Mendocino County Today: Thursday 2/26/2026

Trail Walk | Caption Correction | Elk Slide | Clearing | Water Rescue | GoFundThem | Craig Johansen | Dam Money | Kyle Thompson | Deficit Widens | Dan Duckhorn | Protest Saturday | Launch Party | Los Gallitos | AV Wines | Konocti Tips | Deputy Squires | Local Events | Frightened Pigs | Yesterday's Catch | The Blankforts | Hangover Town | Lunar Eclipse | Crazy Days | Simple Man | Blaming Mexicans | Bravery | Low Scores | Pitchman | Speech Reception | Ugly Victory | Low IQ | Lead Stories | Business Plot | Townhouse Explosion | Pitiful Slob | I Needed | Laws Motion | Remember Differently

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LEW CHICHESTER (Covelo): The top photo in Wednesday’s Mendocino County Today is of Yvonne Niesen and Lindon Duke, taken on Round Valley History Day last year at the Methodist Church in downtown Covelo.

Yvonne and I were in the Legion Hall for the monthly pancake breakfast just the weekend before Yvonne and Gary Niesen went off the side of the Covelo Road into the Eel River. Neither of them survived. The Niesens were my nearby neighbors, with a tidy ranch in the valley and a fair amount of grazing land in the hills. Yvonne had lived in that same ranch house all her life. Both Gary and Yvonne were straight up good people and we will miss them.

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ELK CREEK SLIDE UPDATE [Caltrans, Wednesday 6:15pm]

Route 1 south of Elk (PM 31.2) in Mendocino County remains FULLY CLOSED following a landslide. Caltrans District 1 has received $2 million in emergency funding to address the landslide. A contractor has begun work to remove material from the area and will continue working overnight. An estimated time of reopening the roadway is dependent on slide activity.

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STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): A cloudy 48F on the coast this Thursday morning. Cloudy is the weather word for a while with some bits of sun the next couple days. Maybe some showers this weekend ? The NWS & the Weather Underground are mostly in agreement today. Then another shot of light rain later next week?, makes scheduling re-roofs a pain...

DRY CONDITIONS with diurnal fog conditions will dominate through Friday. A chance of rainshowers returns to the North Coast this weekend. (NWS)

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DRAMATIC WATER RESCUE Tuesday off of Tomki Rd. in Willits.

The occupants of a RAM 1500 pickup found themselves overwhelmed by the current of Tomki Creek during today’s storm. The pickup was swept to the center of the creek and stranded. Poor cell service eventually allowed the victims to contact law enforcement, and the CHP, along with Ridgewood Ranch Fire, Little Lake Valley Fire, CDF, and Medstar all responded to the scene. A raft was deployed and the occupants were rescued from the raging waters surrounding them. A big thanks to our allied agencies for their help making this scary moment come to a safe resolution.

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QUESTIONING THE VALUE OF GOFUNDME

Dear Community,

My grateful thank you for your donations to help with the funeral costs for John Fremont. Trite, but true, it take a village!

This is my first experience with gofundme sponsoring a fund raiser. I want to share what has happened, as I now question whether I will ever use this site again, either as a contributor or a sponsor.

I was annoyed with the site when I was setting it up. AI is automatically forced on me, re-writing my words, which I objected to. I also had to use at least 200 words, in several paragraphs. And the AI obsequious “I feel your frustration…;” “I am so sorry…”

Really?

There is a thing here that feels? Ugh.

What has really nauseated me right now, is that although the site raised $4,146 dollars, gofund is only giving $3,360.30. That is an ENORMOUS skimming off and I am furious.

When I was annoyed initially with setting up the fundraiser, I called the bank to see if I could open an account that could be directly deposited into for this need. The bank told me I would need a lawyer, and EIN number and other rigamarole to do this.

So, any ideas about other systems for helping out?

It’s so EASY to just click and contribute, as opposed to writing and mailing a check. What to do? What to do?

Thanks for allowing me to rant!

Sydelle

PS. If anyone still wants to contribute, you can MAIL (or drop off) at Cindy Frank’s business, QED Press, 155 Cypress St, Ft. Bragg 95437

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CRAIG ALLEN JOHANSEN

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our brother Craig Allen Johansen.

Born on June 30th 1948 in Fort Bragg at Redwood Coast Hospital (the Gray Whale Inn). Craig passed unexpectedly on January 13th, 2026 at his home in Fort Bragg at the age of 77.

Craig had a passion for Art, Current affairs, Astronomy and History. He spent many hours conversing with his cousin and best friend Lance Johansen on these subjects. He had a love for the outdoors and camping with family and always had a great story to tell around the campfire. He will be remembered for his service to our Country as a Marine who served two tours in Vietnam.

The first son of Vernon and Marian Johansen who proceeded him in death along with his sister Margaret Danner. Craig is survived by his brother Bruce Johansen, sisters Susan Johansen, Laura Brickey (Greg Brickey), Verna Nailor (Trent Nailor) and numerous nieces and nephews.

There will be a service for Craig with Military Honors at Oceanview Cemetery 211 Pudding Creek Road in Fort Bragg on Saturday March 14th at 11 am with refreshments to follow at The Veterans Hall 360 N. Harrison St in Fort Bragg.

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MONEY FOR LOBBYISTS AND LAWYERS OR FOR FIXING COUNTY ROADS?

Mendocino County Supervisors Debate $500K to Inland Water & Power Commission

by Elise Cox

Should Mendocino County spend $500,000 on legal and lobbying work tied to the decommissioning of the Potter Valley Project — or put that money toward repairing roads?

Supervisors wrestled with that question at Tuesday’s board meeting after CEO Darcie Antle asked them to approve the expenditure with few details about how the funds, requested by the Inland Water and Power Commission and the Eel River Project Authority, would be used.

Antle’s recommendation came on the heels of a budget report showing the county will begin fiscal year 2026–27 with a deficit of at least $4.5 million.

“I would just like to know what the IWPC and ERPA want to do with that money before signing off on it,” Supervisor John Haschak said. “I hadn’t heard about this before.”

Supervisor Ted Williams said constituents have been urging the county to prioritize road repairs. He described the proposed allocation to the joint powers authority formed to manage Eel River water diversions after the Potter Valley Project’s decommissioning as unexpected.

“We don’t even know what it’s for at this point,” Williams said. He proposed reducing the allocation to $50,000 and directing the remaining $450,000 to roads.

Supervisor Mo Mulheren countered that the expense should not come as a surprise.

