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YESTERDAY'S HIGHS: Boonville 92°, Ukiah 91°, Laytonville 91°, Covelo 91°, Yorkville 89°, Fort Bragg 64°, Point Arena 58°
DRY WEATHER and above-seasonable temperatures are expected to continue with widespread Minor HeatRisk for the interior through Friday. Temperatures will cool gradually this weekend and into early next week, yet remain above normal. The chance of precipitation increases by mid next week. (NWS)
STEPHEN DUNLAP (Fort Bragg): [yesterday's "until further notice" turns out to be the next day] Dense fog & 46F this Wednesday morning on the coast. Fog & clouds are now back in the forecast discussion for the immediate future. Good luck trying to time the fog, it comes & goes as it pleases. A chance of rain next week, the NWS says yes, the Weather Underground says no, we'll see ?
THAT BIG FINANCIAL RECKONING MEETING of the Willits City Council last Monday night to address their dire financial situation (an estimated $2.4 million deficit this fiscal year) resulted in a Declaration of Fiscal Emergency and layoff notices for seven city staffers, as well as the elimination of around a dozen vacant positions. The council also reorganized and consolidated several remaining positions. The city’s water and sewer departments are separate entities with their own funding and therefore no layoffs in those areas. About $1 million in revenue from the city’s recently passed three-quarter cent “Emergency Sales Tax” will also be re-allocated to the City’s General Fund to make up most of the remainder of the deficit for this fiscal year. However, Willits still faces ongoing funding shortfalls and more reductions are likely to be made next year. (Mark Scaramella, based on a more comprehensive report by Bernard Kamoroff in the current Willits Weekly. )
SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS NEEDED
Anybody looking to spend some time in our local schools and help us cover positions that are crucial to student success that are hard to fill if anyone calls out sick or needs time off? Call the District Office and start the process to be a sub at AVHS or AVES!
CORRECTION: Apologies to generous Grange donor WADE Lemons for his $500-plus donation (of his lottery winnings) to the Grange (not Wayne Lemons) at the recent Variety Show. Oops! (Terry Ryder)
THE REDWOOD VALLEY MUNICIPAL ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 11, 2026
by Monica Huettl
Report from Redwood Valley-Calpella Fire Department
Fire Marshall Matt Keizer announced that the new Fire Chief Marty Creel, sworn in November 2025, is no longer with the department. Justin Ebert is the Acting Fire Chief. When asked about Creel’s departure, Keizer said he was unable to comment.
(We followed up after the MAC meeting. A review of the Fire Department board agendas and minutes reveal that Chief Creel’s performance review was discussed in private session at three special board meetings in January and February, and that per the draft minutes, as of February 19, Creel was put on paid administrative leave. We telephoned and texted with the members of the department in an attempt to find out more. Board Chair Stephanie Dunken texted on March 16 that “an official press release will go out no later than tomorrow morning.” By the time you read this story, the press release may have been posted on the Redwood Valley-Calpella Fire Department website.)
The department will be getting a new light rescue vehicle at the end of April, plus one other vehicle, and will be selling a Type 1 engine that it no longer needs. The department has an open position for a duty officer.
MAC Chair Dolly Riley commented that the Roads A & B Firesafe Council will apply for a micro-grant to purchase reflective house address numbers so that fire fighters can see your address in low visibility conditions.
Report from First District Supervisor Madeline Cline
Correction:
Cline provided clarification to last month’s MAC report that said she was not prioritizing the draft county noise ordinance. She IS working on the noise ordinance, and it will come back to the Board of Supervisors soon.
The Board of Supervisors heard a presentation from the Planning and Building Department regarding the County’s possible approval of low-impact camping on private property. (Note: The dominant player in the field is Hip Camp, which is similar to AirBnB, but for camping.) Host properties would need to be at least two acres. Only one campsite per acre would be permissible, with a limit of nine campsites per host license. The County would follow the provisions for low-impact camping set forth in AB 518, passed by the State Legislature on October 1, 2025.
The discussion concerned possible low-impact camping inland, as the coastal zone is subject to oversight by the California Coastal Commission, and will have different rules than the inland part of the county.
Hosts living on private roads would need to get sign-off from other residents on the road before being issued a license. If passed, the county anticipates a pilot program with a cap of 99 total hosts. If a host has 3 complaints, their license will be revoked. If the manager does not live on site, they must be available to arrive within 20 minutes if there is a problem. The supes also discussed short-term rentals. They are reviewing how neighboring counties are handling short term rentals and low-impact camping.
The County financials show that $10 to $12 million is available to be used for one-time funding. The additional money is largely due to catching up on back property tax collections. $1 million was allocated to road maintenance. This will not be enough for repaving, but will be used for patching potholes. Redwood Valley is in line to get some actual repaving done in 2027. The BOS discussed whether to put a one-cent sales tax increase on the November ballot, with the revenue specifically allocated toward road repair. (Note, after the March 11 RV MAC meeting, the BOS did approve putting the sales tax increase on the ballot.)
Community member Gabriel Baca commented, “To expect working class families to pay for that is not fair,” as a sales tax hits lower income people harder than the affluent. He urged the supervisors to find other funding sources. Supervisor Cline pointed out that in 2017 the California legislature passed a bill to reallocate gas tax revenue, giving less money to rural counties. The state considers counties that raise sales taxes to be “Self-Help Counties.” Self-help counties decide how to use the funding from sales taxes toward transportation, and may be eligible for additional state funds.
The use of electric vehicles has lowered the gas tax revenue, and California is looking at a mileage tax that would capture revenue from electric vehicles. Cline pointed out that a mileage tax is unfair to people in a rural county who have to drive long distances, and for farmers who might be driving on their own property. MAC Member Chris Boyd suggested that the county might consider a half-cent rather than a full cent sales tax.
Supervisor Cline will travel to Sacramento to be a witness at the State Senate Public Safety Committee’s hearing on SB-936, a bill brought forth by State Senator Catherine Blakespear to ban the retail sale of nitrous oxide statewide for abusive purposes. The MAC voted to send a letter in support of the nitrous oxide ban to the Public Safety Committee.
Supervisor Cline recently made a trip to Washington, DC for the National Association of Counties (NACO). She connected with California legislative representatives and advocated for Mendocino County, specifically for raising Coyote Dam at Lake Mendocino.
Cline commended Assemblyman Chris Rogers for holding multiple town hall meetings in Mendocino County. Rogers’ next town hall will be Saturday, March 21 at Potter Valley High School from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.
Report from Sheriff Matt Kendall via Zoom.
Sheriff Kendall is going over the punch list with the contractors at the new wing of the jail to ensure everything is completed correctly.
Sheriff Kendall attended the National Sheriff’s Convention in Washington, DC, where he sought grants for cannabis and human trafficking enforcement. He will ask the BOS to approve four more positions in his department. 12 employees are out on family and medical leave, and that has put a dent in staffing.
Mendocino County is being hit by a crime wave of scammers. The criminals call or email pretending to be law enforcement and asking for money to clear outstanding warrants. Please report any scammers to the Sheriff’s office. Mail theft is a continuing problem. Kendall said, “People are worried about their Amazon packages, but they really should be worried about documents that could lead to identity theft. … If you have a rural mailbox, please check it every single day.”
When asked about recent reports of gunshots fired on Laughlin Way and West Roads, Kendall had no information to report.
Water Matters.
Water rate increases were approved by the Ukiah Valley Water Authority in April. Another water rate increase will be coming in July.
Grange Update.
Alternate MAC Member Marybeth Kelly reported that proceeds from the Grange flea markets have raised enough money to fund four scholarships for Ukiah high school students. Awards are prioritized for students who are going on to study agricultural or animal science. Flea markets are every second Saturday.
The Grange Adopt-a-Road cleanup will take place from 9 am to 11 am on Saturday, March 21. Meet at the Grange to help with trash pickup from the Firehouse to Held Road.
Report on Mendocino Council of Governments (MCOG).
