‘A fucking death wish’

The day she died, Paula Moon-Sylvia planned to make cheeseburgers for herself and her nephew at her Weitchpec home. Her nephew took a nap and went looking for his aunt when he woke up. He found her body, dead from a fentanyl overdose with methamphetamine toxicity on Nov. 8, 2021.

Moon-Sylvia, 46, had contacted her dealer James Williamson two days earlier via Facebook Messenger. Court documents record Williamson’s offer of “fet and raw” while asking “how much cash do u have?”

Williamson boasted that his “raw” (heroin) was “superior,” according to documents filed in a the dealer’s Humboldt County court case. He was selling it for $200/gram.

“I have a lot of fet tho,” he messaged Moon-Sylvia. “But idk if u like that shit. I don’t touch it which is why I’m selling it.”

“I do,” she messaged back. “Do you know where to sell any pounds of weed?”

“Ok so which do u want? My grams of fet are 170 so lemme do the math real fast.”

Williamson delivered $20 worth of fentanyl to Moon-Sylvia’s house, a tiny amount the size of a few grains of salt, on Nov. 7. A toxicology report found that Moon-Sylvia’s blood contained a fentanyl concentration of 8.7 nanograms per milliliter, which is often a fatal dose when other drugs are present. Moon-Sylvia’s blood had a 0.56 milligrams per liter concentration of methamphetamine. Humboldt coroner pathologist Neil Kushner called the death a fentanyl overdose with meth toxicity.

In interviews with police, Williamson said he wouldn’t have given her fentanyl if she had not reassured him that she’d taken it before.

“Everyone knows the dangers of fentanyl,” he told police. “It is all over the news.”

He repeated to police that he doesn’t do fentanyl.

“Anybody who does it, I feel like, has a fucking death wish,” Williamson told police, who relayed the dealer’s sentiments in court.

Williamson pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for selling Moon-Sylvia the fentanyl.

In October, Williamson was sentenced to the time he’d served plus nine days plus a year and five months of mandatory supervision.

“I’ve never been more remorseful for anything in my life,” Williamson told Moon-Sylvia’s family at his sentencing.

Last week in Humboldt: Seven deaths in seven days

It’s been another record-breaking year for fentanyl overdoses in Humboldt with at least 60 deaths to date, up from around three dozen in 2021. The week after Thanksgiving, the sheriff’s department saw seven overdose deaths in seven days. Fentanyl is suspected in all these deaths, says Humboldt County Sheriff Billy Honsal in a Dec. 5 interview, though he says toxicology reports that confirm fentanyl take a month to process.

“The sheriff’s office and the sheriff’s coroner is seeing staggering overdose rates and overdose deaths from fentanyl,” Honsal says. “What we once saw was opioid epidemic with heroin primarily has now shifted to primarily fentanyl. Fentanyl deaths are sky high.”

Candy Stockton, Humboldt County’s new health officer as of July, says Humboldt’s fentanyl overdoses transcend demographics. The youngest overdose death this year was a 19-year-old. The oldest was 74.

“It crosses that entire range,” Stockton says. “The vast majority of people die in their homes. They are not homeless. They are not the people you think they are.”

Because it’s cheap and relatively easy to manufacture, the synthetic opioid is turning up everywhere, in meth, cocaine, heroin – and in fake pills that can look like legit pharmaceuticals including Xanax, Oxycontin, Vicodin or Adderall.

“People are stamping controlled substances to make it look like different pills, Vicodin being a prominent one,” Honsal says. “These aren’t pharmaceutical companies that are manufacturing them. They’re being made in basements and backyards and garages. You’re getting a variety of different dosages. What may or should contain 2 grains may get 3 or 4. … People can easily overdose.”

Fentanyl is potent stuff, up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. The amount that contributed to the death of Moon-Sylvia, the Weitchpec grandmother, was equivalent to a few grains of salt.

But the pills, the fake pills. If you stop reading this now, please know that the pills Honsal described are killing young people, inexperienced drug users, who likely don’t know what they’re ingesting.

I know there are many worries on your list right now. Please make room for this one.

This year, the DEA launched a “One Pill Can Kill” campaign after its labs found that six out of every 10 fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills analyzed in 2022 contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl. That’s up from four out of 10 in 2021.

To date, the county health department and sheriff’s office say there’ve been no fentanyl overdoses in Humboldt’s K-12 schools. K-12 teachers are being trained to use Narcan, also known as Naloxone, an opioid antagonist nasal spray.

