Gov. Gavin Newsom is open to giving California public employees a temporary break on his return-to-office mandate.

The union representing about 14,000 state engineers today announced a deal that would delay Newsom’s order that they return to work four days a week for one year. It was supposed to take effect July 1.

The Professional Engineers in California Government disclosed that agreement alongside a new contract that includes some concessions Newsom wanted to trim payroll expenses as he tries to shore up a $12 billion budget deficit.

Workers represented by the union will get a 3% raise next week, but it will be offset by mandatory unpaid time off that would basically negate the pay increase for two years. Additional raises will take effect in 2027. That’s similar to the terms of a deal Newsom made last week with the union representing state prison guards.

“The package includes two pay raises and an immediate halt to the four-day return-to-office order for our members. In this budget environment, those are important achievements,” union executive director Ted Toppin said in a written statement.

Governors often grant similar perks to different labor organizations, and that history suggests many other state workers could get a one-year reprieve from the full return-to-office mandate.

Newsom embraced telework policies during the COVID-19 pandemic and unions negotiated work-from-home stipends for public employees. Many of them felt they were as productive as ever, and they were happy to avoid expensive transportation and parking costs.

Newsom brought public employees back to the office twice a week last year, and ordered a bigger move to four-days-a-week in May.

As of May, about 108,000 state employees worked from home at least one day a week, the state human resources director told lawmakers at a recent hearing.

The engineers union was one of several that contested Newsom’s mandate, including filing a lawsuit against the governor in Sacramento Superior Court. The union agreed to drop the lawsuit in its new agreement with Newsom.

Lawmakers have taken unions’ side, writing a letter earlier this month that urged Newsom to push back the mandate and grilling Newsom’s representatives in May over what they considered to be thin details on what the change would cost and how it would be implemented.

“This is pretty bewildering,” Democratic Assemblyman Matt Haney of San Francisco said at the May hearing. “So is this, is this supposed to go into effect for everyone on July 1st and that everybody would be expected to come back four days on that day?”

Contracts for five more public employee unions are scheduled to expire next week. The largest labor organization in state government, Service Employees International Union Local 1000, announced that it filed a legal challenge over the return to office mandate last week. It represents about 100,000 workers.

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Press release from the City of Fortuna:

The City of Fortuna will once again host a promotional give-away for Exceptional Quality (EQ) Class A compost for beneficial reuse as a soil amendment to your property or place of residence beginning on Monday July 7th and continuing until Thursday July 17th.The Days of the giveaway are Monday through Thursday If supplies remain then appointments can be made to pick compost up by calling (707) 725-1476.

Loading hours will be from 9:00am to 3:00pm each day at our facility located at 180 Dinsmore Drive.  As per the City’s Biosolids Management Plan, the public will be limited to 2½ cubic yards (roughly one full-size pickup truck load) of material per address per year. Small pickup trucks should hold 1½ cubic yards. Everyone will be required to sign a “Hold Harmless” release of liability, when picking up the compost. Drivers must have proper tarps for covering compost while transporting from the facility. Tarps are NOT provided by the City. No pickups with canopies will be loaded by City staff.

Please use the Corporation Yard entrance (2nd gate past the bridge) when picking up the compost. Vehicles entering the Corporation Yard can proceed directly to the loading area by following the signs. If you have any questions, you may call (707) 725-1476.

In 1994, a 26-year-old Alex Padilla, sporting a newly minted engineering degree from MIT, was back at home living with his parents in the San Fernando Valley when that fall’s most heated ballot measure campaign dragged him into a life of politics.

Proposition 187, the Save Our State initiative, would bar undocumented immigrants across California from using public schools, taxpayer-funded social services and non-emergency medical care.

“I had to get involved, so that families like mine, communities like mine, would not continue to be scapegoated or targeted,” Padilla, whose parents emigrated to the United States from Mexico, said in an interview in 2018.

That attitude put him in the political minority at the time. Backed by then-Gov. Pete Wilson, a Republican who made the campaign a centerpiece of his reelection, Prop. 187 passed with a commanding 58%, including majorities in 51 out of 58 counties. That included Padilla’s Los Angeles County, where it won by eight percentage points.

California has changed in the three decades since, a political and cultural transformation that is in many ways personified by Padilla’s career. In just a single generation, the political clout immigrants hold in California has soared. So have the legal protections afforded even to those immigrants who are unauthorized to live here. On the whole, public opinion on immigration policy, border security and the rightful role of immigrants in American life has inverted from 31 years ago. Prop. 187 was voided by a federal judge shortly after its passage, but its effect on California politics endures.

Case in point: Padilla, the reluctant young activist, is now the first Latino U.S. senator to represent California. In that role he has become one of the most visible symbols of the clash of values between the nativism of President Donald Trump’s administration and California’s liberal consensus on immigration. After last week’s jarring altercation, in which Padilla was forcibly removed from a press conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and briefly handcuffed, elected officials across California lined up to lionize and defend him.

This isn’t Pete Wilson’s California anymore.

Immigration policy a ‘settled issue’ in California

Pollster Mark Baldassare has been chronicling the change for decades. In 1998, he and his colleagues at the Public Policy Institute of California began asking Californians a simple question: Are immigrants a “benefit” or a “burden” to California?

Respondents were evenly split in the first survey. Ever since, a majority — one that has grown with each decade — has come to see immigrants as a boon to our state. In February, when PPIC most recently asked the question, 72% of respondents chose “benefit.” That included 91% of Democrats and 73% of political independents, though only 31% of Republicans.

“This is pretty much a settled issue,” said Baldassarre.

Part of that sweeping change can be explained by the state’s shifting demographics. If the U.S. is the land of immigrants, California is doubly so. More than a quarter of the state’s population was born abroad, and almost half of California’s children were born to an immigrant parent. More than half of California’s immigrants are naturalized U.S. citizens.And California’s immigrant community is diverse: 49% are originally from Latin American countries and 41% from Asia. For the past decade, more immigrants from Asia have entered California than from Latin America.

But California’s changing demographics are only part of the reason immigration politics have seen such a radical shift in such a relatively short period of time, said Adrian Pantoja, a political science and Chicano studies professor at Pitzer College in Claremont.

