Danny Lee Taylor passed away December 1, 2025 at his home in McKinleyville, California, at the age of 75. Danny was born on December 10, 1949 at the old Trinity Hospital in Arcata, California, to George Delbert Taylor and Bernice Alice (Helm) Taylor. Danny grew up in Arcata and graduated from Arcata High School in 1968. After high school, he decided to enlist in the U.S. Army in January of 1969, during the Vietnam War. He enlisted on the Buddy System with his buddy, Dan Good. Danny was discharged in January of 1971 and returned home to Arcata.

During high school, Danny started working for our Grandpa, George “Dub” Taylor, at Elgar’s Service Station in Blue Lake. That job enabled him to buy his first car, a teal green 1956 Chevy. After his discharge from the Army, Danny worked at Maxon’s Music, and eventually opened his own music store, Tallman’s Pianos and Organs in Eureka. Danny was musically gifted and enjoyed playing the trumpet, French horn, trombone, guitar, piano and organ. Danny also had a beautiful voice and our mother instilled a love for singing in all of us. We sang everywhere we went and Danny sang in every church choir throughout his life.

Danny returned to College of the Redwoods and obtained his EMT II certificate. In 1972, while attending CR, he met his lifelong friend, Doug Bittle, who invited him to church. Danny’s lifelong relationship with Jesus Christ began at Full Gospel Tabernacle, now Eureka the Pentecostal Church, in 1972. It was at church that Danny met Terry Lee Schmedding, the love of his life. They were happily married on July 22, 1974, and soon purchased their first home on Huntoon Street in Eureka, where they resided until 1986.

In 1986, Danny and Terry moved to Phoenix, where Danny completed his LVN. Sadly, after residing in Phoenix for seven years, Terry passed away from Lou Gehrig’s disease. Danny worked for Maricopa County Hospital and was instrumental in organizing the incarceration unit that provided medical care to inmates from five prisons in the Phoenix area. Danny supervised all incarceration units, including orthopedic, maternity, dental, and cardiac, until he retired in 2010. Danny moved back to Arcata in 2016.

Danny was a dedicated, steadfast, courageous and loving son, brother, uncle and husband. He was an anointed Sunday School teacher, supported foreign missions and loved working for the Lord.

Danny was preceded in death by his wife, Terry Taylor, and his parents, George “Del” Taylor and Bernice Taylor. Danny is survived by his sister, Georgette (Steven) Trump, his brother, Dale (Judy) Taylor, his aunt Deborah Jimenez, nieces Serena (Rene) Ontiveros, Alicen (Eddie) Adams, Vanessa (Shayne Downs) Taylor, Holly (Alex) Bateman, nephews Todd (Anamarie) Taylor, Lawrence (Melonie) Trump III, and great nieces and nephews Michaelyn, Gabriel, Nevaeh, Shaina, Ruby, Brylee, Barrett, Lawson, Harmony, and Chase, and numerous cousins.

A funeral service will be held at Eureka the Pentecostal Church, 1060 Hoover Street, Eureka, on Friday, January 16, 2026 at 1:30 pm. A reception will follow the graveside burial at the church. The Mad River Honor Guard will assist in the graveside service at Greenwood Cemetery in Arcata at 3 p.m. on January 16, 2026.

Danny’s family would like to offer our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to his five amazing caregivers, Paula, Elizabeth, Demetria, Melissa and Paulette. Without all of you, we could never have kept him at home, which was his wish. Our thanks and appreciation also goes to Vynca Telehealth, Compasses Home Healthcare and Hospice of Humboldt.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Danny’s name may be made to the Junior Youth Camp Fund at Eureka the Pentecostal Church, or to the charity of your choice.

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Despite public concerns about increased police surveillance, the Eureka City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the Eureka Police Department’s request to research the use of drone technology to assist the department during critical incidents. 

Speaking at last night’s meeting, EPD Chief Brian Stephens emphasized that the proposal is “just to begin research” to get a better idea of what kind of drone technology is out there and how much it might cost. Once the research is complete, EPD will develop a drone-use policy that will be reviewed by the city council, the Community Oversight on Police Practices (COPP) board and the city’s independent police auditor.

“The benefits of this [drone technology] for the EPD are significant,” Stephens said. “They offer rapid deployment capabilities and increased effectiveness across a wide range of emergency and investigative responses.  … For the Eureka Police Department to meet the expectations of our community, we need to be equipped with the tools and technology that allow us to respond effectively, share critical information and keep both our officers and residents safe. When we fail to invest in technology, we’re not just limiting innovation — we’re limiting safety.”

EPD has borrowed drones from other local law enforcement agencies over the years during “exigent circumstances,” including an incident that had occurred earlier that day involving a missing 10-year-old.

