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(1 of ) Schoolhouse Beach

RANDI ROSSMANN

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | February 21, 2017, 9:29AM

| Updated 6 hours ago.

Sitting on a Schoolhouse Beach rock in the pouring rain and howling wind Monday afternoon, five friends were close enough to breaking waves to feel the spray as they watched the stormy sea crash against the shore.

Then white water from a particularly large wave broke over the rock, sweeping the five Solano County residents into the water. Only four got out.

Victoria Alvarez, 19, of Fairfield apparently drowned.

When the three males and one female made it to the beach, they realized Alvarez was missing. One ran across the street to a nearby home and borrowed a phone to call 911, then ran back, Sonoma County sheriffs Sgt. Spencer Crum said.

The 1:35 p.m. call launched a water rescue response to the beach north of Bodega Bay. A state parks lifeguard arrived within five minutes, joined by another state lifeguard and two Bodega Bay firefighters with water rescue training. Wearing wetsuits and carrying long rescue boards, they went into the water to search for Alvarez. Within 15 minutes of the call she was found, floating facedown and unconscious.

The Sonoma County sheriffs helicopter lifted her to shore, and she was taken by ambulance to Sonoma West Medical Center in Sebastopol where she was pronounced dead.

The survivors were taken to a ranger station at Salmon Creek Beach, where they dried their clothes and answered questions. The group told park rangers they had headed for the coast, picked that beach to stop, saw the rocks and decided to get close, supervising state parks peace officer/lifeguard Tim Murphy said.

They were pretty traumatized, he said.

Their actions were a classic recipe for disaster, said Murphy, a veteran lifeguard who said warnings are issued regularly about the danger.

State parks lifeguards annually save people along the Sonoma Coast who get too close and are swept into the water. Two of the most common warnings are: If youre standing on sand wet from waves, youre too close to the water. And if the water looks too dangerous, it probably is.

Monday was treacherous, with high swells reaching 12 feet, pounding surf, winds blowing about 30 mph and heavy rainfall.

The surf was so bad on that beach that two of our rescue boards we use both got broken yesterday, Murphy said. That was an indication of how powerful it was out there. (Those boards) are made to take a beating.

Mondays tragedy punctuated the warnings. Murphy said the death was completely preventable, with just a little bit more caution and situational awareness.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 707-521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter@rossmannreport.

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Woman's Sonoma Coast beach death 'completely preventable,' lifeguard says - Santa Rosa Press Democrat

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Guy Fieri goes back to his roots, surprises his elementary school teacher

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SHANNON BROWN

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | February 21, 2017, 1:29PM

| Updated 15 hours ago.

Santa Rosa celebrity chef and Food Network star Guy Fieri went back to his tiny Northern California hometown of Ferndale recently with a big thank you gift for one of his favorite teachers.

Fieri visited Fran Fischer, his 8th-grade teacher at Ferndale Elementary School as part of the California Lottery's Thank A Teacher program, which takes California natives back to their roots to showcase the public school system.

In a video posted by the California Lottery, Fieri tells the story of how Fischer got him involved in a program called National History Day, which encourages students around the country to conduct original research on historical topics of interest. Winning the contest with a paper on the origins of the pretzel, he says, made him see how much of an impact Fischer had on students.

During his visit, Fieri not only thanked his teacher with a big hug, but gave her a cruise to anywhere in the world.

You helped me see the world in such a big way. I want you to see the world in a really great way, Fieri told her, as she began to cry.

Watch the video here:

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For a few days now there have been reports that Americas intelligence community might be conducting a silent campaign to keep the Trump White House from governing. The resignation of Michael Flynn brought this into focus. The story goes that these individuals wanted him gone to protect Obamas nuclear deal with Iran; Flynn was a staunch opponent to the agreement. Guy wrote about this alleged plot, while Lt. Col Tony Shaffer, a former CIA analyst, said that former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, former CIA Director John Brennan, and former deputy national security adviser Ben Rhoadesall Obama officialswere directly involved with the leaks of the transcripts between Flynn and the Russian ambassador that sunk him. On the other hand, Flynn did mislead the vice president, which is why he was shown the exit, but the contents of the discussions, which is highly sensitive information, show that there probably were no legal infractions.

Now, Bryan Dean Wright, a former CIA operative and self-identified Democrat, is calling out his former colleagues for what he sees as an attempt to hamstring the Trump administration with these leaks. Moreover, it could lead to our institutions being irreparably harmed, especially if Trump loses re-election in 2020. Wright noted that his liberal colleagues would dance in the street, while the more conservative ones, embittered at Trumps first 100 days of his first term being sabotaged, will be lusting for blood and hamstring the incoming Democratic administration with leaks of their own. He noted the wall between spies and government workers, the awesome responsibility they have, the power that they wield when it coms to obtaining highly sensitive information, and people who were rightfully fired for going off the reservation investigating cheating spouses and ex-boyfriends. In all, the theme is clear: do you jobs, let the system work, and allow the democratic process to getrid of presidents who the public feels isn't doing a good job:

Said an intelligence officer: I know what's best for foreign policy and national security And I'm going to act on that.

