The Arcata City Council passed a resolution last night condemning the ongoing war in Iran and demanding its end.
The resolution points out the high cost of the war (almost $1 billion daily), the likelihood of significant, deadly escalation, and the potential illegality of the attacks as reasons they oppose it. It asks that the U.S. end the attacks, stops supplying weapons to Israel, that Congress invokes the War Powers Act, and that normal diplomatic negotiations resume immediately with Iran.
Councilmember Sarah Schaefer suggested the idea, she said, with councilmember Meredith Matthews’ support. Neither of them was under any illusions about Arcata affecting the war’s course at all (Matthews said she wasn’t expecting to wake up tomorrow and see Arcata credited with ending the war), but they said it felt important to speak out. The council had been buffeted by requests from community members to put a resolution on the Iran war on the agenda, and to do so quickly.
“Do I think this is going to end any war?” Schaefer asked. “No. I don’t believe that. This is largely, in my opinion, a performative action, but I think performative actions like this are important because it provides a temperature check for the public and for us on where we stand on these issues that are gravely important to people.”
“I also think that it is a local issue,” she continued. “As we’re seeing our government pulling away all our grant money for different projects, as people are losing health care and benefits are being taken away from people, we’re still spending billions and billions of dollars on what is not even now called our defense budget; it is our Department of War’s budget, and it is a war budget…Rising militarism is a key sign of a slide into fascism, and we are doing it constantly.”
Schaefer credited former Arcata mayor Dave Meserve with helping her with the resolution’s draft. In the early 2000s, Meserve attracted the attention of the national media by backing a city council resolution calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and an end to the war in Iraq.
“War is always wrong, as far as I’m concerned,” Meserve said during the public comment period at last night’s meeting. “But when you have a totally unprovoked attack, with no real threat against the United States from Iran, and in total violation of the UN charter, of all international law, and of the U.S. Constitution because it was never considered by Congress — then there’s just no way this war can go on.”
Dave Meserve speaks at the council meeting. Tamar Krigel waits in the background. Screenshot.
Most of the dozen commenters were in favor of the resolution’s passage, though there were a few that called it “antisemitic.”
“I do not support war,” local pro-Israel activist Tamar Krigel said. “I believe that conflict is not resolved through violence, but through agreement, dialogue, and peaceful solutions. But I will not accept a resolution that describes division and misinformation as a call for peace. The resolution is not a natural or thoughtful statement. It is a politically motivated document, driven by individuals who present themselves as advocates for peace, but whose actions consistently tell a different story.”
“I’ve heard a couple people say, already, ‘Oh, this war is funding Israel’s genocide,’” a Zoom commenter said. “This is just a foil for people to slander the Jews.”
On
Mar. 18, 2026, as a part of the ongoing Hoopa murder investigation,
the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Division obtained
arrest warrants for two male juveniles from Hoopa.
At
approximately 3:55 p.m., the two male juveniles, ages 13 and 15 were
surrendered by a parent to deputies at the Humboldt County Sheriff’s
Office Willow Creek Station on outstanding arrest warrants.
Following
their surrender, both juveniles were taken into custody without
incident and transported to Juvenile Hall, where they were booked on
the following charge:
PC
186.22(a)-Participation in a criminal street gang
This
remains an active investigation, and no further information will be
released at this time.
Anyone
with any information about this case is urged to contact the Humboldt
County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Division at (707) 445-7251 or
the Sheriff’s Office Tip Line at (707) 268-2539.
A Fresno resident uses an umbrella to shield herself from the sun on Aug. 30, 2022, as a heat wave descended over California. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local
In southwest Santa Rosa teenagers skip sports practices to avoid getting burned by the hot turf. Some will end up at the air conditioned mall. In southeast Los Angeles County people wait at unshaded bus stops, covering their faces with umbrellas and bags.
Temperatures topped 100 degrees in some parts of the state this week — and it’s only March.
Heat doesn’t just disrupt people’s days. It’s dangerous, even fatal.
California leaders have known about the danger of extreme heat for decades, and the state has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on plans to address it. But these plans require little or nothing from state agencies or local governments, and experts say the result is a patchwork response that is leaving the most vulnerable Californians behind.