Stephens | Screenshot

“We have prior experience with this particular individual, who was found near the water before,” Stephens explained, noting that the report came in about an hour after the child was last seen. “We contacted the sheriff’s department because we knew we needed to clear a large portion of the trail system. Utilizing a drone, we were able to fly everything north of the Samoa Bridge, all the way out to Brainard and clear that property without having to send officers out there to do it on foot.”

It turned out the kid wasn’t out on the trail at all, Stephens said. A community member contacted police after spotting the 10-year-old walking somewhere in town. “We were able to find him in short order and got him back to his mom safely,” he said. “So that’s just an example [from] today of how [drones can be], as we say, a force multiplier.”

EPD has also used other agencies’ drones during standoff situations with barricaded suspects and to assist in negotiations during mental health crises involving potentially armed individuals or people who are threatening to hurt themselves. A little over a year ago, the department used a drone to communicate directly with a distraught person who was threatening to jump off the Eureka water tower. 

Councilmember Leslie Castellano asked if EPD had encountered challenges in borrowing drones from other agencies. Stephens said HCSO and others have been “very receptive” and “very considerate in their ability to help,” but noted that it isn’t sustainable to rely on other agencies.

“Their pilots and their equipment oftentimes are spread throughout the county,” he said. “The real constraints we have [is] just the turnaround from when we make the request and [when] we can get the equipment on scene and start utilizing it for what the purpose of the mission is. That’s where we really have the potential to run into issues.”

Councilmember G. Mario Fernandez, who attended the meeting via Zoom, asked what the research process would entail. Stephens said staff would probably ask other local agencies what kind of drone technology they’re using and look into potential cross-training. 

“In addition to that, after we get that settled, then we would know that we have a price point that we’d have to meet to get the equipment and assets that we need to run a program,” Stephens continued. “Then we look at the funding options for that, and then we would start creating the policy which … would probably come from the company we use, but we’d also lean on our independent police auditor, because they already have agencies that they are working with that have policies in place.”

Responding to a follow-up question about the estimated timeframe for research, Stephens emphasized that he doesn’t want to rush the process.

“I would hate to try to even put a timeline on it because that would rush information that we’re trying to obtain,” he said. “I don’t want to rush this process because when I bring back something for both review by the COPP board and then, hopefully, to council, I want to make sure it’s a tight package of information that I know will be able to answer the questions and concerns that both council and the community have.”

It turns out, the public had many concerns.

The vast majority of the two dozen residents who spoke during the public comment portion of the discussion urged the council to vote against the proposal out of concern that it would increase citywide surveillance and inevitably lead to misuse. A few skeptical speakers expressed interest in researching the use of drones, and only two people explicitly stated that they were in favor of the proposal.

“As an adult on the autism spectrum, if I was having a crisis and I needed mental health support, I don’t like the idea of being approached by a drone, but I would prefer it over being approached by an armed officer,” said one speaker who chose not to identify themselves. “I would like to ask you to vote ‘yes’ to allow research.”

Eureka resident Kylie Finch acknowledged that drones can be used in productive ways, reiterating a couple of examples provided by Stephens earlier in the meeting. However, Finch emphasized that the technology can be abused, pointing to the New York City Police Department’s use of drones to spy on backyard Labor Day parties and a case in her hometown where a disgruntled police chief allegedly used a drone to stalk his ex-girlfriend.

Finch | Screenshot

“I realize this is a request to do further research, but … it seems the reason for this request is not [out of] necessity as much as convenience,” Finch said. “Convenience invites misuse. … The ultimate safeguard against misuse is to instead borrow these devices from the county when we need them in exigent circumstances [and] only for routine policing purposes. This system isn’t broken, but this proposal suggests a great way to break it.”

Another speaker, who did not identify themselves, worried about the potential for drone footage to be leaked or accessed by other agencies. They pointed to previous reporting by the Outpost’s Ryan Burns, which found that HCSO had violated its own policy in allowing outside law enforcement agencies to access information collected by the county’s automated license plate reading cameras, supplied by Atlanta-based police technology company Flock Safety.

The speaker claimed that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has “come out in opposition to these rapidly expanding police drone programs,” but that’s not entirely true. The ACLU states on its website that “drones equipped with facial recognition software, infrared technology, and speakers capable of monitoring personal conversations would cause unprecedented invasions of our privacy rights.” However, the ACLU also acknowledges that “drones have many beneficial uses, including in search-and-rescue missions, scientific research [and] mapping.” 

Some speakers worried that they could be deployed at public events, like Eureka’s Friday Night Market or the Kinetic Grand Championship. Others felt the city should use the resources that would be spent on drone research to address “the root causes of mental health crises, such as poverty and lack of access to health care, mental health services, secure housing and livable wages.”

After public comment, Councilmember Bauer made a motion to approve the proposal for the sake of discussion. The motion was seconded by Councilmember Kati Moulton.

