Garcia.

Ed. note: At least one other candidate, Jason McCutcheon, has signed up to run for this seat, which will be on the November ballot.

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Press release from Victor Garcia for City Council, Ward One:

Victor E. Garcia Jr., local community organizer and commissioner on the Humboldt County Human Rights Commission, today announced the endorsement of three local elected officials in his campaign for the open Eureka City Council 1st Ward seat.

Endorsing Garcia are Councilmember Leslie Castellano (Ward 1), Councilmember G. Mario Fernandez (Ward 3), and Supervisor Natalie Arroyo (Fourth District).

“Victor has the vision and knowledge to help build a successful Eureka. It doesn’t take long to figure out how difficult life can be behind the Redwood Curtain; though, with Victor’s experience and insight and expertise of public processes, adding him to our city’s leadership would help build a more prosperous Eureka.”

— G. Mario Fernandez, Eureka City Councilmember, Ward 3

Garcia is running on a platform that addresses five interconnected challenges facing Eureka: a behavioral health crisis, lack of healthcare access, housing instability and tenants’ rights, food resiliency, and shrinking state and federal support. He has proposed creating a Rent Board to protect tenants, pursuing an elected Community Healthcare District to reduce the need for residents to travel hours for basic care, and investing in local food production through backyard gardens, gleaning campaigns, and partnerships with local farmers, ranchers, and the fishing industry.

For people experiencing homelessness, Garcia supports safe parking programs, tiny home villages, and embedding mental health professionals alongside community ambassadors. He has emphasized cross-agency collaboration as a strategy for stretching public dollars further during a period of reduced federal and state funding.

“This campaign is about presenting an attainable vision for Eureka and a movement that enables our neighbors to shape its future. Humboldt is full of creative, artistic, resilient, intelligent people, and we will harness their energy to create the future we deserve.”

— Victor E. Garcia Jr., candidate, Eureka City Council 1st Ward

Garcia is a public employee, community organizer, and proud Ward One resident. From watching his mother run a small business for 27 years to organizing progressive victories across California, Victor has spent his life learning how to make systems work for people. He is a member of Operating Engineers Local 3, Vice Chair of the Humboldt County Democratic Central Committee, and a dedicated advocate for a better Eureka. He grew up in the San Fernando Valley and earned a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Campaign Kickoff Event

• Saturday, April 11, 2:30–4:30 p.m.
• Synapsis, 1675 Union St., Eureka (across from Caltrans)

Food provided. Children welcome.

To learn more, RSVP for the launch event, or get involved, visit Victor4Eureka.com or email info@victor4eureka.com.

Biography

Victor Garcia is a proud Eureka resident who has made Humboldt County his forever home. He lives in Ward One with his partner of ten years, three beloved pets, and his parents, who reside just a mile down the road. To Victor, Ward One is home, and its future is personal.

Growing up in the San Fernando Valley, Victor experienced firsthand what it means to build something from the ground up. His mother owned and operated a travel agency for 27 years, working seven days a week for much of that time. That upbringing gave him a front-row seat to the sacrifices small business owners make each and every day.

As a public employee in local government, Victor’s professional experiences inform his civic life. He is grounded in the belief that government can do better and should work for the people it serves. His experience navigating municipal government from the inside gives him a practical understanding of how city institutions function and how to get things done for residents.

Over the past ten years, Victor has organized for progressive causes and candidates across California. He got his start in politics as Co-Chair of UC Santa Barbara for Bernie in 2015. Working alongside a coalition of students and community stakeholders, his efforts helped register over 10,000 students to vote ahead of the 2016 primary. He later served as Statewide Volunteer Coordinator for Delaine Eastin for Governor and most recently helped defeat Measure F right here in Eureka.

Victor is deeply embedded in the civic life of the region. He currently serves on the Humboldt County Human Rights Commission and is a proud member of Operating Engineers Local 3. He is also active in the Democratic Party as Vice Chair of the county central committee and a delegate to the California Democratic Party. He earned his B.A. in Political Science from UC Santa Barbara in 2017.

When he is not engaged in the community, Victor can be found tending his garden, at one of Humboldt’s beautiful beaches with a good book, or cooking and baking for friends and family.

