“Ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of America by getting in what I call good trouble, necessary trouble.” – John Lewis
You are cordially, personally, and expansively invited…
…to a Vallejo and Benicia Day of Action – Good Trouble Lives On, commemorating the July 17, 2020 death of Rep. John Lewis. Together, we will advocate for freedom and democracy in the Trump era. RALLY in CITY PARK,Thursday, July 17th, from 5-6 pm at the Gazebo, corner of First & Military in Benicia.
Rep. John Lewis – “When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide.” (July 30, 2020)
Crowd at the Gazebo, Roger Straw – Benicia Independent
Benicia California — On Thursday, July 17, community members in Benicia and Vallejo will join Americans at hundreds of events nationwide to honor the legacy of Congressman John Lewis and fight back against the growing attacks on our civil and human rights.
The local action in Benicia is part of Good Trouble Lives On — a nationwide day of peaceful, nonviolent action rooted in the legacy of the civil rights movement and inspired by John Lewis’ call to make “good trouble, necessary trouble.”
Participants from Vallejo and Benicia will gather to demand an end to the authoritarian attacks on our freedom to vote, protest, and organize — and to stand united against efforts to criminalize our communities, roll back our rights, and slash vital public programs.
Speakers include Dr. Tonia Lediju, Vallejo City Council and Kari Birdseye, Benicia City Council
The rally will also provide opportunity for voter registration, information about Unite and Rise 8.5, and 5Calls, and other ways to participate in the democratic process, plus a canned food drive for the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano counties.
>> For the food drive please bring one or more of the following items: Peanut butter, Canned Tuna or chicken in water, Boxed mac and Cheese, Shelf stable milk, Applesauce, Beans/lentils (dry or canned), Rice, Whole grain cereal/crackers, Whole wheat/grain pasta, Canned soups/vegetables/tomato products, Canned fruits, cartons of 100% juice, non-perishable ready-to-eat meals (chili, ravioli, etc.)
Bring your homemade signs, gather around the Gazebo with banners, hear the speakers, visit a popup canopy with tables for people registering to vote and signing up to get involved, leave your food items in the drive barrels.
Benicia Gazebo, corner of First & Military Streets
>> IN BENICIA / VALLEJO: July 17th GOOD TROUBLE LIVES ON! 5-6pm at the Gazebo in Benicia City Park (map: First and Military Streets) – see more above.
>> IN FAIRIELD: Thu, Jul 17
5:00 PM — 6:00 PM, Garamendi’s Office Building, Fairfield, CA . Here’s a map.
>> IN NAPA: Thu, Jul 17, 5:30 PM — 7:00 PM PDT, Veterans Memorial Park, Napa, CA.
> ALL OVER THE BAY AREA: Go to goodtroubleliveson.org and enter your zip code. Then click a city on the big map to get details.
U.S. Representative and beloved activist John Lewis…
“From a small farm in Alabama, to life-risking service in the civil rights movement, to three decades in Congress, he was always ‘walking with the wind,’ steered by a moral compass that told him when to make good trouble and when to heal troubled waters. Always true to his word, his faith, and his principles, John Lewis became the conscience of the nation.” – Former President Bill Clinton and Former Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton, Associated Press, July 18, 2020
Federal forecast concerns surface in Texas’ deadly flooding debate
Damage in Kerrville on July 5, 2025, following a flash flood event on Independence Day (KXAN photo/Tom Miller)
KXAN, Austin, Texas NBC affiliate, by Josh Hinkle and David Barer, July 5, 2025 (updated July 6, 2025)
KERR COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) — State and local officials are calling out federal forecasters amid deadly flooding in the Texas Hill Country over the extended Fourth of July weekend. The criticism comes, as funding cuts and staff shortages plague the National Weather Service and other emergency management agencies nationwide.
Texas Department of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd told reporters Friday original forecasts from the National Weather Service predicted 4 to 8 inches of rain in that area, “but the amount of rain that fell in this specific location was never in any of those forecasts.”
“Listen, everybody got the forecast from the National Weather Service, right?” Kidd said. “You all got it, you’re all in media, you got that forecast. It did not predict the amount of rain that we saw.”