Councilmember Castellano acknowledged the community’s concerns around the issue, but felt the “Pandora’s Box” of police surveillance “has already been opened.” With that in mind, Castellano said the city has an opportunity to create a “forward-thinking” policy that is informed by community input.”

Castellano | Screenshot

“Overuse [of this technology] does exist, and there’s nothing now that would keep that from happening in Humboldt County or in the City of Eureka,” she said, noting that the Federal Aviation Administration oversees domestic drone practices. “The City of Eureka, having its own policy and system, would allow, I think, greater accountability [for] data collection. That being said, I think that there should be strict limits. … Drones do have a chilling effect on democracy and the experience of freedom, and … I value the sanctity of freedom and … I don’t want the use of drones to, as citizens spoke [earlier], limit or hinder that.”

The rest of the council agreed that drones could be used in nefarious ways, but felt there should be more research into the topic before it makes a determination on whether or not EPD should have drones in its arsenal.

After a bit of additional discussion, the council approved EPD’s request in a 5-0 vote.

Resolution Opposing Military Involvement in Venezuela

During the non-agenda public comment period, the council heard from about a dozen anti-war activists who urged the council to pass a resolution condemning the U.S. invasion of Venezuela and recent airstrikes on alleged drug boats. A resolution was placed on the council’s Dec. 16 agenda, but the meeting was canceled at the last minute due to a lack of quorum.

The proposed resolution — linked here — urges the federal government to “pursue diplomatic, humanitarian, and multilateral strategies to address political and economic challenges in Venezuela” and underscores the city’s opposition to “any United States military intervention or escalation of hostilities in Venezuela that is not explicitly authorized by Congress in accordance with the U.S. Constitution and the War Powers Resolution.” 

At last night’s meeting, the anti-war activists urged the council to agendize and approve the resolution as soon as possible. At least one of the speakers called on the council to adopt a resolution written by the Humboldt Anti-War Committee — linked here — which condemns “all types of aggression” against Venezuela, including recent airstrikes, “the seizure of Venezuelan oil facilities [and] the kidnapping of President [Nicolás] Maduro and his wife.”

“Our resolution was a good one,” said one speaker, who only identified themselves as Pat. “Your resolution, it included the fact that it would be okay if Congress declared war on Venezuela. That’s not what we’re talking about. That’s immoral, and that means you are immoral because you OK’d that resolution. … What we need to do is say, ‘We are against war with Venezuela’ because I’m ashamed of this country.”

The council did not respond to requests for the resolution to be agendized. The Dec. 16 meeting cancellation notice stated that “any items intended for consideration at the canceled meeting will be placed on a future agenda, as appropriate.”

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The city council also received a report on upcoming housing needs in the city. Check LoCO tomorrow for a full report!

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In the ongoing preliminary hearing hearing for Daryl Ray Jones, who stands accused of making terroristic threats to local schools and businesses last year, a former middle school girlfriend today took the stand and testified that Jones subjected her to years of harassment and death threats prior to his arrest.

The woman, who was identified in court as Jane Doe 2, said she and Jones attended Jacoby Creek Elementary School together and briefly dated when she was in seventh grade and he was in eighth.

Under questioning from Deputy District Attorney Roger Rees, Doe 2 said she and Jones went on to attend Arcata High School, where they were in “overlapping social circles” but did not hang out as much. Over the ensuing years, she said, Jones reached out a couple of times via Facebook Messenger, but in 2021 things took a turn.

In January of that year, Doe 2 received a voicemail from a male who said, “I’m going to kill your bitch ass,” she testified. There was sustained patterns of such threats over the next few years, she said, with more than 600 calls coming into her place of employment, North Point Consulting in Arcata. 

Doe 2 testified that Jones left her hundreds of messages — including voicemails, texts, emails and social media messages — and while she didn’t respond to most of them, one day, in the summer of 2021, she answered a call at work and briefly spoke with the caller. He identified himself as Daryl and said he’d been trying to reach her. 

From early 2021 through February of 2025, Jones called North Point Consulting more than 600 times; called Doe 2’s cell phone “dozens, maybe hundreds” of times, leaving “maybe two dozen voicemails”; and sent “a couple dozen texts,” with the messages coming from a variety of phone numbers, she testified. 

During one call to North Point Consulting, Jones told one of Doe 2’s coworkers that he wanted to speak with Doe 2 about consulting services. When asked for more information he gave the name of Jeremiah Anderson, according to today’s testimony. Doe 2 recognized the name as “somebody we both knew from back in the day,” adding later that Jones used to live with the Anderson family in Arcata.

The harassing behavior was reported to police in 2021 but the District Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute at the time, she said. As the calls persisted, accumulating into the hundreds, Doe 2 said she was profoundly affected. 

“It was extremely upsetting to me when he’d call,” she said, adding that sometimes the calls would “send me into a panic.” He would threaten her via voicemail, saying things like, “I’m going to kill you — you and your whole family” and “God won’t be on your side,” Doe 2 testified.