PREVIOUSLY

• Eureka Police Announce Arrest of Man Suspected of Smashing Glass Doors Around Town Last Night, Including at EPD Headquarters

From the Eureka Police Department:

On April 7th, 2026, at approximately 8:50 p.m., Officers with the Eureka Police Department (EPD) responded to the vicinity of 4th St and E St for a report of a male subject hitting windows and throwing rocks at financial institutions. 

Officers quickly arrived in the area and located the male suspect, identified as Bruce Snow, 34 years old of Eureka, holding a rock and a blue Sharpie pen while approaching a bank. Officers located similar rocks near other damaged financial institutions. The rocks had the banks’ names written on them in blue Sharpie and appeared to have been used to break the windows. 

Snow was taken into custody for felony vandalism, public intoxication, possession of drug paraphernalia, and violating the terms of his probation. This is the second time Snow has been involved in felony vandalism under similar circumstances. See the excerpt from previous press release located below.  

Eureka, CA — On the night of October 29 and into the early morning hours of October 30, 2025, Eureka Police Department (EPD) patrol officers responded to a series of ten vandalism incidents across the north end of the city. An individual was reported to be shattering multiple glass doors at several businesses, including the front doors of the Eureka Police Department Headquarters and the Humboldt Bay Fire Headquarters. 

During the investigation, and with assistance from victim businesses, officers identified and located the suspect near 4th and A Streets. The suspect, 34-year-old Bruce William Snow, was arrested and booked into jail for multiple counts of felony vandalism and probation violations. 

Anyone with information related to this incident is encouraged to contact the Eureka Police Department Criminal Investigation Unit at 707-441-4300.

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This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

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Gov. Gavin Newsom is advancing a plan that could funnel hundreds of millions in road dollars to a struggling oil refinery — pitching it as a cleaner jet fuel initiative. The credit, drawn from funds voters designated for highways and local streets, could also raise gas prices for most drivers.

UC Berkeley economists warn it could raise California gas prices. And while the plan is pitched as a climate measure, the analysis finds it could cut emissions at more than 10 times the cost economists consider effective, one of the authors told CalMatters.

The proposal is expected to receive a final legislative hearing on Thursday. It has drawn backing from lawmakers and labor groups, who say it preserves jobs at facilities like the Rodeo refinery in Contra Costa County and helps the state achieve its climate goals.

But the plan has drawn criticism from an unlikely mix of voices: oil industry representatives, the Legislature’s nonpartisan analyst — who is urging lawmakers to reject the proposal — and environmentalists who argue California is underfunding cleaner, more effective alternatives like mass transit.

Phillips 66 leads the subsidy line

The governor’s four-page proposal is a straightforward mechanism granting a tax credit to producers in a small corner of the jet fuel market — with potentially far-reaching implications for most drivers.

Only two companies currently produce state-certified jet biofuel and also owe diesel excise tax in California — the conditions required to claim the credit, said

Andrew March, a Department of Finance budget analyst. Of those, only Phillips 66 has publicly confirmed it would qualify for the credit. The company spent $1.25 billion converting its Rodeo refinery in Contra Costa County from traditional petroleum refining to biofuels.

Jets do not run on gasoline; they run on a fuel refined from petroleum by oil companies that also produce gasoline for cars and diesel for trucks. Because jet fuel requires less processing than gasoline or diesel, it is generally cheaper to produce. But sustainable aviation fuel, made from products like used cooking grease and animal fat, costs significantly more, roughly twice the price of conventional jet fuel, due to the expense of converting refineries and processing organic materials.

Under the proposal, producers would earn credits for selling the fuel here and use those credits to offset the diesel taxes they owe.

The formula for credits isn’t flat — the cleaner the fuel, the bigger the credit, ranging from $1 to $2 per gallon.

The state estimates that Newsom’s proposal could cost between $165 million and $300 million, but California’s nonpartisan legislative analyst warns that figure could be far higher. That’s because the tax credit is so high that it could incentivize companies outside California to acquire California companies with diesel tax liabilities, said Helen Kerstein, who evaluates climate programs for the Legislative Analyst’s Office. A major California refiner like Chevron could also buy a renewable fuel company elsewhere and ship the fuel here, she said.

If more companies claim the credit than expected, diesel tax revenues could fall more sharply — driving the program’s cost higher than anticipated. In February, a team of UC Berkeley economists estimated the proposal could cause diesel tax receipts to fall by as much as 75%.