Gizmo Henderson reported that the MCOG has not decided on the location of the proposed transit mall, a hub for public transportation. The MCOG board discussed whether to put it next to Kohl’s, or at the new courthouse. Henderson prefers the north end of town at the Masonite site, because this will be a transit hub for the entire county, there is no need for every bus to travel into downtown Ukiah, and he feels that the new courthouse location will be congested.
Report on the Redwood Valley Recreation Center Steering Committee.
Marybeth Kelly said they haven’t heard anything yet from the school district in response to the proposal submitted to acquire the Redwood Valley School property. This matter is not on the agenda for this week’s Ukiah Unified School District Trustees meeting. A decision is expected by the end of March. The School District has been discussing the matter in closed session at previous board meetings. Kelly said, “We have a lot of momentum behind us.” The steering committee asked the District Attorney to contribute $100,000 out of the pool of over $1 million in asset forfeiture funds to help acquire the school property. The District Attorney and the Sheriff manage the asset forfeiture funds, some of which are supposed to go to organizations that support keeping kids out of gangs, something a community recreation center could accomplish.
Redwood Valley Community Action Plan.
On February 24, the BOS approved community specific policies for Redwood Valley to be incorporated in the County’s General Plan. Some of the highlights: redevelopment of Redwood Valley Middle School; improved pedestrian access in the downtown corridor; support agro- and eco-tourism; support use of local native species for landscaping; prioritize cluster development for homes, leaving open space for the community; prioritize outdoor versus indoor cannabis grows; promote green energy in new commercial developments; and try to attract non-polluting light industry to Redwood Valley.
Public Comment.
Gizmo Henderson reported on the State of the Community Summit meeting presented by the Greater Ukiah Business and Tourism Alliance on February 26. Plans were announced for a solar farm at the south end of Ukiah. The event was attended by representatives from Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla.
Moratorium on New Gas Stations.
The MAC submitted a proposed resolution to the BOS on October 8, 2025, advocating for a moratorium on new gas stations in the county. The BOS have not replied.
There has been no action on the Faisan Corporation’s application to build a 10-pump gas station at the shopping center it owns on North State Street.
Cannabis Standing Subcommittee.
The County General Government Committee meets on March 25 to discuss cannabis. Subcommittee members Chris Boyd and Patricia Ris-Yarbrough will monitor the General Government Committee meeting.
Member Reports.
The Redwood Valley MAC has an open position for a member. The MAC census will be shrinking from 7 members to 5, with two alternates.
The MAC hopes to get the principal from Eagle Peak, or someone from the school district, to speak at the April Board meeting to discuss solutions to the traffic gridlock in front of the schools during drop off and pick up.
The next MAC meeting is April 8.
MENDOCINO SHERIFF:
Happy St. Patrick’s Day from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office! We started this week with promotions and a new Corrections Deputy.
Sheriff Kendall on Monday hosted a ceremony to promote Sheriff’s Sergeant Brandon Juntz and Acting Sheriff’s Sergeant Mark Harden.
New Corrections Deputy Kolby Avelar was sworn in and longtime Sheriff’s employee Jen Reyes will be taking on new responsibilities as a sheriff’s evidence room technician.
Please help us congratulate Jen, Kolby, Mark and Brandon as they take on their new responsibilities.
We are hiring! If you or someone you know is interested in a rewarding career with the Sheriff’s Office, click the link below and apply.
72-YEAR-OLD WOMAN JUMPS OUT OF WINDOW, CRAWLS TO NEIGHBOR'S HOUSE TO ESCAPE ATTACKER
38-year-old Willits man is arrested on suspicion of attempted murder
by Elise Cox
A 38-year-old Willits man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after authorities say he strangled and severely injured a 72-year-old woman in whose home he was living during an early morning assault Friday, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies were dispatched around 12:20 a.m. to the 27000 block of Hawk Drive, north of Willits, after a neighbor reported that the woman had crawled to their home seeking help following the attack.
Officers with the Willits Police Department arrived first and provided aid until medical personnel took over. The woman was found with facial injuries consistent with strangulation and broken bones in her lower extremities. She was initially taken to a local hospital and later transferred out of the county for further treatment.
Sheriff’s deputies launched an attempted murder investigation after interviewing the victim at the hospital. Meanwhile, Willits police officers remained near the Brooktrails residence and saw the suspect, identified as Don Wiltse, in the driveway of the home, where he also lives. Officers detained him pending further investigation.
Authorities said Wiltse made threats against law enforcement officers while being detained.
Investigators determined that the assault followed an argument inside the home. Wiltse allegedly chased the woman into a bedroom, strangled her and threatened to kill her. When she tried to call 911, deputies said, he took her phone.
The woman escaped by jumping from a window about nine feet off the ground, then crawled to a neighbor’s home to get help.
Deputies later obtained a search warrant for the residence and collected evidence related to the assault.
Wiltse was arrested on multiple charges, including attempted murder, assault causing great bodily injury, criminal threats, elder abuse and resisting a peace officer. He was booked into the Mendocino County Jail and is being held on $1,205,000 bail.
(MendoLocal.news)
NO KIN OF MINE
Correction To Yesterday’s MCSO Press Release Re: The Donald Wiltse attack on the 72 year old woman in Willits.
“This updated press release is being distributed to correct an inaccuracy that was published in the original press release from 3/16/2026. The original press release stated the 72-year-old female victim from Willits was assaulted by her relative, Don Wiltse (38-year-old male from Willits).. The victim and Wiltse are not biologically related, but they lived together prior to the incident on 3/13/2026. The victim told investigators she considered Wiltse her "grandson", but they are not relatives. This case is still being actively investigated and anyone with information related to the assault that occurred on 3/13/2026 is requested to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Dispatch Center at 707-463-4086 (option 1). Information can also be provided anonymously by calling the Sheriff's Office non-emergency tip-line at 707-234-2100.”
LOCAL EVENTS (this week)
SUPERVISOR TED WILLIAMS:
AB 2494, demonstration state forest system, Tuesday, March 24 - BOS
Item: Discussion and possible action by Mendocino County to formally support Assemblymember Chris Rogers’ AB 2494, which would modernize the operations of the demonstration state forest system, will be heard at the Tuesday, March 24 Board of Supervisors meeting. The agenda, including Zoom and phone participation details, is expected to be published by Thursday evening, March 19.
MENDOCINO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS TO REVIEW ASSEMBLY BILL 2494: “MODERNIZING OUR FOREST SYSTEM”
In response to significant public interest, inquiries, and community feedback, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors will review and discuss Assembly Bill 2494, titled “Modernizing Our Forest System,” during its regular meeting on Tuesday, March 24, 2026.
AB 2494 would redefine “management” for purposes of state forests as the handling of forest vegetation and soils within state forests for biodiversity conservation and fire resilience, while maximizing the promotion of durable onsite carbon storage and sequestration, climate resiliency goals, equitable forest access, wildlife and recreation opportunities, and compatible research efforts.
For more information, please visit the California Legislative Information website at: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2494
The discussion will take place as part of the Board’s regularly scheduled legislative items and will provide an opportunity for Supervisors to engage in dialogue, ask questions, and hear from staff. Members of the public are encouraged to attend or submit comments.
The meeting will be held at the County Administration Center in Ukiah and will also be accessible via the County’s virtual meeting platform.
For the agenda and participation details, visit the County of Mendocino’s official website at: mendocinocounty.gov.
CHRIS SKYHAWK:
Recently I was cruising on the Coastal trail, when a lady asked me if I’d seen any whales. I replied, “Not today” and we got into talking about whales. She had been to Mexico and the birthing lagoons, and a mother actually nudged a calf toward the boat, she got to touch the calf, and as she described the experience, she shivered with emotion and began to weep. I talked about my recent experience in Mexico seeing humpback whales. And she said, “I wish I could understand them and their language.” I said, “You are speaking it right now!” She gave me a queer look, and I said, “They don't speak in words, they speak the language of the heart, which you are speaking right now!” She sobbed even more deeply, and a short time later we both went on our way. I was left to ponder and marvel what a gift my life is at this time, in that I am given moments like that to connect deeply with a stranger, I LOVE it!!