Her voice began to shake as she continued. “It really frightened me to the point where I couldn’t answer those calls,” she said. “It got to point where every time the phone rang, my heart was beating really fast … and I couldn’t concentrate.”

When the calls resumed early last year, Doe 2 said, “I was extremely just horrified that it was starting up again.” It felt “like reliving the nightmare” of 2021, and she was “scared it would never stop,” she testified. Some of the voicemails he left were strange, she said, starting with requests like, “Hey, call me back” but then ending with, “I can’t wait to kill this fucking bitch.”

Doe 2 said she’d heard that Jones was living in Oklahoma (police confirmed this in March of 2025, shortly before his arrest), but until he was locked up she remained concerned for her own safety and that of her coworkers.

Meagan O’Connell, supervising attorney with the county’s Conflict Council Office, is representing Jones in these proceedings. During cross-examination, O’Connell asked Doe 2 how familiar she was in seventh grade with such conditions as Autism Spectrum Disorder, Bipolar Disorder and schizophrenia. Doe 2 replied that she was aware of them but not an expert. 

O’Connell also asked questions about whether Doe 2 found Jones’s demeanor and messages strange.

“I found it scary,” she replied.

When this cross-examination was over, Rees said he had no additional witnesses or evidence for this hearing. Judge Timothy Canning then announced that the court will put off closing arguments to allow transcripts of the proceedings to be prepared. The next hearing date was scheduled for Feb. 11 at 8:30 a.m.

This preliminary evidentiary hearing is intended to lay the foundation for a jury trial. Canning said he will issue a holding order following oral arguments at the next hearing date, if appropriate.

UPDATE, 4:07 p.m.:

The Humboldt County Elections Office released its first post-election report this afternoon, and as expected, it doesn’t really alter the results. Scafani is still on track to beat back the recall effort.

Another 34 votes have been tallied in the latest count, bringing the ballot total to 387. Before those new votes came in, the recall effort was failing 44.19 percent to 55.81 percent; now it’s failing 44.96 percent to 55.04 percent. 

Humboldt County Registrar of Voters Juan Cervantes told the Outpost earlier today that he expects this to be the most substantial post-election report before he certifies this thing, which could happen within the next couple of weeks.

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Original post:

PREVIOUSLY

• Blue Lake Recall Effort Falls Short for Two Council Members, But Election Will Proceed for Scafani

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Elise Scafani, a Blue Lake city councilmember and the city’s backup mayor, has very likely survived a voter-initiated effort to recall her from office.

The “no” votes on the recall question account for just shy of 56 percent of the returns reported in the final Election Day tally. In all, 353 of the city’s 866 registered voters (40.8 percent) have had their ballots tallied thus far, with 156 calling for Scafani’s ouster versus 197 saying she should remain in office.

While there’s likely a handful of ballots left to tally, there’s no reason to believe that they’ll alter the results. A new rule from the U.S. Postal Service, which took effect on Christmas Eve, means that ballots dropped into mailboxes yesterday may not be postmarked until today or later. In California, ballots must be postmarked by Election Day to count.

The Blue Lake electorate has been bitterly divided over the past year. In May, a group of residents mounted a recall effort against three city council members — Scafani, Kat Napier and Mayor John Sawatzky — following the abrupt and unexplained exit of longtime City Manager Amanda “Mandy” Mager. 

Mager’s supporters believed she had been forced out by the council majority, though officially it was framed as a mutual agreement.

The recall effort required three distinct signature-gathering campaigns, one for each office-holder, and in the end proponents fell just short of the 250-voter threshold necessary to trigger elections for both Napier (four signatures shy) and Sawatzky (five shy).

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DOCUMENT: Final Election Night Results

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After months of negotiations between the Humboldt County Superior Court and county administrators over rising security screening costs, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday to end the county’s agreement with the court and pull its share of funding for weapons screening services at public entrances of the Eureka courthouse “as soon as administratively feasible.” 

Over the next few months, staff with the County Administrative Office (CAO) and Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) will work with the court to develop new protocols for trial court security on the second floor of the courthouse, which is required by state law. The updated security procedure will be presented to the board before the end of the fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2026.

Since 2012, the county and the court have shared the cost of hiring private security (currently provided by American Guard Services) to screen people entering the courthouse from Fourth and Fifth streets, with the court paying 83 percent of the bill (about $17,790 per month) and the county covering the rest. 

The arrangement seemed to work well for all parties until July 2025, when the court informed the county that it could no longer afford to pay for security screening services due to increased hourly wages for staff, which jumped from $23.64 per hour to $28.43 per hour on Jan. 1. 

