars who chased her down a neighborhood street and shot her in the face.

At 9:30 on Wednesday morning, Renee Good was sitting in her Honda Pilot, with her life partner and dog, on Portland Avenue in the Central neighborhood of Minneapolis, when two unmarked cars approached her. Good waved her hand, signaling for the unmarked cars to go around her. Instead, they stopped. Masked men got out. Good told them: “I’m pulling out.”

As two of the men advanced near her maroon Pilot, one of them told her to “Move, move, move,” while the other shouted, “Get out of the fucking car.” These contradictory instructions are a frequent tactic, since, however you respond, you violate one of the orders, and offer an excuse for escalation.

One of the masked men tried to open the passenger door and reach through the window toward Good. Meanwhile, the other agent grabbed the side door. Good put her car in reverse, backed up a little, then pulled forward slowly, turning away from the masked ICE agent who was slightly in front of her. He moves out of the way, almost casually. Then one of the agents fired three shots into Good’s car, hitting her in the face. As she slumped forward, her foot reflexively pressed down on the accelerator and the car lurched forward, hitting a parked car and a light pole a few yards down the street, where it came to a rest. Her partner was heard screaming, “They’ve killed my wife! They killed my wife. I don’t know what to do. They shot her in the head.”

A bystander who witnessed the shooting rushed forward to help, but was stopped by an ICE agent. The man said he was a doctor and could render medical aid to the woman who was shot. The ICE agent responded brusquely: “I don’t care,” and ordered him to stay back. Fifteen minutes passed until an ambulance pulled onto Portland Avenue. But it was blocked from coming to Good’s aid by ICE vehicles. Finally, two paramedics trekked through the snow to the scene of the shooting, where they tried to treat Good’s fatal wounds. She was later pronounced dead at Hennepin Hospital.

Before her blood was even dry, the President and his henchmen had smeared this bright young woman, this mother and poet, as a domestic terrorist, as an attempted assassin, as a leftist thug. They smeared her before knowing anything about her, what she’d done that day, how she lived her life, who she loved and cared for, what her friends and neighbors and colleagues thought of her. To Trump and his minions, she was an obstacle, someone standing in the way and, therefore, someone who deserved whatever she got, even if it was a bullet in the face.

Now the FBI is blocking Minnesota law enforcement officials from analyzing evidence from the shooting. You wonder why they bother. What is there to hide?

The murder of Renee Good happened in plain sight. We’ve all seen it from various angles. There was no one in front of Good’s car when she pulled out. No one was run over. The shots were fired from the side, not the front of her Honda. The ICE agent shot her and he walked away. He didn’t limp. He didn’t flinch in pain. He simply walked away. He didn’t seek treatment from the paramedics on the scene. Or show any wounds to his fellow agents. He just walked away. He walked around the scene for three minutes. Then he got in a car and left. (The Intercept identified the shooter as Jonathan Ross, an ICE agent based in St. Paul.) Renee Good was denied medical care and left to bleed out in her car. There’s nothing left to cover up.

And perhaps that’s how ICE and the Trump administration want it.

ICE’s rules of engagement are to intimidate, to terrify. And not just its targets, but entire neighborhoods, communities and cities. They brutalize the innocent not by accident but by tactic. They offer the security of fear. They want you so afraid of them that you’ll snitch your neighbor out, turn in the women who clean your toilets and take care of your kids, denounce the men who mow your lawn, rake your leaves and clean your gutters. They want you to stay inside with your doors locked when you hear a familiar voice scream, as masked men raid your block.

Like the cascading violence of the raids themselves, the smearing of the victim is strategic. It’s meant to frighten and paralyze those who might otherwise object. Stand in the way and you will be blamed for whatever happens to you. You will be slimed and slandered beyond all recognition. If you survive, your life will be made hellish, your reputation splattered with lies and calumnies by your own government.

ICE has killed before and will kill again.

In the last year, ICE agents have fired shots at least 15 times, killing four people. They shot at people trying to warn them of children in the area of their raids and they shot people running away from them. They shot people in a very similar way that they shot Renee Good: while they were in their cars, driving away and then blamed them for trying to run over ICE officers. On September 3, an ICE agent shot and killed Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, a Mexican national, after dropping his daughter off at pre-school. ICE originally said that Villegas-Gonzalez was shot after he tried to run over an ICE agent, who DHS claimed had been severely wounded. Then, a video of the incident recorded the voice of the officer grazed by Villegas-Gonzalez’s car saying his injury was “nothing major.” Another video showed that Villegas-Gonzalez was driving away from the ICE officers, not toward them. DHS tried to smear Villegas-Gonzalez as a dangerous criminal with a “history of reckless driving.” But a new report by NBC News Chicago shows that he had never been convicted or even charged with a crime.