Stories of young people dying from accidental fentanyl poisoning deaths in California read like nightmares. Here are three of many:

• Fourteen-year-old Alexander Neville died in Aliso Viejo on June 23. Neville thought he was addicted to Oxycontin when he was actually taking fentanyl, reports the Los Angeles Times. This is from his obit: “He self-medicated due, in some part, to the fact that he did not realize how much he was loved by everyone who came into contact with him.”
• Also in the Times, 15-year-old Melanie Ramos died in September in Hollywood after she took a fake Percocet that turned out to be fentanyl.
• Twenty-year-old Talaia Newman died on Nov. 28 in Sacramento of fentanyl poisoning from a fake prescription pill.

In Humboldt, Chad Bernard Holub (McCay) died around lunchtime on Dec. 2. An obituary written by friends describes how the 48-year-old fisherman, farmer and member of Narcotics Anonymous injected what he thought was heroin.

“He inserted a delicate needle between his toes to deliver the immediate ecstasy and relief of heroin — the escape to a pleasant place, to run away from the nothingness of life, the fulfillment of a habit,” the obit explains. “The drug coursed through his veins, expanded a feeling of health and thoughts … then killed him. Dead. Bits of criminal fentanyl were unknowingly mixed in. A killer.”

Good citizens carry Narcan

My son died of an opioid overdose in 2015. Not fentanyl. Just a pill cocktail that his death certificate describes as “combined oxymorphone, oxycodone and clonazepam intoxication.” He was 30. If someone had been with him when he overdosed, they might have been able to save his life with Naloxone, an opioid antagonist medication used to reverse an opioid overdose.

Naloxone – brand name Narcan — is a bandaid, a last-ditch life-saving device. If you come upon an opioid user who has nodded off, who is blue or pale or clammy or vomiting or making gurgling noises or whose heart has slowed or stopped, call 911 and start CPR. If you have Narcan, you might be able to jump start this person’s life.

I’m a Cal Poly Humboldt professor and I’m raising my son’s children, now teenagers.

It could not hurt for me to have some Narcan on hand.

A good citizen can pick up Narcan free at the Community Wellness Center, 908 7th Street, Eureka CA or by calling 707.268.2132. The Humboldt Area Center for Harm Reduction gives out resources including free Narcan to folks in need on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Naloxone is also available without a prescription at California pharmacies.

I decide to obtain Narcan at a chain drug store in Arcata. The drug store is next to the pet supply store, which sells the live crickets we feed to the teenager’s lizards. Convenient.

I don’t wait in line long.

“I’d like to pick up some naloxone,” I say to a young woman behind the counter. “Narcan.”

“Do you have a prescription?” she asks.

“It’s my understanding that I don’t need one,” I say.

She looks mildly panicked but a coworker comes to her rescue.

“You don’t need a prescription for Narcan,” he says. “But you have to talk to the pharmacist at the consultation window.”

I wait. The consultation window can service two customers side-by-side. It’s not terribly private.

“Who’s here for the naloxone, the Narcan?” a pharmacist asks. I nod and head to the counter.

“You want the nasal spray?” the pharmacist asks.

“Is there another form?”

“No, just the spray.”

“That’s what I want.”

The woman next to me is talking to another pharmacist about her diabetes medication.

My pharmacist asks me for the patient’s name, date of birth, insurance info.

“It’s me. I’m the patient.”

“It’s for you?”

“Yup.” She’s a pro, barely glancing up at me. I’m smiling, thinking about this little tidbit of my personal data zooming off to next-generation server farms that gobble up petabytes of data with ultimate efficiency and vomit them out for marketers and government agencies.

Hi, I’m Deidre, and I carry Narcan.

Good news. My insurance covers naloxone with a $5 copay. It will be ready to pick up in 20 minutes.

That’s plenty of time to buy crickets.

Here’s pharmacist Allyson showing us how to use all kinds of Naloxone

The training video links from Stop Overdose Humboldt website, which also lists how you can pick up free Narcan.

Humboldt sheriff’s war on fentanyl

In April, Humboldt’s Drug Task Force sent officers to scope out the Tenderloin District in San Francisco. This led to the arrest of four people heading back to Humboldt County with cheap fentanyl scores.

Sheriff Honsal

In May, Humboldt County’s Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to send a letter to San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin, urging the Bay Area prosecutor to crack down on “open air drug dealing” in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District. Boudin was recalled in June. Brooke Jenkins, who’s pledged to push for more aggressive criminal prosecution, was appointed as interim DA in June and won a special election for the office in November.

