Humboldt Sentinel

For the curiously aware of Humboldt County…

By Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

SNIPPETS, RUMORS, HEARSAY MURMURS, AND THE LINKS:

THE MEDICAL POT BUSINESS CO-OP:  There have been so many marijuana busts lately one doesn’t know what to think. Does Humboldt County supply half the country in weed? It seems that way.  Having more than its fair share of problems with arrests, massive seizures, structure fires, diesel spills, rip-offs and home invasions, one wonders if the entire county is criminally going to pot.

Too many people, too many problems.  Which is why we can appreciate the Tea House marijuana growers collective. Originally called the Thanksgiving House, their name was shortened to T-House, and then to Tea House. What a long journey they’ve had from the past to the present day.

From the Tea House Collective history:

As The Back to the Land Movement of the late 1960s brought young idealistic people to Humboldt, they dug in to grow their own food, build their own shelters, and begin an experiment in self-sufficiency and sustainability. As part of their self-sufficiency they grew their own medicine, healing herbs that included cannabis as a medicine for both body and mind. Their challenge to themselves led to one of the longest lasting experiments in civil disobedience in American history. With the passage of Proposition 215, Humboldt’s persistence and creativity created the foundation for the emerging medical cannabis industry. What a long, strange trip it’s been!

Indeed. But we called it pot, not medicine, back then.

Using family farms, organic and sustainable methods, and a better than average business conscience, the Tea House grows medical marijuana the right way: legally. Complying with the law, filling out the forms, and paying their taxes, they’re bringing agricultural ‘farm revenues’ to Humboldt. Staying above the illicit fray, the Tea House Collective represents the new breed of American farmer toiling in the open sunshine and working the land.

A far cry from the moonshiners of yore and the clandestine black market growers of today, you can see for yourself the Tea House webpage and their astounding collective of 21 Humboldt farms producing an equal number of exotic strains for sale.  During the past 40 years Humboldt’s horticultural breeders and growers developed the region’s most notorious and famous export–marijuana–  that is known throughout the world. The Tea House represents a cooperatively unique and different way of doing that business today.

In the Collective’s own words,

Our cannabis is grown naturally and slowly in the sun, with a loving, conscious attention to our environment. It is never artificially manufactured in warehouses….

Sustainable cannabis is grown outdoors, strictly avoiding energy intensive, high carbon footprint methods. We care about the health of Humboldt’s precious watersheds, and avoid fertilization techniques that affect ground and stream water, and conserve every drop we can for salmon and wildlife.

We unite small family farmers of Humboldt’s best medical cannabis with patients concerned about the safety and purity of their medicine as well as the health of their environment. We actively support education and incentives for sustainable farming.

Humboldt is internationally famous for breeding and cultivating the finest herbal medicine in the world. Expert growers in our unique micro climate have created heirloom seed strains and innovative cross breeds, bred for potency and efficacy. As medical cannabis ‘comes out of the closet’, we are proud to say our growers represent the best of Humboldt’s long history of both cannabis and environmental activism.

The Tea House growers have chosen to do things properly by staying statutorily within California law while using environmentally sound methods.  Looking after business, the environment, and their families, the Tea House Collective may very well be Humboldt and the nation’s model for marijuana’s future. Just keep it away from the kids.

It has been a long, strange trip from 1969 to 2012. This is for you, Tea House families.

MORE WEED:  Now let’s take a journey to the Emerald Triangle seeing another side. When Humboldt County Sheriff Officer Hansen resignedly says marijuana should just be legalized, you know something’s got to give.

WHY WE LOVE HUMBOLDT: Hippie child Ben, strange people and their melodies, space cadets, and, of course, the outdoor scenery. Only 120 days until summer, folks.

AN AMAZING PLANET STILL HAS ITS DISCOVERIES:  A species of chameleon amazingly small enough to easily perch on a match head has recently been discovered on a tiny island off Madagascar.  It’s a beautiful planet and small wonders never cease to amaze us.

LOOSE NUKES AND MORE WAR?  John Hardin’s blog brings us some whacked out, far-fetched conclusions with a good dose of humor that only he can pull off. OK, Ketchup-flavored potato chips is one a few could stomach and ‘The Founding Fascists’ was a bit of a stretch.

But come on now, John. Pakistan carting around its nukes in unsecured Econoline delivery vans? To safeguard them from being stolen by… us? That’s quite a wild story, don’t you think? So, somewhere on a highway, around, say, Karachi, is the world’s most dangerous 1-800-FLOWERS delivery van filled with a nuclear bomb or two or three and driving merrily down the road, John?

Quit pulling our leg. You know we’re smarter than that.  What would you have us believe next?

Oops, uh-oh, and d’oh. There’s a problem. A big one, Dear Reader.

Looking into this nuke-doom wild flight of a fancy tale a bit more, we discovered Mr. Hardin was right. Not only once, but twice. Good Lord, it was even reported by the Atlantic Monthly. That’s it; we’re simply doomed as a species– there’s no hope. But, hey,  thanks for bringing the Ford ‘Econolines of Doom’ to our attention, John, and brightening our day as you usually do. We’re sure Harvey Harper and Henry Ford would have been amused. ‘Built Ford Tough’ brings on a whole new meaning for the nuclear age.

Now, let’s move on from Pakistan to… oh say,  bombing Iran. Iran has been a sore point lately, in case you hadn’t noticed.  Conservative war hawks, politicos, and presidential candidates have been hammering on us to bomb Iran for some time now. We’ll have to put that on our to-do list.  There’s just no end to the military and foreign interventions we can have when we put our mind and businesses to it.

All Along the Watchtower is for those who’ve forgotten our past.  We have this one, too,  if you really need to remember. Need more? Paint it Black, friends, and remember our not-so-long-ago history of such affairs.

BRIGHT LIGHTS AND APPS: Kids grow up fast and smart these days. We told you in our last piece on GMOs about 11-year old Birke Baehr’s presentation …and then we found another smart kid to tell you about.

Thomas Suarez is a 6th grade student at a middle school in the South Bay of Los Angeles. Fascinated by computers and technology since kindergarten, Thomas developed two applications for the iPhone and started his own company, Carrot Corporation. Don’t ask us why, we don’t know. We guess he really likes carrots.

When Apple released the Software Development Kit (SDK), Thomas began to create and sell his own applications. He pointed out it’s hard to learn how to make an app on your own.

“For soccer you could go to a soccer team … but what if you want to make an app?  How do you learn that?  Teachers only know so much, ” Thomas said. So he started a club at school for fellow students where he shares his knowledge of programming.  The students, in turn, teach the teachers.

Thomas explained that students are a valuable new technology resource for teachers– and students should be empowered not only to offer assistance in developing the technology curriculum but to help in delivering the lessons. Learning programming was good, his apps were kinda cool, but Thomas’s idea of developing apps for his school district to freely use– and then selling them to other districts– is brilliant, we believe, especially for an 11-year old.  After all, what were you doing when you were 11?

Can Thomas Suarez’s bright idea transfer over to Humboldt County schools? Decide for yourself after watching his short and articulate presentation here.

Check your kid. Sometimes they grow up just fine without problems, like Thomas. Sometimes they don’t.  Sometimes, like this video, The Kids Aren’t Alright.

HUMBOLDT HISTORY:  February marks the expulsion of the Chinese from Humboldt County in 1885. Eureka’s entire Chinese population of 300 men and 20 women were rounded up after a gunfight between rival Chinese gangs that resulted in the wounding of a 12 year old boy and the death of a Eureka City Councilman. After the shooting, an angry mob of 600 Eurekans met and then informed the Chinese that they were no longer wanted in Eureka and would be hanged if they were to stay in town longer than 3 p.m. the next day.

Chinese residents were told they had 24 hours to leave town and to assemble at a warehouse near the Eureka wharf for transport to San Francisco by steamship. A makeshift gallows was erected on Fourth Street at the edge of Eureka’s Chinatown.

Eureka’s Reverend C.A. Huntington gave this startling account of Charley Lum, one of his parishioners, on that infamous day:

In the afternoon about two o’clock Charley called at the parsonage on his way to the wharf. I was absent at the time but my wife and two daughters were there. Immediately our backyard was filled with an excited crowd of men and boys.

They gave a loud rap at the back door which was opened by Mrs. Huntington, and with a loud voice they inquired, “Where’s that Chinaman?” She said, “Charley is here on his way to the wharf; he barely called to say goodbye and ask the prayers of the family in his exile.”

“We want him now!” And they rushed in and seized him by his queue. Mrs. Huntington meanwhile pleading with them, “don’t hurt him; he’s a good boy and on his way to the warehouse.”

But they dragged him to the gallows, a hundred hoodlums following with jeers and insults.

Mr. Huntington continued:

They took him to the gallows and put the noose around his neck in the presence of hundreds of people without a word of remonstrance from the police or anybody else until Rev. Mr. Rich of the Methodist church approached the scaffold and with stentorian voice said, “Boys, take that rope off that boy’s neck! If you hang him you’ll hang him over my dead body!”

The effect was like a clap of thunder. They dropped the rope, seized him by his queue and hauled him five blocks to the warehouse and herded him with the rest of his countrymen under guard.

I set off for the warehouse. As I passed the crowd near the gallows, a loud voice out of the crowd said, “Any man that sympathizes with a Chinaman ought to be hung, and I would like to hold the rope and help draw him up.”

I went to the warehouse and after a long parley with the guard I was allowed to pass in. I found Charley in a remote corner of the room crying, with his classmates around him.

As I gave him his things, he said, “ They scared me almost to death, Mr. Huntington.” I comforted him as best as I could… and left him with my prayers and benedictions.

The next morning they all embarked to San Francisco.

And for nearly 70 years with few exceptions, Humboldt County and its white citizenry kept all Asians out of the county. 

The Chinese expulsion from Eureka occurred 25 years after the Indian Island massacre in 1860– also in the month of February– when a small group of men sailed into Humboldt Bay, landed on Indian Island, and attacked an encampment of Wiyots. Many were killed, mostly women and children, butchered with knives and axes within earshot of Eureka’s residents.  Later, citizens expressed outrage but did nothing; the Indian Island massacre and other massacres carried out in nearby communities virtually exterminated the Wiyot tribe in the space of 48 hours.

GIVE PEAS A CHANCE:  War is like love, it always finds a way.  Antoine De Saint-Exupery, author of The Little Prince, said, “War is not an adventure.  It is a disease.  It is like typhus.” On that final note, keep it away from the kids. We said back in the day that war is not healthy for children and other living things. It’s still true.

We have so much more to offer.

THE WEEKEND CALENDAR:

Happenings, events, groups, walks, hip or rad stuff

Friday, February 17

Saturday, February 18

Sunday, February 19

Other entertainment can also be found here.

Movies, reviews, times and trailers are here.

Mark Your Calendars and Help:

Southern and Northern Humboldt County organizers will be joining the statewide coalition of 150 groups gathering 800,000 signatures for the ‘Right to Know’ GMO labeling effort starting February 21. Community members are invited to join together, meet other volunteers, watch a short film about the importance of labeling GMO foods, and receive signature gathering training, instructions, and petitions.

The Southern Humboldt branch will have a signature gathering workshop on Tuesday, Feb. 21, from 5 to 6 p.m. at Calico’s restaurant in Garberville. Call Rosa Rashall at #986-7469 for more information.

The Northern Humboldt group is hosting their signature gathering orientation at the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology (CCAT) on the Humboldt State University campus, 1 Harpst Street, in Arcata on Friday, February 25, at 5 p.m. The Northern Humboldt group also holds campaign initiative meetings every Sunday at 4 p.m. at Sun Yi’s Academy of Tae Kwon Do in Arcata. Call #707-223-0424 for more information.

For more details on the local campaign and how to participate, visit http://www.labelgmos.org/humboldt or find them on Facebook.

WORD

Jon Stewart said,

“We spend so much money on the military, yet we’re slashing education budgets throughout the country. No wonder we’ve got smart bombs and stupid children.”

Armed suspects attempt robbery, driven off by armed resident

Staff Report
Humboldt Sentinel

An attempted robbery in rural northern Humboldt County was foiled by a resident this morning.

At about 7 a.m., the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office received word of an attempted home invasion robbery at a residence on the 100 block of Robinson Road in Orick.

Upon their arrival, deputies met with the residents, a 26-year-old female and a 35-year-old male who lived with their three-year-old child. They were awakened by two male suspects, described as 5’10″ tall and wearing all black, who forced their way into the home and the victims’ bedroom.

Armed with a handgun and a larger weapon described as either a rifle or a shotgun, the attackers demanded money and the key to the residents’ car, firing off two rounds from a weapon to make their point. What they didn’t count on, however, is that their prospective victims were also armed — the male victim obtained a handgun during the robbery, which he fired several times at the suspects. The attackers immediately fled the home and weren’t able to rob the home of any items.

The victims were unharmed in the robbery attempt and according to their testimony, the attackers were not injured either, according to HSCO lieutenant Steve Knight. He also stated in a release that the cops found spent shell casings and damage to the residence, including bullet holes consistent with the victims account as to what occurred.

Members of the public with information for the HCSO regarding this case or criminal related activity are asked to call them at (707) 445-7251 or their Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.

New developments loom on the horizon for 2012

By Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

NO SURPRISE HERE: The United States lead the world in GMO (genetically modified organism) plantings with 170 million acres in 2012 that produced 95% of the nation’s sugar beets, 94% of the soybeans, 90% of the cotton and 88% of the feed corn, according to The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) and USA Today.

Worldwide, 395 million acres of farmland were planted in biotech crops in 2011, 30 million more than 2010.

The ISAAA report released February 7, 2012, said a record 16.7 million farmers in 29 countries growing biotech crops on 395 million acres represents a 94-fold increase planted since 1996, making “biotech crops the fastest adopted crop technology in recent history.”

The amount of land devoted to genetically engineered crops grew 8% last year, down from 10% growth in 2010. Nearly 90% of the global area planted to these crops was in just four countries – the US, Canada, Argentina, and Brazil. In contrast, less than 3% of cropland in India and China is planted almost exclusively in one crop – genetically modified cotton. Only two biotech crops are grown in the European Union: a tiny amount of its feed corn and just 245 acres of potatoes.

U.S. farmers and those in developing countries increased plantings of genetically modified crops around the globe in 2011, despite resistance from Europe and those who think such crops should carry special labels.

Genetically engineered food has had its DNA artificially altered with genes from other plants, animals, viruses, or bacteria, in order to produce foreign compounds creating desired traits in that food. Different than selective breeding or cloning, this genetic alteration is performed through experimental biotechnology and not found in nature.

BIOTECHNOLOGY’S GMO DEFENDERS AND DETRACTORS

AN INDUSTRY ADVOCATE and GMO supporter, Dr. Cathleen Enright is the Executive Vice President of Food and Agriculture for the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).  In response to Tuesday’s ISAAA’s findings, Enright gave the company’s corporate line stating in a press release:

“This year’s ISAAA report further confirms what we have known all along:  that agricultural biotechnology is a key component in sustainable crop production. Biotechnology provides solutions for today’s farmers in the form of plants that yield more per acre, resist diseases and insect pests, and reduce farmers’ production costs, pesticide applications and on-farm fuel use.  History has taught us that embracing innovation and modern science can help us solve the world’s most pressing problems.  People who really want to combat hunger, to keep food costs affordable, to protect the environment and to mitigate climate change are adopting agricultural biotechnology and embracing the solutions that it provides.”

GMO advocates like Dr. Enright claim that genetic engineering boosts crop production and lowers costs. Currently the plants are often genetically modified to resist weed killers, diseases, or to generate their own insect repellent. Proponents such as Monsanto, the largest producer of GMO seeds, maintain fruits and vegetables last longer if they are genetically modified, can be stored longer and shipped farther without waste or spoilage, and be manipulated to be ‘more nutritious.’ Certain genetic modifications make plants less susceptible to common pests while drought, salt, frost and heat resistance are improved.

GMO critics, however, maintain companies like Monsanto merely desire to boost their own bottom line profits by developing these so-called ‘Frankenfoods’. Monsanto can sell more of the company’s products such as Roundup (an herbicide used in conjunction with, and specifically complementing, its ‘Roundup Ready’ GMO seeds) and control the global food supply using proprietary patents and selling its ‘terminator seeds’. Like hybrid seeds, terminator seeds saved by the farmer from a year’s previous crop will not reproduce or grow properly, forcing new seed sales from Monsanto every year. Monsanto has sued farmers who have complained that their fields were contaminated from cross-pollination by the company’s GMO plants.

Some believe GMO crops on the whole are systematically destroying food and seed biodiversity throughout the globe– and that Monsanto has been trying to monopolize the global seed market through its practices. Fears over these crops also include possible health concerns, worries about damage to traditional agricultural practices, and strong feelings that these bio-engineered foods are simply “unnatural.”

Critics point out  that government scientists have found the artificial insertion of DNA into host plants can increase the levels of known toxicants in foods, introduce new toxicants or allergens, and reduce the nutritional value of foods. The level of uncertainty surrounding the safety of genetically engineered foods has led the American Academy of Environmental Medicine to recommend that physicians prescribe a GMO-free diet to all their patients. Foods grown from genetically modified seeds have been observed to cause toxic and allergic reactions in animals consuming them, and longer term feeding studies found infertility, stunted growth, and high infant mortality in lab animals.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS: Salmon, Alfalfa, and More

TWO CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES for genetically engineered food loom on the horizon: the possibility that the Food and Drug Administration will approve in the coming year a farmed, engineered salmon species genetically designed to grow faster, and the re-introduction of genetically engineered alfalfa.

Massachusetts-based AquaBounty is seeking U.S. approval to market its engineered Atlantic salmon which contains a gene from another fish species, the Chinook salmon, to help it grow twice as fast as normal.  If approved by the FDA, it would be the first genetically altered animal for human consumption in the United States. Seeing genetically modified salmon as a potential solution to environmental concerns associated with salmon aquaculture, AquaBounty discounts fears the gene-altered salmon might accidentally escape into the wild and affect other fish because they will be sterile, all-female fish raised in land-based facilities.  AquaBounty is also developing “trout and tilapia designed to grow faster than their conventional siblings,” according to the company’s website.

Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter and two other consumer groups petitioned the Food and Drug Administration Tuesday to subject the new genetically engineered salmon to a more rigorous review process than is now in place before the fish can be approved as safe to eat.  They point out the way these salmon are created substantially alters their composition and nutritional value. AquaBounty’s own study showed that genetically engineered salmon may contain increased levels of a hormone linked to breast, colon, prostate and lung cancer.

Genetically engineered salmon is a new development. “Animals are different from plants. A genetically engineered animal is a whole different thing. Not having them labeled is disturbing,“ says Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives for Consumers Union in Yonkers, N.Y.

Genetically modified alfalfa was banned after a lawsuit in 2007, but the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the ban in 2010. Opposition came in part from organic farmers, fearing that genetically modified alfalfa pollen could contaminate organic alfalfa fields, making it impossible for that alfalfa to be sold as organic and marketed as organic cow feed. “That will really threaten one of the core organic products, which is organic milk,” Halloran said. 

Mark McCaslin of Forage Genetics, which helped create the alfalfa seed with Monsanto, is looking towards the future. “About 10 to 20 percent of the seed planted this year will be Roundup Ready—probably about 5 million acres. If we look out five years ahead, it’s reasonable to expect that one third to one half of all alfalfa fields could be Roundup Ready,” McCaslin said.

Future GMO crops likely to be commercialized by 2015 include rice, eggplant, potatoes, and wheat. While industry advocates say drought resistant, nutritionally enhanced, and higher yield crops are expected in the near future, critics insist the industry has fallen short of these promises in the past.

Companies are also developing genetically modified farm animals, although none have been approved by the FDA. Proponents argue that faster growing, healthier, more nutritious and disease-resistant animals would help feed the world’s growing population, but many ethical, environmental and health questions remain unanswered.

SAVING AN INDUSTRY

MEANWHILE, genetically-engineered papayas recently went on sale in Japan, according to the Voice of America news. The newly introduced “Rainbow” papayas are the only gene-altered fruit on the market today in Japan, a country with strict laws regarding GMOs including a requirement that they be labeled as such – a rule that does not exist in the United States. The papaya’s arrival in Japan comes as advocates in the United States press the government to require labels on all GMO foods.

Released in 1998, the Rainbow papaya was developed by U.S. Department of Agriculture scientist Dennis Gonsalves and colleagues who claim the Hawaii-grown papaya is the best in the world. “Go and taste it,” Gonsalves said.

But taste wasn’t the only reason Gonsalves developed it. In the 1990s, a ring spot virus ravaged Hawaii’s papaya groves leaving the industry bordering on collapse. They engineered the papaya’s genetic makeup to produce a small piece of the virus’s outer shell in its cells, triggering the plant’s immune system.

“It’s almost like a vaccination,” Gonsalves noted, “and just like vaccinated people, the genetically-engineered plants do not get sick with the virus,” he said. Gonsalves added the piece of virus won’t harm people because tests showed it breaks down in three seconds in the harsh environment of the human stomach.

“It virtually saved the papaya industry in Hawaii,” Gonsalves said, “So now, Rainbow papaya accounts for 80 percent of Hawaii’s papaya.”

According to Gonsalves and his colleagues, fighting the virus was only half the battle. They had to convince their biggest customer – Japan – that the fruit was safe to eat. It took more than a decade of tests before Japanese regulators were satisfied. The last hurdle was labeling. Japan requires that all GMOs be labeled. That’s also the law in the European Union and many other countries, but not in the United States.

Or in California, for that matter.  But that may change.

THE 2012 CALIFORNIA LABELING INITIATIVE

AN INITITIATIVE for the November 2012 ballot called the ‘California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act’ seeks to require labeling.

Not all Californian are convinced GMOs are either safe or ethical. While the debate over GMOs and their impacts rages on, polls indicate 80% of Californians want products with GMOs labeled as such.

Initiative supporters and consumers alike believe they have the right to know what’s in their food– and whether or not they want to eat it.

In the 150 countries around the world where labeling is required–including the European Union, Japan, Australia, Brazil, and China—GMO products are in less than 5% of the food in grocery stores. In the United States, a conservative estimate by the Grocery Manufacturers Association is that GMOs are in 80% or more of the processed food eaten every day. Currently, the only way to avoid GMOs is to buy exclusively organic products. Labeling would change this.

No matter where you are in California, initiative organizers say if you want to make labeling GMOs become a reality, you should visit the state organization’s website at labelgmos.org. and contact your local group about gathering signatures.

LOCAL EFFORTS IN HUMBOLDT

LOCALLY, Southern and Northern Humboldt County organizers will be joining the statewide coalition of 150 groups gathering 800,000 signatures for the ‘Right to Know’ GMO labeling effort starting February 21.  Community members are invited to join together, meet other volunteers, watch a short film about the importance of labeling GMO foods, and receive signature gathering training, instructions, and petitions.

The Southern Humboldt branch will have a signature gathering workshop on Tuesday, Feb. 21, from 5 to 6 p.m. at Calico’s restaurant in Garberville. Call Rosa Rashall at #986-7469 for more information.

The Northern Humboldt group is hosting their signature gathering orientation at the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology (CCAT) on the Humboldt State University campus, 1 Harpst Street, in Arcata on Friday, February 25, at 5 p.m. The Northern Humboldt group also holds campaign initiative meetings every Sunday at 4 p.m. at Sun Yi’s Academy of Tae Kwon Do in Arcata. Call #707-223-0424 for more information.

For more details on the local campaign and how to participate, visit http://www.labelgmos.org/humboldt or find them on Facebook.

THE POSSIBILITIES of better living through science and technology are as endless as they are controversial. Perhaps many genetically modified foods introduced in the near future will prove to be safe. Will most or all of them be safe? Nobody knows.  A 2011 Canadian study indicated the blood of 93% of pregnant women sampled and 80% of their umbilical-cord blood contained a pesticide put into GMO corn by Monsanto.  Further studies are necessary  to validate these controversial and non-peer reviewed findings.

“We’ll see in 20 years, after the guinea pigs”—consumers—”have all used these products,” says George Siemon, CEO of Organic Valley, the nation’s largest organic-farming cooperative. “I’m really disillusioned.”

Scientists and FDA regulators have concluded time and time again that labeling is unnecessary and bioengineered foods are perfectly safe. “The FDA has no basis for concluding that bioengineered foods differ from other foods in any meaningful or uniform way, or that, as a class, foods developed by the new techniques present any different or greater safety concern than foods developed by traditional plant breeding,” the agency said in their 2001 guidance document.

One thing is for certain, however. The GMO advocates, their lobbyists, and food manufacturers will fight tooth and nail against California’s labeling efforts. The industry knows that if foods are labeled “genetically engineered,” the public will shy away and won’t take them. The industry’s not stupid.

They already know what Birke Baehr, an 11-year old homeschooled kid from North Carolina, thinks.

Additional Reading and Sources for this Report:

YouTube Primer: ‘What is Genetically Modified Food?‘
Why We Don’t Need GM Food
Latest GMO News, Articles, and Information
Facts About GMOs
Fun Facts About GMOs
California Initiative to Label GMOs
USA Today: ‘Genetically Modified Foods Had Bumper Year for 2011’
Voice of America: ‘Genetically-Modified Papaya Hits Shelves in Japan’
GM Crops: Top Ten Figures and Facts (a GMO pro-industry piece)
Huffington Post: ‘GMO Salmon: US Consumer Groups Petition FDA for Tougher Probe of Engineered Salmon’
Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) press release: ‘More Farmers Favor Biotech Crops’
The Daily Beast: ‘Obama’s Organic Game’
NPR: ‘Politics Heating Up Over Labeling GMO Foods’
U.S. Food and Drug Administration Bioengineering Draft Guidance Report, 2001 (updated 2009)
ISAAA Executive Summary released February 7, 2012: Global Status of Commercialized Biotech/GM Crops, 2011

See for yourself the future of plant and animal biotechnology: here’s the Monsanto website and the biotech seeds they sell, AquaBounty’s GM Salmon page, and ISAAA’s Genetically Modified Plant Approval Database. Looking safely from a distance is good.

For the curiously aware of Humboldt County…

By Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

SNIPPETS, RUMORS, HEARSAY MURMURS, AND THE LINKS:

WARM AND DRY and the cotton is high.  The weather has been unusually pleasant.  Now is the time to prepare your garden soil for planting next month.  Don’t put your plants in too early.  You can give them all the care and love you want, but the garden simply won’t grow until conditions become warmer.  There’s still a few frost days left.

REEFER MADNESS HOME INVASION:  From the HCSO Press Release Bureau and Bad Karma Division:

On Thursday, February 9, 2012 at 5:53 AM, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Communications Center received a 911 call from a male victim reporting a home invasion robbery that just occurred at his residence, 3000 block of Thomas Road, Salmon Creek.

Deputies were dispatched to the residence and arrived at the remote home at about 6:15 AM. Deputies interviewed the victim and discovered the following: At about 4:30 AM, the male victim was sleeping in his bed beside his wife. They both were awaked when their dog began barking and noticed four (4) men had entered the residence. The men were all wearing combinations of ski masks and hoods, each wearing latex type gloves.

As the suspects entered the home, they were yelling, “It’s the police, get up!” One of the suspects removed the male victim from the bed and forced him to the floor. The suspect “zip tied” the male victim’s hands behind his back. The suspects then began demanding to know where the marijuana and money was located. The male victim led the suspects to approximately thirty (30) pounds of dried marijuana.

The suspects continued to demand money from the victim, who led them to a small security safe. When the victim could not remember the combination to the safe, he was struck in the face with an unknown object or fist, causing a moderate injury near his eye. Ultimately the safe was opened and no cash was found. During the entire event, the suspects threatened to kill the victims and/or burn down the house. The suspects were estimated to be in the home for about an hour. During that time, they rummaged the house and took an estimated $3,000 to $4,000 in cash.

Prior to leaving the residence, the suspects used duct tape to bind the female victim. They next used duct tape and bound the male victim. The two victims were then bound together (back to back) in a seated position on the floor with duct tape. The suspects then entered the victim’s newly purchased Subaru and drove approximately 1.5 miles to the locked gate on the victim’s property. The suspects were not able to get the stolen vehicle through the gate and left it abandoned in the roadway.

The male victim was able to unbind himself within minutes of the suspects leaving his home and call 911 for assistance. There is no description of the suspects or description of a vehicle that may have been used to travel to the victim’s residence.

At this time there are no evidentiary leads to the identity of the suspects, but the case remains under investigation. The Sheriff’s Office is reaching out to the residents of the Thomas Road area to contact the Sheriff’s Office with any information regarding this robbery (707-445-7251).

BUSTED IN RENO AGAIN.  At least you weren’t stuck in Lodi.  The HSU Lumberjack and Kaci Poor fills us in with their student  pot piece du jour. That bust paled in comparison, however, to the one in Mendo County. A hundred pounds and a hundred grand just doesn’t seem like very much nowadays.  Some people got to have it.  Some people really need it. What we do for the love of Money on the dark side of the moon. 

HOW LOW WOULD YOU GO?  Scoundrels and skullduggery know no limits, especially when it comes to stealing garbage,  Mr. Sims reports.  Share the love but take out the trash. Too many have become another brick in the wall,  Comfortably Numb and not giving a whit about others or themselves.

THE BIG LITTLE COMMUNITY we’re impressed with. The Willow Creek Community Services District tackled many issues in their first meeting of the year, as this extensive article by Kay Heitkamp shows. The complexity and issues taken on by the members was nothing less than astounding. One citizen remarked, “The WCCSD accomplished more in one meeting than Humboldt County planners do in three or four meetings.”

Many things caught our eye: notice that Redwood Region Economic Development Commission Director Gregg Foster is retiring; ambulance services from Hoopa to Mad River Hospital costing the Hoopa Valley $500,000 annually, resolving complaints of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s reportedly slow response times (or was it the lack of communication? Opinions vary), infrastructure upgrades and repair monies needed, and a wide variety of other issues. One trait consistently illustrated in Ms. Heitkamp’s article is that this community pulls together. Everyone chips in what they can offer.