Graduating students at the Fresno State Chicano/Latino Commencement Celebration in the Save Mart Center in Fresno on May 18, 2024. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

It’s not a law of nature that Latinos and other demographic groups with sizable immigrant populations should favor the Democratic Party. Plenty of Latinos and Asian Americans, for example, hold traditionally conservative opinions — on specific border and immigration-related policies and a host of other issues.

Had the GOP “reached out effectively to Latinos, to Asian American voters — populations that were inclined and trending toward the Republican Party” the state GOP might still be an electoral force, said Pantoja.

Instead, the state party hitched its political future to a ballot measure aimed at penalizing undocumented immigrants and their children — and hasn’t won a statewide race since 2006.Still, as in much of the nation, Latino support for Republicans in the last presidential election ticked up in California. In nine of 12 counties where Latinos are the largest demographic group, support for Trump increased from 4 to 6 percentage points between the last two presidential contests, depending on the county.

The legacy of Proposition 187

Three decades after that great California political rupture, the fruits of Prop. 187 are apparent in who holds power in California.

Padilla is California’s senior U.S. senator. Both chambers of the state Legislature have elected Latino leaders — Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas of Salinas and Senate President Pro Tem-elect Monique Limón of Santa Barbara. In the early 1990s, the count of Latinos in the Legislature bounced around the single digits. Today, there are a combined 42 members in the Democratic and Republican parties’ respective Latino caucuses out of 120 members.

That rise in political power has translated to changes in policy.

In 2017, then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law Senate Bill 54, California’s sanctuary state law that largely bars state and local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration enforcement. The bill’s author, Kevin de Leon, also traces his start in politics to Prop. 187.

More recently, the state has expanded Medi-Cal, the state’s health insurance program for low-income Californians and those with disabilities, to all immigrants without legal status. Newsom signed successive expansions into law starting in 2020.

Where Prop. 187 was authored to deprive undocumented immigrants of social services, California’s Medi-Cal expansion was its antithesis.The generational impact of that ballot measure was demonstrated in 2010, when immigrants were mobilized to vote and shift the state further to the left.By then, a quarter of the state’s electorate was Latino, said Thad Kousser, a professor of California politics at UC San Diego.

“Latinos become this voting block that helps deliver the state to Jerry Brown, and then the state becomes Democratic in every single statewide office, in every election” since, he said.That year, Brown defeated billionaire businesswoman Meg Whitman in an acrimonious gubernatorial race, showcasing California as an outlier in the national red wave and ending a run in which Republicans won the governor’s race six times out of the previous eight elections. Democrats lost no congressional seats in California even as the party was routed nationally.By 2016, the respective leaders of the State Assembly and Senate were Latino, a first in California.

First: Hundreds of protesters gathered at Los Angeles City Hall to demonstrate against the “Save Our State” proposition, Prop. 187 on Nov. 7, 1994. Photo by Nick Ut, AP Photo Last: Former California Gov. Pete Wilson addresses members of The Employers Group at Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, on July 18, 1995. During the breakfast meeting, Wilson talked about his views on affirmative action. Photo by Rene Macura, AP Photo

But not all efforts to reverse the conservatism of the 1990s in California have succeeded. In 2020, a ballot measure to largely reverse the state’s ban on using race, ethnicity or gender as factors in public university admissions and government grant-making failed to woo voters. In the state’s population center of Los Angeles County, a majority of Asian voters shot down the proposal while only 55% of Latino voters backed it.And immigrants or their children make up a sizable chunk of the GOP in the state capital. When voters in 2020 elected Redlands Republican Rosilicie Ochoa-Bogh, the child of Mexican immigrants, she became the first GOP Latina state senator in California’s history. Today the Republican Senate caucus has at least three members who are immigrants or whose parents were born abroad, according to their public biographies — 30% of the caucus. Before being elected to the Assembly as a Republican, Tri Ta became the first Vietnamese American to serve as mayor of a U.S. city.

Medi-Cal rollback shifts views

Recent polling shows the latest wave of Medi-Cal expansions may have gone too far even for California’s immigrant-friendly electorate. A majority of Californians — 58% — oppose health coverage for immigrants without permanent legal status, according to PPIC’s June 2025 survey.

Other polls show a majority of likely voters still support health insurance for immigrants.

This mixed picture emerges as California grapples with a third successive fiscal year of multibillion-dollar deficits and sharply increasing Medi-Cal costs. While those data may indicate softening political support for the boldest of California’s policies aimed at helping undocumented immigrants, it doesn’t spell a political realignment, said Kousser.

“California moved so far to the left that there’s almost nowhere to go other than the slight counter-reaction,” he said.

Baldassare of PPIC agreed, saying the Medi-Cal survey results may simply reflect a growing concern about the state’s finances. He noted that Newsom has proposed freezing enrollment.On some other measures affecting immigrants, Democratic lawmakers and Newsom have diverged. Last year the Legislature approved a bill to essentially adopt a novel legal theory to permit public college students without legal authorization in the U.S. to work on their campuses. Newsom vetoed the bill.

Anti-ICE protests: A new Prop. 187 moment?

There is some indication that California’s philosophical support for immigrants is, at least in part, accelerated by Trump. The share of respondents who called immigrants a “benefit” in PPIC’s surveys shot up during the first Trump administration and ebbed during Joe Biden’s stint in the White House. The most recent survey, the first since Trump returned to power, saw another spike.

That has some immigrant rights advocates hoping that the Trump administration’s current sweeping deportation policy will galvanize a new generation of political activists in California.

“Whether it’s post-Prop. 187 or post-9/11 for middle eastern South Asian communities, at some point you realize that you are being endlessly and inhumanely targeted and if you don’t speak up, and if you don’t practice your First Amendment rights, and if you’re not civically engaged, then you’ll be taken advantage of,” said Masih Fouladi, executive director of the California Immigrant Policy Center. “I think those are really the things that brought people together then, and what are bringing people to the streets now.”

