Focus of SR Police’s Investigation Into Porsche-Protester Incident Remains Unclear

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Focus of SR Police’s Investigation Into Porsche-Protester Incident Remains Unclear

Nearly three weeks after an unidentified motorist drove through a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters marching in Santa Rosa, basic details about the Santa Rosa Police Department’s investigation into the matter remain unclear, angering protesters who say the driver’s actions threatened their lives.

On June 20, a motorist in a white Porsche Cayenne drove through a crowd of Black Lives Matter protesters marching along Santa Rosa’s Sonoma Avenue. Since then, dozens of protesters who witnessed the incident have reported it to the police, alleging that the motorist drove recklessly with intent to injure protesters.

At least three witnesses submitted video of the event along with their police reports. The driver, whose identity has not been revealed by police, reported the incident, too, alleging protesters attacked her.


SRPD’s Violent Crimes Investigation Team (VCI) conducted an investigation and turned their findings over to Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch’s office on Tuesday, July 7, according to Santa Rosa police lieutenant Jeneane Kucker, a department spokesperson.

“This case has been sent to the DA at this point for a decision on prosecution. Our VCI team thoroughly investigated the case and interviewed more than 25 (plus) [sic] people involved,” Kucker told the Bohemian in an email.

On July 8, Brandon Gilbert, an assistant to Ravitch, confirmed that the prosecutor’s office is reviewing the case.

“We just received the investigative report and it is under review,” Gilbert said. “We will be reviewing all digital media as well.”

Still, it’s not clear yet who the police actually investigated.

Lt. Kucker twice did not respond to questions asking whether the VCI investigated the driver, protesters or both as possible perpetrators.

That lack of clarity and publicity seems appropriate for the case given that the SRPD’s initial public statements about the incident seemed slanted in favor of the driver, in contrast to multiple videos of the event circulating online.

A press release issued by SRPD the day after the June 20 event created alarm among protesters that the driver was described as the victim. The SRPD press release described the motorist as a nurse who had gotten off work at a local hospital, and multiple news websites wrote articles that relied only on the SRPD release as a source.

According to the release, the motorist alleged that she was followed by someone on a bicycle who punched her in the face when she stopped her car. Protesters who witnessed the driver accelerate through the crowd doubt this claim.

The Bohemian asked Lt. Kucker, “How did SRPD determine that the driver was punched? What evidence supports that?” Lt. Kucker did not answer these questions either.

Alleging that police and media dangerously misrepresented protesters in their reporting, a group of about 20 witnesses gathered on two occasions to demand justice from SRPD and the DA’s office.

Sophia Grace Ferar, one of the organizers of these follow-up actions, said that the event’s media coverage frustrated her deeply. She noted that SRPD issued no subsequent press releases about the event, despite telling a witness that they had received 60–70 statements from protesters.

“We were almost run over and the only difference between us and Summer Taylor, who lost her life [during a protest in Seattle], is that we had security in front of us who gave us a heads-up,” said Ferar. (The King County Prosecutor charged the driver who killed Taylor with vehicular homicide, vehicular assault and reckless driving on Wednesday.)

On July 7, Ravitch and six deputy DAs came to Santa Rosa’s Old Courthouse to meet with a group of protesters. Though prompted by the investigation into the incident between the motorist and protesters, the meeting was broader in scope.

Delashay Carmona Benson, a local Afro-Latina activist and community organizer, spoke with Ravitch before and at the meeting. Carmona Benson says that she will be assembling a committee of Black and Indigenous community members who will meet with Ravitch every two weeks.

“Everything starts with dialogue,” Carmona Benson said.

When asked whether she feels optimistic about her interaction with Ravitch, Carmona Benson said, “I felt she was listening and that she was responsive.”

Carmona Benson told Ravitch she wants to meet with judges, parole officers, probation officers and people from the family law division. She says Ravitch has already begun to put her in touch with those people, as promised.

Regarding the meeting, Gilbert said, “[Ravitch] plans to continue to engage with all members in the community she was elected by and lives in. She believes strongly that all voices should be heard and that dissent should be respectful and not dismissive. She believes this is an important time for all of us, and we need to focus on working together for positive change. She has pledged to be part of that effort.”

Carmona Benson said, “It’s her job to work for the people. We elected her. I think she knows I’m not afraid to tell the world if she’s not doing it.”

