From the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On Mar. 13, 2026, the victim of the shooting in Hoopa succumbed to his injuries.  The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office will now be seeking charges of PC 187-Murder for all three suspects involved in this incident.   

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office extends its deepest and most heartfelt sympathy to the family, friends, loved ones and the Hoopa Tribal community during this difficult time.

The Humboldt County Major Crimes Division is actively investigating this homicide. Anyone  with any information that could assist in this case is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.

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America’s war on Iran has killed over 1,000 civilians and totally upended the global economy since it started two weeks ago. There is no end in sight — but if two members of the Arcata City Council have their way, maybe it’ll be over a tad sooner. 

The council will consider ratifying a resolution demanding an “immediate end” to the war during their meeting this Wednesday. Councilmembers Sarah Schaefer and Meredith Matthews wanted the resolution added to the agenda, according to city manager Merritt Perry. 

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. ends the attacks, stops supplying weapons to Israel, that Congress invokes the War Powers Act, and that normal diplomatic negotiations resume immediately with Iran.

If passed, copies will be sent to California’s congressional representatives, Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth.

“The City recognizes that this resolution is outside of the City of Arcata’s direct jurisdiction and is outside of the normal purview,” reads the staff report. “In light of that, the elected officials are using the platform provided by their office to advocate for measures that minimize violence and promote peace.”

Meredith Matthews did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Humboldt County’s current assessor, Howard LaHaie, is retiring after just one four-year term in office, leaving his elected position up for grabs this year, and two folks have thrown their hats in the ring: 

• Audrey Hanks: The current deputy assessor-valuation, Hanks has worked in the Humboldt County Assessor’s Office for the past 23 years.
• Ben Larson: A mortgage loan officer, Larson has worked in the banking industry, in one capacity or another, for the past 24 years.

County assessors are charged with appraising the value of all property within their jurisdiction. That includes not just real property such as land and buildings but also personal property like business equipment, boats and planes. They maintain ownership records and prepare the annual assessment roll — a master list of taxable property values — which then gets sent along to the Auditor-Controller’s Office.

It’s a real number-cruncher’s job, in other words, one that demands and rewards attention to detail as well as clear communication with the public. 

While the Outpost has yet to connect with Hanks, we did receive an email from LaHaie, who described his deputy as “an excellent appraiser and leader with innovative ideas.”

He offered a full-throated endorsement of her ability to succeed him as county assessor. 

“I know she is committed to serving the community well, while continuing to implement new ideas to make our work more efficient to better serve Humboldt County’s residents,” LaHaie said. “She is more than ready for the job, and I am fully supportive in her running for Assessor.”

In a brief phone conversation this afternoon, Larson said that in his various positions in residential mortgage lending and commercial lending, he’s worked with the Assessor’s Office on various property tax matters on clients’ behalf over the years. 

“I considered becoming a residential and commercial appraiser but elected to stay on the lending side,” he said.

Larson has only reached out to the Assessor’s Office when he’s trying to help a client resolve an issue. Sometimes a client will be confused by a letter they received in the mail or a supplemental tax bill. Other times they’ll wonder why a property they’ve owned for more than a year hasn’t been assessed.

If elected, Larson said he’d work to shorten the turn time on reassessments upon property sales as well as clearer communication with supplemental tax bills and changes of ownership.

“I have a ton of experience in real world — 14 years in the Humboldt Association of Realtors,” he said. “I know a lot of real estate and banking people in the community and a lot of the working-class folks, and I hope I can represent them and bring about whatever changes are possible in a four-year term.”

PREVIOUSLY:

Sheriff’s Office Arrests Alleged Bridgeville Cultivator on Human Trafficking Charges Following Tip From the Mexican Consulate

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A man accused of human trafficking on a remote cannabis property northeast of Bridgeville was charged by the District Attorney’s office Thursday — a case where the Mexican Consulate got involved and a swift water rescue team was used to locate the victim.

The Humboldt County District Attorney’s office charged 45-year-old Georgi Tonev with human trafficking, a felony. Tonev, a Bridgeville resident, has pleaded not guilty and remains incarcerated on a $465,000 bail, according to court records.

Tonev was arrested Mar. 10 by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office as part of an investigation triggered by a call from the San Francisco Mexican Consulate.

