The US National Weather Service–(Have you liked them on Facebook yet? You should.)—is reporting a record low in Eureka today of 28° which beats the previous low of 31° set in 1994. 

Crescent City also sets a new low for today by dropping to 30° which surpassed the old record of 31° set in 1948!

And tomorrow is supposed to be colder!

Previously:

• Brrrr! Temperatures Drop Across the County

Today on KHUM’s Coastal Currents, Jessica Hall of Humboldt Baykeeper introduces you to a regular guy whose moral compass points to Arcata’s lowlands.

It also led him to smash up three abandoned cars with a sledgehammer. “But that’s nothing compared to player pianos and walk-in safes and the other stuff,” he told KHUM today.

Of that list above, Fish and Game (now Fish and Wildlife) made only one arrest, said Halstead. (He explains at 8:19 below.)

Hear today’s Coastal Currents:

CoastalCurrentsAudio

For almost two decades, Ted Halstead has been removing garbage from the slough on the north side of Arcata bay. A lot of garbage. And with today’s King Tide (read: extra high tide, see photo below), a lot of that would’ve been swept out into the bay. 

Halstead’s impact extends well beyond general decency. “I don’t think people realize how incredibly abundant these sloughs really are, and how critical they are to the fisheries industry here,” said Hall. 

“If you’re a fan of salmon, halibut, the herring, the sardines, the baitfish, [a clean slough] is critical to being able to have those things,” added Halstead.

He noted that at the peak of juvenile dungeness crab season, he observed about 1,500 crabs per hour making their way out to the bay.

Halstead’s mild-mannered crusade has been documented thoroughly by the Arcata Eye and the Mad River Union. Check those links for more photos. 

Graphic from the Facebook event page.

Will the southern half of Humboldt still have services for women facing deliveries? A meeting tomorrow will help determine the fate of obstetrics for much of the county.

“We, as a community, hope to have our voices heard by St. Joes’ Board of Trustees who, as we understand, are considering closing the obstetrics unit [in Fortuna],” explained Rod Allen, Board Chairman for the Fortuna Chamber of Congress.

Redwood Memorial in Fortuna and St. Joseph’s in Eureka are operated by the same organization. The organization is considering closing the obstetrics unit in Fortuna.

“We’re looking at several options,” noted St. Joseph’s Health spokesperson, Leslie Broomall. “This one seems to be the one that keeps coming to the forefront.” The organization is also looking at several other options that might include having a main obstetrics unit in Eureka and some sort of smaller unit in Fortuna. Another option, Broomall said might be to close the Eureka unit and keep Fortuna’s site open. 

The problem, Broomall explained, is that “we need more OB/GYN’s.” There are very few in the county and many of them are nearing retirement age. Broomall says that it is challenging to recruit OB/GYN’s to the area. Recruiting for two programs is even more difficult.

Though the number of births has been dropping in the county, the number of OB/GYN’s to serve pregnant women is critically low. “It is not just a Eureka/Fortuna problem; it affects the whole county,” Broomall said. There will be no obstetrics program south of Eureka.

A community meeting is being held tomorrow at 12 noon at the Riverlodge in Fortuna to discuss the situation. “It will be our chance to say, ‘Look, this is why we are opposed to closing this program,’” Allen noted. “We have a number of concerns here in Fortuna. For one thing job loss…But we feel that people all over the Southern part of the county will be ill served by having to go…through Eureka to St. Joe’s to have babies.”

There is an online petition with more than a 1000 signatures about the possible closure here. 

UPDATE 10:55 A.M.: Arcata Police Dept. Press Release:

“Last night, detectives from the Arcata Police Department arrested three people in connection with the November 25 stabbing death of Douglas Anderson-Jordet,” said Arcata Police Chief Tom Chapman. 24-year-old Sophie Buttercup Rocheleau of Arcata, 28-year-old Nicholas Benjamin Stoiber of Arcata, and 35-year-old Juan Joseph Ferrer of Arcata were taken into custody without incident. All three were booked into the Humboldt County Jail on charges of Homicide. 

On November 25, 2013, at approximately 1:25 a.m., the APD responded to the report of a man down at the intersection of 12th and H Streets.  50-year-old Douglas Anderson-Jordet of Arcata, was found unresponsive and was transported to the Mad River Community Hospital where he was pronounced dead.  An autopsy performed on November 30, showed Anderson-Jordet had died from a single stab wound to his heart.

“Our preliminary investigation indicates the three suspects encountered Mr. Anderson-Jordet shortly before he was stabbed. It appears Mr. Anderson-Jordet was beaten and then stabbed by his attackers,” according to Chief Chapman. “We are continuing the investigation and are still asking for help from the public,” said Chapman.

Please contact the Arcata Police Department at 822-2428.

# # #

Promo photo from the band Komatose showing singer Nick Stoiber.

Original Post: Report compiled with assistance from LoCO reporter Andrew Goff and LoCO commenter, Coreopsis.

Humboldt County arrest records (see Booked) show two people were taken into custody last night for a PC187(a)—murder.  The first booked is Nicholas Benjamin Stoiber also known as Nick Stoiber, a bass player in the local band Komatose.

The second arrested was Sophie Buttercup Rocheleau whose Facebook page says she is from Arcata but attended Eureka High.

LoCO has a request into the Arcata Police Department for more information on who the alleged victim was and how the alleged incident occurred.

PREVIOUSLY: Man Stabbed to Death in Downtown Arcata

Thanks to a LoCO reader Ryan Shepherd for providing the photos.

Thanks to the passerby and to the firefighters!

Humboldt Bay Fire Press Release:

At 11:23 pm on 12-3-2013, Humboldt Bay Fire was dispatched to a residential structure fire at 2807 R Street.  Humboldt Bay responded with three engines, one ladder truck, and two Chief Officers.

The first arriving Battalion Chief reported a single story residence with fire showing from the garage. Fire crew initiated fire attack from the interior of the structure and discovered that the fire had extended into the attic of the structure. The attic had significant fire involvement due to an access hatch in the garage being open allowing the fire in the garage to extend unimpeded into the attic. The attic also contained a significant fire load which hampered the firefighting efforts.

The fire itself took approximately one hour to control, while overhaul of the fire took another two and a half hours.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

One elderly male occupant was home at the time of the fire. He suffered smoke inhalation and was transported by ambulance to St. Joseph’s Hospital where he was treated and released. The occupant was rescued by a passerby on his way to work who initially saw the smoke and located the fire. After alerting neighbors, the passerby entered the uninvolved, but smoky, portion of the residence and led the occupant to safety prior to arrival of fire units.

The National Weather Service is anticipating temperatures dropping into the teens across the interior of Humboldt County tonight and tomorrow with some places plunging into the single digits. “Local areas of black ice” are also possible on roadways, the service predicts.

Record or near record low temperature is forecast for Eureka and other coastal areas as well with Thursday being the coldest day. If the weather continues as expected, Eureka could break the previous record low and drop to 28°. 

The service is tentatively predicting snow could fall in the interior with rain towards the coastal areas on Friday. The service suggests checking on the status of mountain passes if traveling out of the area at that time.

UPDATE 5:11 P.M.:

CHP Press Release:

The CHP’s preliminary investigation into Sunday night’s vehicle versus pedestrian traffic collision that claimed the life of the pedestrian has been determined to be the result of a suicide attempt on behalf of the pedestrian.  The collision occurred on the US-101 Northbound onramp from Humboldt Hill Road on Sunday, December 1^st at approximately 10:00 PM when a pickup truck preparing to merge onto US-101 Northbound collided into a pedestrian that purposefully stepped in front of the approaching truck.  The driver, who fled the scene prior to contacting law enforcement, has been determined to not be at fault in this traffic collision.  The male pedestrian’s name is being withheld pending family notification.  

The CHP is continuing to ask the public’s assistance in identifying and locating the driver who fled the scene.  The vehicle is described as a white, lifted, full-size pickup truck with tool boxes attached to the side.  The driver may reside in the Humboldt Hill area or know somebody who does.  The truck may have sustained minor front-end damage as a result of this traffic collision.  Anybody who may have witnessed this traffic collision or who may have information that would lead to the identification or location of the driver or the vehicle in question is urged to contact the CHP Humboldt Area office at (707) 822-5981.

Original Post: According to California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer, Matt Harvey, the man killed in Sunday’s fatality “intentionally stepped in front of the vehicle.” Harvey said that this was a suicide attempt.

The pedestrian’s name is still not being released because next of kin has not yet been located.

 The driver of the white truck being sought in connection with the incident has been determined not to be at fault in the collision.  However, the CHP are still “doing everything we can to find the driver.” It is “critical that we talk to him to get his version of events.”

If anyone has information on this accident, please contact the Arcata CHP at (707) 822-5981.

Previously:

• Man Killed by Vehicle Near Humboldt Hill [UPDATED]
• CHP Still Looking for Vehicle Involved in Fatality This Weekend