Open Space Case

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In the middle of the Covid crisis, political unrest and economic uncertainty, the County of Sonoma is seeking to bypass voters and flout open-space protections to push forward a new luxury resort and major event center at 3890 Old Redwood Highway in the heart of the key voter-protected Windsor-Larkfield-Santa Rosa Community Separator greenbelt.

County planners want to allow construction of a luxury resort subdivision of a dozen Wine Country party houses and a warehouse-sized event building. The plan is for a hundred events serving a total of 10,000 people per year open daily for drinking, dining, weddings and music until 10pm on open, undeveloped land next to a youth summer camp.  

Even worse, the luxury resort is to be located in the Tubb’s fire burn zone at the foot of Fountaingrove, putting more people in harm’s way. The project will exacerbate the housing crisis and will compete with local businesses.

Strangely, county planners have determined that there will be no significant environmental impacts from the intensified commercial use of the property to Piner Creek, a large pond home to yellow legged frogs and giant salamanders, or to the old oaks that dot the property.

The luxury project is also on the outside edge of the voter-approved Santa Rosa Urban Growth Boundary where urban development has twice been determined by voters to end.

A public hearing by the Board of Zoning Adjustments is set for 1pm on July 9 for a vote on the environmental review and the project. The luxury resort and event center violates critical community separator protections, the General Plan and Zoning Code and overrides the will of the voters. It shouldn’t be reviewed or approved at a time of crisis when voters countywide are facing life and death issues.

Teri Shore

Regional Director, North Bay

Greenbelt Alliance

Big Skills Tiny Homes teaches on the job

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Big Skills Tiny Homes teaches on the job

The homes may be tiny, but the career options are big with Big Skills Tiny Homes. This Marin nonprofit provides self-discovery, mentoring and skill development to students interested in the trades.

During the nine-month program, students learn the trade skills needed to build a house—a tiny house—that is then sold to fund the next team of student builders. 

Sean Ticknor, president and founder of the nonprofit, explains why he began the program.

“As a construction-industry professional for the past 20 years I am aware of the need for more skilled tradesmen and tradeswomen,” he says. “And, as a parent actively engaged in the community, the high schools are not providing any kind of pipeline for skilled tradespeople, but there is pressure to go to college.”

Ticknor wanted to fill that gap. So last fall, with 18 years of experience working as an engineer and structural designer, he led three student builders—Melena King, Melkyn Mazariegos and Owen Navarro—through the entire home-building process.

“I see the need to offer high school graduates an additional option—an option that would give a young person the opportunity and time to experience the trades,” Ticknor says. “An option that would build a young person’s skills and confidence. And, an option that would result in the identification of a financially rewarding and satisfying career—without the accumulation of considerable debt.”

Indeed, students these days need more options upon graduation, as well as mentors to help them navigate those options. Through the process of building a tiny home from start to finish, students are exposed to a variety of trade disciplines and are then mentored afterward to use their experiences to identify their future career path.

A natural mentor, and regular volunteer at his two sons’ schools, Ticknor found that the kids in the program were eager to learn and that experts in the trades were also very willing to share what they knew. 

“It was a delightful year, the kids learned so much,” he says. “Tradespeople are thrilled to share their expertise and are more than happy to share their skills and knowledge. Guest speakers and field trips were easy to arrange.” 

From September 2019 through May 2020 the team worked Monday–Friday from 8:00am to 12:30pm, learning every skill needed to build a tiny house. In the fall, they learned everything from trailer preparation and foundation work, to floor, wall and roof framing, sheathing, and door and window installation. In winter, it was time to install siding, a roof, plumbing and electrical, gas lines, HVAC and insulation; and to do the trim work. In late spring, the finishing touches were added—appliances, a complete kitchen and bathroom, built-ins and paint.

“The first build couldn’t have gone much better, except for the Covid-19 lockdown at the end,” Ticknor says. “All of them have a job if they want it—two are working right now, the other is in school.”

The beautiful home they built was finished in May and is now for sale. When it sells, the money will go toward funding the next tiny house build. They are now accepting student applications or the next round of the paid program, which begins Sept. 8, 2020. 

“We believe in self-discovery through real-world experiences, because knowing what you like to do and what you are good at leads to a career you love,” Ticknor says. “Being a mentor is a real privilege—I am so delighted with this first round of three students; each one was so hard-working, smart and attentive. It’s great to see that each one is working toward something that matches their personality.”  