The trafficking victim contacted the Mexican Consulate directly, and “reported they were working on a cannabis cultivation site and had been left stranded alone on the property without food and without payment of owed wages,” HCSO said.

 A regional law enforcement anti-trafficking group that assisted the survivor said consulates reaching out on behalf of trafficking victims is quite rare.

“This is the first time in our experience that the Mexican Consulate has been involved in a local case,” said Summer Hansen, a spokesperson for the Northern California Coalition to Safeguard Communities.

She said this shows trafficking victims are being moved across long distances and end up in remote places.

According to the HCSO press release, the investigation began after the call Feb. 20 and involved search warrants on three properties, including the state-licensed cannabis cultivation site where the victim was found. A swift water rescue team was used to bring the victim across a flooded road, after deputies were unable to make contact earlier due to “environmental conditions and significant flooding in the area.”

Hansen said the survivor’s safety remains their top priority, regardless of the arrest, and the organization will continue to stay in touch and monitor their well being as the case unfolds.

“The survivor was immediately provided with food, water, and a room at a nearby hotel until permanent accommodations could be arranged in the area of their choosing,” said Hansen.

Tonev’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 25, according to court records.

HCSO said the investigation remains ongoing, and asks those with information about the case to contact the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.  Suspected trafficking can also be reported to NCCSC tip line at (707) 441-3031.

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After more than 32 years of slinging pies and stacking sandwiches, Skip and Laurie Wortman are selling the Ferndale Pizza Co. 

In an announcement posted to Facebook this morning, the Wortmans, who bought the pizzeria from Don and Anna Sanfilippo in 1994, thanked Ferndale community for “a lifetime of memories,” but said it’s time to “slow down and have more time with our family.” 

“Over 32 years ago Skip and I made the move to Ferndale, bringing our two children and the dream to open our own restaurant in this wonderful town,” Laurie Wortman wrote. “It has been a joy and an honor to serve this community. Over the years we have been blessed with so many incredible employees, we would not be here without them. … Skip, Kelsey, Ryan and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Our family shares a lifetime of memories you’ve made with us. You’ve brought lots of laughter and joy to our little pizzeria.”

The business hasn’t been listed for sale as of yet. Reached by phone this afternoon, a Ferndale Pizza Co. employee told the Outpost that the owners were out of town visiting family and the listing would be made official when they return.

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When Humboldt County Aviation Director Justin Hopman submitted his letter of resignation on March 2, less than two months after taking over the gig, he was uncommonly candid.

“After much reflection and discussion with my family, I have made the difficult decision to step away due to the personal challenges we have faced living in this location,” his letter says. “I am sure you understand the long-term needs and well-being of my family must take priority at this time.”

Reached by phone on Thursday, Hopman reiterated his deference to family. He and his wife grew up in Florida and have lived along the “Space Coast” east of Orlando for most of their lives. They moved to Humboldt County with their two kids after Hopman accepted the aviation director position, and the transplant didn’t quite take. 

“The wife and kids just miss the family,” Hopman said, adding, “They’re in charge, not me.”

Nothing against Humboldt, though.

“This is a really beautiful place,” he said. “Everywhere you look around here can be a postcard. But it’s just, yeah — it’s mostly missing the family support we have there with the kids, grandparents and great-grandparents, that stuff.”

Upon learning of Hopman’s resignation, the Outpost wasn’t alone in wondering whether something seriously dysfunctional might be going on with the county’s Aviation Department. Just five and a half years ago it was brought out from under Public Works to become a standalone county department, and now three directors have resigned in the past 18 months. 

But Hopman said things are actually going really well here, a message echoed by an outside consultant’s report delivered at the last Board of Supervisors meeting. 

“This is a very unique place here,” he said. “It’s kind of exciting, and I’m really disappointed to leave because of it. We just had Breeze [Airways] launch [service to] Burbank today, and we had Breeze launch Vegas yesterday. And Alaska is launching in three weeks, with Seattle runs. That’s, like, unheard of at an airport this size.”

The inaugural flight to Burbank was full, and Hopman said there’s still interest from other air carriers in bringing new routes to the California Redwood Coast-Humboldt County Airport. 

“So there’s a lot of good things happening here,” Hopman said. “I’m disappointed I’m not going to be here to see this [through].” 