He said if he were asked a few months ago whether California elected leaders were shifting to the center on immigration, he’d have said yes. But Trump’s immigration raids in Los Angeles are “allowing elected officials to come out more strongly” against the apprehensions, he said. Christian Arana, vice president of policy at the Latino Community Foundation, was just six years old when Prop. 187 was on the ballot. He has distinct memories of marching with his family, everyone clad in white shirts, surrounded by a wide array of his neighbors chanting delightfully brash slogans about someone named Pete Wilson.

“For six-year-old me, what I understood was that my parents, my neighbors, my community was under attack because some man — in that case the governor of California — was blaming California’s problems on them,” he said. “I wonder how young children are experiencing this moment now.”Fifteen-year-old Nathon Ponce has an answer: He feels vulnerable. The rising high school sophomore at USC Hybrid High College Prep stood with his aunt several hundred feet from law enforcement as they fired projectiles and less-lethal rounds at protesters in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday. He wants to see the government create a legal pathway to citizenship for immigrants without that status, “instead of pushing them away.”

More broadly, he was there to support his community, which “some people consider a vulnerable group, like Hispanics and low-income working people,” he said. “And I just want to show my support by, like, actually attending a protest.”

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The torrid pace continues for the baseball tour – four games in five days: Washington DC to New York to Boston and back to New York.

Game #19: Marlins versus Nationals at Nationals Stadium in Washington DC, June 13

Washington DC has an unusual history with baseball. The original Washington Senators were charter members of the American League, founded in 1901. Early stars were Goose Goslin, Sam Rice, Joe Cronin and, of course, one of the greatest pitchers ever, Walter Johnson. They went to back-to-back World Series is 1924 and 1925, winning the title the first year. The 1940s and 1950s were not as kind, as they finished dead last six times during that time. Attendance dropped off and it was decided to move the team to Minnesota and rename it the Twins. The American League originally opposed the move, but finally agreed when a new team in Washington was discussed. Lose a team, gain a team. Washington was given a franchise during the 1961 expansion and they kept the name of the Senators. From 1961 to 1971 they averaged 94 losses a season. The owner demanded a new stadium - build it or I will leave - and he was good on his threat and, after the 1971 season, moved the team to the Dallas area where it was renamed the Rangers.

Baseball, however, was not dead in the nation’s capital. The Montreal Expos – an expansion franchise in 1969 – struggled to get attention in hockey-crazed Montreal. With the franchise in general disarray in the early 2000s, Major League Baseball took it over and moved it to Washington DC n 2005 and renamed it the Nationals. If you count all the Washington teams and their offspring, they have won five World Series titles: original Senators (1924), Minnesota Twins (1987, 1991), Washington Nationals (2019), and Texas Rangers (2023).

Nationals Stadium was completed in 2008. One incentive to buy upper deck seats is that it is the only place in the stadium (Section 402) where you can see the Washington Monument and the Capitol Building. Left field opens up to a view of the downtown skyline.

PREVIOUSLY:

All dispatches from the Sprint can be found at this link.

Game atmosphere: Positive

Thunder and lightning, very, very frightening! The thunder was provided by Nats’ James Wood who slugged a 2-run 451-foot home run. The lightning was provided by the Marlins who pounded out six runs in the first three innings, giving them a 6-2 lead after three and a half innings. But then the real thunder and lightning hit, delaying the game and requiring the fans to go inside. Before the delay, however, the crowd was treated to the Presidents Race – a mascot race between Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and George Washington. The first Presidents Race was in 2006. Tonight, it looked like Teddy had it free and clear until an usher stepped in and flattened him right before the finish line, giving Abe the victory.

We made the most of the rain delay, using it as an opportunity to look through the Champions Club. They will need to do some serious redecorating if the Nationals ever win another World Series title because practically every pitch of the 2019 World Series championship is detailed in various displays on the walls. There are also Gold Gloves, Silver Slugger Awards, and a tribute to the Homestead Grays from the Negro leagues which won seven league titles in the 1940s while playing half their games in Washington DC.

Fans are happy to have baseball in Washington. “I come to every home game,” said Delise Williams. “I’ve gotten to know the concessions people and ushers. It’s like family. It’s a place to come and chill and root for my team. They play hard. They don’t give up. I grew up here. I was here when the Washington Senators were here. I was very excited when a team came back. It’s been good to the city. It has energized the city. It brings people together. It’s a different crowd here than other sports events. More of a diverse crowd and a lot of families. I’ve been bringing my grandkids since they were 2. Now the oldest is 15. Sometimes they have various extra events that make it nice.”

Tonight, the extra event is a Nelly concert that is scheduled after the game as part of the Nats Postgame Summer Concert Series. I’m sure when they scheduled it, it was not anticipated to be a 1 a.m. concert.

The game resumes after a rain delay of more than two hours. The Nats rally but fall short, 11-9. Fans have their own cheer for the home team. “N-A-T-S. Nats. Nats. Nats. Whoo!” Now that’s showing some Natitude. The Nelly show started well after the baseball game ended after midnight, despite some occasional rain. Others scheduled in the concert series include Sam Hunt (Aug. 15), Ja Rule / Ashanti (Aug. 29), and Riley Green (Sept. 26).

Ballpark cuisine: Positive

The food is mostly standard ballpark fare with notable exceptions such as oyster-mushroom chicken sandwiches at Mush, Korean corn dogs at Ssongs, tuna tartare nachos made with house-fried wonton chips and vegetable lumpia at Kam, and flaky roti tacos with pickled veggies, spicy mayonnaise and the meat of your choice at Phowheels.

We chose the brisket sandwich from the Champions Club. It is fresh with a nice crunch from the coleslaw and pickles. It is not overpowered by the BBQ sauce. Just the right amount of heat.

Club hospitality: Positive

The team provided 200-level tickets behind home plate that included access to the Champions Club – a climate-controlled, 18,886 square-foot club with great views of the Anacostia River. Access to this area came in handy during the rain delay.

Game details: Marlins win 11-9. Attendance 31.098. Time of game: 3:29.

Helpful tips: Bag Policy - Clear plastic bags that do not exceed 16”x16”x8” and purses 5”x7” or smaller are okay. … Factory-sealed or empty plastic water bottles are allowed. … Many nearby lots offer parking, from $30 to $40. We found one near the DMV station that included an attendant and friends and neighbors willing to tow out oversized vehicles that may have parked with the back tires in a ditch. What, no curb?