Humboldt County 5th District Supervisor Ryan Sundberg should be proud of the Valley, the WCCSD, and the community’s efforts getting more things done with less. More self sufficiency and less bureaucracy, that is.

A CENTURY OF BUSINESS:  The Times-Standard articles by Donna Tam and Grant Scott-Goforth report that Harper Motors and the Minor Theatre have hit 100 years of being in business.  To curiously note, there are others who have done the same thing:  the hardworking dairy families of the Eel River Valley.  Why is Ferndale the second wealthiest region per capita in Humboldt County, behind Trinidad?  Their farms, houses, mortgages and herds were paid off long ago– and they’ve enjoyed 120 years of steady milk money coming in.

HELPING HOOPA: Two Rivers Tribune’s Allie Hostler penned a thoughtful memoriam for Dr. Karl Fisher, who passed away January 24. Well known in Humboldt County’s counseling and mental health circles, Dr. Fisher loved Hoopa Valley and everyone he met along the way.

Ms. Hostler wrote, “Because of the hundreds of lives he touched in the Hoopa community, the Human Services Division has arranged a remembrance get-together to be held on Friday, February 24 at noon at the Community Center (formerly Church of the Mountains) on Loop Road in Hoopa.”

Ms. Hostler also included a reprint of Dr. Fisher’s article, “12 Steps to Take If Your Child Has Problems at School, “ aside with her column regarding bullying issues.

ONE MODEL FOR ENDING HUNGER: Dr. Josh Strange, in his article for the Two Rivers Tribune, wrote:

Being able to keep food cheap and accessible for the poor while increasing the income of farmers, especially small scale family farmers, appears to be opposing goals.

But what if I told you that a city with over four million people had found answers and achieved these opposing goals? What if such a city made chronic hunger a thing of the past and allowed small family run farms to thrive like never before?

Hard to imagine right, especially when you can see lots of destitute people in modern, wealthy cities like San Francisco, or heck even here in Humboldt County. And yet it’s true—such a place really exists—it’s called Belo Horizonte, the fourth largest city in Brazil.

You can catch his story—and that of Belo Horizonte—in his article here. Ending hunger at a penny per day per resident seems like a good return and a worthy investment.

It’s a Beautiful Day and a Beautiful World if we make it so.  Don’t let it get away.

TIME TO START RUNNING: Eric Kirk’s SoHum Parlance II site reminds us that Yes, Rex Bohn Does have an Opponent for the race of 1st District Supervisor. Her name is Annette De Modena. She has a website.

Mr. Kirk suggests, “If she wants to win this race, she had better start running. Or walking. Kerrigan beat Rex by walking to every home in Eureka. If you don’t have the money, that’s a pretty good way to meet people.”

Well said, Mr. Kirk. And we thank you for adding the Sentinel to your site.

THIN MINTS, SAMOAS, AND TAGALONGS: Expect the Girl Scouts and their cookies coming by to a location near you, starting on February 13 and continuing through March.

ONE LOVE, ONE HEART: Let’s get together and feel all right.

Reggae on the River tickets go on sale March 1st.

The Mateel Community Center organizers say, “This year’s festival will take place on Saturday & Sunday July 21st and 22nd, 2012 at the Benbow Lake State Recreation Area. Advanced tickets go on sale March 1st, and prices and artists will be announced soon.

Set before a backdrop of ancient redwoods on the banks of the majestic Eel River, this 2-day celebration of the best in reggae and world music has been a favorite festival tradition for over a quarter century and offers attendees an opportunity to soak up the irie northern Cali vibes while enjoying a diverse array of top-class international artists, vendors, and kids activities in a family friendly environment. We look forward to seeing you at the 28th annual Reggae On The River!”

Right on. Yah Mon. We suggest reserving/making your lodging/camping accommodations now and getting your tickets March 1st while they last. Folks, we have two kinds of people: the quick and irie-less. One love and all. Peace, Humboldt.

ONE LOVE, AGAIN: Love has been showered by the Ambrosini School and the Cuddeback Kids Care Club. Nice. Sudents taking flight,  Learning to Fly with their own wings.

MORE LOVE AND NOTE TO SELF: don’t forget Valentine’s day like you almost did last year.  Get your garden ready, sign the GMO ballot initiative, don’t jeopardize your family or get ripped off, lock up your garbage if you must, buy girl scout cookies, look after your business, help the poor and your community, and remember your loved ones.

Yeah, that’s about it.  The moral of the story?  Easy.  One world, one love, and do the right thing.

You only have so much Time.
 

THE WEEKEND CALENDAR:

Happenings, events, groups, walks, other hip or rad stuff

Friday, February 10

Saturday, February 11

Sunday, February 12

Other entertainment can also be found here

Movies, reviews, times and trailers are here.

WORD

Woody Allen said,

“To love is to suffer. To avoid suffering one must not love. But then one suffers from not loving. Therefore to love is to suffer, not to love is to suffer. To suffer is to suffer. To be happy is to love. To be happy then is to suffer. But suffering makes one unhappy. Therefore, to be unhappy one must love, or love to suffer, or suffer from too much happiness. I hope you’re getting this down.”

For the Curiously Aware of Humboldt County…

By Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

THREE SIDES OF THE SAME COIN:

Investigators are continuing to investigate an explosion and fire Tuesday night that burned a Church Street apartment building in Eureka leaving an 18-year-old in critical condition with severe burns on 60 percent of his body and a female inhabitant suffering from inhalation burns, the Times-Standard reported. They were transported by helicopter to a medical burn unit at UC Davis Medical Center. Much of the building burned, leaving 8-10 individuals homeless and damages of nearly $500,000. Humboldt Bay Firefighters fighting the blaze came upon several butane canisters and a device for extracting concentrated THC from marijuana inside the residence.

Fire investigators don’t think the hashish extractor was the source of the actual fire but noted any spark or flame could have ignited exposed gas within the apartment. A hashish extractor device is filled with marijuana and butane is forced through it removing the THC. The substance that drips out of the device is the concentrated THC, or hashish. Individuals using these extraction devices often work in areas with poor ventilation, and the butane fumes can pose very dangerous hazards.

The source of the blaze is under investigation.

* * * * * * *

$2.9 million in drug asset seizures for the past three years has the Humboldt County Drug Task Force basking in some serious money. Where does all the confiscated drug dough go? Perhaps the $170 per night poolside hotel accommodations for Drug Task Force members and their families near the Happiest Place on Earth—Disneyland– was a reasonable bon voyage training venture. Or the $400 custom-made boots? How did the DTF spend the rest of the $1.5 million in seized funds over the past five years anyway?

The North Coast Journal’s Zach St. George looked into the spending records and the expensive highlife of Humboldt’s drug cops in his article, Drug Money. Humboldt County seized 12 times more money per capita in forfeiture than California does as a whole. Two-thirds of that money goes to local law enforcement agencies in the County, St. George says.

“Last year the Sheriff’s Office took home $200,000, the District Attorney’s office $100,000, and The Drug Task Force got $500,000,” St. George reported.  The North Coast Journal also kindly listed the names and amounts of Humboldt County’s 25 largest seizures  for you to know.

* * * * * * *

On a similar note, exactly how large is the impact of marijuana on Humboldt County’s economy? How much money does a marijuana grower make? What’s life like for “trimmers” – the itinerant farm workers of the marijuana world? A lot of figures have been bandied about.  Humboldt’s readers and listeners demand answers for their enquiring minds.

These questions and supposedly more are explored in “The Humboldt Chronicles,” a radio documentary series from Lost Coast Communications starting February 2. Hosted by Southern Humboldt journalist Kym Kemp and produced by Mike Dronkers and Chuck Rogers, the series explores how marijuana cultivation plays a role in Humboldt County life – as economic driver, a touchstone of culture, an environmental burden (or boon), a source of violent crime, and a medical cure-all, depending on your point of view.

If you missed the Humboldt Chronicles debut, you can catch the interviews with a banker, grower, business owner, and economist in the podcast replay here.

* * * * * * *

SNIPPETS, RUMORS, HEARSAY MURMURS, AND THE LINKS: “Money”

Money doesn’t talk. Talk is cheap. Money screams.

OCCUPY THE OCCUPY: Time for a counter-revolution? According to the Times-Standard, “A rally is being held Friday afternoon, February from 4 to 6 p.m., at the Humboldt County Courthouse by community members who want the front of the courthouse cleaned up and unfenced. Organizer Julie Salminen said the purpose of the rally is to show the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors and Eureka City Council that people want the area restored. ‘We want it cleaned up over there,’ Salminen said.”

“More than 250 people are anticipated to attend the rally. Salminen said people are tired of the occupiers that have taken over the courthouse entrance. She said courthouse workers have been accosted and some have even been assaulted. She said people should be allowed to protest but that things have gotten out of control. ‘It’s costing a lot of money with everything that’s going on,’ Salminen said about the fencing and law enforcement patrols.”

We hope protesters and counter-protesters keep a safe distance from one another and cooler heads will prevail. Protesting, like politics, has become the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.

WHO KNOWS WHAT’S GOING ON: KINS radio’s Brian Papstein sat down and interviewed Eureka citizen and business magnate Robin Arkley. You can listen to it here . According to the Humboldt Herald’s take of the talk shop interview, Mr. Arkley says the Marina Center will see Coastal Commission progress by fall and Security National will be hiring 100 more employees over the next 18 months. He also offers his view on unions, the Keystone pipeline project, Mitt Romney, and liberals taking advantage (though the words ‘rape’ and ‘nailing’ were reportedly used) of today’s youth. We suggest listening to the interview and making up one’s own informed assumptions.

A big mountain of sugar is too much for one man. We can see now why God portions it out in those little packets for the rest of us.

ERNIE’S Place gives readers a brief progress report for restoring some portion of Southern Humboldt’s $450,000 in school bus transportation funding following last week’s road rage protest by residents, students, and staff at the State Capitol. Don’t mess with the SoHum parents. They’re not about to let schooling interfere with an education.

RAIL RECALL: Fred’s Humboldt Blog thinks “Governor Brown should face a recall over his continued fiscal support of the High Speed Rail project. The state has a continuing large deficit and supposedly can’t pay for what many consider essential government services, yet he steadfastly supports HSR,” Fred says. Originally voter approved to the tune of $9 billion, the High Speed Rail project could skyrocket upwards of $133 billion if it gathers traction. Meg Whitman will undoubtedly foist another media blitz of obnoxiously expensive radio and television ads upon us again should Fred’s recall efforts succeed. Thank you, Fred.

JUST SAY NO to unincorporated kids. The McKinleyville Community Services District voted Wednesday not to designate Pierson Park as the site of a skate park for kids, much to the consternation of supporters. The MCSD said it’s simply keeping all of its options available for a skate park site to be located anywhere the District deems worthy. Skate enthusiasts who raised almost $100,000 in donations are understandably confused by the adult’s setback. You can be young without money, but you can’t be old without it. Where’s major domo skate park politico Jeff Leonard when you need him most?

CO-OPTED: The North Coast Co-op General Manager David Lippmann reported the Eureka and Arcata stores have been experiencing annual losses of $275,000. He reports there’s still nearly $1 million in long-term debt from the construction of the Arcata store “ten or twelve years ago.” Payroll expenses, taxes, and benefits consume almost $4 million per year, or 26% of operating expenses. Profit margins on food are a slim 2 percent at best after the bills have been paid, Mr. Lippmann reports. The good news is the Co-op is a $30 million a year business. The bad news is sales are $600,000 below target. Their 2011-12 year-to-date earnings—profit—amounted to a paltry $59,000.

Relax, Co-op members, it’s much worse than you think. Given the consistently exorbitant price of the Co-op’s food and worker’s benefits, they’ll do what they’ve always reliably done:  stay cool, calm, …and collect. Money flies like an arrow and fruit flies like a banana.

OUCH, THAT SMARTS: Forgoing your PG&E smart meter may cost you up to $195. And that’s just for starters. The California Public Utilities Commission approved a proposal Wednesday to charge residential customers an initial fee of $75 plus $10 each month if they don’t want to have the wireless ‘smart meters’ installed in their homes. Low income customers would pay $70, an initial fee of $10 plus an extra $5 per month to avoid installation of the wireless devices.

Money is not the most important thing in the world. Love is. Fortunately, PG&E loves your money and their smart meters.

BETTER NEWS FOR JOB SEEKERS IN 2012:  Companies are saying the job market is getting better and workers are saying it’s already kicked into high gear.  Friday’s jobs report showed a national gain of 243,000 jobs and a separate survey using households to determine the unemployment rate showed far stronger job gains.  2 million jobs have been added in the past six months, the best job gain since August 2005 and preceding the Great Recession beginning in late 2007.  The unemployment rate has dropped for the past five consecutive months.  Friday’s Dow Jones Industrial Average roared to 12,862 making it the highest close since May of 2008.

When pressed, Newt Gingrinch begrudgingly told reporters, “If it makes you happy, give him (Obama) some credit.”  Misery loves company.

SPANK THE BANK AND STASH YOUR CA$H: In response to November’s call for a nationwide “Bank Transfer Day,” about 610,000 consumers switched from a big bank to a credit union or smaller community bank. According to a recent research survey, roughly 11 percent of the 5.6 million people switching banks during the three-month period cited “Bank Transfer Day” as their reason. While it certainly didn’t produce the mass exodus of customers that many banks may have feared, it was nonetheless significant. The number of “angry bank-switchers” leaving their bank was nearly triple for those walking out for similar reasons in 2010.

Although one credit union reporting the November publicity prompted a jump in inquiries and customers opening 1,500 new accounts– a 30 percent increase compared to 2010– it’s not clear exactly how big banks were affected by Bank Transfer Day. None are releasing figures. Wells Fargo reported a 3.2 percent net increase in consumer checking deposits for the fourth quarter last year, compared with 2010. Bank of America didn’t even bother to report transfer details for consumer checking accounts and declined to comment.

Analysts say banks are still set to raise fees increasing their bottom line. Banks will still loan you money if you can prove you don’t need it. Raises and bonuses for everyone– except you.

FOLLOW THE MONEY:  The City of Eureka was awarded a $26,000 judgement from notorious slumlords  Floyd and Betty Squires. We hope they don’t raise the rent.  From the City’s press release: 

The Humboldt County Superior Court has granted the City of Eureka’s motion for Attorneys’ Fees against Floyd and Betty Squires. The City was awarded the entire amount requested of $26,521.26. The City requested reimbursement of the fees it had incurred when it was forced to defend a lawsuit filed by the Squires against the City claiming that the City had no basis to enforce code violations for substandard housing at numerous properties owned by the Squires.

The City continues to move forward in its lawsuit against the Squires for substandard housing at numerous properties within the City of Eureka.

ABOVE IT ALL: Fortuna’s local blog, Above the Fold has come up with their ‘possible solution’ for dealing with the unsightly houseless issue in the Friendly City: “Send the building inspector out to the houseless camps on Fortuna Boulevard and levee fines for the many rule infractions–including improper tent installation and lack of plumbing.” Yup. Fees, fines, and money will certainly do the trick for those tentees not having any. We pine for the good old days when tar paper shacks and real wood shanties were in vogue.

A SLUMBER TO REMEMBER: Don’t snooze overnight in your vehicle in Arcata. Not only is it a crime, it’s a business, too.  An expensive proposition for snoring scofflaws who’ve had it too good for too long, it’s time to wake up, smell the coffee, and pay up for drowsy misdeeds and sleepytime misbehavior. Just ante up like these visitors did, posting their Humboldt forty-wink memories on the Ollie blog site. Their $35 fine—each—mushroomed to $155 after the gratuitous fees were tacked on shamelessly by the scales of justice:

The Criminal Justice Business

As we mentioned in a previous post, we recently got tickets (one each) for sleeping in our vehicle in Arcata. $155 each. We called the phone number on the ticket immediately, and were told that our information wouldn’t be uploaded into their computer system for at least two weeks — we’d have to stay in Arcata and try again. Two weeks passed, and we called back. We scheduled a date to appear in court, hoping to have the fine reduced.

We appeared at the Superior Court in Eureka yesterday, and the clerk (who was friendly, at least) informed us that we’d be able to meet with a court-appointed attorney before seeing a judge. Upon entering the courtroom, however, the judge told everyone– about 10 people with different infractions– that we did not have the right to a court-appointed attorney, and that we each had two, and only two, choices:

1) plead guilty and pay the fine in full, or,

2) plead not guilty and schedule another court appearance in a month or so.

We were, needless to say, really ready to leave Humboldt County, so we pled guilty and were charged $155 each.

Oddly, when we spoke with the judge, he told us that the fine for “camping in a vehicle- first offense” was no more than $50. Why are we being charged $155, then? Court fees. What court fees? Well the friendly clerk broke it down for us, and because I’m pissed, I’m going to type it all out for you:

$4.00 Surcharge

$1.76 County general fund

$3.92 DNA Add’l (?)

$3.92 St Crt Facility

$3.92 EMS Add’l

$1.96 DNA Add’l

$1.96 DNA Funding

$5.88 SB1732 Penalties

$13.72 State Penalty Fund

$5.88 County Penalty Assessment

$3.92 Courthouse Construction Fund

$5.88 Criminal Justice Facilities Fund

$3.92 Emergency Med Services

$17.84 Arcata General Fund

$1.52 State Automation Fund

$40.00 Court Security

$35.00 Criminal Infraction (the actual fine for sleeping in a vehicle)

I was last on the judge’s list, so by the time I was done speaking with him (which took about 30 seconds), the room had totally cleared out. As I joined Max and we walked toward the doors, the judge leaned over his desk and said cheerily to his staff, “Well, that went well!” Yeah, in about 10 minutes those jerks made several thousand dollars.

In case you are curious, we have never had this problem before. Ollie (the bus) was parked on a busy public street on Capitol Hill in Seattle for two weeks, and cops never bothered us; our only night-time callers in that spot were two drunk neighbors who thought Max and I were the coooolest people they’d ever met — they cooked up a whole dinner in their apartment across the street and delivered it to the bus, where we ate with them and drank wine and exchanged gifts and stories.

-Rachel

LET’S PUT MONEY ASIDE, FORGET OUR WORRIES, AND LEAVE YOU ON A HAPPIER NOTE

Proof positive that pets do love and  remember you.  Christian the lion does.  Whether you’re rich or poor, it doesn’t matter.

Outside of a dog, a book is probably Man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read anyway. The great pleasure of a dog is that you can make a fool of yourself and not only will he not scold you, he’ll make  a fool of himself, too.

THE WEEKEND CALENDAR:

Friday, February 3

Saturday, February 4

Sunday, February 5

Movies, reviews, times and trailers are here.

WORD

Reminiscing on his early Vaudeville days traveling with family, Groucho Marx said,

“We had a budget. That’s a way of going broke methodically. Because we were a kid act, we traveled at half-fare to save money, despite the fact that we were all around twenty. Minnie insisted we were thirteen. ‘That kid of yours is in the dining car smoking a cigar,’ the conductor told her. ‘One is in the washroom shaving. And another is drinking whiskey at the bar.’ Minnie shook her head sadly. ‘They grow up so fast.’”

For the Curiously Aware of Humboldt County…

By Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

SNIPPETS, RUMORS, HEARSAY MURMURS, AND THE LINKS:

THE BIG BUS OR BUST :  Nearly 400 students, parents, staff, and Ernie from Southern Humboldt Unified School District carried signs and marched on the State Capitol Tuesday persuading legislators to restore $450,000 in transportation funding for school buses.  Senator Noreen Evans and Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro said, “It was the largest crowd of community members they’ve ever seen in the building that weren’t lobbyists.”  500 of the district’s 700 students use the bus to get to school— costing $900 per student.

Rural SoHum students need the buses. California is going broke.  Richard Marks had to ask the touchy question on everyone’s mind of whether Southern Humboldt’s wealthy marijuana growers should pony up for their community– and his readers responded with equally tangy commentary.

CASUALTIES OF COST CUTTING:  Further fiscal cuts to the tune of $1.6 million for College of the Redwoods may mean layoff notices in March for tenured faculty due to statewide trigger measures.  CR’s Board of Trustees will meet again Monday in a special meeting to discuss the matter further.   California is reaching new lows tightening the community college money belt.  Parents, however, should encourage their children to become better educated so they can get into a good college that they can’t afford.

SUICIDE IS FOREVER:  Following the tragic suicidal leap off Eureka’s Masonic Lodge building Tuesday by a 35-year old man, both the Times-Standard and Highboltage report that over the past 90 days the coroner’s office has responded to 15 suicides compared to only five in the previous quarter.  “It’s just an eye-opener to us to see that amount of suicides happening,” Humboldt County Coroner Dave Parris said.

If you know someone who needs help, suicide prevention services are available through Humboldt County Mental Health Crisis Services (#445-7715), Redwood Community Action Agency (#444-2273) and 24-hour suicide crisis lifelines (#800-273-8255, 888-849-5728).

COLD-HEARTED ABUSE:  Being aware of events as they relate to social justice is important and that’s why we’re linking to Highboltage’s Something is Rotten in Eureka and Verbena’s letter. We also want to know why Charlie, the dog, was shot and what happened.

DANNY RAY’S LAST DAYS an obit by the Journal’s Heidi Walters. Sigh.

BUILDING COMMUNITY DIGNITY:  Green Diamond Resource Company just sold 15.3 acres and gave $25,000 to Hospice of Humboldt for their planned inpatient hospice health care facility, a 12-bed, 14,560 square-foot project near the Redwood Acres Fairgrounds.  The new Hospice House will provide end-of-life care, grief counseling, and enable patients and families to spend time together in a home-like setting of private bedrooms and bathrooms, communal living and dining rooms, a chapel, and a children’s play room.  “It will be a home away from home when home is no longer an option,” said Executive Director Marylee Bytheriver.

Hospice of Humboldt has been serving families locally for over 33 years with a staff of 80 and 125 volunteers.  The organization provided end-of-life care to 584 patients last year who, as a result, were able to die with dignity and in comfort.  Hospice is ramping up a capital fundraising campaign towards breaking ground of the $10 million project in 2013.

WAITING ON THE WATERFRONT:  What’s been happening with Eureka’s new Fisherman’s Terminal project? On the Waterfront by Jennifer Fumiko Cahill explains whether the newly finished Redevelpment project is going forward– or drowning in the water.  With redevelopment funds going the way of the dodo, a bird in the hand is safer than one that’s flying directly overhead.  More money and several more years will make the Fisherman’s Terminal an overnight success, some believe.

NO MORE WEED:  The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to abolish their medical marijuana program allowing collectives to grow 99 plants at a time with County approval.  Under the permit program the Mendocino Sheriff’s Office monitored marijuana farms and tagged plants with zip ties for compliance.  Apparently the Board of Supervisors felt the heat coming from U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag warning they were in conflict with the Fed’s position that growing marijuana is patently illegal.  The Mendo Board of Supervisors were advised by their legal counsel to drop the program like a cold stone.   Ms. Haag has been striking fear into the hearts of many and killing the buzz of most.

RETREAT:  Meanwhile back at the ranch, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to extend a temporary moratorium on new medical dispensaries for an additional 10 months– and will discuss the future of outdoor medical marijuana growing in the County.  That is, unless Ms. Haag sends another sharply worded letter implying that all who participate get thrown in the pokey.  In that case, all bets are off as we run away.

THE EEL DEALS:  Not the most exciting news unless one is headlong into community policy wonkiness. Nonetheless, Virginia Graziani reports four Southern Humboldt volunteer fire departments cleared another hurdle to become full-fledged Fire Protection Districts with the ability to stabilize their revenue through special parcel taxes.  Mary Bullwinkel updates us on “State of the City: Fortuna Residents Hear Updates on Projects and School District Consolidation.”  Wonk away.

CRAB GRAB ‘N GO:  These Rotarians are smart people.  Sure, you’ll hear more about the Fortuna Sunrise Rotary Club’s Crab Fest happening in February: you know, all the crab, drinks, band, and silent auction that you can stomach under one roof.  But whoever came up with their uniquely crabby  idea of “Eat In, OR Drive Thru and Take Out” deserves a medal and standing promotion. What will these Rotarians think of next?   Their motto is Building Communities and Bridging Continents.   Crab take out and home delivery to China?   Sorry, but Wild Planet Foods’ Bill Carvalho already thought of that.  The Rotary gears of ingenuity grind on.

STATISTICS LIE:  14% of people know that.  But has it really been that dry?  The Fortuna monthly rain report states we’ve had 8.18 inches of January rain compared to 1.35 inches last year.  We’re also 2 inches over the year-to-date average.  Well, that’s what it claims.  We don’t make this stuff up, we just report it.  68% of everyone knows that.

SONIC BOOM : Conservationists and Native American tribes are suing over the Navy’s use of sonar in training exercises on the Pacific coast, saying the noise can harass and kill marine mammals such as whales, dolphins, seals and sea lions.  The Navy has been conducting exercises in the training range for 60 years but increased weapons testing and submarine training has raised the environmental ire to a whole new level and, conservationists claim, the National Marine Fisheries Service has failed its mission in protecting marine life from going belly up due to the harmful effects of sonar use.

GMO REALLY MEANS ‘Get Me Out.’  150 groups throughout California are working on a landmark 2012 initiative identifying what’s in the Frankenfood you eat.  The petition’s release date calling for the labeling of GMOs (genetically engineered food) has been pushed back to the middle of February for the gathering of signatures.  We can’t get to the top by sitting on our bottom.

Southern Humboldt folks wanting to see the GMO labeling initiative on the 2012 ballot can help by learning how to gather signatures.  The Humboldt County Signature Gathering Workshop for the California GMO Labeling Initiative is happening on Thursday, February 2nd, at 5 p.m.-6 p.m.at Calico’s restaurant, 808 Redwood Drive in Garberville.  For more information call Rosa at # 707-986-7469.

Northern Humboldt folks should link to the Northern Humboldt Label GMOs Facebook site for getting involved.

BLAST FROM THE PAST pictures of yesteryear, Humboldt, and places beyond.  We like Shorpy.com  for their high-end resolution work, and that of a Rio Dell local known as The Old Photo Guy  for his vintage historical pieces.

LIVE LONG AND PROSPER:  Who lives where, what do they do and eat, and why do they live so long?  Contributing writer Dr. Jerry DeCapua and the Two Rivers Tribune have an intriguing article regarding the Who, Where, and How of health longevity.  The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly and lie about your age.

FAR AWAY PLACES flung on the face of the earth.  We always wondered what goes on at Orlean’s Sandy Bar Ranch and in Orick.  Now we know.

FACT CHECK:  We like facts.  All sorts of them.  Banal and inane and everything in between.  But oh my word and Heavens to Betsy what did we let loose here?  OK, pull our finger.

THE WEEKEND CALENDAR:

Friday, January 27

Saturday, January 28

Sunday, January 29

Movies, reviews, times and trailers are here.

WORD

Will Rogers said,

There are three kinds of men. The ones that learn by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.

Everything is funny as long as it’s happening to someone else.

Renewed public engagement process to be headed up by insiders

By Charles Douglas
Humboldt Sentinel

Humboldt County has enjoyed for the last thirteen years the fruits of Prosperity!

At least, prosperity in terms of grant funding from a plan titled “Prosperity!” which furthered the prosperity of county government and allied non-profits, to the tune of $55 million in federal, state and local funds managed by the Economic Development Division of Community Development Services.

Supervisors voted unanimously this morning with little fanfare and even less critical analysis on a staff proposal to re-write the Prosperity! plan for a new decade — the punchline being a grant application for more federal funding to be sent to the Economic Development Division and affiliated agencies to do so.

The $65,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration is supposed to construct a plan which brings together the public and private sectors to analyze the regional economy, establish goals and plans of action, and identify investment priorities and funding sources. Yet part of the federal guidelines stated that such a process must be developed with broad-based and diverse participation, and so far, such outreach has been mostly to insiders in local banking, real estate and financial interests — the so-called listening tour by Headwaters Fund Board coordinator Dawn Elsbree which the Sentinel broke down in October.

Maintaining an upbeat stance despite the dire economic numbers emerging out of the last few years, Jacqueline Debets, Humboldt County’s Economic Development Coordinator, told Supervisors that a new economy was continuing to emerge out of the targets of opportunity (diversified health care, investment support services, building and systems construction and maintenance, management and innovation services, specialty food, flowers and beverages and niche manufacturing)  identified by Prosperity! in 1999.

“There’s been a sustained, structural shift in our economy from the one our parents grew up in,” she said.

Debets pointed to the growth in the number of jobs, the number of firms and the growth of wages in the six major industry clusters in her initial 1990-2004 report — but when the 15-year span shifted to the years 1995-2009, an 8.8% decline in the number of firms was revealed. Tourism remained the second largest employment sector in the region, but with annual average wages of $13,685, these jobs are often part-time in nature and usually do not pay a living wage. The timber industry went from 5,700 to 2,100 jobs, shrinking from 10.6% to 4.3% of the region’s employment.

The only public comment came from Bob Judevine, who works as an associate director with the Northern California Small Business Development Center Network (the SBDC works hand in glove with the Economic Development Division and has received numerous grants from the Headwaters Fund). Unsurprisingly, he enthusiastically endorsed Debets’ presentation and said he was worried that his kids would be able to find work in Humboldt County.

Third District Supervisor Mark Lovelace defended the public resources expended on these sorts of planning processes as well — he claimed that College of the Redwoods had modified their course offerings based on the targets of opportunity study.

“It really shows that this isn’t just some abstract planning process, it’s something we can actually use that can be of benefit in the community,” Lovelace said. “This is valuable work.”

Supervisor Virginia Bass of the Fourth District was thankful that there was at least some effort to study the actual job impact of economic development planning, given the past public critiques that such undertakings mainly employed the people conducting the planning.

“It’s hard to quantify, but I’m glad that’s a focus because that’s a question we get a lot,” she said. “With the Headwaters Fund, how many jobs does that really result in?”

In an e-mail to the Sentinel later this afternoon, Elsbree underlined that the public, beyond the 100 handpicked for the initial listening tour, would be welcomed into the series of drafting meetings on the new Prosperity! document.

