DA HAS ‘GREAT CONCERNS’ ABOUT THE RELOCATION OF HIS OFFICES TO ACCOMMODATE THE NEW COURTHOUSE
At the Tuesday, February 3, 2026 Board of Supervisors meeting District Attorney David Eyster warned the Board about looming major problems and costs associated with the pending relocation of the DA’s offices in the months leading up to the Grand Opening of the Superior Court’s majestic new barcode of a courthouse over by the tracks, three long blocks from the DA’s existing offices.
Eyster: “I have great concerns as I stand here today about the costs and efforts with where we are at right now with regard to the District Attorney‘S Office relocation. In regards to the courts moving ahead. I see that there is already disagreements and problems starting to come up with what had been a long-term plan to move from the days of Carmel Angelo to the days of Darcy Antle. I think there needs to be a lot of thought. What I’m hearing is a lot of money is being pushed around, buying lots, building buildings, things of that sort. And I hear that you folks don’t have much money. This is going to be problematic in the short term, but also in the long-term.”
This is the first time we’ve heard mention of a plan to relocate the DA’s offices, apparently begun under former CEO Carmel Angelo, but obviously unresolved. There has been no public discussion of it, and former CEO Carmel Angelo, a personal friend of the DA, never brought it up before the Board. In the past DA Eyster has made it clear that he disagrees with the entire idea of needing a new courthouse, especially considering the negative impact the new courthouse will have on the DA’s offices and related transportation issues if they stay where they are (at no facility cost to the County).
Last we heard Supervisor Mulheren had been meeting unofficially and in secret with unnamed Ukiah officials and realtors about somehow, some way accommodating their majesties and their new giant, ugly barcode of building over by the abandoned tracks, but Mulheren has not made any announcement about what they’re doing or what they plan to do. Now here’s DA Eyster, long on record as opposed to the entire idea of a new courthouse, finally raising legitimate questions in public about what’s happening with the DA’s offices. Given Mulheren’s, the CEO’s and the County’s poor record mishandling the relatively simple Veterans Services Office relocation and the Ukiah annexation fiasco, we’re not surprised that the DA is publicly declaring his “great concern,” albeit late in the day. Obviously, putting the DA’s offices in a facility closer to the new courthouse will cost a lot of money whether it’s via purchase, lease, or new construction. Remember: it cost Mendo $5 million to build the equivalent of a $1 million house for the Crisis Residential Treatment facility for the Schraeders nearby on Orchard Avenue, so it’s highly likely that a facility for the DA’s offices will cost a lot more than it should. And, as the DA noted, “You folks don’t have much money.”
In the end, of course, the Board ignored Eyster’s warning and just went on to the next obfuscation.
IMAGINE THE OLDEST HISTORICAL SCHOOL SITE, REDWOOD VALLEY SCHOOL AND TURNING IT INTO A COMMUNITY RECREATIONAL CENTER FOR THE COMMUNITY.
That is what the Redwood Valley School Project Group has been working to achieve for our Community Redwood Valley.
The Woolley Family J.M.& Florence Woolley, generously donated the 12acre property zoned Public Use over 100 years ago as a gift and a place for Education. The School site has been the home to our Community and has been a gathering for generations of families and activities for all.
By keeping the Historical School and Buildings we will be providing a safe place for kids, adults and families to gather and enjoy an indoor gym, a full kitchen and stage, an outdoor field, a community garden, pickleball courts, classrooms for activities and more…the possibilities are endless…
If you believe in honoring the intentions of the original land donors and Woolley family that still live in our community of Redwood Valley, Potter Valley, Red Bluff, Kansas, Idaho and beyond…please show your support and be at the February 12th UUSD Board Meeting at 6:15p.m.at 511 South Orchard and have a voice that lets the Board know that a Community Center is the Best use of the site for children, families and future generations.
— Debra Phenicle (via Monica Huettl)
INCUMBENT SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE PATRICK PEKIN recently posted a notice that he’s running for re-election to the Superior Court Bench against a “challenger.” Pekin’s re-election notice included a long list of endorsers by the usual Mendo swells including all of his judicial colleagues, a bunch of recognizable attorneys, and the DA.
Judge Pekin, readers may recall, a coast attorney at the time, had appeared occasionally with his attorney wife when they were in private practice on the Coast in our former Court Reporter Bruce McEwen’s reports in the mid-2010s.