The state has made real progress: more messaging and education campaigns, more data and tools to assess the hazard of heat, and targeted grants to local communities. But without a mandate to act, which communities are protected depends on local budgets and political will.
The state’s response remains largely organized around emergency management — mobilizing resources during crises rather than treating heat as the ongoing public health threat that researchers say it is. As climate change drives longer and stronger heat waves beyond the summer season, experts say heat must become a mainstream piece of public health work, with a focus on prevention.
That’s hard to do. Public health departments are often stretched thin – required to respond to competing emergencies, outbreaks and other surveillance work – while facing funding uncertainties.Dr. David Eisenman, a professor at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, said too much heat response work is run by emergency management. “This is really a well-known public health emergency that should be thought of under public health, and they should be the prime movers on this.”
A patchwork response
Responding to extreme heat requires coordination across multiple levels of government – pulling together state and local emergency services, planning departments and public health. California has a state blueprint, and cities and counties also have plans. But it’s not clear whether any of them are making a big difference for people feeling the burden of heat.
“How we prepare for both more extreme heat and chronically higher everyday temperatures is a test of how we protect health, equity, and community in a warming world,” said Ali Frazzini, a policy director for Los Angeles County’s sustainability office.
The human cost of the gap is already visible. For every 100,000 residents, 14.4 people visited the emergency room in 2023 for heat-related illness. The state reported 460 deaths linked to extreme heat between 2013 to 2022, although researchers say there are also the deaths that are attributed to other underlying conditions but that may have been exacerbated by heat.
A state analysis of one of the most dangerous heat waves in recent years – in September of 2022 – showed a 5% increase in overall deaths during that 10-day period, or 395 more deaths than expected.
Katherine Pocock, a physician assistant and researcher with Healthcare in Action said heat waves add another layer to the many struggles unhoused people already face. During heat waves in Boyle Heights, near downtown, she would make street medicine rounds. When she came across people clearly struggling with an altered state of mind, she would have to figure out if it was a consequence of heat or substance use.
What homeless patients need most is simple: water and ice.
“A lot of conversations so far have been around frameworks and strategies,” Pocock said. But she wants actionable steps. “What do I need to do to really be prepared to help support folks?”
Street medicine providers say they have to fundraise privately to buy patients water.
Hundreds of millions, no mandate
In 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a commitment to spend $800 million to support programs that protect people from heat along with the state’s overarching heat action plan. The state clawed back part of that, and a large portion of what remains – $351 million – is tied to a 2024 climate bond that hasn’t been fully spent.
The California Natural Resources Agency, the Strategic Growth Council and the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation distribute one-time funding to nonprofits and local governments as small one-time grants for projects that align with the state’s four goals: building public awareness, strengthening community services, improving indoor infrastructure and using nature-based solutions to reduce risks outdoors.
This year, the governor has proposed another $241 million in spending from the bond for heat programs, including $50 million for local heat action plans, $700,000 for green space and $55 million for community resilience centers.
The state points to tangible progress toward its heat response – updated building codes, a real-time dashboard showing community vulnerability and cooling centers, and a second iteration of its plan is in development.
But the limits of that progress are evident in the details. One law passed last year enshrined into state law residents’ right to a cool living space. But while the state Housing and Community Development Department recommended the state set a maximum indoor temperature standard of 82 degrees for all homes, the law set no requirements for landlords to keep their tenants cool.
The state’s plan doesn’t direct local governments on specific action because every region has unique challenges. Amanda Hansen, deputy secretary for climate change with the state Natural Resources Agency, said that’s by design.
“I don’t think that the state would ever put forward ‘this is what all local extreme heat action plans should look like or should contain,’ because it’s going to be really different depending on their needs and their challenges,” Hansen said.
Local organizers say they appreciate the state’s financial support, but they want something more lasting. The grants the state distributes – for hydration stations, building shade structures and promoting heat safety education to outdoor workers – help, but they aren’t guidance to local governments or a statewide strategy.