The first of these will be the convening of an Industry Leader Council, which will take place on Monday, Jan. 30 at 1 p.m. at the North Coast SBDC office, located at 520 E Street in Downtown Eureka. The next will be a joint meeting of her Headwaters Board along with the Workforce Investment Board (the “official strategy committee” in the grant proposal) and the Redwood Region Economic Development Commission, to take place on Friday, Feb. 17 at the Annex of the Humboldt County Office of Education, located at 901 Myrtle Avenue in Eureka.

“We are still designing the year long process but are also hoping that members of the participating boards and interested community members will help spread the word about what we are doing and invite others into the process,” Elsbree stated.

She also suggested the public keep track of the Prosperity! website (www.northcoastprosperity.com) where documents related to the update would be regularly posted, starting with a list of “Action Teams” intended to brainstorm projects “related to specific issues,” as yet unspecified.

Debets invited Supervisors to a Gallery Walk hosted by HFB, RREDC and WIB, to take place at the former Cin Cin restaurant in Old Town Eureka during the Feb. 4 Arts Alive!

EPD claims property was “trashed” in a similar fashion to O Street residence

By Gabriele Fellows
Humboldt Sentinel

Another property manager found his vacant rental home broken into and vandalized early Saturday morning on the 3000 block of I Street.

Significant damage to the doorframe was found along with piles of trash harboring junk food and alcohol. The bathroom and heater had been used along with electricity.

Personal belongings were discovered in the home indicating the return of its owners. “The gear had been left in the house as if someone was planning on staying a while,” EPD sergeant Adam Laird said in an interview with the Sentinel today.

Although the actual “squatters” of the empty dwelling are unknown, the EPD thinks they were members of the Occupy movement because of anarchistic graffiti found on the walls similar to the spray painted images found at the O Street home.

“The graffiti also included anti ‘Nazi’ graffiti, which could be a reference to law enforcement,” Laird said.

There was no other evidence of the latest break-in’s connection to Occupy Eureka aside from the similarity of the graffiti.

Six individuals associated with Occupy Eureka were arrested at their O Street squat earlier this week, although they’ve all been released pending further court proceedings – with the exception of Martin Katz.

Members of the Occupy movement are being suspected as culprits because other house squatting episodes are “dissimilar.”  Trespassers rarely damage anything other than doorways into a home and don’t spray paint on walls. They also rarely leave belongings behind: “In general, the people who break into houses and sleep in them leave the next day and take their gear with them,” Laird claimed.

Laura Cutler, a local attorney and member of the Occupy Humboldt movement, proposed a resolution for tomorrow night’s countywide General Assembly (to take place at 6 p.m. in the Green and Gold Room at Humboldt State University) that dissociates the group from participants’ actions at O Street:

“We, the members of the Occupy Humboldt County General Assembly do proclaim that the afore-mentioned events were never considered, nor ever approved in any way, by the Occupy Humboldt County General Assembly.”

Occupy Eureka activist Talvi Fried thought tensions might be exacerbated by the resolution, but also didn’t want the public image of her cause tarnished by these incidents.

“[It is] just dim acting and obviously against Occupy Humboldt as a whole since it’s only caused a lot of bad press and hurts the good that is trying to be done elsewhere within the movement,” she stated in a post on the Facebook page of Occupy Humboldt.

For the Curiously Aware of Humboldt County…

By Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

RAIL FEASIBILITY STUDY GATHERS STEAM AFTER EUREKA CITY COUNCIL APPROVAL

Hank Sims correctly predicted Eureka’s Fantasy Pacific railroad proposal would be off and running after the Humboldt Bay Alternative Rail Route Feasibility Study was endorsed by the Eureka City Council Tuesday.

The Council not only approved the feasibility proposal after the 4-0 vote (Councilmember Lance Madsen was absent) but directed city staff to locate funding sources and technical support. Attorney and rail advocate Bill Barnum pointed out it’s a preliminary request looking at connecting Humboldt Bay’s shipping to a proposed rail corridor reaching Red Bluff.

The Sentinel will report more of Tuesday’s Council actions with the back story here.

Mr. Barnum believes the idea of a rail corridor should not be discredited before all the facts are in and given a fair consideration. He indicated there’s been misinformation circulating in the community.  The idea, as bold as it seems, requires careful evaluation, vision, and leadership.

Responding to Hank Sims at the Lost Coast Outpost last week, Mr. Barnum clarified a few points for readers:

Hi Hank,

I am curious why you feel a need to disparage this idea? Really, it sort of mystifies me.

To be helpful about a few details:

1. Nobody is ready to break ground just yet. The request is to investigate alternatives. This is what CEQA is all about. The map you copied above is merely to depict the route proposed in 1909 by local surveyor Jess Lentell. It may not be the route that is built – indeed a railroad may never be built.

2. The railroad is not proposed for public ownership and operation. No one is suggesting a publicly-owned-and-operated rail line. If rail is developed, the rail would be privately owned. The City of Eureka owns substantial land that could be developed and leased to the public’s benefit. I guess that is why the City may be interested in at least studying the matter.

3. I am certain the private railroad will not be financed by you. We will take you off the list of potential investors. If you should change your mind, let us know. To be clear, I will not be an owner either, so I guess we have that in common, Hank.

4. Most (but certainly not all) people living in Humboldt County would like to see some new source of employment sometime in our lifetimes. The government job hey-day is over. The state grant gravy-train (a different sort of train), is off the tracks and not likely to return. The State of California has resorted to eating its own by disallowing Redevelopment Agencies. The hand-writing is on the wall. Before Humboldt County becomes another Greece, it might be prudent to search out some private employment possibilities, huh?

5. Some people disparage the idea, other people have their hair on fire. I just don’t get that.

So, Hank, have your fun. Hell, you might be the smartest guy around. But if you don’t mind, when it comes to railroad engineering, I would rather get a feasibility study out of a railroad engineering firm. They do exist.
The beat goes on. It will be interesting to see who shows up Tuesday night to fight the idea of a feasibility study. See you then, Hank?

Mr. Barnum replied to another post:

In reply to Guest above, you are incorrect. I do not want to sell the future railroad any land, and none of its possible course would run through property I own. You are not the first person to suggest this; but you should stop it. It is not true.

My interest in this idea of rail to the valley goes back more than 20 years when I helped found the Humboldt Bay Alliance for Economic Development. My hope is to see a rail connection that helps with goods movement using Humboldt Bay as a connector between ships and the National Rail System. We are closest to Asia and a rail connection in the valley makes sense for bridging rail outside the busy San Francisco Bay Area transportation bottle-neck. Some of the freight stream could be opened here and value added, then re-packaged into containers for shipment. A modern railroad would include double-decked containers and could operate so that trains could transit from Red Bluff to Eureka in about 3 hours. This avoids congested ports and makes sense to people in that industry.

I know that many people are dedicated to seeing no or little economic change here, and many opposing posters resort to mockery and insults. My suggestion is that if the idea is feasible we should promote it. Many will disagree. That’s politics. Fine with me.

Tonight the Eureka City Council voted 4-0 (with Lance Madsen absent) to support
the idea and promote a feasibility study for an eastern rail route from
Humboldt Bay to Red Bluff. Thanks!

Readers weighed in with their comments, too. Here were a few by the proponents of rail optimism:

“This is a feasibility concept. People on both sides are saying it can or cannot be done. Why not get a definitive answer and find out? What will it haul? Who will pay for it, if it can be built? I would think that would be part of the study. Why taxpayer funding? Why not? We study and build roads to promote commerce. Is this that different? Without taxpayer dollars to maintain highways into Humboldt, we would be isolated in less than a year.”

“This is great news. Mocking research into railroad development is just stupid and short-sighted. A rail connection to the central valley is a major infrastructure improvement, the kind that makes your region more economically viable. And a railroad is FAR preferable to increased road access. …The niche for a Humboldt Bay port is not to compete against Oakland, LA and Long Beach, obviously. Those are enormous operations that serve a different purpose. The idea is to have a smaller port where a different type of shipping can predominate. The railroad provides an outlet for goods that arrive via Humboldt Bay, but equally important it provides an outlet for goods that are produced in Humboldt County. There is really no good reason to oppose researching an Eastern rail link, which is far more promising than the Southern route.”

“Gentlepersons, unless there is a major upgrade for accessibility, we will continue to be a backwater. …All costs are high to be here. Primarily, it is the isolation from the rest of the US that is the problem…”

“Will there be a direct connection to the China-Chunnel?”

Some naysaying nabobs of doubt offered their two cents:

“Is it crazier to imagine opening the line south and fighting the terrain and washouts for a longer stretch, or to create a new line east? I think most of us would drool at the prospect of a train connecting us to Amtrak, and for shipping, but it’s hard to imagine it could really be economically feasible in this part of the state.”

“I don’t have a problem with the idea of a rail line to the East. Problem is, what would it haul? I can’t think of any cargo that would be significant enough to make it worthwhile.”

“I suggest taking a look at the NCRA file at the Regional Water Board office in Santa Rosa. One of the things you will see are decades worth of business feasibility studies, all nicely bound and printed in multiple colors. These studies look into all the myriad ways a railroad south could be made to pay… These studies were not cheap and none of them was ever acted upon. At their most innocent, they were public dollars spent on trying to provide rationale… held by people of influence in the Humboldt Bay Area.  …But at a more fundamentally corrupt level, these “studies” were just money being handed out to make work for favored consulting companies. They may have been favors to politicians or lobbyists that have connections to the consultants. They may have been a way to keep the party going at public expense for a favored segment of the community. The one thing the studies were not was a serious attempt to actually get the railroad running.”

“Is the council seriously suggesting we spend staff time and our hard-to-come-by revenues on this sort of craziness?”

While one post curiously stood out unto its own:

“I already did this “study” for you… I will repeat it (again) for free.

There is this geographic feature of the North American continent called the “Great Salt Lake” which is approximately 600 miles due east of Eureka. All east-west transcontinental rail traffic must split east of the Great Salt Lake, and the northern route proceeds to Boise and then Seattle, while the southern route goes to Reno and then Oakland. The truth is that Redding is just as far from markets as Eureka is. So even if it is true that Eureka is a half day’s sea travel closer to Asia, it is at least a day farther from markets by rail. A half day or more would actually be lost by using the Port of Eureka, even supposing that a rail car could make it from Eureka to Redding to Oakland in one day. Most likely it will be two or three days.

There is nothing that we can do about this. So there you go, by accident of geography Eureka will never be a competitive deepwater West Coast port. … Then there are other issues. Could the railway to Redding actually be built? Yes, if you want to spend enough money. …You might be able to lay a new rail line across flat prairie or desert for $5 million a mile but not through those mountains. A half dozen tunnels and a half dozen bridges will cost $500 million all on their own.

This project, technically feasible will cost anywhere from $3 to $5 billion, minimum. The line would have to be heavily taxpayer subsidized or it could not exist and it will never be profitable, because of the geographical facts above.

If in some fantasy world this line was actually completed what would it haul? Although no Asian shipper of manufactured goods would use the port (because of the geographical facts above) shippers of dangerous, explosive or hazardous materials would like to have a lightly populated port to ship through. So we would get the nuclear waste, the caustic industrial chemicals and industrial acids, petroleum distillates, and military munitions. That’s your upside…

There’s your study.”

Granted, there are many questions concerning the rail proposal.  Can it be built?  What will it cost?  What will it haul?  Where will the route traverse?  Is it economically viable?  The proposal does have merit for consideration.  It deserves further discussion.  Free from speculation, conjecture, and opinion, a feasibility study would provide accurate and forthcoming answers to these questions, and we trust, be made available to the public.

More of the 260 comments about Eureka’s East-West railroad proposal can be found at:

The Lost Coast Outpost
The Humboldt Herald

The Eureka City Council Agenda Summary on the Humboldt Bay Alternative Rail Route Feasibility Study can be found here, courtesy of Mr. Sims.

Meanwhile, far, far away from the Redwood Curtain, China recently completed a 30-story building in only 15 days.  How were they able to accomplish this so quickly?  Able to withstand a 9.0 earthquake and 5 times more energy efficient than its counterparts, China’s new skyscraper is a testament to ingenuity, speed, and planning.  With labor standards, regulations, bureaucracy and unions pushed aside, we hope they used a higher quality drywall than usual.

Joel Mielke’s ‘Feasibility Studies’

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

SNIPPETS, RUMORS, HEARSAY MURMURS, AND THE LINKS:  “Building Community”

MUMS THE WORD:  No word has been received by Supervisor Clendenen offering an explanation here or at Ernie’s Place about the giveaway of STIP (State Transportation Improvement Program) monies to the Highway 101 Safety Corridor instead of repairing Garberville’s roads, as mentioned in last week’s Sentinel Roundup . As we previously said, it’s a sticky sore point stuck between State monies, County road repairs, and 2nd District constituents. Perhaps Supervisor Clendenen feels silence is golden and doesn’t need to explain such decisions to his district’s residents or shameless blogs requesting answers. Who needs pesky voters anyway?

GIVE US YOUR POOR, YOUR SICK, YOUR HUDDLED MASSES:  St. Joseph Hospital is opening the doors and inviting the community to see its new $140 million, 100,000 square foot Northeast Tower addition. At $1,400 per square foot, that’s one heck of an improvement. The open house tours are Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 9.a.m. to 3 p.m. The open house is free; however, donations have always been readily accepted for their past, present, and future needs.  And you thought they only wanted your blood.

SHELTER HELTER SKELTER:  Heidi Walters’ article and photos in The Journal, ‘New Direction’, explains what happened regarding the North Coast Resource Center closure and former Executive Director John Shelter’s future plans. After his sudden fall, will Mr. Shelter rise from the NCRC ashes like a legendary phoenix? You can bet on it.

MORE SHELTER:  Kym Kemp kindly reminds us the Eureka Extreme Weather Shelter has opened. She reports Shelter Coordinator Steve Bell said they’ve helped a lot of different people since the shelter has been available. “We’ve had new faces and about 2 new people a day. It’s a really positive situation here,” Bell said. “I’m hoping that we provide a model of what can be done.” Mr. Bell asked everyone to please direct people to go to the Mission, 110 2nd Street in Eureka, where they will go through intake and receive food, hot showers and clean clothes. Very pleased with how the new shelter is working out, Mr. Bell thanked those who helped, including the Eureka Main St. Organization, the Chamber (of Commerce), the North Coast Veteran’s Resource Center, the Eureka Rescue Mission, and the people at Teen Challenge. Mr. Bell can be rung at (707) 498-9611.  Thank you, Mr. Bell.  You, too, are helping build a sense of community.

GREED AND WEED:  Kevin Hoover and the Arcata Eye fill us in on the 6 quick marijuana busts made over a two-day period while the Two Rivers Tribune reports related pot problems. Humboldt County Supervisors, meanwhile, discussed their environmental concerns caused by weed cultivation and unpermitted grading in the county, comparing the damage to the ‘worst of the timber industry.’

HEALTH AND WELLNESS IS BIG BUSINESS:   Arcata’s Mad River Community Hospital has big plans and an even bigger complex waiting in the wings.

REAL DEAL:   The Rio Dell City Council met in a special closed session discussing a $975,000 contract offered to the property’s owner for a proposed business plaza development.  Rio Dell’s plans call for a new supermarket, strip mall, two motels, restaurants, a gas station and retail space sitting on the 20 acre site adjacent to Highway 101.  If the contract is accepted by the property owner, the next step is for the city to get a commitment from four or five businesses to participate in the development.  (UPDATE):  Unable to reach agreement between the City Of Rio Dell and the property owner, the Rio Dell Business Plaza has stalled. Here’s the counteroffer deal breaking letter.

BUS FUSS:  Virginia Graziani of the Redwood Times reports, “The Southern Humboldt Unified School District is calling all interested students, parents, and community members to join a caravan to Sacramento next Tuesday, Jan. 24, to let our state legislators and Governor Jerry Brown know how important school bus transportation is to rural communities.” Get on the bus, Gus. Make a new plan, Stan. Ms. Graziani also reports on the lesser important ho-hum SoHum school news, too. The Times-Standard’s Jessica Cejnar reported more on Sohum’s Bus Party to Sacto, as well.

EASTERN COMMUNITY SHOP TALK: Two Rivers Tribune’s Allie Hostler and Malcolm Terence talk access, degradation, and protection of Hoopa tribal land , tanoak mushroom picking, and Willow Creek’s new playschool.

COMMUNITY ORGANIZER HEIDI BENZONELLI and the Westside Community Improvement Association invite neighbors, friends, and community partners to a BBQ and community workday this Saturday, January 21. Whether it rains or shines, it’s happening. Bring your tools if you have them. Ms. B. requests your presence “joining the community while we build our future, 10 am ‘til around 3, BBQ somewhere around noon. We’ll be at the future home of the Jefferson Community Park Gardens and Community Center, 1000 B street Eureka. It looks like rain so we will plan most activities for indoors.” This event is hosted by Westside Community Improvement Association and sponsored by First Five Better Together, Humboldt Area Foundation and Eureka First United Methodist Church. That’s quite a collaboration.  Questions? Call 498-5764.

COMMUNITY BLOG FRIENDS ODDS ‘N ENDS:  So John’s up to his old tricks and Jo-Jo’s in the can now that Kristabel’s happily hitched and Tom’s eyeing orbs again.

RAINING CATS AND DOGS:  When will it stop?  Not for awhile.  Don’t complain, you’ll see a glimpse of the sun next Wednesday.  Then hunker down for a solid week or two of rain.  You asked for it.  Maybe it’s a good time to visit your local library and settle down with a good book.

SOMEBODY THAT YOU USED TO KNOW:  32 million viral views and counting. We didn’t know a community of 5 friends could play one guitar at the same time and perform such a hauntingly beautiful melody together.

THE WEEKEND CALENDAR:

SLAMMIN’ SALMON:  ACCESS HUMBOLDT is presenting an environmental documentary by Thomas Dunklin Friday, January 27 at 7 p.m. Dunklin is a fisheries geo-videologist and producer of documentary videos surrounding salmon, restoration, and salmon culture. His work encompasses underwater views from the Smith and Klamath Rivers, watershed restorations projects, Klamath dam and other amazing underwater wildlife footage. Questions and answers will follow Dunklin’s selected work. Movie trivia, prizes, and a reception will follow at the adjacent Access Humboldt Community Media Center.

The cost is $5 and all are welcome to attend. Folks, the seats are comfortable, the people and food good, and the price is right supporting independent community media. What isn’t there to like?

Friday, January 20

Saturday, January 21

Sunday, January 22

Movies, times, trailers, and IMDb reviews are here.

WORD

When Gandhi was asked what he thought of Western civilization, he said, “It would be nice.”

Suspects told EPD they were protesting foreclosures, yet home was a vacant rental

Staff Report
Humboldt Sentinel

Several Occupy Movement protesters were busted Wednesday morning after Eureka Police officers answered a complaint from property managers that trespassers were squatting in a house on the on the 3500 block of O Street.

A graffiti 'anarchy' symbol was sprayed on the home's wall.

One of the protesters had already left at the property managers’ request, but others refused and likewise refused to follow officers’ orders to leave. As officers entered, two women later identified as Amanda Tierney, 24, and Shayanne Clark, 21, both of Eureka tried to leave through the front door and were taken into custody.

Four other protesters tried to barricade the front and back doors with their bodies or furniture as officers entered. After repeated tries officers were able to force their way in to arrest Martin Katz, 23, Ann Rian, 21 and Keelan McWayne, 21, all of Eureka; also Stanton Wood, 25, of Florida.

The group told officers that they were “occupying” the house because of homelessness issues and foreclosures, although the house is a vacant rental unit, not a foreclosed home.

After the protesters were in police cars, officers walked through the residence with the property managers and found graffiti on the walls, including anarchist symbols, as well as a small amount of marijuana. The protesters had also removed several locks and replaced them with their own. Property damage was estimated at several thousand dollars by the managers.

The protesters have been jailed in Humboldt County Correctional Facility for vandalism, forcible trespassing, conspiracy and obstructing a police officer.

The O Street rental home.

Graffiti sign on the floor of the squat.

Conditions inside the squatted home.

Inside the squatted home.

Scattered parts of a lockset used to illegally change the locks on the O Street home.

Amanda Tierney

Ann Rian

Keelan McWayne

Martin Katz

Shyanne Clark

Stanton Wood

For the Curiously Aware of Humboldt County

By Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

IT’S A MIRACLE THEIR KIDNEYS MATCHED and a great story. Kym Kemp pens a column underscoring the simple goodness of Humboldt’s people.

Kym writes, “Some people give hearts as Valentine gifts, but two days after the holiday this year, Shannon Robinson is giving a total stranger, Travis Chagolla, her kidney. The little town of Myers Flat in southern Humboldt County is the scene of a very large act of Random Kindness…”

Large it is. Read her touching story. When Kym’s passionate about something her soul flows onto the page along with the words.

Kym added:

“The operation will take several hours and (Shannon) will have to rest for 4-8 weeks afterward. She has a young daughter at home. She won’t be able to work. How will she pay the rent? Shannon’s friends have convinced her to let them hold a fundraiser to help. On February 4th, they’re throwing a benefit at Beginnings in Briceland. There is going to be a spaghetti feed, beer and wine, a raffle and music…Raffle tickets can be purchased at the Myers Flat store and cafe as well as Signature Coffee in Redway.”

KIEM-TV’s Kelly May also reported on Shannon and Travis’ story.  While we don’t solicit random acts of shill, we do acknowledge those of kindness. It’s the right thing to do.  If you’d like to help, please look at Shannon’s donation page here.

NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON:  It’s freezing outside.  Lynette’s Norcal History Blog announced that due to low temperatures the Extreme Weather Shelter will open.  Please pass this on to any who might need the information. She says,

We were ready to have a test run of Eureka’s Extreme Weather Shelter for the homeless when Mother Nature jumped the gun.   A hard freeze warning for TONIGHT prompted the opening of the Extreme Weather Shelter at the St. Vincent’s Dining Facility  at 35 West 3^rd Street, in Old Town, Eureka.

I am posting this in case someone out there sees someone who needs shelter for the night. Please send them to the Eureka Rescue Mission, 110 2nd Street in Eureka.

If the Mission is at capacity, folks will be sent to the Dining Facility–OR IF YOU FIND FOLKS WHO ARE NOT COMFORTABLE AT THE MISSION, HAVE THEM TELL THE MISSION INTAKE FOLKS AND THEY WILL SEND THEM TO ST. VINCENT’S AFTER INTAKE.

Coordinator Steve Bell is at the Dining Hall to welcome folks and between St. Vincent’s and the Rescue Mission, Eureka can provide shelter to everyone who wants to be indoors tonight. We even have donated dog kennels so folks with animals can be sure their pets are safe. Please help us to help those who need it most…

ERNIE IS ALWAYS RIGHT in his roundabout way. This time he came up with the Annoying Biggest Stories of 2011 in his column. The stories are those which have been underreported locally and without conclusive forthcoming answers. Here’s Ernie’s ‘Top 3’, in his words:

1) “‘Who pooped and peed on the bank?’ (They never did find out) I was always told that a lawyer or a news anchor-person was never supposed to ask a question unless they already knew the answer.”

2) “Sometimes I wish they would tell us things like ‘Why the Eureka officials kept the fact that Wall-Mart was coming to town such a big secret.’ That would interest the heck out of me. How does it happen that a town that knows everything and can’t keep even a small secret, keep the fact that a frickin’ Wal-Mart is coming to the Bayshore Mall. You’d think that would be important for people to know!”

3) “How many of us know that they were going to pave Garberville’s Redwood drive but our supervisor gave the money away to fix the road between Eureka and Arcata? What, you say? Garberville hasn’t been paved since the trees were planted and the power lines were under grounded. Why didn’t we know about the money giveaway until it was practically a done deal? I wouldn’t have even known about the money being given away if it weren’t for Mark Lovelace saying something like, ‘I think that we should ask the people of Garberville how they feel about this.’ Unfortunately I did not have the opportunity to scream bloody murder in time, so OUR Dist 2 Supervisor Clif Clendenen gave out road money to throw on the “Safety Corridor” between Eureka and Arcata.”

“Most people don’t have the time to decide how to spend county money. They split the county into 5 supervisor districts and then elect 5 supervisors to watch-out for our interests. How the heck does giving Garberville street money to Eureka and Arcata represent us in any way!?”

“…OUR supervisor, who has the most rural roads in the whole county, voted to give road money to the most expensive nightmare in Humboldt. Plus it is Highway 101! A state highway. The state has other means of raising money. The county doesn’t. Where is the news service that explains this to us?”

Ernie added:

Redwood Drive… is crumbling. The street looks like an unmade bed.

Before the vote was taken, Mark Lovelace said that he thought something this important should be given a little more time for public input. After the delay, Clif Clendenen broke the tie and voted to give the state the funding! Now, I would expect Eureka and Arcata to vote for it, so it was no surprise when they did. But, I did not expect the supervisor from the most rural district in Humboldt Co. to give away the funding.

The other two rural districts voted against giving away the funding. I had just assumed that OUR supervisor would vote against it. I thought that it was a no-brainer! Imagine my surprise. I probably would not have even known about the vote if it hadn’t been for Mark Lovelace.

Ernie Branscomb, a voice of reason and ever so the SoHum advocate, makes a good point. We believe this is an important issue worthy of a response.

We hope Supervisor Clendenen will offer an explanation either here or at Ernie’s Place before the upcoming election. It’s a sticky sore point stuck between State monies, County road repairs, and 2nd District constituents.

Clif, your peeps are calling. Line 1, line 2, and line 3 are on hold and blinking.

SNIPPETS, RUMORS, HEARSAY MURMURS, AND THE LINKS:

HOW MUCH CAN A DOLLAR BUY: Humboldt County has imposed a $1 fee per every vehicle registered since 1992. In the past year the County raised $133,454 to tow away 3,316 abandoned vehicles—about $40 per car/bus/camper/boat littering the roadsides and public domains. Supervisor Jimmy Smith said the fee has “helped clean up many areas and has been a practical tool literally saving a lot of neighborhoods and disputes.” Unfortunately, extending the fee supporting the abatement of these environmental eyesores requires Humboldt County to place it on the June primary ballot for voter approval– costing somewhere between $15,000 and $40,000. Ouch.

WHETHER OR NOT they appreciate the President and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Ferndale nonetheless scored a cool $8.8 million  low interest loan and grant completing their state-of-the-art wastewater treatment facility without rate increases for 1,500 customers, as Mary Bullwinkel reports. Soon you will only be smelling Cream City’s fresh dairy-air.

PUTTING THE RUMOR TO REST: Vegetarians unite. In-N-Out Burger is not preparing to move into the former Arctic Circle site in Eureka nor does the popular burger chain have any plans of coming to Humboldt County.  But, did we tell you that Walmart is already here? Yes, we did. But let’s leave you smiling on a happy note.

WE LOVE HUMBOLDT. The people and community. More than a unique place, Humboldt occupies a special presence of mind for all of us. We love the pride of ownership and our local products. We apparently love cheese and beer, too.

YES, IT’S BEEN DRY. Abnormally so. 10.29 inches of rain for a season that should be seeing nearly 20 inches this time of year. The rivers are low and this could have dire consequences for young fish. Fire officials say a continuing dry spell could create an early wildfire season. But it’s still early. The good news is that rain is on the way, perhaps as early as Wednesday, January 18. Keep your fingers crossed unless you’ve been enjoying the drought weather and sunny skies lately. Mow your grass and get your gardening done.

ALSO DANGEROUS FOR FISH is the North Coast fishing report, courtesy of the Times-Standard and Kenny Priest for angling aficionados.  Pray for rain.

WE HAVE CRABS Jack Durham tells us the commercial crabbing season opens Sunday.  “At almost exactly 1 second after midnight on Saturday, Cap’n Zach Rotwein will pull up the first pot of crabs. He’ll deliver them to Trinidad Pier Sunday morning and they should be cooked and ready to be sold by 11 a.m.,” Jack says.  They are reportedly “fat and sassy.”  Who knew?  Make it happen, Cap’n.

WATERSHED ADVOCACY GROUP TAPS FRESH FLESH: The Humboldt Beacon reports attorney Scott Greacen is the new Friends of the Eel River Executive Director.

LATEST OCCUPY EUREKA HAPS: Angered over a series of emails supporters say created an “unlawful government conspiracy to vilify and suppress” their demonstration, District Attorney Paul Gallegos says he had no intention of raising alarm about the group but was concerned about public safety. Covered well and fairly in Grant Scott-Goforth’s, article, County E-mails Outrage Occupy Eureka; D.A. Says Tents Posed Safety Risks, it’s an interesting twist of conspiracies depending upon whom you speak to.

RYAN BURNS AND THE JOURNAL report in this week’s piece, The Debt Divide, just how the economic crisis affects regular people compared to big corporations using bankruptcy to weather the storm like… Well, we can’t name names and spoil that surprise for you. You’ll have to see for yourself.

HANK SIMS PREDICTS Eureka’s Crazy Train will be riding off the rails after endorsement by the City Council this Tuesday.  Attorney and rail advocate Bill Barnum insists it’s merely a request investigating alternatives.   Mr. Sims has been following the developments of the proposed 125 mile East-West rail corridor requiring a $250,000 feasibility study and construction price tag of half a billion dollars, though no one really knows how much it will cost or who will pay for it.  Picking up steam, citizens may want to see what the Eureka City Council has in mind this Tuesday, January 17, at 6 p.m. following Councilmember Newman fast tracking the Phantom Train onto the calendar.  If you haven’t been filled in, the Sentinel has the back story here.

REMEMBER FUKUSHIMA? Dr. Josh Strange, writing for the Two Rivers Tribune newspaper, states in his informative article that disaster is still brewing:

“Serious health problems are already on the rise in Japan with numerous sewage plants in Tokyo testing positive for radioactive iodine-131 showing that people are consuming contaminated food and water. In the Fukushima area, a wave of serious health problems continue…

Closer to home, debris from the tsunami have recently been washing up in large clumps in British Columbia months earlier than anticipated… scores of ring seals and walruses have been coming ashore since July with hair loss, bleeding lesions, liver spots, and failing immune systems. Biologists have ruled out viruses and are now having samples tested for nuclear radiation from Fukushima, which is consistent with the symptoms being observed.

