Cartoonist Clay Jones Could Use Your Help; Even Conservative News Orgs Reject New Pentagon Policy–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: Oct. 13, 2025

Indy Digest: Oct. 13, 2025

For more than 4 1/2 years, the work of Clay Jones has been a part of every weekly Independent comics page, and in every monthly print edition.

His political cartoons can be scathing, poignant and hilarious—and without fail, they’re always clever. Not only is he talented, he’s prolific, creating a cartoon every day.

Here’s the cartoon he published on Friday, Oct. 10:

Sadly, that’s the last cartoon Clay will be producing for a while—because he just had a stroke.

Some of his fellow cartoonists have set up a GoFundMe page to help out Clay as he starts his recovery.

The GoFundMe page explains:

Clay Jones is probably the hardest working cartoonist in the biz, if not the most passionate. He is a determined champion of political cartooning and its unique ability to challenge beliefs, ridicule authority, and often provide a laugh.

Clay recently had a stroke that has partially paralyzed his right side, including his drawing hand. As a freelancer and self-syndicator, Clay’s income is entirely dependent on himself. And, as an American, he will be facing some significant medical care and rehab costs.

There is no doubt that Clay is going to do his part to get back to the drawing board (well, technically, drawing tablet). In the meantime, he’s going to need your help. Please consider your donation as a bridge that will get Clay back to where we all need him to be—speaking truth to power.

To know more about Clay and to enjoy his prolific work, go to his Substack, https://claytoonz.substack.com/ and consider subscribing. Thank you.

I’ve donated to his GoFundMe. If you’ve appreciated or enjoyed Clay’s work, I encourage you to do so, too, if you can afford to do so.

In a letter to his clients, Clay wrote: “I would like to come back when I can. If you do not want me back when I’m ready, I totally understand, but at one point, you’re going to start receiving cartoons in your email again. At that point, I hope you want me back again. … Please bear with me, and trust me. There’s nothing I want more to do than come back strong and (start) cartooning again.”

Because Clay is so prolific, I have an inbox full of his cartoons that the Independent has never published, and as he recovers, we’ll use those as long as I can keep finding cartoons that remain timely—and when new cartoons start arriving from Clay, we’ll definitely run those.

Get better soon, Clay. Your daily dose of political cartooning is already missed.

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• Here’s a story you may have missed: Remnants of a typhoon—i.e., a hurricane—are wreaking havoc in Alaska. Yes, a typhoon, a tropical storm. in Alaska. ABC News says: “First responders in Alaska have conducted dozens of rescues after the remnants of Typhoon Halong fueled a powerful storm that battered the region and washed away several homes. The remnants of Halong—which originated in the northern Philippine Sea on October 5—intensified the widespread significant weather impacts and massive flooding to the western regions of Alaska Saturday night into Sunday. Powerful wind gusts and significant coastal flooding were the main impacts from the storm as it swept up across Alaska’s west coast into early Monday morning. Numerous locations across western Alaska reported wind gusts of 40 mph to 60 mph, with isolated gusts topping 70 mph. … Multiple homes were swept away in low-lying coastal towns along the Bering Sea and in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region, Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan said in a statement.”

• Our friends at Willamette Week in Portland, Ore., just published a horrifying story about an incident that happened at a protest of an ICE facility: “Late on Oct. 5, a Portland ambulance crew informed dispatchers over the radio that it was attempting to transport a patient from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center but that ICE officers were impeding its departure. Six minutes later, at 9:40 pm, according to publicly archived radio records, the medic driving the vehicle delivered an update: ‘We are still not being allowed to leave by ICE officers.’ Two confidential incident reports obtained by WW offer insight into what was going on inside the South Portland ICE facility at the time. The written accounts were filed by the ambulance crew members shortly after the incident—one report to their employer, American Medical Response, and another to a union representative—as documentation, as one report puts it, of a ‘conflict with federal agents.’”