Nothing has much changed, though, with open air drug dealing. The Tenderloin is still a hot spot for fentanyl, Humboldt Sheriff Billy Honsal says, along with Sacramento, Redding, other cities.

“Anyone can go down there with a thousand dollars and can buy what they call a sack of fentanyl,” Honsal says. “They come up here, cut it with a cutting agent and sell it on streets and make three, four, five, 10 times more.”

On the East Coast, fentanyl has been found in marijuana. Honsal predicts it’s only a matter of time before an overdose from fentanyl-tainted marijuana happens here.

“It’s very scary,” he says. “This is what’s affecting our community. This is what’s killing our people.”

Honsal describes the accidental death of a 3-year-old in Rio Dell as the youngest fentanyl overdose in Humboldt County. Police guessed the child got into the parents’ fentanyl supply. Honsal doesn’t think the death, about two years ago, was in the news.

“We couldn’t pull a criminal case together,” he says. “And the parents were let go.”

Honsal vows to keep fighting Humboldt’s war on drugs, with fentanyl at the top of the list. That means the Humboldt Drug Task Force will prioritize fentanyl arrests over those for other controlled substances. So if tips come in about, say, a huge shipment of marijuana and another of fentanyl, the Task Force will pursue the latter first.

Part of the deliberate plan to stop fentanyl includes charging drug dealers with murder.

The attempt to charge James Williamson with voluntary manslaughter in the death of Sylvia-Moon was a historic first attempt. The charges were downgraded to involuntary manslaughter by the judge.

What does Honsal consider to be the best way to keep people from overdosing on fentanyl?

“Abstinence,” Honsal says. “Absolutely. We don’t want our community, our kids, trapped in addiction.”

Honsal believes in tough love with regards to substance use. He gives what he calls “the gift of jail” for misdemeanor drug possessions. This gives users a month or two to get sober in jail, he says.

“Not using drugs is the way to stay safe,” he says. “I want to scare every kid into not taking drugs. Try to get high on life. There’s a lot of things to do out there.”

Everyone on the street carries Narcan

Amber Bradford has lived in Humboldt since 2013. It’s a balmy Tuesday morning, two days before Thanksgiving. Bradford’s lightly tinted hair is pulled back neatly into a high ponytail. Her ears are pierced three times and she’s wearing cute silver hoops and dangles. She’s wearing a hoodie with The Mandalorian logo, and a green jacket is draped over her arm. She’s fifth in a line of people waiting for various forms of help from the back of the Humboldt Area Center for Harm Reduction van. The program’s clients know each other well. They chat, joke, and occasionally finish each other’s sentences.

Amber Bradford. Photo: Deidre Pike.

Bradford has high praise for the HACHR staff, especially Christina Donnell, the case manager who’s helped Bradford connect with health care and other services.

“Christina goes above and beyond,” Bradford says. “She calls to check in. She’ll help out even on her off hours.”

A woman in front of Bradford turns to add how much “Jami” has helped her, as well. “She drives around some days, helping people in the streets.”

“Yeah, she helps people in the streets first, the girls who work in the streets.”

“And when the Jungle was closing, HACHR tried to help us stop them.”

But there wasn’t enough time, Bradford says, to mount a strong campaign against the efforts to oust campers from their homes. “They threw everyone out on the street again. HACHR helped us carry stuff out.”

Bradford has found a new place to camp. “It is what it is,” she says. She guesses she won’t be there long. “Every couple months, they take all our stuff and burn it. Sometimes it’s every few weeks. Then we have to start all over again.”

Some campers give homeless encampments a bad name by leaving trash all around. “That gives us all a bad name,” she says.

“One bad apple,” adds the man behind Bradford in line.

“But we take care of each other,” she says. “Cuz we have to.”

Bradford is OK with talking to a journalist. She wants the community to know that there are faces and stories to an issue that’s lumped under the huge umbrella of “homelessness.”

She cites an example from a discussion with a community advocate for the homeless. The advocate said, “There are so many of you.”

“As if we’re not separate,” Bradford says. “People need to remember that we’re humans.”

The line moves forward to the HACHR van and a clipboard with a log of clients identified only by their initials. Items on the table include toothbrushes, toothpaste, condoms and lube. On the end of the van are other various useful items including Narcan, the emergency overdose medication. I ask Bradford about fentanyl overdoses, about fentanyl test strips.