You don’t see that every day: The army, in town for the big parade the next day, was deployed for the national anthem, surrounding the infield with 300 active servicemen as the military choir sang the Star-Spangled Banner. Earlier in the pregame the U.S. Army Drill Team demonstrated a variety of intricate weapon maneuvers consisting of complex exchanges of rifles. In addition, fans could take photos with two U.S. Army Infantry Squad vehicles stationed in Center Field Plaza.

Game #20: Rays versus Mets at Citi Field in New York, June 14

There was the “Amazing” Mets of 1969. The “A-Mays-ing” Mets of 1973. The “between-Buckner’s-legs” Mets of 1986. The first and last of those won World Series titles. The Mets ownership has no qualms with spending money to try to bring back those glory days. Their payroll of $323 million is second only to the Dodgers. Since 1986 they have been back to the World Series twice, losing to the Yankees in 2000 and losing to the Royals in 2015. Hope is rising for 2025 with the signing in the offseason of slugger and former Yankee Juan Soto. The team has one of the top records in the National League this season and has sights on postseason success again.

Citi Field opened in 2009 and replaced Shea Stadium which was torn down after serving as the Mets home since 1964. The location of Shea’s home plate, pitcher’s mound and bases are marked in the Citi Field parking lot where Shea Stadium once stood.

Game atmosphere: Positive

“Hefner, will you come out now?” shouts Mets’ fan Michael Hernandez from the stands. It was the top of the fourth inning and Mets starting pitcher, Tylor Megill, had already given up a game-tying home run to the lead-off hitter, hit the next batter with a pitch, and gave up a single up the middle putting runners at first and third. “Hefner” is Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner. Hernandez is hoping he will come out to talk to Megill to try to calm him down. Hefner stays put. Megill strikes out the next batter. Then he fumbles a safety squeeze bunt, allowing the batter to reach first and a run to score. After another strike out it looks like Megill might get out of it giving up just two runs. Not so fast. Another base hit scores another run. Another single scores yet another run. “C’mon, Hefner. Where are you? You’re embarrassing the team,” yells Hernandez. Still no movement from the Mets bench. Megill walks a batter to load the bases. Then he throws a wild pitch to score another run. Then he walks another batter. Finally, out comes the pitching coach. “Thanks for coming, Hefner! Glad you could make it to the game,” says Hernandez. “Bye, bye!” he says to Megill as the pitcher is taken out of the game.

Hernandez is a microcosm of the average Mets fan. Except he boisterously says what others are thinking. “Being a Mets fan is the utmost pleasure and the utmost pain at the same time,” Hernandez told me. “This year I have confidence in what the team owners have planned. I love being a Mets fan and everything that goes with it. Good or bad.” Today it was bad as the Rays won 8-4, thanks mostly to the 5-run fourth inning. Hernandez shouted his frustration in the late innings. “How can you expect to beat the Yankees when you can’t even beat the Rays?” The Rays end up sweeping the Mets in the 3-game series.

There was one bright shining star for the Mets against the Rays: Mets catcher Luis Torrens. Who is this guy and why hasn’t he already won a Gold Glove? He threw out two runners trying to steal – in the same inning. He made a play on a wild pitch with a runner on third I still don’t believe. In one motion he barehanded the ricochet off the backstop and threw a dart to home plate, right where the runner had to slide. All the pitcher had to do was catch it, which he did, and the tag took care of itself as the runner could not escape where the ball had been delivered. He has now thrown out 9 of 19 runners attempting to steal (47.4 percent) this season, and 22 of 47 since 2024 (46.8 percent), the best mark in the majors during that span. Last year he turned the first ever game-ending 2-3 double play in MLB history in a 6-5 win against the Phillies. With the bases loaded and one out, the batter hit a dribbler in front of the plate. Torrens pounced on it, pivoted on his left foot to step back to home plate with his right foot for the force out, then threw to first for the second out to end the game.

Other game notes: Citi Field has a gigantic videoboard, the largest in Major League Baseball. It is 17,400 square feet – three times larger than the one the Mets used to have. … Mascot race report – the five boroughs raced against each other. Brooklyn was represented by a pizza slice, Manhattan by a skyscraper, Staten Island by a ferry the Bronx by a giraffe, and Queens by a subway. I missed which one won. Sorry! … The Mets fans stand up and cheer after every hit by the home team. Every hit!

Kudos to the Mets public address announcer, Marysol Castro. She’s been doing it since 2018, and her announcing was a breath of fresh air compared to recent games. Castro was firm and direct with her announcing and captured the essence of what public address announcing is all about: Relay information in a clear way that is not a distraction. Two recent games featured P.A. announcers that were very much a distraction. One announcer gave his announcements like this: “Batting. First. And. Playing. Left. Field. Number. Eight.” Human rain delay. The other announcer had a sing-song delivery – a repetitive rising (first name) and falling (last name) with the announcement of every name, every time. Starting lineups were particularly annoying with 20 names in a row RISING and falling.

Ballpark cuisine: Positive

We came to Citi Field with much anticipation after its top ranking in USA Today’s readers’ choice travel award for Best Baseball Stadium Food. It was definitely good. But best? Nope, not even close. For instance, we ordered the Pig Beach’s Pulled Pork Loaded Mac and Cheese. The pulled pork was tasty, but the portion was only about an ice-cream-scoop size in volume. It does not even make the Top 5 of the various loaded mac and cheese dishes we have had on the trip. The grilled sausage was solid – your choice of a sweet or hot sausage on a fresh bun. Other options include chilled fresh main lobster rolls, upscale burgers from Adam Richman’s Burger Hall of Fame, pastrami sandwiches, and a jerk meatball bowl or braised brisket bowl from the Coca-Cola Corner. Very good. But not best.