What does this mean for us here on the West Coast?” he writes.

You’ll have to read his stellar article to find out the rest of the story. Dr. Strange is a fisheries biologist working for the Yurok tribe. A graduate of Arcata High School, Josh earned his graduate and doctorate degrees from the University of Washington’s School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences before coming home to live and work. From his biography:  “Joshua became passionate about river restoration at the age of 16 when he also trained to become a professional river guide, subsequently guiding some of the most remote and challenging runs in the West. His step-father is a Yurok Tribal elder and Joshua is blessed to have been raised with a diverse cultural perspective. Joshua lives in Hoopa, the largest Tribal reservation in California, where he pursues the dream of sustainable community on a farmstead with his family.”

The Two Rivers Tribune never fails to amaze us with its fine reporting. Dr. Strange’s article is one of the best that we’ve combed through this week. A local boy who’s doing good for his environment and community– his work is certainly deserving a read by the wider audience of Humboldt.

THE WEEKEND CALENDAR:

Events, Happenings, Lectures, Walks, Music and Stuff:

We’re thinking the Pastime Silent Movie Orchestra– The Fortuna Concert Series– presenting a classic Buster Keaton silent film accompanied by a live combo on Saturday, January 14 at 7:20 p.m. at the Monday Club in Fortuna is gonna be a good time for the family.  After all, free popcorn is included!  Under the direction of Franklin Stover, Buster Keaton’s The Cameraman is accompanied by the live combo Pastime Silent Movie Orchestra.  If you think Buster Keaton was great, wait until you get a load of Franklin Stover.   Folks, you’re in for a real one-of-a-kind musical treat.   Franklin might play one of his unusually rare Prussian instruments.  Who knows?  His repertoire is vast.  And why 7:20 p.m.?

There’s all sorts of other things happening this weekend.

Arcata has it going on FRIDAY:  Arts! Arcata, everybody wang chunging to the 80s Dance Party at the Jambalaya, the March Fourth Marching Band at Humboldt Brews, and the movie Friday (a stoner comedy-drama-buddy film, if you didn’t know) at the Arcata Theatre Lounge.  Blue Lake has the Naive Melodies, a tribute cover to the Talking Heads over at the Blue Lake Casino.  If you’re in the mood and around SoHum there’s the Mateel Comedy Cabaret at the Community Center.

SATURDAY has Guitar Shorty singing the blues at the Riverwood Inn and more.

SUNDAY has more than a few pancake, waffles, and breakfast things cooking, Redwood Region Audubon Society sponsoring a field trip through the wildlife and landscape areas of Potawot Health Village early in the morning, the Congressional Candidate’s debate is sparring the Mateel Community Center at 2 p.m. along with a John Lennon life and musical tribute gig at Arcata’s Cafe Veritas in Westwood Center later in the evening.

MONDAY has the City of Arcata’s Bowl of Beans benefit honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and local youth.  Eureka will be hosting its own annual presentation at the Adorni Center.  We think. Here was last year’s Eureka event, mixed in with an proto-Occupy Arcata Plaza gig headed up by Jack Nounnan, courtesy of KGOE’s Tom Sebourn and the Sentinel:

You can also take in a rose pruning workshop or a tea ceremony.  So many choice, so little time.

See the listings below for more details:

Friday, January 13

Saturday, January 14

Sunday, January 15

There’s some good flicks playing out there, too.

Movies, times, trailers, and IMDb reviews are here.

COMING UP:

While it may be a pricey ticket ($47) at the Arkley Center on Thursday, January 19, comedian Gabriel Iglesias is worth every bit if you like laughing your fat bottom off.  If you’ve seen him perform, you know what we mean.  He’s good.  And getting richer.

LIGHTS, CAMERA, FILM, AFRICA AND SALMON:

ACCESS HUMBOLDT is kicking off 2012 with two film presentations. Travel Photography and More— Swaziland, Africa by local photographer, Gary Todoroff, is featured Thursday, January 19, at 6pm, in the Eureka High School Lecture Hall. Mr. Todoroff has a vast background in aerial, commercial, and fine art photography. His lecture documents an abandoned mining town transitioned into a self-supporting community for orphan care in Swaziland, Africa. Along with an inside look at a vibrant community, Gary will describe the techniques he used as the town’s resident photographer. He’ll also be teaching a 2-hour workshop series, beginning Wednesday, January 18, 6 p.m.-8 p.m. for photographers.

Also featured will be an environmental documentary by Thomas Dunklin Friday, January 27 at 7 p.m. Dunklin is a fisheries geo-videologist and producer of documentary videos surrounding salmon, restoration, and salmon culture. His work encompasses underwater views from the Smith and Klamath Rivers, watershed restorations projects, Klamath dam and other amazing underwater wildlife footage. Questions and answers will follow Dunklin’s selected work. Movie trivia, prizes, and a reception will follow at the adjacent Access Humboldt Community Media Center.

Each presentation is $5. All are welcome to attend.  The seats are comfortable, the people and food good, and the price is right for supporting Access Humboldt and independent media. What isn’t there to like?

Favorite Quote(s) of the Week:

You’re never more alive than when you’re almost dead. You recognize what’s valuable. Freshly, as if for the first time, you love what’s best in yourself and in the world, all that might be lost…. You find yourself studying the fine colors on the river, you feel wonder and awe at the setting of the sun, and you are filled with a hard, aching love for how the world could be and always should be, but now is not.

~Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried

We are living in a world today where lemonade is made from artificial flavors and furniture polish is made from real lemons.

~Alfred E. Newman

New Human Resources Department also to be formed at Supervisors’ behest

By Charles Douglas
Humboldt Sentinel

Community Development Services director Kirk Girard’s job will no longer exist come springtime.

In a stunning move which may well rock the decade-long Humboldt County General Plan update process just as it approaches completion, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to adopt a breakup of CDS into two parts, restoring the old Department of Planning and Building which CDS succeeded in 1999, and also creating a Department of Economic and Resource Development, effective Mar. 19.

In what might be the most sweeping single motion made by a Supervisor in recent years, the Third District’s Mark Lovelace and the First District’s Jimmy Smith gave blanket approval to a plan by Phillip Smith-Hanes, the county administrative officer, which also merges the Personnel Department and the CAO Risk Management Team into a new Human Resourced Department. All county offices providing for indigent defense, or the legal services provided for poor people, are also to be merged and the position of Conflict Counsel is to be eliminated upon the retirement of the incumbent.

Smith-Hanes, who gains additional authority to directly oversee the performance evaluations of the new ERD position, the old Conflict Counsel position, the Public Defender and the Child Support Services Director, said the big changes served up weren’t about personalities, but about achieving efficiencies.

“People in the community have said various things over time about the Community Development Services Department, love him, hate him, whatever,” he said. “The reality of the situation is that Community Development Services has been very focused on very specific programs and as a result as they’ve gone through the economic crisis they have hollowed out or have not allocated positions at the middle management level…I think that stretches a person too thinly.”

Girard, who was in the audience for a General Plan Amendment dealt with in short order beforehand, sat silently as a line of public speakers thanked the Board for their move in deconstructing the department he’d spent over a decade building.

“I see what you’re doing here today as a tremendous opportunity. I think it’s an opportunity because you all know how polarized we are about this in Humboldt County…the communication hasn’t been good,” McKinleyville resident and former Supervisor candidate Ben Shepherd said. “I’m not here to assign blame but we all recognize that there’s an issue…there can be a very successful  process, I don’t get the sense that’s where we are with the General Plan Update, so where we are is an opportunity to bring people together so we can develop trust and we can end up with something that all these disparate groups can come together and support.”

Perhaps the most trenchant critic of Girard’s regime was HELP or Humboldt Economic and Land Plan, which launched a number of legal actions against the county over the last several years concerning its Housing Element and other planning matters. Registered lobbyist Kay Backer crowed that HELP had recommended splitting up CDS in 2004, and she also called for the centralization of more power and authority in the office of CAO.

“We believe there’s evidence that there needs to be a more systemic reorganization at this time,” she said.

Jim Furtado of the Northern California Association of Homebuilders was pointed in his demand that the interim DPB director not be a “current employee” of the county, voicing clearly the interests of local developers anxious to show Girard the door. Supervisors were silent on the matter, although Smith-Hanes made it clear that the directors of both new departments would go through the routine hiring process, where the Board meets in closed session, only letting the public know after the fact what their decision is.

Smith, often seen as the swing vote on the Board, was diplomatic — but left little doubt that Supervisors were looking to move on and make a fresh start.

“Ultimately, if you are elected, you go out and meet people…that pulse, that you’re a part of the public and you’re accountable to them, that’s something that as good as your dpeartment heads are, they’re not out there all night every night, so that’s the sense the Board members bring to those meetings and those evaluations,” he said. “It’s the people speaking through their elected representatives and that’s the bottom line.”

The new vacancies will be publicly noticed in the coming weeks, and it’s expected that the Planning Commission will stick to its current schedule and make its final votes on remaining General Plan elements prior to the breakup of CDS. Costs of the organizational reorganization is estimated to be under $40,000 for the remainder of fiscal year 2011-2012.

Girard sat down with the author for an episode of Sentinel Interviews in late 2011, where he defended his record in balancing public and private interests during his tenure at CDS.

Cream City’s Council weighs in with their concerns over use of roads

By Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

Residents and ranchers alike packed the Ferndale City Hall to voice their increasing disapproval of the Shell Wind Bear River Wind Turbine Project presented by staff from HSU’s Schatz Energy Lab and Shell’s WindEnergy, Inc.

The fourth such meeting held on the controversial project, Shell WindEnergy had asked the Ferndale City Council not to make any decisions at Thursday’s council meeting. Ferndale City staff, however, had previously recommended the council direct Humboldt County officials to ‘re-scope’ the project, asking for updated information from the various agencies involved due to changes made since January’s 2010 original scoping document.

Ferndale Mayor Jeff Farley asked the public to hold back any applause and address questions and issues directly to the council. After the 4-hour meeting concluded, the Ferndale City Council voted unanimously sending two ‘letters of concern’ to the County: asking County officials to reevaluate the project’s scope, and opposing the transport of turbine equipment through Ferndale’s streets.

The council, Farley said, wants the County to take another look at the project’s impact on noise, traffic, air quality, and property values, and to obtain a more detailed evaluation of the costs of decommissioning the wind farm. Farley claims Ferndale hasn’t received answers to these questions, especially how the city will be adversely affected by the large concrete, dump, and water trucks, cranes and other vehicles transporting heavy equipment through the streets of Ferndale to the project’s site on Bear Ridge, 6 miles south of town. Shell representatives visiting the council earlier provided updated information including the potential option of using helicopters to bring in components.

The Ferndale City Council ultimately decided not to oppose the wind turbine project altogether until it reviews the information contained in the environmental impact report to be released this spring.

The Times-Standard quoted Mayor Farley summing up the city councils’ recommendation this way: “We said, ‘no, we’re not going to do that’ because the EIR isn’t out yet and we want more information. At this point, we’re not getting the answers as fast as we want. This isn’t their first rodeo for wind turbines.”

Ferndale City Manager Jay Parrish said most of the council’s concerns involve the impact of transportation, but the city is open to hearing about alternatives.  “I think the council in general approves of alternative energy systems, but when it’s in your backyard, you need to look at it real close,” Parrish said.

Shell WindEnergy Response

Pana Ratana, Business Development Advisor for Shell WindEnergy, said that “the company understands the community’s concerns and the council’s wishes to have more information, (but) it’s simply too early for the council to take a position opposing any of the project’s components,” according to the Times-Standard.

“We are disappointed that the city of Ferndale has decided to take any position on the transportation plan at this time. The city council is making a premature decision based largely on incomplete information. We will continue with our plans to host an open house in the spring to provide the latest information and updates,” Ratana said.

The Proposed Project, Plans and Merits

Shell WindEnergy’s project proposes installing approximately 25 wind turbines on private property along Bear River Ridge above Ferndale and Rio Dell, producing 50-75 megawatts of generation capacity– enough renewable electricity to power over 18,000 homes. The project’s boosters claim the wind farm will bring in millions of investment dollars from Shell Wind over the next 20 years, plus 120 full time employees during construction and six to 12 full time employees to maintain the wind farm.

The project’s equipment would be barged into Humboldt Bay, unloaded at a yet-to-be determined offloading site, and trucked down Highway 101. According to the North Coast Journal article by Keith Easthouse, Shell has analyzed five different routes: three going through or near Ferndale, and two going out of Rio Dell. All have their inherent problems. Helicoptering of components to the site is a possible option—but only in part.

It’s expected that large trucks would make 850 trips to deliver components and another 2,500 trucks would be needed for construction. 3 million gallons of water would be needed. Construction vehicles would make 60 round trips daily through Ferndale, as proposed. Five miles of new road would be built for use during construction, along with three weather towers, a power-collection system, a substation and 12 miles of new power lines. The turbine blades are 150 feet long, the towers rising nearly 260 feet tall, and each of the 3 tower pieces, shipped separately, run 85 feet in length. The housing generators at the top of the towers, called nacelles, weigh 40 tons apiece—and would be undeliverable by helicopter due to their immense weight.

Humboldt County Senior Planner John Miller said the County wants Shell to do a more detailed analysis of how the turbine components will be transported to the ridge before completing the draft environmental impact report. “The trucks are fairly long, so they need to narrow down what roads need to be improved,” he said, adding that Pacific Gas and Electric is also involved working on how power will get to the regional grid.

Blight, Environment, and Energy Concerns

Some critics of the project, including residents of Ferndale, believe the project will do nothing to enhance energy availability for Ferndale citizens– and that the presence of windmills will blight the landscape.

Then there are the environmental concerns. According to the Northcoast Environmental Center article by Sarah O’Leary, while the wind turbine generators would produce electrical power with less carbon impact on the atmosphere than fossil fuels, the blades could harm imperiled species, including bats, migrating birds, spotted owls and commuting marbled murrelets.

Jim Zoellick

Just how much renewable energy will be generated by this project and where will it be delivered is another matter to be considered.  Jim Zoellick of HSU’s Schatz Energy Center said that the answer is far more complicated than turbines simply generating power for 18,000 homes.  “The power generated locally would go into the local grid,” Zoellick said, adding that a complicated accounting process allows different entities to actually receive the credit for the renewable energy.

Zoellick gave the example of the new Blue Lake Biomass Plant, which sells its power to San Diego Gas & Electric. The power is not actually shipped to San Diego, he explained, but that company receives credit to help it meet state requirements for renewable energy generation. Zoellick said that if energy generated by renewable sources – such as wind projects, biomass and even wave energy – should exceed Humboldt County’s needs then the first plant to have output turned down would be PG&E. He noted that climate change is the biggest environmental threat of all. “More than anything, we need energy efficiency and conservation. There are no easy answers and no choices that have no impacts,” Zoellick said.

Shell WindEnergy will finish studying the transportation issues raised by the Ferndale city council and determine whether to proceed with the Bear River Turbine Project—with or without Ferndale’s approval– in the last half of 2012. The project, if given the green light and not hitting further roadblocks, could possibly be finished by 2014 depending how cooperative Ferndale’s residents and city council are in warming up to Shell’s proposed plans of allowing transportation through their town.

They admit, however, that the wind project’s approval ultimately lies within the County’s larger sphere of influence and jurisdiction– and not necessarily the little Victorian village itself.

“We’ve been doing fine since 1854 without Shell,” Ferndale Councilman Ken Mierzwa noted during Thursday’s city council session, voicing his disapproval.

(The Times-Standard, Humboldt Beacon, Ferndale Enterprise, Northcoast Environmental Center, the North Coast Journal, National Wind Watch, Humboldt County Community Services Department and the Humboldt Herald contributed to this report)

*********

Comments from around the local web:

“The wind technology can’t pay for itself. The turbines are subsidized by the government green scam dollars. A natural ridge line will be forever polluted by these turbines. Bird migration will be hindered too. All for a few mags of power. It is not worth the effort. But some workers will have a job and the manufacturer will reap millions in transferred wealth.”

“The wind farm will benefit its landlords. That’s about it. The county has a brand-new gas fueled plant at King Salmon – and its own supply of gas.”

“While the new power plant supplies much of electrical needs the county has (almost) NO redundancy for our electricity and gas demands. The “all our eggs in one basket” approach to energy use seems both foolish and shortsighted. We live in far too volatile and remote an area to get away with that strategy for long.”

“Aren’t these the same people who shout ‘Drill Baby Drill’ when it comes to oil?”

“Everyone that knows anything about birds knows that wind turbines kill thousands of birds. It takes an especially heavy toll on raptors.”

“Just like Walmart: if the people don’t want it, it shouldn’t be forced on them.”

“I prefer wind turbines on a ridge to oil derricks offshore. The turbines of today don’t pose the same danger to birds as the older ones did and certainly not the level of threat posed by oil spills.”

“So where will the First District Supervisor candidates (Annette De Modena and Rex Bohn) fall on this issue? This could become a very interesting discussion.”

“Labeling industrial wind-driven Electricity Generation Installations as farms is a bit misleading. Wind isn’t “farmed”.  Corn is farmed. Wind is harnessed and electricity is generated. These installations are power plants with substations. 1-2% of electricity is created from foreign oil (Search it). And to date, coal plants remain online in order to support wind-driven plants coming online with fluctuating supply (search it).”

“The Ferndale City Council Decision was MONUMENTAL. They actually listened to the people who elected them: the people who will be impacted by this project. Thousands and thousands of vehicle trips, (10,000 plus) during the middle of the summer and tourist season traversing the streets of Ferndale. Streets that have clay infrastructure pipes. And streets that certainly were not built to handle 340,000 lb nacelles being transported upon 13 axle, 72 tire, articulated vehicles that require a 40′ clear span to transport certain parts of this project. There is absolutely no benefit to the town of Ferndale except for the bribes Shell WindEnergy offers under the name of a community investment program. But for the general population there are lots of reasons why the citizens of Ferndale overwhelmingly asked its council to say NO TRANSPORTATION thru Ferndale.”

Additional Information about the Bear River Wind Turbine project can be found here:

The Schatz Energy Research Center Turbine Project 3-D Visualization Tool and Tour
The Times-Standard
The National Wind Watch website of archived articles
The Northcoast Environmental Center
The North Coast Journal
The Humboldt Herald
The County of Humboldt Community Services Department website and related links
The BRW Project proposal, Humboldt County Planning Department pdf, 2009
The US Department of Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Report of Proposed EIR and EIS

Hank Sims and the Lost Coast Outpost have an interesting take– and reader’s comments– in their September 21 column, Shell Wind Project: Ferndale Has Plenty of Hot Air

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) striking photograph of Wind Turbines Churning the Air Over the North Sea (credit  and thanks to Ponder z)

Lance Henry of Fortuna allegedly became violently resistant to cops

By Charles Douglas
Humboldt Sentinel

It’s a new year, but the same old tensions persist between the Eureka Police Department and some elements within Occupy Eureka.

Five arrests just today have reignited what law enforcement and local elected officials see as a public safety hazard at the county seat; Occupy Eureka ringleaders, on the other hand, see this as a continuing campaign to silence their protest, and have called a Monday press conference to expose an “unlawful government conspiracy.”

At about 1:42 a.m. this morning, an EPD patrolman traveling eastbound on Fifth Street was passing the Humboldt County Courthouse when he noticed the American flag and California Republic flag being lowered on the flagpole located at the front lawn near the corner of Fifth and I Street. The flagpole is also behind the chain link fence and “No Trespassing” signs erected by the County over a month ago to keep the Occupy Eureka protestors from re-establishing their encampment — an unpermitted campsite which county staff alleges to have done significant damage to the front lawn which requires restoration.

When the cop parked his patrol car and walked up to the six-foot fence to investigate, he saw on the other side a suspect, later identified as 21-year-old Lance Henry of Fortuna, standing at the base of the flagpole holding both flags, still attached to the line on the flagpole. According to a press statement by sergeant Adam Laird, the officer asked Henry what he was doing, and was told that he was putting up his own flag. After the unnamed public servant told Henry to put the flags back up, Henry refused and allegedly said “you think you can control me.”

Lance Henry

After that, according to the EPD narrative, Henry removed the flags from the line and put them on the ground, and then Henry affixed a homemade cardboard sign to the line while stepping on the American flag. As other EPD personnel arrived on scene, two of them entered the fenced off area and walked towards Henry’s location — which didn’t come unexpectedly, as several individuals from the area of the Occupy Eureka protest site began yelling warnings to Henry that the cops were approaching.

Upon contacting Henry and attempting to arrest him for trespassing, the suspect allegedly became violently resistant towards the cops, and after a short struggle in which a third EPD officer became involved, they were able to take Henry into custody. He was booked on charges of trespassing and resisting arrest using violence, and due to his violent resistance in accordance with EPD policy, Henry was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital for medical clearance before being incarcerated in county jail.

Accounts differ between the EPD and members of Occupy Eureka on what Henry’s connection was to their protest; the proprietor of Occupy Eureka’s Facebook page (who refuses to be identified) calls the suspect “a man that no one present seemed to recognize” and that his sign read “Yaweh,” a term with no apparent connection to the Occupy Wall Street movement. Occupy Eureka participate Sarah Jones-Jurado later alleged on Facebook that “someone was tazed for flying a peace flag.”

Law enforcement’s version of events claim that Henry, when interviewed after his arrest, said he was “moved” to join Occupy Eureka, and that these protestors provided him with cardboard and a marker to make his sign upon his arrival. Henry also allegedly claimed, when asked why he violently resisted arrest, that law enforcement didn’t have “any authority” over him.

All these events transpired shortly after four arrests took place for illegal camping at the Occupy Eureka protest site. EPD had visited the county courthouse at 12:46 a.m. on Friday to respond to numerous complaints of camping on county property, and the cops say they found nine subjects camping underneath the courthouse steps. According to Laird, several of the subjects stated that they were misled by undisclosed persons associated with Occupy Eureka that it was lawful to camp at the courthouse. All of these individuals were issued citations for unlawfully camping in public, and were advised that they were subject to arrest if they attempted to lodge themselves on the courthouse property.

EPD followed through on the threat, and at 12:53 a.m. on Saturday morning, law enforcement converged on the courthouse to arrest four campers who allegedly were “unlawfully lodging” at the courthouse. Laird identified the arrested as 23-year-old Daniel Mattheis of Arcata, 47-year-old James Turner of Eureka, 25-year-old Leroy Abernathy of Bremerton, Washington and 39-year-old Loyd Smith of La Crescenta.

Occupy Eureka claims the four were arrested for “being in sleeping bags” and that EPD told one occupier that they were going to start arresting people again because the camping tickets “aren’t working.”

Kim "Verbena Lea" Starr

Even though it was denied in the past that Kim Starr (who goes by the pen name ‘Verbena Lea’) was a spokesperson for Occupy Eureka, a press conference has been set for Monday at 1 p.m. where Starr will speak on behalf of Occupy Eureka. She claims in a statement posted on Facebook that she will confront a “Secret & Outrageous Premise for Police Actions Against Non-Violent Protesters” through documents she claims to have discovered.

Starr/Verbena has at various times accused virtually every local law enforcement agency, the county, the cities of Arcata and Eureka, most local media outlets (including the Sentinel) and even the Redwood Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union of engaging in various conspiracies against her and her various associated groups. In a possibly related devel0pment, Occupy Eureka also claims that several of their posts on Facebook have mysteriously vanished.

Daniel Mattheis

James Turner

Leroy Abernathy

Loyd Smith

Of all people, Newt Gingrich exposes infotainment-orientation of mainstream media

Guest Column
By Mitch Trachtenberg

It’s finally happened.  An American politician has finally said something so laughable that a Sabbath gasbag from the mainstream media, well, laughed at him.

No, it wasn’t the charge that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.  Not Ron Paul’s bigoted newsletters, or Newt Gingrich’s family-values-except-for-me platform, or Mitt Romney’s attacks on what is essentially his own health care program.

No.  The media laughed because Newt Gingrich, having previously said that Mitt Romney had lied, agreed that Mitt Romney was a liar.  It was the shock of someone going off-script.

Here’s Newt Gingrich quoted on ABC yesterday: “[Romney] set the tone of the campaign … by going after me negatively and dishonestly.”

Now that’s the proper way for a candidate to call a fellow candidate a liar.  But CBS “reporter” Norah O’Donnell knew the script for American presidential campaign “interviews.”  O’Donnell knew that she was to ask whether Gingrich would call Romney a liar, and that Gingrich would not answer, instead pointing out some of Romney’s lies.  Following the script, O’Donnell gamely asked the following ‘question:’ “You said of Mitt Romney, ‘somebody who will lie to you to be President will lie to you when they are President.  I have to ask you, are you calling Mitt Romney a liar?”

Before we go back to the conversation, let’s pause and ponder this.  Someone who goes after a competitor for running ads that are “negative” and “dishonest” is saying they are lying.  Politicians are always suggesting that their competitors’ negative ads are lying.  I really can’t recall a campaign in which politicians haven’t generally said things like “I think that’s disingenuous” or “that’s just not true.”  True, the GOP has ramped it up, what with their people shouting “You lie!” (boy) at shindigs like the State of the Union.

I’d go so far as to suggest, based just on my conversations with people here in California, that some people think many politicians lie pretty often, about a wide variety of things.  Perhaps even you have suspected that some politician somewhere might be a liar.  I confess the thought has crossed my mind.

So, back to CBS. Newt Gingrich had just suggested that Mitt Romney was lying about his negative ads.  The CBS reporter read him his statement saying as much, and asked if he were calling Mitt Romney a liar.  Now, presumably, O’Donnell understood English enough to realize that Newt Gingrich had, in fact, called Mitt Romney a liar.  But, being a well-trained “reporter”, er, spokesmodel, she was aware that according to the script Gingrich would turn the conversation back to Romney’s lies, talking about his campaign ads.

Gingrich tossed away the script.  Asked, “Are you calling Mitt Romney a liar?” Gingrich said something that, for a moment, was the pure, simple, unvarnished truth.  He said “Yes.”

Back on the reporters’ side of the split-screen, we observe a moment of shocked silence.  O’Donnell says, in a tone of disbelief, “You’re calling Mitt Romney a liar?”  Then, in a petulant whine, “why are you calling him a liar?”

Gingrich responds with about a minute of, as far as I can tell, straightforward enough facts establishing that Romney, like perhaps every politician ever to be born, has said untruthful things; that is, that he’s a liar.  CBS has a gasbag on hand for those who want more gravitas than O’Donnell can deliver, and Bob Schieffer rises from his slumber to ask if Gingrich could support Romney if Romney won the nomination.  When Gingrich says, “yes,” Schieffer gets a tiny smile on his face.  That grows to shaking-head-laughter as Schieffer points out that Gingrich is saying he’d vote for a liar before he’d vote for Obama.

Gingrich, for all I can’t stand him, was speaking truth to power.  To his credit, here are his words: “Which part of what I said to you is false?  Why is it that if I’m candid in person and I wanted to be honest in person, that’s shocking?  If his PAC buys millions of dollars of attack ads to say things that are false that’s somehow part of the way Washington plays the game?  Isn’t that exactly what’s sick about this country right now?  Isn’t that what the American people are tired of?”

(Yes, Mr. Gingrich.  We’d like the press to call liars on their lies.  That would be a treat.)

More shocked petulance from O’Donnell.  This man is staying off script!  You can see the “reporters” listening to their earpieces.  Wow!  An exclusive!  Big news!

Gingrich calls Schieffer a “professional reporter,” tells Schieffer he can check for himself, and outlines the various ways in which Romney has been lying.  So Schieffer agrees, right?  No?  Schieffer disagrees?  No, not that either.  Give it a moment’s thought, and you can guess what’s on the script.  That’s right, the segment’s time is just about up.  ”Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker,” Schieffer starts.  But he can’t resist slyly thanking Gingrich for coming on and (changed tone) “answering the questions.”

And then it’s time for some ads, to tell us how much better our lives are because of the efforts of one of CBS’ corporate sponsors.

I could never vote for Gingrich, and I realize that all he’s doing is twisting a knife into a fellow Republican by accusing him of nothing more than what Gingrich and just about every other politician alive is guilty of.  But, for just a minute or so, I could hear truth on network television.  No wonder the spokesmodel was offended.  No wonder Schieffer was amused.

The United States supposedly cherishes freedom of the press.  Indeed,in some hypothetical country, a free press is capable of rooting out corruption and exposing lies from the powerful.  But in our country in recent years, the professional press is no less captured by the corporations than the government.  We are fed scripted infotainment as news.

No, I’m not some conspiracy theorist who thinks people like O’Donnell and Schieffer are told what to say.  But I am able to see that the mainstream media no longer shows any inclination to really explore policy alternatives, examine things that have worked or failed in other countries, look at serious approaches to problems.  The media is interested in the horse race, and in political strategy.  The campaign, for the media, is inexpensive entertainment that will bring in an audience.  The last thing anyone in the professional press wants to do is lose access to a candidate by actually challenging them.

It’s rare these days for things to go off script.  When they do, as with the Gingrich interview, it’s an opportunity to see exactly how worthless the mainstream media has become.  Imagine, for example, if Schieffer had chosen to acknowledge the truth of what Gingrich was saying, and asked Gingrich if he’d ever lied himself, perhaps in a campaign.  A reporter interested in such things would surely have a book-sized list of Gingrich’s lies to fall back upon.  Imagine if O’Donnell had asked Gingrich whether lying was necessary in today’s campaigns.  Gingrich was already off-script, bent more on a mission of destruction than on any campaign.  Who knows what he might have said?  Maybe the honesty would have continued.

Mitch Trachtenberg os a software developer and freelance writer living in the village of Trinidad in Humboldt County. He can be reached at mitchtrachtenberg.com.