Hayes | Screenshot

Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting, CAO Elishia Hayes said the county tried “to come to some mutually agreeable path forward” with the court. Both parties considered reducing security screening to just one entrance, but doing so wouldn’t necessarily cut the cost of services in half, Hayes said. “[We] have found ourselves at a bit of a stalemate.”

“So the sheriff and I have collectively agreed that our recommendation to your board moving forward, given the court’s intent to completely cease funding at the end of this fiscal year, is to cease all entrance security screening services once the sheriff and I can work with the courts to mitigate any operational impacts, particularly around trial court security services,” Hayes continued.

Sheriff William Honsal said he plans to work with the CAO and the court to maintain security on the second floor of the courthouse. However, Honsal said his department can’t afford to pay for weapons screening, which includes metal detectors and X-ray machines, though he did offer up a deputy to provide security at Board of Supervisors meetings.

Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Kelly Neel urged the board to seek additional funding through the state to maintain screening services, which she believed to be an “essential element of courthouse security.”

Neel | Screenshot

“I cannot imagine how anyone could take seriously the notion that it would be appropriate in this multi-use building, where we have victims of crime, we have children, we have people who are so vulnerable, access this building, not just for the courts, but for everyone,” Neel said. “And [to] say we’re just going to get rid of weapon screening, but, oh, by the way, we’ll provide a deputy for the board of supervisors meetings.”

“I can’t even fathom the amount of time it would take someone to walk through those front doors with a firearm,” she added. “The deputy in here doesn’t have time to react before the damage is done.”

Neel added that it was “misleading” to say there is no funding available. During the five-month negotiation process, she said she contacted the court’s financial advisors to find out how much money was in the security screening fund and discovered that no such fund existed.

“We have zero funds from an entrance screening fund because it does not exist,” she said. “All of that money, starting in 2012, went to the county in a trial court security fund, which encompasses entrance screening, bailiffs, [and] trial judge protection. … It’s not an unfunded mandate. What you should be asking is, how much exactly does the county have? [What] do you get from the trial court security fund? Have efforts been made to seek additional funding through those avenues?”

Honsal said he could understand Neel’s position on the matter, but said he did “not want to contribute to something that [HCSO] wasn’t being reimbursed for.” He blamed the state’s realignment policy — an initiative passed in 2011 that shifted the responsibility for low-level, non-violent felony offenders from the state to local jurisdictions — for putting the county in its current position.

Honsal | Screenshot

“The reason why we are here is because of realignment,” he said. “At that time, I think the court recognize[d] that there [was] going to be a need for screening services, and that’s why they agreed to compensate and be the lead on screening for the courthouse, because we do not get reimbursed at the current rate from the state for just our managing our bailiffs in our courthouse. We cannot, under the funds that we currently receive, take on the additional $300,000 it takes to run the security screening for the courthouse.”

During the board’s discussion, First District Supervisor Rex Bohn suggested that security screening move up to the second floor of the courthouse. “Then it would be on the courts,” he said. “You would get what you wanted, because you would control it. … You would pay for it, though, because it would be all benefiting you.”

Neel disputed his claim, reiterating that the sheriff provides bailiffs to the courts. 

After a bit of tense back-and-forth between the two, Hayes interrupted and reminded the board of the topic at hand: entrance screening at the courthouse.

“That is the component that is up for discussion today,” she said, adding that trial court security will remain in place, though it may look different if the county forgoes entrance screening. “Ceasing to pay the 83 percent as is, is just over $200,000 a year. … This $200,000 that we’re talking about right now, potentially being shifted over to the county, has the potential in the future to reach up towards $400,000. I just want to be clear as we talk about the financial impact around this to the county; it’s not an insignificant amount.”

After another half-hour of discussion about potential changes to courthouse security, Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell made a motion to end the county’s agreement with the court and direct staff to draft a new security protocol for trial courts. The motion was seconded by Bohn. The board also asked staff to contact the state and North Coast lawmakers to seek additional funding.

Before voting, Bushnell asked if Honsal planned cease entrance screening immediately. 

“Yes, I am,” Honsal replied. “Unless we get fully reimbursed [or] we have some other funding source, because I do not have the funds. … We have to negotiate a new contract [with the court], and we can make that out 30 days, 40 days, 45 days … to do a transition, but I just need a timeline.”

Hayes said staff would return with a draft security procedure sometime in May, before the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

The motion passed 5-0.

Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act

At the start of Tuesday’s meeting, the board considered a letter of support for SB 684 - Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act of 2025. The bill, which was introduced in the California legislature in April 2025, would require fossil fuel polluters to pay their fair share of the damage caused by greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere between 1990 and 2024. 

Fourth District Supervisor Natalie Arroyo requested the letter of support on behalf of a group of her constituents. Arroyo noted that North Coast assemblymembers Chris Rogers and Damon Connolly are both supporters of the bill.