On October 4, an immigration agent shot Marimar Martinez five times while the 30-year-old teaching assistant and US citizen was driving around the Brighton Park neighborhood of Chicago, warning residents of an impending ICE raid. The Border Patrol officer who shot Martinez pulled up beyond her car and shouted, “Do something, bitch!,” as he aimed his assault rifle at her. He later bragged about the shooting in a text message to fellow agents: “I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys.” The agents falsely claimed that Martinez had tried to ram them with her car and arrested the seriously wounded woman. The charges against her were later dismissed.

A day after the Minneapolis shootings, Border Patrol agents in Portland shot two people, a man and a woman, during a traffic stop in the parking of a medical center complex. Once again they claimed they had tried to use the vehicle as a weapon, although both of them couldn’t have been driving at the same time. DHS also claimed both were members of the Tren de Aragua gang, though they offered no evidence to buttress the charge. The couple, who are reportedly married, escaped on foot and were later taken by Portland to a hospital. The man was shot twice and the woman suffered a gunshot wound to the chest. Portland’s Mayor, Keith Wilson, called for ICE and Border Patrol to leave the city, saying “Portland isn’t a training ground for militarized agents.”

So in the course of two days, Trump’s immigration shock troops shot a mother of three and a married couple.

These kinds of raids, while shocking to most Americans, are familiar to many immigrants from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, countries still haunted by the death squads funded, armed and trained by the CIA. Horrors that they fled and have now reappeared like ghosts from the past here on the streets of Chicago and Minneapolis and Los Angeles. They know all too well that collateral damage is a feature of all paramilitaries.

With the murder of Renee Good, ICE has now advanced from scaring the hell out of American citizens to killing them.

(CounterPunch.org)

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ON LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY #2

I noticed that a lot of people on FaceBook have been posting the unmasked face of the ICE Agent who murdered Renee Gold. The BBC has been fact-checking the Renee Gold killing in Minneapolis, while amateur sleuths have used A.I. to "unmask" the shooter and spread his name on social media based on the results. Unfortunately, the pictures were approximations, and even approximated faces can be matched to real people. Several names were used to "identify" the "approximated" ICE shooter. Now those people are in jeopardy. Be careful what you post on social media or somebody else is going to get killed.

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WHO'S TO BLAME IN MINNESOTA? FIVE CASES INVOLVING POLICE SHOOTING AT CARS

For a long time, there was little data about police shooting at cars, let alone rules. Recently it's become controversial, but courts still vary wildly in their rulings. Five key cases

by Matt Taibbi

America is exploding in protests in the wake of the ICE shooting of Renee Good, with people mostly falling into two camps. One side stresses Good’s reported role as an “ICE Watch” activist whose car blocked a road and appeared to hit the gas with an officer in front of her. Another stresses Good’s unarmed status and the fact that the ICE officer appeared to fire even after the threat passed, with many politicians already declaring the shooting a “murder.”

The history of cases involving law enforcement shooting at moving cars is remarkably varied. A review of them, guided by interviews with experts and police, suggests a truth nobody wants to hear: both parties were not just in the wrong, but obviously so.

Pedro Serrano, now retired, was a long-serving New York City police officer, famous for honesty. His recording of an inspector’s instruction to target “male blacks, fourteen to twenty” in random street stops helped end the “Stop and Frisk” regime in New York City. Serrano loved the job and took pride in doing good police work, and he felt Stop-and-Frisk wasn’t that. His first observation about Renee Good was blunt.

“She should not have been there,” Serrano said. “If there’s a federal convoy and you’re trying to stop it, you’re breaking the law. When a cop pulls you over and says to get out the car and you don’t, you’re breaking the law. When you try to flee from a cop, you’re breaking the law. And when you try to run a cop over, you’re breaking the law. She shouldn’t have paid for it that way. But she was not right, in my opinion.”

The ICE officer, identified in reports as Jonathan Ross, also came in for serious criticism from Serrano. New York City officers, like officers in many big cities, are trained not to shoot at moving cars at all, unless there’s a direct threat to life. The ICE officer in Serrano’s view however violated a more fundamental rule.