In a somewhat unusual election for Superior Court judge in 2016 Pekin narrowly lost to Keith Faulder for a vacant seat. (Faulder later said that the AVA’s endorsement tipped the balance.) Pekin later ran unopposed for another open judge seat (Behnke’s) and was elected in 2019/2020. At that time Mr. McEwen’s wife Marilyn Davin wrote a profile of candidate Pekin: https://theava.com/archives/112918
Now, in an even more unusual election, a local attorney from Willits named Colby Friend is “challenging” the incumbent Judge. Except for when coast attorney/prosecutor Mark Kalina ran against Judge Jonathan Lehan in the 1990s, we can’t recall another example of a local attorney running against an incumbent judge.
Mr. Friend’s lawyer website says he specializes in “Federal and California State Appellate cases, real estate law, probate, criminal, contract, personal injury, and civil rights litigation. We unfortunately do not take any family law cases at this time.”
In 2022 Mr. Friend ran (unsuccessfully for the Willits Unified School Board, telling the Willits Weekly: “I’m running for school board because I want to be able to make policy to ensure the children have everything they need for a productive positive education. I was not happy with the way the children and the teachers were treated through the pandemic. I felt the education suffered, nutrition suffered, health suffered. The pandemic rules were oppressive and not conducive to learning. I will protect the kids from more of that. The teachers also need to be treated fairly. It is wrong that Ukiah teachers, only 20 minutes south, receive a substantially higher salary.
“I am a homeowner in Willits, an attorney, a farmer, a business owner, and father of five children, two who have already graduated from Willits schools with honors in 2016. Three are in Willits schools currently. I helped start the community garden, I coach three sports a year, I’m on the board of the baseball league. I act in the Willits Community Theatre. I volunteer for Sober Grad. To say I am vested in this community is an understatement. I believe in Willits, I believe in our youth, and I want the best education opportunities possible. I have terrific ideas, energy to make them happen, and determination not to fail.
“A vote for me is a vote for sensible school policy. I have three children in the schools, so I want what’s best for these schools. Nobody could want it more. I see the kids’ experiences. I know what’s going on and what is missing. If I thought it was being handled, I wouldn’t run for school board. It could be much better. I have to make sure the school is the best it can be.”
Despite this, Mr. Friend came in sixth, next to last in a seven candidate race.
We don’t know why Mr. Friend is now running for judge. It’s too bad that Pekin’s legal colleagues have all endorsed Pekin without even hearing from Mr. Friend. It’s also too bad that Mr. Friend has not provided the electorate with reasons that he should replace Mr. Pekin, nor has Mr. Pekin said why he should be re-elected other than his legal colleagues have endorsed him. When Kalina ran against Lehan, Kalina criticized Lehan’s court (justifiably, in our view; Kalina had personal experience as a prosecutor in Lehan’s court). Kalina said Lehan’s court was a “catch and release court,” which at the time was true. (The late DA Norm Vroman had waged a year-long disqualification campaign against Lehan saying Lehan was prejudiced against the DA’s office and didn’t understand the law.) Kalina got about a third of the vote in the election against Lehan, mainly because Kalina lacked name recognition in the county-wide election.
Since Mr. McEwen is unfortunately no longer reporting on the local courts, and the DA is writing his own press releases and producing his own statistics, except for the high-profile Cubbison case, we don’t know much about what goes on in Superior Court these days. Therefore, these judge elections, like so many other elections these days, are little more than popularity contests. Unless Mr. Friend can come up with some reasons to unseat Pekin, his lack of name recognition and endorsements will make his election a long-shot. But perhaps Mr. Friend is playing a long-game here, such as putting his name out there for possible appointment by the next Governor when the next Superior Court judge retires.
(Mark Scaramella)
LVN TRAINING IN UKIAH
A new pathway into nursing is here! Mendocino College is launching a new Vocational Nursing (VN) program at the Ukiah Campus, expanding local access to in-demand healthcare careers. Building on more than 50 years of vocational nursing education in our community, the program now offers the same high-quality training at nearly half the cost compared with previous years — making it one of the most affordable routes into the profession, with total estimated program costs of about $6,022.
The full-time, three-semester program combines classroom learning with hands-on clinical experience, preparing graduates to step directly into healthcare roles across the region. Applications are open now and will be accepted through March 13, with classes beginning in August 2026. Attendance at a mandatory pre-application workshop is required.
Ready to get started? Learn more and apply on the Mendocino College website: www.mendocino.edu/LVN
‘THE DAILY SHOW’ SKEWERS GAVIN NEWSOM for Sex Scandal and Failure to Solve Homelessness and High-Speed Rail in New Segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2R7D2XvTpjM
A READER WRITES: The supes are changing direction on Airbnb policy, the new ordinance will allow short-term rentals everywhere, except the coastal zone and incorporated cities, with no limits.