Kidd added TDEM “worked with our own meteorologist to finetune that weather statement” but did not elaborate on any updated interpretation that would have led to more urgent warnings for evacuations.
The area actually received a much more significant amount of rain that night, with NWS observed totals exceeding 10 inches just west of Kerrville, near where dozens were killed or remain missing – including several children at a summer camp.
The Guadalupe River in Kerrville measured just under a foot on Thursday, leading up to midnight. At about 4 a.m. Friday, the river rose over 30 feet in less than two hours, according USGS data.
Critical communication
On Friday, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick also said during a separate press event that TDEM Region 6 Assistant Chief Jay Hall “personally contacted the judges and mayors in that area and notified them all of potential flooding.” KXAN has requested record of that communication to verify that statement and its level of urgency.
Acting Gov. Dan Patrick being briefed (KXAN photo/Jordan Belt)
“Yesterday morning, the message was sent,” Patrick added. “It is up to the local counties and mayors under the law to evacuate if they feel a need. That information was passed along.”
NWS issued a flash flood warning at 1:14 a.m. Friday for a portion of Kerr County – where the majority of flood-related deaths have been reported. But it would be at least four hours before any county or city government entity posted directions to evacuate on social media.
City and county officials have yet to fully explain the timing of their Facebook posts surrounding the height of the flood or other ways they might have notified people near the water. Kerrville Mayor Joe Herring, Jr., said Saturday the city had done an “admirable” job making sure all information was available to the public. KXAN is awaiting responses after requesting records of communication between city, county and state officials to better understand decisions regarding their public warnings.
Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly has claimed officials “didn’t know this flood was coming.”
“This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States, and we deal with floods on a regular basis – when it rains, we get water,” Kelly said to reporters Friday. “We had no reason to believe this was going to be anything like what has happened here, none whatsoever.”
Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice reiterated that apparent lack of awareness, telling the media Friday: “This rain event sat on top of that and dumped more rain than what was forecasted.”
Following those statements, the NWS provided additional details on its notification timeline for the Kerr County flood, including:
The National Water Center Flood Hazard Outlook issued on Thursday morning indicated an expansion of flash flood potential to include Kerrville and surrounding areas.
A flood watch was issued by the NWS Austin/San Antonio office at 1:18 p.m. on Thursday, in effect through Friday morning.
The Weather Prediction Center issued three Mesoscale Precipitation Discussions for the excessive rainfall event as early as 6:10 p.m. Thursday indicating the potential for flash flooding.
The National Water Center Area Hydrologic Discussion #144 at 6:22 p.m. on Thursday messaged locally considerable flood wording for areas north and west of San Antonio, including Kerrville.
At 1:14 a.m. Friday, a flash flood warning with a considerable tag (which denotes high-damage threats and will automatically trigger Wireless Emergency Alerts on enabled mobile devices and over NOAA Weather Radio) was issued for Kerr County.
The flash flood warning was upgraded to a flash flood emergency for southcentral Kerr County as early as 4:03 a.m. Friday.
The 5:00 a.m. National Water Center Area Hydrologic Discussion #146 on Friday included concern for widespread considerable flooding through the day. The Flood Hazard Outlook was also upgraded to considerable and catastrophic.
A flash flood emergency was issued for the Guadalupe River at 5:34 a.m.
KXAN is awaiting additional responses from the NWS on that timeline. KXAN also requested comments from Kidd and from NWS Austin/San Antonio Meteorologist in Charge Pat Vesper regarding how recent federal funding cuts might have impacted weather forecasting abilities in Texas.
TDEM responded but did not answer KXAN’s questions or indicate when Kidd would be available to speak directly about those issues. An NWS spokesperson said Vesper’s office “is focused on forecast operations right now, as flash flooding is ongoing.”
NWS staffing concerns
While state and local officials have not publicly – nor outright – blamed the Trump Administration’s financial decisions for any possible forecasting issues, public accusations on social media and elsewhere point to their timing during severe weather season.
For instance, directly under Vesper at the local NWS office is a key position – warning coordination meteorologist (WCM) – that has remained vacant since April. The role was most recently held by longtime employee Paul Yura, who took an early retirement package offered to agency workers as the administration worked to reduce the budget and personnel number at the NWS and its parent agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Yura, who KXAN recently reported spent more than half of his 32-year career at the local NWS office, gained tremendous experience understanding local weather patterns while ensuring timely warnings get disseminated to the public in a multitude of ways. The importance of his role as WCM cannot be understated.