“If you look at any ERPA or IWPC meeting, you can see that legal expenses and future planning costs are mounting,” she said. “If the County of Mendocino wants to continue participating in those conversations, it needs to set money aside.”

In her report to the board on a recent Inland Water & Power Commission meeting, Supervisor Madeline Cline included a slide titled “Potential Prioritization for Future Work,” that mentioned funding lawyers and lobbying.

Haschak noted that the county is current on its $84,000 in dues to the commission, whose members include the City of Ukiah, the Mendocino County Russian River Flood Control and Water Conservation Improvement District, the Potter Valley Irrigation District and the Redwood Valley County Water District.

Despite the limited information about how the $500,000 would be spent, the board voted unanimously to approve the allocation. Supervisors also approved an additional $2.5 million for “risk,” $360,000 for Little River Airport, $300,000 for capital improvements, $250,000 for the Low Gap Landfill project and $100,000 for architectural design work on a new courthouse.

(Mendolocal.news)

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KYLE ANDREW THOMPSON

Kyle Andrew Thompson, born 11/27/88; died on February 20, 2026, in Fort Bragg, CA.

He grew up playing baseball, motocross racing, wake boarding and camping. He was sensitive, creative and kind.

Kyle was most at home in the woods; he hunted mushrooms, picked berries, walked and rode his bikes and motorcycles on the many backroads and trails. Kyle related to God especially in nature.

Kyle worked as a commercial fisherman—he loved being on the ocean. Mostly he did tree work. He was a climber and a faller and took great pride in that. He was born with a chainsaw in his hand and a hardhat on his head!

Kyle was preceded in death by his father Mark Andrew Thompson, grandmother Beverly Thompson Poe; and his grandfather, James Reynolds. He is survived by his mother, Michelle Braga, step-father Joe Braga; his sister Mia Braga; grandmother Ilah Reynolds; numerous aunts and uncles, cousins and friends.

Services will be held at Chapel by the Sea at 11AM Graveside to follow at Rose Memorial Park on Friday the 27th of February.

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MENDOCINO COUNTY’S STRUCTURAL DEFICIT CONTINUES TO WIDEN

Spending on sheriff and jail continues to dominate at the expense of roads and facility maintenance

by Elise Cox

Mendocino County is facing a deepening structural deficit, with projected expenses continuing to outpace revenues through at least 2030, according to a recent mid-year budget review and preliminary forecasts for fiscal year 2026–27 (July 2026 to June 2027).

County officials warned that while this year’s books may technically balance, that balance depends on one-time revenue, optimistic assumptions and ongoing deferral of long-term obligations — particularly road maintenance and capital improvements.

“Mendocino County has operated under a structural deficit for many years,” Outgoing County CEO Darcie Antle said. “Long-term sustainability will require a deliberate and disciplined reset of county finances.”

A $4.5–$5 Million Starting Hole

Looking ahead to 2026–27, the executive office estimates the county will begin the budget cycle with a deficit between $4.5 million and $5 million — before factoring in any new departmental requests.

Salary and benefit costs alone are projected to climb from $90.9 million this year to roughly $93.5 million next year, an increase of $2.5 to $2.6 million. That figure includes:

• Step increases and new retirement rates
• A projected 10% increase in health plan costs
• $1.8 million for new jail staffing
• The cost of adding a newly elected position (after the Auditor-Controller is “deconsolidated” and separate from the Treasurer-Tax Collector)

Notably, the projection does not include potential cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), meaning the final deficit could climb higher.

Operating expenses are also trending upward. The county anticipates nearly $2 million in additional ongoing costs next year, including:

• A $19,000 to $20,000 increase in the CalFire dispatch contract
• An estimated $500,000 increase in CMSP (California Medical Services Program)/indigent care costs
• A 7% inflation factor applied to utilities
• A 10% projected increase in jail medical services

While average revenue growth is estimated at approximately 4.8%, the current budget model assumes only a 3% annual growth in expenses — a figure Supervisor Ted Williams called unrealistic. He asked the staff to come back with best estimates for inflation.

Public Safety Drives Spending Growth

Over the past several decades, spending on the Sheriff’s Office and jail has grown far faster than property tax revenue, which makes up the bulk of the county’s discretionary income.

During the meeting, supervisors reviewed historical charts showing jail and sheriff spending rising steeply since Proposition 13 limited property tax growth in 1978, while road funding steadily declined.

“We’ve defunded roads in our county pretty much on a consistent path since 1978,” Williams said.

The District Attorney’s Office is currently projected to exceed its budget by approximately $1.25 million this year. Supervisors acknowledged that reductions tied to a decrease in collection of the sales tax that helps fund the office, combined with salary increases under existing labor agreements, have compounded the problem.

The Sheriff’s Office is seeking outside funding sources to offset future jail staffing costs, including negotiations with the Department of State Hospitals and the Community Corrections Partnership. Without outside support, those costs would fall directly on the General Fund.

A $14 Million Reserve — Well Below Recommended Levels

The county’s General Fund reserve currently stands at approximately $14 million.

That figure falls significantly short of state auditor and Government Finance Officers Association recommendations, which suggest unrestricted reserves between $25 million and $40 million for a county of Mendocino’s size.

County officials acknowledged that relying on one-time windfalls to balance budgets creates risk. This year, an unexpected $2.8 million infusion — largely from a change in the accounting period and additional property tax revenue — helped close the gap.

But supervisors cautioned that the county should not assume similar surprises in the future.

“If we didn’t have that, we’d be creating more of a structural mess,” Supervisor John Haschak noted.

Deferred Maintenance: The Hidden Deficit

Perhaps the most sobering discussion centered on deferred maintenance.

Supervisors acknowledged that “balanced” budgets often come at the expense of long-term infrastructure needs. Road maintenance has been chronically underfunded for decades. At least $8 million in deferred capital facility maintenance has been identified, and the total need for roads and county facilities may reach into the hundreds of millions.

“We say we have a balanced budget because we can make payroll,” Williams said. “But we’re hiding the discrepancy somewhere. We’re waiting for the crisis.”

The board recently allocated $1 million toward road work, though debate continues over whether those funds should support the county’s 20-year rehabilitation plan or be used for smaller, more geographically dispersed repairs.

Revenue Options on the Table

Staff presented preliminary estimates for a potential half-cent sales tax measure:

• Approximately $9.6 million annually if countywide
• Approximately $3.8 million if limited to unincorporated areas

Any countywide tax would require lifting sales tax caps in two cities that are already at the state maximum.

Supervisors emphasized that no decision has been made, but acknowledged that new revenue may be necessary if the county hopes to stabilize finances without further cutting services.

Structural Gap Through 2030

Even under conservative growth assumptions, projections show expenses outpacing revenue through at least 2030.

Board members directed staff to return with department-by-department growth projections using three- to five-year historical averages, rather than applying a flat 3% inflator across all costs. The goal, they said, is to create a more realistic model of the county’s financial trajectory.

For now, the message from the dais was clear: The structural deficit is widening and without new revenue, significant spending restraint, or both, the gap between what the county promises and what it can sustainably afford will continue to grow.

(Mendolocal.news)

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DAN DUCKHORN

Sad news. Longtime Winesong and Mendocino Coast Healthcare Foundation supporter Dan Duckhorn passed away today at the age of 87.

In 2018, Dan while be honored as the Vintner of the Year for Winesong, kicked off the Fund-A-Need with an incredible record breaking $50,000 donation.

Our deepest condolences to the Duckhorn Vineyards family. Dan left an incredible legacy and lasting impact on the Mendocino Coast community.

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REMEMBER, NO VIOLENCE

Get Up Stand Up Saturday 2/28 11am to noon

Stand with friends & neighbors resisting the policies of the current regime.

11am to noon Saturday morning.

Main Street, sidewalk in front of Guest House Museum, 343 N. Main St., Fort Bragg, CA

Bring non-perishable food donations for the FB Food Bank; we’ll deliver.

This is a peaceful protest. We're gathering to say NO to the recent killings of Renee Good & Alex Pretti by ICE, erosion of civil rights and human rights and the loss of critical government functions, NO to unconstitutional deportations, NO to the destruction of social security, NO to authoritarianism, and YES! to democracy & rule of law.

Please stay on the sidewalk and avoid blocking entrances, exits, or traffic. Bring a sign, a friend, and your enthusiasm! And when you can, spend a little money at our local downtown businesses.

We will keep up this joyful resistance until the rule of law is restored and the assault on the US Constitution ends. Our home-made signs are stellar - bring ’em on - they are a hallmark of our protest.

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KOJI SAKE STYLE LAGER (SSL) LAUNCH PARTY THIS SATURDAY AT AV BREWING, BOONVILLE. 4PM-8PM!

Come join us this Saturday at the Brewery to celebrate the release in cans of our new Koji Sake Style Lager (SSL)! This bright, light beer has floral notes reminiscent of a sake, with all the goodness you’ve come to expect from Anderson Valley Brewing! We’re very proud of it, and can’t wait to share it. We’ll have Asian-inspired bites (perfect pairings) from Tina Eaton of Eaton Good, and live music from Adam Manus and TigerMoose!

Check out the videos below to learn a bit more about the journey to releasing this unique beer, and some of the ethos from kabuki that inspired us!

https://youtube.com/shorts/HK2-zNGUEx8

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LOS GALLITOS, 30TH ANNIVERSARY

The Fort Bragg City Council and the City of Fort Bragg proudly recognize Los Gallitos for 30 years of serving our community.

Family-owned and operated by the Valenzuela family since 1996, Los Gallitos first opened behind the Coast Theater and became the first Mexican restaurant on the Mendocino Coast to serve fresh local seafood — including their signature Fish Tacos and Ceviche. In 2018, they moved to their current location with a full bar, continuing a legacy rooted in Mexican heritage and community pride.

Join them for a 30-Year Anniversary Block Party with music, food, and giveaways (weather permitting).

Congratulations to the Valenzuela family — thank you for three decades of flavor, culture, and community!

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ALLAN GREEN TALKS ABOUT ANDERSON VALLEY WINE

by Terry Sites

Allan Green’s new book, “Pioneers of Anderson Valley Wine,” attempts to capture their stories before they disappear. The memories start with the earliest grape growers who were mostly Italian immigrants. The second wave of growers were of the “Back to the Land” generation. In 1985 there were still only four tasting rooms on the Valley floor. There is definitely room for a second book picking up in 1985 and continuing through the heyday to the present day when there are 30 tasting rooms give or take one or two.

Allan’s brother Frank wanted a country retreat. Allan’s dad, the well-known architect Aaron Green and his mother Jean, purchased 275 acres for $275 dollars an acre high on Greenwood Ridge outside of Philo. The family was visiting an architectural client in Cloverdale who had hired Aaron Green to design both a private residence and a dental office building. Somewhere along the line they picked up a hitchhiker (much to his mother’s dismay). He turned out to be a Harvard graduate who listened to their story and recommended that they proceed on to Boonville (which coincidentally was his ultimate destination) because it was beautiful and undiscovered.

Arriving in Boonville they located realtor T.J. Nelson who showed them several properties. One property had a livable house with a phone and a well. This was the one they bought. Needing a caretaker, they hired Steve Wood. The Green family hired Steve Wood creating Greenwood — it seemed that fate was taking a hand.

In 1974 when Allan was planting his vineyard, he rented a two-man gas-powered auger and got two high school kids to operate it. He borrowed two experienced vineyard workers to teach a crew how to plant his vines. The local Rainbow Commune supplied a team of resident women as the planting crew. Suddenly, the auger and its operators disappeared. When they reappeared, they claimed they had gone to get the auger “sharpened,“ but had actually gone to look for someone to buy them beer. Off to a slow start…

Once they got into the heat of planting, the “crew“ decided to go topless. Alan related that at this point, the male contingent became useless. It took a long time to get the planting done. (Winona Ryder who grew up on the Rainbow Commune was not involved.)

Allan brought us up to the present moment by telling us that today a vineyard management company would be hired to rip the entire vineyard area by machine. Rows would be laid out using lasers creating perfectly aligned rows with a bill of $100,000 per acre attached.

Returning to past history, by 1985 there were only four tasting rooms. It was common for customers to buy a case at each stop with an average bottle selling for somewhere between six and ten dollars. Fast forward to today. There currently 30 tasting rooms with a typical purchase of one bottle per visit. Times have changed. Allan‘s comment: “I’m glad I’m not trying to sell wine right now.” He also admits that, “When I came to Anderson Valley, I didn’t even drink wine. I started with Husch Rosé.”