Club hospitality: Positive

We have a new favorite baseball contact. Josh Lederman, who works in Communications with the Mets, came through in a variety of ways, perhaps the most significant being guiding us out of a protest-filled New York City downtown that blocked the usual route out of the city. GPS was rendered worthless at it wanted to take us to a particular highway on the other side of the tens of thousands of protestors. I didn’t see their signs clearly, but I think it was some sort of protest against songs with the word “king” in the title: “King of Pain,” “King of Nothing,” “Court of the Crimson King.” Whatever. The point is Josh sent me a text to let me know the game was going to start late due to rain. I responded with something along the lines of “Get us out of here!” as we were stuck downtown going in circles for about an hour in heavy traffic. And he did get us out of there. He told us to take the 59th Street Bridge as an alternate route if we were looking for fun and feeling groovy. We did, and we got to the stadium 90 minutes after we wanted to be, and 30 minutes after the scheduled start. But since there was a rain delay, it was still 20 minutes before the first pitch! Josh also emailed game notes to me, something I have requested at most of the parks but have been unable to get except for the Rangers game where we were in the press box.

Oh yeah, and the team provided great seats (eight rows from the field, just off first base) and great parking where our names were on the list. (We’ve had three games where the parking attendant said, “What list?” but they let us in anyway when we flashed some previous game credentials.) The tickets were also coded with access to three different climate-controlled lounge/clubs in the ballpark. We swung by to check them out but watched the game from our seats.

Game details: Rays win 8-4. Attendance 41,662. Time of game: 3:00. Start delayed 50 minutes due to rain.

Helpful tips: Parking is available near the stadium for $40. …Backpacks are prohibited. Bags and soft-sided coolers under 16”x16”x8” are allowed. … One soft, plastic, factory-sealed water bottle of 20 ounces or less is permitted.

You don’t see that every day: During an in-between-innings contest with a fan, the in-game host asked the female contestant to identify the difference between two almost identical pictures of the Mrs. Met mascot. She correctly noticed that in one photo, Mrs. Met had on a diamond ring. The in-game host said, “Now let’s look at the scoreboard to see what you’ve won.” On the scoreboard were the words “Jessie, will you marry me?” Then the scoreboard showed her soon-to-be fiancé on his knee with the ring. She said yes! Nice prize to win at a Mets game – for both of them!

Game #21: Yankees at Red Sox at Fenway Park in Boston, June 15

The Red Sox call it “America’s Most Beloved Park.” Fenway Park is intimate, historical and, yes, beloved. It’s the oldest major league park still in use, built in 1912. “Fenway is brimming with tangible history,” said Red Sox fan Matt McWhinnie. “Your seats aren’t going to be as wide or as comfortable, but you’re going to feel like you’re in a baseball park, that’s for sure.” The Green Monster in left field. The odd angles of the right center field wall. The short distances down the line. These are and have always been. Babe Ruth pitched in Fenway Park for the Red Sox. Ted Williams played his entire career in Fenway Park. Carl Yastrzemski won a triple crown in Fenway Park. Carlton Risk waved his game-winning home run fair in Game Six of the 1975 World Series in Fenway Park. Plenty of great history. Add to all this the World Series titles in 2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018, and you have a team to be excited about.

For readers who only know Babe Ruth as a Yankee, allow me to enlighten you. Ruth played six seasons with the Red Sox (1914-1919), winning World Series titles in 1915, 1916 and 1918. He was mostly a pitcher during the first five years, but started hitting more in 1918 because he had a knack for hitting home runs. Boston sold him to the Yankees after the 1919 season. Between 1920 and 2003, Boston did not win any more World Series titles. The Yankees, who had not won any titles prior to 1920, won 26 World Series titles in that same time frame, including four with Ruth. They called it “the curse of the Bambino” before it was finally broken in 2004.

Part of the charm of the Green Monster – the 37-foot, 2-inch high left field wall at Fenway – is that the line score and out-of-town scoreboard at its base is still done by hand. All the basic game information you want, except perhaps for pitch count, is always available with a brief glance to left field. Unlike previous years when all the updates could be done within the Green Monster, now some of the updates have to be done from outside. Someone comes out between innings with numbers on boards to place them in the appropriate spots. A seating area was added to the top of the wall in 2002. These seats sell for up to $900 each.

Jersey Street adjacent to Fenway becomes an extension of the park on game days. It’s blocked off to traffic three hours before the game and features concessions, live music, a juggler, a magician and a man on stilts. … Overheard in the Fenway concourse from someone who asked a local a question: “I understand Spanish better than I understand New England-eze. Or is that New English? And I don’t know any Spanish.”

Game atmosphere: Positive

These fans cheer. Loudly. They boo. Loudly. They chant. All without help from some electronic prodding on the scoreboard or over the sound system. In fact, there is no electronic prodding! What a relief! I was a little worried when the wave almost broke out one inning but it died quickly. They cheer their Red Sox. They boo Aaron Judge. They chant, “Let’s go Red Sox” and “Yankees Suck” all on their own. Organically. And frequently.

There is no in-game host babbling on between innings. To be fair, in-game hosts can be entertaining and add to the atmosphere. That, however, is the exception. Mostly they are loud and distracting. No mascot race. No time-filler activities – except for the traditional and rousing rendition of Sweet Caroline in the middle of the eighth inning. This is how baseball was meant to be.

For Red Sox fans, today was the best of times and the worst of times. The best of times when Romy Gonzalez tripled with two outs in the first, then scored on Trevor Story’s single. It was the best of times when Rafael Devers hit a solo home run in the fifth inning, his 15th of the season. It was the best of times when Aaron Judge (booo) struck out three times (YAAY). Nothing makes a Red Sox fan happier then when Judge strikes out. Except maybe when he comes up in the eighth inning (booo) with two on and one out and hits into a double play (YAAAAAY). That made the Sweet Caroline song very sweet indeed.

It was the best of times as the Red Sox beat the Yankees 2-0 for their fifth straight win against the Yankees and a 3-game sweep during this homestand. After the final out, cue the Standells! “Dirty Water” is blasted across the P.A. system as the 36,000+ happy fans stream out of the ballpark. (The lyrics of “Dirty Water” include the line “Oh, Boston, you’re my home.”)