Besides, tiny houses are the wave of the future, especially if you can build one yourself.

www.bigskillstinyhomes.org

Matt Reischling Takes a Holiday

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Matt Reischling Takes a Holiday

Petaluma-native Matt Reischling has been around. He attended UCLA, lived on a boat in Oakland for a year and has made his home in a hodge-podge of places such as Italy and San Diego, where he began his first band, The Marinators.

“I wrote a lot of bizarre topical songs about inhalers, sea lions and basketball,” Reischling says.

For a decade, he called Los Angeles home, recording and playing music under the moniker Confessions of a Corn Silo, though he says “the L.A. intensity” began to creep into his psyche, and he moved back to the North Bay five years ago.

“I needed to get out of there (L.A.), and the best place to do it was to come back to where I first lived,” he says. “But I wanted to try to reinvent myself after all these experiences, and in the past three years I’ve found my voice again.”

That new musical voice shines through on Spirit Holiday, the debut album from Reischling’s new solo project, Matt Reischling & the Black Box.

Available now online, the 12-track LP is a melodic and lyrically reflective collection of original tunes (and one David Bowie cover) that looks back on Reischling’s adventures and imagines new ones.

“The album is essentially, among many different things, a reintroduction of my music, which I’ve been writing for 20 years,” Reischling says. “Some people ask me, ‘Is it weird to come back to where you grew up?’ And I say, ‘No, I’ve had 20 years of living away.’ This place has changed, I’ve changed and it was all kind of meant to be.”

Reischling credits that feeling of fortuitousness upon his return to the North Bay with the group of musicians he fell in with, including guitarist Lincoln Barr and drummer Anthony Vaccaro.

Both appear on Spirit Holiday, as do bassist Daniel Spree, cellist Linda Amari and percussionists Juan ‘Tato’ Pacheco and David Gray.

Musically, Spirit Holiday is a mix of alternative-rock, indie-rock, folk and pop tunes that call to mind artists like Neil Young, Grandaddy and Sparklehorse. Lyrically, the record is a vulnerable exposé on Reischling’s changing emotional headspace.

For example, opening track, “Willingly,” begins with Reischling singing, “Well, I lost myself recently / I let go of myself willingly.”

“That’s how I felt at the time playing the song, as that’s how I felt coming back here,” Reischling says of the song’s lyrics. Through the course of the album, Reischling’s mindset changes as he writes about developing a positive outlook in the album’s title track.

“The last two or three years, I’ve been getting back into good health,” Reischling says. “I went to Mexico, Cuba, Chiapas, various places in search of healing and inspiration. I wrote that song about going somewhere to seek something out, even if you don’t know what it is.”

Other tracks on Spirit Holiday reference a wide range of topics, from grocery store flirtations, to the late actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, to a child ghost; proving that Reischling still has that penchant for the bizarre in his songwriting.

Now that Spirit Holiday is available on streaming sites such as Bandcamp, Spotify and Apple Music, Reischling is looking forward to the next iteration of Matt Reischling & the Black Box, including planned publishing projects and other creative avenues.

“I’m grateful anytime I can play anywhere,” Reischling says. “The band thing was happening for a couple years. That is on hiatus, so I’ve refashioned the Black Box to be a solo thing with different players. I’m always going to be vacillating between playing solo, which I feel like I do well, and with a group of people who want to play with me at the time. I’m open to everything.”

‘Spirit Holiday’ is available online wherever you stream music and available to purchase as a digital album on Mattreischling.bandcamp.com.

Night In: Transcendence Theatre Presents Virtual Season of Shows

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Night In: Transcendence Theatre Presents Virtual Season of Shows

For the last eight summers, Transcendence Theatre Company has taken up residence among the historic Kohler & Frohling Winery’s open-air ruins at the Jack London State Park in Sonoma County to perform “Broadway Under the Stars.”

Dubbed “the Best Night Ever,” this long-running season of theatrical showcases regularly features top Broadway professionals singing and dancing to the greatest musical theater hits within four different offerings that include family-friendly concerts and an end-of-summer gala celebration, to boot.

“This is our ninth season and it’s been amazing because the entire community has made this possible,” artistic director Amy Miller says. “We’ve had over 700 artists perform on the stage, but we are growing because of the support of the community. We all built this together.”