“If we’re really going to protect our communities from the rising threat of heat, we need to come up with an integrated model,” said Enrique Huerta of Climate Resolve, a group that is working alongside Los Angeles County in one of the state-funded projects.
Counties and cities don’t just need some guidance, says Agustin Cabrera, Deputy Director of Programs and Policy for the nonprofit Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education. They need funding.
“Not all of them are resourced enough to develop a heat action plan,” he said.
Local governments fill the void
Local governments are stepping up on heat resilience, but uncertain state and federal support constrain even the most committed cities and counties.
Los Angeles County has gone further than most. It has approved a policy to require that landlords maintain homes in unincorporated areas at or below 82 degrees starting in 2027 – which goes a step further than the state. As part of its heat action plan published recently, county officials are also surveying nonprofits about serving as cooling centers and helping cities develop their own cool housing policies.
The city of Los Angeles is exploring a similar policy. But its budget problems are undermining its ambitions. Mayor Karen Bass recently proposed cutting the city’s Office of Climate Emergency Mobilization, led by the first chief heat officer in the city, Marta Segura. Segura’s office received $750,000 from the state to develop a heat action plan. Advocates pushed back, and the city changed course, but Segura’s role was ultimately moved to the city’s Emergency Management Department.
Some communities with longer experience managing extreme heat have developed more robust systems. Fresno makes public transit free during heat waves, removing a barrier for residents who need to reach cooling centers. The county also coordinates with social service providers to reach vulnerable clients — including people with disabilities — when temperatures spike.
Heat doesn’t have a home
The structural problem, researchers say, is that no one single agency owns the issue – and that’s true around the country.
In Arizona, Maricopa County and Phoenix treat heat as a seasonal chronic health hazard, and the state has a heat officer – located in the health services department. In New Jersey, the state resilience officer handles heat as a health problem – within its environment department. And while the city of Miami has a heat officer, the state of Florida has banned cities and counties from establishing heat protections for workers.
In California, the state Department of Public Health collects data and offers guidance to counties and cities, but hands out no funding for the extreme heat action plan.
Local public health departments have largely focused on managing heat crises — surveillance systems, advisories, educational campaigns — rather than building long-term resilience. That’s left to land use and urban planning departments.
“Very, very few public health departments are engaged in more long term resilience, sustainability efforts,” said Kelly Turner, Associate Director at the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation. WIth tight budgets and competing demands that’s unlikely to change on its own.
According to a national survey of public health professionals last month, extreme heat is a growing concern – but states are generally unprepared or underresourced to address its threats. More than half of local public health associations said barriers to addressing heat included a lack of understanding of heat-related solutions, competing priorities and funding.
“It’s not like the Department of Heat, right?” said Turner. “Heat doesn’t have a home.”
###
Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.
Pamm C. Johnson December 26, 1949 to March 1, 2026
Pamm
was born in Eureka and spent most of her life in Eureka. Pamm
attended local schools and graduated from Eureka High School.
After
graduation, Pamm worked at various jobs, including at the Humboldt Del Norte
Foundation for Medical Care for 12 years. Pamm then worked
at Bettendorf Trucking until she retired on December 31, 2025. Pamm really enjoyed working with the drivers and division managers.
Pamm
met Ken Johnson on a blind date and they were married on September
26, 1970. Their son Scott was born four years later. Pamm and
Ken lived in Eureka until 1996, then moved to their dream property on
Kneeland.
Pamm
was preceded in death by her parents, Jack & Carmine Benjamin,
her son Scott Johnson and sister Janet Carvelho.
Pamm
is survived by her husband Ken, grandson Austin and daughter-in-law
Lisa Johnson, as well as several nieces and nephews.
The
family would like to thank the nursing staff at St. Joseph
Hospital in Eureka for keeping Pamm comfortable and free of pain in
her final days.
At
Pamm’s request, there will be no funeral services.
A celebration of life will be held at Old Growth Cellars located at
1945 Hilfiker Lane, Eureka, on Sunday April 12, 2026 from 1 p.m. to
4 p.m.
###
The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Pamm Johnson’s family. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.
