Humboldt Redwood Company’s request to change the way sediment pollution is regulated on the Elk River was shot down by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board Thursday.

Board members pointed to a lack of data showing sediment conditions on the river improving. A motion to adopt the changes failed, with four board members voting “nay” and only Dale Romanini and Jake Mackenzie in support.

The changes surround Humboldt Redwood Company’s (HRC) Waste Discharge Requirements (WDR), the primary regulatory mechanism for controlling sediment pollution from logging in the watershed.

This rejection followed Water Board staff’s assurances the changes would not reduce water quality protections on the river, which has been heavily impacted by sediment from logging operations, historic and present, and has regulations a staff member said were the strongest in the state.

But environmental groups at the meeting swayed the board, saying instead the changes could increase sediment loads to the river, and argued the regulations should stay the same until marked improvement was recorded.

“It’s hard for me to imagine that increasing logging on 40% slopes, on any geology, would not bring down sediment,” said Board Member Hector Bedolla, speaking of one requested change.

HRC owns about 79% of the Upper Elk Watershed, according to Water Board documents. Under the 2019-era regulations, HRC can propose alternative practices, so long as they are equal or better than requirements in the original WDR. HRC sought a smattering of technical changes to the document.

Jim Burke, Water Board senior engineering geologist, said during a presentation the changes were found to be “reasonable and appropriate” by Water Board staff — who assured the board throughout the meeting they would not reduce water quality protections.

“This permit provides the strongest water quality protection of any permit in the state. The revisions preserve that high level of protection while better aligning the permit with real world operational conditions by allowing HRC flexibility in managing its forest while still complying with the [Total Maximum Daily Loads] targets,” said Burke.

Burke, who said he is regularly on the ground, said “observations of conditions on HRC timberlands in the Elk River by myself and my staff show minimal evidence of sediment discharge.”

But one environmental group took issue with specific changes.

Katy Gurin, a CalTrout project manager, said the changes “have the potential to increase erosion and sediment pollution by allowing more logging on steep slopes and near water courses.”

Katy Gurin, a CalTrout project manager, speaking during the meeting Thursday. “I want to see the river recover,” she said. Screenshot

The organization called for three items to be removed: one that would lower certain tree retention requirements, new allowances for logging on steeper slopes and a new allowance for group openings (removal of a patch of trees) near certain watercourses.

Several board members noted surprise after hearing CalTrout’s position on the topic — the organization is heavily involved with science and restoration in the watershed.

“I was taken back by your comments, and they’re in direct contradiction to what our staff is telling us,” said board member Gregory Giusti.

Other environmental groups, fishing advocates, the Blue Lake Rancheria and downstream residents whose properties flood every year spoke in opposition to the changes.

Nuisance flooding has continued since Maxxam Corporation-controlled PALCO moved to massively increase harvesting in the basin during the late 1980s and ‘90s, causing thousands of cubic feet of sediment to stick to the channels.

Flooding blocks the road and inundates properties along the Elk River during storms.

“We have not seen any improvement at all in either water quality or flooding,” said Kristi Wrigley, who lives on her family’s apple orchard, which was founded in 1903, on the north fork of the Elk River.

She said last year, they had seven or six floods, one of which was the highest flood they’d ever seen, and flooding has reduced usable land on the farm by two-thirds.

Jerry Martien, Elk River resident, said the regulations haven’t improved the river. He read a poem that ended with “we should be cutting lies, instead of trees.” Screenshot

Board members hesitated to agree to the changes after hearing CalTrout’s position, with multiple pointing to a lack of evidence showing a marked improvement.

Environmental organizations, including Arcata-based Environmental Protection Information Center, pointed to previous Water Board documents and argued the changes ran counter to regulatory goals.

Earlier in the meeting, during a general update on the Elk River, Water Board Engineer Lance Le gave a presentation on monitoring.

On suspended sediment from 2003-2025, three monitoring stations showed an improving trend, while four had no trend. Meanwhile, the severity of ill effects were largely staying the same, with one station showing improvements and another worsening. The analysis, based on HRC data, did not analyze nuisance flooding.