This summer, Jack London State Park’s ruins will remain closed to gatherings due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. In lieu of a now-canceled theater season, Transcendence Theatre Company is transitioning to a virtual incarnation of the “Broadway Under the Stars” series to present the “Best Night Ever Online,” featuring four different performance compilations from the company’s last eight years of shows, all captured on rarely before seen videos.

“It was always part of the vision to have an online media network and education network,” Miller says. “I never thought a worldwide pandemic would push that into being, but now we are working on it sooner rather than later, with what’s going on.”

The “Best Night Ever Online” virtual season opens this weekend with Don’t Stop Believin,’ running on the internet on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays July 10 through 19. The video presentation includes pre-show entertainment and interviews, and the performance compilation features more than 80 artists combining their talents over the years, highlighted by popular Broadway numbers such as Chicago’s “All That Jazz” and Hamilton: An American Musical’s “My Shot.”

“We taped our shows in extremely high-quality film from the beginning,” Miller says. “We’ve sung over a thousand songs, and we have many years of the best of the best. You’ll see performances from 2012 up to 2019.”

Miller adds that in watching the videos, Transcendence Theatre Company’s evolution as an organization is also on display, as three-piece bands turn into a dozen-piece orchestra through the years.

“You see the stage grow and the performers grow, so it’s kind of like reminiscing,” Miller says. “This is also never-before-seen footage, we never shared a lot of this online before.”

Beyond the entertaining videos, “Best Night Ever Online” teams up with several Sonoma County food vendors and wineries, which will create special menus for each show, and pair them with selected wines. These meals and wines will be available for delivery and pick-up to further enhance the at-home experience. Participating vendors include the Girl & the Fig, Perkins Catering Company and Sonoma Valley–based Chef Kyle Kuklewski.

“What we’re doing is trying to create online, what happens in the park,” Miller says. “We’re encouraging people to make their own ‘Best Night Ever’ while we’re not together.”

“The Best Night Ever Online” series continues through the summer with virtual versions of the popular Fantastical Family Night running July 24–26, a moving I Hope You Dance performance showcase running August 14–16 and 21–23 and a season-closing Gala Celebration running online September 11–13.

Reservations to the online shows are offered on a donation-only basis, meaning many North Bay theater lovers who have never had the chance to check out the “Broadway Under the Stars” series in person now have the opportunity to catch up on nearly a decade of Broadway-level performances.

As a nonprofit, Transcendence Theatre Company also gives back a portion of donations to a different fellow North Bay nonprofit for each of this summer’s 18 online performance nights.

“We’re trying, like we always do, to unite the community,” Miller says. “We’re trying to uplift the community in the best way we can. We’re grateful for the whole community and I’m also grateful that we can make these inspiring shows.”

‘Don’t Stop Believin’ runs online July 10–12 and July 17–19. Fridays, 7pm; Saturdays and Sundays, 1:30pm and 7pm. Online reservations are free, donations welcomed. Bestnightever.org.

‘Peanuts’ Gang Goes Back on Display This Month in Sonoma County

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‘Peanuts’ Gang Goes Back on Display This Month in Sonoma County

UPDATE (JULY 13): After a brief reopening last week, the Schulz Museum is temporarily closed again due to the latest state and county COVID-19 safety orders. The museum will be closed through August 2, and until further notice thereafter.

Fans of the  “Peanuts” comic strips have something to look forward to this summer, as the popular Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center in Santa Rosa is scheduled to reopen on Wednesday, July 8.

Following guidance from the State of California and the County of Sonoma as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Charles M Schulz Museum will reopen with several Covid-19 safety measures in place to provide a safe, low-risk environment for all visitors and staff. When the doors open, the public is invited to view several new features, including new exhibitions and a selection of rarely seen items from the Museum’s archives.

“In this time of daily unease, we are grateful to be reopening our doors and providing a place for people to have a joyful escape,” said Jean Schulz, widow of “Peanuts” creator Charles Schulz and museum board president, in a statement. “I think we could all use some good cheer right now.”

The museum closed its doors to the public on March 16 when Sonoma County issued the shelter in place order in accordance with the state’s efforts to stop the spread of Covid-19. That sheltering order is now eased for indoor museums in Sonoma County allowing them to reopen with safety guidelines in place.