The photos below were all well-known participants from the golden age of wineries and wine tasting rooms in Anderson Valley. Allan thinks the first time Anderson Valley wine was recognized as exceptional when Jed Steele’s Edmeades Old Vine Zinfandel sourced from the DuPratt, Capucci and Zeni vineyards was sampled by professionals in New York. The wineries all worked together to establish a formal Anderson Valley Appellation. Eventually Anderson Valley became known for Pinot Noir. Slowly the region was moving in a professional direction. Husch was the first bonded winery in 1971, followed by Edmeades in 1972 and Navarro in 1974.

Somewhere along the line Allan organized a “Greenwood Ridge Wine Tasting Championship” and kept them coming for 30 years. Lots of publicity brought attention including Newsweek Magazine and Oprah but not apparently a lot of wine sales. It did establish wine tasting as a spectator sport. One year 240 contestants entered the contest. It was definitely a happening thing.

Today those 30 tasting rooms are struggling to remain viable and are in the process of thinning out. Word is out that millennials are not the devoted wine drinkers that their parents were preferring cocktails, beer or hard seltzer and cider — or nothing at all. The Valley’s golden era that started around 1985 was starting to wane even before Covid hit. The romance of the annual grape growing and wine-making cycle is hard to beat. Those of us 50 and older observe the decline in wine making and drinking with sadness. But as Allan says, “Wine has always been a boom and bust business.” We can only hope for better days ahead.

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MAZIE MALONE:

I enjoyed the article on tipping. Around 1992, 1993. I worked for tips at Konocti Harbor Inn in Lake County. At that time minimum wage was $4.25 per hour. It was a union job, the plumbers union. I remember they paid us an extra $.25 every day we worked for a clean uniform. It was fun, but I was quite young. I met a lot of people. But working for tips sucks. It’s hard work and basically you have to kiss ass if you wanna earn that tip and some people are utter jerks.

In those days they had a lot of once famous musical guests perform there. Eddie Money came there every year. He was a smoker. When he performed there, he always had a big group of people with him — his wife, his kids, the nanny, and the band and some friends. Because he was a “rockstar” he was allowed to sit in the non-smoking section and smoke cigarettes to his heart’s content. While all the other guests had to choke down their food with his nasty ass cigarette smoke wafting through the air.

One time the band Loverboy played there. This was the early 90s so these bands were already no longer relevant. The restaurant stopped serving breakfast at noon and my friend Wanda got the pleasure of waiting on the band. However, the lead singer, Mike Reno. mosied on down to the restaurant after noon. He sat down with his other bandmates. My friend poured him a cup of coffee and then he decided he wanted to order breakfast. She had to explain to him they were no longer serving breakfast because it was after noon. That mofo got mad & threw his hot coffee on her! What a guy.

They were very busy when they had musical acts on the weekends so they did a lot of buffets for dinner and breakfast. I do not like buffets to this day because of it. One time a guy found a fly in his scrambled eggs that he got from the breakfast buffet. It was gross and he was extremely upset. But also people go up to buffets and scoop up food. You know after they scratch their face or wipe their kid’s nose without washing their hands and then they pick up the spoons and touch everything. No thanks.

The most I ever made in tips was $130 in an eight hour day. That was because the band New Kids On The Block was playing. We must’ve had every teenager and their family from Sonoma, Lake and Mendo county come to see the famous boy band.

The good thing about working there was not the tips, it was getting to see quite a few free concerts. The worst one was listening to David Crosby and believe it or not the best concert I saw there was Air Supply. Ha ha. They even had Willie Nelson, REO Speedwagon, Jefferson Airplane… Fun times, except for working your ass off to get a good tip to make ends meet.

The best tip I have ever received was $15,000, definitely not from waitressing. lol. My paying job is Caregiving and I took care of a gentleman for 10+ years and when he passed his family gifted me for my care and dedication.

There is a love-hate relationship with tipping. However, I tip good unless the service is bad.

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THE DEPUTY

SLIM PICKENS was a rodeo caller before he became a movie star. He said Boonville was the roughest town he ever worked in, which is saying something given all the tough rodeo towns there are. I was mildly shocked in my first years at Fair Time when the rodeo announcers, pros like Pickens from the outside, told “nigger jokes” to the great merriment of the crowd. (Mexicans were still invisible here in 1970)

Local friends of mine told me when they were little kids they'd sit outside the Boonville bars on weekends to watch all the fights. Up through around 1980, Fair Time still saw a lot of fights, many of them in the middle of Highway 128. The cops were out in force all weekend. Nearly sixty years later our town is famous for food, drink and tame men. There are no fightin' bars like the old Boonville Lodge, or even any fights to speak of, let alone celebrate.

IN the early 70s the Anderson Valley still had enough recreational violence and petty criminals to warrant a full-time resident deputy, a deputy big and strong enough to effectively maintain order in the town's night spots.

Enter Deputy Squires, whose predecessor had had his hat pulled down over his head and his gun stolen before he was shoved out the door of the Lodge. This wouldn't do, and here came “Keith” to work his entire career in the Anderson Valley, the most central figure in the community for thirty years.

I'm not saying it's true, but it soon went around that “Keith” seemed to have been instructed by his Ukiah headquarters to do what is necessary to maintain order. “Respectable people over there are complaining,” the Sheriff said. “Some hippie told me he'd been kidnapped. ‘I stopped in at the Boonville bar to get a six pack on my way to Mendocino and these cowboy-looking guys hooked up my VW Van up to their pickup with me in it and drove all over town. I thought they were going to kill me’.”

The Sheriff was tired of hearing what amounted to a low roar of complaints wafting over the hill to his otherwise silent cop shop out on Low Gap Road.

The new deputy was immediately tested by the Boonville night crew, and soon there were pleased rumors around town that Squires had “beat the shit out of so and so and dumped him off at his driveway.”

After hours order had been restored.

And the thieves soon knew that it would only be a matter of time before Squires showed up at their door, an experience I had firsthand when a family of crooks visited my wife's garage sale, leaving with items that weren't for sale. I called the deputy. “What'd they look like?” he asked.

The stuff was back in our possession in an hour.

The deputy lived not far from the center of Boonville, not nearly far enough, I'm sure, for Mrs. Squires. People wouldn't bother calling 911; they called Squires at home. Or show up at his front door at all hours. A tribe might have their chief, a commune their guru, the Anderson Valley had Deputy Squires.

He was laughing when he told me about the Boonville Mexicans who appeared at his door one night to complain that gunmen out of the Bay Area had just taken off with a whole season's worth of product. “They even hit us with their guns, Keith.” The southbound bandits had been intercepted at Santa Rosa and here the vics were asking, “Keith, can you get our property back?”