CalTrout’s Gurin, said, from her reading of the data, “There’s no improvement in suspended sediment at most stations, and there’s no improvement in the severity of ill effects at most stations,” and cast doubt on whether decades of regulatory work was effective.

Mike Miles, an HRC forester who spoke during the meeting on behalf of the company, said these data points showed instead a lack of sediment coming off of hill slopes into monitoring areas, saying instead the data pointed to a decline of erosion or a static condition.

He also pointed out water quality wasn’t being monitored in the 1980s or 1990s, when a mass of sediment that is still clogging channels was released.

“If we were to compare today’s water quality with water quality of the ‘90s, ‘80s and ‘70s, you would see a big difference; there’s no doubt about it in my mind,” he said.

During a presentation he pointed to numerous restoration projects the company has been involved in, plus protection measures like barring clear cutting and old growth logging, and leaving larger trees for habitat.

“It’s a different way of doing forestry,” he said, calling it progressive.

Later, he said it’s difficult to stand there after 100 years of forestry and try to represent the industry, “but that’s not how we’re managing our forest.” He emphasized that HRC is trying to be in the same boat as partners and called for board members to come out to see the land.

Some board members said the decision was tough.

Following assurances the body could revisit the regulations at any time, like if monitoring showed sedimentation getting worse, Mackenzie leaned towards adopting the changes.

He made a motion to move forward, with the removal of language that called Tan Oak a less desirable species (board member Molli Myers, a Karuk tribal member, pointed to the significance of the tree as a staple food source for local Indigenous groups).

But a straw poll vote found there wasn’t sufficient support.

Other board members said they wanted to see improvements in conditions before making changes. Chair Alexandra Hart remarked it felt like the board was “putting the cart before the horse.”

Board member Bedolla said he’d like to see the trends improve before expanding logging.

“I think that we should be talking about what’s going to make things better. It is our job to protect the water quality,” said Myers; she said if water quality is not improving the board should not be increasing logging activities.

Thus, with the non-vote, the requirements will stay the same. Board staff said HRC could propose changes at any time.

The Board’s legal counsel told them litigation could force a permit revision to come back before the board.

The full meeting, which includes an update on efforts of the water board in the basin at large, can be found at this link.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Upcoming Logging Permit Changes Could Mean More Sediment in Elk River, CalTrout Says

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All but one Cal State campus have Native American remains and cultural items that federal and state laws require them to return to tribes. In many cases, the process has been slow.

Though the size of their collections varies, campuses like Cal Poly Humboldt and San Francisco State have made progress in returning human remains and cultural items, with Sacramento State having returned most of its Native collections. But others, like Cal Poly Pomona, have yet to see much progress and Cal State Bakersfield has not made any returns.

The Cal State system holds the remains of more than 2,000 Native Americans and more than 1.57 million artifacts, according to the most recent list of the system’s collections. Another 500,000 collections of items are still in storage awaiting proper tribal review to be cataloged.

Campus officials say they are working diligently to follow legal mandates to return items to tribes, but the road can be long and arduous.

Last February, members of the Konkow Valley Band of Maidu tribe reburied three ancestors whose remains had been held at Sacramento State since 1963. The Lake Concow Campground donated 10.7 acres of land to the tribe within their traditional territory in Northern California, where they were able to perform the reburials.

“During the process it’s a very, very heavy feeling,” said Matthew Williford Sr., the tribal chairperson and cultural resource director. “But when you receive the remains back, you feel lighter. It doesn’t feel like so much weight.”

If collections stay in storage, for Williford, it’s as if “nobody knows that we were ever around.”

“It’s important for us to get that back, because we believe that those items still have spirit,” he said. “They need to come back to the people.”

Federal and state Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation laws require agencies and institutions with Native American remains and cultural items, such as the ancestors’ remains from Williford’s tribe, be returned to tribes. While there was not a deadline for when collections had to be returned, federal law required campuses to complete an inventory of their collections by 1995.