Just two and a hours later it was the worst of times for Red Sox fans as they learned their best hitter, Rafael Devers, was traded to the San Francisco Giants. Morning talk show radio hosts blasted Red Sox ownership for being morons and idiots. The sweep of the Yankees is not even mentioned. It was a good time while it lasted!

Ballpark cuisine: Neutral

Only one vendor, Luke’s Lobster, offered something that is not available at most ballparks. Luke’s had lobster rolls, crab rolls, clam chowder and lobster bisque. The clam chowder was excellent. Just as good as Oracle Park, minus the sourdough bread bowl. The lobster and crab rolls were served chilled in a griddled, split-top, very small hot dog bun with a drizzle of mayo, warm lemon butter and Luke’s Secret Seasoning. We passed on the rolls since they were in such small portions. We chose the the Savenor’s steak and cheese cheesesteak and give it a thumb’s up, although it was clear we were not in Philadelphia.

Club hospitality: Negative

The Red Sox are only the second team out of 21 to date to deny access for your intrepid LoCo correspondents. We are partly responsible, choosing a game on a weekend against their biggest rival. But who is the more culpable in this scenario: A club representative who denies access because they say the game is sold out (and they don’t recognize online-only media), or us for not fact-checking that statement, resulting in us buying tickets on the secondary market when it turns out the game was not sold out? We paid good money for mediocre tickets when we could have paid good money for good tickets.

Game details: Red Sox win 2-0. Attendance 36,475. Time of game: 2:30.

Helpful tips: Don’t park near Fenway Park. It’s $55 and almost impossible to get out after the game is over. Instead, park at an MTA (“T” for short) station and take the train to Kenmore Station where it is a short walk to Fenway. Parking is $3 and the roundtrip ticket on the train is $4.80. We parked at the Riverside Station because it had the best lot suited for the Sprinter. … Bag policy at Fenway - Backpacks are out. Other bags smaller than 12”x12”x6” are in. … One unopened, factory-sealed plastic bottle of water, 16 ounces or less, is permitted.

You don’t see that every day: Ask a Red Sox fan what are their favorite two baseball teams, and it will be the Red Sox and whoever is playing against the Yankees. So, it was surprising to see on the T a dating couple comprised of a Red Sox fan (Matt McWhinnie) and a Yankees fan (Kate Hackett). I talked to them at length on our way to Fenway. “We’re baseball fans first and foremost,” Matt said. “The sport takes priority over the franchise. It’s like being an American. You’re an American first, and you’re, whatever you are, after that.” They were decked out in their red gear (Red Sox) and their blue gear (Yankees). “It doesn’t get in the way,” Kate said. “It’s just about appreciating the quality and time together and the shared love of baseball.” Looks like three years of dating has brought them to a good place.

Game #22: Angels versus Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York, June 17

As mentioned in the Fenway Park recap, the arrival of Babe Ruth in 1920 changed the Yankee fortunes forever. They became the most dominant team in sports history, winning 27 World Series titles. Some of the all-time greats include Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, Reggie Jackson, and Derek Jeter. If you want a comprehensive list of Yankee greats, Yankee Stadium will deliver with its Monument Park located just beyond the center field fence. There you will find plaques, busts, and tributes to 37 different players, managers and owners. Monuments from the original Yankee Stadium – for Lou Gehrig, Miller Huggins and Babe Ruth – have been moved to this space. Additional monuments were built for Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle and George Steinbrenner.

 Stadium or courthouse? Photo: Trepiak.

The new Yankee Stadium was completed in 2009, one block north of the original Yankee Stadium, used from 1923-2008, and coined “the house that Ruth built” due to his enormous popularity. … Three different subway lines have a stop across the street from the stadium.

It’s hard to tell you’ve walked up to a baseball stadium when you view it from the outside. It is surrounded by tall walls that do not allow for even a peek at what’s inside. That also means that from the inside, you don’t get a peek at the surrounding area, either. There is a double-concourse as you enter, with the outer concourse resembling a large mall. There are stores, restaurants and a large area where you can have your customized jersey made on the spot. The inner concourse area is a traditional area with concessions, restrooms and access to seating.

Game atmosphere: Neutral

Goose eggs. A lot of them. It was the third straight game the Yankees have been shut out, extending their scoreless streak to 29 innings. And we saw 18 of them. They had been shut out only twice in their first 69 games of the season. They have scored only five runs in their last six games. The Angels’ Kyle Hendricks came into the game with the second-highest ERA in the majors. He gave up only four hits and struck out nine in his six innings of work. (The scoreless streak ended the next night at 30 innings, broken by a home run in the second inning of another losing effort.)

All this to say the fans did not have much to cheer about. The quietest congregation of 35,000+ you will ever experience. Not that the sound guys didn’t try to get things going. Every available second was filled with some kind of noise to try to encourage the crowd to participate. Note to Yankee sound team: Stop beating a dead horse! When the team is in a long, extended scoring slump, fans like to wait until something actually happens to cheer rather than have their eardrums assaulted for two hours.

Before the game started, there were some fun cheers from the center field bleachers. About 200 people coordinated their cheers after the Yankees took the field, chanting the name of each Yankee starter until that player turned to acknowledge them. It went something like this: “Aaron Judge. Aaron Judge. Aaron Judge. Aaron Judge.” Judge turns from his right field position to give them a nod. All of them cheer wildly. Repeat seven more times. (They left out the pitcher, probably so he could keep his focus.)

After the sixth inning the grounds crew came out to drag the field while “YMCA” played over the PA system. They seemed to be keeping the beat while they did their job. Then, when the song got to the Y-M-C-A part, they all stopped in their tracks and did the YMCA dance, where they do choreography to produce each letter in unison.

Ballpark cuisine: Positive

The design of the stadium makes choosing your food easy. All the food vendors are in two places – most of them in a row right next to each other along the inner concourse, and others in a food court area. We generally shy away from getting hamburgers at games but made an exception to try Bobby Flay’s Bobby’s Burgers. We chose the Bobby Blue Bacon Burger even though it presented some simple ingredients: blue cheese, bacon, lettuce and tomato. It did not disappoint! It was fresh with the perfect amount of blue cheese and bacon to compliment each other. Other options are the Crunchburger (potato chips produce the crunch), Bacon Crunchburger, and Bobby’s Veggie Burger.