“They’re going to incentivize a whole lot more sustainable aviation fuel than they’re planning,” Aaron Smith, a Berkeley economist who co-authored the report, told CalMatters. “That is going to be a huge hit to the state’s diesel tax receipts, and so it’s going to be a huge hole in the budget.”

March, the budget analyst, disputed Smith’s findings, saying it assumes an 8-to-10-fold surge in sustainable aviation fuel flowing into California. Other states that have passed similar credits haven’t experienced such growth, he said. The program is designed to grow over time, as more companies begin producing sustainable aviation fuel and become eligible, March said.

One refinery’s bet

Last year, Assemblymember Anamarie Ávila Farías and a dozen colleagues toured the Rodeo refinery, which sits along the shores of the San Pablo Bay, in the Concord Democrat’s district. What they learned alarmed them, Ávila Farías said.

Phillips 66 officials told lawmakers that due to the loss of federal incentives — and because California’s own low carbon fuel program wasn’t generating enough revenue — projects like the refinery conversion were struggling, she said.

Phillips 66 lobbied the Governor’s office directly near the end of 2025. Newsom included the tax credit in his budget proposal. Ávila Farías and 40 of her colleagues joined in a “bipartisan” push for the measure.

“In 2026, these facilities are on the brink of closure,” Ávila Farías said in written responses to CalMatters questions.

Phillips 66 declined to answer basic questions about the proposal it lobbied to help shape: whether the Rodeo facility is profitable, whether it faces closure without the credit or how much it expects to claim if the credit is approved. Neither the governor’s office nor the company would say what role it played in shaping the proposal.

In 2025, the company made $4.4 billion in profits. The Houston-based company’s renewable fuels segment, which is anchored by the Rodeo complex, lost $380 million in 2025, worse than the $198 million loss it posted the year before, according to the company’s annual report.

Disclosures filed with the California Secretary of State show Phillips 66 lobbied the Governor’s Office directly on a “proposed sustainable aviation fuel incentive package” in the last three months of the year — after the legislative session had concluded but budget planning for the next year is typically underway. An earlier disclosure specifically referenced ‘diesel excise taxes’ alongside the fuels incentive package.

Phillips 66 was a member of the Western States Petroleum Association, the state’s main oil lobby, until the end of last year. The association has not taken an official position on the tax credit, though its chief lobbyist has urged lawmakers to stay focused on keeping California’s traditional petroleum refineries open.

Phillips 66 has been a significant contributor to state campaigns through 2024, donating a total of more than $1.1 million to legislators, according to the CalMatters Digital Democracy database. Since 2024, the company has continued to fund legislative campaigns, including those of Ávila Farías, Secretary of State data shows.

For workers at the Rodeo plant, the stakes are high. Joe Jawad, president of United Steelworkers Local 326, represents roughly 250 workers there, many from families who have worked the refinery for generations. In total, the refinery employs more than 400 workers.

“If this incentive passes, it’s my understanding this place stays here for years to come,” Jawad said. “That’s what we’re looking for.”

But the transition has concerned local environmental justice advocates. Community organizer Daphney Saviotti-Orozco, who grew up in the unincorporated community of Rodeo, a few blocks from the refinery, worries biofuels could still pollute local air quality with methane, nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter.

“There’ll be more pressure to make even more,” she said.

A hit to California’s highways and byways

California has long protected fuel tax money for roads. Newsom’s proposal could drain those funds.

In hearings, lawmakers have specifically raised concern about the use of road dollars for green jet fuel.

“We don’t have sustainable funding for our transportation system,” said Lori Wilson, a Democrat from Suisun City, who chairs the Assembly transportation committee, speaking at a March 11 hearing. “It does give me cause for concern.”

The state constitution protects gas and diesel excise taxes: they must fund highways, local streets and transit infrastructure. Voters reinforced that mandate in 2010, when they passed Proposition 22, which barred the state from borrowing or redirecting those funds.

Newsom’s proposal wouldn’t technically violate the rules, but the proposal would have a similar impact, said Kerstein, of the legislative analyst’s office.

“Every dollar that goes to this credit is one fewer dollar that goes to local streets and roads, and the state highway system,” Kerstein said. “That’s the trade-off.”