“La Memoria de la Tierra,” a mural by Judith Baca on the north side of Ackerman Union at UCLA in Los Angeles, on Nov. 9, 2022. The mural spans about 80 feet and consists of three 26-foot-long glass panels. The middle panel depicts historical women, including Toypurina, a Tongva woman who opposed Spanish colonization in California in the late 1700s. Photo by Pablo Unzueta for CalMatters

As of February 2025, Sacramento State had repatriated 89% of the human remains and 68% of the cultural items on their campus. That means control of the collections has been legally transferred to a culturally affiliated tribe, but collections may remain physically held by the campus if requested by the tribe. The figure also does not include what the campus holds for other state or federal agencies.

“Some tribes want us to hold on to collections, in which case we might do a held trust agreement, where we just are saying, ‘We’re holding this for you until you’re ready to take it for repatriation,’” said Sarah Eckhardt, Sacramento State’s repatriation coordinator.

Eckhardt has been the repatriation coordinator for more than six years, overseeing the university’s compliance with repatriation laws and policies. Eckhardt shared that the campus has a good relationship with local tribes, to whom the majority of their collections belong, allowing them to repatriate the collections effectively.

The amount of cultural items at Sacramento State decreased significantly from about 30,000 in 2024 to about 6,000 in 2025.

Why it’s hard to return Native artifacts

To move forward with repatriation, universities have to contact potential culturally affiliated tribes, based on geographic location or historical evidence, for consultation. Then, tribes can submit a request for repatriation.

While the process can be slow, multiple tribal leaders said that the campuses are supportive and are up against federal and state rules that complicate returns for non-federally recognized tribes. There are also times of confusion over who exactly has authority to make those returns.

Sacramento State reported an increase in their collection of human remains from 171 in 2024 to 223 in 2025, which Eckhardt said was due to some confusion over who manages them.

“There were several collections that we thought were the responsibility of another agency, that they denied responsibility for and so we accepted responsibility for that,” said Eckhardt.

Near the end of 2024, 32 boxes containing three human remains and cultural items previously held at Sacramento State were returned to Williford’s state-recognized tribe. But since they are not federally-recognized, federal law meant they’d have to partner with a federal tribe to claim the collections on their behalf, and also have local tribes sign off on the handover, said Williford. That process took about six months after a notice was published to the federal registrar, which informs other tribes in case any want to rebut the claim. To him, that was a quick timeframe.

“At least they’re trying… I think they need to up their game on helping nonfederal tribes with federal repatriation,” said Williford.

San Jose State has run into a similar situation. The university has returned all the remains belonging to federally recognized tribes, but still possesses remains affiliated with non-federally recognized tribes, posing the biggest challenge, according to Alisha Marie Ragland, the campus’ repatriation coordinator. As of December 2025, San Jose State reported having 514 human remains and more than 5,000 collections of stored items waiting to be reviewed.

“SJSU will continue to work with tribes to find appropriate and respectful means of sending the Ancestors home,” said Ragland via email.

So, why do some campuses struggle to make returns under their care?

“Repatriation can take years. Just for what we consider one artifact potentially could take up to a couple years,” said David Silva, the repatriation coordinator at Cal State Bakersfield.

Cal State Bakersfield is still in the process of consulting with tribes to determine what the boxes under their care contain, he said.

“There’s no direct timeline for our tribal partners to have to conduct consultation,” said Silva. “The only timeline is really when we start to submit notices or when we complete that inventory verification.”

A sign displayed behind glass at California State University, Long Beach, on Dec. 14, 2023. The campus sits on Puvungna, the site of an ancient Tongva/Gabrielino village. The sign originally read, “Gabrielino Indians once inhabited this site, Puvungna, birthplace of Chungichnish, law-giver and God,” but the word “once” and the “-ed” in “inhabited” were removed so it now reads, “Gabrielino Indians inhabit this site,” reflecting that Tongva/Gabrielino people still live in the area. Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters

Curtis Alcantar is a member of the Tejon Indian tribe and a tribal representative for the NAGPRA committee at the Bakersfield campus, working with Silva. Alcantar said he has had a good experience working with the university and other Cal State campuses and that he believes the system is moving in a positive direction.

Before, Bakersfield housed items in five different rooms spread throughout campus, creating a hassle for tribal members. They recently moved to a new building on campus, allowing tribes easier access to review collections.