Ensuring ample and timely warning to Central Texas counties was among the chief responsibilities. According to NOAA, “The WCM coordinates the warning function of the office with the outside world. This would include heading the Skywarn Program, conducting spotter training and being a voice to the local media for the office.”
Following the Kerr County flood, KXAN reached out to Yura – who referenced a hiring freeze in his retirement message to the media – but he referred questions to an NWS public affairs official.
Along with Yura’s job, five other vacancies in the local NWS office have stacked up, according to its online staff roster and the NWS Employees Organization. Those include two meteorologists, two technology staff members and a science officer. The office has 26 employees when fully staffed.
Federal funding and staff cuts
The administration made cuts to the federal workforce an early priority in Trump’s second presidential term this year, and those reductions extended to the NWS.
In May, NBC News reported the agency was working to shuffle employees to cover 150 positions that were vacated by the firings of probationary employees and early retirements of other longtime workers.
Some forecasting offices were left without overnight service, though no Texas offices were mentioned among those.
Tom Fahy, the NWSEO legislative director, then told NBC the staff cuts could increase risk and damage the agency’s ability to respond to a disaster.
Fahy told KXAN on Saturday the Central Texas flooding “was indeed a flash precipitation event,” leading to massive rainfall – something the local NWS office still had “adequate staffing and resources” to handle, despite its vacancies.
“They issued timely forecasts and warnings leading up to the storm,” he said, also referencing flood watches “out well in advance” the day before the waters rose.
In early June, the NWS was seeking to hire at least 126 people across the country, including meteorologists, following previous staff cuts, The Hill reported. A NOAA spokesperson told the outlet the NWS would be conducting “short term temporary duty assignments” and providing “reassignment opportunity notices” to fill field offices with the “greatest operational needs.”
The NWS Austin/San Antonio Weather Forecast Office currently has a 15% vacancy rate for meteorologists. The office’s total vacancy rate was 12% at the beginning of the year, but that increased to 23% by the end of April when employees took buyouts, Fahy confirmed to KXAN.
Federal officials visiting
President Trump posted on Truth Social he is “working with State and Local Officials on the ground in Texas in response to the tragic flooding,” ahead of U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visit to represent the administration in Kerrville Saturday.
During a press conference after surveying the area, Noem told reporters the amount of rain in this flooding event was “unprecedented,” underscoring the reason Trump is working to “fix” aging technology within NOAA.
“I do carry your concerns back to the federal government and back to President Trump,” she said, acknowledging the need for upgraded technology to give “families have as much warning as possible.”
Central Texas flooding
Central Texas and the Hill Country are broadly known for major floods. With one of the highest risks for flash flooding in the country, the area has earned the nickname “flash flood alley,” according to LCRA.
This weekend’s tragedy isn’t the first.
Blanco River flood in San Marcos May 27 2015. Courtesy: Getty Images
In 1987, a flood hit the Guadalupe River, pushing the waterway up 29 feet and catching a church camp bus, according to the NWS. The bus, which was being used to evacuate dozens of children, was swept away and 10 children were killed.
Again, in 1998, flooding struck the region. On Oct. 17 and 18 that year a storm dropped roughly 30 inches of rain near San Marcos. Homes along the Guadalupe River near Canyon Lake and down to Seguin were washed off their foundations, NWS reported.
By Stephen Golub, Benicia resident and author. July 6, 2025. [First published in the Benicia Herald on 7/4/25.]
Pete (not his real name) is a Brit I met 50 years ago during college and have been close friends with ever since. After graduation, he went on to a career as an international journalist, risking his life in war-torn situations from Lebanon to the former Soviet Union and beyond, as well as covering countless violent demonstrations.
I recall his calmly telling tales of mortar explosions and other such threats narrowly missing him. There’s not much that scares the guy.
And he certainly knows how to assess threats. Years ago, he cautioned me to steer clear of a particular hotel in a Middle Eastern capital during a consulting trip I was undertaking. A month later, a terrorist bomb took numerous lives there.