ID QUESTION OF THE DAY:
Born and raised in Fort Bragg. Who was he?
CATCH OF THE DAY, Tuesday, March 17, 2026
TIMOTHY ERICKSON, 28, Nipomo/Fort Bragg. Elder abuse resulting in great bodily harm or death, battery with serious injury.
ARIEL GRAY, 39, Willits. DUI with blood-alcohol over 0.15%.
VIKTORIA LADD, 31, Clearlake/Ukiah. Disorderly conduct-alcohol, battery on peace officer.
JUSTIN LEE, 38, Fort Bragg. DUI, suspended license, probation revocation.
MATIAS PINTO-LARA, 23, Covelo. Assault with deadly weapon not a gun, domestic battery.
ASHLEY POTE, 34, Willits. Domestic battery.
AARON SCHLEICH, 40, Fort Bragg. Assault with deadly weapon not a gun, vandalism.
ALFREDO TECPOYOTL, 44, Ukiah. DUI.
NASH WHITEMAN, 19, Redwood Valley. Probation revocation.
HOTTEST DAYS OF CALIFORNIA HEAT WAVE STILL TO COME
by Anthony Edwards
This week’s California heat wave, dubbed a “marathon,” is approaching the midpoint — somewhere between milepost 10 and 13. The most grueling stage is yet to come.
March temperature records will continue to be threatened statewide through Friday before a slight reprieve over the weekend. But it’s all relative. Much warmer-than-normal weather will continue for at least another week.
Only minor temperature fluctuations are expected Wednesday and Thursday along the coast and in the Central Valley as readings push toward monthly records. San Francisco may cool a degree or two from Tuesday, but it’ll hardly make a difference. The Sierra Nevada and Mojave Desert will warm up with each passing day. True summerlike heat is expected in both areas, in the 70s and 100s, respectively.
Friday will probably be the hottest day of the week across the state. That’ll present San Jose’s best shot of reaching 95 degrees and open the door for San Francisco and Oakland making another run at 90 degrees. Palm Springs could even reach 110 degrees.
Coastal heat advisories and warnings are set to expire at 8 p.m. Friday.a
The high-pressure system will shift east over the weekend, keeping the Desert Southwest, southern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains under intense heat. The system’s movement will promote a stronger sea breeze Saturday, cooling San Francisco and Los Angeles to the 70s and 80s, respectively. Those highs are still about 10 degrees above average in each city.
“The most intense heat will begin to wane somewhat … but highs are expected to still remain well above normal compared to March climatology,” the National Weather Service said.
Warm and dry weather is favored through the end of March. Only far Northern California is forecast to be brushed by light precipitation next week, with low odds for significant rain or snow anywhere south of Interstate 80.
Wednesday breakdown
San Francisco: Well above-normal temperatures will continue, though Wednesday may be slightly cooler than Tuesday. An earlier arrival of the sea breeze should keep the outer Richmond and Sunset districts in the 70s and the inner areas in the low 80s. Downtown should reach the mid-80s. Overnight lows will be warm, in the mid- to upper 50s west of Twin Peaks and low 60s to the east, with hills above 500 feet remaining in the upper 60s.
North Bay: The brunt of the heat wave will continue as Wine Country highs climb well into the 80s, with low 90s in eastern Solano County and northern Sonoma and Napa counties. A sharp temperature gradient is expected along the coast, in the upper 60s at the beach, 70s a few blocks away and 80s a mile inland. Overnight lows will range from the upper 50s to low 60s in the valleys to the mid-60s to mid-70s about 500 feet in elevation.
East Bay: High temperatures will soar toward 90 degrees in Antioch, Brentwood, Concord, Walnut Creek, Danville, Dublin, Livermore, Hayward and Fremont. A very shallow marine layer should keep Oakland in the upper 80s and Richmond, Berkeley and Alameda in the mid-80s. Overnight lows will be in the upper 50s to mid-60s along the bay shoreline and in the interior valleys, while the Oakland and Berkeley hills will be in the upper 60s to low 70s.
Pacific Coast and Peninsula: Temperature contrast between the coast and bayshore cities will be more pronounced than recent days, as slight cooling is anticipated at the beaches while highs remain steady along the Highway 101 corridor. Daly City, Pacifica and Half Moon Bay will probably see their highs around noon, in the 70s, before a weak sea breeze drops temperatures to the 60s in the afternoon. South San Francisco, San Mateo and Redwood City should warm to the upper 80s. Overnight lows will be in the upper 50s to low 60s.
South Bay and Santa Cruz: Another record hot March day is on tap for the South Bay as temperatures surge to the low to mid-90s. Upper 90s are possible in Boulder Creek, Ben Lomond and Gilroy. A weak breeze off Monterey Bay should keep highs in the mid-80s in Santa Cruz, slightly cooler than earlier this week. Overnight lows will range widely, from the upper 40s to low 60s in the valley to the mid-60s to mid-70s in the mountains.
(sfchronicle.com)
‘SNOW-EATER HEAT WAVE’ IS SEARING CALIFORNIA. WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR FIRE SEASON?
by Anthony Edwards
California’s summerlike heat, coming far earlier than normal, is rapidly melting the state’s snowpack and raising fears that the wildfire season will begin early.
Fire danger, for now, is low. Grasses are green and snowmelt is keeping vegetation watered in the Sierra Nevada. But the heat wave is a blowdryer, in a sense, zapping moisture from grasses and quickly wiping away high-elevation snowpack.
That’s what worries scientists and officials come summer.
“Generally early loss of snow means things have the potential to become drier earlier in the season and more dried out and flammable by later summer,” said Daniel McEvoy, a climatologist at the Western Regional Climate Center and Desert Research Institute.
At higher elevations, snowmelt is helping keep the landscape moist and less prone to burning, though warm temperatures this winter have significantly limited snowfall and the fire protection it provides.
“It looks like this record-breaking heat wave is going to further melt the snowpack and dry out the fuels earlier than we’d expect,” said Craig Clements, director of the Wildfire Interdisciplinary Research Center at San Jose State University.
The best hope, Clements said, is more precipitation and cooler temperatures in April.
April, which comes at the tail end of California’s wet season, proves tricky for long-range weather forecasts. Climate signals like El Niño and La Niña have insignificant impacts on California’s weather in spring. The storm track also tends to meander in spring, proving hard to predict beyond a few days.
The existing snowpack may not make it to April.
Record-breaking high temperatures, as much as 30 degrees above normal, are forecast at the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab through Saturday. Warmer-than-normal conditions, though not as extreme, are favored through the end of March.
The lab’s entire snowpack may melt off by the first week of April, its scientists said in a social media post Monday morning. That would be about five weeks earlier than normal.
Scientists describe this as a “snow-eater heat wave,” which is defined as one above freezing both day and night for at least three days, with temperatures about 11 degrees above normal. Snow-eater heat waves were found to nearly double typical spring snowmelt rates, according to a multi-institute study currently under peer review, led by Alan Rhodes at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
While the Sierra’s rapid snowmelt is a concern, scientists say recent wet and snowy winters should provide an ecological buffer.
“There has not been a widespread drought in over three years,” McEvoy said.
In the Bay Area, the weather service warned this week’s combination of hot, dry conditions “would be a slam dunk red flag warning in the summer,” but noted that “the hills are still green and will not be receptive to burn.”
Clements said moisture levels in California’s vegetation, a key metric for assessing fire risk, remain generally normal for this time of year. But that’s likely to begin changing, as the heat is expected to dry out dead fuels, like fallen trees and brush piles, making them potentially flammable at a record level for this time of year. Even grasses will start drying, known as curing, amid the record temperatures.
“After this week, we’re going to see a lot of the hills curing,” Clements said. “In the East Bay, I’ve already seen some of the southern-facing slopes start to cure. That’s problematic because of the possibility of spring fires.”