When he first started helping with tribal consultations, Alcantar was troubled by how many Native American remains and cultural items were still in possession of museums and universities. Universities acquired Native remains and items through excavations and research often from anthropology and archeology disciplines. Some collections were acquired through donations.At the time, it was difficult for him to understand how much Native American collections museums and universities still held and were refusing to give back, said Alcantar. But now, he says that people are more open minded and willing to repatriate.

The process does take a lot of research and time, he added. For him, the most helpful tool Cal State has provided is the campus collections map, making it easier to find which campuses have collections from Kern County, his home base. According to the map, eight different Cal State campuses have collections from Kern County and Cal State Bakersfield has collections from 18 California counties.“The fulfilling part for me is seeing the objects go back home, watching the ancestors just finally get their journey back home,” said Alcantar.

Cal Poly Humboldt has repatriated about 39% of the 23,889 cultural items initially in its possession, according to figures provided by Megan Watson, the campus’ NAGPRA coordinator. San Francisco State has repatriated roughly 36% of its original 44,000 collections of stored items, according to Robert King, the campus’ director of communications. The campus has about 250 remains, a number that hasn’t budged much in recent years. Since November, it has returned two remains with about 260 collections of items, the official said.

Cal State updates list of Native collections

Cal State’s updated list was released in December after, for the first time, all Cal State campuses completed an inventory review.

Sonoma State has more than 1.52 million cultural items, by far the highest count in the system. Meanwhile, Cal State Fullerton holds the most remains with 534 individuals counted, and San Diego State has the highest collections of stored items awaiting tribal review, totaling more than 426,000.

One reason for Sonoma State’s high count is that it has a large facility to house those collections under proper care, said Samantha Cypret, a member of the Mountain Maidu tribe and executive director of the office of tribal relations for the Cal State Chancellor’s Office, which oversees NAGPRA compliance. Campuses with large anthropology or archeology departments also tend to have larger collections, she added.

Multiple members of Sonoma State’s NAGPRA team were contacted for comment. Some declined an interview while others did not respond.

Cal State revamps how it returns remains — with some delays

In November 2025, Cal State launched a systemwide NAGPRA policy providing campuses with a consistent approach for repatriations. The move came in response to Assembly Bill 389 – a 2023 amendment to the 2001 state NAGPRA Act – and a critical Cal State audit. The assembly bill required the Chancellor’s Office to adopt a systemwide policy and committee, and that committees form at each campus.

Cypret said that the policy took time to enact after the audit was issued and the Assembly Bill passed because they wanted to make sure they were letting tribal voices take the lead, learning about what tribes wanted to see included in the policy.

“We also really wanted to make sure that we were centering tribal voices in the development, in the implementation of this policy, so we held over 30 tribal outreach sessions in about the year and a half that this policy took to create,” said Cypret.

The new system policy outlines responsibilities of each campus, such as employing a full-time repatriation coordinator, conducting ongoing surveys of holdings and forbidding the use of collections for teaching and research. Cal State allocated $3.7 million for campuses with Native American collections for the fiscal year 2025-2026 to support the costs of staffing repatriation coordinators, reburial costs, reimbursing tribes for travel costs, and other expenses related to repatriation.

The University of California system and community colleges also have Native American collections on their campuses. An audit of the University of California published in April 2025 determined that the system lacked urgency and accountability.

Williford said that his tribe has made formal requests to receive two woven baskets from UC Berkeley that are part of his tribe’s dogwood collection. For him, helping return collections for his tribe has helped him feel connected to his dad who passed away in 2015. He said his dad was part of a “lost generation” that knew who they were but didn’t have a lot of cultural information. But today, the tribe’s elders find meaning when returns are made.

“To see an elder’s eyes light up like a child’s, it’s something special,” said Williford.

Cal State will review its systemwide policy again in November 2026 after tribal consultations.

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Brittany Oceguera is a contributor with the College Journalism Network, a collaboration between CalMatters and student journalists from across California. CalMatters higher education coverage is supported by a grant from the College Futures Foundation.

John D. DeMartini
October 11, 1933 – March 6, 2026

John was the first son born to John A. DeMartini and Violet (Coughlin) DeMartini on October 11, 1933, in San Francisco.

