“The Dirty is DEAD.” That’s what the owner of iconic Santa Rosa dive bar The Dirty along Mendocino Avenue near College — better known as Dirty Bird and formerly named Round Robin, one of the county’s first local gay bars — wrote in a message to followers earlier this month. “There has been some very unfortunate circumstances that we just can’t move past and we will be closing March 1. So make sure to come in show the staff some love, create some last memories [and say your] goodbyes for the whole month of February.” They’re even hosting an official funeral from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. this Sunday, and will be selling off “all of the decor and weird items from The Dirty” at a huge liquidation sale all weekend, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Bar owner Cody Brown, who also co-owns Crooks Coffee, tells the Press Democrat that he’s closing The Dirty “due to legal battles with his landlord and business partners.” Here’s some more colorful bar history from the PD, to add to your nostalgia trip: “The Dirty was one of the three bars at the intersection of College and Mendocino avenues in Santa Rosa known as the Tipsy Triangle, or also the ‘Golden Triangle’ and ‘Barmuda Triangle.’ The building went up around 1920, according to its current owner. It sits on a corner near the busy intersection of Mendocino and College Avenue, easily recognizable as the black building with murals painted by local artists on the front and north sides of the building. Outside of being known as one of the first gay bars in the county, it was also known for a spat between a couple that turned into a large-scale melee in 2001 that involved as many as 100 bar patrons and 30 police officers.” Brown writes in his own nostalgic goodbye note on Facebook: “It’s been amazing building this community with everybody, you guys have been so awesome and our staff absolutely loves this community that we have built. We hate to say goodbye and it is heartbreaking but it’s unavoidable. I hope you all show up this month and really show your love. Let’s send it on a high note. We love all of you and thank you so much for supporting us through these years.” (Source: The Dirty via Facebook & Google Maps & Press Democrat; paywall)

The Sebastopol City Council is the latest target for Gaza war activists in the wine country, who’ve been systematically pushing local councils to pass “ceasefire” resolutions — in hopes of creating a snowball effect up the government chain, all the way to the White House. So far, only the City of Cotati has gotten on board. The Sebastopol Times has the scoop on activists’ latest effort: “For the last several months, as the war in Gaza has dragged on, people have stood up during public comment at Sebastopol City Council meetings, asking that the council — as representatives of Peacetown — pass a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. And for a few short days last week, it looked like such a resolution was in the offing. Vice Mayor Stephen Zollman assembled a coalition of Jewish peace activists and Palestinian rights advocates, including former Sebastopol Mayor Una Glass, to craft a carefully worded ceasefire resolution. It was put on the agenda to be discussed at [Tuesday’s] council meeting. Then, on Monday afternoon, the city sent out a press release announcing that the ceasefire item had been removed from the agenda for reasons of public safety.” City officials said they were worried that their meeting room would be too small for the “number of participants expected to attend,” given the “the emotionally charged nature of the subject” — and were also concerned about possible “disruption and even violence” at the meeting. And yet “the Gaza ceasefire resolution still dominated the council meeting,” the Sebastopol Times reports, “with more than two dozen ceasefire advocates in the council chambers — and more on Zoom — with signs, some wearing Palestinian keffiyehs. All in all, it was a remarkably subdued demonstration, with protesters politely lining up to speak during public comment. (This somewhat undercut the city’s reason for dropping the resolution for public safety reasons.) Only one person, Ernie Carpenter, spoke in favor of Israel’s current actions, though one other commenter suggested that the resolution be revisited with the help of more mainstream Jewish voices. The vast majority of speakers at the meeting, many of whom identified themselves as Jews or Palestinians — spoke in favor of a ceasefire and praised the current resolution as is.” Activists did get one small win at another meeting a couple days later, when the Sonoma County Commission on Human Rights passed their own ceasefire resolution. “Thank you for hearing us,” the Sonoma County for Palestine group posted on Facebook. (Source: Sebastopol Times & Sebastopol Times & Sonoma County for Palestine via Facebook & Sonoma County for Palestine via Facebook)