The weather service says the “next period of concern is … sometime around next weekend,” as the high-pressure system breaks down and winds pick up.
Cal Fire, the state’s firefighting agency, isn’t expecting more wildfires than average this week, since vegetation moisture levels remain normal. But it is gearing up for an earlier — and therefore potentially longer — peak fire season because of the mild winter and recent spike in temperatures.
“Most of the brush and grass right now is still green from the rain we got,” said Brent Pascua, a battalion chief for Cal Fire based in San Diego. “After this week, you’ll start to see the grass begin to turn brown and be ready to burn.”
Cal Fire will continue monitoring the state’s wildfire situation, Pascua said, and will send additional firefighters, engines and equipment to areas where the risk grows.
He added, “just because it’s winter and springtime and we should be getting more rain, doesn’t mean we will.”
Julia Rutherford, a fire weather meteorologist at the U.S. Forest Service, said by email that “it is too early to draw definitive conclusions about this summer’s fire season,” in Northern California — not least because late-season storms could still arrive.
Rutherford wouldn’t speculate how wildfires would behave come summer, but noted worrying trends.
“There are factors of concern beginning to line up with the current low snow pack and early onset of heat wave conditions, but what happens after this week … is going to play a bigger role in determining how severe our fire season is this year,” she said.
(sfchronicle.com)
HEAD FAKES
Editor,
During Joe Biden’s tenure the Justice Department initiated investigations of Donald Trump’s various “excesses” because Trump broke the law — trying to overturn an election, keeping classified documents, etc. And the Justice Department investigated Trump as they should have. Biden didn’t order them to. Trump’s Justice Department, under orders from Trump, is going after people Trump deems his enemies in order to punish them and then trying to find laws with which to charge them.
There’s a difference between blatantly and publicly breaking laws and trying to find a law to apply against someone who merely is publicly against Trump. This whataboutism is typical of Trump supporters who want to take the focus off the laws Trump and his administration have broken by trying to pin similar offenses on others. It doesn’t make Trump’s lawlessness any better.
Annette Flachman
Windsor
TRUMP’S IRAN SCAM
Editor,
As the Trump administration defunds infrastructure for wind and solar power generation, dismissing renewable energy as a “green new scam,” we find ourselves tethered to an energy source that comes from dinosaurs.
With the war with Iran tightening its grip on global oil supplies, the “energy independence” promised by a fossil-fuel-only philosophy has turned out to be a house of cards. The Trump administration has removed the lifeboats while the ship is springing leaks — literally.
Oil tankers are now floating bombs, and recent strikes in the region have already turned the sea black and rained soot over cities, creating an ecological disaster.
By abandoning sustainable energy options at a moment when global chaos makes them most necessary, we haven’t secured our future; we’ve simply ensured that our economy will falter, and human health and the environment are victims.
It is quite the achievement to manufacture an energy crisis and environmental disaster simultaneously. History will likely find it less pithy and more tragic that we chose to go dark just as the sun and wind were becoming our most reliable allies.
Michael Gill
Berkeley
NOT A VIDEO GAME
Editor:
The military campaign against Iran was assigned the codename “Epic Fury,” essentially “massive rage.” The White House put out a release with the headline “America’s Warriors Are Obliterating Iranian Terror Regime with Unrelenting Force.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth explained this won’t be a politically correct operation: “We fight to win, and we don’t waste time or lives.” Taking the above descriptions alone, you might think “Epic Fury” was an action movie or a video game, and you wouldn’t exactly be wrong. The White House actually posted a video titled “Justice the American Way” that merges clips from a video game with action movies and Iran missile strike footage. The likely goal: portray America’s aggressive superiority.
This strategy may have a vulnerability, however. It appears Iran has so many cheap easily made drones that our more limited and expensive defenses won’t be able to keep up. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump sees “Epic Fury” as a business transaction. From an interview: “We expect casualties, but in the end it’s going to be a great deal for the world.”
Currently, the Trump administration’s jingoism may be sufficiently impressing enough Americans, but start adding more U.S. casualties and Trump’s supposed “great deal” may dramatically implode around him.
Sherman Schapiro
Eureka
GEORGE KITTLE'S REVELATION RAISES MORE QUESTIONS FOR 49ERS MEDICAL STAFF
by Alex Simon
Just weeks before San Francisco 49ers star George Kittle tore his Achilles in a playoff game and drowned his sorrows in tequila, the tight end suffered a different injury — and he believes the two might be connected.
Kittle made an appearance on an episode of the “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast that dropped Tuesday, where he said his Achilles recovery is going “great” and that he is “exactly where I want to be.” Kittle even said his surgeon, Dr. Neal ElAttrache, had stopped by Kittle’s Nashville home to check in on him.
Later in the conversation, Kittle said people had been asking him why the injury happened and what he had done to cause it. Kittle quipped, “I don’t know, dude, it was Week 20 of an NFL f—king season, my body’s broken down.” But then Kittle revealed a previously undisclosed injury he had apparently suffered a few weeks before the fateful game against the Eagles.
“My biggest thing that I thought it was was when I played the Colts on ‘Monday Night Football,’ I, I tore, like, two ligaments in my ankle, and then I hurt it again because I kept playing on it,” Kittle said, referencing the Week 16 matchup in Indianapolis. “And so then I was very lopsided, or I was compensating really bad. I think that was a big part of it too, like I was compensating for the last three weeks on one ankle, and like, so all the weight was on my right side. I was basically running — everything was on my right side, plus it was a weird position.”
Kittle said that the prior ankle injury, and his adjustment to that, would be his “best guess” as to why he then tore his Achilles. He added he hadn’t been feeling any soreness prior to that first-half play in Philadelphia.
Now, it’s rather standard for NFL players to play through some variety of injuries during a season, and most players would rather be on the field than not — and Kittle did leave the Colts game early and proceed to miss Week 17’s game against the Bears because of the ankle injury. Still, Kittle’s revelation is just the latest example of a questionable Niners injury that doesn’t seem to reflect well on the team’s training staff.
Earlier this month, ex-49ers quarterback Josh Johnson said he suffered a concussion in the 2022 NFC title game against the Eagles but stayed in the game until he suffered a second concussion. In the 2024 season, the 49ers saw star running back Christian McCaffrey have his own weird injury situation dominate the headlines. Then linebacker Fred Warner revealed he played with a bone fracture in his ankle for the vast majority of the season.
The 49ers certainly play a bruising style of football, which is the likeliest reason that the team has a high injury count (no, it’s not the electromagnetic field). But there are serious questions piling up about the 49ers medical staff — including from the players themselves, as the most recent round of NFL Players Association report cards saw the Niners players give their training staff and training room a C-minus. This update from Kittle will only add more scrutiny to the team’s medical staff.
MAUREEN VS MAUREEN RE: KENNEDYS
I was going to write in comments in the AVA about Maureen Dowd's horrible column on JFK Jr. but then thought, Who cares? But today I saw this episode on The Nerve, Maureen Callahan's site, about her disdain for M.D.'s writing and thought your readers might like to take a look. I found M.C. because of the AVA and read her (I think excellent) book ‘Ask Not (The Kennedys and the Women They Destroyed).’
— Jayne Thomas
'SHOCKING' ABUSE ALLEGATIONS SHAKE CELEBRATIONS OF ICONIC ACTIVIST CESAR CHAVEZ
by Madilynne Medina
The Cesar Chavez Foundation, a nonprofit honoring the late civil rights leader, said it is “deeply shocked and saddened” by the emerging abuse allegations against Chavez.
The foundation stated Tuesday that during his time as president of the United Farm Workers of America, Chavez is accused of engaging in “inappropriate sexual behavior” with women and children.
The organization’s leaders are working with officials in the farmworker movement to address the “disturbing” allegations, the foundation said.
The farmworkers union founded by leaders Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta said it will not take part in annual celebrations of the famed activist following abuse allegations involving Chavez.