The family moved to Sonoma when his father purchased a dairy. John graduated from Sonoma Valley High School in 1951. After graduation, he moved to Humboldt County to attend Humboldt State College (CalPoly Humboldt). He graduated in 1955 with a degree in Life Science and General Science. Upon graduating, he taught high school for a couple years before returning to Humboldt State College to complete his master’s degree. He went on to earn his PhD from Oregon State University.

He returned to Humboldt State College and was a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences from 1963 to 1999. During his tenure, he was awarded Outstanding Professor in 1972.

Some summers, John worked through the National Science Foundation and led classes to help elementary and high school teachers develop curriculum.

From 1979 to 1984 he was director of the Telonicher Marine Lab in Trinidad.

During his career he also worked with California Fish and Game documenting the life cycle of the red abalone and led a kelp survey of Trinidad bay.

John was a natural born educator. He was more than a teacher to some of his students. He became their friend and some became family friends. It was not unusual to have an extra person at the DeMartini dinner table to enjoy a home cooked meal.

After retirement he founded the Redwood Science Project with Dr. Casey Lu and Jeffery White. John would travel to Hoopa and Covelo to give presentations and lead field trips for elementary school students.

In retirement John took an interest in California gall wasps. He and Julia would go out looking for galls on Native Oak and Chinquapin Oak. Professor Graham Stone and Dr. James Nicholls of Edinburgh, Scotland travelled to McKinleyville to collaborate and exchange information with John regarding gall wasps. In 2018 a specific species of gall wasp, Dryocosmus demartinii, was named in John’s honor to recognize his contribution to the study of gall wasps.

During John’s Cal Poly days, he could regularly be seen walking from the university to Don’s Donut Bar in Arcata in his “professor uniform” of a sports coat, white button-down shirt and tie, to enjoy a cup of coffee and a donut while visiting with the locals and Don’s mother, Bea.

John was a storyteller and if you were at the dinner table with him you would get at least a couple of his favorites. He liked to reminisce about his younger days in San Francisco riding the bus across town and sometimes going to the movies with his mother. He would recount his days on the dairy milking cows before and after school and exploring creeks in Sonoma any time he could get free time. John would smile, sharing memories of meeting and dating his wife, Julia, and marveling at the many years spent together. He had his favorite stories (his, not ours) about each of his children and many of his grandchildren.

While at college, John met Bill (Buddy) Papke. Bill took John home to introduce him to Bill’s younger sister, Norma. It was Bill’s older sister, Julia, who won John’s heart.

John and Julia were married August 28, 1955. The following June their first daughter, Michele, was born, followed by their first son, Paul, three days short of a year later. A second daughter, Jean, was born in Sonoma during the time John was teaching high school. After moving back to Eureka, their third daughter Angela was born, followed by their second son, Jack. Daughter number four, Catherine, was born in Corvallis, OR, while completing his PhD. On their ninth wedding anniversary they welcomed their third son and last child, Eric.

The family moved to McKinleyville in 1966. John was a charter member of Christ the King Catholic Church.

John is survived by his wife of seventy years, Julia.

His children, Michele DeMartini, Paul (Ann) DeMartini, Jean (Gary) McIntire, Angela DeMartini (Al Steer), Jack (Lisa) DeMartini, Catherine (Mike) Galloway, and Eric DeMartini.

Grandchildren: Danielle DeMartini (Nathan Wells), Erika (Brett) DeCarlo, Matthew DeMartini, Alfonso Arechiga, Shane McIntire, Lindsey (Nate) Robertson, Kenny (Ria) Winkler, Brendan (Samantha Sachs) Grace, Brittan (Megan) Grace, John (Melissa) Rose-DeMartini, Brian DeMartini, Amanda (Dean) Wilson, and Jesse (Janine) Galloway.

Seventeen great-grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.

His brother Charles DeMartini, sister Violet Wheeler, sisters-in-law Bev DeMartini, Linda DeMartini, and Norma (Papke) Dye.