When the deputy sold his house and he and Mrs. Deputy moved to Sonoma County the curtain came down on the old Boonville. For almost four decades The Deputy, and he was the deputy all that time, had been a central figure in the life of The Valley.

The Deputy didn't miss much, if he missed anything, which made him an excellent cop. And he was fair. I don't know of anyone, including the most recent immigrant, who was reluctant to go straight to “Keith,” with a grievance. The guy was never off duty. We all knew where he lived, and we all had his home telephone number. Imagine that burden!

But at even the hint of gratitude for services rendered Deputy Squires would divert the comment away from himself. He saved the County huge amounts of time and money by working out a lot of stuff informally. He knew who had “to go over the hill,” and who only needed to be told to go home and stay there. And he seemed to know without even leaving his house who was doing what.

Apart from being on duty even when he was theoretically off, Keith and his wife Debbie devoted countless hours to the community, especially to youth sports. I can't count the number of letters we received at the newspaper asking us about Deputy Squires. Visitors would ask, “We want to meet Deputy Squires. Show us Deputy Squires.” We got more questions, by far, about The Deputy than we did about Hendy Woods or other local landmarks.

The Valley changed so fast and so fundamentally, and our few anchoring figures are either dead or gone, it's painful to write about The Deputy in the past tense. But he's gone. The Deputy never was indecisive.

(Bruce Anderson)

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LOCAL EVENTS

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TIDBIT FROM THE PAST

contributed by Katy Tahja

When traveling circus troupes came through Mendocino County in the old days often the animals were de-fanged. They still looked scary to the public, and sounded fierce, but they were safer to be around. Once a circus coming over the Cloverdale/Boonville Road (Highway 128) had an old grizzly bear in a caged wagon. Coming up the dirt trail in the opposite direction was Mr. Omar Robinson and Mr. Estell driving 200 pigs to market in Cloverdale. The two parties met at a turn in the road and the bear growled from his cage and 200 pigs took off in 200 directions to escape the imagined predator. It took two weeks to retrieve all the frightened pigs.

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CATCH OF THE DAY, Wednesday, February 25, 2026

MICHAEL AVILA, 38, Cobb/Ukiah. Failure to appear.

JESUS BERMUDEZ, 26, Fort Bragg. Vandalism, criminal threats, parole violation, resisting.

KEITH BROWN, 38, Ukiah. DUI, suspended license, probation violation.

SANTANA GARCIA, 25, Ukiah. DUI, controlled substance, paraphernalia, suspended license for DUI, resisting.

ASHTON KORC, 38, Willits. Burglary, offenses while on bail.

STEVEN MALEAR, 38, Willits. Domestic battery.

DIMITRIUS NAVARRO, 47, Fort Bragg. Assault with deadly weapon not a gun, corporal injury on child, wilful cruelty to child-possible injury or death.

JOHN PALACIOS, 57, Ukiah. Trespassing.

ALFONSO ROMERO-ZUNIGA, 33, Ukiah. Grand theft-dog.

VICTORIA VASQUEZ, 29, Hopland. Controlled substance, disobeying court order, probation violation.

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JEFF BLANKFORT:

90 years ago today, Sept. 26, 1929, my parents, Henry and Sylvia, were married in New York. One month later, the Wall St. stock market crashed. If there was any connection between the two events, none has been proven.

The two of them led lives that were an inspiration to both my sister, Jan, and me and although we think of them often and wonder what they would have to say about what is happening in our world today, this day is a little special.

This is apparently a studio portrait taken of the four of us in 1944 (and I just noticed my father is wearing a sweater vest my mother had knitted for him that I still have and occasionally wear).

He emerged after being blacklisted with his principles on top but could never work again in the movie industry.

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GET ME OUTTA HERE!

Warmest spiritual greetings,

Just sitting here on a public computer at the MLK Library in Washington, D.C. Today is "deep cleaning" day at the Adam's Place Homeless Shelter, so everybody was awakened at 6 which provided three hours for morning ablutions and packing up and exiting by the 9 o'clock deadline. There is almost nothing happening in Chocolate City of any socio-political importance. A minimal presence of random message protesting goes on in front of the White House. There is no activity on Capitol Hill. District of Columbia residents struggle to figure out how they are going to be here long term. The district is understandably broke, and the Federal government would just as soon see most folks below a certain wealth line disappear. Compassion from the government is conspicuous by its absence. Washington, D.C. used to be one helluva town. I don't know what happened, but it looks like a profound hangover defines it now. And I'm not even bringing up the street fentanyl laced with horse tranquilizer, which the insane criminal element is selling in order to kill off a certain segment of the population. Night time at the shelter looks like it is populated by walking zombies who are let in to be on cots, because the charities don't get money for empty spaces. With all due respect to Catholic Charities (whom I do greatly appreciate), the challenge is beyond their ken. I am ready to leave and go anywhere where I am spiritually solid, prepared for automatic writing and anything else which excites and moves my soul. Get me outta here!

Craig Louis Stehr, [email protected]

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BLOOD MOON OVER US IGNITES FEARS OF BIBLICAL END-TIMES WARNING

by Stacy Liberatore

A total lunar eclipse on March 3 will turn the moon a dramatic copper-red, creating a striking blood moon visible across North America.

The celestial event occurs when Earth passes between the moon and the sun, casting its shadow on the lunar surface.

As sunlight filters through Earth's atmosphere, the moon takes on its signature red hue. Totality begins at 6.04am ET, when the moon is fully immersed in Earth's shadow.

Observers can enhance their view with binoculars or a telescope, and photographers are advised to use a tripod with exposures of several seconds to capture the spectacle.

While scientists emphasize the natural beauty of the phenomenon, the blood moon has also sparked apocalyptic speculation online. Some social media users suggest it could be 'the one mentioned in the Bible.'

One user posted: 'Do you guys think that this upcoming blood moon on March 3rd is the one that is in the Bible? Joel 2:31 I'm pretty sure.'

The referenced verse reads: 'The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come.'

Joel 2:31 symbolizes cosmic disturbances and divine judgment, and is often interpreted as signaling a time of impending danger for the wicked and salvation for the faithful.

The blood moon has long been tied to biblical prophecy, often seen as a warning of cosmic upheaval or divine judgment.

Several passages in the Bible describe the moon turning red, signaling a major event or God's intervention.

Key references include Joel 2:31, Acts 2:20, which echoes the same imagery, and Revelation 6:12, which describes the moon becoming like blood during apocalyptic events.