Where should Humboldt County plan to put more low-income housing? If your answer was “nowhere,” sorry. Not an option. For more than 50 years now the State of California has required all local jurisdictions (cities and counties) to plan for the housing needs of everyone in the community.
It works like this: The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) decides how much housing, at a variety of affordability levels, is needed for each region in the state. Regional governments — in our case, the Humboldt County Association of Governments (HCAOG) — then develop a methodology to allocate those housing units among the various local jurisdictions.
This process, known as the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA), happens on an eight-year cycle, and our local turn has arrived again. For Cycle 7, which covers the period of 2027-2035, the state ordered Humboldt County governments to plan for 5,962 new housing units across all income levels.
The process for accomplishing this chore fairly has gotten increasingly complex over the years as the state keeps adding new statutory objectives. Cycle 7, for example, requires regional governments to factor in “opportunity scores,” a data-driven metric designed to measure access to such resources as education, jobs and reduced pollution.
After accounting for these and many other factors, HCAOG staff came up with a plan, and in December its board of directors adopted a final draft of its allocation methodology. In other words, the board figured out how it should divide the region’s housing allocation among the local jurisdictions, and HCD signed off on the plan.
But local jurisdictions were given the opportunity to appeal. Each of them was fine with the plan except for Eureka, which has been directed to plan for 1,740 new housing units, including 967 units for low-income residents. In January, the city council agreed that this allocation would saddle the county seat with too big a share of the region’s low-income housing units.
Councilmember Renee Contreras-DeLoach said it “feels weird” to “shove people into one spot,” even if it’s under the guise of improving access to opportunities.
The city’s development services director, Cristin Kenyon, explained that Eureka residents’ relatively short work commutes likely played a factor. The city has the lowest average work-based vehicle miles traveled (VMT) of any local jurisdiction, so from the state’s perspective it makes sense to put more low-income housing there.
“[L]iving in a place where you can access your job without a car is helpful if you’re living in poverty,” she said. “It’s part of having access to opportunity. I mean, if you’re going to concentrate poverty anywhere, you would want to do it in an urban area with transit — but I would rather us not concentrate poverty, period.”
Tomorrow afternoon, the HCAOG board will hold a public hearing to consider that appeal.
“This is kind of a novel process for us to be working through here at HCAOG,” Executive Director Brendan Byrd said when reached by phone this morning.
A staff report prepared for Thursday’s appeal hearing takes a deep dive into the data that informed HCAOG’s allocation methodology, complete with graphs showing how high- and low-income housing gets distributed in the plan as well as the existing high- and low-income housing stock in each jurisdiction and more.
The report does not take a position on Eureka’s appeal, and Byrd said that’s intentional.
“The intent is to be thoughtful and put objective information forward as best we can get it,” he said. Thursday’s hearing represents “the public’s opportunity to comment, the board’s opportunity to consider the information and Eureka’s opportunity to present their case for an appeal. … From my mind, we’re talking about an objective measurement, and there are other pieces in the process that we as staff feel should happen before we say, ‘This is what we think.’”
Eureka’s appeal letter argues that HCAOG gave too much weight to the city’s short average work commute. It doesn’t challenge the total number of housing units assigned to the city; rather, it says Eureka was improperly assigned a higher share of below-moderate-income housing despite having a lower opportunity than other county jurisdictions.
“In this context, further reducing the proportion of Moderate and Above-Moderate housing assigned to Eureka risks reinforcing income imbalance rather than promoting a more integrated and economically diverse housing stock,” the appeal letter argues.
The appeal letter doesn’t get specific about how Eureka’s RHNA should be adjusted; it just asks the HCAOG board for a “rebalancing.”
HCAOG’s eight-member board of directors includes the mayors of Eureka, Arcata, Fortuna, Blue Lake and Trinidad, one councilmember apiece from Rio Dell and Ferndale and, representing the county, Supervisor Steve Madrone.
After considering Eureka’s appeal and public feedback at tomorrow’s meeting, the board will have 45 days to issue a certified written decision accepting, rejecting or modifying the appeal. Since the board meets monthly, that means it will have to make that decision before its April 16 meeting, Byrd explained.