So, imagine my dismay when this very stiff-upper-lip Englishman contacted me recently to let me know that he was concerned about something I was doing that might put him at risk.
What could that be, you might well wonder? How could I, ensconced in bucolic Benicia, pose any kind of hazard to Pete, who lives thousands of miles away?
I was sending him news articles. More specifically, I was electronically sharing occasional updates and analyses I thought he might appreciate, something I’d been doing since email became an option. More specifically yet, some of the news items and analyses were about U.S. democracy and the dangers it’s facing.
Why is Pete concerned? Because as you might know, the Trump Administration is sometimes examining the phones and social media feeds of visitors, to determine whether they contain items deemed terrorist-sympathizing or otherwise counter to our national security.
And as you wouldn’t know, Pete occasionally visits relatives in America. He’s worried, then, that upon arrival here he might have his phone examined by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection airport agent, who in turn could bar Pete’s entry (perhaps permanently) if they find something they don’t like.
Despite dodging rocks, bullets and bombs his entire career, Pete very understandably does not want to risk such searches – even though the items I’ve shared have simply ranged from academic analyses to the latest news about the Administration’s latest steps.
So I stopped.
Due to deadline constraints, I’m writing this on Thursday, before Benicia’s July 3rd parade. The timing seems appropriate, given what the 4th of July is about, and why Americans fought Pete’s home country and its king nearly 250 years ago: Freedom, starting with freedom to say what we want, free of fear. Freedom to be who we want to be. Freedom from the use of the military to suppress peaceful rallies. Freedom from a repressive, corrupt king who put his own financial and other interests above those of his people.
I’m also writing this as word comes in that by the 4th of July Trump will sign the bill, just passed by the House of Representatives today, that will award massive tax breaks to techno-billionaires and other extremely wealthy sorts, blow up our national debt by $3.3 trillion and deny health care coverage to well over 10 million Americans.
Perhaps I’ll delve into those horrid details some other time.
In the meantime, here’s to all the freedoms that Independence Day represents and that so many Americans have fought and even died for, including against foreign fascists like Putin and others with whom Trump is currently aligning himself.
And here’s to the hope that by next 4th of July we’ll be seeing more signs of light in our troubled skies, and that eventually Pete and the rest of us won’t have to think about what news we can or cannot safely share, read or store on our phones.
Common Ground IAF Solano-Napa will host a showing of the award-winning filmmaker Raymond Telles’ latest documentary, “AMERICAN AGITATORS” on Sunday, July 13th at 1:30pm at the Beaux Arts (Riverbank) building at 332 Georgia St. in Vallejo.[map]
“AMERICAN AGITATORS” demonstrates the efficacy of member-led movements built through patience and by listening. Award-winning filmmaker Raymond Telles has made American Agitators to illustrate how collective action can create long term, positive change especially at this critical moment in American history.
AMERICAN AGITATORS captures the remarkable story of organizing for social change in the U.S. through the work Fred Ross Sr. and many others such as iconic organizers Dolores Huerta, Caesar Chavez, and Fred Ross Jr. as well as current ones, all of whom have devoted their lives to the pursuit of justice and equality. The film is directed and produced by Raymond Telles, with executive producers John Heffernan and Margo Feinberg.
Fred Ross, Sr. | California Museum, Photo by Ted Sahl. Courtesy of Fred Ross, Jr.
Throughout his life Fred Ross dedicated his life to organizing and mobilizing people to challenge police brutality, fight segregation, and organize voter registration and voter turnout campaigns. He channeled anger and frustration into building member-led movements to change institutions and policies to improve the lives of ordinary people. He worked from the understanding that while protests can draw attention to create sustainable change, persistence and organization are required to build power and give people a voice in the decisions that shape their living and working conditions. American Agitators, tells a story of how today, collective action can combat racism, bigotry, and injustice and help move our nation towards a true democracy
After the screening, Common Ground will lead a discussion on the movie and how it relates to organizing in our own community.
“From a small farm in Alabama, to life-risking service in the civil rights movement, to three decades in Congress, he was always ‘walking with the wind,’ steered by a moral compass that told him when to make good trouble and when to heal troubled waters. Always true to his word, his faith, and his principles, John Lewis became the conscience of the nation.”
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