He was preceded in death by his parents, John A. and Violet DeMartini, brother David DeMartini, niece Julie DeMartini, father and mother-in-law Erwin and Anna Papke, sister-in-law Barbara (Papke) Spellenberg, brothers-in-law Bill “Buddy” Papke, Gerald “Jerry” Spellenberg, Dale Wheeler, and Bill Dye.

Thank you to Frye’s Care Home for their loving care of John during his last four months of life.

A celebration of life will be held at a later date.

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

Joan was born in Eureka on April 17, 1963, to Edward and Rosemary (Phillips) Schratwieser.

Joan spent her life growing up in Humboldt County with her four brothers, Edward, Donald, David, and Robert. She attended Rio Dell Elementary School and graduated from Fortuna High School in 1981.

Joan earned a living in the health care system for 15 years. She was a volunteer at Visiting Angel, an in-home care provider, was a non-certified CNA and a Certified Nurse’s Assistant.

On June 30, 1984, Joan married the love of her life, Randle Thomsen, in Fortuna. About five years later they were blessed and welcomed their baby boy, Stefan Randle Thomsen. Her goal was to be the very best wife and mother she could be. She loved having family time, all the while learning to stand up for herself and others.

A special note from Joan’s son Stefan:

“I was having a medical mystery, and my mother stood by my side through it all. She even asked the San Francisco doctor to write a medical note for her employer telling them she would be staying home with me until I was fully recovered. I love you, Mom.”

Joan was an animal lover, having many cats and dogs over the years. Joan was dedicated to her family, both two- and four-legged, and to her faith. She loved outdoor activities such as fishing — ask her husband how she fished him out of the ocean, and while you’re asking, have him tell you about the fishing pole story too. She enjoyed crocheting, crafts, meetings with the church ladies, and helping Randle around the house. She always held a dream of becoming a nurse.

Joan received a diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer in 2019. She fought with everything she had and more. Unfortunately, the cancer moved seven different times in her body until it was in her liver and bones.

Joan climbed the stairway to heaven on April 8, 2026, to join those who preceded her: her parents Edward and Rosemary; brother Robert; many aunts, uncles, and cousins; and her beloved cats and dogs — Footloose, Fancy Free, Cally, Rodney, Dutchess, Oreo, Cuddles, Amigo, Tasha, Smokey, Beverly, and Sampson.

Joan leaves behind many family and friends who love and will miss her deeply: her husband Randle; her son Stefan; her brothers Edward, Donald, and David; aunts, uncles, cousins; many nieces and nephews, among them Jennifer, Kelsi, Kevin, Nicky, and P.J.; and her mother- and father-in-law, Charleen and Donald Hicks.

Services for Joan will be held June 3, 2026, at 11 a.m. at Faith Center Foursquare Church, 1032 Bay Street, Eureka. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to your favorite charity.

Joan’s courage and strength through years of battling this horrible disease were an inspiration. Her heart and faith never wavered. Her love for her husband and son was beyond measure. She was a bright light who touched so many lives. Rest in peace, our sweet beautiful Joan.

UPDATE, FRIDAY MORNING: Canvas is mostly back up, it seems. Still uncertain what’s going to happen with all that student data the hackers claim to have.

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Word came down from Cal Poly Humboldt today that professors and students have been locked out of Canvas, the cloud-based software that the whole university uses to manage assignments and grades and the like.

One professor who contacted showed us a message that she received when she tried to log in. It read like this:

S H I N Y H U N T E R S
rooting your systems since ’19 

ShinyHunters has breached Instructure (again). Instead of contacting us to resolve it they ignored us and did some “security patches”.

A  W A R N I N G

If any of the schools in the affected list are interested in preventing the release of their data, please consult with a cyber advisory firm and contact us privately at TOX to negotiate a settlement. You have till the end of the day by 12 May 2026 before everything is leaked.

Instructure still has until EOD 12 May 2026 to contact us.

Soon after, this was replaced with a generic “system down for scheduled maintenance” message apparently posted by Instructure, the private company that provides the Canvas service.

Well. It turns out that Humboldt was just a small corner of this cyberattack, which has struck thousands of universities across the nation that use Canvas to manage their classes. Among them: College of the Redwoods, which had a “Canvas is down” banner across the top of its homepage as of this writing.