March disputed the framing, saying there were other sources of money for transportation funds.

“The projected impact on road repairs is not a dollar for dollar trade,” he wrote.

The credit would pull money from three programs: Caltrans highway maintenance, local street and road funding and competitive freight grants. California’s roads are already starved for cash.

Current funding only covers about 61% of projected highway needs, according to Caltrans, while more drivers switching to electric vehicles are likely to shrink gas tax revenue. Local streets and roads face a $74 billion funding gap, according to a survey from the California State Association of Counties, which advocates for local jurisdictions.

“We definitely need road repairs, but we can’t miss this chance on jet fuel,” Ávila Farías wrote. “We must do both.”

A costly climate fix

But the plan’s primary beneficiary isn’t the climate; it’s a refinery whose parent company lost hundreds of millions on renewable fuels last year. And while supporters say the jet fuel credit would cut carbon emissions, critics say it could do so at a steep cost.

The plan would cost $1,000 to $2,700 per ton of emissions reduced — more than 10 times what economists consider a cost-effective way to cut climate pollution, according to the Berkeley analysis.

That’s because California is already getting most of the climate benefits from renewable fuels — also made from plant and animal materials — through its low carbon fuel standard, a program that pushes producers to make what they sell here progressively cleaner. Many of those fuels today go into diesel trucks.

Berkeley’s report contends that the credit would mainly shift the same limited supply of used cooking oil, animal fats and other raw materials into jet fuel instead of replacing fossil fuels.

March said the state has invested in similarly-priced and more expensive policies in the past in order to boost emerging technologies. “Public investment does what private capital won’t,” March said.

Matthew Botill, a division chief with the California Air Resources Board, said boosting sustainable aviation fuel is critical because demand for jet fuel is expected to grow and state policies aim to cut fuel use in trucking by shifting to electric vehicles.

Without stronger incentives for sustainable aviation fuel, petroleum use in aviation will rise as more people fly, undermining the state’s climate goals, Botill said at a March 11 hearing.

But by diverting renewable diesel from trucks, producers could drive gas and diesel prices up by 10 to 15 cents per gallon, according to Smith and the Berkeley economists – pushing trucks back toward petroleum and making the fuel mix dirtier and more expensive to clean up.

“Markets chase the subsidies,” said Danny Cullenward, an energy policy researcher who agreed with the Berkeley findings. “You make a very attractive subsidy, and people say, ‘Well, I’d rather be delivering that thing.’”

Environmentalists say the state would be better off investing in proven, emission-cutting solutions like electric cars and trucks and mass transit.

“We’re not funding the low-hanging fruit,” said Christina Scaringe, California climate policy director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “There’s just a very basic argument that we don’t have a lot of money.”

March, the state budget analyst, told CalMatters that predictions about the governor’s biofuel proposal’s impact on gas prices are “highly uncertain.”

Lawmakers, including Ávila Farías, have compared jet biofuel to solar or wind power in their early stages arguing California “must act boldly now,” to support sustainable aviation fuel.

Smith is skeptical sustainable aviation fuel will ever get cheap enough to stand on its own. And the economics have only worsened since the U.S. began strikes on Iran in late February, sending fuel prices sharply higher.

Before the conflict, conventional jet fuel ran about $2.50 a gallon, according to Argus Media – which also tracked sustainable fuel’s cost at more than twice that — $5.48. Since the strikes on Iran, both have climbed. At west coast airports this week, Globalair.com reports the price of sustainable fuel has reached $10.20.

“You need a lot of government support to make it work,” Smith said. “I just don’t ever see that happening.”

Two years after Humboldt county voters passed a raft of sales tax measures, Fortuna’s decided it wants in on the action.

The Fortuna City Council unanimously decided last night to add a measure to the November 2026 ballot asking voters to pass a 0.75% sales tax on purchases made within city limits. Its specificities are under discussion.

The city is under immense financial pressure. Revenue is declining; costs are rising. Revenue hasn’t kept pace with inflation, nor has it risen incrementally year-over-year. Fortuna is earning about $500,000 less in sales tax and TOT revenue every year than it was in 2020, and annual liability insurance is also $500,000 more. City staff estimated that the city has lost $1.8 million in purchasing power over the last six years, forcing them to halt hiring police officers and go into a deficit. If enacted, the sales tax would contribute that much to the city’s budget every year, cancelling the losses out. 