Our next choice was the BBQ Filet Mignon Loaded Tater Tots at Lobel’s. It was comprised of crispy tater tots, Lobel’s seasoning, BBQ filet mignon, Lobel’s queso sauce, and crispy onions. The individual parts were good but it did not come together as a dish, mostly because the filet mignon was in very large chunks and could not be scooped up with the sauces and tater tots.

Other options at Yankee Stadium include hibachi and yakisoba bowls at Benihana, Petroni’s cheesy garlic bread with meatballs, lobster rolls (same portion as Fenway), 99 Burger (we had that in Tampa), and the Bird Dog (footlong beef hot dog topped with chicken tenders and cheese).

Frankly, some of the best food we had all night was a slice of pizza at Pizza Den on 18th Avenue in Brooklyn before we got on the subway. It was so good I bought another slice after the game when we got off the subway at 11 p.m. The owner remembered us and gave me a discount.

Club hospitality: Neutral

Our request to gcostanza@yankees.com for game access went unanswered for several days. I guess he was fired but returned back to work anyway, because it was eventually forwarded to a guy in the Strategic Ticket Sales & Tourism department. I never heard of such a thing. Maybe the Dodgers and Red Sox can use one of those. He sent a list of tickets from which to choose, ranging from farthest from home plate, very far from home plate, and far from home plate. We chose the last option and declined the offers for stadium tours and food packages. The seats were just beyond the left field foul pole in the 200 Section.

Game details: Angels win 4-0. Attendance 35,278. Time of game: 2:27.

Helpful tips: Parking? Fuhgeddaboudit. For us in our Sprinter, anyway. Fans in cars have plenty of garage options, ranging from $18 to $50 depending on proximity to the stadium. SpotHero is a good resource for finding parking. Nothing, however, is available for 10-feet tall vehicles like ours. We did find an outdoor municipal lot near a subway station. Ten bucks for parking plus $2.90 each way on the subway. … Bags must be soft-sided and less than 16”x16”x8” except for purses. … Empty, reusable, non-glass water bottles 24-oz. or less are permitted. The stadium has excellent hydration stations for water refills.

You don’t see that every day: The national anthem is usually performed by a singer with local contacts, a member of the military or, on special occasions, a pop star. This game it was the Trinitones, 12 singers from Dublin, Ireland. In the thousands of games I have watched in my lifetime, I believe it is the first time that this song that represents the tradition and history of our nation was performed by people that were not from our country.

Tom Trepiak is the former sports information director at Humboldt State and a member of the Cal Poly Humboldt Athletics Hall of Fame.

I was a passenger on the North Coast Daylight on the trip to Fort Seward, August 12, 1989. As the train wound along the Eel River, ideal swimming holes were evident in the clear water. None surpassed the pool where I swam as a child at Boehne’s Camp over seventy years ago. A wide sandy beach was o the side nearest the camp, while on the opposite side, towering rocks defined the pool. Overhead was the Fort Seward bridge. I had been informed that the camp and bridge were destroyed by high flood waters but I was unprepared for the total change. The windows of the brick train station were boarded shut. Helmke’s store, a block away, was completely gone. The tables for lunch were placed where the railroad workers’ cottages once stood. Only Boehne’s Butte, a cone shaped hill nearby, was visible and more heavily wopded than I remembered.

Boehne’s Camp at Fort Seward was the setting of some of my favorite memories. In 1917, my family made the first of many trips on the Northwestern Pacific train for summer vacations there.

Mr. Boehne always met the train with his horse and wagon to take our luggage back to camp, but we took the shortcut across the tracks and down the trail to camp. The camp, situated in a grove of small trees and huckleberry bushes, consisted of canvas tent tops set on board floors. An adjacent screened kitchen with dirt floor included a small, woodburning stove and mismatched dishes. Cool water was carried from a reservoir filled by means of a pipe from a spring some distance down river. Our refrigerator consisted of an apple box buried in the ground and covered with a damp, burlap bag. An outhouse was a strategic distance away.

Our day began by awakening to the clip clop of Mr. Boehne’s horse bringing the milk and other necessities from his home on the other side of the bridge. We had a substantial breakfast to sustain us until after swimming. We met the train from Eureka at the depot. The baggage attendant might have a damp, canvas money bag filled with fresh vegetables from our garden which my father had put on the train that morning. My father never accompanied us because his two- week vacation from the Bank of Eureka (now the Clarke Museum) was saved for fly fishing on the Eel near Fernbridge.

When the train left, Helmke’s store was next on the agenda to get our mail and any groceries necessary. We hurriedly returned to camp to don our swimsuits to spend the next several hours swimming.

Depleted of energy by our swim, we returned to camp for lunch and a few leisurely pursuits. There was croquet. At one point, donkeys were furnished for the children. We could take the picturesque trail for a slow walk to the spring that furnished our water. Some more energetic campers met the afternoon train from San Francisco.

My brother, George, small for his age and wearing a dilapidated hat, often crouched by the railroad tracks for a ride on the engines. The engineers, who knew my father in the bank, picked him up for a ride in the engines while switching. On one auspicious occasion, he even rode to Eel Rock and returned on another engine.

Once in awhile, the ranchers shipped cattle by train. We would first hear the men on horseback shouting and the dogs barking to hold back the cattle on the other end of the bridge. Only a few cattle could cross at one time because of the bridge’s swaying. We eagerly ran to the bridge from which we would watch the loading of the cattle from the corral to the train’s cattle cars.

Next to the swimming, the evening campfire was the high point of the day. With or without talent, everyone was encouraged to participate. Community singing was often accompanied by an ukulele.

At least once during our vacation, we spent the evening at Boehne’s house. Two of the Boehne daughters had been missionaries in Japan. They told us of their life there and displayed small tokens from Japan to illustrate.

Sometimes we rowed the large wooden rowboats down river to George Washington rock, so named by us because of the resemblance to our first president. There we cooked our supper over an open fire and watched carefully for rattlesnakes, never found, ‘among the rocks.

And so to bed, another day, another vacation now long gone. But there are those besides me who remember those joyous days. I have recorded these memories for all who remember Boehne’s Camp as it was.