• Conservative news outlets are among the agencies refusing to a sign an incredibly restrictive new Pentagon coverage policy. The Washington Post says: “Media across the ideological spectrum said they will not sign the Defense Department’s restrictive new press policy by Tuesday’s afternoon deadline. The Washington Post, the New York Times, the Associated Press and CNN said they wouldn’t sign, as did Newsmax and the Washington Times. Matt Murray, The Post’s executive editor, said the policy runs counter to the Constitution’s guarantee of freedom of the press. … The policy says reporters cannot obtain or solicit any information the Defense Department does not explicitly authorize. Any media representative who does not sign by 5 p.m. Tuesday has 24 hours to turn in their media credentials and clear out of the Pentagon facilities. After pushback from reporters, news organizations and press freedom advocacy groups, the Pentagon expanded the prohibitions in the document, earning condemnation last week from the Pentagon Press Association, which represents the Pentagon press corps.”

• The Wall Street Journal (via MSN) takes a look at the status of the California wine industry—and calls what the industry is facing a “crisis”: “The U.S. wine industry hasn’t had it this bad since Prohibition. The list of problems is long in California, the cradle of American wine. Vineyards have an oversupply of grapes. People are drinking less, especially younger drinkers, and tariffs have caused the biggest foreign market for U.S. wine—Canada—to dry up overnight. With this year’s grape harvest in full swing, way too much wine from previous years still hasn’t been sold. Meanwhile, the unusually good weather is adding to the glut. The temperature was cool most of the year, without frost or heat, an environment that allows grapes to grow in abundance—and slowly develop the concentrated flavors that wine drinkers covet. That’s leaving growers across northern California’s wine country unsure about how they will unload a bountiful harvest of grapes.”

• The New York Times reports that anti-abortion politicians have asked about testing wastewater for traces of abortion pills: “Senior officials at the Environmental Protection Agency directed scientists over the summer to assess whether the government could develop methods for detecting traces of abortion pills in wastewater—a practice sought by anti-abortion activists seeking to restrict the medication. The highly unusual request appears to have originated from a letter sent from 25 Republican members of Congress to Lee Zeldin, the E.P.A. administrator, asking the agency to investigate how the abortion drug mifepristone might be contaminating the water supply. ‘Are there existing E.P.A.-approved methods for detecting mifepristone and its active metabolites in water supplies?’ the lawmakers asked at the end of the public letter, sent on June 18, an effort led by Senator James Lankford and Representative Josh Brecheen, both of Oklahoma. ‘If not, what resources are needed to develop these testing methods?’ Scientists who specialize in chemical detection told the senior officials that there are currently no EPA-approved methods for identifying mifepristone in wastewater—but that new methods could be developed.”

• The Homeland Security sent airports a video to show passengers blaming the Democrats for the government shutdown. CNN reports that some airports are declining to play the video: “The video, first obtained by Fox News, is intended to play at security lines, with (Kristi) Noem stating, ‘It is TSA’s top priority to make sure that you have the most pleasant and efficient airport experience as possible while we keep you safe.’ She also says, ‘However, Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government, and because of this, many of our operations are impacted, and most of our TSA employees are working without pay.’ In an email to CNN, a spokesperson for the Port of Portland, which operates Portland International Airport, Hillsboro Airport and Troutdale Airport, confirmed a request came from the Transportation Security Administration to display the video message. ‘We did not consent to playing the video in its current form, as we believe the Hatch Act clearly prohibits use of public assets for political purposes and messaging,’ said Molly Prescott, spokesperson for the Port of Portland. The Hatch Act is a 1939 law which prohibits political activities of federal employees to ensure government programs are administered in a nonpartisan fashion.”

• And finally … today’s recall news involves … frozen spinach! USA Today explains: “According to an Oct. 7 recall notice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, two frozen spinach products sold by food supplier Sno Pac Foods have been recalled. Sno Pac initiated the recall after a bulk case of the product tested positive for listeria monocytogenes, a bacteria commonly known as listeria. No illnesses have been reported, according to the notice. The impacted products were distributed to nationwide retailers, though the notice did not specify which retailers or how many products were affected. … According to the FDA, two products are being recalled: Del Mar 35 LB Bulk Organic Frozen Spinach and Sno Pac 10 oz Organic Frozen Cut Spinach.”

Support Clay Jones!

As mentioned above: Independent contributor Clay Jones is recovering from a stroke. Help him, if you have the means, by clicking the button below. Thanks for reading!