As such, the Charles M Schulz Museum is implementing policies such as requiring visitors wear face coverings and maintain social distancing rules that will be denoted in the museum’s high-traffic areas by Snoopy paw prints on the floor.

Current exhibitions at the museum include “Lucy! Fussbudget to Feminist,” the first exhibition to focus exclusively on “Peanuts” character Lucy, and which opened just one day before the museum’s temporary closure. Also on view is “Greetings, Charlie Brown! The Peanuts-Hallmark Connection” and a new exhibition, “Girl Power in Peanuts,” that opens at the end of July.

The Charles M Schulz Museum also hints that a new addition is also on the way and will be revealed in mid-July in the museum’s Biographical Gallery. For now, the museum is only saying that four large cases with built-in drawers will be installed to allow more artwork, correspondence, and personal effects from Charles Schulz to be shared with the public.

“We’re taking this opportunity to curate the cases from scratch,” museum curator Benjamin L. Clark said in a statement. “In the nearly 20 years since the museum opened, new objects, stories, and information have come to light, giving us a better understanding and a more complete view of Charles Schulz. These updated cases will reflect our best and latest research in a way that we’re excited to share.”

The museum also reopens under new leadership, as outgoing museum director Karen Johnson recently announced her retirement after 15 years heading the institution. Gina Huntsinger, the current general manager of Snoopy’s Home Ice for the past three years and the Museum’s marketing director for 12 years prior, will be stepping into the role of director.

“While this is an unusual way to start my tenure as the museum’s director, I am so excited to return to my roots of celebrating the legacy of Charles Schulz and his art,” Huntsinger said in a statement. “During the temporary closure, the staff took the opportunity to deeply clean and revitalize the building. We are looking forward to welcoming the public back and sharing some laughs—even if under the cover of our masks!”

For those who are high-risk for Covid-19, or limiting travel and out-of-house activities, the museum has also increased its online offerings, including a ‘Schulz Museum at Home’ webpage full of free resources and activities to enjoy from home.

The museum has also introduced online art and cartooning classes for kids, teens and adults that allows students to join artist instructors virtually from many different locations and time zones. Those classes include a new “Peanuts” live drawing series led by staff artists that continues with a class on “How to Draw Woodstock” on July 13 and “How to Draw Snoopy” on August 10. In addition, the museum hosts an online panel discussion on July 27 on the topic of “Exploring Intersectional Identities Through Queer Comics.”

“This fall marks the 70th anniversary of Peanuts,” Huntsinger said in her statement. “Whether you join us in person or online, we invite you to connect with Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and the ‘Peanuts’ gang and see why this comic strip has endured for so many generations.”

The Charles M Schulz Museum reopens, Wednesday, July 8. For more information on hours and safety protocols, visit schulzmuseum.org.

Derby Weekend in Petaluma Raises Funds for Redwood Empire Food Bank

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Derby Weekend in Petaluma Raises Funds for Redwood Empire Food Bank

Located on 15 acres in East Petaluma, Sonoma Valley Stables is the North Bay’s top spot for horses and their humans to train for the sport of Hunter/Jumper, also known as show jumping. Owner Ned Glynn and a world-class team of trainers teach a full range of riding and jumping programs that are customized for the horse and its rider.

In addition to training young riders in the North Bay, Sonoma Valley Stables has a history of giving back to the community with its annual Derby Weekend. Despite this year’s Covid-19 pandemic, the Stables was able to host its third annual Derby Weekend last Friday, June 26, to Sunday, June 28.

The event, which safely hosted 60 rider participants and their families over the course of three days, raised over $25,000 to support the Redwood Empire Food Bank’s “Every Child/Every Day Initiative” to end hunger in the community.

In the past three years, Sonoma Valley Stables has raised over $70,000 for Redwood Empire Food Bank by hosting the Derby Weekend event and receiving donations from sponsors.

“We are at a critical moment in time as we continue to innovate, adapt and expand our services,” Redwood Empire Food Bank CEO David Goodman said in a a statement. “The ongoing and generous support of our partners, like that of Sonoma Valley Stables, is imperative for us to keep up with the food demand this pandemic has brought on.”

Redwood Empire Food Bank’s “Every Child/Every Day Initiative” is currently providing hot and healthy meals through the summer to the nearly 1,000 Sonoma County children who risk experiencing hunger over the summer months. The initiative will serve more than 41,000 hot and healthy meals this summer through August.