Believers often interpret these verses as signs that a blood moon could herald a time of upheaval, judgment for the wicked, or salvation for the faithful, giving the March eclipse a heightened sense of spiritual significance.

Whether seen as a scientific marvel or a divine omen, the March 3 blood moon promises to captivate viewers and stir conversation.

A blood moon, or total lunar eclipse, is considered rare because it requires a precise alignment of the sun, Earth, and moon during a full moon.

While total lunar eclipses occur on average every 2.5 years, this alignment only happens when the moon crosses Earth’s orbital plane at a point called a node, making the event a striking and uncommon sight.

According to NASA, totality will be visible in the evening across eastern Asia and Australia, throughout the night in the Pacific, and in the early morning in North and Central America as well as far western South America.

The eclipse will appear partial in central Asia and much of South America, and it will not be visible in Africa or Europe.

The total lunar eclipse will begin at 3.44am ET, when the moon enters Earth's outer shadow, causing a subtle dimming.

The partial eclipse starts at 4.50am ET as the moon moves into Earth's main shadow. To the naked eye, it will look as if a 'bite' is being taken out of the moon, with the covered part appearing very dark.

Totality begins at 6.04am ET, when the entire moon is in Earth's shadow and takes on a deep copper-red color.

Totality ends at 7.03am ET, as the moon leaves the shadow and the red color fades, showing a 'bite' on the opposite side.

The partial eclipse concludes at 8.17am ET, leaving only subtle dimming, and the entire eclipse is over by 9.23am ET.

'You can observe a lunar eclipse without any special equipment,' NASA explained.

'All you need is a line of sight to the moon. For a more dramatic experience, seek a dark environment away from bright lights. Binoculars or a telescope can also enhance your view.'

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SIMPLE MAN

Mama told me when I was young
Come sit beside me, my only son
And listen closely to what I say
And if you do this
It will help you some sunny day

Oh take your time, don't live too fast
Troubles will come and they will pass
Go find a woman and you'll find love
And don't forget son
There is someone up above

And be a simple kind of man
Oh be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh won't you do this for me son if you can?

Forget your lust for the rich man's gold
All that you need is in your soul
And you can do this if you try
All that I want for you my son
Is to be satisfied

And be a simple kind of man
Oh be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh won't you do this for me son if you can?
Oh yes I will

Oh don't you worry, you'll find yourself
Follow your heart and nothing else
And you can do this oh baby, if you try
All that I want for you my son
Is to be satisfied

And be a simple kind of man
Oh be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man
Oh won't you do this for me son if you can?

Baby be a simple, be a simple man
Oh be something you love and understand
Baby be a simple kind of man

— Ronnie Van Zant (1973)

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ANYBODY can get in a boxing ring. You don't have to be brave to do that. Bravery is standing up. Most of the time it's standing up by yourseIf when you believe in something. That's bravery. The hardest thing to do is to dare to compete.

— George Foreman

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ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY

Did you see the latest on Newsom? He actually told a black audience that he too had low SAT scores. Can you imagine?! Black audiences should be used to this sort of thing by now. They had Hillary and her hot sauce, Barack berating them over sexism, and Biden telling Charlamagne Tha God that they weren't black if they didn't vote for him. Most of them continued to vote Democrat, so I doubt Gavin's open racism will repel enough of them to matter. It's almost as if they're so flattered by the pandering, that they disregard the obvious racism.

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ON TUESDAY NIGHT, Donald Trump delivered a long and news-free address to the nation. “There was no resetting of the narrative, no course correction nor even a meaningful explanation of what the course is,” Susan B. Glasser writes.

The problem for Trump is that he’s not a persuader; he’s a pitchman, the kind of salesman who transmits in exclamation points all the fantastic, terrific, unbelievable features of the new car he wants you to buy. “A short time ago, we were a dead country!” Trump said in his speech. But, as Susan B. Glasser writes, “The salesman is not who you want to talk to when when you have the broken-down old jalopy towed back to the lot and demand a refund. Based on the polls, it’s pretty apparent that America wants its money back.”

(The New Yorker)

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THE UGLY UNDERBELLY OF THE US HOCKEY VICTORY

by Dave Zirin & Jules Boykoff

*Since the publication of this piece, a video of President Donald Trump making a locker-room call to the men’s team emerged. During the call, Trump invited the men’s team to the State of the Union and mocked the women’s team while the male players laughed. While the men attended the State of the Union and gave Trump a gold medal, the women have declined all invitations.

The US Olympic hockey team beat Canada 2-1 in overtime in the gold medal game at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics on Sunday. The Canadian team showed up angry. Our neighbors to the north were upset because of how bellicose and erratic President Donald Trump has been toward the nation he proposed making the 51st state.

“Canadians feel insulted by who they thought were their allies. It’s a matter of pride,” one fan from Nova Scotia said to The New York Times.

As for Team USA, it was ready to fight—literally—because Trump had deemed Canada, Canadian Bacon-style, the enemy, and the players were ready to follow orders. The US squad was chock full of Trump supporters who were more than willing to provide a photo op for Vice President JD Vance and the embarrassing FBI director Kash Patel.

When Trump called the US skier Hunter Hess “a real Loser” for expressing nuanced “mixed feelings” about representing the United States, US hockey player Brady Tkachuk sided with Trump, saying, “To represent the US at this stage in the Olympics is one of the greatest honors that I’ve ever had, so I’m truly grateful to be here representing the red, white, and blue.”

Unlike other US Olympians speaking out against this regime, men’s hockey players chose to be lickspittles. In that regard, this hockey team is part of a rather ignominious gold medal USA hockey tradition. A fan at the 2026 Milano Cortina Games donned a hockey sweater with “1980” emblazoned across the chest, the year a US hockey team became a legendary symbol of national unity. But in the years that followed, Republicans have used that legend to sow division.

Trump holds incredible nostalgia for the “Miracle on Ice” Olympic hockey team of 1980. This was the squad that, in one of the great Olympic upsets of all time, defeated the USSR in the semi-finals before winning the gold. Pundits turned the victory into a right-wing symbol. It showed that the country had moved away from the social struggles of the 1960s and 1970s and embraced the crypto-fascist variant of patriotism best exemplified in the 1980 election of Ronald Reagan.

In 2020, many members of that 1980 team rallied with Trump in Las Vegas, wearing their MAGA hats, laughing at Trump’s mockery of the Oscar-winning film Parasite, nodding solemnly as he asked why they don’t make films like Gone With the Wind anymore, and praising Trump repeatedly. For some reason, Trump asked team captain Mike Eruzione to tell the crowd he was a good golfer and Eruzione responded, “Whatever you say, sir.”