Fortuna hired private consulting firm EMC Research to survey Fortuna residents to find out how they’d feel about the tax, and how they feel about the city as a whole. Out of the 200 people surveyed, 64% thought the city needed more money — many even brought up the city’s money woes unprompted — but 57% said they generally opposed tax increases. Those surveyed were split on the proposed sales tax: 46% said they were in favor, 51% said they weren’t. Sharing more information about the fiscal hole the city is in influenced that to a slight “yes” majority; giving them the other oppositional viewpoint flip-flopped those results. A representative from the firm pointed out that the study had a 7% margin of error, so the measure’s passage will be a crapshoot come November. 

In 2024, an identical measure in Fortuna failed with 42% of the vote. 

The obvious conflict between wanting more city services — but not wanting to pay more sales tax — vexed some of the council members. One public commenter, Fortuna resident Orville Garrison, said that it was “disappointing” and “somewhat depressing” that so many Fortunans wanted and expected city services, but weren’t willing to pay for them. 

Mayor pro tem Tami Trent pointed out that the proposed tax hike is the same as Eureka’s sales tax. 

“We need to support our own city and our own services,” she said. “We’re just asking for the same as you pay there. Nothing more.”

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[DISCLOSURE: The Blue Lake Rancheria is a minority owner of the Outpost’s parent company, Lost Coast Communications, Inc.]

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Press release from the Yurok Tribe:

As part of a new agreement between the two Northern California tribes, the Yurok Fire Department recently started overseeing Blue Lake Rancheria’s fire management operations as well as providing expertise and assistance for cultural burning initiatives.

Signed by the Yurok Chairman Joseph L. James and Blue Lake Chairman Jason Ramos, the memorandum of understanding will improve the Rancheria’s capacity to prepare for, respond to and recover from wild land fires.

“The Yurok Tribe has been a valued partner and brings significant expertise in wildland fire management,” said Jason Ramos, the Blue Lake Rancheria Tribal Chairman. We are pleased to see tribes collaborating in this critically important area, an effort that will benefit our local communities.”

“We are always happy to share our knowledge and expertise with fellow tribes,” said Joseph L. James, the Yurok Tribal Chairman. “I’d like to sincerely thank the Blue Lake Rancheria for selecting the Yurok Fire Department. This partnership will strengthen tribal sovereignty, self-determination and safety within our respective communities.”

“We are grateful for the opportunity to provide these services and help out a neighboring tribal fire department,” added Yurok Fire Chief Rod Mendes. “This agreement represents a win/win for the tribes and surrounding communities.”

Per the agreement, the Yurok Fire Department will provide oversight and operational management of Blue Lake Rancheria’s fire personnel and equipment, utilize the Blue Lake Rancheria’s fire department as a satellite facility, and provide administrative assistance as needed. The agreement also funds a new battalion chief position for Yurok Fire, who will be stationed in the Blue Lake Rancheria facility.

The Yurok Tribe will also assist with cultural fire practices, including help and training from Yurok Prescribed Fire Burn Bosses and other fire practitioners. Blue Lake Rancheria will designate its own team of cultural fire practitioners and develop cultural fire objects and operations.

Cultural burning is a practice that leads to a healthier ecosystem for all plants and animals, long term fire protection for residents, and supports the traditional hunting and gathering activities of Native people.

The tribes have held successful collaborative burn demonstrations in the last three years on Blue Lake Rancheria property as part of the annual Cultural Burn Seminar.

The Yurok Fire Department is an all risk, all hazard organization that focuses on fire detection, prevention and suppression in conjunction with traditional and conventional fuels management. The chartered tribal agency fights wildfires in the local area and across the US as a national resource. In addition to extinguishing fires, the Yurok crew conducts cultural burns to moderate forest fuel loads, improve wildlife habitat and increase access to traditional basket weaving materials and indigenous foods on tribal lands. When they are not contending with fires or performing controlled burns, the Yurok crew works on projects that reduce fire risk on the reservation.