Local contractors fill City Hall to condemn ‘anti-competitive’ proposal

By Charles Douglas
Humboldt Sentinel

Local union rep Sid Berg may have bitten off more than he could chew in trying to push a re-write of Arcata city policy to favor apprenticeship training run primarily by organized labor.

An overflow crowd in Council Chambers tonight held back little in expressing their anger at the potential loss of city public works contracts for local building firms, most of whom would not qualify under the draft regulations.

“This proposal will tip the scales heavily in favor of union contractors,” Humboldt Builders Exchange spokesperson Rob McBeth said. “It’s very discriminatory to small sole proprietor businesses…in this time of tight budgets and scarce resources, why would you want to reduce competition?”

A staff report by city manager Randy Mendosa essentially concurred with this analysis, stating that the proposed Project Labor Agreement would take local firms out of the process to bid on City construction contracts, opening the door to out-of-area companies large enough to maintain a cadre of union-approved apprentices.

Berg, the business representative for Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 290, took issue right off the bat with the tone of Mendosa’s report, claiming it wasn’t a union issue, but one of job training. He claimed to have taken 90% of the proposal from boilerplate language available on the California Division of Apprenticeship Standards’ website.

“The state’s broke, they don’t have the money for enforcement, that’s why very few contractors are using apprentices,” Berg said. “That’s why we’re bringing this to the city, for local enforcement.”

Under the proposal, 60% of the workforce on any City building contract would have to be graduates from a state certified apprenticeship program. Thing is, for a program to be state certified, it goes through a cumbersome process that critics claim to be discriminatory against non-union shops. That, and the prospect of Arcata adding another layer of bureaucratic oversight over contractors by burdening with new reporting requirements, effectively killed the idea.

“It’s not the city’s responsibility to get that stuff, it’s the responsibility of the contractor to notify the apprenticeship programs that they need people for their jobs,” city purchasing agent Harold Miller said. “We don’t want to get in between the contractor and the apprenticeship program.”

Heavy hitters from Mercer-Fraser, Wendt Construction, Danco Builders, Kernan Construction, and more turned out to hammer the same pro-local, anti-paperwork message home; they were even joined by Sue Long from the Fortuna City Council.

Les Charter of Arcata-based O & M Industries, which had the greatest turnout of the evening, summed up the feelings of many: “One of the things that makes Humboldt County unique is coming up with a small contractor, you learn how to do everything…if you mandate that workers have to go through a union-accredited or state-accredited union program, they can’t do more than one thing…I’m not anti-union but I’m pro-choice.”

Councilmember Shane Brinton, possibly due to participating via teleconference from a vacation in his girlfriend’s home state of New Mexico, was the only one apparently deaf to the public outcry, insisting that the Council move forward on the scheme.

He made no fewer than five motions, albeit as a disembodied voice through a black speaker box in front of his normal seat at the Council dais, attempting to direct a rehearing of Berg’s original proposal after some retooling. Brinton’s first motion, to form a committee with Berg, city staff and local builders to revise the policy language, was seconded by Mayor Michael Winkler, but failed 2-2, with Councilmembers Susan Ornelas and Alex Stillman opposed and Councilmember Mark Wheetley absent.

Brinton’s next few motions, all variations on the original, all failed for lack of a second, and the Council eventually moved forward 4-0 on a “feel good” statement which supported the training of apprentices to state and federal standards, while ditching Berg’s entire plan.

Dr. Donald Baird of Fortuna consulted with county jail, Redwood Memorial Hospital

Staff Report
Humboldt Sentinel

Humboldt County has a new top medical mind on the payroll.

Dr. Donald I. Baird, who’s worked for 35 years as senior physician with Humboldt Medical Group out of Fortuna and Ferndale, will take up the duties of County Health Officer next week, although he’ll keep his private practice. Although appointed by the Board of Supervisors, Baird will operate within the administrative system of the county Department of Health and Human Services.

“The health officer role is a critical one for DHHS and the community as it provides medical oversight for our services as well as secures and maintains community support for public health programs locally and at the state level,” DHHS Director Phil Crandall stated in a release. “Dr. Baird’s experience with direct care as well as his tenure in our community will serve to maintain our effective working relationships with the medical community and meeting the difficult but exciting changes ahead.”

Baird’s extensive resume includes consulting with the county jail, juvenile hall and Redwood Memorial Hospital; he’s also worked with the California Forensic Medical Group and served as medical director of the Fortuna Rehabilitation and Wellness Center, a senior living facility. Baird is certified by the state as a psychiatric quality assurance consultant.

“Dr. Donald Baird has distinguished himself with his years of experience, his familiarity with public health issues and his standing in the medical community,” Supervisor Virginia Bass stated. “Our Board looks forward to working with Dr. Baird to keep Humboldt County in the forefront of efforts to proactively address public health issues through prevention, planning and education.

Baird, a native of Portland, Maine, is a graduate of Dartmouth University and The Medical College of Virginia, located on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University. He served his medical residency at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis, where he worked in family practice and community health; he also received a master’s degree there in health care education.

Councilmember Marian Brady pulls unexplained disappearing act from votes

By Charles Douglas
Humboldt Sentinel

New amendments introduced to building regulations tonight will make it easier to construct, restore and rent out carriage houses and other ancillary structures as secondary dwellings, otherwise known as ‘mother-in-law’ units.

With next to zero public comment and the stamps of approval from the Historic and Design Review Commission and the Planning Commission already given late last year, the Eureka City Council wasted little time in unanimously adopting the three sequentially numbered bills.

Unanimously, that is, with 4-0 votes; First Ward Councilmember Marian Brady slipped out at the start of the first public hearing, saying she was “recusing herself” with absolutely no further explanation.

Even though it’s entirely possible that Brady, or Brady’s immediate family, has a personal investment in a historic structure and/or a property with a secondary dwelling unit, public interest legal experts tell the Sentinel that this is insufficient to create a specific personal benefit via the passage of an ordinance with city-wide implications in terms of zoning and building standards. There’s also no justification under state law for such a recusal — and any recusal due to a conflict of interest must be specifically disclosed, according to Government Code Section 18702.5:

(b) Content & Timing of Identification: The public official shall, following the announcement of the agenda item to be discussed or voted upon but before either the discussion or vote commences, do all of the following:

(1) The public official shall publicly identify:

(A) Each type of economic interest held by the public official which is involved in the decision and gives rise to the conflict of interest (i.e. investment, business position, interest in real property, personal financial effect, or the receipt or promise of income or gifts), and

(B) The following details identifying the economic interest(s):
(i) if an investment, the name of the business entity in which each investment is held;
(ii) if a business position, a general description of the business activity in which the business entity is engaged as well as the name of the business entity;
(iii) if real property, the address or another indication of the location of the property, unless the property is the public official’s principal or personal residence, in which case, identification that the property is a residence;
(iv) if income or gifts, then identification of the source; and
(v) if personal financial effect, then identification of the expense, liability, asset or income affected.

(2) Form of Identification: If the governmental decision is to be made during an open session of a public meeting, the public identification shall be made orally and shall be made part of the official public record.

The specter of a false recusal isn’t new to Humboldt County politics.

Arcata’s deposed ex-Councilmember Harmony Groves, since relocated to Marin County, staged a false recusal in her first year of office in 2005 when the subject of civilian review over the Arcata Police Department came up on a City Council agenda. Even though there was no specific ordinance being introduced and the item only carried the prospect of providing direction to the City Attorney on the development of such a law, Groves declared that she couldn’t be in the room to discuss such a proposal because she worked with one of the community members who was present to provide testimony — a claim which has no basis in the aforementioned law.

Unlike tonight’s votes in Eureka, however, Groves’ absence left the mid-2000s Arcata Council deadlocked 2-2 on the subject of police review, and they never took up the issue again. These housing ordinances provided a rare show of unity between remaining Councilmembers, as it represented their first step as a body in implementing their newly revised Strategic Visioning document for Eureka’s future.

“One small unit at a time is a nice way to add affordable housing, it doesn’t overwhelm our infrastructure,” Second Ward Councilmember Linda Atkins said, referring to the ability of owners to rent out mother-in-law units without the requirement that they live on the same property.

Eureka’s ordinances, presuming they are formally adopted in two weeks after their introduction tonight, greatly increase the number of areas in which secondary units are allowed without special permits; these include Multi-Family, Office Residential, Hospital Medical and Commercial zones. In the last three years, 11 applications for secondary units have been received — however, eight of these were from property owners caught in a code violation who were trying to legalize existing uses.

Wake planned for redevelopment

In his close-of-meeting report, city manager Dave Tyson said the Council may need to hold a special meeting later this month to have the City take up the mantle of successor to the Eureka Redevelopment Agency; all redevelopment agencies in California were eliminated by the State Legislature and Governor Jerry Brown last year, and the state Supreme Court put the final nail in the coffin last week in a ruling which also threw out an attempted work-around allowing cities and counties to fund the continuation of their agencies.

“The [California] Supreme Court didn’t just kill redevelopment, they ruled to trigger an entire funeral procession on redevelopment as we know it,” Tyson said. “Hopefully we’ll salvage something.”

Mayor Frank Jager noted that several employees in City Hall were paid for by the redevelopment agency, and asked for an update on what those positions were and how the Council might compensate for the loss of funding. Tyson replied that the General Fund could see significant impacts, as the salaries of most top city officials were partially paid through redevelopment.

If the City of Eureka took over the assets of the redevelopment agency, an oversight committee consisting of a Councilmember, two Humboldt County Supervisors, a member of the county Board of Education and a director from the largest special district in the county would form. This oversight committee would monitor the actions of the Council in regards to former agency property — and would even have veto power over these actions.

In addition

The fuzzy feelings about the Strategic Visioning plans moving forward only lasted until open public comment; Henderson Center resident Neal Latt distributed a letter from the Coastal Commission which slammed the city’s plan to extend Waterfront Drive through the PALCO Marsh as triply non-compliant with the Coastal Act.

“Any further monies spent on this would best be spent elsewhere,” Latt said. “It’s irrational and irresponsible.”

The evening’s public safety report from fire chief Ken Woods came with welcome news of a $200,002 grant awarded to install fire sprinklers and alarms in two fire houses and the Eureka Fire Department headquarters. Woods, who heads a joint Humboldt Bay Fire effort which includes Humboldt Fire District No. 1, is looking to upgrade EFD personnel training to have paramedics, instead of emergency medical technicians, on the crews of all fire engines — as is the standard already at HFD.

When Woods mentioned the formation of a committee to look at the replacement of a 35-year-old ladder truck with a new vehicle, Brady suggested he pick up surplus fire equipment to save money. The fire chief begged to differ.

“They have a lot more miles, the pumps have a lot more usage on them, you’re really buying something that has a potential for problems in a lot of areas,” Woods said.

The Council also reshuffled their appointments and alternate positions on various local joint powers authorities. Atkins’ position on the newly controversial Humboldt Waste Management Authority has been handed to Fifth Ward Councilmember Lance Madsen, who said he’d like to take on additional duties as he recovers his health after an extended hospitalization last year.

Sacramento makes things that much more complicated

By Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

Out with the old– and in with the new.  California Governor Brown signed 760 bills with the majority of laws taking effect on or before January 1st, 2012.  Happy New Year, Humboldt.

Say goodbye to shark fin soup, openly carrying weapons, and buying alcohol through self serve checkout stands.  Minors are protected from expired baby food, strapped into car booster seats until the age of 8 (or at 4 feet, 9 inches tall), and banned from tanning beds until the age of 18.

Insurance providers must include coverage for autism, cities and municipalities cannot ban circumcision, and human trafficking isn’t as easy as it used to be.

Here are some of the A-Z legislative highlights compiled by the Los Angeles Times:

Athlete safety: requires school districts to develop a process for identifying cases in which students suffer concussions in sports mishaps and require a parent to give written permission for the athlete to return to the lineup.

Audits: gives the state auditor broad new powers to investigate misuse of taxpayer funds by cities and counties, in response to the financial scandal in the city of Bell.

Autism:  requires health insurers to include coverage for autism.

Baby food: bans stores from selling expired infant food and formula.

Bail: requires that people extradited to California to face criminal charges face $100,000 in bail in addition to any bail already issued for the underlying offense.

Ballot measures: requires all ballot initiatives and referenda to be decided in November general elections, which typically have higher turnout — and more liberal voters casting ballots — than do June primaries. Excludes measures placed on the ballot by the Legislature.

Beer: bars the importation, production and sale of beer to which caffeine has been directly added as a separate ingredient, in response to incidents in which young people have been hospitalized with severe intoxication after drinking the beverages.

Bullet train: provides $4 million for planning work on a section of a high-speed rail system proposed between Los Angeles and San Diego.

Child actors: streamlines the process for obtaining state permission for minors to work in the entertainment industry by allowing parents to get temporary permits online rather than through the mail.

Clemency: requires governors to give prosecutors a chance to weigh in at least 10 days before acting on requests for commutation of prison terms. The law was proposed after former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger acted on his last day in office to reduce a prison sentence for the son of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez.

Cyber-bullying: allows schools to suspend students for bullying classmates on social networking sites such as Facebook.

Development projects: grants large construction projects chosen by the governor faster judicial reviews of environmental challenges.

Dream Act: The portion of the California Dream Act taking effect this year makes illegal immigrants accepted at California public universities and community colleges eligible for privately funded scholarships administered by the schools.

Drugs: outlaws the supplying of a drug or compound containing dextromethorphan to a person younger than 18 without a prescription.

Drunk drivers: authorizes courts to revoke, for up to a decade, the driver’s license of any person convicted of three or more DUIs in a 10-year period. Another law bars police agencies that set up drunk-driving checkpoints from impounding cars from sober but unlicensed drivers if there is a legal driver available to take the wheel.

Elder abuse: allows wage garnishments against anyone convicted of elder abuse or financial abuse of a dependent adult.

Farmworkers: requires that, if the Agricultural Labor Relations Board refuses to certify an election because of employer misconduct, the affected labor organization shall be certified as the exclusive bargaining representative.

Food stamps: eliminates the requirement that food stamp recipients be fingerprinted to prevent fraud. Another law calls for state agencies to promote more enrollment in the federal food stamp program.

Foster care: allows foster care for eligible youths to extend beyond age 18, up to age 21, when the Legislature provides the money. Another measure requires California State University campuses and community colleges to give foster youths priority to enroll in classes.

Gas pipelines: mandates automatic shut-off valves and improved maintenance in vulnerable sections of pipelines, in response to the deadly explosion in San Bruno in 2010.

Human trafficking: requires large retailers and manufacturers to publicly report what steps they take to make sure those providing their supplies and products are not engaging in slavery and human trafficking.

Infused drinks: allows bars to infuse alcohol with fruits and vegetables for use in cocktails.

Insurance: prohibits doctors, when treating workers’ compensation patients, from prescribing drugs in which they have a financial interest.

Iran:  mandates that the state’s pension boards divest their funds from companies that are part of the defense or nuclear industries in Iran.

Job applicants: bars employers from using credit reports in deciding whether to hire someone.

Labor: prohibits local officials from banning union labor agreements for publicly funded construction projects.

Lap-Bands: requires periodic inspections of outpatient surgery centers that perform Lap-Band operations and other procedures. The law is a response to the 2007 death of singer Kanye West’s mother after liposuction and breast augmentation surgery at a Westside clinic.

Libraries: restricts the privatization of public libraries by requiring that they continue to pay government-scale wages.

Lying politicians: forces elected officials to forfeit office if convicted of falsely claiming they have been awarded military decorations.

Marijuana: gives cities and counties clearer authority to regulate the location and operation of medical marijuana dispensaries. Another law creates new penalties for the possession of synthetic cannabis products, which have been sold in convenience stores and tobacco shops.

Maternity leave: requires employers to maintain and pay for health coverage while women are on maternity leave.

Medical consent: gives children 12 and older the authority to get medical care for the prevention of sexually transmitted disease, including the HPV vaccine, without parental consent.

Missing persons: requires law enforcement agencies to submit a missing persons report to the state attorney general when the person being sought is 21 or younger, a change from the current cutoff age of 16.

Needles: empowers cities and counties to allow pharmacists to furnish a customer with up to 30 hypodermic needles and syringes without a prescription. Another law permits the state Department of Public Health to allow select groups to provide hypodermic needles and syringe exchange services in any area where it determines that conditions exist for the rapid spread of HIV.

Presidential primary: moves the state’s presidential primary election from February to June and consolidates it with the statewide primary election to save $100 million.

Prison phones: makes it a crime for cell phones to be smuggled into state prisons and allows increased time behind bars for inmates caught with them.

Prostitution: imposes a special court fine of $25,000 on defendants convicted of prostitution involving a minor.

Protests: makes it a misdemeanor to create a disturbance on or next to an elementary or middle school campus where the action threatens the physical safety of students.

Puppies: outlaws the selling of live animals on any street, sidewalk, parking lot or other public right-of-way.

Raves: requires any state agency that plans an event with more than 10,000 people on state property to conduct a threat assessment before the event.

Recycling: establishes state policy that 75% of solid waste should be diverted from landfills to recycling and other processes by 2020.

Restaurants: may use up their supplies of shark fins — a delicacy in Chinese cooking — purchased before Jan. 1. After that, sale and possession of shark fins will be illegal.

Saving parks: allows nonprofits to take over the operation of state parks that otherwise would be closed because of budget problems.

Senior care: mandates that residential care facilities for the elderly notify residents within 10 days if the state determines that a serious health and safety violation occurred at the facility.

Sexual orientation: encourages state university systems to collect data on students’ sexual orientation and encourages the legislative analyst to use it to recommend improvements in the quality of life for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students.

Student government: authorizes illegal immigrants who are students to receive grants, fee waivers and reimbursement for serving in student government at public colleges.

Tax break: provides a tax credit to California farmers for the cost of fresh fruit and vegetables donated to California food banks.

Work rules: establishes an employee’s right to as many as three days of bereavement leave within three months following the death of a spouse, child, parent, grandchild, sibling or domestic partner.

Wine: provides a special permit that makes it easier for California firms to sell wine over the Internet, by phone or by direct mail.

Still unknown whether incumbent Third District Supervisor will run again

By Charles Douglas
Humboldt Sentinel

With face-offs already guaranteed for the other two Humboldt County Supervisor seats up for grabs in 2012, the Third District will now be a political battleground as well.

Arcata environmental activist Mark Lovelace, who has yet to decide whether he’ll run for a second term after his landslide victory in June 2008, has an extra factor to consider — Bayside businesswoman Karen Brooks, who made public this week her intention to run for the job.

“This mom, this business woman, this concerned citizen has decided that we can do better for the people of Humboldt County and I’m standing up to make your voice heard,” she wrote on her Facebook wall yesterday. “If you live in Manila, Arcata, Blue Lake, Kneeland, Bayside, Freshwater, northern Eureka and all points in-between I would represent you with no nonsense, real world leadership. I have a vision to bring our future back to our children and grandchildren…stay tuned!”

Brooks previously ran for State Assembly on the Republican ballot line as the only alternative to incumbent Wes Chesbro on the November 2010 ballot, scoring just over 38% against the entrenched Arcata Democrat who previously served as 3rd District Supervisor, as well as an Arcata City Councilmember and a twice-elected State Senator for the North Coast.

Humboldt County’s other two Supervisorial seats will also be contended in the June 2012 election — with a November run-off if no candidate scores above 50%. Incumbent Jimmy Smith’s First District Supervisor seat will see retired schoolteacher Annette De Modena face former Eureka City Council candidate Rex Bohn, while Second District Supervisor Clif Clendenen will once again share the ballot with former KMUD news director Estelle Fennel. More candidates may step forward, as the filing period won’t close for several weeks.

While never having served in elected office, Brooks was the Marketing Director for the North Coast Co-Op, and also is an active member of the Humboldt Tea Party Patriots; she even wrote a guest opinion column entitled “Patriots and prejudice — irrational hatred of the Tea Party” for the Times-Standard earlier this year. She’s a Humboldt State University alumnus and an active equestrian.

Her first campaign event will be a Pancake Breakfast meet and greet at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 7 at the D Street Neighborhood Center, just south of Humboldt State University in Arcata. While the breakfast is free, Brooks is asking attendees to bring two cans of food per person to help the local food bank — and she’s also asking for people to bring their own dishware to make it a zero waste event.

Brooks characterized the event as part of a “listening tour” in a press release earlier today, and says she intends to sound out issues and concerns from local residents in order to find sustainable solutions. For more information on her campaign, e-mail Brooks at brooksforsupervisor@gmail.com.

Here’s an excerpt from Planet Humboldt (produced by the Sentinel) of Brooks delivering comments at the 9/11 Commemoration held in Fortuna earlier this year:

Price tag estimated at half a billion dollars

By Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

HUMBOLDT COUNTY has entertained many far-reaching and costly proposals over the years ranging from a Hershey’s’ chocolate factory, a WWII aircraft carrier for Humboldt Bay tourists, a Cousteau aquarium and research center, a rare stuffed animal emporium, water export bladder bags, a LNG facility financed by Goldman Sachs, and an Olympic swimming pool complex gracing the Adorni waterfront, among others.  Attorney Bill Barnum’s Tuesday evening presentation before the Eureka City Council Chambers brought us the latest flight of fancy to the fore.

MR. BARNUM is asking for a $250,000 feasibility study on the prospects of building a spanking new 130 mile long east-west corridor railroad– costing somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 million– or perhaps much more.  No one really knows how much it will cost, what the benefits would be, or who would pay for it.  Hence the proposed study helping put the word ease back into feasibility.

“WE don’t know who’s going to do it, and we don’t know who’s going to pay for it, but we’d like the idea positively identified for a look,” Barnum said, joined by members of RAPIT (Rail and Port Infrastructure Taskforce), Bill Bertain and Pete Oringer.

POSSIBLY named after its founders, the aptly entitled B & O Railroad would advance the need for jobs and infrastructure by transporting goods from Humboldt Bay to Cottonwood.  Shipping goods from Asia would benefit from a half day reduction time– compared to other west coast ports– by traveling to Humboldt Bay and then eastward to the connecting north and south freight and rail lines to Seattle, Long Beach, and even east to Chicago.  The former north-south NWP line is defunct, vexed, hammered, and plagued by the constant repairs, deterioration, and the unstable geography of the Eel River Canyon.  The new line, as proposed, would ride on top of the landscape ridges eliminating major repairs of unstable terrain.  Mr. Barnum argues the cost-effective benefits of a new 130 mile rail line to the east would likely exceed the ongoing repairs and maintenance of the old 350 mile NWP line to the south. The Barnum family owns significant land and timber holdings in the county — though he denies any financial interest in real estate in the Redwood Valley watershed through which the newly proposed line would traverse.

BARNUM said the idea for an east-west line originated 140 years ago– but lost out to competing rail construction that connected Eureka south to San Francisco Bay when demand for North Coast redwood timber spiked after the 1906 earthquake and consequent reconstruction.

HANK SIMS of the Lost Coast Outpost offered us a little history and his cranky take on the subject when the idea was brought before the Fortuna City Council in August:

But the best part of all, to my mind, is the official voice the council will give to the totally insane idea of building an entirely new railroad to the region, eastward through the Trinity National Forest! Railroad redundancy!

From time to time you hear the RAPIT people whisper about this, er, ambitious, scheme.  Specifics are never given because no specifics exist… The resolution passed by the council refers to “the possibility of a rail line from Eureka/Fairhaven east to the Red Bluff area utilizing the 1909 Jess Lentell route and field notes from his reconnoitering.”   This “Jess Lentell,” it turns out, is JN Lentell, the early Humboldt County mapmaker whose reproductions you can still find for sale today…

At the turn of the last century he was hooked up with a bunch of local dudes going under the name of “Humboldt & Eastern RR” who wanted to beat the early Northwestern Pacific to the shores of Humboldt Bay.  Their plan — the same plan Fortuna (and Eureka) is talking about tonight, I guess — was to go east to Red Bluff, and to finance construction of the railroad through the sale of publicly owned timber in the Trinity National Forest. The feds gave this plan a big thumbs-up.  At the time, a shocked Sierra Club called it “by far the largest amount of timber ever offered for sale by the Forest Service.”

Mr. Sims continued his effervescence by asking where the cash is:

…The crazy train pulls into Eureka City Hall tonight, where a curious amalgam of choo-choo fans will seek some kind of boost for its new feverish dream of someone, somewhere, building a whole new railroad line from Eureka to the Central Valley, across the Trinity goddamn Alps.  They’re seriously fired up about this!

Even if Six Rivers National Forest and dozens or hundreds of private landholders forked over right-of-way out of the goodness of their hearts, even if the thing were legally unchallengeable on all conceivable environmental grounds, you’d still be looking at, what — a billion dollars?  Billions of dollars?  Even Alaska’s famous Bridge to Nowhere was gonna cost as much as $400 million.

So let’s go ahead and provisionally say billions for a train to, uh, Eureka.  Who’s forking out that kind of cash for so little these days, and where do I sign up?

Will the Eureka City Council go where Fortuna dared not tread?  Stay tuned!

Eureka Councilmember Linda Atkins said she supports the idea of a study but wanted private funds to pay for the expensive endeavor outside of government monies. Councilmember Marian Brady wanted the idea of a trail following alongside the rail route as a ‘win-win’ situation for trail advocates. Councilmember Mike Newman pushed the rail momentum forward by asking to see it placed back on the agenda in January so they can vote on a resolution.

In the end, the Eureka city council was in favor of passing a resolution for the study, asking it be placed on a future agenda for further discussion.

************

Pete Nichols, co-founder of Humboldt Baykeeper, weighed in with his comments about the whimsical rail whopper to the Humboldt Herald yesterday:

Lunatics…

I am curious about funding a feasibility study for something that is not at all feasible or practical? After witnessing the $200K that Dave Hull extorted from Headwaters Fund the ‘feasible’ Deep Marine Terminal, I and a majority of the community are weary of these ‘glory days’ proposals we are seeing surface in a climate where that line of thinking just does not work.

I cannot believe a ‘new’ rail line in this day and age that does not move people, and traverses some of the most unstable and rugged terrain in CA? How about we pitch in and buy you folks a topo map and a USGS Soil Survey and call it a wash?….. in the holiday spirit and all, …..and forget this silly idea even materialized. How ’bout we focus on trails, restoration, and real local jobs where folks need not be ‘greeters’. That is what this community wants.

Here’s an idea….how about the ‘rail enthusiasts’ run their train from Samoa to the Marsh where visitors can then get off the train and rent bikes. Then they ride around the Bay to F Street Dock where the Madaket picks them up and takes them across the Bay back to where they started……..jobs, trains, tourism, and the environment. Now that I would advocate for at the Headwaters Fund!

Bill Barnum, in reply, made his brief retort available for readers:

Pete, you sound like the conservatives in the 1960?s who labeled JFK a lunatic for wanting to land a man on the moon within the decade. We achieved that. So, 130 miles of new rail does not seem so far-fetched.

Anyway, we are not breaking out the bulldozers just yet. We simply want a feasibility study by one of the leading railroad engineering firms. Don’t get hurt feelings if we don’t rely on… Pete for the answers.

Merry Christmas!

Other readers made their points as well:

“Why is landing on the moon always part of the conversation about railroads and Humboldt County?”

“This would be actual infrastructure that would provide actual, tangible benefits and genuine changes to the economic, social, and cultural realities of Humboldt County. So naturally it will be ignored by “serious people” who will continue to do nothing. Humboldt can benefit greatly from three things: Rail to the Central Valley, an active Port in the bay, and improved telecom infrastructure. If you develop these things, you have an actual economic base and future in the area…. Humboldt can support a small port, light manufacturing and other light industrial, and businesses that provide services using telecom infrastructure.”

“Eureka to Red Bluff? Wow. If you’ve ever taken Hwy 36 to or from Red Bluff, then you’ve got some idea what that terrain looks like. Now imagine trying to put a railroad through there. It would be quite an engineering feat, to say the least… It almost makes me wonder if the idea is to make re-opening the existing north-south rail line through the Eel River Canyon sounds a little less outlandish, at least compared to the idea of blasting a whole new line to the east.”

“The City of Eureka has decided goals for the next year in their 2011 Strategic Visioning:
the never-ending discussion over Cutten Annexation, the development of the McKay Tract, boosting revenues, booting out the homeless, “keeping families here,” developing the waterfront, updating the city’s general plan, hiring more cops ~and — I’ll be (expletive deleted)… the never-say-die Waterfront Drive Extension Project, which the Coastal Commission and the Coastal Conservancy have both long promised to torpedo. Watch for Alice and the Mad Hatter at the next meeting. Down the rabbit hole!”

“As long as Renner’s monopoly on gas supply isn’t threatened like the old north/south line did, then I imagine there will be fewer tunnel fires and rail issues.”

“Anyone know how much of the proposed area between Eureka and Red Bluff is owned by the Barnum timber family?”

And still more weighed in with their cogent thoughts… or less:

“Hiring a railroad engineering firm to do a feasibility study will be a slam-dunk. (remember when Eureka spent tens of thousands of dollars on a respected, independent economic firm that concluded Eureka was saturated in low-wage retail in 1999!).  If this area’s ‘Big Barnums’ had community-interest in mind, they would finally drop their ‘free-market’ Voodoo and hire independent professionals to complete a comprehensive economic feasibility study first and determine what industries could actually come once the train is completed.  You know…to make sure it’s not just another handful of good ol’ boys hoping for easy money harvesting the gravel on Great-Granddaddy’s riverbanks… Humboldt’s ‘Big Barnums’ played their local-role in the economic collapse, and they’re busy at the courthouse fighting to maintain their ‘God-granted freedom’ to make a killing on the next housing bubble!  How they retain credibility is the blessing of ubiquitous media self-censorship.  Nothing says ‘Merry Christmas’ like an inconvenient legacy.”

“So let them study it. As long as I don’t have to pay for it, it’s no skin off of my nose.”

“Restoring the rail line is not for some tourist type amusement but for commerce. If it is possible it would aid in the development of the harbor and would create many good paying jobs. One of the things that government is supposed to do is create & maintain our infrastructure. This feasibility study is the government’s responsibility. Those of you who say it can’t be done and shouldn’t be even studied sound like you are descendents of the people that made fun of the Orville & Wright brothers.”