“Someone trained this cop wrong,” he said. “He walked in front of the car. Never should you ever stand in front of a car. You don’t walk behind the trunk, because they put it in reverse, they crush you. In front, they put it in drive and run you over. Who’s going to win, you or the car? Not you. This guy, I think he was asking for it, like, ‘I dare you to try to run me over so I can shoot you’.”

His summation was brutal:

“You got a hot-headed dumb cop and then you got entitled Karen doing whatever she does. And that’s a perfect storm for a disaster.”

As for the rules of engagement, the first thing that’s important to know is that law enforcement tends to get the benefit of the doubt in court cases involving shootings at moving cars, even when judges criticize police behavior. Still, by the mid-2010s, the number of such cases had piled up high enough to prompt several federal civil rights investigations into big-city police practices.

“It’s a known issue now,” says Alex Vitale, coordinator of the policing and social justice project at Brooklyn College. “Some departments have made an effort to tighten this up, but other departments have basically allowed it to go on.” Vitale referenced Miami, which faced a federal civil rights investigation in 2013 that resulted in findings of a “pattern” of excessive force that included firing at cars. “It is extremely dangerous to shoot at a moving vehicle,” Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez wrote, “and the practice is prohibited by policy in many departments.”

One reason it’s prohibited is that shooting at a vehicle raises the possibility of multiple new unexpected problems. “Generally, you don’t fire at moving cars or at cars fleeing the scene because the concern is not only the motorists, but any members of the public around the vehicle,” says Gregory Watts, a New York lawyer who’s been involved with countless police misconduct cases. Vitale, meanwhile, talked about the damage not just to passengers but to people who might be hit by a runaway vehicle or by gunfire passing through windows.

“You saw how the vehicle in Minneapolis slammed into a parked car,” he said. “What if instead it had slammed onto the sidewalk and run over two ICE agents?” As for the bullets fired from the front, they “could easily have gone through the car and into an ICE agent, a bystander, someone’s home.”

There are many factors at play in these cases, but the one that courts focus on most is the level of threat to the officer. Such threats can be interpreted many ways. Five significant cases of police shooting at cars, and how they turned out:

Brown v. State of Maryland This case speaks directly to Serrano’s complaints about the ICE officer’s procedure. In it, a Baltimore police officer named Connor Murray walked directly in front of a suspect’s car, “in direct violation of Baltimore city police procedure,” after which 18-year-old Donnell Rochester attempted to “drive away” (the police version of these events is different). While in front of Rochester’s car — the lawsuit blames Murray for not getting away “despite having the time and the opportunity” — he fired three shots, all of which missed. A fourth shot fired through the side window proved fatal. Murray faced no charges, but it’s significant that walking in front of a car once was part of the basis for a lawsuit.

To Serrano, the fact that the ICE officer in Minnesota had a previous incident involving being dragged suggested he was a little too gung-ho. “You don’t just turtle-walk in front of a car and dare it to run you over,” he said, noting also: “As those tires started to spin, he pulled out and shot. And while he was shooting, he was moving out the way.”

Adds Watts: “Some officers may think, ‘Hey, I’m law enforcement. Once I get in front of the car, you’re not going to do anything. But it doesn’t work like that.’”

Serrano added that there’s not a whole lot that’s macho about challenging a car. “It’s an SUV. Even if it’s a little Honda Civic, it doesn’t matter. You lose. This thing runs you over. Destroys your leg. Can kill you. Don’t walk in front.”

Pate v. Brelo

On November 29, 2012, a Cleveland police officer named John Jordan ran the plate of a Chevy Malibu containing two homeless people, Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams. Although the plate came back clean, he pulled them over for an improper turn signal. When Jordan got out of the car, Russell drove away. Other officers soon joined an epic chase, with as many as 62 cars and speeds up to 100 mph. The car stopped at Heritage Middle School in East Cleveland, where an officer named Wilfredo Diaz fired when he saw Williams hold up a dark object. The driver, Russell, tried to drive away and hit a police car containing two officers. In the ensuing melee one officer, Michael Brelo, fired approximately 49 times. As often happens in police cases, Brelo waived his right to a jury trial in favor of a bench trial, at which Judge John O’Donnell acquitted him, triggering mass protests.

The Brelo case inspired one of those federal civil rights investigations, concluding that the Cleveland force “eroded public confidence in the police.” A consistent theme with both police advocates and critics is that bad shootings have the additional bad consequence of tending to encourage more cases. Vitale thinks this was a factor in Minnesota, saying, “there’s a profound crisis of legitimacy with the deportation agenda. People are resisting and deadly violence is going to happen as a result.”