THE SQUAW ROCK POT BANDITS
by Colin Atagi
Sentencing for a former Rohnert Park police officer, who was convicted by a federal grand jury in July of posing as a government agent to steal cash and cannabis from drivers, is delayed until at least April 15 to give his new attorney time to review the case.
Judge Maxine Chesney granted Joseph Huffaker’s latest reprieve Tuesday, Feb. 3, in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. She issued an order behind the scenes one day before the matter was to be publicly discussed in court.
Sentencing had been pushed back numerous times since November after Huffaker fired his defense attorney in the trial. Huffaker was on tap for sentencing Jan. 21 and Chesney gave him one last chance to find a new attorney on the condition counsel wouldn’t need much time to review the case.
On Monday, he retained Karen Landau of Walnut Creek and she requested sentencing be rescheduled to April. Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office did not argue against the request.
“The parties agree that an extension of time is needed to allow for the effective preparation of defense counsel,” Landau’s submitted request, which was signed off by Chesney, reads in part.
Its terms require Landau to file any motions on or before March 18. Prosecutors will file any opposition by April 1 and all matters will be discussed April 15.
This will likely delay sentencing of Huffaker’s co-defendant, Brendan “Jacy” Tatum. The former Rohnert Park sergeant pleaded guilty in December 2021 and testified against Huffaker in exchange for a light sentence. Tatum had been scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 18 but an updated date was not listed Wednesday.
His potential sentencing is unclear. But in Huffaker’s case, federal prosecutors and his previous attorney, Richard Ceballos, submitted sentencing memorandums last month in case the Jan. 21 sentencing had gone as scheduled.
Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of 63 months in prison plus three years of supervised release and $23,000 in restitution. Noting Tatum’s involvement, Ceballos recommended Huffaker be sentenced to 12 months under home confinement with one year of supervised release plus conditions that, among other things, would prevent Huffaker from working in law enforcement or security.
Landau said she would submit a new sentencing recommendation by April 15 and prosecutors are to file a response to whatever she suggests for Huffaker.
The trial grew out of a yearslong scandal involving Rohnert Park’s drug interdiction team, a now-defunct unit disbanded in early 2017 after California legalized recreational cannabis. Prosecutors said Huffaker and Tatum used their training to pull over drivers, pose as agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and seize marijuana and cash that was later sold for profit. Much of the activity occurred along Highway 101 near the Sonoma-Mendocino county line.
Tatum resigned in March 2018 after an internal investigation began. Then-Public Safety Director Brian Masterson abruptly retired soon after. Huffaker was later found to have violated department policy and left the force in 2019 with a $75,000 settlement in exchange for his resignation.
In July, a jury convicted Huffaker after deliberating for 90 minutes.
(Santa Rosa Press Democrat)
FISHY? WOMAN CITED AFTER ALLEGEDLY STASHING ABALONE IN HER PANTS AT MENDOCINO BEACH
by Kym Kemp
A weekend tidepool outing at Van Damme State Park south of the lovely tourist town of Mendocino took a turn for the memorable when a California wildlife officer uncovered an illegal abalone take involving what the California Department of Fish and Wildlife dryly described on their Facebook page as “an unconventional storage method, to say the least.”
According to a press release from the department, an officer using a spotting scope observed a man and woman in the intertidal zone legally “taking purple sea urchins” when the officer saw the woman “discreetly conceal what appeared to be an abalone down her pants.”
(We believe this might be called an intertidal violation with…um…distinctly inland storage.)
The officer left the observation point and contacted the pair in the parking lot before they reached their vehicle. During a license and catch inspection, the officer asked the woman what she had concealed. “She then produced a small abalone from inside her pants,” CDFW stated.
Suspecting the situation might involve more than one shellfish, the officer requested assistance from a female wildlife officer to conduct a search. According to CDFW, once the woman learned this, she “voluntarily produced a second abalone from her pants, confirming the officer’s suspicions.”
CDFW reported that “no additional abalone was found.” The woman was cited “for the illegal take of two abalone.”
The male subject, meanwhile, emerged from the encounter entirely mollusk-free. According to the department, “the male subject was found in compliance and did not possess any abalone.”
(Kymkemp.com)
“BAY AREA, just know, we’re gonna get through this. Everybody keep your wits about you, no matter what they say … keep focused. Take care of each other and just wait this motherfucker out. It won’t be long.”…
“It’s fucked up what they’re doing. ICE were snatching up so many Mexicans, they got carried away,” he said. “They snatched up so many Mexicans, they ran out of Mexicans. So they flew to Venezuela and snatched up the president and brought him back to America, so they could try and send him back to Venezuela.”
— Dave Chappelle
“WHY, OF COURSE, the people don’t want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? … But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along… All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.”