The union, United Farm Workers, did not provide details about the allegations except that they are “deeply troubling,” involve “young women or minors” and some are tied to “family issues,” according to a Tuesday statement. UFW also said it doesn’t have direct reports or firsthand knowledge of the allegations.
“However, the allegations are serious enough that we feel compelled to take urgent steps to learn more and provide space for people who may have been victimized to find support and to share their stories if that is what they choose,” the union wrote in its statement.
In the coming weeks, union leaders plan to establish a “confidential channel” for people to share details of experiences they may have had with Chavez in the union’s early years.
“These allegations have been profoundly shocking. We need some time to get this right, including to ensure robust, trauma-informed services are available to those who may need it,” the union said.
Cesar Chavez Day is celebrated on the late activist’s birthday on March 31 to commemorate farmworkers’ and laborers’ rights.
In Texas, a march in Corpus Christi for Cesar Chavez was canceled because of the allegations, and Huerta also dropped out of the event, the San Antonio Express-News reported.
The United Farm Workers was originally founded as the National Farm Workers Association in 1962 in California.
I PREDICTED THE 2008 GREAT RECESSION. WHAT IS COMING MAY BE WORSE.
by Richard Bookstaber
At the start of the 2008 financial crisis, I was at a hedge fund. By its end, I was at the U.S. Treasury. At both, I worked with people only a few years out of college. The drama of 2008 was all they knew about financial markets. “Remember what’s happening,” I told them. “You’ll never see anything like this again.”
Now I’m not so sure. Maybe they’ll see worse.
We have returned to a period of risk, one rife with the sort of pressures that have led to major financial crises. This time, the risks are spread across industries, markets and nations: artificial intelligence, the roughly $2 trillion private credit industry, stock markets, Taiwan and now Iran. These risks are analyzed one by one, news article by news article. We understand them in isolation. Yet they are different entry points into the same underlying structure — a complex and tightly coupled system where the specific source of stress matters less than how quickly that stress can spread.
Signs of systemic strain are emerging.
Let’s start with private credit, which is already showing worrisome signs. Over the past two decades, the retreat of traditional banks after the financial crisis has left many companies increasingly reliant on borrowing from institutional investors. But these loans rarely exchange hands, leaving investors uncertain about what these instruments are really worth or how easily they could be sold if conditions deteriorate.
Now clouding the picture is the fact that many of the borrowers underpinning the lending industry are software and technology companies — the kinds of businesses whose services could be replaced by A.I.
That vulnerability is starting to worry investors. Already uneasy about the way higher interest rates are raising borrowing costs, some have begun withdrawing their money from the private credit funds of well-known companies like Blue Owl, BlackRock and Blackstone. Shares in Blue Owl have fallen sharply. And because the market has no organized exchange and information is inaccessible, investor withdrawals can trigger the kind of wholesale run that in the past turned financial stresses into full-blown crises.
Simultaneously, the A.I. boom is driving extraordinary investment into a small group of dominant technology companies, inflating their valuations to the point that 10 stocks now account for more than a third of the S&P 500’s value. That level of concentration is unprecedented — and dangerous, because it means a shock to any one of these companies can ripple across the entire market rather than be absorbed by it.
What appear to be separate developments — a new kind of lending market and technological dislocation on one hand, stock market exuberance on the other — are in fact the same network of money and expectations, approached from different directions.
Of course, private credit isn’t only financing those companies vulnerable to A.I. It is also a critical source of financing for the infrastructure that drives A.I. — the data centers and semiconductor chips. This infrastructure is largely being built by the handful of companies like Google and Microsoft that dominate our stock market. In this tightly connected system, the weakening of private credit strains the A.I. investments of the tech Goliaths, which in turn threatens the stock portfolios, the retirements and the pensions of tens of millions of people.
In addition, the A.I. boom is placing new strains on the physical infrastructure it depends on. It drives enormous electricity consumption and has a ravenous appetite for advanced semiconductors. These carry geopolitical weight.
Take Iran. An energy shock from the conflict that raises the cost of power or constrains its supply directly affects data centers and A.I. production, raising costs for the A.I. Goliaths, which then transfer those pressures to our private credit and stock markets.
Then there’s Taiwan. If China were to invade or blockade it, America’s access to semiconductors would be severely limited. That would immediately slow deployment of A.I., weakening the companies driving the A.I. boom, with the inevitable knock-on effects.
Our current financial system fails not because any one thing goes wrong. It fails because different shocks propagate through the same structure and in ways that are hard to anticipate. When something eventually goes wrong, it spreads faster than it can be contained.
It is critical that our policymakers realize that private credit is not just a parallel risk sitting alongside the A.I. boom. A.I.’s data centers, chips and infrastructure have been built largely on private loans. Investors in those loans cannot easily sell their positions. So if there is any quake in the system and they find they need to raise cash, they will do what investors do when they can’t sell what they want to sell: They sell what they can. And what they can sell easily are the large, publicly traded technology stocks that dominate the major indexes.
This is not the first time we have built a system like this. The crisis of 2008 is often remembered as a story of homeowners gorging on excessive debt, a housing bubble fueled by speculation and millions of mortgages going bad. But the housing bubble itself was not the reason the crunch became so destructive. The accelerant that pushed the crisis to such depths was the financial system that had been constructed around the housing market. Novel and complex financial instruments obscured the risk, intertwined balance sheets across the financial system and eliminated the buffers that once absorbed shocks. When the housing market tanked, these instruments nearly took our entire financial system down with it.
This time, the danger isn’t financial engineering. It’s that our financial system has attached itself to the vulnerabilities of our physical world — power grids, water, land, supply chains — and created hazards that markets have no framework to analyze. Our models for detecting risk look at prices, volatility and correlations. They have no instruments for reading a grid failure, a drought or a severed supply chain. By the time warning signs show up in market data, the damage will already have been done.
The physical risks of Iran, Taiwan and the A.I. boom are supplanting the types of financial risks that preceded 2008. I’d take financial risk any day. Financial risk moves just prices. Physical risk moves the world.
(Richard Bookstaber is the author of “A Demon of Our Own Design,” which in 2007 warned of the 2008 financial crisis. His forthcoming book is “A Risk Manifesto: Decisions in the Face of Material Events.”)
NEAL CASSADY AND KEN KESEY BUST YOU OUT OF CLASS…
by John Cassady
I bought the Grateful Dead's first Album for about $3.50 at McCool's Music in Los Gatos. (Remember that Store?) It would cost more than that just to PARK there nowadays! Anyway, I was reading the liner notes on the record jacket in my bedroom at our house in Los Gatos. That's when you and Jami were "Ballerinas," and Mom got Jami a Prescription for Dexedrine, 10 mg, to keep her extra skinny. Dad would go into her (and Your) Bedroom, and ask if he could "Borrow" some "Dexies," (as if he needed anymore "Stimulants"). "Sure, Daddy." So he would empty most of the bottle into his shirt pocket!
Anyway, he noticed me holding the Dead record. I had no idea at the time that he was friends with "The Band." So a couple of weeks later, I'm sitting in a class at School, trying to stay awake. Back then, in the front of the Classroom, there was a blackboard, (now they're all "whiteboards," Doesn't matter), a clock, and an Audio Speaker. Over the PA came, "John Cassady, Report To The Principal's Office." The Teacher nodded toward the Door.
I thought, "Oh SHIT! What did I do wrong THIS time? I haven't been caught smoking behind the Gym, (lately). My shirt tail is tucked in. My hair is above my ears and collar. ("Dress Codes" were pretty "Draconian" back then). A side note: I drove by the School a couple of Years later, and the Guys had hair down to their waist! I felt like yelling, "Hey, I Pioneered That Look For You!" (I Get No Respect).
So I opened the Door to the Principal's Office, and there's Dad and Kesey, leaning on the Counter. They were dressed in White Jumpsuits, with "Psychedelic" colors and Pins and stuff on them. (One pin said, "Go Easy On Kesey." I've still got that one. Pot Bust, etc.). I recall Dad was wearing "Beatle Boots," "Day-Glo" Orange in Color.