Glen Nash, past president of the Historical Society, found an old brochure advertising Boehne’s Camp. The brochure reads, in part:

“…Here the summer weather and mountain air combine in nature’s recuperative work. The aim is rest and relaxation, no jazz attractions are provided; a favorite resort for family groups —a place where parents’ worries for the safety of small children are soon forgotten…boats are free to guests. There is good fishing in the Eel and nearby streams, also deer hunting in season and hiking at all times…

“Rates: A one room cabin furnished with one double bed, $10 per week and $35 for four weeks. Extra beds: double, $3; single, $2; children’s cot, $1.50 and crib, $1…

“…Commodious cabins with large detached kitchens…equipment includes beds, camp furniture, stoves, dishes, cooking utensils; also bedding and bed linen. Bring towels and silver…”

Robert Edward Toler (Bob)
Jan. 20, 1937 - May 17, 2025

Robert Edward Toler (Bob) a long-time resident of Fortuna passed away in his home on May 17. 2025 with his loved ones by his side.

Bob was born in Tacoma Washington to Sarah (Emma) Chapman and Jarrett (Ed)ward Toler. They called Morton their hometown until 1946, when they moved to California, where the timber industry was flourishing. Bob’s father Ed started a Railroad tie mill in Scotia. His mother, Emma went to work at The Pacific Lumber Company as the office manager. They bought a home in Alton, which is where Bob and his younger brother Jerry grew up. He attended Fortuna Union High School and graduated in the class of 1955.

After high school, Bob worked for his father making railroad ties. Sometime later he worked for Phillips 66 hauling fuel around Humboldt and Trinity counties. Eventually he bought a Texaco service station in Fortuna on Main Street, where L’s Kitchen is now. After a few years, he sold the service station and went to work in the woods for Braun Logging. As much as he loved logging, he wanted to do something different. So he went to work at Pacific Lumber Company for the next 30 years as a millwright and retired in 1997.

As a kid Bob and his brother both had a passion for music and loved to play the guitar. Bob had a gifted talent and played by ear. He played in several bands and dance clubs throughout his years. His family loved to sit around and listen to him play and sing which was one of his many other talents. Bob played a lot of Kenny Rogers, Meryle Haggard, George Jones, Clint Black, George Straight and Alan Jackson, to name only a few. A couple of songs that are most memorable that he played were Lucille by Kenny Rogers, and King of the Road by Roger Miller. Bob always said, “There are only two kinds of music, country and western.”

He loved to build things and he did it well. He bought a piece of property just outside of Fortuna in 1969. The house there was a bit of a shack. but not in his eyes. He put his carpentry skills to work and built a workshop and turned that shack into a really nice home for him and his family.

He loved gardening and canning veggies, fruits, and meats. He took a lot of pride in his apple orchard, where he had 13 different kinds of apples. At the end of apple harvest he had so many apples that he did not know what to do with them all. His friend Bill up the road turned him on to his apple press and so making apple cider became a new tradition. He had the perfect mix of apples for the most delicious cider ever.

He loved the great outdoors and all it had to offer. He excelled in hunting and ab diving, but fishing was his favorite sport. If there were fish to be caught, he would be there. During salmon season not much in his everyday normal life mattered but fishing and making his smoked salmon which he was famous for. He always had friends that would bring him fish to smoke for them.

He spent a lot of time out on the ocean with his best fishing buddy and son-in-law Gerald Cawvey and his loving companion Joan Biss. When it was not salmon season you would probably find him and Joan out on the water at Ruth fishing for crappie.

Bob is preceded in death by his parents, Jarrett Edward Toler and Sarah Emma Toler; his wife, Billie Ann Toler; brother, Jerry Toler; and bonus son, Mike Hess.

He is survived by his long-time love, Joan Biss; his two living children, Kevin Toler (Kathy) and Jennifer Boak (John); bonus children, Deb Cawvey (Gerald), Susie Matson (Larry), Barb Taylor (Stacey), and Angela Yates (Gene); grandchildren, Zachary Toler, Shelbi Viera, John Cawvey, Jason Cawvey, Bryan Cawvey, Bo Matson, Corey Matson, Jerrett Matson, Jake Hess, Jerrica Taylor, Tanner Taylor, Ashleigh Johnson, Brandon Van Loon, Michaela Yates, and Robbie Yates; niece, MayLynn Toler; and nephew, John Toler (Carol).

Friends and family, please join us for a memorial and potluck at The Church of the Nazarene Fellowship Hall in Fortuna on Aug 2, 2025 at 2 p.m. Please bring your favorite dish.

A special thanks to Hospice of Humboldt and to dad’s care giver Terri DalPorto for all the special care you gave dad and for always being there when we needed you.

In Lieu of flowers, please donate in Robert’s name to Hospice of Humboldt 3327 Timber Fall Ct, Eureka, CA 95503.

Joseph William Oberti
November 14, 1940 – June 15, 2025

Joseph William Oberti was born in Napa on November 14, 1940. Though a recent resident of Willow Creek, he spent most of his life in Eureka. He passed away peacefully on June 15, 2025, at the age of 84.

He was preceded in death by his daughter, Nancy Pinerola (Dino), and is survived by four daughters: Stacey Reimche (Guy), Alissa Alcala (Robert), Evangeline Brown (Roger), and Amanda Hutchinson (Dan); 10 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and his partner, Geraldine Harris.

Joseph graduated from Eureka High School and attended Humboldt State University. He proudly served in the U.S. Army. As a skilled meat cutter, he owned a grocery store in Hoopa, and later worked at Safeway until retirement.

A lifelong outdoorsman, Joseph spent his younger years hunting South Fork Mountain, fishing the Trinity River, and crabbing and salmon fishing in Humboldt Bay. In later years, he enjoyed time at his favorite dragon slot machine at the Blue Lake Casino, where he formed lasting friendships and celebrated many wins. The family extends heartfelt thanks to his casino partner and friend, Verla Jackson-Robbins — his “chauffeur” — for her devoted friendship, care, and making the weekly casino trips possible.

Joseph will be deeply missed by his family, friends and all who knew him.

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