While planning for this year’s Derby Weekend, Sonoma Valley Stables was initially concerned that the COVID-19 pandemic would cancel the outdoor event, but Sonoma County Supervisor David Rabbitt informed Glynn and the staff that the county would allow equestrian activities like Derby Weekend to take place.

“After careful consideration, we decided to move forward with hosting Derby Weekend this year,” Glynn said in a statement. “We believed this event would be beneficial for many during this challenging time, especially since our local food bank is working extra hard to meet the needs of our community right now. We took every effort to make sure the riders, attendees, and staff felt safe and comfortable throughout the entire event.”

To follow safety guidelines, Sonoma Valley Stables regularly disinfected the facility, placed hay bales eight-feet apart to ensure physical distancing, used a non-contact thermometer to check temperatures, and cancelled their Saturday evening party. ShadyLady Sun Protection, one of this year’s sponsors, also donated face coverings for participants to wear.

Derby Weekend started a few days early for most of the riders, as the Stables hosted a clinic with equestrian coach and event judge Cynthia Hankins. This clinic was an opportunity for the young participants to learn what judges look for during riding and jumping competitions to gain an edge in the Derby.

The official event kicked off on Friday, June 26, with morning Hunter classes, and the Hunter competitions continued through Saturday. Hunters-over-fences champions were Nico Alario and Chaparral’s Hawkeye for the pony class, Aliana Ashburn and Educated Guess for the 2’0”, Aimee Lafayette and Gucci St. Anne for the 2’3”-2’6”, Amy Brubaker and Frascati for the Jr/Am 2’9”-3’0”, Kylee Arbuckle and Brown Sugar for the professional 2’9”-3’0”, Avery Glynn and Nostalgic for the Jr/Am 3’0”-3’3”, and Arbuckle and Opulence for the professional 3’0”-3’3”. MacLean Sennhenn and Franktown’s Heaven’s Sake took first for the Cross Rail Hunters. Francesca Mortensen and Well Said won the Walk-Trot over Poles competition.

On Sunday, June 28, four different derbies took place. Elsa Warnelius-Miller and Illumination won the 2’0” derby, Nico Alario and Chaparral’s Hawkeye was crowned champion of the pony derby, Lafayette and Gucci St. Anne came in first for the 2’6” derby, and to wrap up the weekend, Margaret Pogue and Edesa’s Iggy Pop took the victory for the 3’0” derby. Finally, Estaban La Paz was crowned this year’s Best Horse.

Sonoma Valley Stables plans to host Derby Weekend again next year. For more information on the facilities’ horses and trainings, visit Sonomavalleystables.com.

Newsom Clamps Down on Bars and Restaurants, But Not in Sonoma

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Newsom Clamps Down on Bars and Restaurants, But Not in Sonoma

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday ordered bars and restaurants in 19 counties to close their indoor dining options for at least three weeks, as the state faces increasing numbers of Covid-19 cases and residents plan for the busy July 4 weekend.

The state saw 5,898 new cases on Tuesday, Newsom said during a noon press conference, adding that 110 deaths linked to the virus were reported in the 24 hours leading up to the announcement.

The order applies in Contra Costa, Fresno, Glenn, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Merced, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Solano, Stanislaus, Tulare and Ventura counties.

Those counties were placed on the state’s new County Watchlist for more than three weeks. The list was created for those that show increased numbers of new cases and hospitalizations due to Covid-19.

While neither Sonoma nor Napa counties are affected by the closure order, Newsom also announced that the state is closing parking facilities at state beaches in Southern California and the Bay Area.

“I want to remind everyone that if we want to be independent from Covid-19, we have to be much more vigilant in terms of maintaining our physical distancing from others, and be much more vigilant as it relates to the prospects of being in situations where are transmitting Covid-19,” Newsom said.

Face masks are still required statewide for most indoor activities, however, and social distancing is either required or strongly encouraged in most places.

Newsom did not discuss statewide face mask requirements during the press conference, after hinting Tuesday that he would require local jurisdictions to step up their enforcement. He also indicated that the state has the financial resources to do so.

“We have conditioned $2.5 billion in our state budget on applying the spirit and the letter of the law as it relates to health directives at the county level,” Newsom said. “If local officials are unwilling to enforce and are being dismissive, we will condition the distribution of those dollars.”