Chief Mendes has more than 35 years of fire officer leadership experience, including lengthy terms as a District Fire Management Officer for the Klamath National Forest and as the Chief of Fire and Office of Emergency Services for the Hoopa Valley Tribe, and over 20 years with Inter agency Incident Management teams. He is also a governor appointed member of California’s Homeland Security Advisory Committee.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Fortuna Mobile Home Rent Moratorium Passes
• Owners of the Royal Crest Mobile Estates Ask Fortuna’s City Council to Kill the Proposed Rent Stabilization Ordinance
• Faced with Losing Their Homes, Some Fortuna Mobile Home Owners will Petition the City Council for a Rent Stabilization Ordinance

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After almost a year of advocacy and tinkering, Fortuna’s city council decided last night to adopt a rent stabilization ordinance for the 283 mobile homes within its city limits. 

Last summer, residents of the Royal Crest mobile home park, many of them on fixed incomes and threatened by the possibility of becoming homeless, began clamoring for rules that would govern how much the owners of the park could increase their rents. The back-and-forth negotiations between the residents, the city, and the owners has taken up much of the last nine months. 

Even in its completed form, none of the representatives from the park’s advocacy organization Save Our Seniors (SOS) were content with the RSO, though most of them thanked the city council for hearing their complaints and working with them. 

The ordinance went into effect immediately. It ties the amount rent can be raised on all mobile homes to the Consumer Price Index in the Western U.S. up to an annual maximum of 5%, though there are so-called “pass-through” exceptions for infrastructure work. Members of the SOS railed against those exemptions; SOS advocate Ricardo Tallamente said they were “too broad and too loose.” 

The ordinance also charges an appointee of Fortuna’s city manager to decide if the rent increases are necessary. Worried about potential bias and excessive waste of staff time, members of the SOS also disagreed with that provision of the ordinance; mobile home advocate Hilary Mosher said she “begged” them to reconsider.  

Rent increases upon the sale of a mobile home are also banned.

Only a few people were against the whole idea of an RSO. One person, “Saul,” who claimed to represent a group of Fortuna’s mobile home park owners, said they wanted an MOU with the city and park residents instead, as did Fortuna city councilmember Abe Stevens. Stevens, who also had some ideological “free market considerations,” ended up being the lone vote against the ordinance. Saul called the RSO “absurd” and “counterproductive.” 

Amy Nilsen, Fortuna’s city manager, defended the RSO, as did the city’s hired attorney Michael Colantuono. Property owners have to go through the city before they make any capital improvements that would require raising the rent. The RSO is based on an RSO passed by Carson, California, in 2018. Colantuono said that ordinance was “battle-hardened,” shaped by multiple lawsuits into stronger law that would prevent Fortuna from fighting a succession of legal battles defending their citizens. 

The council will review the necessity and effectiveness of the ordinance in 18 months.

The ordinance passed 4-1; Mayor Mike Johnson shut down the applause. 

Mosher told the Outpost during a phone interview today that Colantuono’s arguments impressed her, and she was willing to wait and see how well Fortuna’s RSO worked. She commended the city council for their speed, hard work, and compassion, and the residents at Royal Crest for their energy.

“It’s not perfect, but it’s good,” she said. “…Fortuna — they’ve done a really good thing. They’re preserving an important source of affordable housing, and a significant source of affordable housing in that community. We do feel confident that the city council is in it for the long haul, should any problems arise. We applaud them.”

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Attorneys for St. Joseph Health Northern California, LLC, (SJH) are attempting to settle a 2024 lawsuit in which the State of California accuses St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka of refusing to provide emergency abortion care to people experiencing obstetric emergencies.

Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Timothy Canning was scheduled to issue a decision by early last month on the state’s motion for a preliminary injunction. But on February 20, the two parties notified the court that they had begun “substantive settlement discussions” that could take a while. They asked the court to hold off on issuing a ruling until the two sides could determine whether a settlement is possible.

Late last month, attorneys for both parties reported that they’re still negotiating.

The state’s lawsuit, which has garnered nationwide media attention, alleges that SJH violated California’s Emergency Services Law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act and the Unfair Competition Law through its religion-based policy of prohibiting doctors from providing life-saving or stabilizing emergency treatment when doing so would terminate a pregnancy, even if that pregnancy is not viable. 

California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office has been seeking a preliminary injunction that would compel SJH to comply with California’s Emergency Services Law (ESL) by providing legally mandated emergency medical care. 