The Principle had his fists on the Counter, and he looked, well, confused, for lack of a better Word. He said, "this Man claims to be your Father!" So Dad pulls out his wallet and shows the Principal his Drivers Licence. Of course, it had expired in 1948, but at least it had his Picture on it. I said, "what's up, Dad? What are you doing here?" He replied, "Johnny, don't you remember? You have a Dentist Appointment at 3:00 PM!" I said, "oh, yeah, sorry. I forgot." So I "Played Along." I grabbed my cheek, and said something clever, like: "I think it's a Molar."
Have you ever watched that Movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." There's a scene when Ferris goes to pick up Sloan in the Ferrari. Well, Ken, Dad, and I go down to the car, a giant Buick, and the Dean of Boys is standing on the steps right behind us, with his arms crossed, looking suspicious. Kesey opens the back door, and a cloud of pot smoke billows out! I got in, next to two "Hippie Chicks," and we Roared Off.
I asked, "Dad, where are we going?" It's like he pretended not to hear me, over the loud radio and his "Never-Ending" stories, so OK. We stopped at two or three houses around San Jose, (do you know the way?), and gathered a bunch of their friends to form an "Entourage Caravan." I remember seeing Dad in the Kitchen of one of the Houses, downing a cap full of a white powder, followed by a glass of water. I thought, "Pepto Bismol!" (Yeah, as if! Ha ha).
We finally reach our Destination: ANOTHER HIGH SCHOOL! In Mountain View, CA. Do you remember in High School, (neither do I, ha ha), there was a "Teachers Lounge?" I walked by one once when the door was ajar, and I saw my English Teacher smoking a cigarette! (She was about age 24 - I wanted to Marry her). Anyway, our whole "Troop" marched down the Hallway at this High School, and went straight into the infamous "Teacher' Lounge." It made me nervous, at first. There was Jerry Garcia, my "Guitar Hero," sitting on a folding chair, his Black Les Paul Custom guitar in his lap, with his feet up on a table, and he was noodling scales and stuff, while four or five guys, (whom I assumed were Teachers, because they all had necties on), were listening intently, while Jerry explained "How The Universe Works." Man, I wish that I had one of those little Sony Cassette Recorders in my Pocket! (But they weren't invented yet).
Ken and Dad introduced me to Jerry, and I said something clever, like, "I, Um, Yeah! Wow." (Instead of "Man, I Dig Your Work!"). Ken and Dad were in the corner of the room, watching and smiling. But what I was really thinking was "Wow. You Guys Are Still Playing High School Proms? Man, the money must be good!"
The Stage was in the Gym, about the size of Manhattan. The Band did a "Sound Check," and I stood right under Jerry, hoping for clues to take home to my own guitar. (Yeah, good luck! Ha ha). Then the doors to the Gym opened, and about a dozen Gazzilian kids rushed in, virtually pinning me to the front of the Stage! It was kind of scary. I looked around, and saw Ken and Dad, sitting about six rows up on those old "Fold-Out Bleachers." When the Show started, Ken was nodding slowly, eyes closed. Dad was twitching and gesturing around, to every Beat. What I thought was funny was that there were 6 Cheerleaders, all in Costume, with their "Pom Poms," 3 on each side of Ken and Neal, doing Cheers between Songs! I thought, "OK. Now I've 'Seen It All'"
BTW: Years Later, every time that I would meet Jerry, the first thing that he would ask me was, "Johnny, how's your Mom?" Always the "Consummate Gentleman!"
Thanks for listening,
Johnny "Rock & Roll High School" Cassady
“EVERY LIFE is in many days, day after day. We walk through ourselves, meeting robbers, ghosts, giants, old men, young men, wives, widows, brothers-in-love, but always meeting ourselves.”
— James Joyce, ‘Ulysses’
“A FEW LIGHT TAPS upon the pane made him turn to the window. It had begun to snow again. He watched sleepily the flakes, silver and dark, falling obliquely against the lamplight. The time had come for him to set out on his journey westward. Yes, the newspapers were right: snow was general all over Ireland. It was falling on every part of the dark central plain, on the treeless hills, falling softly upon the Bog of Allen and, farther westward, softly falling into the dark mutinous Shannon waves. It was falling, too, upon every part of the lonely churchyard on the hill where Michael Furey lay buried. It lay thickly drifted on the crooked crosses and headstones, on the spears of the little gate, on the barren thorns. His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.”
— James Joyce, ‘Dubliners’
“I WILL TELL YOU what I will do and what I will not do. I will not serve that in which I no longer believe, whether it calls itself my home, my fatherland, or my church: and I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defense the only arms I allow myself to use — silence, exile, and cunning.”
— James Joyce, ‘A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man’
SCRAMBLED EGGS AND WHISKEY
Scrambled eggs and whiskey
in the false-dawn light. Chicago,
a sweet town, bleak, God knows,
but sweet. Sometimes. And
weren’t we fine tonight?
When Hank set up that limping
treble roll behind me
my horn just growled and I
thought my heart would burst.
And Brad M. pressing with the
soft stick, and Joe-Anne
singing low. Here we are now
in the White Tower, leaning
on one another, too tired
to go home. But don’t say a word,
don’t tell a soul, they wouldn’t
understand, they couldn’t, never
in a million years, how fine,
how magnificent we were
in that old club tonight.
— Hayden Carruth (1996)
NOT A MORON
Mar. 16, 1966 - Stephen Dennison (pictured), 57, was awarded $115,000 yesterday by a New York State judge who ruled he had been wrongly labeled a moron and then driven insane during 34 years of confinement after he had stolen $5 worth of candy in 1926.
Judge Richard Heller of the State Court of Claims said: “In a sense, society labeled Dennison as subhuman, placed him in a cage with genuine subhumans, drove him insane, and then used the insanity as an excuse for holding him indefinitely.”
Dennison was 16 in 1926 when he stole marshmallows and chocolate bars from a roadside stand. After violating probation, he was sent to the State Reformatory at Elmira, where psychologists classified him as a low-grade moron, a determination Heller called a “tragic mistake.”
He was transferred in 1927 to the Institution for Male Defective Delinquents at Napanoch and held there until 1936, when he was ruled insane and moved to Dannemora Prison for the Criminally Insane. His maximum sentence had expired, but authorities regarded him as insane and therefore ineligible for release.
In 1960, State Supreme Court Justice Robert Main ordered Dennison freed on a writ of habeas corpus, ruling he had not been properly informed of proceedings at Napanoch.
Judge Heller said yesterday that three independent tests after Dennison’s release conclusively established Dennison “possessed average intelligence and that he could not possibly have been a low-grade moron at some other point in his life.
“The most reasonable assumption is that the tests used at that time were almost entirely verbal and that an individual lacking in verbal skills because of poor educational or family background would inevitably tend to do poorly.”
He added that “the conclusion is inevitable” that Dennison became psychotic after several years at Napanoch, attributing it to confinement there.
Dennison, who has been drawing $24 a week in unemployment insurance after being laid off from a janitor’s job, said he plans to place the award in a trust fund.
“I have memories, but I try to forget,” he said. “I expect to get married one day and have a home. I hope I’m not too late.”
"IN A NATION ruled by swine, all pigs are upward mobile — and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: Not necessarily to Win, but mainly to keep from Losing Completely…"
— Hunter S. Thompson
LEAD STORIES, WEDNESDAY'S NYT
Israel Is Picking Off Iran’s Leadership, but ‘Decapitation Has Its Limits’
In His Resignation Letter, Joe Kent Spoke About the Death of His Wife
Why Won’t Europe Help Trump in Iran? Let’s Count the Reasons.