“Obviously you need to understand international shipping. The large shipping companies (the guys with the boats) choose the ports with the best profit margins for the shippers. So any port can entice shipping lines to not only call at the port, but to invest in infrastructure at that port.  As for building it, they will come…”

“We need Cape Canaveral West on the Samoa Peninsula! Think of all the jobs! I want a study NOW! Personally, I think regular blimp service would have less environmental impact, but people might think that’s crazy.”

What do you think? Is the new rail proposal an economic reality to pin Humboldt’s visionary dreams on– or is it a tunnel vision pie in the sky fiscal nightmare?

 Additional information and opinions can be found at:

The Lost Coast Outpost and here, in addition to Hank’s map of the Phantom Train route here.

The Humboldt Herald

The Times-Standard

Annexation of Cutten, consolidation of services, extension of Waterfront Drive all talked up

Staff Report
Humboldt Sentinel

Many community members have a vision for Eureka’s future, but only one is set to have the official City Hall stamp of approval.

‘Strategic Visioning 2011,’ the result of a series of poorly-attended, non-televised community forums held at odd hours of the day this fall in various out-of-the-way locales, seeks to continue the same game plan pursued by top city brass for years.

“The City of Eureka faces multiple, complex challenges, among them are the trends of growing demands for local
services and limited financial resources,” the introduction of the plan states. “The Mayor and City Council are looking to chart a course and create a vision for the future that will ensure our financial viability as well as our standards of living.”

In particular, the extension of Waterfront Drive, despite years of stalwart opposition by environmental groups, state transportation officials and the Coastal Commission, is improbably scheduled to continue it’s snails-pace progress. The long-term prospect of punching a road through protected wetlands from the Bayshore Mall area at south end of Eureka to the north edge of PALCO Marsh at the foot of Del Norte Street looks as bleak as ever; thus, the short term goal in the new plan is to complete a small segment in Old Town linking 1st Street at its intersection with G Street to the north end of Waterfront Drive fronting the Humboldt Bay Aquatic Center and the Adorni Center.

Also high on the talked-about-much, done-about-little list of the past decade is the annexation of suburban areas around Eureka which heavily impact its traffic and public utility systems, especially Cutten. The push for annexation looks to be developing more momentum with the plans of county officials and Green Diamond timber company to turn the eastern fringe of Cutten into a publicly-owned community forest — public, that is, meaning control by the County of Humboldt and not by the City of Eureka.

While staff at the Community Development Department claim that they aren’t currently working on any annexation activity, the plan speaks openly of annexing the three McKay tracts currently proposed for housing and commercial development — and in doing so, creating the pretext for swallowing up all of Cutten.

“[It] would create an undesirable island of Cutten,” the plan states. “Therefore the annexation of Cutten should be considered as part of the McKay tracts annexation.”

Also on deck is an expansion of the city’s Sphere of Influence, the first step towards outright incorporation of new territory, in the Indianola area. This unincorporated suburb in between Arcata and Eureka has faced long-term water issues which would be solved if they could tap into the water main currently running right past them to serve the entire city.

Any proposal for annexation will require a lengthy, and expensive, study process and eventual application to the Local Agency Formation Commission, which is controlled by a representative from the county and ones from each of the local cities. The plan further states that a community outreach scheme would have to result in positive responses from local residents in order to proceed, with these scoping sessions to take place in the later half of 2012, according to a timeline developed by Councilmembers Linda Atkins and Melinda Ciarabellini.

Less controversial elements of the plan include the continued consolidation of fire services between the Eureka Fire Department and Humboldt Fire District No. 1, with a joint Fire Chief and a new joint badge under the moniker of ‘Humboldt Bay Fire’ already implemented. City officials are also looking at the consolidation of dispatch services between the Eureka Police Department and the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office — a move which could improve response times, not to mention the associated cost savings.

Water was thrown on the idea of expanding the city’s role in encouraging local preferences for the expenditure of Eureka’s tax dollars. The current policy of granting a 5% preference to local firms in the purchase of materials, supplies and equipment is set to be evaluated, with expansion of this rule to construction contracting appearing unlikely.

“Initial review of the complex legal and geopolitical issues associated with implementing a local preference in contracting policy have led to the conclusion that the benefits of such a policy in Eureka would be low and the costs would be relatively high,” the plan states.

The entire Strategic Visioning 2011 document, up for approval at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, can be viewed on the city’s website at ci.eureka.ca.gov.

In addition

A bevy of ordinance approvals, following up their introduction at the Dec. 6 meeting, are likely to fly by with just as little public comment. These include the gutting of Eureka’s campaign contribution limits, an amendment to sewer use rules, and revision of its Housing Element to allow for greater leeway in zoning requirements for emergency shelters and special needs housing.

The City Council is also set to extend its moratorium against its own medical cannabis ordinance to continue to disallow the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries inside city limits. The initial 45-day ban is proposed to be extended for another ten-and-a-half months while legal staff continue to scramble to come up with a coherent response to federal threats of prosecution against local governments who, in obeying state law to allow medical cannabis patients to access their medicine, run afoul of federal controlled substances regulations.

On the Consent Calendar is the rejection of a claim by local attorney and landowner Greg Casagrande over the breaking of a water main at the corner of 2nd and I Street in front of the former Has Beans Cafe. Casagrande’s claim includes allegations that city staff allowed a water main break to linger for days without adequate repairs, causing flooding and possible structural damage to his building. Such a claim rejection is business-as-usual for City Hall, despite the potential for a civil lawsuit; their policy is to refer all possible tort cases to the Redwood Empire Municipal Insurance Fund, which then has the authority to reach an out-of-court settlement.

The last City Council meeting of 2011 begins at 6 p.m. on Dec. 20, and includes public comment time near the beginning of the session.

New information kiosk to celebrate three-month anniversary tomorrow

Staff Report
Humboldt Sentinel

Eureka’s version of Occupy Wall Street has been accused of many things — but timidity isn’t on the list.

Huge fences, mass arrests and repeated take-downs of their tents, signs and prior information booths at the Humboldt County Courthouse over the last six weeks has yet to completely clear away their ranks from the front steps.

To celebrate the three-month mark of Occupy Wall Street’s formation in New York City, Occupy Eureka is planning yet another reconstruction of its information kiosk tomorrow, and is challenging local law enforcement to one more showdown before the year runs out.

“We demand the Eureka police and Humboldt Sheriff’s [deputies] produce legal documentation to justify their relentless attacks on protesters’ civil liberties and human rights,” Occupy Eureka spokesperson Jack Nounnan stated in a release.

Occupy Eureka claims, somewhat conversely, that they will “defy” the Eureka Municipal Code section outlawing non-permitted camping, and that the municipal codes are misinterpreted when applied to prohibit the construction of all shelters against the elements — even if the only thing being sheltered is a table with literature on it.

“This even is part of a movement-wide call to ‘re-occupy’ in the wake of coordinated attacks and subsequent evictions of occupations across the nation and around the world,” Nounnan stated.

The unveiling of the new kiosk will take place at Noon on Saturday, Dec. 17 — which is also the one-year anniversary of the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, whose death sparked the start of the ‘Arab Spring’ uprisings in Middle East nations such as Tunisia, Egypt and Bahrain.

For the curiously aware of Humboldt County…

By Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

WALMART: FROM HUSH-HUSH TO… WE’RE HERE!

SINCE the Humboldt’s Sentinel’s report last week and Wednesday confirming the likelihood of Walmart’s existence in Humboldt County– along with other blogs and media sources reporting the same– the blogosphere has weighed in, ad nauseam, with several hundred comments across the board posted on various sites.

WHETHER Walmart is good for the community is truly in the eyes of the beholder.

BUT what hasn’t been explained yet is whether City officials knew– and when they knew it. It remains a glaring and unanswered question. Why were plans kept under a cloak of secrecy until now—when the Times-Standard reported it was the local media inquiries coming in that prompted the company to finally announce its plans?

SOME of the local comments found from around the web:

I hope everyone remembers the absolute arrogance of the current city council and city manager and their total disregard for the public’s right to know what is going on in their community!

This goes far beyond whether or not WalMart is good for our community. The public has a right and a need to know in order to make informed democratic republican decisions. The city council and city manager have withheld this information from us for months. Who are they serving?

If Eureka had a majority of community-oriented representatives, they would have called for a public vote, considering that 61% voted against Walmart 10 years ago. Even Jeff Leonard cleverly won his second term by running on a platform of limiting the size of future big boxes…before changing his mind, once elected. Otherwise, Walmart would not be here today.

Hmm, it seems someone is coming into town through the backdoor. Other large businesses have come in, but I bet there will not be as big of an uproar as will be heard about this one.

“If you don’t like Walmart DO NOT SHOP THERE! For those of us that are excited, let us be happy about it.”

“Welcome to the 21st Century Eureka! Now bring in a Home Depot.”

“We never get screwed at Walmart. Now we won’t have to go to Oregon as much to shop.”

“A lot of people don’t like Walmart and say negative things about it….but a lot of people are right when they say this competition will bring down the prices at other stores….wait and see.”

“FINALLY! And it doesn’t matter what, who or why, Humboldt County and Eureka have an economic boost. It’s hard for me to see that anyone could argue against this!”

“In some cities though, it’s illegal to advertise that which is not yet open. If you want to discuss corporate store opening secrecy, check out Apple and their store openings. They straight up mask whole buildings to hide what’s going on and all sorts of odd things.”

AS one can see, the opinions vary widely across the board. People like Walmart. Or not. Given that, we hope City officials can explain their ethical position of why these plans were only recently given the light of day to the community they serve. Unless, of course, they claim deaf ignorance of the matter truly knowing nothing.

MORE local opinions can be found at:

the Times-Standard

the North Coast Journal

Tom Sebourn’s blog (a fine commentary and must-read posts)

the Humboldt Herald

WHILE we don’t always subscribe to her point of view, Verbena had her own sharply written to-the-point commentary that was particularly relevant to the subject at hand and bearing special merit for readers to consider.

‘TIS the season to be jolly and jingle all the way, so lets leave you on an amusingly happy note.

LAST SNIPPETS, RUMORS AND HEARSAY MURMERS:

TIME OUT BETWEEN 215 and 420: No new medical marijuana dispensaries will be permitted in Humboldt County for at least 45 days after the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday approving a temporary moratorium. The moratorium will not affect the three medical marijuana dispensaries that are currently operating in the county under conditional use permits from the Humboldt County Planning Commission but will apply to those other eight dispensaries that have submitted applications to open new dispensaries. The moratorium could be extended for up to 180 days. Indoor cannabis grows were also limited to 50 square feet much to the dismay of floral horticulturalists, medicine makers, and modern moonshine profiteers.

Humboldt County Community Services Director Kirk Girard said the new ordinance will “be enforced upon complaint” because there’s no registration or permitting required in place for grows. Only if complaints are received about a grow residence would the ordinance be enforced. Good fences, good relations, and complying with the law should make for good neighbors. Outdoor grow ordinances will be next on the slate of regulatory reefer concerns set before the Board in the coming months.

WE’RE IN THE MONEY: Humboldt County’s Headwaters Fund is searching for at least one new board member. Could it be you? The multi-million dollar fund offers grants for infrastructure projects and economic development opportunities in the county. Business owners in one of the local industry clusters, such as tourism and manufacturing, are highly encouraged to apply. An application can be found online at http://www.theheadwatersfund.org/. The application deadline is December 30 and the term begins in March serving on the County’s most powerful and flush piggy bank boards made available to the public. The pay? Heh-heh.  Zilch, nada, zippo. Never mind, sticky fingers: It’s all part of your civic service that’s long overdue.

SCALAWAGS AND SKULLDUGGERY meet Trusty Rusty and EFD’s fire stuff.

HEALTH IS WEALTH mas y menos: People can have Humboldt County public health information delivered straight to their computer, phone, or mobile device via the Humboldt Health Alert website. The website http://humboldthealthalert.org/ provides up-to-date information about emergent health issues that affect the residents of, and visitors to, Humboldt County. It’s a project of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Public Health Branch. Technology is only as good as how you use it. Be aware or be square or be dead. Your choice. And wash those hands with hot soapy water like you were told.

CHANGE OF HEART: Spending nearly two months in jail, four defendants pleaded no contest Monday to misdemeanor charges for their roles trimming marijuana at a Bridgeville grow. Deputy District Attorney Allan Dollison said his office changed course after reexamining the case and the 54 days the defendants served behind bars. Early in the case, some defense attorneys expressed irksome dismay at DA Gallegos’ stance that marijuana trimmers should be expected to plead guilty to felonies based on the premise they’re as culpable in the criminal offenses of cultivation and possession for sales as those masterminding the grow operations.

DAMN DAMS: Ex-Humboldt County Supervisor Jill Duffy is an environmental analyst for the Humboldt County Public Works Department assigned to the Klamath Restoration Agreements. She responded to columnist Dan Walters’ Nov. 25 article, “A Huge Gift to Buffett, Oregon,” where he stated, “the bottom line is that with interest on the bonds it’s a half-billion-dollar gift from California taxpayers to Oregon farmers and (Warren) Buffett.” Ms. Duffy weighs in her two cents for the pricey dam removal to the Sacramento Bee.

GIMME SHELTER: “Its ability to aid Arcata’s needy sapped by funding shortfalls, a depleted staff and board of directors and several high-tab equipment malfunctions, the North Coast Resource Center (NCRC) is taking a time out… As part of the restructuring, the NCRC hopes to hire a new executive director, administrative manager/director/grant writer, operations manager and case worker. In addition three “strong” board members are joining the NCRC, leaving five slots still open. Longtime NCRC Director John Shelter is leaving the organization, Schulze said…” Kevin Hoover and the Arcata Eye report much more regarding the NCRC closure, restructuring, repairs, plans and the December 15 press release.

Time out?  The NCRC has hit the skids crashing and burning to the ground.  Unless it rises from the ashes like a phoenix, it’s going to be a cold winter for some– and a hard rains a-gonna fall.

MAN’S BEST FRIEND : Goodbye, Jimi. No, not the consummate gentleman and 1st District Supervisor Jimmy Smith whom we always wish the best for. It’s the other Jimi serving the Eureka Police Department admirably for years. Canine “Jimi” is close to retirement, and plans have been made to replace him with a new dog. EPD’s K-9 Unit recently started a fundraising campaign to purchase another patrol dog in recent weeks with the police department holding a raffle and various fundraising efforts to help pay for a new canine and provide training for the dog and handler, raising about $12,000. EPD is still in the process of raising funds to acquire a bullet and knife-resistant vest to protect the new K9 at a cost of about $2,500. Anyone wishing to contribute may send a check to the “EPD K-9 Fund” at 604 C St., Eureka, CA 95501.

In a perfect world every officer would have a faithful and loyal companion by his side through thick and thin, good times and bad, watching over him (or her) just like Jimi did. Happy trails to you, Jimi. You done good.

SOMETHING Eureka Councilmember Marian Brady said sure did get Mr. Sims’ dander up this week. Making comments before the County Planning Commission about the hidden beauty of billboards as noted in the Lost Coast Outpost’s column here and here, she drew the ire of Mr. Sims who succinctly asked, “Cui bono?” Meaning, to whose benefit did this serve?  We had to Google that.  Cui prodest, Hank.

EUREKA’S TEMPORARY EXTREME WINTER SHELTER is almost here: Eureka Councilmember Michael Newman reported it’s nearing completion due to the dedicated collaborative efforts of many private businesses, nonprofits, and Lynette Mullen of the District Attorney’s Office. We applaud these efforts– they don’t go unnoticed given the near freezing temperatures in the coming weeks. Let’s expire our good efforts before others expire on the streets.

FIGHT OR FLIGHT COULD BE RIGHT but merging is so much easier. Santa Rosa’s REACH Air Medical Services has jointly merged with Cal-Ore Life Flight of Brookings, Oregon. The two companies collaborated on patient transport services for years, but expect their combination will enable them to operate a broader network more efficiently. REACH employs more than 300 people who operate 13 helicopter bases and one airplane base in California, Oregon and Texas. The regular airplane base is at Sacramento Executive Airport. Cal-Ore Life Flight operates eight ground ambulances, seven fixed-wing air ambulances and a remote scene support helicopter, as well as a facility providing aviation products. The company has more than 70 employees at bases in Eureka, Crescent City, and the Oregon towns of Gold Beach and Brookings.

MALL STORE CLOSING: Pacific Sunwear of California Inc, a popular teen clothing store specializing in skate and surf-inspired clothing may is closing its doors in some locations. Officials are not announcing which stores will close– including the Bayshore Mall location– or the number of jobs and teenagers that would be aimlessly lost with nowhere to go.

Honeydew Post Office

POST OFFICE REPRIEVE: Neighborhood Post Office closures may be delayed but it’s unsure which of the 3,700 locations will make the pending cut or save list. Blocksburg, Honeydew, Kneeland, Korbel, and Weott offices are on the nation’s iffy column of snail mail.

SAVE YOUR MONEY FOR A RAINY DAY was sage advice by the grandparents: We have lots of those days and hope we don’t get hit with continued falling home prices like those experienced in San Francisco and Southern California. Happily, developers still maintain plans for building more Humboldt homes and the labor market is perking up nationally… unless the dark fiscal winds of Europe reach our shores as Reuters and the Fed suggest. Sorry to put a damper on things, folks. We don’t write ‘em, we just report ‘em. No wonder Grandma kept squares of foil, coils of used string, and hoarded sugar and Bisquick since 1967 in her cupboard. She remembers what rainy days and the Great Depression were really like.

HARD SCRABBLE EXISTENCE: We didn’t care a wink that Alec Baldwin was booted from his flight for playing ‘Words with Friends.’ We wondered what Words with Friends was. Think triple value word score and the obscenities will fly (while you won’t) mainlining the latest addiction to hit the i-web like a strung out junkie. And you thought terrorist threats were bad.

VINTAGE KYM: Granted, we didn’t know much about the Emerald Cup until Ms. Kym’s 2010 column appeared offering us an excellent education for the novice voyeur of what really goes on out there. Fortunately, it’s safe looking from a distance thanks to Kym’s reporting and camera magic, but Heavens to Betsy, what would her grandmother, Aunt Bea, and Sheriff Andy think?  Keep an eye on Opie.

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY: If you ever wondered which peeps were admitted or released from the Humboldt County pokey– or have been frustratingly exhausted tied up in the Rube Goldberg telephone tree searching for inmates and dearest loved ones– try peeping here for the semi-secret hush-hush list. Shhh. Keep it on the down-low.

BLOGS WE WATCH: John Hardin’s humorous, inappropriate, and sometimes antisocial SoHum blog is a one-of-a-kind feast or famine breadline banquet telling it like it is—or at least how it is through Mr. Hardin’s uniquely original point of view with some off-the-wall poetic licensing and colorful pics tossed in for good measure. For example, how it all went from this to that and how it all came about like the hokey pokey with your right foot out. You get the idea. Caution: this isn’t for everybody, especially those without a bawdy, bawdry, and tacky sense of humor. You know who you are. We liked it.

THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING: Three remarkable videos on tolerance, social justice, and sexual identity issues were brought to our attention by Eric Kirk and Mitch on the local Sohum Parlance II site. You may or may not subscribe to the points of view, but the views were forthrightly honest, enlightening, and thought provoking. Thank you, Eric and Mitch. It was quite an extended education. There are no easy answers.

Bobby G, Space Monkey

HUMBOLDT ENTERTAINMENT, EVENTS, AND HAPPENINGS:

With only 9 days or less left before Christmas, you have plenty to do. Get cracking.

It’s also that time of the season to roll out the Bobby G, Space Monkey: A Christmas Story again. You know we had to do it, courtesy of Carol Escobar, Bobby G, Access Humboldt, and the Space Monkey crew. It’s a merry tradition in a holly jolly gorilla sort of way.

THE WEEKEND CALENDAR:

Friday, December 16

Saturday, December 17

Sunday, December 18

A QUOTE OR TWO FROM HUMBOLDT’S BYGONE ERA:

On Jan. 5, 1854, after a two-day voyage north from San Francisco, a lonely Captain Ulysses S. Grant had arrived at Fort Humboldt. He wrote:

My Dear Wife, I have arrived in safety. I cannot say much in favor of the place. It is about what I expected before my arrival. You know what my opinions of it were. I do nothing here but sit in my room and read and occasionally take a short ride… I have not been a quarter of a mile from my room for about one week. I am enjoying good health but growing more lazy every day for want of something to do.

Later, General Grant would write: “I left the Pacific Coast very much attached to it and with the full expectation of making it my future home. But the war blasted my last hope.”

After four years of war and eight as president of the United States, Grant never saw Humboldt again.

3 decades following Grant’s departure would give us this description gracing the 1890 History and Business Directory of Humboldt County:

…Humboldt, the center of trade for Northwestern California… is but sparsely settled, still the time is not far distant when Humboldt will have as many inhabitants and with its great natural resources will possess a wealth greater than anv three States on the Northeastern Atlantic seaboard. Eureka, with a harbor second only to that of San Francisco, on a coast line of 1,300 miles, and several prospective railroads heading in this direction, and being the center of trade and the natural entrepot of a country plethoric with the gifts of a generous nature, presents advantages that have no superior. Give this city ten years and the present will form but a shadow of the metropolis that will then exist. We look in vain for a city so happily situated to command the attention of the capitalist, the enterprising and the energetic.

Eureka is beautifully located on a slope, surrounded by hills, which are covered with giant redwoods. The blocks are square and contain about an acre each. The streets are alphabetically and numerically named. There are but few cities in the State where so many neat and tasty cottages and elegant mansion are encountered, and the citizens take especial pride in possessing well arranged gardens, filled with ornamental shrubs and plants. Every sign of prosperity presents itself, and this augurs well for the future growth of the city.

Gottschalks is being remodeled for new 73,000 square foot store

Staff Report
Humboldt Sentinel 

Walmart is coming to Eureka.

After months of speculation over the ‘silent treatment’ from Eureka City Hall concerning the unnamed “tenant” remodeling the ex-Gottschalks store at Bayshore Mall, Walmart’s public relations department swung into action to admit to what they’ve been doing there for the last few months.

“Walmart stores offer a quick and convenient shopping experience for customers who need household basics, prescriptions and general merchandise all at our everyday low prices,” Debbie Rood, Walmart’s northern California region general manager said in a press statement. “We are excited to bring this store closer to our customers and to join the Eureka business community as well as supporting local non-profits through our ongoing charitable giving.”

Walmart boasts that the store will provide approximately 200 jobs and the associated tax revenue for the local economy — unstated by their corporate PR department, naturally, is how many jobs in locally-owned small businesses will be lost as a result. A study by the Labor Center at the University of California, Berkeley found that Walmart’s entry into a metropolitan area eliminates similar jobs that pay about 18% more than Walmart. In those areas, the total average earnings of retail workers fell by 0.5 to 0.8%.

Corporate plans for the building at the northwest corner of Broadway and Truesdale Street include a pharmacy and supermarket, along with the typical merchandise of electronics, sporting goods, toys and apparel, most of which is shipped in from overseas manufacturers in countries such as China. Walmart spokepersons estimate their construction activities, which began with demolition and site preparation, will continue for approximately 12 to 15 months.

Although not typically associated with cutting-edge environmental activism, Walmart officials bragged about their use of energy-efficient technology to reduce water and electricity usage and minimize waste. These features include LED lighting, a computerized energy management system for their heating, ventilating and air conditioning units, and the use of recycled materials from the demolition of the former Gottschalks store.

A point of contention already brought up in Walmart’s opening propaganda salvo is the average wage they will be paying their workers. In this initial release, Walmart senior manager of public affairs and government relations Deborah Herron claims that its regular, full-time hourly ‘associates’ in California stores are paid $12.69 per hour. Yet according to IBIS World, an independent market research group, Walmart’s average sales associate makes only $8.81 per hour, scarcely above the state minimum wage.

The reaction of local government officials is unclear; the current majority on the Eureka City Council has pushed for increasing local employment by expanding retail services — although they had the Balloon Tract in mind given local ex-billionaire Rob Arkley’s plans for a Marina Center development to include a ‘big box’ retailer such as Home Depot. Eureka voters overwhelmingly rejected in 1999 a plan pushed by Walmart to re-zone the Balloon Tract in their favor.

Beyond the halls of government, the local ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement has already targeted the potential Walmart development as a battle they’re itching to fight. A march on ‘Black Friday’ from the  county courthouse to Bayshore Mall apparently fizzled, while others have called for the renewal of a proposed ballot initiative to raise the minimum wage in Eureka to $10 an hour or higher to deter big box development at sub-living wage levels.

County also moving forward on indoor cultivation limits

By Charles Douglas
Humboldt Sentinel

Due to increased pressure from the Feds, elected representatives froze the processing of permits for new medical marijuana dispensaries in Humboldt County.

The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously this afternoon to implement a 45-day moratorium on the processing of any new conditional use permits for medical marijuana collectives or cooperatives. This backtracking, after the Planning Commission issued permits for three dispensaries in Myrtletown and Garberville, was due in large part to the Pack vs. City of Long Beach ruling earlier this year, which held that local medical marijuana ordinances were preempted by federal drug laws.

US Attorney Laura Duffy shows off edible cannabis products for sale.

In light of threats by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Francisco to litigate against local governments for engaging in activities legitimizing what the Feds see as drug trafficking and distribution, county legal staff warned that any attempt to implement long-planned regulations on the operations of cannabis dispensaries would expose Supervisors to direct prosecution.

“Many counties and cities are currently enacting moratoriums or are repealing [laws] that they have previously enacted, so we are in the middle of a somewhat furious response,” deputy county counsel Carolyn Ruth told Supervisors. “The lack of certainty over local regulatory power to permit these dispensaries really does create a serious risk to public health and safety.”

The moratorium puts on hold the Planning Department’s processing of eight permit applications — for what period of time as yet unclear. Supervisors have the option of returning to the issue in January with a ten-and-a-half month extension, although a degree of reticence was expressed at this prospect.

“Some of these actions today are really distasteful in my mind,” Second District Supervisor Clif Clendenen of Fortuna said. “We need to ask the federal authorities to explain what they’re doing here…we’re tipping backwards here with their help, I look forward to a brighter day, I’m willing to support this motion but I’m really hoping we can use our influences to move forward here.”

County staff assured prospective dispensary operators mid-way through their approval process that as their permit applications were considered to be “in suspense,” they wouldn’t lose their place in line, or their fees, once the moratorium was lifted. This wasn’t good enough for some industry advocates, including the Humboldt Growers Association.

“I understand that you have fear around the Pack decision…I realize the US Attorneys have been threatening you,” HGA outreach coordinator Alison Sterling Nichols said. “This is why we elected you, sometime you have to put yourselves on the line…we have an incredible industry that is hugely successful and you folks need to stand up.”

The issue will likely come up at the regular Board of Supervisors meeting on Jan. 24 — three days before this moratorium expires.

New indoor cultivation limits introduced

The other major item of debate this afternoon centered on the long-awaited introduction of revised regulations on the indoor cannabis cultivation taking place in private homes across unincorporated parts of the county.

Supervisors split 4-1 on carrying forward staff’s first alternative towards final approval next month, which will limit to 50 square feet the total indoor growing space — down from the current standard of 100 square feet. The other primary change will be to limit the number of grows per residence to only one — instead of the prior grow-per-card standard which allowed multiple medical marijuana patients to operate joint grows inside the same structure.

Third District Supervisor Mark Lovelace of Arcata cast the dissenting vote, preferring a third alternative prepared by staff which would have created a two-tier system to allow 100-square-foot grows on parcels over an acre in size, so long as the grows were at least 50 feet from the nearest property line. Exercising this sort of discretion, legal staff warned, would re-invoke the same fears concerning the Pack decision where local jurisdictions were seen to be permitting something prohibited by federal law.

“We are saying if you exceed this [size], we will consider you a nuisance per se,” deputy county counsel Davina Smith said. “That’s the concern about going to 100 square feet, is that it might disproportionately impact neighbors.”

Adrienne Floreen

Raising eyebrows during public comment, McKinleyville resident Adrienne Floreen dropped baggies of cannabis bud on the podium, rattling off their sale price.

“Larger grows are necessary so people like me who don’t grow can get enough medication,” she said. “Please do not regulate away dispensaries and growers or you will regulate away the ability of people like me to get medical marijuana.”

The Supervisors’ decision was bound to disappoint Carla Ritter, who founded one of the first medical dispensaries in Arcata and now operates one on county territory — she testified that copycatting the limits in Arcata and Eureka would be inappropriate for the rural, dispersed populations in unincorporated lands.

“This restrictive ordinance could force many more patients to attempt to grow for themselves,” Ritter said. “Let things stand, at least until the smoke clears.”

According to a survey of patients at her dispensary, Ritter said 75% of local medical marijuana patients do not grow themselves. This and other public testimony leaning heavily towards a lighter touch to regulations wasn’t enough to sway First District Supervisor Jimmy Smith, who made the motion to introduce the ordinance.

“When we started down this pathway…it was because of home invasions, it was because of officer vehicle chases and we had some very serious crimes, it was based on foster parents and the stories they told me time after time,” he said. “People have taken advantage of the system.”

One complication to the extremely small grow space permitted under the new ordinance is the two-room cultivation system, where a ‘mother’ plant is maintained separately in a vegetative state from the plants being readied for harvest in a flowering or bloom cycle. Clendenen asked Community Development Services Director Kirk Girard if a cover could be put up to divide areas of a single room.

“You’re probably exceeding my expertise,” Girard quipped.

A medical grower came up to the podium to inform Clendenen that a single speck of artificial light would throw the plants off their natural cycle and make them useless.

Despite his split from the rest of the Board on the matter, Lovelace thanked staff for their work in turning around Supervisors’ recommendations into a final draft in a months’ time.