Arroyo | Screenshot

“I did just learn that [SB 684] is also not moving forward in its current form,” Arroyo explained to fellow board members. “It’s sort of that time of year when bills get reconstituted and brought forward again in a slightly modified form, so the request is still to consider passing this [letter] because the support for it will help shape the next iteration. Emphasizing the matters brought up in the bill is still of value.”

Bohn and Bushnell both felt it would be inappropriate to approve a letter of support for a bill, knowing that it could be subject to substantial change. “I’m not really wanting to vote on something that I don’t know what we’re voting on,” Bushnell said.

Arroyo acknowledged that she had only just found out that the bill would be “unlikely to move forward in its current form,” but underscored her support for its current framework. She reiterated that sending a letter of support could influence lawmakers to keep certain aspects of the bill intact. 

“I think our legislative platform has spoken to the concerns around climate change in the past, and likely will for [the] 2026 legislative platform that we’ll be working on very soon,” she said. “I don’t think funding to address the impacts of climate change is a big departure from our [current] legislative agenda. Perhaps the language of this is just written a way that is different, but I think we can incorporate it there.”

Arroyo made a motion to approve the letter of support, which was seconded by Third District Supervisor and Board Chair Mike Wilson, who expressed his support for the bill on the principle of holding fossil fuel companies accountable for pollution.

“Taxpayers currently bear the cost of climate adaptation and disaster response, and so this type of legislation is seeking to shift the financial responsibility to the companies that created the problem, rather than working families,” Wilson said. “Revenue from this type of legislation strengthens flood defenses and extreme weather preparation without raising taxes, and creates thousands of jobs [and] infrastructure investments.”

Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone said he understood the intent of the bill, but expressed concern that additional costs would be passed on to taxpayers down the line.

Madrone | Screenshot

“I have no doubt that the cost of this will not be borne by these large corporations — it will be borne by the consumers,” he said. “It gets passed on; that’s how it works. I would much rather see a bill that would be focused on incentives for people to use less gas. … I guess my concern is that we figure out how to not just pass on the cost to consumers, but in fact, reward consumers for behavioral changes, where they reduce their use of gasoline and things like that.”

Eventually, the board voted 2-3, with Bohn, Bushnell and Madrone casting dissenting votes.

County Counsel Scott Miles suggested the board make a motion to accept the staff report but not send the letter. Wilson made a motion to that effect, which was seconded by Arroyo. The motion passed 5-0.

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Other notable bits from Tuesday’s meeting:

• The board reviewed and approved proposed changes to the county’s Commercial Cannabis Land Use Ordinance to permit the use of monofilament netting and allow indoor cultivation in buildings constructed after 2016. The board also considered a request from the Humboldt County Growers Alliance to allow a hemp pilot program at existing permitted sites, but the board agreed that the county should wait to see what happens at the federal level with the Trump administration’s recent decision to reschedule cannabis.
• The board also finalized its appointments to other boards and commissions. Most notably, Madrone, who serves on the Great Redwood Trail Authority’s board of directors, will bifurcate his two-year term and vacate his seat later this year. The seat will be taken over by Bushnell.
• The board also updated the county resolution establishing standard operating hours. For the foreseeable future, county offices will remain closed to the public on Fridays to give staff time to focus on certain projects without distraction.

If you were born in Humboldt County and find yourself there in your 20s, gazing out the window of your workplace at carefree wayfarers passing a joint in the alley, it’s easy to wonder if there’s more to life than this. Have I been too risk-averse? There are adventures to be had beyond the Shire. Surely there’s a better way to see the world than pretending to like Phish. So maybe one day you leave like a classic song, pedal to the metal, engine roaring in a Springsteen fury. Never look back, baby! But if you do, beware. Years later, if that view was out the window of Northtown Books, as mine was, you’ll often wonder if you were looking the wrong way.

Portrait of the author as a young change-maker.

For eight years, I had the privilege to work at Northtown Books. I still don’t know why Dante hired me. Besides being able to count back change, I’m pretty sure I flunked the pre-interview quiz. I was intimidated by all the books filled with more knowledge than I could ever cram into my skull. With the job came a kind of local prestige I didn’t deserve. Over time, I learned more from that carefully curated library than I did in the halls of academia. I never would have met my wife if it weren’t for Northtown. What I gained from Northtown Books followed me to the war-torn edges of Syria, the steps of the U.N. and into the lectures I later gave. It gave me the eye through which my camera now clicks.

I’m grateful for the life I’ve had since moving away, but I regularly dream of being back at that counter. I miss them all: the freshmen looking for 1984, asking where to find “1983”; the city clerk collecting books about cats; the backyard gardener seeking the right time of year to plant peas; the children who grew up shopping there and now bring their own kids; the hippies and punks; poets and artists; the woman with dementia making her weekly call to ask if we have any books on Howard Hughes; the Pelican Bay detainee who sent a thank you letter because a book taught him to forgive; the well-known local author secretly addicted to Game of Thrones novels, saying, “The writing is awful! But I never know when someone’s gonna die”; the Marxists and entrepreneurs; historians and conspiracy nuts; spiritualists and atheists; the guy who can’t remember the book’s title or author, or what it’s even about, but is confident the cover is blue; even the man on my first day who asked if we had Michael Savage’s Liberalism is a Mental Disorder — and when I said no, he calmly replied, “faggot.”

