The environmental expert currently occupying the White House was quick to assign responsibility for wildfires burning in California. Using the venerable Republican strategy of blaming the victim, he tweeted:
“There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor.”
In fact, these fires are fueled mostly by grass and chaparral; forest land, not so much.
“Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost…. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!”
In fact, California each year sends more dollars to D.C. through federal tax payments than comes back into the state via Federal spending. (As is the case with most “blue” states.)
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 a quiet settled over the trenches of the Western Front, ending the four-year slaughter of the Great War. After nine million combat deaths, twenty-one million wounded and five million civilians killed, Germany signed an armistice agreement with France and Great Britain stopping the carnage.
Johnny Cash grew up in Dyess, Arkansas, fifty miles northwest of Memphis. (Pronounced locally – somehow only one syllable – as “Dowus.”) Cross the Mississippi, turn north on I-55; exit at Highway 14, head west six miles, then left on 297 aka Johnny Cash Highway and you’re there. Johnny, known then as J.R., was three years old when he and his parents and four siblings moved into their new Dyess Colony home in 1935.
While you’re waiting for Amazon to deliver your latest purchase by drone, UPS is testing a more, umm, down-to-earth approach. The company announced it would begin delivering in Seattle’s downtown Pike Place area using pedal-powered tricycles. The trike-trucks have electric-motor assistance, presumably to help the operator make it up Seattle’s hills.
Tony Magee started out brewing his beer at home. He opened Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma California in 1994. The brand grew quickly and became well known not only for beer but its support of non-profit organizations in Sonoma and Marin counties. Donated Lagunitas beer could be found at most fundraisers in the area. The Petaluma breweries also offered casual dining in a low-key atmosphere with friendly staff and live music at its adjacent outdoor venue.
Ulises Valdez was born in 1969 in Los Cuachalalates, a tiny village in Michoacán, Mexico. At age ten, he quit school and went to Mexico City to work in his cousin’s flea market. Two years later, he went to work cutting sugarcane. At age sixteen, on his third attempt, he crossed the border and joined his brother in Sonoma County. Ulises lied about his age and was hired to prune vines in the Dry Creek Valley.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress passed and the President signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. The law, referred to as the Reagan Amnesty, gave illegal immigrants the opportunity to become legal residents. Valdez took advantage, obtaining temporary, then, ten years later, permanent resident status. In the interim, he went back to Mexico, married and brought his new wife to Sonoma County.
Valdez progressed from vineyard worker to vineyard manager to partner in a vineyard management company to sole owner of a vineyard management company. In 1996 he became a U.S. citizen.
Over the years Valdez also began leasing and purchasing land and planting vineyards. He supplied premium grapes to high-end wineries. The Valdez businesses employ 100 people and manage more than 1,000 acres of vineyards. In 2004 Ulises Valdez produced the first wines for his own label. Six years later, with 100 acres owned or leased, the Valdez Family Winery opened. His daughter Elizabeth became the winemaker in 2016. Her sister and two brothers also work in the business.
Ulises Valdez died of a heart attack September 12, at age 49, in the midst of harvest frenzy. Sonoma County vintners and longtime clients are showing their respect, supporting the family, helping in the fields, winery and offices.
The environmental expert currently occupying the White House was quick to assign responsibility for wildfires burning in California. Using the venerable Republican strategy of blaming the victim, he tweeted:
