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California just gave plastic producers until 2032 to make all their packaging recyclable or compostable — the most ambitious deadline in the country. Advocates say it doesn’t go far enough. Producers say it goes too far. At least one of them is threatening to sue.

The sweeping regulations, finalized at the start of the month, put producers in a bind that has no obvious solution. Plastic clamshell containers, for instance, protect berries from being crushed and keep them fresher, longer until they reach a refrigerator. Plastic producers say there’s simply no substitute — yet under the new rules, they’ll have to find one.

Last week, two environmental groups — the Natural Resources Defense Council and Californians Against Waste — said they plan to take California to court. Their argument: the state’s rules actually break the law by allowing recycling methods that create a lot of toxic waste, and by letting some plastics slip through the rules entirely. On the other side, plastic manufacturers say the rules go too far and will make products more expensive for shoppers.

Sen. Ben Allen, a Democrat from coastal Los Angeles County who authored the plastic waste law, said the program still “massively moves the needle on this really major problem” — even if the process was messy. “This was the product of a compromise, and it was not perfect, and everybody walked away from the table, you know, unhappy about various aspects,” Allen said.

“California is the United States, but 30 years in the future,” said Joe Árvai, director of the University of Southern California’s Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies. “What’s happening now is emblematic of trends that we are seeing worldwide … and the U.S. needs to adapt in the way that those countries are adapting in order to remain globally competitive.”

Less plastic, more recycling

For decades, the burden of reducing, reusing and recycling plastic waste has fallen on consumers. Once a consumer buys a product, they decide what happens to it — whether it ends up in the garbage can or the recycling blue bin — and their tax dollars fund recycling systems we have today.

In 2022, California’s landmark Senate Bill 54, the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act, shifted that responsibility to businesses. The regulations outline what materials are covered by the law and who counts as a “producer” of plastic waste.

The new regulations are a huge milestone, said Anja Brandon, director of U.S. plastics policy for the Ocean Conservancy. “There’s plenty more steps on this journey, but I’m just really excited that we are going to start making real progress,” she said.

The law applies to plastic food service ware and almost all single-use packaging — from the plastic wrap around large pallets of products shipped to retailers to a tube of toothpaste and the cardboard box around it.

Our broken recycling system

Most of the plastic packaging Californians throw away isn’t recycled — and that’s not your fault as a consumer.For decades, the revolving green arrows symbol has urged consumers tp do a better job of reducing, reusing and recycling. But the system itself started out broken, and got worse.

When people toss items into recycling bins, workers at recycling centers sort through them. Contaminated items — like a peanut butter tub with residue still inside — go straight to the landfill. Manufacturers buy clean, valuable materials like water bottles and detergent tubs and turn them into new products.

But a slew of other trash isn’t valuable enough to sell. It ends up in landfills, too.

In 2021, the plastic recycling rate was only 6% nationwide, according to a report by the advocacy group Beyond Plastics. That’s down from 8% in 2018, partly because China and other countries that used to buy our trash have stopped doing so. In California, most plastic packaging types are recycled at strikingly low rates, according to a 2025 CalRecycle report: Even milk jugs and detergent bottles, among the most commonly recycled plastics, reached only 19%, while most others came in at single digits or below.

To carry out the law, the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery appointed the Circular Action Alliance, a nonprofit that helps states carry out extended producer responsibility mandates, as the organizing body for producers. The alliance is responsible for coming up with a plan to meet the law’s goals.

Producers — defined as companies that make more than $1 million in sales and produce products packaged in plastic or own brands under which those products are sold — must join the organization and pay fees to fund waste management. They can meet the law’s requirements by using less plastic, finding alternative materials, or investing in recycling infrastructure.

“The biggest challenge is the scale and coordination required to modernize a complex recycling system across a state as large and diverse as California,” said Sheila Estaniel, a spokesperson for the Circular Action Alliance, in an email.

California’s requirement that businesses reduce single-use plastic altogether makes it one of the strongest plastic waste laws in the country. It also goes further than other similar laws because it requires plastic producers to pay $5 billion over a decade to address the environmental damage their products have caused to communities — though the state doesn’t expect to start distributing those funds until 2027 at the earliest.

Watered down rules

The plastic waste rules have had a rocky road to implementation.

In 2024, CalRecycle developed a first draft of regulations detailing what plastic the law covers and what producers must do. The draft expired before CalRecycle finalized it. In 2025, Gov. Gavin Newsom directed regulators to rewrite the rules — a move that some advocates say say food and agriculture lobbyists pushed for.

The result was a second draft that carved out a broad exclusion for plastics used for food and agriculture purposes, covering products under the jurisdiction of the FDA and USDA, such as packaging for fresh produce and supplements. Advocates said the exclusion gutted the law.

“Governor Newsom was clear when he asked CalRecycle to restart these regulations that they should work to minimize costs for small businesses and families — while ensuring California’s bold recycling law can achieve the critical goal of cutting plastic pollution,” said Anthony Martinez, a spokesperson for the governor. “That’s exactly what these draft regulations do.”

CalRecycle submitted that draft to the Office of Administrative Law in August 2025, but withdrew it to make changes that narrowed that exclusion. Regulators ultimately excluded only plastic that federal law requires for food safety — walking back a broader carve-out that advocates said would have gutted the law.

Advocates gear up to sue

Not all plastics follow the same rules — and advocates object to the state’s two-track system.

Some materials with unique technical challenges can apply for exemptions, but must meet specific criteria to qualify.

Others, like plastic that federal law requires for food safety, escape the rules entirely once producers complete an application to CalRecycle — no timeline, no obligations.

“In practice, this allows exclusions to remain in effect …even for notices that ultimately fail — creating strong incentives to submit weak or legally unsupported claims simply to delay (and effectively filibuster) compliance,” wrote Tony Hackett, a policy associate for Californians Against Waste in a public comment letter to the department.

Advocates raise a second concern: the regulations allow certain waste polluting technologies — ones the law specifically excluded because they generate significant quantities of hazardous waste — to count as recycling, as long as they have a hazardous waste permit.

These technologies include chemical recycling processes that the oil industry has long promoted as a solution to plastic pollution — a claim California’s attorney general says is deliberately misleading. Rob Bonta has sued ExxonMobil alleging the company misled the public about recycling’s potential to address the plastic crisis.

“These regulations ignore explicit limits on recycling technologies and create permanent escape hatches the law never authorized,” said Nick Lapis, director of advocacy for Californians Against Waste, in a statement.

Rhonalyn Cabello, a CalRecycle spokesperson, said the agency does not comment on pending or potential litigation.

Sen. Allen agreed the regulations fall short.

“We feel that the regulations as presented don’t maintain some of the core agreements that were made in the passage of the bill,” he said. When there’s too many exclusions, he said, companies are “basically forcing everybody else to pay and getting away scot free.”

Set up to fail?

Businesses claim they want to reduce plastic waste but feel trapped by conflicting state regulations and a lack of viable packaging alternatives.

The tension starts with labeling. The state’s accurate recycling labels law, Senate Bill 343, prohibits businesses from using the chasing arrows symbol to indicate recyclability unless certain criteria are met. Advocates say the restriction is necessary to avoid confusion. But businesses say it means consumers are less likely to recycle products that could be recyclable.

“If we lose the right to use (recycling labels on) dairy cartons, our members are going to have to expand their plastic use, because that is the only other packaging type that can take a shelf stable product,” said Katie Davey, executive director of the Dairy Institute of California.

As investments from producers flow to cities and counties under the law, Cabello said, more materials may eventually meet the labeling criteria.

Beyond labeling, businesses say workable alternatives to plastic simply don’t exist yet — and that getting there will be costly. Investments needed to meet the law’s first goal alone — a 25% reduction in single-use plastic by 2032 — could cost up to $15.4 billion, according to CalRecycle estimates.

Kevin Kelly, the chief executive of Emerald Packaging, sells film plastic packaging to farmers, who use the plastic to bag items like salads and baby carrots. Paper packaging that could replicate plastic’s ability to regulate oxygen and carbon dioxide levels — keeping produce fresh — is still in early development, he said, and mass production is decades away.

“You have to build tens to hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure to actually produce something at the level that would be needed to replace plastics,” Kelly said.

Dairy illustrates the same problem. Alternatives to plastic milk packaging include refrigerated gable-top cartons, shelf-stable cartons, and glass. Each comes with tradeoffs. Glass is heavier — meaning fewer units per shipment — and clear glass exposes fresh milk to light that can degrade it. Switching packaging lines entirely would cost producers about $40 million for a single mid-size line, according to the Dairy Institute — a cost they would pass on to consumers.

“We’re deeply concerned because we know that food costs are going to increase and products are going to come off the market because there literally is not a packaging solution within the required timeframe,” Davey said.

But USC’s Joe Árvai said producer complaints are really about the pace of change, not whether compliant packaging is possible at all.

“Whether they like it or not, these changes are coming,” he said. “In the end, there are going to be players in the industry that are going to be better able to respond, and they will be better indemnified against the shocks than their partners and competitors.”

What happens next

The next major test comes in June, when the Circular Action Alliance must submit its plan to CalRecycle outlining how producers will meet the law’s goals.

Oregon, which passed a similar law and is also facing an industry legal challenge, offers a possible model. There, grant funding is already flowing to expand reuse and refill infrastructure — helping businesses and schools replace single-use plastic products and improve recycling access.

“Despite the fact that there’s a lawsuit in Oregon, money is moving out the door,” said the Ocean Conservancy’s Anja Brandon. She said groups like hers will closely watch the June plan.

“We’ll all be waiting with bated breath” to see how producers are interpreting this and what pathways they’re laying out, she said.

Meanwhile, advocates will be watching closely as CalRecycle begins to make decisions about who qualifies for exclusions and exemptions. The Natural Resources Defense Council is waiting for CalRecycle to post additional documents before filing its lawsuit.

“If we let this thing get derailed and turned into a Swiss cheese of exemptions and non‑compliance, it will really harm our global progress on this issue,” Allen said.

Larry Simpson
April 28, 1949 - April 15, 2026

Larry Simpson was born in Palo Alto on April 28, 1949, the son of George and Vilma Simpson, a New York City orphan and a Cuban immigrant, respectively. They started life anew out west after the war and Larry was their first-born child. 

Larry spent his childhood in various Bay Area towns and cities as his parents moved frequently pursuing the American dream. It was an opportunity to become acquainted with many communities, their surroundings, and to make new childhood friends in each of them. Larry lived for a time in Palo Alto, San Francisco, Los Gatos and Santa Rosa. A bout with Polio left him bedridden for an extended period as a child. However, his subsequent recuperation imparted in him a desire for physicality, as well as a zest for life. 

Santa Rosa was still just a growing town in the mid-1960s, and it was there that he spent his late formative teen years. Larry excelled in track and cross-country, with a personal best in the mile at just over four minutes! His early success in running led to a lifelong passion for fitness. 

Another lifelong passion was kindled during that time: FISHING! Every day after school Larry would go fishing in the woods and waterways around Santa Rosa. Newly built ponds on creeks for power and flood control surrounded the growing town and they were teaming with bass and panfish. These experiences sparked in Larry a curiosity for the outdoors, and the rhythms of the natural world. 

After graduating from high school in 1967, and looking to make his mark on the world, Larry followed his passions of fishing and the outdoors north to Humboldt County. He came to Humboldt with a small savings, his beloved MG convertible, and his giant German Shepard, Rex. He enrolled in Humboldt State College, majoring in… what else but FISHERIES!

The first years on his own were hard yet exhilarating. To save money Larry roomed with his friend Dan in an old milk barn for two years. The rent was cheap and the living was tough. The winters were extra cold without insulation, any hot water, and an outhouse for a bathroom. 

To make a living, he counted fish part time for the State of California and fished commercially. The commercial fleet back in those days was thriving. The fishing season worked nicely with Larry’s school schedule. He crabbed in the winter and then he fished salmon and tuna all through the summer months. In the fall and spring, he went back to school. Aside from a few near brushes with death and some harrowing experiences at sea, Larry was quite successful as a deckhand. In three years he managed to save enough for a down payment on a house. 

Larry bought his first property in 1970 that later became the Simpson homestead. It was a small piece of the old Junker ranch in McKinleyville purchased from the matriarch of the Junker family. It consisted of a small, funky, ranch house and a few acres of country land. Because he was at sea for much of the year, and needed to lower expenses, it only made sense to have some college friends as roommates! The result was an “Animal House” style cast of characters and stories consisting of Larry, Gary, Rick, Big Larry, Rex the dog and Hover the dog that were unforgettable. 

By 1972 Larry was nearly through with school and was thinking about his next steps in life. During his years in college, any free time was spent outdoors exploring the natural wonders of Humboldt County with friends. During one of these adventures, he met the love of his life, Rebecca (Becky). The story goes that Larry was out in Fieldbrook helping his friend John clear an old growth log that had fallen across access to his rural cabin. The two were planning their day of demanding work to buck up the log and deliver it to one of the local shingle mills, when John’s girlfriend stopped by with her cousin, Becky. They all chatted a bit, and Larry and Becky seemed to hit it off. Later it came up in conversation that there was an upcoming concert at the Van Duzer Theater. John said the girls would like to go, but it was nearing the end of the semester and money was getting tight. Larry, now flush with cash from the literal (log) windfall and commercial fishing, offered to buy Becky a ticket. They went to the concert on a date. The rest is history, as they say. The two were together from then on for over 50 years.

Larry was also quietly honing his skills in the outdoors as well. Eventually his knowledge of fly and sport fishing reached a professional level. He learned the best lure patterns and fishing holes on the six rivers and the ocean, how and when to fish them, and even more importantly, he knew how to get to all the best spots. 

Facing the prospect of a career using his soon-to-be degree in fisheries to work for either the Department of Fish and Game or the logging companies, Larry decided neither was too appealing. Instead, he chose a third path and opened his first retail fly fishing tackle store across from Arcata Fire Department in 1972. He named it “Time Flies”! This first small store was referred to in later years as “the phone booth,” “the closet” or the “shoe box.” It was so small that there was only room for a counter, a rod rack and one chair for a potential customer.

A curiosity at first, Time Flies quickly became an Arcata institution as the place to go for knowledge and equipment to fish the North Coast. Some customers eventually became employees and lifelong friends. Larry’s passion for fishing was unmatched, and he put that energy into the business. He was always knowledgeable with good advice on where the hottest bite could be found, even to the annoyance of Becky, at times. As she recalls, the old rotary phone would often ring during dinner and Larry would gladly take the time to inform a fellow angler about who was catching where, and with what.

Time Flies quickly outgrew the “shoebox” location and moved into a storefront in the Arcata Hotel. This provided great exposure on the town square and the business kept expanding. Fly tying classes and a guide service were added to the list of services. In the early 1980’s, the store outgrew that location as well and Time Flies relocated again, this time to J Street. It was a much larger warehouse type building behind the current Co-op, and there was room to expand. It was there the business really hit its stride, including employing several staff, expanding the guide service and featuring a large retail showroom. It even spun off a wholesale supply business called “Sea Run Tackle Sales.” Around this time Larry and Becky had their first and only son, Seth.

The good times rolled until 1989 when recession, severe drought, decreased fish stocks and increased regulation pressured the business. Faced with tough choices, in 1989, Larry sold the retail business Time Flies but kept the wholesale business, Sea Run Tackle Sales. He believed the scale and large accounts of the wholesale business had the best potential to weather the economic storm. Unfortunately, those large accounts were not immune to the economic challenges. Many of the stores he supplied went out of business or couldn’t pay their bills. This left Sea Run Tackle absorbing the losses. In 1992, Larry closed the business after a long 20-year run as a local independent fishing outfitter. 

Though painful, Larry was now ready for his next chapter in business. On the advice of a mutual business consultant, he went to work for a local company in the garden soil industry called Cascade Forest Products. Cascade was a pioneer in the green waste recycling industry. There, Larry became a one-man sales and marketing department, proposing an idea for a natural and organic line of potting soil and amendments called “Gardener & Bloome.” The brand was bought and sold several times and Larry went with it. It eventually became the premier soil line for independent garden centers throughout the western states. It still exists and is thriving today!

During the heart of the 2008 financial crisis, Larry was let go from the latest company to acquire the brand Kellogg Garden Products. After many years of loyal service to the brand, he now found himself unemployed in one of the worst economic environments of his lifetime. Luckily, he had an excellent reputation from his 15 years in the gardening industry and within days he was considering multiple new job offers.

He chose to work for another pioneering company in organic agriculture, Mycorrhizal Applications (MA). MA was a bio-agricultural start-up based in Grant’s Pass, Oregon. The company had figured out how to harness and cultivate microorganisms (mycorrhizae) to boost organic crop yields. For Larry, the prospect of being in another emerging agricultural industry was extremely exciting. Over the next eight years he worked in tandem with MA management to successfully grow the business. The company’s startup success put it on corporate radars, and it was acquired by Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo Industries in 2015. In 2016, Larry was able to retire successfully having spent 24 years in the organic agricultural industry.

In retirement, Larry was able to spend more time with his first loves: fishing, friends and family. His ten years in retirement were spent on many fishing trips locally and across the western states. He bought and restored a large “bartender” fishing boat. He enjoyed having it docked at Woodley Island and using it to fish for rockfish, halibut, salmon, and tuna, with good success out of the Eureka port. These trips always included his best fishing buddies from friendships he made in 50 years of angling on the North Coast. He so very much valued his time with them! After having spent so much time on the road selling and marketing during his professional career, Larry also valued his time at home. He and Becky spent time together on their little homestead that they had built together over 50 years. Larry continued to improve the property, raise livestock, and enjoyed working on tackling projects with each new season. 

In the past few years Larry was diagnosed and treated successfully for prostate cancer. A precautionary follow-up radiation treatment carried with it some expected side effects. So, when Larry was feeling a little under the weather earlier this year, it was not unexpected. However, by March it became apparent that something else was wrong. An emergency room visit resulted in a new diagnosis of Stage 4 liver cancer, unrelated to his previous illness. The prognosis was days to live. Like many things in Larry’s life, he viewed the situation as a challenge, and he met it with as much grace and positivity as he could muster. Typical of his consistently positive attitude, he chose to travel to UCSF for a “Hail Mary” pass, in hopes for more time to spend with those he loved. Unfortunately, there was nothing to be done. Larry was able to return to his beloved Humboldt County and passed peacefully soon after on April 15, 2026. 

Larry’s life was filled with adventure, adversity, struggle and success. He spent countless happy hours in the sun, in the outdoors and on the water. His favorite surroundings were nature and its beauty. He filled his time growing his circle. He surrounded himself with friends, family, and he always enjoyed helping others. Larry lived passionately! In his final days, he felt immensely grateful for all the people he had come to know and all the experiences he was able to share with them throughout his life. We only wish our time with him had been just a little longer.

Larry is survived by his wife Rebecca Simpson, son Seth Simpson, daughter-in-law Diana Simpson; his sister, Eileen Valdez-Woods; half-brothers Kevin and Norman Brown; and stepbrothers Larry, Dennis and Jeff Kyler.

Larry is preceded in death by his father, George Simpson and his stepmother, Ada Simpson; his mother, Vilma Brown and his stepfather, Burton Brown; his brother Alan Simpson, and his stepbrother Stephen Brown.

A celebration of life and memorial will be held in his memory on Sunday, May 17, 1-4 p.m. in Redwood Lodge at Redwood Park, Arcata. Anyone who knew and cared about Larry in his nearly 60 years in Humboldt County is welcome to attend. A few tears are likely to be shed, and fish stories will be told. 

A special thank you to the medical and nursing staff at St. Joseph and UCSF hospitals for your care of Larry and our family in his final days. 

In lieu of flowers and in remembrance of Larry, please take time to take someone fishing, go for a hike with a friend, or clean up some trash from a local waterway. Please teach others to do the same. 

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Larry Simpson’s family. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.

Joseph (Joe) Francis Cramer, 88, of Eureka, passed away May 6, 2026.

Joe was born February 10, 1938, he was one of 12 children born to I.F. and Dorothy Cramer. Joe lived in Eureka his whole life.

Joe graduated from Eureka High School and had worked for Hyster Company for many years as a mechanic.

Joe was always a social butterfly and enjoyed being around people. Everyone was his friend and he never knew a stranger. So, joining the E. Clampus Vitus was a natural fit for Joe. He always seemed to enjoy the shenanigans and camaraderie that came with being a part of the organization.

Joe had a love for old cars. He grew up in the era of the cruise downtown. He loved to go to the local car shows. He would tell stories of his brothers and him growing up in Eureka and the cool cars they once had. Joe even had a Ferrari in his youth.

As Joe grew older, he was known for his joyous spirit and his laughter. His laughter was contagious and you couldn’t help but laugh with him. It didn’t matter what was going on in his life, he would laugh his way through it.

He was loved by everyone who knew him, including in the trailer park where he lived and spread his sparkle everywhere. To some of the kids he was Grandpa and to all the others he was a good friend,

Many people around Eureka probably have seen him around town on his scooter, with his flags flying. He enjoyed riding to the Thursday night concerts in Old Town and the independence of being able to live and get around on his own.

Joe did it his way and his laughter will be forever missed!

Joe is survived by his children: Shawn Cramer, Desiree Ott (Colin), Melanie Larmour (Steve), and Nicole Richard (Mark); seven grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren, plus one more that is due any day. We would also like to mention Mary Nola Kern, his ex-wife and mother of his children, as they had rekindled a friendship over the last several years. His brother Richard Cramer (Teresa). Sisters Patricia Ennes & Mary Mahoney (Dennis).

There was a time when I was free to live my life in harmony, Before the illness, which blighted me, Swept faces and places from my mind, People I loved from my memory. Remember me as I used to be. Think of me; remember my smile, The love we shared; linger awhile. I am at Peace now, I am me. At rest for all eternity.

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Carol was born April 20, 1955 in Hoopa at her Grandma Hazels house on Keller Flat and passed on May 1, 2026 at Eureka Rehabilitation and Wellness Center.

We gather today to celebrate the life of Carol — a woman who loved deeply, stood firmly, and whose presence shaped our family in unforgettable ways.

Carol graduated Hoopa High School, went on to attend College of Redwoods, then continued to HSU and graduated with her bachelor’s degree in business/bookkeeping and accounting.

Sometimes she didn’t have a running vehicle so she would get her little son ready and first ride the bus to drop him off at Headstart then get back on bus to school, college and although she faced many obstacles she was determined to finish, and she did. Her eldest daughter Traci also graduated HSU becoming anthropologist, then Traci’s only girl Cassie O’Rourke graduated HSU with her degree in early childhood Education, continuing her legacy. Grandson Robbie and granddaughter Analicia are currently attending HSU Cal Poly which made her very proud. She always encouraged education as a way to better lives, and set a example by doing just that.

Some of our best memories were made at her home. Whether it was a holiday, a birthday or just a BBQ for no reason at all, Carol brought us together. She made those days feel easy, joyful and full of the kind of love that only family can give.

Carol was hard-headed and stubborn — and we say that with a smile, because it was part of what made her who she was. When she believed in something, she stood by it. When she loved you, she loved you fiercely. Her stubbornness was strength, loyalty and heart all woven together.

She poured that same love into her fur babies, Otis and Roxy, who were never far from her side. They brought her comfort, laughter, and companionship, and she adored them with all her heart.

But most of all, Carol loved being a grandmother. She was proud of every accomplishment, big or small. She showed up for her grandchildren — cheering, supporting, celebrating — and those moments meant everything to her. Her joy in them was unmistakable.

Today, even as we feel the weight of her absence, we celebrate the gift of her life. Her laughter, her stubborn strength, her love for family, and the way she made our gatherings feel complete — these are the pieces of her we carry forward.

When we come together in the years ahead, whether for a holiday, a birthday, or just a simple afternoon, we’ll feel her there. In the stories we tell. In the laughter we share. In the love that remains. Carol, thank you for everything you gave us. Your spirit lives on in all of us.

Carol is survived by her children Michelle (Glenn) Melendy, Aimee (Neal) Melendy, James Melendy, and Michael O’Rourke Sr.; grandchildren Cassie O’Rourke, Michael (Lorie) O’Rourke Jr., Robert O’Rourke, Derrek McCarty, Jamie Matthews, Analicia Melendy Jones, KC Flex, Quincy Jackson, and Neal Moon Jr.; and great-grandchildren Michael, Lily, and Kai O’Rourke; Derrek, Marvin, Kobe, and Mia McCarty; and Salem Felix. She is also survived by her father George “Wally” Abbott; husband Jeff Hutton; sister Stacey “Bubs” Abbott; Auntie Shirley Cushman; nieces and nephews Ericka Loren (Alisha) Hostler, Gerald Moon, Keith (Lydia) Ashley Abbott, Madolin, and Gino O’Rourke; and fur babies Otis and Roxy.

Carol is preceded in death by her daughter Traci Melendy O’Rourke; granddaughter Wa-rec Lacey Mae Jackson; grandparents Casey and Hazel Keller and George and Mae Abbott; mother Madolin Keller; aunts and uncles Mary, Keith, and Kenneth Keller, Diane Annon, Warren, Charles Sr., and Leroy Abbott, and Dennis Cushman; siblings Cessie Abbott, Paul James, Steven and Leonard Abbott, Robert and Richard Robbins, and Harold Blain Marshall; and nephew Thomas “Kocky” O’Rourke Jr.

Celebration of life service will be held at the Hoopa Fire Department Training Hall on May 23, 2026. Set-up at 11 a.m.; services start at 1 p.m.; reception following services at the hall. Food will be welcomed.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Carol Hutton’s family. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.

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Today on Capitol Hill, North Coast Rep. and House Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Jared Huffman led the charge in interrogating Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on President Trump’s fiscal 2027 budget request for the department. 

Like virtually all D.C. politics these days, such hearings are more about scoring political points than illuminating the opaque machinations of the machine. It’s in that spirit that we present you with the highlight above, in which both the Huff and the Burg attempt to own their adversary.

Burgum’s larger task on the day was defending a budget request that includes deep cuts across most of the department, including to the National Park Service and renewable energy projects, which the president has derided as the “Green New Scam.”

Meanwhile, in addition to Trump’s $1.4 billion White House ballroom project, taxpayers could wind up spending another $162.5 million on other “vanity projects.”

Huffman later landed a zinger, which got memed and posted on his social media accounts:

Below, just in case you’re interested, is video of the entire four-hour hearing. Enjoy.

The long, gradual implementation of Arcata’s Gateway Plan has begun.

The Gateway Area Plan, passed in 2024 by the Arcata City Council, was a comprehensive zoning update that recategorized 139 acres into mixed-use and high-density zoning, with the intent to transform much of Arcata into a dense town that emphasizes walkability and infill projects. Now, a couple years later, the floor is open for public debate: How will we do it?

Last night’s meeting of the Arcata Planning Commission didn’t come to any big conclusions on that question, but it was one of the first steps in the process. The commissioners received a presentation from Lisa Wise Consulting (LWC), a consulting firm contracted to assist Arcata’s community development program, on what the process to implement the (often finicky and granular) details looks like. 

One of the first steps is updating the land use code, the set of regulations that govern how people can develop property. The list of recommendations LWC shared with the commission runs to a dense 17 pages; not all of them will be adopted. Arcata’s land use code was last updated in 2008. Though the city council and the commission are set to review the proposed changes next month during a joint session, they probably won’t be adopted until early next year.

If put into law, the updates would include eliminating parking minimums and maximum-density restrictions, prohibit the construction of new billboards on scenic roads, allow for restaurant sidewalk dining, encourage the daylighting of creeks and the planting of native plant species, ensure that buildings are constructed right next to sidewalks — that’s a tiny sample. In general, if altering something in the code would make Arcata friendlier to people wishing to walk around, enjoy the scenery, and spend money at small businesses, there’s probably something in those suggestions proposing a change.

It’s up to the commissioners to decide if they think it’s a good idea to recommend LWC’s outline to the city council. 

It’s worth taking a stroll through it for yourself, city staff said at the meeting; the process for adopting any code changes is generally a public one, but considering the scale of these ones, it’s especially vital.

“I feel like we made a pact with the community to share publicly the decisions that are being made, even if they are ministerial,” Arcata’s Director of Community Development David Loya said. “I wouldn’t recommend that we renege on that promise to the community at this point.”

A bill that sailed through the State Assembly could help people escaping domestic violence when filing restraining orders against their abusers, proponents say.

Assembly Bill 1657, authored by North Coast Assemblymember Chris Rogers, would prohibit courts from requiring people seeking Domestic Violence Restraining Orders (DVROs) to provide advance notice to who they’re filing it against, before a court grants an emergency order.

Courts would also be prohibited from requiring explanations on why notice hadn’t been provided.

The bill passed the California Assembly May 4 without a single no vote, and next will make its journey through the Senate.

Organizations that support people leaving domestic violence say the change could help people during a key, dangerous time.

Jeffrey Delgadillo, safe haven coordinator for Humboldt Domestic Violence Services, said these orders are used to get somebody to stay away from them after leaving abusive relationships.

In some cases, when clients break off a DV relationship, the other person won’t accept it and continues harassing or stalking them, said Delgadillo. 

A key purpose of the restraining order, he said, is to make this harassment — like showing up to their ex-partner’s workplace to stare at them, looming outside their home, or finding them in public places — in violation of a court order.

“There’s a legal court order saying that somebody has to be 100 yards away from them,” he said, adding once the restraining order is granted police can now enforce it.

These orders are typically used at a time abusers feel their power and control slipping, and can lash out.

“That is one of the most dangerous times, when somebody is trying to leave,” said Delgadillo.

California law has special protections for these restraining orders.

Current law already states a court may not deny an application for a DVRO “based solely” on failure to provide notice, and DVROs do not always require advance notice, according to the assembly analysis.

But, according to Rogers, court paperwork in some counties includes a box to check indicating whether you’ve notified the alleged abuser ahead of filing your papers.

The average person would assume you need to do that, he said.

He said they’ve heard from domestic violence survivors who looked at the phrasing on the paper as they’re trying to file, and find “it makes it seem like they literally have to go tell the person, ‘Hey, I’m about to go file this temporary restraining order,’” Rogers told the Outpost.

Rogers argued, during the bill’s third reading, that ambiguity in the law has allowed for this.

Organizations who support domestic violence survivors say that telling an abuser in advance can be risky.

Requiring people to be notified before the temporary protective order has been issued and is not yet enforceable, “that’s when it starts getting dangerous for the survivor, because the person might get reactive,” said Delgadillo.

The sponsor of the bill is the California Family Justice Network, an organization that helps victims of interpersonal violence.

“It is well documented that the time of separation from an abusive partner, and the first several months that follow, is the most dangerous period for victims of domestic violence (DV). Requiring a survivor to notify an abusive partner of their intent to seek a restraining order before protection is granted creates a dangerous gap between notification and protection,” a California Family Justice Network statement in the Senate analysis says.

Delgadillo said the bill could minimize some of the risk.

Other supporters include California Civil Liberties Advocacy and the Peace Officers Research Association Of California.

One concern Delgadillo noted was abusers using DVRO’s against the other person. He said abusers have used a made-up story to get the other person in trouble “more than a handful of times,” in his seven years at HDVS. They can also use the orders as leverage to get temporary child custody. 

“Somebody who is manipulative and abusive is gonna take advantage of any system — which is not a fault of the legal system, I would say,” he added.

The Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Family Law Section opposes the bill, arguing in a statement “there are certainly cases in which such notice is appropriate,” and advocates for the law to stay the same, to allow a judge to make the call.

The statement noted current laws already allow a Court to grant a restraining order without prior notice, and argues the change infringes on the Constitutional due process rights of a defendant unnecessarily.

Rogers said he picked up the idea from a town hall in Sonoma County, after attorneys at Sonoma County’s Family Justice Center told him the law was having a chilling effect on domestic violence victims seeking temporary restraining orders.

“It’s such a commonsense, easy fix,” he said.

“What we can hope the most for, from this bill, is that for folks who need this remedy, for folks who are experiencing domestic violence, that they understand that the law supports them and gives them additional tools to seek justice and to build a better life, and that they don’t feel trapped by the system putting them in potentially dangerous situation in order to seek that remedy,” he said.

Humboldt Domestic Violence Services’ 24 Hour Support Line can be reached at 707-443-6042