“The point here is to provide the data from an objective perspective,” he said about tomorrow’s hearing. “Then the board can consider that and provide their direction.”
The meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, will be held in the council chamber at Eureka City Hall, 531 K Street. You can find a Zoom link and links to all of the relevant documents on HCAOG’s website.
A local individual is currently in an out-of-area ICU suffering from amatoxin poisoning after consuming mushrooms foraged by a friend in Humboldt County. While details are very limited, it appears that the individual who picked the mushrooms was an experienced forager who shared the mushrooms with the now sick individual and possibly other friends on Friday, March 13.
The individual consumed the mushrooms on Friday and went to a local emergency department Saturday after feeling sick. They have since been transferred to an out-of-area hospital. The individual has been too ill to provide any additional information about who they received the mushrooms from. While the type of mushroom has not been verified, health officials believe it is likely a Death Cap.
In December, the California Department of Public Health issued an alert after 21 cases of amatoxin poisoning were identified by the California Poison Control System. Although significant clusters were reported in the Monterey and San Francisco Bay areas, officials warned the risk could be statewide. As of February, confirmed cases had resulted in severe liver damage in both pediatric and adult patients, including four deaths.
Anyone with information about the current incident, should contact the Humboldt County Department of Health & Human Services Public Health Branch at 707-268-2182.
If you have consumed foraged mushrooms in the last week:
Symptoms of mushroom poisoning
Symptoms may not appear until 6 to 24 hours after eating a poisonous mushroom.
Mild symptoms (even mild nausea) can be the beginning of a more severe reaction. Sometimes early symptoms go away within a day, but serious to fatal liver damage can still develop within 2 to 3 days.
Seek help immediately, if you or someone you know has eaten a poisonous mushroom. Do not wait for symptoms to appear. Treatment is more difficult once symptoms start.
Common early symptoms include (but are not limited to):
Stomach pain
Cramping
Diarrhea
Nausea
Vomiting
Drop in blood pressure
Fatigue
Confusion
Mushroom poisoning can lead to serious complications, including:
Liver damage (sometimes leading to the need for a liver transplant)
Kidney damage
Hallucinations and euphoria
Seizures
Death
What to do if you may have eaten a poisonous mushroom:
Immediately seek medical care and call the California Poison Control Hotline at 1-800-222-1222 if you or someone you know may have eaten a poisonous mushroom. The hotline can tell you exactly what to do in the case of a mushroom poisoning. They also provide guidance to medical providers to help ensure proper care. The hotline is free and operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, in over 200 languages.
When you go to the hospital take any of the uneaten mushroom with you if you can. Experts can identify the mushroom, which can help with your medical care. To preserve the mushroom, place it in a paper bag or waxed paper (not plastic) and refrigerate. If you don’t have the mushroom, photos of the mushroom (including its cap, stem and underside) can be helpful.
The arraignment for new murder charges against two Hoopa teens for the death of 17-year-old Dylan Moon was continued to Friday.
Codefendants Tse-Lin Lincoln and William Warren each face six felony counts, including gang-related enhancements and attempted murder charges.
The District Attorney’s Office filed additional murder charges this week following Moon’s death from injuries sustained in the March 10 shooting, where he was shot in the head.
Lincoln and Warren each pleaded not guilty to the charges in the original complaint — they have yet to formally hear the new murder charges in court or enter a plea, something expected later this week.
The arraignment Wednesday morning was continued because an attorney appointed to represent Lincoln had only just met his client, shackled and in an orange jumpsuit in court.
Attorney Ken Bareilles, appointed after a conflict was declared by the Public Defender’s Office, asked for the arraignment to be delayed two days. Prosecutor Deputy District Attorney Roger Rees was agreeable to the request.
Judge Steven Steward pointed out Bareilles had just shaken his client’s hand for the first time that morning, and in light of this fact, set the case to proceed on Friday.
The arraignment will be held March 20 at 8:30 a.m..
The third suspect arrested, 15-year-old Preston Ruiz II, was previously booked into juvenile hall — these proceedings are confidential.
The Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate the shooting.