— Hermann Goering
ON-LINE COMMENTS OF THE WEEK
[1] I have always been perplexed by the fascination with celebrities exhibited by a large percentage of the population. My father took me to a pro football game when I was about ten years old. After the game, a sizable crowd went onto the field in order to get an autograph from the local team's quarterback. My father asked "Wouldn't you like to go get an autograph?" My response was "Why would I want to do that?"
[2] Maybe if American agribusness hadn't destroyed sustenance farming in Latin America we would't have a border crisis at all. Maybe if Reagan hadn't sent death squads to Latin America, there wouldn't be a border crisis. Maybe if Clinton hadn't pushed through NAFTA there wouldn't be a border crisis. Maybe if the US hadn't destroyed Guatemala so United Fruit Company could make more money we wouldn't be in this mess. The greed of American corporations is the root cause of all border problems. I refuse to blame all this on brown people who are just trying to survive.
[3] Scandinavian-style socialism is all over Europe. We even have some of it in the United States - Social Security, Medicare, unemployment insurance, work safety laws, food stamps, etc. We are the only developed country in the world without some form of what Bernie Sanders called Medicare For All. And we pay twice as much for healthcare as other similar nations. And we are the only country with bankruptcies because of medical bills. Roosevelt's New Deal was Scandinavian-style socialism. It created America's Golden Age, when working-class families were thriving.
[4] I saw a man in the grocery store the other day with large tattoos on both sides of his neck. He must have been late 60's/early 70's. Did he get those 50 years ago, or did he decide that 50/60 years old was a great time to get neck tattoos.
[5] Watch Seattle in their last super bowl. Marshawn Lynch was running all over New England's defense. Patriots had no answers. Then, at the two yard line, they decide to stop running the ball. They pass it instead. Interception. Seattle loses.
Watch the 49ers latest defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs. Christian McCaffrey was running roughshod over KC's defense. Then, inexplicably, little Kyle Shanahan decided to abandon the run game. Two straight three and outs without a single run. SF loses.
Both of these teams would have won the big game had they stuck with what was working so well but for unexplained reasons the coaches abandoned the game plan and subsequently lost the game.
Yes, these games ARE scripted. The winners are pre-determined. Why? Money. It's all about money. Money money money. Money destroys and corrupts everything. It always has. It always will.
[6] Nothing new for this individual, but worth repeating that 77 million Americans saw the racism, mendacity, shamelessness, and violence in this man in his first term, and then voted again for him anyway. Reminds me of Obi Wan Kenobi: “Who’s the fool? The fool or the fool who follows him?” No, Republicans don't hate non-white people. They just don't want to live near them, have their children go to school with them, or have anything else to do with them other than watch the Super Bowl. Any more confusion about what the Republican Party stands for?
[7] "The circuses — last week’s Grammy Awards, the Winter Olympics tonight, Sunday’s looming Superbowl — give off an odor of utter cultural exhaustion."
The freaks that perform in these circuses give off the stench of rot and death. Gone are the days when celebrities were the pretty people and they tried to make themselves unnaturally pretty. Today celebrities do all they can to make themselves as freakishly horrific as possible. Google Bad Bunny and you'll be laughing at the freak show that presents itself. Fat disgusting facial tatted and pierced slobs like Jelly Roll are it baby! Post Malone has a face that even a mother can't love. Fat slobs like Lizzo spend their time on stage twerking and maneuvering her billowing bands of cellulose. Utterly offensive. None of them have any talent whatsoever. Their music stinks, their voices grating.
Yet these freaks, these evidences of a society in free-fall are worth millions upon millions of dollars. They are adorned by millions and millions of followers. Jelly Roll is a favorite of the WWE and Bad Bunny had a stint there as well. Bad Bunny and his twerking freak show that will make the aliens above demure in embarrassment will be watched by billions who tune into a Super Bowl game that nobody is interested in.
None of it makes any sense anymore. The degenerate are mainstream now. The perversion and filth is rampant, saturating all corners of western society. It is endorsed, sought after and desired.
We are so boned as a society.
[8] "Why don’t the dozens of so-called “Epstein Survivors,” grown women supposedly raped and abused by celebrities years ago as children, name their abusers publicly? What’s stopping them as they grandstand around the country? Or is it just another grift?" Well, Virginia Giuffre got hit by a bus and then died. Maybe that would make you think twice. Also, you have to think that they were programmed at some point. Perhaps, programmed not to talkThey were also threatened or bribed. Many were selected because they were from broken families or were in dire situations.
[9] I'm the mother of adult sons and this warning about the prevalence of pornography has been shouted loudly by many others, over a long period of time. I raised my boys during the 90's and later when social media and high-speed internet was new and I can tell you, there were many of us warning about this.
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