Newsom also urged that residents refrain from holding family gatherings, which he said was one of the likely causes of the surge in new cases.

“This is about keeping you safe, keeping them safe, your friends neighbors and family members, and moreover just making sure we mitigate the spread and don’t do harm and damage to the lives of those that we love,” Newsom said.

The new restrictions, Newsom said, will be enforced by a “multi-agency strike team” made up of the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, the Department of Business Oversight, the Department of Consumer Affairs and the California Highway Patrol.

Violators could face fines, but most people will likely comply with the new restrictions, Newsom said.

“I’m not coming out with a fist,” he said. “We want to come out with an open heart, recognizing the magnitude of some of these modifications.”

Letters: Who’s Worried?

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Letters: Who’s Worried?

It has been 3 months since Congress passed the bill that gave many of $1200, while leaving others out. There has been nothing to help with rents and mortgages or to help landlords, which means a HUGE housing crash when the economy opens up and 25% of us get eviction notices.

The people who have lost their jobs need Medicare For All and a $2000 UBI for all the months of the lockdown. But instead of sending a bill with those things to the Senate for a vote, Speaker Pelosi wrote a bill with Cobra instead of Medicare For All and removed UBI from the bill, but including a bailout for lobbyists. McConnell clearly doesn’t like this bill, but Pelosi really wants people who lost their jobs to get shafted with Cobra, so she’s not sending another bill.

Meanwhile, millions of people never received the FIRST $1200 check and it’s been three months! Was Congress worried about the homeless? No. Was Congress worried about families with an undocumented immigrant that didn’t get the check? No. What about starving students, most of which, it seems, did not get a check? Is Congress worried about them? No.

Well, what IS Congress worried about? There are millions of people who never got help. There are millions and millions without health insurance. They’re worried about renaming military bases named after Confederates, they’re worried about some story about Russian bounties, which even if it’s true, wouldn’t be anything new between the two countries. We’ve been fighting proxy wars, trying to use others to kill each other, for decades. And they’re worried about November. That’s right, elections. Rep. Anna Eshoo even has a bill that addresses microtargeting of political ads.

But if Members of Congress were REALLY worried about November (hint: it’s more profitable being the opposition party) they would want you, the voters, to see that they truly cared about you and your ability to survive this crisis. They would be fighting for Medicare For All and would be saying, over and over if they had to, that “we have to get the people some help”. If YOUR Representative and Senators aren’t doing THAT, I guess you know where they stand.

What can you do? Well, you can start by contacting your elected representatives and telling them what you want them to support. Demand they fight for you. And you can share this information and advise others to do the same. Will it make any difference? It depends on how many people contact them.

Jason Kishineff

American Canyon

No Holds Barred

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No Holds Barred


Karlene Navarro, Director of the Independent Office of Law Enforcement Review and Outreach (IOLERO), has now revealed herself to be an extension of the Sheriff’s Office public relations arm.

Navarro has given cover to Sheriff Mark Essick’s refusal last year to ban the carotid artery hold, a move she applauded, saying the hold needed more study.

In fact, the Community Advisory Council (CAC) of IOLERO spent a few years working on Use of Force policy recommendations after studying best practices around the country and meeting with members of the public. Those thoroughly researched recommendations were presented and rejected almost a year ago.

Last summer, Navarro told the members of the CAC that they would be terminated at the end of 2019 and scheduled no monthly meetings for the rest of their terms. The Board of Supervisors made her hold one more meeting. 

Navarro then created her own CAC, which has done little work according to their reports at their June 2nd meeting. Navarro recently recruited interns from SSU to work with the CAC, but a CAC member had to ask the status of that program. 

Now she says that their “research,” which had not begun on June 2nd and was to include studying the policies of 52 sheriff’s offices in the state, was completed in the next couple of days, was determined to support ending the carotid hold and was sent on to the Sheriff so that he could support banning the carotid hold, coincidentally, just as the state was enacting such a ban. We’re to believe that the work began on June 3rd and Essick accepted it in time to institute his ban on June 6th.

I’m not buying any of it.

Essick and Navarro have had their hands forced by public protest and are covering their tracks, but this hold should have been banned last year, before a sheriff’s deputy used it to kill David Ward. And all of it gives the lie to the word “independent” in IOLERO under Director Navarro.

Susan Collier Lamont lives in Santa Rosa.

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