“What we’re essentially saying is that someone who’s growing 50 feet or less is presumed to not be a nuisance,” he said. “Just because you’re less than 50 feet doesn’t mean you have card blanc to annoy your neighbors.”

An outdoor marijuana grow.Courtesy Humboldt Growers Association.

Final adoption of the indoor cultivation ordinance is set for Jan. 3, the same day on which Fourth District Supervisor Virginia Bass of Eureka will take the reigns as Chair of the Board. The following months will see a move into Phase Two, where the Planning Commission and eventually the Supes will take on the thornier issues concerning outdoor cultivation limits.

Meanwhile, the Pack decision is already being appealed to the California Supreme Court by the City of Long Beach. Their move is supported by a coalition including the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans for Safe Access, the Drug Policy Alliance and the County of Santa Cruz; they’re also seeking outright depublication of the Second District Court of Appeals decision, which contradicts three other appellate court decisions.

$2.5 million to upgrade Highway 101 around Smith River

Staff Report
Humboldt Sentinel

The main transportation artery of the North Coast is getting some safety improvements thanks to the United States Department of Transportation.

Today, Congressional Representative Mike Thompson (Dem. – St. Helena) announced the awarding of a $2.5 million grant through the DOTs Tiger III program to the Smith River Rancheria of Del Norte County. These funds will be used to make roadway safety improvements along Highway 101.

“This grant will improve our road safety and strengthen our economy by putting people back to work renovating out-of-date infrastructure,” Thompson stated in a release. “Anyone who has driven along Highway 101 through the Rancheria knows these improvements are long overdue, and I will keep fighting for these smart investments that rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, create jobs, and most important, keeps people safe.”

According to Thompson’s Communications Director, Austin Vevurka, these upgrades will reduce traffic-related injuries by improving walking and bicycling safety along 1.3 miles of the highway within the ancestral lands of the Smith River Rancheria; these will include stamped shoulder treatments, new signage and lighting to promote traffic calming.

Tribal Chair Kara Brundin-Miller

“We are so happy and excited about this announcement,” Smith River tribal chair Kara Brundin-Miller stated. “We view the tribe as a key part of this community and we believe this grant will help make this highway safer for everyone. We express our thanks to Congressman Thompson for his tireless efforts on behalf of this project.”

This project was the fruit of a year-long regional planning process between the tribe, the Federal Highway Administration, Caltrans and the Del Norte Local Transportation Commission — the first of its kind between a Native American tribe with DOT.

Construction is expected to commence in the coming months, as funding has already started to be dispensed to the Rancheria by Caltrans.

The Smith River Rancheria, one of the homes of the Tolowa Tribe, was originally established in 1908, and has grown to more than 500 acres in territory. Many of its 1,200 members live in southern Oregon and northern California, and the section of Highway 101 to be improved runs through the heart of the Rancheria, in close proximity to the tribe’s medical clinic, Head Start facility, cultural center and other heavily visited areas. The grantmakers hope these highway improvements will increase economic opportunity in the region.

Planning Commission also to tackle setbacks for historic structures

Staff Report
Humboldt Sentinel

Planning Commissioners are set to take up tonight a series of zoning amendments which might help relieve the demand for affordable housing in Eureka.

The city’s newly seated Community Development Director, Robert Wall, is recommending the elimination of the requirement that new secondary dwelling units be owner-occupied. This would allow ‘mother-in-law’ sorts of units to be constructed and rented out by local homeowners with a simple over-the-counter permit through City Hall, instead of going through a discretionary review process at the Planning Commission.

The secondary dwelling units would still be limited to 640 square feet of interior space, and would also be subject to architectural review by the Design Review Committee. They would also be allowed, however, in a wider swath of the city, including hospital medical, office residential and commercial zones.

Another set of amendments would modify the non-conforming structures section of the Eureka Municipal Code to allow more alterations and additions to historic structures.

The Planning Commission will meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday in the Council Chambers of Eureka City Hall.

For the curiously aware of Humboldt County

By Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

SPECIAL REPORT: MOVE OVER REDWOOD CURTAIN, WALMART IS COMING TO EUREKA

Always Low Prices—Always. Save Money, Live Better?

LOVE IT or loathe it, the facts speak for themselves: Walmart is the largest retailer on the planet. It sets the standard for being the largest public corporation ranked by revenue. With over 2 million employees, the company is the biggest private employer in the world and the largest employer in the United States. Having 8,500 stores in 15 countries operating under 55 different names, Walmart reported a net income of $15.4 billion on $422 billion of revenue with a 24.7% gross profit margin for 2011.

WALMART figures are between staggering and mind boggling. If it were a country, Walmart would be the 23rd largest economy in the world. If its employees were a military force, they would be the largest standing army on the face of the earth. This year everyone on the planet will make an average of 1.1 purchases there; one-third of the US population makes a trip to the Walton family business weekly. If all the Walmart stores were placed together they would cover 32 square miles or 15,300 football fields; 135 Pentagons or 158 Vatican Cities; and the parking lots alone would fill the entire city of Tampa, Florida. For every Walmart Supercenter opening, the obesity rate increases 2.4% per 100,000 residents. Between 2001 and 2006, China’s exports to Walmart accounted for 11% of the growth of the total trade deficit between our nations. We needn’t tell you what’s the most popular search location punched into GPS devices—you already guessed that– but we’ll mention the item they sell surprisingly more of than anything else: bananas.

FOR THOSE who remember, it’s been 12 years since Walmart Inc. attempted a bid to build another one of its empire satellites on a choice piece of Eureka’s Waterfront property. After a long and dirty battle Walmart’s plans were shot down by 60% of the voters in a contentious ballot measure. It was a bruising rejection for the gargantuan retailing behemoth used to getting its way. The Walmart debacle launched the political career of former state Assembly member Patty Berg and many considered the defeat of the Redwood Curtain Walmart as the first big electoral victory for the Humboldt County left. Walmart and its proponents certainly didn’t want to repeat this failed strategy again. Looking at the map of Walmart locations there are a few lonely places that the retailer hasn’t reached yet. The Nevada desert, Death Valley, Modoc and Humboldt County.

UNABLE or unwilling to confirm or deny its coming existence like a secretly held Black Ops mission, Eureka officials and City Manager David Tyson have been mum on the issue refusing to discuss or disclose recent Walmart development plans to its citizens. However, the writing is on the wall: it walks, looks, and quacks like a duck– and the fix is in. Walmart has secretly muscled its way back into Eureka through the back door and without voter approval this time around. A lease has likely been acquired and the global giant will be moving into the Bayshore Mall filling the old Gottschalks space and presumably sliding on over into the former Borders location across the way for some needed extra space as needed. No one’s talking about it, at least officially on the record. For some reason your elected representatives don’t want you to know it’s here or what lies in store. It’s simply none of your business. You need only to shop and buy the product byline: Always Low Prices—Always… Save Money, Live Better.  Hook, line, and sinker.

CONSIDER this article describing the process Oregon and other Northwest communities experienced:

Though the developer would not say which retailer would be moving in, it was clear the store would be huge… On numerous occasions over the last decade, some allege Walmart has used deceitful tactics to shoehorn its way into local communities and avoid controversy.

These critics say the superstore works with city officials and local developers to circumvent municipal zoning laws, waiting until the last possible moment to declare a store’s identity, and in some cases, coercing town officials into signing agreements that swear themselves to secrecy. While Walmart denies the allegations summarily, development plans involving a lack of full disclosure raise several questions about sustainable development in some of the communities that need it most.

AL NORMAN, founder of the Greenfield, Mass.-based nonprofit Sprawl-Busters, summed it up this way:  “The process by which Walmart developers weasel their way into communities is collusion that ignores the interests of those who deserve the most representation, and it’s happening right in all of our backyards.”

WHY does Walmart develop stores without first disclosing its plans to the community? Very simply because it works as a proven strategy that’s been particularly effective for the Pacific Northwest:

Generally… zoning laws and procedures force developers to declare specifics of their plans from the beginning. Permit applications are set up to ensure a community has a sense of what’s going where, and whether a retail project will yield a small store or a giant mall.

Still, if a developer owns a plot of land and sells retail space as part of a larger development effort, the developer is not obligated to unveil its plans or list individual purchasers until the developer completes the deal and investigates the environmental impacts those tenants might cause.

In 1996, community activists in Gig Harbor, Wash., successfully defeated local developers from building a Wal-Mart due to a zoning issue. Since then, developers in Sequim, Wash., and Oregon City, Ore., kept Walmart plans secret for months, effectively stalling community opposition until late in the process. Both communities now host Walmart superstores that serve thousands every day.

WALMART officials, however, disagree on the nature of its secrecy, believing privacy is paramount to the company keeping a competitive edge in the marketplace.  And they don’t want to disappoint you:

Amy Hill, Walmart’s Northwest community affairs manager, said the company is not in the business of deceiving communities.  She said Walmart opts for secrecy to maintain an advantage over competitors like Target and Lowe’s.  According to Hill, Walmart often pursues permits anonymously because it doesn’t want to announce intentions until the company is certain it will be coming to an area — so as not to dash anyone’s hopes.

“There’s no reason for us to announce a project until we’re fully committed to it,” she said. “Simply getting ourselves to the point where we’re ready to announce a new store is a long and complicated process.”

As Hill explained it, the process begins with evaluation. Walmart has a “litany” of brokers across the country that work on the company’s behalf to evaluate potential sites, she said. Once the brokers have identified sites, Walmart market research executives research factors such as potential customer base, proximity to other superstores, and traffic impacts. Next, Walmart executives visit the area to inspect it for themselves. After the executives give final approval, the company announces a formal intention to move in.

“We’re not in the process of developing our stores hastily or without thought,” she said. “With that said, our goals are to grow our business and be where we’re not.“

“We don’t know who, officially, the occupant of the building would be. We don’t have any plans that have a name on it. We’ve not been told. The only thing left, I think, is design review for the sign,” Eureka City Manager David Tyson said in August.  Not much has been confirmed about Walmart’s existence since then. The design plans simply read ‘Tenant.’

You would think the cat would be out of the bag by now from knowledgeable leaders explaining what’s coming to town… besides Santa Claus, that is.

The North Coast Journal reported the Bayshore Mall’s $4.6-million-dollar retail store construction project is going through a routine plan check in the Building Department after having been approved by the city’s Fire, Engineering and Community Development departments. The plans? Reportedly a huge “73,000-square-foot apparel/grocery/pharmacy big box” that’s been “sailing through the permitting process at Eureka City Hall” encompassing 59,000 square feet of shelves for apparel and food items, an 8,000-square-foot stockroom, 800 square feet of pharmacy, a plan for freezer and cooling units in the grocery section, and racks of dog food shelving for starters.

SOME SOURCES indicate plans lean towards a ‘Walmart Express,’ a smaller discount store with a range of services from retail items, simple grocery shopping, check cashing, optical, pharmacy, movie rentals, or a host of other possible corporate offerings stretching like large tentacles depending on demand and the potential profit within its grasp. The concept is focused on small towns that are not able to support a larger store and locations where physical space is at a premium. Wal-Mart plans to build 15 to 20 Walmart Express stores by the end of its fiscal year in January 2012.

“The Walmart Express model is about having access to a breadth of assortment,” explains Walmart’s Anthony Hucker, vice president of strategy and business development. An introduction of sorts, the Express concept is not unlike the signature greeters at every store door enticing customers to come in out of the cold and experience the good vibes, warm feelings, charm and cheer that only shopping at a newly opened neighborhood Walmart can bring.

ROB ARKLEY spoke to KINS radio back in July and was one of the first and few people to confirm the secret tenant was indeed going to be… Walmart.  Employees of the Eureka-based Carrington Company that own the old Gottschalks property are under a strict confidentiality agreement. None will disclose the new tenant’s name. Pattison Christensen, Carrington’s asset manager, confirmed the space is being demolished down to the concrete foundation and rebuilt to install new plumbing and electrical systems. Some sources report the extensive renovations will be completed by 2013.

VALUING the property at $8 million, Carrington bought the building and the seven acres it sits on from the court during Gottschalks’ bankruptcy several years ago.

“We bought it on speculation. We thought it was financially advantageous,” Francis Carrington said. “We didn’t have a specific tenant in mind. We had other tenants in mind but none that gave us the sort of return … as this particular client.”

“We’ve already got Target and Costco,” Pattison Christensen said. “As a fourth generation Humboldt County resident, I wouldn’t bring in any tenant I thought would terrify the marketplace and neither would Carrington. The Mall came in 20 years ago and it did decimate the downtown for a while. But look at it now, it’s vibrant. … What sort of development should we want for Humboldt County? Infill for retail and housing,” Christensen said, adding, “the new retailer will create new jobs and increase the tax base because there is plenty of evidence residents are shopping out-of-county at this particular retailer now.”

OPINIONS of the pending Walmart vary widely across the board like slogans. Some feel it’s a boon for discount shoppers stretching their hard earned dollars while others feel it’s a bust for businesses, labor and wages, and Humboldt’s economy. It’s free market trickle down capitalism at its finest while critics maintain it destroys all competitors and everything standing in its path, extolling the virtues of Main Street while simultaneously steamrolling over it, homogenizing and pasteurizing the country from shore to shore like a cheap plastic container of milk.

THE QUESTION is, why all the secrecy by Eureka’s elected representatives, Walmart Inc., and the Carrington company?  Didn’t the 1999 voter referendum make it clear that Walmart wasn’t welcome in Eureka or  have we changed our minds? Shouldn’t there be some community dialogue?  Walmart’s coming. In fact, it’s already here.

YOU’LL hear more about Walmart, after it’s all said and done during the Grand Opening rollout– in a carefully publicized and calculated promotional media blitz to be released at a later date.

LAST SNIPPETS, RUMORS, AND HEARSAY MURMERS:

OCCUPY OPTICS: Local eyewitness reports and two refreshingly honest reads we encountered this week came from Two Rivers Tribune’s Malcolm Terence and Civilized Disobedience’s Mikal Jakubal. Former resident and reporter John C. Osborn has also been writing on Occupy happenings in the Bay Area for his new blog The Classist, recently describing the dismantling of the San Francisco encampment and 60 arrests at 1:30 in the morning on Pearl Harbor Day. The cause slogs on through the sleet and snow, the rain and early morning raids, the scalawags and rapscallions, and the 1% sporting rose-colored Louis Vuitton glasses.

CALIFORNIA DOESN’T SEEM BROKE: Caltrans’ request for financial support from the Humboldt County Association of Governments for a $30 million road improvement project was approved on Thursday with an 8-2 vote during the Association’s meeting. Humboldt County agreed to pay for $16 million of the project Caltrans proposed in 2007 to widen the shoulder, and add an interchange and half signal to Airport Road and Indianola Road off of the highway 101 safety corridor between Eureka and Arcata. If given the Holiday green light by the Coastal Commission, Caltrans will begin making the necessary changes after more money is secretly printed off in the Capitol basement bubbling forth like Pennies from Heaven despite the State’s fiscally-challenged Stormy Weather conditions.

POOR STUDENTS AND VANITY CENTERS: While HSU students are experiencing record tuition increases, administrators are asking for $1.3 million from the University Center to expand the Student Recreation Center. Student fee money is being used to pay for the expansion of the West Gym, a state funded building, as students cough up more money simply to stay in school. Administrators advise students to eat more beans and rice and dress warmly for the interim.

THE HUMBOLDT ECONOMIC INDEX REPORT is in and it’s not painting a rosy picture: “Leading indicators universally soured in November. Unemployment claims were up, and help wanted advertising down, indicating potential softening of the local labor market. The number of Building Permits issued also fell. The number of homes sold within the county also contracted as per seasonal expectations. The decline was small, however, and may not be significant. Employment continued to rise, again largely thanks to the increased hiring of state and local governments. Unemployment also increased, though. The sector is viewed as contracting from last month. Hospitality, retail sales, and lumber manufacturing all declined…” You get the idea. Curiously enough marijuana production and PG&E electrical rates weren’t factored in as current economic drivers of the Humboldt economy so the results could be a bit skewed.

APPEARING BORED, DISINTERESTED, AND ILL-ATTENTIVE, the Times-Standard’s mighty Thadeus Greenson is anything but. News seems to settle subconsciously onto his brain while complex paragraphs emanate ethereally from his fast and furious keyboard fingers. How he does this without paying attention is anyone’s guess. Given his always consistent tear of current events and the reporting of complex issues in fairly accurate deadline fashion, Thadeus makes it all look easy. His articles this week include among others (*Spoiler alert!* Clear your T-S paywall cookie here for the links): Sunday’s $400 Million Humboldt Marijuana Economy, Tuesday’s Sage Family’s Proposition 215 Lawsuit Against the City of Arcata, and Chief Probation Officer Bill Damiano Turning the Titanic followed by the Eureka City Council report on Wednesday, and Thursday’s article detailing Hydesville’s marijuana kingpin Stanislaw Kopiej’s controversial probation and $175k forfeiture plea deal. Greenson’s a lean mean media muscle machine, a literary mystery wrapped up in a warm burrito of words.

LAST MAN STANDING: We say goodbye to the last edition of the Humboldt Beacon and the kind words of departing editor Franklin Stover before the whole kit ‘n caboodle of the Eel River Valley newspaper slips into the forgotten memory hole. Goodbye Mr. Stover. We wish you a fond farewell having steered the Humboldt Beacon to its last and final run after 110 years of faithful reporting.

PRECIOUSLY GOOD NEWS: Remember the eight year-old Willow Creek girl named Precious Reynolds who defied the odds after contracting rabies? Given a three percent chance at life by doctors in May, Precious is the eighth person in the world and the third in the U.S. to have survived the virus without a vaccine. She’s what doctors call a medical phenomenon. Two Rivers Tribune editor Allie Hostler tells us more about Precious’ fairy tale happy ending to recovery.

WARM, DRY, AND STILL THIRSTY: Kevin Hoover of the Arcata Eye has capably kept us up to date about Arcata’s famous icon and beloved former resident Pete, also known as Manila Pete, Ragman Pete, or simply Pete from Nayarit here in the Eye archives or more recently in this week’s edition.

THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: but only if you keep an eye on them and don’t believe everything you read. Just when you thought you heard it all, here’s one you probably haven’t heard yet. Urban myth or not? Credible sources vary on its veracity. It’s been a long time since smoking banana peels were in vogue, but bored and crafty kids do come up with the dankest ideas. We relegate this to the dubious pile of tall tales for obvious reasons.

PLEASE DON’T ANTAGONIZE or try to feed and pet the mountain lion that was spotted Tuesday in Arcata’s Redwood Park according to reports received by the Arcata Police Department. The cat was seen near Big Rock Trail, trail four, and Big Rock Cutoff, trail 16. It was not reported to be acting aggressive. Redwood Park is a heavily wooded area and a natural habitat for mountain lions and tasty humans and dreadlocked Trustafarians. Walk softly and carry a big stick until the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Then run like hell.

HUMBOLDT EVENTS AND HAPPENINGS:

CLEAR OUT YOUR CLOSET AND MAKE WAY FOR THE NEW YEAR: KSLG radio is hosting a Warm and Fuzzy Clothing Drive at the Eureka Co-op, 4th and B Streets, on Friday from 6 am to 8 pm. All the clothing collected will be given to Betty Chinn’s group known as “Betty’s Blue Angels.” If this is anything remotely similar to last year, mountains of clothing will magically appear before your eyes out of thin air and presenting a spectacular sight to behold– next to the following day’s lunar eclipse and nativity scenes, of course.

SATURDAY’S EARLY MORNING HOURS will unleash a spectacular total eclipse of the moon starting around 5-6 am. 5 minutes later at 6:05 am, the lunar orb is expected to turn a beautiful-to-bloody sunrise red magnifying greatly in size. Sources indicate it’s well worth waking up the kids and seeing an extraordinary sight not reoccurring for another 3 years. A rare way to start your day. You only have so many, you know.

SNOW AND BLOW: Eureka’s Pacific Outfitters is hosting lots of snow this Saturday from noon to 4 pm at the intersection of 5th and R streets. 40,000 pounds of shaved ice delivered from Pacific Coast Seafood will grace a 12-foot drop rail for snowboarding and skiing enthusiasts. There will be local vendors, contests, prizes, professional boarders and their sponsors. Free and open to the public from noon to 2 pm as long as you bring your own helmet, gear and Red Bulls to ride the rail, getting your own inner Shaun White halfpipe going on.

NOT EVERYONE’S CUP OF POT TEA: Ms. Kemp thoughtfully reminds us of the 8th annual Emerald Cup this Saturday at 2 pm in Laytonville. Additional details and an enormous spliff can be bogarted here. Don’t forget your 50 bucks… or was it $40?

Eureka Trucker's Parade in 2006.

IT’S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR TO STAY OFF THE ROADS in Eureka. No, not New Year’s Eve. The annual run and random honking of the Trucker’s Parade Saturday night from 6 -8:30 pm. Hot cocoa and Christmas caroling will be served at either the Eureka Muni or Cooper Gulch depending if it rains or not.

STEELHEAD AND CRAB COGNOSCENTI: Kenny Priest keeps the fish updated as to where the North Coast humans are in this week’s fishing report and his past archives. Sorry folks, no local commercial crab will be available before Christmas. Keep your fingers crossed for January 16 or later depending if the crusty little shellbacks are fat enough to pluck from the sea. Sport crabbers, however, are free to trap and grab.

CRAFTS, GIFTS, MUSIC, CHRISTMAS CONCERTS, AND NATIVITIES abound this weekend. See the weekend calendar below for times and dates.

THE WEEKEND CALENDAR:

Friday, December 9

Saturday, December 10

Sunday, December 11

FAVORITE QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

“There is no such thing, at this date of the world’s history, as an independent press. You know it and I know it. There isn’t one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinions out of the paper. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job.

If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone. The business of the journalist is to destroy the truth; to lie outright; to pervert; to vilify; to fawn at the feet of Mammon, and to sell the country for his daily bread. You know it and I know it and what folly is this toasting an independent press. We are the tools and vassals of the rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes.”

~ John Swinton, former Chief of Staff at the New York Times. Greatly admired by other newsmen Swinton made this candid confession when asked to give a toast before the prestigious New York Press Club in 1880.

Financial difficulties, interference by Arcata officials contribute to collapse

By Charles Douglas
Humboldt Sentinel

After nearly a decade of struggle with City of Arcata elected officials, police and bureaucrats over how best to handle issues of homelessness, the North Coast Resource Center may have reached the end of its rope.

A notice plastered on the door of the NCRC office at the Arcata Service Center informed the public that all services will be suspended as of Dec. 31.

“We are working on setting up an alternate food pantry that will serve Arcata in January,” the notice read. “We will have more information available soon. We at NCRC are making every effort to resume services as quickly as possible.”

Their Executive Director, John Shelter, did not respond to inquiries as of 11 p.m. tonight, but the Sentinel was able to reach Anne Holcomb, executive director of Food For People, which runs Humboldt County’s largest food pantry in midtown Eureka. She said FFP was informed by NCRC that they were dealing with financial difficulties and would close temporarily, for a month or more, to deal with them.

“We’re trying to develop alternative options for the people they’re serving so they don’t go without — we’re in the process right now of trying to find temporary alternative locations in Arcata,” Holcomb said in an interview this evening. “We know the cost of gas to drive from Arcata to Eureka or even bus fare can be prohibitive…we’re committed to assuring people that food pantry services continue for Arcata residents.”

She didn’t want to speculate on the reasons behind the collapse of NCRCs finances, but sympathized with the situation of humanitarian non-profit charities in general as giving has declined in an environment of economic crisis.

“It’s really unfortunate,” Holcomb said. “I’m not sure exactly what the problems are in Arcata. I think there needs to be a collaborative organization that needs to spearhead that and I gather the North Coast Resource Center just does not have the staffing resources to do that.”

NCRC evolved from the Arcata Endeavor, which has served homeless and poor people in the greater Arcata area since the 1990s with food, showers, laundry, job referral help and case management services.

The NCRCs federal grant funding dried up a few years ago due to the lack of “site control” when a newly elected Arcata City Council refused to extend their lease on the Arcata Service Center, located in between the Intermodal Transit Facility and the Arcata Ballpark in the densely populated downtown area. This led to a tense series of public hearings and lawsuits, and while the NCRC eventually got its lease extension, the damage had been done in terms of undermining its ability to operate fully staffed.

Most recently, the longstanding project of an Extreme Weather Shelter for Arcata was ended after City Hall bureaucrats threw up roadblocks against the use of area churches to house homeless people during nightime conditions with sub-freezing temperatures and/or heavy storms. Ironically, this same project has been launched in Eureka with widespread support from city officials and the business community there; similarly, the NCRC New Directions program of providing non-violent clean-up services directed towards homeless encampments has garnered Eureka’s support at the same time as Arcata has slammed the door on working with the NCRC.

All these controversies have taken their toll on NCRC volunteers, too; their Board of Directors has several long-standing vacancies, and most staff had already been laid off. Shelter himself served for several months last year as Executive Director without compensation.

Shelter sat down for an hour-long episode of Sentinel Interviews on Jan. 12 to discuss the work of the NCRC in local communities.

“Not in response to the Occupy movement,” officials claim

By Charles Douglas
Humboldt Sentinel

Arcata city officials are set to redefine camping in a manner which critics say will further restrict Constitutional rights to assemble and protest against the government.

City Attorney Nancy Diamond presented to the City Council this evening a set of amendments to the parks and grounds chapter of Arcata’s municipal codes concerning public property. They particularly define city parks, city buildings and city-owned grounds as places where camping is illegal — as opposed to the generic “public grounds” — and expands to an entire paragraph the details of what constitutes “sleeping activities or making preparations to sleep.”

Diamond, Arcata Police Department chief Tom Chapman, and city manager Randy Mendosa (the former police chief) all emphatically denied any connection between these newly drafted laws and the Occupy movement, which had its Occupy Arcata iteration set up successive encampments at the Arcata Plaza, Arcata City Hall and now at an undisclosed location in the Community Forest.

Yet none of the public speakers on the agenda item were buying their explanations.

“What did bring this on? Am I right to think maybe it had something to do with the camping that was going on for the last couple of months?” asked ex-Councilmember Dave Meserve. “This is very clearly language that is meant to target the activities of the Occupy movement.”

Meserve, who helped lead the charge to coordinate the disparate local encampments and protests under the banner of Occupy Humboldt County in the last two weeks, accused his former colleagues of hypocrisy — the Council had passed a resolution only last month which specifically expressed support for the Occupy Wall Street movement nationally and Occupy Arcata in particular.

“There is this income inequality in this country and the one percent are controlling this country through the government to do that…and now we see all these cities kicking them out…people are being moved out from their occupations, from their tent cities, and what was the power of this movement, the power of their message, was the ability to occupy public space,” he said. “I find it inconsistent, I find it reactive, I find it whittles away at the First Amendment.”

Councilmember Shane Brinton, who managed Meserve’s doomed 2010 attempt to regain a seat on the City Council, backed his play, invoking basic human rights at the same meeting where they unanimously recognized December as Human Rights Awareness Month.

“I don’t know if tents are First Amendment speech or not, that’s a bit above my pay grade, but I know that everyone in the world has to sleep,” Brinton said.

Diamond retorted that the language was based on federal regulations, and was only intended to clarify existing law.

“It’s providing more specific guidance so there’s less room for abuse,” she said. “It’s something that should be viewed as taking away potential discretion by law enforcement officers on the ground…it’s not to tighten down the rules or eliminate any particular uses now, but to provide more specific notice.

Mendosa backed her play, and defended the actions of the APD which he used to lead.

“The staff’s been working on this long before we knew about the Occupy movement,” he said.

Brinton went on to quiz Chapman on when and where the use of a blanket in public would legally constitute camping, leading to a surreal exchange with the police chief imagining different scenarios.

“Are you on the Plaza under a blanket? Hard to say, it would depend,” Chapman asked and answered himself. “Is it three in the morning, it probably would. At two in the afternoon, probably not.”

Councilmembers voted 4-1 to introduce the ordinance, with Brinton dissenting. As the regularly scheduled Council meeting for Dec. 21 has been cancelled, final adoption will have to wait until Jan. 4.

• Key parts of the City of Arcata’s proposed Ordinance 1412 (strikethroughs are deletions, bold-italics are additions to current law):

SEC. 10000. City parks, buildings and grounds.

Such land or structures All parks, buildings and grounds within the Arcata limits owned by City of Arcata shall be designated as a city park, building or ground by resolution of the City Council shall be subject to the provisions of this Chapter.

SEC. 10004. Overnight use prohibited.

There is to shall be no camping on or in public groundsCity parks, buildings and grounds, nor overnight use of public grounds or publicCity parks, buildings and grounds unless specifically authorized by the City Manager or her/his designee. “Camping” is defined as temporarily living or occupying an area in the outdoorsthe use of public parks, buildings or grounds for living accommodation purposes such as sleeping activities, or making preparations to sleep (including the laying down of bedding for the purpose of sleeping), or storing personal belongings, or making any fire, or using any tents or shelter or other structure or vehicle for sleeping, or doing any digging, or earth breaking, or carrying on cooking activities. The above listed activities constitute camping when it reasonably appears, in light of all the circumstances, that the participants, in conducting these activities, are in fact using the area as a living accommodation regardless of the intent of the participants or the nature of any other activities in which they may also be engaging.

SEC. 10006. Regulation of certain use of public parks, buildings and grounds
prohibited without permission.

A. No individual or group may use public City parks, buildings or grounds under the following circumstances without first obtaining a permit from the City Manager or her/his designee, except for normal leisure and recreational use of City grounds when such use does not preclude or discourage similar use by others:.
1. When an activity or event is advertised to the general public in advance; or
2. When an individual or group charges a fee to attend or participate in an activity or event; or
3. When an activity or event by an individual or group precludes or discourages the simultaneous non-permitted use of that facility by other members of the public.

…

SEC. 10011. Duty of the City Manager to administer parks, buildings and grounds.