Most of all, I miss working with Monika, Dante and Jay. They’re my friends and mentors, each possessing unique knowledge honed through decades of dedication to the art of bibliophilia. Monika is an expert in young adult literature. She’s also the first person to put The Heart is a Lonely Hunter in my hands and soul. We spent hours browsing cookbooks and taking notes, though I could never bake a pie as good as hers for Northtown’s Pie Nights. Dante introduced me to everything from noir classics like Double Indemnity to the dark, mordant humor of Great Granny Webster and the artistry of Leigh Bowery. He also showed me that to truly scare trick-or-treaters, don’t wear anything they might recognize. Jay turned me on to John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces, Thomas Pynchon, Cormac McCarthy and Lydia Millet. He also schooled me on albums as we engaged in fraternal debates at all the Plaza’s record stores. These experiences are not unique to me.

For decades, along with other wonderful staff members, Northtown Books has humbly served its community. You can tell a lot about people from the books on their shelves. The crew at Northtown knows a lot about you and has helped many learn more about themselves. Amazon may deliver a book to your doorstep in 24 hours, but it will never bring a community together like Northtown Books.

The recent fire has been devastating. My heart goes out to everyone directly impacted by this tragedy and to a town in mourning. There is a dark, ancient symbolism in the burning of books—a reminder that our collective memory is more fragile than we care to admit. In an era where misinformation is abundant and community feels scarce, the loss of a vital institution like Northtown is a gut punch. I don’t know what the future holds for Northtown Books. What I do know is that I’m not the protagonist in this story — the bookstore is. I hope that, after fearing the worst, when this page is turned, the next chapter begins… “Dantès, although stunned and almost suffocated…”

If you would like to support Northtown Books, you can purchase books to be shipped to your home from their website at northtownbooks.com or donate at giveahand.com

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Deric Mendes
Substack: Emergency-Powers.com
Insta: @dericmendes

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

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As California legislators return to Sacramento and prepare to tackle a budget deficit, all eyes are on new Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón of Santa Barbara and what tone she sets for her chamber.

Limón, 46, a progressive backed by labor unions and the first Latina to lead the Senate, will face arguably her greatest legislative challenge yet as she and her diverse caucus grapple with a daunting projected $18 billion state budget deficit and historic federal funding cuts from the Trump administration.

While Limón has yet to announce any cost-cutting strategies or impose any limits on lawmakers introducing bills that require new money, the scarcity of funds will likely force the new leader to focus on a few key priorities, a premise she resisted in a recent interview with CalMatters.

“Our caucus will continue to prioritize issues that our communities prioritize,” Limón said, rattling off a laundry list of policy areas including access to health care, cost of living, education, housing affordability and child care. The new Senate leader also emphasized the importance of finding policy solutions that are “encompassing of our caucus — that reflect 58 counties, 483 cities.”

But how she’ll do that, while keeping the budget under control, remains to be seen.

For Limón, who has developed a reputation as an egalitarian consensus builder who wants everyone to feel heard, whittling down those priorities will test her ability to say “no” as the caucus tries to both rein in spending and fund programs that help vulnerable Californians.

She told reporters at the Capitol on Monday that she expects senators to understand that “spending big is not something that is within our means at this moment” and said she would reiterate that message at their first caucus meeting.

Colleagues past and present give her their vote of confidence to lead the chamber through a difficult budget year.

“She’s a good person to have in place when there’s a challenge,” said Kate Parker, who served alongside Limón on the Santa Barbara school board, including as president. “Obviously the budget is going to be horrendous, and she’s somebody that I would really trust to move the state forward in a really difficult time.”

From school board to Senate leader

Limón points to her nine-year tenure in the Legislature and relationships with legislative colleagues as the foundation for her inevitably tough conversations about how to prioritize a mountain of pressing issues.

The new Senate leader is best known for pursuing pay transparency legislation, consumer protections such as shielding medical debt from credit reports, and efforts to regulate the oil industry. She authored a 2022 law that requires setbacks around new oil and gas wells and steps to protect residents who live near old wells, and pushed for an unsuccessful 2021 bill to ban oil fracking. Gov. Gavin Newsom later ordered the ban.