He said the Board of Supervisors has been very supportive of the airport and open to his feedback, “which is really refreshing, to have that openness. They want the airport to succeed, and I think they realize it’s a pretty valuable asset here in the community.”

Hopman’s last day on the job is currently scheduled for March 27, though he has offered to help the county transition to new leadership, if needed.

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Old houses have plenty of problems. Leaky pipes, cracked foundations, bad heating and worse insulation all make for hard living. But an ancient water meter can actually save owners money — at the city’s detriment. 

Arcata’s housing stock is rife with them. Around 6,600 meters city-wide measure the water residents use, and all of them need to be replaced. (About 680 already have been.) When a meter turns 15 years old or so, it stops measuring the water usage accurately, almost always in favor of the customer, sometimes undercounting by huge margins. Arcata doesn’t recover costs for up to a third of the $1.7 million it spends on water bought from the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District and resells at-cost, Finance Director Tabatha Miller told the Outpost. Arcata loses some $300,000-$500,000 annually, though the losses have mounted over time as more meters deteriorate. Some of it is lost to leaky infrastructure or from fire hydrants, like the 2.5 million gallons firefighters dumped on the Jan. 2 fire earlier this year, but around half of it is from undercounting water meters. 271 active customers have paid the monthly minimum flat fees without being charged at all for water usage within the last four months, Miller said, even though the city believes they’re using water. 

“It’s a lot of water,” Miller said. “And it’s a lot of money. You can see why this is important to me.”

City council members and staff swapped anecdotes at a meeting several weeks ago, when they decided they’d attempt to snag state funds to replace the meters. Councilmember Stacy Atkins-Salazar said she’d heard the city was losing boatloads of money annually to faulty meters; some customers pay nothing and it “didn’t sit well with her.” The other council members agreed. “When I hear that somebody who can afford to pay water [bills] has a zero meter-read, that drives me crazy,” councilmember Alex Stillman said. Replacing even a few meters has had an impact; Miller said that a few customers with new meters complained to the finance department, irate that their water bill had doubled. Finance staff asked them a few questions about their usage: how many people lived in the house, how often they were there, and showed them that they had been benefiting from a faulty meter.

They’ve needed replacement for a while now. For years, Arcata didn’t have the cash. City hall chased funding opportunities for other projects as they popped up — grants for street and transportation improvements, $67 million for the wastewater treatment facility. Miller said they took advantage of what was available, and went from there. Focus on more critical infrastructure projects, like the steel waterline replacement, also sidelined meter replacement. Mustering the money for the project would also have been unpopular, Miller said. 

“Nobody likes rates to be increased,” Miller said. “If you can push them off a year or two because nothing’s really bad — it happens…And people hate it when you rip up their roads and streets, and they’re out of water. It’s a big deal.”

The meters are partially to blame for the imminent increase to the city’s water rates. Under California law, the revenue Arcata earns from their water service goes right back into the water fund, not its general fund. Arcata is mainly increasing the water rates to defray costs from the ongoing steel waterline replacement and other infrastructure upgrades — around $36 million total — but more money in the water fund would have allowed for much lower increases. (Several city council members have said they’d look at lowering the rates in 2030 if the meters were replaced.) 

Miller estimated that it’ll cost about $13 million to replace all the meters. It’s not as simple as just loosening some bolts and swapping them out; the new auto-read transmitters are larger than the old meter boxes, which are embedded in the street. The concrete around the boxes has to be destroyed and repoured. If the city gets it, the CDBG funding they’re applying for will cover $2.9 million, and the state and federal government might kick in the other $10 million through a combination of a few different grants. If all goes to plan, the project will take around two and a half years to complete, finishing sometime in 2029.

The meters they’re planning on replacing with the $2.9 million of CDGB funding will be in low-income areas of the city, determined by census tract data. Miller agreed that it was counter-intuitive that Arcata’s effectively raising their rates before focusing on people who will have an easier time paying for it, but CDGB funds have to be used for lower-income areas. And the new meters can also tell residents if their pipes are leaking, potentially saving them money in the long run. 

“If we can get money to pay for infrastructure that makes it uniform and fair across the board as far as water usage and water bills,” Miller said, “It’s a win for the customers, and that impacts almost everybody in the city.”