Rift Widens Among Republicans Over Israel and War in Iran
Admiral’s Comments Undercut Pentagon’s Cluster Munition Policy
ON-LINE COMMENT OF THE DAY
Mass shooters are disturbed, lonely, murderous, nihilistic people seeking desperately to establish lasting meaning—even if negative—in their own lives is not only frighteningly contagious it also reminds me of America's present president and how he became his awful self thinking he alone can do things and needs to slap his name and image on everything he can.
JOE KENT'S COURAGE AND CONSCIENCE, AND THE CRAVEN CAREERISM OF TULSI GABBARD
Gabbard has endured every humiliation and jumped through every hoop to cling to her increasingly meaningless position in Washington. But today was a new low.
by Glenn Greenwald
Tulsi Gabbard, the Trump administration’s Director of National Intelligence (DNI), has spent years warning of the evils of regime-change wars in general and a U.S. war with Iran in particular. When she was running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2019 and 2020, she vehemently condemned what she derided as “neocons” and “warmongers” for trying to push President Trump into a war with Iran.
Gabbard’s opposition to a U.S. war with Iran was so strident that she was actually selling t-shirts with this logo: “No War With Iran.” She promoted a 2020 Fox News appearance to condemn Trump’s increasing hostilities against Tehran with this slogan: “War with Iran would make Iraq/Afghanistan wars seem like a picnic.” In January 2020, she warned: “Neocons like Graham/Bolton are cheering” Trump’s growing escalation with Iran, adding:
To all who voted for Trump bc of his antiwar rhetoric, it’s time to realize he lied to u. Stand with me against Trump’s Iran War! #TrumpsWar
Gabbard issued similar warnings about regime-change operations in Venezuela. “The United States needs to stay out of Venezuela,” she wrote in 2019 when Marco Rubio and John Bolton were pressuring Trump to forcibly remove Nicolás Maduro from power, adding: “Let the Venezuelan people determine their future. We don't want other countries to choose our leaders — so we have to stop trying to choose theirs.”…
https://greenwald.substack.com/p/joe-kents-courage-and-conscience
JOE KENT’S RESIGNATION LETTER
President Trump’s Director of the National Counterterrorism Center Resigned Tuesday.
President Trump,
After much reflection, I have decided to resign from my position as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, effective today.
I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.
I support the values and the foreign policies that you campaigned on in 2016, 2020, 2024, which you enacted in your first term. Until June of 2025, you understood that the wars in the Middle East were a trap that robbed America of the precious lives of our patriots and depleted the wealth and prosperity of our nation.
In your first administration, you understood better than any modern President how to decisively apply military power without getting us drawn into never-ending wars. You demonstrated this by killing Qasam Solamani and by defeating ISIS.
Early in this administration, high-ranking Israeli officials and influential members of the American media deployed a misinformation campaign that wholly undermined your America First platform and sowed pro-war sentiments to encourage a war with Iran. This echo chamber was used to deceive you into believing that Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, and that should you strike now, there was a clear path to a swift victory. This was a lie and is the same tactic the Israelis used to draw us into the disastrous Iraq war that cost our nation the lives of thousands of our best men and women. We cannot make this mistake again.
As a veteran who deployed to combat 11 times and as a Gold Star husband who lost my beloved wife Shannon in a war manufactured by Israel, I cannot support sending the next generation off to fight and die in a war that serves no benefit to the American people nor justifies the cost of American lives.
I pray that you will reflect upon what we are doing in Iran, and who we are doing it for. The time for bold action is now. You can reverse course and chart a new path for our nation, or you can allow us to slip further toward decline and chaos. You hold the cards.
It was an honor to serve in your administration and to serve our great nation.
‘YOU’RE FIRED!’ SEVENTEEN IMPEACHABLE OFFENSES BY TRUMP, AND COUNTING
by Ralph Nader
Tyrant Trump’s favorite snarl is “You’re Fired!” That was his bellow on The Apprentice television program. Subsequently, he told hundreds of thousands of federal civil servants and contractors, “You’re Fired!” Shame on the pitiful Democratic Party that allowed him to regain the presidency last year.
It is long overdue for the Democrats in Congress to lay the groundwork for impeaching Trump and removing him from office. Trump provides them with the impeachable evidence openly and brazenly every day. No president in history has ever declared that “Then I have Article II, where I have the right to do anything I want as president.” No President has ever dared to say, as did Trump in an interview with Reuters on January 15, 2026, that “…when you think of it, we shouldn’t even have an election” and meant it.
Based on their detailed declaration against King George III in the Declaration of Independence (1776) and the Congressional safeguards in the Constitution drafted in 1787, our Founders, were they members of Congress today, would unanimously vote articles of impeachment against Trump for rampant constitutional lawlessness.
Here are seventeen articles of Impeachment against dictator Trump that many constitutional law scholars would endorse, drafted by constitutional law specialist and practitioner, Bruce Fein. (For the full text of the articles of Impeachment, here.)
Article 1—War Power-Murder-Piracy
Article 2—Militarization Of Domestic Law Enforcement
Article 3—Serial Unconstitutional Detentions And Deportations
Article 4—Bribery
Article 5—Retaliation Against Constitutionally Protected Speech Or Association
Article 6—Abuse Of The Pardon Power—Sabotaging The Rule Of Law
Article 7—Illegally Crippling Or Defunding Programs To Protect Consumers, The Needy, Workers, And The Environment
Article 8—Usurpation Of The Congressional Power Of The Purse
Article 9—Contempt Of Congress—Secret Government
Article 10—Perverting Law Enforcement To Persecute Political Opponents And Benefit Friends
Article 11—Suspending Or Dispensing With Laws
Article 12—Flouting Section 1 Of The Fourteenth Amendment
Article 13—Specious National Emergency—Foreign Terrorist Organization Declarations
Article 14—Domestic And Foreign Emoluments Clauses
Article 15—Chronic Deceit Aiming At Dictatorship
Article 16—Treason
Article 17—Megalomania-Hubris
Already, a growing majority of the American people want Trump Impeached. They are feeling the impact where they live, work, and raise their families of Trump’s dictatorial, corporatist regime, which is endangering, weakening, and wrecking America! The criminal, illegal, unconstitutional war against Iran and the continuing full backing of Netanyahu’s genocide against the Palestinians and the Israeli bombing of Lebanon’s civilian population and occupying southern Lebanon will only increase the hardships on the American people. U.S. soldiers are also being ordered to illegally obey illegal orders. Six Members of Congress who served in the military issued a video statement that said, “You must refuse illegal orders,” representatives said in the video. “No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution.”
Send these articles of Impeachment with your own thoughts and demands to your two Senators and your Representative by letter, email, or voicemail. (The Congressional switchboard number is 202-224-3121). You can also call local Congressional offices to voice your concerns to your member of Congress. Ask them when will they exercise their constitutional duties. What further criminal outrage, program, and police state power will move them to catch up with the demands of the people back home?
Ask these lawmakers if they are waiting for Trump to use the Insurrection Act to order the military to seize the state voting machinery and repress the vote in the contested states or districts? He has already noted this limitless power in his first term and more recently.
There are only 535 members of Congress. Flood them with your demands to literally save our Republic and the Constitution for which it stands. Otherwise, with Trump and his dangerously unstable personality, it is only going to get worse, much worse, here and abroad.
Take charge, people, one by one, citizen group by citizen group! Use your sovereign power under the Constitution.
Cornelius Vander Starr, insurance agency founder and OSS spy, grand uncle of Kenneth Starr of Whitewater fame.
…” an energy source that comes from dinosaurs.”
“Oil does not come from dinosaurs. It is a common myth, but oil actually formed from the remains of microscopic marine organisms, such as plankton and algae, which died millions of years before the dinosaurs. These remains were buried under sediments, then transformed by intense heat and pressure over millions of years”
Learn a lesson from the “Little Red Hen”. Pull the plug on NATO………Use that money at home to take care of OUR folks.
Who is responsible for the crash of financial stability at the City of Willits? The CFO? How did this happen? Why wasn’t the guilty person dealt with? Is that person still employed at the City? Is anyone looking at these things?
Can you tell us more about the solar field planned for south of Ukiah?