Some of us might applaud this man, including a few of my fellow Democrats. In their minds, this is a case of Mr. Smith Goes to Langley to do battle against a corrupt President Trump.

One small problem. The intelligence officer quoted above was actually Aldrich Ames, a CIA traitor whose crime of treason in the 1980s and 1990s resulted in the compromise of more than 100 assets. Many were tortured and executed as a result.

Ames flawed logic is eerily similar to that of his present-day colleagues who are engaged in a shadow war with their commander in chief. They, too, have decided that their superior judgment is more important than following the law.

[]

When youre trained as a spy, youre taught how to handle these kinds of situations. Upon learning the information, it gets tightly compartmented (restricted) and sent to the Department of Justice or Congress for investigation. If the evidence is found to be credible, the constitution makes clear what happens next: impeachment.

Thats how American democracy should work.And thats precisely how it has been working.

[]

I understand how this might feel appealing to deeply partisan Democrats. After all, I didnt want Trump to win either. But the solution to fighting this subpar president cannot be encouraging a network of spies to tip the scales back in our political favor. We must instead let the system continue to work, as it has, and make our case to the American people during future elections.

If you cant handle Trump, resign. Thats exactly what Edward Price did. Price starting working at the CIA in 2006 and was the spokesperson for the National Security Council:

That changed when I formally resigned last week. Despite working proudly for Republican and Democratic presidents, I reluctantly concluded that I cannot in good faith serve this administration as an intelligence professional.

Thats perfectly fine to do. If you cant work for an administration, you leave. You dont stick around to wage a silent war against the White House, nor do you hang around in the hopes that your opposition would lead to your firing, thereby becoming a martyr for the progressive cause like former Acting Attorney General Sally Yateswho was fired for instructing the entire DOJ not to defend the presidents executive order of immigration. The point that both of these former intelligence operatives are making is that theres a right way to leave when you reach a point where you cannot do your job: you resign and let the Constitution do its work in sorting out the mess.

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Former CIA Operative: I'm A Democrat, But This Effort By America's Spies To Hamstring Trump Is Troubling - Townhall

But even though the bill which arrived on the House floor today is only a study it still inspired insults from at least one Democrat aimed at its sponsor Rep. Chris Olson of West Fargo.

It was conceived in ignorance and fear, and born in prejudice and suspicion, a visibly angry Rep. Mary Schneider (D-Fargo) said on the House floor today. The study is given life from a mean spirited bill, and it guarded that nature in its current form. Its designed to look for and report only the negatives.

Olson spoke immediately after Schneider and asked for an apology.

To impugn my motives..is completely out of order and I would hope for an apology on that, he said.

He went on to point out that the bill is a study into a federal resettlement program.

This is a program that has become largely an unfunded mandate, he continued, adding that its not unreasonable for the state to ask for some information about resettlement.

To watch the full video and to finish reading this story, click here.

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Port: ND House Democrat insults sponsor of refugee study 'born in prejudice and suspicion' - The Dickinson Press

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Schiff, the top Democrat on both the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Select Committee on Benghazi, plans to question Flynn on his communication with Russia should he be forced to testify before Congress.

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Idlike to ask him whether that conversation he had with the Russian ambassador was a one-off conversation or there were others? Who in the White House instructed him to have those conversations? Whether he debriefed people in the administration after those conversations?, Schiff said during a Sunday interview on ABCs This Week.

He added, Essentially, who was aware that he had reported falsely to the vice president, and then the vice president, in turn, had misled the American people?

Reports alleging that Flynnhad misled Vice President Mike Pence on discussions he had with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak before Trump took office surfaced in the media. However, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ruled out any charges against him, barring new information that changes what they know.

Last week, 20 Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee penned a letter tothe committees chairman, Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) urging him to call on Flynn to testify before them.

We believe General Flynn must appear before the Committee, under oath as soon as possible, they wrote. General Flynns resignation leaves many questions unanswered about his and President Trumps ties to Russia and wether American national security and intelligence operations have been compromised.

The letter was signed by Democratic Reps. David Cicilline (D-RI), Brad Sherman (D-CA), Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Albio Sires (D-NJ), Gerald Connolly (D-VA), Theodore Deutch (D-FL), Karen Bass (D-CA), William Keating (D-MA), Ami Bera (D-CA), Lois Frankel (D-FL), Joaqun Castro (D-TX), Robin Kelly (D-IL), Brendan Boyle (D-PA), Dina Titus (D-NV), Norma Torres (D-CA), Thomas Suozzi (D-NY), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Bradley Schneider (D-IL) and Tulsi Gabbard(D-HI).

In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News Friday,Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R.-CA), a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, saidFlynn was treated unfairly and perhaps illegally in the scandal that forced his resignation as TrumpsNational Security Advisor.

President Trump has consistently denied attempts to tie him to Russia.

In October, following months of investigation into suspected foreign meddling in the U.S. election, Breitbart News reported that the FBI determined Trump did not have ties to the Russian government.

Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter and Periscope@AdelleNaz

See more here:
Democrat on House Intel Committee to Question Flynn over Russia - Breitbart News