That team is now in their 60s and 70s and Trump—as he did when partying with Jeffrey Epstein—is looking for younger models. The gold-medal-winning team at the Milano Cortina Olympics includes players who have caped for the president. Last year, at a White House visit following the Florida Panthers’ Stanley Cup victory, Matthew Tkachuk (Brady’s older brother) heaped praise on Trump: “It’s kind of like that cherry-on-top finish… to be here at the White House today and meet the president of the United States and lucky enough to have him honor us is just so cool and something that I honestly never would’ve imagined.” Addressing Trump directly, Tkachuk added, “This is such an incredible day for myself. You wake up every day really grateful to be an American, so thank you.”

This is 1980 cosplaying, but unlike then, the ugly underbelly is there for everyone to see. Partying with the players afterward was Patel, guzzling beer, jumping around, and thumping the table like a drunken frat boy. It was a humiliating display. He was there to represent Trump—and given Patel’s craven, ham-handed coverups of Trump’s connections to Epstein—there could not have been a better stand in for Trump himself.

The real Olympic heroes are the athletes who won’t—as the right-wing noise machine blared—“shut up and ski.”

Eileen Gu, super-star freestyle skier who herself experienced extreme online abuse when she chose to represent China, rather than the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics, responded, “I’m sorry that the headline that is eclipsing the Olympics has to be something so unrelated to the spirit of the Games. It really runs contrary to everything the Olympics should be.”

Hess himself responded to Trump—and the torrent of MAGA vitriol that he unleashed—like a champ. Acknowledging that being attacked by a sitting US president led to “probably the hardest two weeks of my life,” he channeled the stress into humor. After completing a run on the halfpipe, he gave L-sign with his hand and said of his imbroglio with Trump: “I definitely wear [it] with pride.” Hess added with a twinkle, “Apparently I am a loser. I am leaning into it.”

US snowboarder extraordinaire Chloe Kim also defended Hess. “It’s important in moments like these for us to unite and kind of stand up for one another with what’s going on,” she said.

Then cross-country skier Zak Ketterson also stood up for Hess, saying, “I think it’s pretty childish to come at somebody for exercising their free speech, right, and considering that side of the political spectrum always champions free speech, it’s a little, I think, surprising to see them so triggered.”

He was backed by fellow US cross-country skier and medal winner Ben Ogden, who stated, “I choose to believe that I live in a country where people can express their opinions without backlash.” He had the guts to mention the president directly, “Certainly not… without backlash from the president. And that was really disappointing to see, but I hope it doesn’t continue like that.”

That’s exactly it. During the Milano Cortina Olympics, Trump has been the crotchety, disgruntled grump punching down on a US Olympian from a lesser-known sport. To see the wealthiest, most privileged athletes on Team USA—the Tkachuk brothers play in the NHL, where their salaries dwarf those of freestyle skiers like Hess—is not just disappointing; it’s nauseating. But the solidarity proffered by fellow Olympians was heartening. This is a pick-a-side moment in the United States, and they picked the right one.

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LEAD STORIES, THURSDAY'S NYT

Epstein Files Are Missing Records About Woman Who Made Claim Against Trump

A Deal or War? Crucial Talks to Begin Between U.S. and Iran.

Surgeon General Nominee Sidesteps Questions on Vaccines at Senate Hearing

Patel Ousts F.B.I. Personnel Tied to Inquiry Into Trump's Retained Classified Records

Florida Boat in Gunfight Had Cuban Nationals Intent on 'Infiltration,' Cuba Says

The Housing Market Is Tilting Back Toward Buyers

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THE BUSINESS PLOT of 1933 was an alleged conspiracy in which a group of wealthy American industrialists and financiers sought to overthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose New Deal policies threatened their economic interests.

According to retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler, the conspirators planned to recruit him to lead a massive veterans’ organization, modeled on European fascist movements, and use it to pressure or forcibly remove, Roosevelt from office. Butler testified under oath in 1934 before the McCormack–Dickstein Committee, revealing that the plotters intended to install him as a figurehead dictator while they controlled the government behind the scenes.

Although the committee found Butler’s testimony credible, no one was prosecuted, and major newspapers at the time downplayed or dismissed the story. Later investigations and historical analyses suggest the plotters underestimated Butler’s loyalty to democratic institutions; instead of joining them, he exposed the scheme.

The Business Plot remains one of the most striking examples of how economic elites, threatened by sweeping reforms during the Great Depression, considered extreme measures to preserve their power.

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A COLD CASE HEATS UP: The Townhouse Explosion 56 years later

by Jonah Raskin

Of all the events that unfolded in the first half of the 1970s, none has haunted me more than the blast in an apartment building in Manhattan that claimed the lives of three members of Weatherman and their fledgling underground organization. All that past came back to me the other day when a journalism student at Columbia reached out to interview me about the “townhouse explosion,” as it has come to be known. A very cold case has suddenly heated up, and not by any prosecutor or by Trump’s Justice Department. The case is so old that it’s now “academic.” But is it “safe” to talk about it?

I have been interviewed about it and have written about it for more than five decades. I keep trying to wrap my head around it and it doesn’t want to be wrapped. It’s too messy.

The BBC interviewed me before anyone else could get their hands on me. I had no problem talking about the explosion. I have never had a problem. I talk too easily and perhaps make up for people who say little or nothing, perhaps out of a sense of fear. The Columbia journalism student who reached out to me belonged to a team assigned by their professor the task of writing about the blast and its fallout. A tough assignment. Memories have faded. Secrets have burrowed even deeper down than ever before. Sixties self-proclaimed revolutionaries have become armchair lefties and wallow in nostalgia. I live on memories.

At this late date, we probably won’t ever know what actually took place in the townhouse on March 6, 1970, and in the days and weeks running up to that time. I did hear through the grapevine that one of the bomb makers accidentally connected two wires that ought not to have been connected. Kaboom! In the winter of 1971, about a year after the townhouse explosion, I watched a knowledgeable bomb maker assemble the bomb that went off in the US Capitol, that destroyed property and didn’t take anyone’s life.

Cathy Wilkerson is the only person alive today who was inside the building when the bomb went off. She wrote her memoir, Flying Close to the Sun: My Life and Times as a Weatherman published in 2007.