State Sen. President Pro Tem Monique Limón during a press conference with fellow California Democrats at the Capitol Annex Swing Space in Sacramento on Aug. 18, 2025. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

In the Assembly she chaired the Banking and Finance committee and until recently led the Senate committee on natural resources and water. Under two former Senate leaders, Toni Atkins and Mike McGuire, Limón was second-in-command as majority leader for Senate Democrats and helped craft legislative strategy.

Limón was elected pro tem in June after joining forces with supporters of Sen. Angelique Ashby, a Sacramento Democrat also seeking the role, to amass a majority of the caucus and shut down a competing bid from Sen. Lena Gonzalez of Long Beach. The power jockeying came amid a chaotic week as a federal standoff over immigration enforcement exploded in Los Angeles and the Legislature scrambled to finalize a budget. Limón has since named Ashby as her majority leader.

Prior to running for the Legislature, Limón served six years on the board of trustees for the Santa Barbara Unified School District, the public school system she attended before she immersed herself in public service and policy studies at UC Berkeley and later, graduated from Columbia University with a master’s degree in education.

Her first election for public office came in 2009 when Limón ran for an open spot on the Santa Barbara school board. Former board president Kate Parker, who overlapped with Limón during the now-senator’s six-year tenure, said she had never heard of Limón before the election and was even a bit skeptical about her leadership ability.

“It was kind of out of left field that she was running, and she didn’t have a kid in the district,” said Parker. “She seemed so young to me at the time. You know, I think she was probably like 30 or something. And I just wasn’t sure if she had the experience to be a strong leader in the district.”

But from their first meeting, Limón impressed Parker with her ability to listen to all sides and draw consensus from a group with a wide range of opinions.

“She was really good at crafting productive compromise,” Parker said. “She had a policy of meeting with anybody that wanted to talk to her.”

Limón has been tight-lipped about how she’ll steer the caucus through budget negotiations. But Parker said Limón is no stranger to difficult spending discussions. Nearly every year they served together, the school board faced budget challenges.

“Her guiding principle, in that context, was always putting the student first,” Parker said, adding that Limón always tried to keep funding cuts as far away from the classroom as possible.

“I imagine that at the state level, you’ll find that she has guiding principles as well that help with her decision-making process,” Parker said. “It’s not random, it’s not piece by piece. It’s systematic.”

Limón has yet to divulge precisely what those guiding principles will be for the Senate under her leadership. In an interview with CalMatters, she declined to identify any specific legislative measures that the caucus would prioritize.

But she hasn’t ruled anything out, either. When asked specifically whether her caucus should consider raising taxes or cutting state services, Limón didn’t reject either idea, both considered politically radioactive options.

“Everything’s on the table until we choose, or make a decision that it shouldn’t be on the table,” Limón said. “But having a deliberative and thoughtful conversation about the options in front of us doesn’t mean that we necessarily move forward with all options. It just means that you consider them.”

No bad blood with McGuire

Limón’s reputation as a collaborator and consensus builder contrasts starkly with that of her predecessor, McGuire, who some members, staff and lobbyists have privately called a micromanager.

During last year’s eleventh-hour negotiations over reauthorizing the state’s cap-and-trade program, McGuire reportedly kept the Senate’s draft bill language under lock and key and refused to let members take copies with them to review with staff, instead requiring them to come in person to view the text and banning photos. Advocates said they felt iced out of discussions and had little to no opportunity to give input.

“We are hopeful that this change in leadership means the beginning of a new and more transparent process,” said Asha Sharma, state policy manager for the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability.

Frustrations boiled over in a September budget subcommittee hearing when lawmakers debated a budget bill that contained more than $85 million in earmarks for projects in McGuire’s northern coastal district. That power play prompted Democratic Napa Sen. Chris Cabaldon to quip in front of the whole committee, “There are more than just a handful of disadvantaged communities, plus the North Coast, in California.”

Limón has tried to tamp down any criticism of her predecessor.

State Sen. Monique Limón prior to being sworn in as Senate president pro tem in the Senate chambers at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Jan. 5, 2026. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters/Pool

“There was never a moment that this was a comparison of leadership,” Limón insisted. “At the end of the day, this is really about what the caucus wants, the direction the caucus wants to go, the experiences that the caucus feels are needed at this moment in time.”

Limón led the Senate’s working group on the reauthorization of the state’s cap and trade program, a fight at the heart of negotiations on a climate and energy policy deal that dragged out the final days of last year’s legislative session.

Her greatest challenge, said Sen. John Laird, a Santa Cruz Democrat and fellow member of the working group who she has named as her budget chair, was bridging the gaps between members who wanted to maintain the existing cap-and-trade program largely as-is and the climate hawks, who wanted to ditch some of the concessions former Gov. Jerry Brown gave to polluting industries to win votes during the last reauthorization.

“That was a real test because that was like riding a f-ing bronco,” Laird said. “And yet she worked hard to hold the Senate together. She worked hard to understand what individuals really wanted. And a lot of what we desired was part of the final results because of her work.”