Clark v. Box Elder County, et al:

On October 26, 2012, Sheriff’s Deputy Austin Bowcutt from Box Elder County, Utah, stopped a 52-year-old man named Troy Burkinshaw for, of all things, urinating on the shoulder of the highway. Before the stop was over, Burkinshaw drove away, starting a low-speed chase toward his home. He ended up driving into a dead end, spurring Deputy Bowcutt to try to park his car in an effort to block the exit. However, when the officer got out of the car, Burkinshaw tried to drive away, despite being told to “Stop!” six times, after which Bowcutt fired three times, hitting his suspect twice and killing him.

A court initially ruled against Bowcutt. Judge Clark Waddoups was unimpressed with the severity of the offense and questioned whether Bowcutt could have gotten out of the way, concluded a jury might decide he “unnecessarily placed himself in the path of the oncoming car,” and could “reasonably find that Bowcutt’s use of deadly force was excessive.” The case went to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, where Waddoups was reversed, with a triumvirate of judges writing, “Deputy Bowcutt had mere seconds to react. We conclude that a reasonable officer in [his] position would have feared for his life.” Clark involves an officer whose actions were criticized by judges, who also fired three times, and was not even in contact with the vehicle, and was still ultimately granted qualified immunity.

There isn’t a lot of data on these cases. “It’s really hard to look at these things,” says Vitale. “I mean, they won’t even tell us how many people they kill.

The Daevon Roberts case.

Very few episodes in which police fire at moving vehicles and fatally shoot the driver don’t end up with litigation or charges, especially when there’s a six-year-old child in the front seat. The Daevon Roberts case from Buffalo a few years back was such a case. A nine-year police veteran named Ronald Ammerman pulled over 26-year-old Daevon Roberts and saw a child sitting in the passenger seat. When he asked him if he had any weapons, the child said, “You should check the trunk.” The situation devolved quickly and the officer ended up standing on the car doorsill while Roberts tried to drive away at speeds of up to 70 m.p.h., prompting the officer to say, “You’re going to kill me.” Ammerman ended up shooting Roberts five times, not hitting the child. This is the only kind of situation in which shooting at a moving car is considered justified, and even some lawyers disagreed.

Barnes v. Felix.

This one made it to the Supreme Court, resolving this year. On April 28, 2016, a highway patrolman outside Houston named Roberto Felix responded to a call about a car with toll violations. He ended up pulling over Ashtian After “rummaging around” unsuccessfully for paperwork, Barnes popped the trunk, suggesting his documents might be in there. Felix asked Barnes to get out of the car, and though Barnes opened his door, he instead started moving the car forward. Officer Felix jumped on the car’s doorsill, shoved his gun at the head of Barnes, said “don’t fucking move” twice, then fired twice, apparently blindly, killing the driver.

The Fifth Circuit Court (described by press as a conservative “outlier”) upheld a ruling that Felix’s force was not excessive, narrowing a traditional test for what constitutes a threat to only “the act that led the officer to discharge his weapon,” in this case the two seconds when Felix was on the car doorsill. The Supreme Court voted 9-0 to overturn the ruling, saying “a court deciding a use-of-force case cannot review the totality of the circumstances if it has put on chronological blinders.” In other words, you have to look at the totality of the situation.

To Serrano, both parties in Minnesota should have known better. Good shouldn’t have been there. “If you’re a protester, you’re used to being around police,” he said. “Even a normal person who isn’t experienced, even if you accidentally hit the accelerator to get away, it doesn’t change the fact that there’s a cop in front of your car. You don’t get to say, ‘Oops, I’m sorry I killed you.’ Ignorance isn’t an excuse.” As for the ICE agent, “they need to retrain the guy… you can’t put yourself in a bad situation like that.”

The Renee Good affair has already gone down the path of a lot of events in the Trump era, becoming purely emotionalized content for most audiences. Conservative media is mostly not questioning ICE response and has focused on Good’s activist history and the pronouncements of Democratic politicians. Legacy press meanwhile has decided Good’s conduct is not at issue, dubbing this just a case of police shooting a “white mom.” That feels like an insult to police abuse victims who were targeted by mistake or were bystanders, but it’s the way news is packaged. “I think it was a sad issue. I just think both parties are at fault,” says Serrano. “And I always start with the beginning. If you just let them arrest you, nothing happens.”

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