Odd that she didn’t call herself a Weatherwoman. Wilkerson did not tell all. Maybe she didn’t remember. After all, in the wake of the explosion, she was in a state of shock and had to rely on a Weather sister to lead her to safety and wash the debris from her clothes and her body. I hope she tells all now. The statute of limitations has expired, and as far as I know no one can be charged with the murder of Diana Oughton, Teddy Gold and Terry Robbins, the firebrand of all firebrands, who was not destined to grow old and live a long life. I learned that about Terry when I worked with him in the SDS national office on Madison Street in the summer of ’69, two months before the Days of Rage.

Does anyone care what happened in the townhouse? Maybe no one who is politically active today. Protesters from Minneapolis to Los Angeles and beyond seem to have rejected violent tactics and armed struggle, which were watchwords in the Sixties. In the streets today, most demonstrators advocate and practice non-violent resistance. They haven’t picked up the gun or made bombs, though that hasn’t stopped them from being maligned as “terrorists.”

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, I espoused violence and took part in violent demonstrations, rioted in the streets, trashed windows, overturned cars and was arrested and tortured. I was also charged with attempted murder of a police officer and criminal anarchy. The charges were dropped. I didn’t become a pacifist until 1995 when I traveled to Vietnam, met old Vietnamese men who had fought against the French, and young Vietnamese men and women who spoke Russian, and in the wake of the fall of the Soviet Union, wanted to learn English. They saw the handwriting on the wall. I gave them assignments and they took me to the movies. In Hanoi, I came to the conclusion that no one wins a war, though everyone involved loses one.

I was then and still am today reluctant to condemn the use of violent means to overthrow oppressive regimes from Iran to Hungary. MLK was reluctant to condemn the young Black men who used violence in the 1960s. He pointed out famously that his own government was “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world.” Maybe it still is, though it has competition from other nations, including Russia which is bombing the fuck out of Ukraine.

In 1970, when the French novelist, Jean Genet visited the US to rally support for the Black Panthers, I asked him about the Weather Underground. “The underground has very small bombs,” he said. “The US has very big bombs.” Or as Allen Ginsberg said, “Who bombs? We Bomb.”

In Hanoi, among survivors of the French War and the American War and the War against the Japanese, it struck me for the first time that violence corrupts and contaminates. It comes back to bite the hands of those who use it against their perceived enemies, though as far as I can see the Vietnamese have been able to evade the curse attached to violence. Perhaps because more violence was perpetrated against them than they perpetrated against the US.

I wondered and still wonder if the Weather Underground was a terrorist organization and whether Terry, Teddy and Diana were terrorists. Perhaps not when compared to Hamas or the Shining Path or any of the guerrilla organizations that once operated from Angola to Bolivia. Now, as then, state terror rains down a global reign of terror. The goal of the Weather Underground, or at least one of them, was to strike fear into the hearts and minds of Nixon administration heavies and to try to terrorize them.

In one of her earliest communiqués, issued on July 26, 1970, Bernardine Dohrn intoned, “Today we attack with rock, riots and bombs, the greatest killer-pig ever known to man—American imperialism.” She added, in an aside to Attorney General John Mitchell, “Don’t look for us, dog. We’ll find you first.” I knew Bernardine and I know that it felt good to express those sentiments. It also felt good to hear them if you were a Yippie, an anti-war radical, or like me a target of a federal grand jury investigating the townhouse explosion. I didn’t testify, though I received a subpoena. That’s another story.

On New Year’s Eve 1969, after I attended the Weatherman “War Council” in Flint, Michigan—where I declined Kathy Boudin’s invitation to me to join the underground cell she was forming— I talked to Monthly Review (MR) editor Paul Sweezy. I said, “MR shares with Weatherman the notion that the main contradiction in the world is between the imperial center and the underdeveloped world on the periphery.”

Paul replied, “That’s true, but it doesn’t mean that we advocate armed struggle in the US.” I found it challenging to accept Weatherman ideology and to reject Weatherman tactics and strategy. Ah, if only revolution was a simple, straightforward matter, in which no one on my side died or was injured.

I hope that the students assigned to write about the townhouse will not accept at face value what their sources tell them, and that after nearly 70 years, they realize it might not be possible to ascertain the facts. Still, the stories that have been told can be just as, if not more, illuminating than any facts. Maybe a “terrible beauty,” to borrow William Butler Yeats’ expression, will emerge and surprise us all. Those of us who were alive in 1970 and those of us awakening to the terror authored by the greatest purveyor in the world today—the US government.

(Jonah Raskin is the author of Beat Blues, San Francisco, 1955.)

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I NEEDED A VACATION

I needed 5 women. I needed to get the wax out of my ears. My car needed an oil change. I'd failed to file my damned income tax. One of the stems had broken off of my reading glasses. There were ants in my apartment. I needed to get my teeth cleaned. My shoes were run down at the heels. I had insomnia. My auto insurance had expired. I cut myself every time I shaved. I hadn't laughed in 6 years. I tended to worry when there was nothing to worry about. And when there was something to worry about, i got drunk.

— Charles Bukowski

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THE LAWS OF MOTION

(for Harlem Magic)

The laws of science teach us a pound of gold weighs as
much as a pound of flour though if dropped from any
undetermined height in their natural state one would
reach bottom and one would fly away

Laws of motion tell us an inert object is more difficult to
propel than an object heading in the wrong direction is to
turn around. Motion being energy—inertia—apathy.
Apathy equals hostility. Hostility—violence. Violence
being energy is its own virtue. Laws of motion teach us

Black people are no less confused because of our
Blackness than we are diffused because of our
powerlessness. Man we are told is the only animal who
smiles with his lips. The eyes however are the mirror of
the soul

The problem with love is not what we feel but what we
wish we felt when we began to feel we should feel
something. Just as publicity is not production: seduction
is not seductive

If I could make a wish I’d wish for all the knowledge of all
the world. Black may be beautiful Professor Micheau
says but knowledge is power. Any desirable object is
bought and sold—any neglected object declines in value.
It is against man’s nature to be in either category

If white defines Black and good defines evil then men
define women or women scientifically speaking describe
men. If sweet is the opposite of sour and heat the
absence of cold then love is the contradiction of pain and
beauty is in the eye of the beheld

Sometimes I want to touch you and be touched in
return. But you think I’m grabbing and I think you’re
shirking and Mama always said to look out for men like
you

So I go to the streets with my lips painted red and my
eyes carefully shielded to seduce the world my reluctant
lover

And you go to your men slapping fives feeling good
posing as a man because you know as long as you sit
very very still the laws of motion will be in effect

— Nikki Giovanni (1970)

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