Here’s the latest bombshell in the sprawling, multi-pronged federal investigation right now into Napa County government agencies and the nature of their relationship with powerful local people and entities. The Napa County Farm Bureau, an industry org representing ag interests, just got subpoenaed as well, according to the Press Democrat — along with its super influential political action committee (PAC). Insiders see the Farm Bureau as one of the biggest and most successful players in Napa politics — which is why it was so shocking with the bureau’s CEO, 46-year-old Ryan Klobas, reportedly shot himself to death last month on the side of the road. Along with the bureau itself and its PAC, the U.S. Department of Justice is also investigating “major funders of the Napa County Farm Bureau’s political wing,” the Napa Valley Register reports. “Six winemakers and winemaking concerns — most of them Napa Valley-based — together have given $155,000 to the Fund to Protect Napa Valley Agriculture, a political action committee the Farm Bureau launched in 2019. Those donors appeared in a list of 40 entities that were mentioned in one of three subpoenas the U.S. Department of Justice issued to Napa County in December. … Among those named in the federal subpoena, Caymus Vineyards contributed $60,000 to the Farm Bureau’s PAC in three separate transactions from 2019 to 2021. A Caymus co-founder, Charles J. (Chuck) Wagner, supplied the group another $45,000 from 2022 to 2023.” No one can say what, exactly, the feds are investigating yet — but by the magnitude of these subpoenas, they really seem to think they’re onto something. From the PD: “The DOJ investigation appears to be sprawling, with branches of inquiry that reach into the Upper Valley Waste Management Agency, redevelopment of the Napa County Airport, road pavement projects on Atlas Peak, a controversial — and now scuttled — vineyard project involving Napa County Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza, and other prominent agricultural and development interests.” BTW, I talked to Napa radio host Barry Martin about all this on morning-drive radio show — 99.3 The Vine — last Thursday. Going forward, you can tune in Thursday mornings around 9:10 a.m. to hear us chat about all the biggest stuff going down in the Napa Valley. 💥 (Source: Napa Valley Register & Press Democrat & Press Democrat; paywall)

I think we could probably all use some closure, re: the Aleutian Storm, that fishing boat that ran aground and got stuck at Salmon Creek Beach during a crabbing mission along the Sonoma County coast a couple of weeks ago. As expected, the powerful ocean waves during this last storm reportedly ripped what was left of the 58-foot, 57-ton vessel to shreds over the past week. That’s awful news for the San Francisco fishing crew who depended on the ship for their livelihood — and also awful news for the local ecosystem absorbing the ship’s remains. From the Press Democrat: “The vessel has been torn apart piece by piece — the mast, the pilot house, the cabin, the decking — resulting in a debris field that now encompasses much of North Salmon Creek Beach, as well as the south. Bits of foam rubber and Styrofoam are scattered far and wide. The boat also appears to have leaked all or most of the diesel fuel still left on board after an attempt to drag it out of the surf and onto the beach failed on Friday. The site ‘just reeked of diesel fuel,’ said Jerry Dodrill, a local photographer and director with the nonprofit B-RAD Foundation who helped with some of the cleanup over the weekend and earlier. The fumes were so bad that Cea Higgins, a Bodega Bay resident and executive director of Coastwalk California, went home after four days of collecting wreckage with a headache…. But what bothers her and many people the most are what they consider gaps in the response to the vessel’s late-night grounding near Bodega Dunes State Park. They cite missed opportunities they believe could have saved the vessel, preserved the financial future of its owner, Capt. Chris Fox, and spared protected coastline from the fallout.” Another longtime fisherman from Fort Bragg tells the paper: “It’s traumatizing is what it is. I wake up every night grinding my teeth over this. We know how to do this. It doesn’t have to be a loss every time.” The various government agencies involved in overseeing this mess haven’t released any information about how much diesel spilled, or what the damage is — they just keep warning everyone to avoid the area. “The California Department of Parks and Recreation has announced a BEACH CLOSURE for South Salmon Creek Beach,” the county government posted a few days ago. “The beach is closed to ensure the health and safety of the public due to the ongoing salvage operation of the Aleutian Storm. The operation requires the use of heavy equipment and a large safety buffer for the operators. This closure includes all State Park lands from Salmon Creek extending south to Mussel Point, until further notice.” (Source: County of Sonoma via Facebook & CA Office of Spill Prevention & Response via Facebook & ABC7 & Press Democrat; paywall)