…

B. To the extent permitted by law, the City Manager may deny an application for a permit to use a City park, building or ground if the applicant or person on whose behalf the application for a permit was made has on prior occasions made material misrepresentations regarding the nature or scope of an event or activity previously permitted or has violated the terms of a prior permit issued on behalf of the applicant. The City Manager may also deny an application for a permit to use a City park, building or ground for any of the following reasons:
1. The application for a permit (including any required attachments and submissions) is not fully completed or executed;
2. The applicant has not tendered the required application fee with the application or has not tendered the required special activity event fees, insurance certificate or deposit within the times prescribed by the City Manager;
3. The application for a permit contains a material falsehood or misrepresentation;
4. The applicant is legally incompetent to contract or to sue and be sued;
5. The applicant or the person on whose behalf the application for a permit was made has on prior occasions damaged City property and has not paid in full for such damage, or has other outstanding and unpaid debts to the City;
6. A fully executed prior application for a permit for the same time and place has been received, and a permit has been or will be granted to a prior applicant authorizing uses or activities which do not reasonably permit multiple occupancy of the particular park, building or ground, or part thereof;
7. The use or activity intended by the application would conflict with previously planned programs organized and conducted by the City and previously scheduled for the same time and place;
8. The proposed use or activity is prohibited by or inconsistent with the classifications and uses of the park, building or ground, or part thereof designated pursuant to this Title or City Council regulation adopted in accordance with this Title.
9. The use or activity intended by the applicant would present a danger to the health or safety of the applicant, or other users of the park, building or ground, or City employees or the public;
10. The applicant has not complied or cannot comply with applicable licensure or permit requirements, ordinances or regulations of the City, Arcata Fire Protection District, County and State concerning the sale or offering for sale of any goods or services, recycling and waste diversion and erection of temporary structures;
11. The use or activity intended by the applicant is prohibited by local, state or federal law or regulation.

13 out of 15 sections concerning election financial disclosures to be eliminated

By Charles Douglas
Humboldt Sentinel

When it comes to campaign finance law, less is more, according to the new class of politicians running Eureka.

In advance of the 2012 elections where Councilmembers Linda Atkins and Melinda Ciarabellini are expected to defend their second and fourth ward seats, the City Council voted unanimously this evening to introduce an amendment to its political campaign regulations which tear out 13 of the 15 sections adopted by the last set of Councilmembers in 2010.

If adopted, the only provisions left standing will be the $500 contribution limits per donor to support or oppose any candidate running for city office, as well as a $500 cap per cycle on donations to an independent expenditure committee that spends more than $500 on a municipal election. Removed will be all requirements for campaign finance disclosures to be made through the City Clerk’s office, and all criminal penalties for violating the contribution limits are also to be repealed.

The only member of the public to address Councilmembers on the issue mocked the very existence of the ordinance, comparing it to the ill-fated Measure T, an unconstitutional ban on countywide campaign contributions peddled by Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County and subsequently struck down in federal court.

“If you limit the ability of an assembly to raise and spend money, you limit their ability to engage in press activity,” Humboldt County Republican Central Committee member Parke Bostrom said. “I do not want any more of my tax dollars wasted in failed attempts to defend blatantly unconstitutional ordinances.”

Atkins agreed, and said she’d like to see the entire ordinance done away with given the apparent loopholes.

“I do have a problem with the contribution limits because they don’t work, we have contributions from five different members of the same family with one person who obviously distributes the money,” she said. “I’m very glad that we got rid of some of the other language that just made a lot more paperwork for campaigns.”

Neither the Mayor nor any other Councilmember made a single comment on the issue. The final adoption of the amendment will take place at the next City Council meeting, scheduled for Dec. 20 at 6 p.m.

Eureka Zoo — brought to you by Goldman Sachs?

Most of the public attention Tuesday night was paid to the subject of admission fees to the Sequoia Park Zoo, which is entirely owned by the City of Eureka, yet under the management of a Foundation closely tied to the political clique around Rob and Cherie Arkley, owners of Security National.

While admissions to the zoo increased from 54,000 in 2009 to 64,837 last year, preliminary figures indicate a slight decrease in the numbers for 2011, leaving some members of the public asking why the zoo was the only publicly-funded one in California without regularly-scheduled free admission days.

Frequent public speaker Richard Tollison took the dialogue in a curious direction, however, when he suggested the implementation of a corporate sponsorship program to allow the zoo to hold admission-free events.

“I’m sure Church’s Chicken would partner with them,” he said.

Councilmembers were quite receptive to the idea, although Ciarabellini said she’d want to see those sponsorships secured before holding a free day. Atkins backed the plan too, noting that when the Council originally adopted admittance fees, a free day was part of the package.

“The people of Eureka are the sponsors of the zoo,” she said. “The zoo foundation does good work on exhibits but it’s our zoo.”

Atkins went further than the rest in suggesting the direct corporate sponsorship of animals, along with a free day every month. Public Works Director Bruce Young said a free day would cost between $500 and $1,000 in lost revenues.

With other Councilmembers suggesting a once-a-quarter admission-free day system, City Manager Dave Tyson said he’d work with staff and the Sequoia Park Zoo Foundation on a sustainable plan to bring back to Council next year.

“I’d just like to remind everybody that it wasn’t too long ago that we were talking about closing down the zoo,” Mayor Frank Jager noted.

In addition

Councilmembers did split on adopting amendments to its General Plan allowing for special needs housing such as transitional housing and emergency shelters, despite the fact that these changes were mandated by Senate Bill 2, adopted by the California Legislature and signed by the Governor in 2007.

The new law will allow emergency shelters to be located in ‘service commercial’ zones without public hearings or discretionary review by the Planning Commission or the City Council. Transitional and supportive housing will likewise not be subject to special review so long as fire and safety codes are followed, and the numerical limits on how many residents can live in these facilities are to be repealed.

Atkins cast the lone dissenting vote, voicing concerns echoed by several public speakers that drug addicted persons were being warehoused in their Westside Eureka neighborhoods. Transitional and supportive housing can be located without public review in multifamily zones, while the predominantly single-family zones on the eastern end of Eureka don’t allow for ministerial approvals of new board and care homes.

The Council also adopted a sewer use ordinance amendment to bring the city into compliance with federal pre-treatment regulations. Additional attention by local regulators will be paid to the interception of fats and grease entering the sewer system, with installation and maintenance of such systems at commercial facilities like restaurants to be uniform across the city.

In his close-of-meeting report, Tyson noted the county’s progress on establishing a community forest in unincorporated timber lands just east of Eureka’s borders, and said he would be working closely with Green Diamond and county leaders to bring a full report back to the City Council in an upcoming meeting.

For the curiously aware of Humboldt County

By Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

Occupy Eureka Resists Setbacks, Weather, and Authority

STRATEGIC PLANNING AND OCCUPY REORGANIZATION: HSU’s Kate Buchanan Room hosted over 100 people representing Humboldt’s various Occupy groups last Monday for what was billed as a ‘Countywide General Assembly’ to explore the local movement’s options going forward. Among the list of topics: should the three groups, Occupy Humboldt, Occupy Eureka, and Occupy Arcata consolidate their efforts together? Under moderator Travis Turner, agreement and consensus reached an impasse after different ideas were tabled and discussed. Another meeting is scheduled for next week.

THE GOOD PRESS: Occupy Eureka held a rally at the Courthouse the Saturday after Thanksgiving with 200 individuals braving the chilly weather hearing speakers, music, and enjoying the food.

THE BAD PRESS: According to the press release from the Eureka Police Department:

ON NOV. 21, 2011 at about 11:00 pm, officers of the Eureka Police Department responded to a reported hazardous condition at the “Occupy Eureka” encampment near the steps of the Humboldt County Courthouse. While officers were investigating the incident, an aggressive intoxicated subject approached and confronted the officers. The subject, who was identified as Roger Alan Parshall (56 years old of Eureka) was soon taken into custody for suspicion of public intoxication and obstructing an officer. He was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility. Several subjects were located sleeping in sleeping bags in a section of the illegal structure. These subjects were advised of the violation.

THEN ON Nov. 22, 2011 at about 7:30 am, officers responded to a verbal argument at the “Occupy Eureka” encampment. Upon arrival, officers were told that a member of the “Occupy Eureka” group was involved in a verbal altercation with two subjects awaiting the opening of the Courthouse. During the altercation, the “Occupy Eureka” member, identified as Heather Nicole McBride (19 years old of Eureka) allegedly threatened to assault the subjects. As a result of the investigation, McBride was taken into custody without incident for disturbing the peace.

With two previous early morning raids, nearly 50 arrests, and many problems over the past month, one would hope cooler heads would prevail, tensions might subside, and the provocative nature of the situation resolve itself. It didn’t, it wasn’t, and it hasn’t:

LATER IN the day at about 4 p.m., at the request of the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, Humboldt County Chief Administrator’s Office, Humboldt County Council, and the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, officers of the Eureka Police Department responded to the “Occupy Eureka” encampment to enforce the penal code violations regarding the illegal lodging. Deputies of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department and Officers of the California Highway Patrol assisted in this enforcement action. Upon officer’s arrival, several subjects were detained and identified concerning their illegal activity. The subjects were allowed to gather all personal property, that was not deemed camping equipment, and were escorted off the property temporarily, until the illegal structures could be dismantled. Once all subjects had been escorted away, the structure, constructed of concrete, wooden pallets, pipes, and tarps was dismantled and eventually hauled away. All supplies used solely for the purpose of exercising their right to freedom of speech were left at the scene for the group members to reclaim.

AS OFFICERS were finishing the clean-up of the area, a subject stepped out into oncoming eastbound 5th Street traffic with a large banner. He stopped directly in front of an oncoming vehicle. He was immediately taken into custody without incident for obstructing the street. The subject was identified as Hans Karl Ashbaucher (44 years old of Eureka). He was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility. This is Ashbaucher’s third arrest at this location in connection with the “Occupy Eureka” movement. A complaint regarding this incident will be forwarded to the District Attorney’s office.”

ONE GROUP participating in Occupy Eureka noticed on their website: “STOP THE ATTACK ON CIVIL RIGHTS. Since Oct 8th, local police & officials have stolen everything we have, arrested us en masse with no warning or crime, beat us to broken ribs & concussion with hands & baton, arrested us for filming, kept us in jail illegally, deleted our videos, fenced off the courthouse lawn, & lied about it all. Cops now come many times a day & steal our signs, where people have demonstrated for decades. There’s no excuse for trying to wipe out our demo. It’s time to SPEAK OUT!”

ON Wednesday, a couple of Occupy volunteers were busy erecting a 6 X 8 foot makeshift shelter using wood, PVC piping, and tarps near the Courthouse steps in the late afternoon. What was going on and what were they doing? It is, or was, the short-lived Occupy Eureka Information Booth and Social Center– until it was allegedly stolen by EPD and its Occupy members kidnapped. Tom Sebourn explains more via the communiqué he received of the situation and arrests:

“In the latest show of complete lawlessness and blatant disregard for the Constitutional Rights of the Citizens of Humboldt County, the Eureka Police Department has once again raided the Occupy Eureka site and stolen both the Information Booth and the Scott Olsen Social Center. In addition to this robbery, they have also kidnapped 2 of our Comrades – Kimberly (“Verbena”) Starr and Stanton Woods are now being held in the Humboldt County Jail despite the fact that they were doing nothing other than exercising their First Amendment Right to speak and hand out literature in a public place. The EPD is trying to claim that Kim Starr was in violation of a court order when she handed out fliers. At the court proceedings to which the EPD were referring, Judge Cissna EXPLICITLY, on the record, said that she was free to speak and hand out papers on the sidewalk. They claim that she further violated orders by erecting the Scott Olsen Center (which was not blocking the sidewalk or in any other way impeding foot traffic and was only there to protect the information table from the weather and as a gathering place for Occupiers and conversations) even though she never even touched any part of it…”

GOOD LUCK, Travis Turner, Ms. Starr, and Occupy Eureka. We wish you the best. We really do. A recent Field Poll found 46% of California voters identifying with the Occupy movement while 49% do not. 58% agree with the protesters’ underlying reasons. 52% blame Wall Street more than the federal government (24%) for the current economic disparity. It’s doubtful these numbers come close to approximating local sentiment in supporting our local Eureka movement given its recent problems as previously reported and the overall message co-opted into a scattered mix of provincial agendas and demands– such as the removal of a chain link fence surrounding a patch of courthouse sod formerly accommodating the overnight tent city and unfortunately wearing out its welcome.

GRANTED, some of the protesters were treated rudely and roughly, probably unduly so; it appears civil litigation for these cases is on the horizon from the sources we’ve heard from. Nonetheless, bringing a more even disposition and clearly grounded solutions to the table — rather than the angry, threatening display of emotional wrought and malfeasance brought to the chambers of the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on November 15 — would be best for all concerned. We believe in social justice, carefully and restoratively sought, with a sagacious prudence and considerate respect for all involved. Wise and cooler heads need to prevail preventing the unraveled ends from falling apart and imploding altogether, driving away those who would be otherwise sympathetic. Representing Humboldt — and the 99%– needs to be presented and presented well, without the confrontation, blame game, and the victim card being played. It needn’t be a fine line to tread; otherwise, it detracts and distracts from OWS’ important message that something has gone seriously wrong regarding the disparate inequality and the state of our nation today.

MORE: Heidi Walters and the North Coast Journal covered more of the Occupy haps here for readers… unless you’d rather go directly to the Occupy Facebook site for their more recent postings. Tom Sebourn’s blog kindly archived the latest ballads arising from the source, while the Humboldt Herald’s readers weigh in with their 220 comments and opinions describing more of the above.

LAST SNIPPETS, RUMORS, AND HEARSAY MURMURS:

KINGPINS AND COLD CASH CAN WORK WONDERS: The sentencing of the Hydesville marijuana kingpin, Stanislaw Kopiej, has been postponed. You’ll remember he was arrested with more than 425 pounds of processed pot, entering into a probation-only plea agreement deal only a mere 10 days later after his arrest with his attorney Patrik Giego and the District Attorney’s Office, after forfeiting $175,000 in cash. Monday’s hearing was continued to December 7 to allow attorneys in the case to review the “forfeiture language” in the agreement concerning his former $1 million dollar operation. Meanwhile, the trimmers working for him languish in jail after being hammered with unprecedented felony charges by the District Attorney’s Office– to the dismay of their defense attorneys.

BUCKLE UP AND LOOK BOTH WAYS: Humboldt sadly lost two citizens on the road recently: talented musician Bucky Osper and young Eureka High Student Mariah Redman. Be careful out there, folks. Or going to the new Harris Street Safeway that’s reportedly experiencing fender benders due to the two simultaneous left turn lights colliding with the blocked traffic entering the parking lot, making it one of the more dangerous intersections in the City, some believe.

WHACKS, STABS AND PRICKS: If it wasn’t enough former Arcata mayor Bob Ornelas got trucked, it was Hanna’s report of being the second Arcata victim getting stuck.

PHYSICIANS AND PEEPS, HEAL THYSELF: The Two Rivers Tribune explained our national health front in a nutshell: School lunches lean towards the unhealthy, we’re living longer, teen birth rates are declining, Oxycontin-like drugs are smuggled in from Canada, newborns having an ‘explosive surge’ being hooked on prescription painkillers, and a rising level of drug use and alcoholism among doctors and health care professionals. Dr. DeCapua’s article noted, “Research suggest that 15 to 24 percent of lawyers suffer from alcoholism during their careers. The British Medical Association estimates that one in 15 healthcare professionals will develop an addiction problem. Doctors are three times more likely to develop cirrhosis of the liver than the general population.”

AN END RUN, PT II: THE GARBAGE WARS THICKEN. In the last Sentinel Roundup we reported that the Humboldt Waste Management Authority (HWMA) was making an end run of closed door negotiations utilizing Arcata Community Recycling Center (ACRC) employees amidst pending litigation. HWMA Executive Director Jim Test said that HWMA is still discussing leasing the Samoa Processing Plant and in a Nov. 10 closed session meeting met to discuss the possibility of keeping the Samoa plant open in an agreement with ACRC. In the latest twist, however, Fortuna’s Eel River Valley Disposal is looking at contracting for Arcata’s recyclables… and bypassing the Samoa Processing Plant altogether in favor of their new facility opening this month. The City of Arcata is pondering its new position of recycling authority. No doubt the clash of stubborn ill will between Directors Jim Test and ACRC’s Mark Loughmiller will continue in some form or another. Who would’ve thought there was money, plot twists and high drama in garbage?

BUSINESS AS USUAL STATS: The Hoopa Valley Tribal Council approved a $79.5 million budget—about $26,000 per person for 3,040 residents for fiscal year 2011-2012. In comparison, Eureka is looking at approving an approximately $55 million budget for 27, 191 residents, or $2,022 per person according to city sources. Humboldt County’s adopted $263.7 million budget for 134,630 residents comes in at $1,958 per person.

TURN OFF THE LIGHTS AND LOCK THE DOORS WHEN YOU LEAVE: If you’re one of Bank of America’s last customers, take note and heed. No, it’s not the fact that Bank of America recently secretly moved $57-75 trillion dollars (yes, that’s right; trillion with a T) of unknown derivatives to an FDIC-insured umbrella account that some say is preparing itself for bankruptcy, nor that the Federal Reserve Bank gave it and other institutions an equally secret $7.7 trillion dollar rescue and bailout coming to light, or that it’s just been hit with downgrades by the two major rating companies and also under investigation for illegally foreclosing on homes and using deceptive loan practices. If that isn’t enough of a warning in itself, it’s the fact that Bank of America’s stock is tanking big time. Currently around $5.53 a share (down 62% from the beginning of the year), experts believe it can’t go much lower without the institution going belly up. Corporate bonuses for such spectacular failure will be announced later– when the final figures for financial institutions are released– and before the projected layoff of 30,000 BofA employees. Our local branch of Bank of America is perilously close to going the way of the Dodo—or Mervyn’s, Hometown Buffet, Borders, Evergreen, the Eureka Reporter, and the Humboldt Beacon and the Times-Standard’s Monday edition.

POT PROMOTIONALS AND OTHER MERCHANDISE FOR SALE: Despite the economic downturn, there is a bright outdoor light of opportunity shining for some. If you haven’t taken the humorously crass capitalistic tour of Jorge’s Garden ‘O Humboldt Eden yet, you still can at Kym’s place. No doubt personal tours will be in the works shortly. Don’t forget to buy a T-shirt or mug at the gift shop on your way out.

THE PERFECT LOCO TRIFECTA? Lost Coast Communications media mogul Patrick Cleary, Lost Coast Outpost Hank Sims, and the ginger Redheaded Blackbelt Kym Kemp have joined forces. The fate of the Humboldt world hangs in their balance.

FAVORITE QUOTE OF THE WEEK LEST WE FORGET: “The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. We have the right to assemble, and we have the right to question our government! Nobody has the right to pepper spray peaceful, albeit obnoxious, protesters… GOT IT?” (~Ernie Branscomb)

HUMBOLDT EVENTS AND HAPPENINGS:

A NICE LINEUP THIS WEEKEND and a little something for everyone, musically speaking, with Hawaii’s ukulele-stretching Jake Shimabukuro on Friday, Grateful Dead’s Mickey Hart on Saturday, locals Devin the Dude and Ishi Dube Saturday, 7 man swing and jazz band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy playing Sunday, and Humboldt’s beloved Huckleberry Flint set for Wednesday.

OR get outdoors in the rain or shine with the Arcata Marsh and Lanphere Dune walks and the Audubon King Salmon and Arcata bird outings listed in the Saturday calendar below, or take in the 22nd annual Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park candlelight walk.

HUMBOLDT’S infamous Impropriety Society is having their last-of-the-year-bash. Don’t know who the Imps are? Oh my. How does one explain this? Let’s put it this way: some things are best left unsaid and don’t look here and certainly don’t look here, either. We warned you, even if you are curiously aware.

…AND the Eureka Inn is scheduled to have their traditionally glittering Christmas Tree decorated and lit– delighting all on Saturday, too.

THE WEEKEND CALENDAR:

Friday, December 2

Saturday, December 3

Sunday, December 4

Key positions remain unfilled across County after uncontested elections

By Charles Douglas
Humboldt Sentinel

Special districts across Humboldt County are looking for volunteers to guide their ongoing governance.

Though several local races attracted the turnout of anywhere from a fifth to more than half of registered voters in various communities, voters in many special districts lacked not only choices on the ballot, but even a single volunteer willing to serve.

The problem is especially acute in Southern Humboldt, where 9 positions on the boards of six special districts went without anyone filing to fill them in the 2011 election round.

“I realize there’s a little homework to do there…particularly in my district,” Second District Supervisor Clif Clendenen said.

Oddly, the attached report provided to Supervisors also listed the Ferndale Fire Protection District as part of Clendenen’s jurisdiction — Ferndale itself is firmly within the First District represented by Jimmy Smith.

In certifying the appointment of 51 local residents who filed to run for offices for which they had no competitors, the Board of Supervisors last week acknowledged their dedication to serve in many unsung positions.

Most notably, the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District saw the defacto re-election of fisheries biologist Pat Higgins to a second four-year term from the northerly Fifth District, along with the automatic succession of Aaron Newman in the First District and Phillip Dale in the Second District to fill seats held by retiring commissioners Ronnie Pellegrini and Roy Curless, respectively.

At the behest of Registrar of Voters Carolyn Crnich, 24 other applicants whose names were forwarded by 14 various community services, fire, water and conservation districts were also appointed.

“Being a boardmember at this point in time in our current economic situation means that you are the ones, they are the ones who have taken the responsibility of making very difficult decisions for their communities,” Crnich said.

She also noted that some of the very small districts save a significant portion of their equally tiny budgets by not having to pay her office to run their election.

Most rudderless at present is the aforementioned Ferndale Fire, where three of the five seats are going unfilled, the same situation faced by the Alderpoint County Water District. Telegraph Ridge Fire Protection is missing two directors, with other Southern Humboldt communities represented by Briceland Community Services District, Redway Community Services District, Myers Flat Fire Protection District and Garberville Sanitary District all have an empty seat on their boards.

On the other side of the county in the Fifth District, the Blue Lake Fire Protection District and the Big Lagoon Community Services District are each short a director, as is the Kneeland Fire Protection District in the center of the county.

Billboard and gravel mine issues back up at bat

Staff Report
Humboldt Sentinel

The Humboldt County Planning Commission could be looking at new leadership in 2012 as its final permits hearing of the year approaches on Thursday.

Mary Gearheart, who took over the Chair position from Jeffrey C. Smith upon his retirement from the commission late last year, will quite possibly face a challenger — since three of the seven commissioners only joined up this year. While neither Linda Disiere, Susan Masten or David Edmonds have publicly announced their intentions, the three have formed a pro-developer voting block on several key issues in the General Plan update process.

The Vice Chair spot will also be up for a vote — this position has been held for the last year by former Coastal Commission staff attorney Ralph Faust of Arcata, the most vocal advocate of environmentally-minded planning decisions on the commission.

Two contentious issues will also get a re-hearing by the Planning Commission on Dec. 1. The proposal to re-build two billboards on Highway 101 south of Fortuna by Stott Outdoor Advertising will get a re-hash due to a case of procedural confusion by the Planning Commission. A rare tie vote on Oct. 6, created by the absence of three commissioners, resulted in a defacto denial of their permit that didn’t specify the reasons for commissioners to reject the application. Some commissioners were dead-set against allowing billboards on what they described as a scenic highway, while others noted the requests of businesses such as Eel River Brewing Company for the restoration of the advertising signs they previously purchased the use of.

The case of Eureka Ready Mix’s application to continue using the Hauck Gravel Bar on the Eel River to mine gravel is also back up for another chew. While the operations of the mine didn’t attract public scorn at the prior Planning Commission hearing, river access, or the lack thereof, by local fishermen and ecotourists alike spurred the concern of commissioners.

The Planning Commission hearing will start at 6 p.m. at the Board of Supervisors Chambers in the Humboldt County Courthouse. For more information, visit http://co.humboldt.ca.us/planning/commission/.

Assault on UC Davis ‘Occupy’ protesters calls on-campus policing into question

By Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel

THE SITUATION
The video footage of Lt. John Pike clad in riot gear casually spraying pepper spray at the heads of student UC Davis Occupy protesters sitting peacefully on the ground has sparked national outrage since it began circulating online last week, having nearly 2 million YouTube hits since Friday. Students gathered on campus for a second time on Tuesday to condemn the violence, urging university officials to require police to attend sensitivity training, seek more student representation, and review policies concerning student protests. The student government passed a resolution calling on the State Attorney General’s Office to investigate campus police misconduct.

As the controversy over the spraying incident grows and with the video having gone viral, images of the UCPD officer involved, Lieutenant John Pike, have become the subject of popular websites featuring his picture superimposed on famous paintings and pepper spraying famous figures from Gandhi to John F. Kennedy to actress Julie Andrews. Over the weekend, the hacker group Anonymous, which is affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement, posted on its website Pike’s phone number and personal details about his home residence.

On Tuesday, about 50 tents formed an encampment on the campus site where the pepper-spraying happened as students went to class. University of California Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi showed up unexpectedly and asked to address students and occupiers during their general assembly meeting but left after waiting 30 minutes for an opportunity to speak.

Lt. John Pike

THE OFFICER

Lt. John Pike, another officer, and the campus police chief have been placed on paid administrative leave following the pepper spray incident and the resulting public outcry. Pike is a retired 39 year-old Marine sergeant who has been honored twice for his campus police work but also figured prominently in a discrimination lawsuit against the university. Rising swiftly through the ranks of the UC Davis police force over the last decades, he is one of four lieutenants on the campus supervising more a third of the sworn officers. He reportedly earns more than $110,000 per year in salary.

In 2003, two years after joining the campus police force, Pike received a meritorious service award for using his patrol car to bump a suspect’s vehicle onto a local highway ramp and stopping the man from driving the wrong way. In 2006, he tackled a scissor-wielding hospital patient threatening fellow officers. Pike saw the scissors-wielding patient try to assault an officer and landed “a body block, powering his left shoulder” into her. He decided against using pepper spray because it might harm his colleagues or other hospital patients, he said afterwards. “You’ve got all these tools on your belt but sometimes they’re not the best tools,” Pike said at the time.

An alleged anti-gay slur by Pike in 2008 resulted in a racial and sexual discrimination lawsuit filed by a former police officer against the department, ending in a $240,000 settlement. Officer Calvin Chang’s 2003 discrimination complaint against the university’s police chief and the UC Board of Regents claimed he was systematically ‘marginalized’ as the result of anti-gay and racist attitudes on the force. Chang specifically alleged Pike used profane anti-gay slurs describing him.

Pike has made no comment on the pepper spray situation and it is unknown whether he has retained legal counsel regarding the matter.

THE CHANCELLOR

UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi, center, is escorted to her car after addressing Occupy demonstrators on Monday.

“I explicitly directed the chief of police that violence should be avoided at all costs. It was the absolute last thing I ever wanted to happen,” UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi said during a town hall meeting Tuesday night.

She told an auditorium filled with more than 1,000 students that she asked police to remove tents from the university’s quad but did not direct them to forcibly remove the demonstrators, stressing that students have a right to demonstrate peacefully. “Because encampments have long been prohibited by UC policy, I directed police only to take down the tents,” she said. “My instructions were for no arrests and no police force.”

Katehi has asked the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office to investigate. Yolo County Chief Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Raven confirmed Tuesday that his department will look into the matter.

Both the UC Davis English and Physics Departments have called for Katehi’s immediate resignation expressing the “lack of confidence and leadership over the outrageous, unnecessary, and brutal pepper spraying episode on Friday, November 18.”

THE FOLLOW UP
State lawmakers announced Tuesday they would hold a hearing on the pepper-spraying incident. California Assembly Speaker John Perez sent a letter to the University of California Board of Regents chairwoman Sherry Lansing and UC President Mark Yudof asking for a system-wide investigation.

Yudof later announced he had appointed former Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton to review the UC Davis incident and provide an independent, unvarnished report about what happened in 30 days. He also appointed the university’s general counsel and the UC Berkeley law school dean to examine police protocols and policies at all 10 UC campuses, including discussions with students, faculty and staff.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris was reportedly deeply disturbed by the videos of the incident, according to spokeswoman Lynda Gledhill on Tuesday. “She’s confident they will conduct a quick and thorough investigation of the matter,” Gledhill said.

Student government leaders on campus condemned the use of pepper spray on student protesters and called for Katehi to resign if she fails to enact reforms.

“Major reforms are needed because regardless of whoever is fired or resigns, it won’t mean anything if we don’t change policy and the way our institutions are run,” Adam Thongsavat, president of the Associated Students of the University of California, Davis, said in an interview. “That’s what’s going to affect students and campus policy and bring awareness.”

Dieter Dammeier, an Upland lawyer for the Federated University Police Officers Association representing the union of UC Davis officers, said the policies and procedures issued by the department includes the use of pepper spray. “The officers were doing simply what they were instructed to do by upper management there,” Dammeier said, referring to the police operation plans. “So the officers are getting beat up pretty good out there, but they were simply doing what they were instructed to do.”

Jeff Kravitz, a constitutional rights attorney, disagreed. Kravitz sent a letter to Governor Jerry Brown and Attorney General Kamala Harris urging either the immediate arrest of the officers involved or bringing the matter before a Grand Jury for violation of federal and state laws.

“Physical attacks on persons violate California Penal Code 242 (Battery) and such violence perpetrated by those in uniform is a criminal violation of Federal civil rights law 18 USC 242. It is imperative that proper action be taken by the County, State and Federal authorities. Leaving the matter solely in the hands of the University is not a reasonable option,” Kravitz said.

THE VIDEO FOOTAGE, IN THE RARE CHANCE YOU MISSED IT

THE PHOTOSHOPPED MEME
Can be found here.

LOCAL BLOGS SPOT ON TOPIC
Fred’s Blog
Redheaded Blackbelt
Sohum Parlance II
Humboldt Herald
Ernie’s blog
Early Morning Fog, Partial Clearing

(Information for this article was sourced from the IndyBay.org news, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Sacramento Bee, the Associated Press, YouTube, and the local Humboldt blogosphere.)