When the two parties last appeared in court, on Dec. 10, attorneys for SJH reiterated their main argument, which is that this injunction, if granted, would go too far by improperly forcing the hospital to perform elective abortions, which are forbidden by the Catholic religion. (SJH is owned by the Catholic not-for-profit Providence Health & Services.)

At that hearing, one of SJH’s defense attorneys further alleged that the two women at the center of the case — Eureka chiropractor Anna Nusslock and another patient identified only as “Jane Roe” — never actually experienced medical emergencies while in the hospital’s care. And he accused the state of making false statements in presenting its case.

The deputy attorney general arguing on behalf of the state emphatically denied those allegations and accused SJH of placing religious dogma ahead of women’s health.

In October 2024, the state reached a stipulated agreement with SJH whereby Providence promised to follow California’s Emergency Services Law for the duration of the lawsuit, and both parties said they’d seek to ensure “that pregnant patients receive adequate treatment for emergency medical conditions, based on the professional judgment of the treating physician.”

However, after receiving a letter from Bishop Robert F. Vasa, who oversees the Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa, attorneys for SJH asked Judge Canning to release them from that agreement. In his letter, Bishop Vasa stated that the agreement would violate the Ethical and Religious Directives that govern care at Catholic medical institutions. Vasa’s letter said a Catholic hospital may only terminate a pre-viable pregnancy when the only alternative is certain death of both mother and child.

But the court kept the stipulated agreement in place, and the latest status report from the two parties says SJH will continue to abide by the terms of that accord.

When reached for comment, both the Attorney General’s Office and Providence Health & Services declined to offer more details about the ongoing negotiations. Providence’s local communication manager, Shannon Garcia, sent the Outpost a prepared statement, which reads, in part, “Providence St. Joseph Hospital Eureka continues delivering the emergency care patients need in full compliance with state and federal law and the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care.”

Meanwhile, a second lawsuit against SJH, filed by the National Women’s Law Center on behalf of Nusslock, is proceeding. K.M. Bell, a senior attorney with the nonprofit law center, told the Outpost via email, “We are currently in discovery, the exchange of documents and information, which I’m afraid is probably not terribly exciting to the public, but our work to hold Providence accountable continues.”

The next status hearing in the state’s lawsuit is scheduled for May 18 at 8:30 a.m.

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PREVIOUSLY

• Attorney General Sues St. Joseph Hospital for Denying a Woman Emergency Abortion Care
• Providence Offers ‘Profound Apologies’ to Woman Denied Emergency Abortion Care at St. Joseph Hospital
• A Local Doctor Urged St. Joseph Hospital to Change Its Anti-Abortion Policies Long Before State Lawsuit, According to Court Declaration
• BREAKING: St. Joseph Hospital Denies Allegations in State Abortion Care Lawsuit But Agrees to Follow State Health Care Laws as the Case Proceeds
• Judge Signs Order Committing St. Joseph Hospital to Providing Emergency Abortions, At Least For the Duration of AG Lawsuit
• Citing Religious Freedom and Catholic Doctrine, St. Joseph Health Challenges State’s Emergency Abortion Care Lawsuit on a Variety of Legal Grounds
• State Responds to St. Joseph Health’s Attempt to Get Emergency Abortion Lawsuit Dismissed
• ‘Providence Must Follow the Law’: At the Humboldt Reproductive Health Care Rally Before the Latest California vs. St. Joseph Hospital Hearing
• St. Joe’s Abortion Care Lawsuit: In a Packed Courtroom, Hospital’s Attorneys Ask Judge to Dismiss the Case
• Judge Denies St. Joseph Health’s Motion to Dismiss State Lawsuit Over Emergency Abortion Care
• Attorney General Says Providence is Trying to ‘Shirk Its Duty’ to Follow the Law In Emergency Abortion Care Suit
• Providence’s Effort to Back Out of Emergency Abortion Care Agreement Would Put Humboldt Women ‘Back in Harms’ Way,’ AG’s Office Argues in Latest Court Filing
• Judge Holds Providence St. Joseph to Prior Agreement as Emergency Abortion Care Lawsuit Proceeds
• Attorney General’s Office Files New Motion for Preliminary Injunction in St. Joseph Emergency Abortion Care Case
• In the State’s Emergency Abortion Care Lawsuit Against St. Joseph Hospital, Attorneys Recount Graphic Details and Dispute the Facts