Will this benefit city residences?
“MODERNIZING OUR FOREST SYSTEM”. A person needs to have a sense of humor about the messaging. I suppose the now largely burned up, and underfunded US Forest Service was modernized as well when that was shut down to “save the Spotted Owl”, a species that is now approaching extinction due to Barred Owls., and not timber harvesting. “Modernizing” means destroying rural economies and the villages they support. Of course there are always the alternate proposed fantasy economies that are supposed to materialize, but never do.
When two species with shared habitat requirements find that habitat decreased by massive human activities (logging in this instance), the more aggressive species is benefited. Taking steps to increase habitat is a solution, NOT yet more logging or other human-caused destruction of yet more habitat. It might be wise to make the Forest Service (currently an arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture) a division of the Bureau of Land Management (U.S. Department of Interior), to temper its love affair with timber companies.
Well I think the national forest burning down had some negative impacts on the wildlife there. Actually I know it as I have been up there numerous times following the fires.
I have watched that forest decay for many years and sadly, this all happened after the USFS stopped managing and logging it.
I grew up in that forest and it’s terrible to see the conduction it currently is in.
I might be speaking out of turn as I don’t know the entire truth… but my understanding of the fire fighting policy at the time during the Mendocino national forest conflagration was to allow the fire to indiscriminately burn everything except structures and private property. I realize fully the wind, heat and extreme terrain were all major factors in this event. But we’ve learned a lot about fire behavior along the way.
Logging can certainly prevent major burning by reducing fuel loads and providing access, but fire fighting policy should also apply and adapt to the realities of our environment.
Is it possible that a more aggressive approach to focused fuel management and access vs all out logging could have led to a different outcome in those driest, most dangerous fire years?
Seems to me, be it luck, favorable weather, and/or “no forward progression” response to fire has resulted in a much calmer few years since the record shattering losses of the recent past. And I hope that we remain so lucky in the near and distant future.
Something else to consider. An economic model of selling logs provides inherent fire risk reduction, and money to do additional fuel management. A noneconomic model depends on task payer funding for forest upkeep that is never enough, because it is unaffordable. The current USFS policy is based on a European philosophical model rooted in popular misconceptions of American Indians going back to the Enlightenment that we still live with today. The reality is most of our landscapes were created by profiting human enterprise going back to the time of the megafauna extinction. A quote from a Yurok tribesman said it best in my opinion, “We consider ourselves to be a part of nature, the most important part.”
Reads like kaputalist propaganda with a hilarious attempt to blame it on Native People. And, screw “economic models”. Just another excuse for destroying habitat by greedy commercial loggers. Transfer the Forest Service to the Department of Interior.
How was I blaming Native People? Funny. I am blaming a long held misrepresentation of American Indians, a misrepresentation Environmentalists embrace.
Two primary things influence Western philosophy: Christianity, and The Enlightenment. It is always good to remember that. From the Enlightenment came the concept that modern humans are not natural and are not a part of nature. From this concept a fantasy model was put forth to demonstrate how American Indians are natural, and the only natural model for humanity. This concept was unsupported with facts back then, and is completely debunked today. But we continue to be influenced by this Enlightenment fantasy.
The Yurok tribal member quote, that I agree with, is in direct conflict with the Enlightenment fantasy. For most of the landscapes that we live in humans are the most important part of those landscapes, and we have been since the megafauna extinction. To say we are the most important part of nature is a philosophical statement supported with science. Like every living thing in nature we are either managing resources, exploiting resources, or both. But only humans have tools that are powerful enough to shape, exploit, and manage entire continents. In the case of American Indians, fire was the most powerful tool.
To understand where the Enlightenment fantasy concept of American Indians came from read “A Discourse On Inequality” by JJ Rousseau. The book was published mid 18th century during the hight of the Enlightenment in Europe. It is a short, slow read. Rousseau had a lasting influence on Western thought, including the US Constitution, the Environmental movement, and Marxism. Ironically, he called his concept of the “natural man” “my hypothesis”. What happened was his hypothesis was taken as fact, and still is by the left.
A more fun book for all to read is “1491” by Charles Mann. It is hard to put down. It is in its second edition. I don’t agree with all of it, but Mann’s description of humans living in America before Columbus is more credible than anything I have read, and it takes a vail of misconceptions, from different sources, off 500 years of written histories of the Americas. I have a well worn copy to loan.
Richard Bookstaber makes some important points regarding a possible downturn in the economy. Many of the problems now (and in 2008) are due to de-regulation of financial institutions and weakening of government oversight. For example, right now there is a proposal at the SEC to make quarterly reporting optional for publicly traded companies. Some folks will gladly use such weaknesses to put more money in their pockets at the expense of everyone else, and the economy as a whole.
so many lines, such little time
Joe Kent does America a patriotic service by resigning his high-level post. And he leaves with an honest, blunt message of why he can no longer serve. It is a brave act, the kind our nation needs so badly, begs for these days.
“EVERY LIFE” and “A FEW LIGHT TAPS:” James Joyce, writing about our lives and snow–as fine as writing gets.
I wrote here, “What is happening in the painting The Bad News, by Leslie Thrasher? I can imagine story after story applying. If you know what the artist intended, please say it,” but before I clicked to post that, I asked ChatGPT. Here’s its answer:
The Bad News (1926) by Leslie Thrasher is a cover illustration for Liberty magazine, part of a weekly serialized visual story called “For the Love o’ Lil.” It’s one frame in an ongoing soap-opera-like narrative, not a standalone allegory.
The situation is very specific: A man named Sandy sits at a table, clearly upset. Across from him, his romantic interest Lil is being charmed by a rival—Babe Dolan, a confident lifeguard. Babe is flirting and promising to train Lil to be a swimmer. Lil is captivated and paying attention only to Babe. Meanwhile, a waiter arrives with the bill. Sandy, humiliated and sidelined, has to pay for the whole outing—using nearly all the money he has.
Sandy is losing the girl. He’s being replaced right in front of him. And he’s literally paying for the privilege of watching it happen.
That combination—romantic defeat plus financial insult—is the bad news.
Intrigued to see where ChatGPT got its training data for this illustration, I researched the series and tracked down the October 2, 1926 issue of Liberty Magazine. Leslie Thrasher produced a series of cover illustrations for Liberty Magazine following Lil through several years of her life. Accompanying each illustration, a brief story describing of the depicted scene was provided by the illustrator. Here is what Leslie Thrasher wrote in the October 2, 1926’s number:
SANDY JENKINS sat through an entire dinner watching Babe Dolan, the athletic lifeguard, doing his best to vamp Lil Morse. That was certainly no treat to Sandy. But when they’d finished, with nothing left but coffee and cigarettes, and the waiter hovered around with the check in his hand, Sandy tried everything he could think of to let Babe know that the time had come to loosen up.
Not a chance. Babe was busy listening to his own voice, and Lil sat spellbound.
“I could train you so’s you could swim the Channel faster’n Gertrude Ederle and this Miss Gade both put together,” Babe was telling Lil.
Sandy could only scowl in scorn. But there was the waiter, gently insistent. Sandy peeked at the check. Holy smokes, $11.40! He had just $13.25 with him and wouldn’t get his allowance for nearly a week. In lofty disgust he handed the waiter a ten-dollar bill and three ones, saying as loud as possible:
“Keep the change.”
“I could make you the champeen swimmer of the world,” Babe Dolan was telling Lil.
“And she listens to that big cheese!” was Sandy’s thought.
I think you’ll agree that it is a much more interesting and nuanced story than ChatGPT’s.
Re: the Solomon piece on the DNC and Israel: the Dennis Bliss primary victory is one sign validating his point on the divide between the DNC and grassroots Dems re Israeli policies and actions.
That’s why Penelope Rose Yee in the Congressional District 2 race (Huffman incumbent) and Audrey Denny in the District 1 race (Mike McGuire main opponent) have a shot at it. But, they need to advertise their positions more significantly beyond social media postings.