The California State University system has a page up monitoring developments. There’s really not a lot of information yet. Suffice to say, though: If this continues for very long, it’s going to be a very strange end to the semester.

Earlier today — before the outage — Cal Poly Humboldt sent out this message to professors:

Dear Faculty and Staff:

This is to inform you of a recent cybersecurity incident involving Instructure, the vendor that provides Canvas, Cal Poly Humboldt’s learning management system. 

We have been informed that the threat actor accessed data from many educational institutions worldwide stored at Instructure’s site that likely included information from the CSU. Instructure is still confirming what data may have been exposed, but based on their preliminary assessment, it may include personal information such as names, email addresses, campus ID numbers, and user messages.  At this time, neither Instructure nor we can confirm whether any individual’s data Cal Poly Humboldt was included. Canvas does not store passwords, Social Security numbers, financial information, or dates of birth. 

Canvas remains fully operational, and there is no evidence of an ongoing threat. Instructure has contained the incident, remediated the vulnerability, and continues to investigate in coordination with external forensic experts and law enforcement. 

Out of an abundance of caution, we encourage all community members to remain vigilant for phishing or suspicious communications and to report any such activity to security@humboldt.edu.

Password resets are not required at this time; we will notify you if that guidance changes. 

We are continuing to work with Instructure to determine the full scope of impact and will provide updates, including resources for affected individuals, as more information becomes available at (this link). If you have any questions or concerns, please contact ITS  Service desk at (707) 826-4357 or help@humboldt.edu.

Several people were seriously injured today when an earthquake maimed multiple people inside of a warehouse, caused a gas leak that erupted in flames, and crashed a car into a utility pole, which also incapacitated a lineman working up on the pole. Fortunately, first responders from the Arcata Fire District and workers with PG&E were there before the calamities even occurred, allowing them to save multiple lives and avert a worse disaster. 

“Just take it easy now,” one nurse, a man named “Chad” with a gigantic, sleek handlebar mustache, told an unresponsive man, bleeding from the head, that firefighters wheeled on a rolling chair out of a building. “We’re going to get you to an ambulance.”

Even more fortunately — especially for that guy — the whole thing was fake.

Dozens of PG&E and Arcata Fire employees descended on the former Sun Valley tulip farm in the Arcata Bottoms this morning to practice responding to a natural disaster. PG&E employees played the hapless victims. Chad’s mustache was a floppy stick-on.

It’s important for PG&E and fire departments to practice working with one another before a real catastrophe, PG&E’s Emergency Management Specialist Mike Levasseur told the Outpost. He coordinates these training exercises up and down the state, making sure everyone knows how to work with one another so everything goes smoothly when they are inevitably forced to.

“The adage is,” he said, “the day of an incident is not a good first time to be shaking hands.”

Press release from the Eureka Police Department:

The Eureka Police Department (EPD) will conduct a DUI and Driver’s License Checkpoint on Friday, May 8, 2026, between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and midnight at a location within the Eureka city limits. The checkpoint location will not be announced in advance. Checkpoint operations are intended to improve roadway safety by identifying impaired drivers and encouraging motorists to make safe and responsible decisions before getting behind the wheel. Officers will be screening for signs of impairment caused by alcohol, cannabis, controlled substances, and medications that may hinder a driver’s ability to operate a vehicle safely.

Motorists passing through the checkpoint can expect:

• Brief contact with officers
• Vehicles stopped in a systematic, neutral pattern
• DUI evaluations when signs of impairment are observed
• Minimal delays for compliant drivers

EPD encourages community members to plan ahead before consuming alcohol or other impairing substances:

• Use a designated sober driver
• Arrange for a rideshare, taxi, or public transportation
• Never drive while under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• Report suspected impaired drivers by calling 9-1-1

Drivers should also be aware that many prescription and over-the-counter medications may affect reaction time, judgment, and coordination. Always follow medication warning labels and consult a medical professional if unsure whether it is safe to drive. Impaired driving places everyone on the roadway at risk. Consequences for a DUI arrest may include jail time, driver’s license suspension, costly fines, and other legal penalties. Funding for this checkpoint is provided by the California Highway Patrol through the Cannabis Tax Fund Grant Program.