She shrugs.

“It’s in everything now, even the pills,” she says. She wonders if fentanyl is part of a government depopulation conspiracy.

“One minute, everyone was doing heroin,” she says, “and the next minute, it’s fentanyl.”

HACHR gives Narcan to anyone who wants it, no questions asked. The workers provide training, as well, because sometimes an overdose victim might need more than one dose of Narcan.

“Everyone on the streets carries (Narcan),” Bradford says. “Even those who aren’t users. It being an epidemic, that’s part of our responsibility.”

Humboldt’s opioid response expert: Medication-assisted treatment gets dialed in for fentanyl – but let’s talk about the drivers of addiction and the epidemic of despair

A pregnant woman recovering from a substance use disorder in the Bay Area in early 2015 wanted to move to rural California. Shasta County did not have a methadone clinic. The woman was being treated with buprenorphine, a drug approved for medication-assisted treatment to treat opioid use disorder. When the woman moved north, her obstetrician called Dr. Candy Stockton. Stockton was then the medical director for Shingletown Medical Center, and she was the only waivered provider using buprenorphine in Shasta County.

It seemed risky. But Stockton agreed to help.

“It was the scariest thing I’d done,” Stockton says. “There were no guidelines for the treatment of pregnant women.”

Stockton says the outcome was amazing for the woman and for her baby.

“She’s the first, the person who drove my passion for this work,” Stockton says. “I dove deeper in. At some point, people asked me what I was doing.”

Stockton became the leading treater of pregnant women in rural northern California.

She’s a forward-thinker. Stockton, a fourth-gen Humboldt native, was asking questions about opioid prescribing practices in rural California and looking for better ways to do pain management well before the problem landed in the national spotlight.

About five years ago, Stockton moved back to Humboldt to work as the chief medical officer for the Humboldt Independent Practice Association in Eureka. In her practice, she watched the rise of fentanyl from something no one had heard of to a drug that scared people. In the past two years, though, she’s treated patients who seek out fentanyl as their drug of choice.

Stockton became Humboldt County’s health officer in July. She is also a trainer and consultant for the national Opioid Response Network.

Fentanyl addiction presents challenges for medication-assisted treatment, she says. Pharmaceutical therapy – methadone, naltrexone and buprenorphine – protocols developed to treat heroin addiction don’t work as well to treat fentanyl.

“It’s harder to get [patients] stable on one of our treatment drugs,” Stockton says. “So we’re asking how do we change our treatment protocols so that they’re working for users of fentanyl.”

She’s confident that medication-assisted treatment will become more effective in treating fentanyl addiction soon.

At the state and national level, the opioid response conversation is shifting away from specific drugs and treatment plans and looking harder at the drivers of addiction.

“We thought the problem was that we were prescribing too many opioids,” Stockton says. “So we targeted interventions to decrease the amount of opioids prescribed.”

Turns out that didn’t solve the problem.

“Oh wait, now it manifested as heroin,” she says. “And we got pretty good at treating heroin addiction.”

Then methamphetamine. Then fentanyl.

“Once we get fentanyl figured out, there’s carfentanil, which is 100 times more potent than fentanyl,” she says. “We’ll always be chasing the next drug that very bright illicit drug developers are coming up with.”

Instead of playing catch-up, Stockton sees the benefits of addressing the problem before a substance user turns blue and requires life-saving Narcan.

“The problem is that we have an epidemic of despair, of poverty, of inequity, of lack or opportunity, of childhood trauma that is driving people to turn to substances,” she says.

For the past hundred years, Stockton says, society has perpetuated the idea that substance use is bad and people who use substances do so because they have poor moral character or don’t try hard enough to quit. This perspective sees the drugs as the problem. If you can get the drugs out of the picture, problem solved. If you can get people to just say no to drugs, problem solved.

Not much evidence exists to show that these approaches work.

“We have really good evidence that substance use disorders are chronic diseases caused by a large number of underlying factors,” Stockton says.

Some of those factors include childhood trauma, lack of opportunity, intergenerational trauma.

“When you have people raised in high trauma environments, it changes the way their brain develops,” Stockton says.

These people may not learn healthy coping skills or how to regulate emotions.

“When you take somebody who’s had traumatic upbringing – all these high stress events – their brain has never felt safe and normal,” Stockton says. “And you give them a drug that boosts their dopamine level and makes them feel safe and powerful for a while. That’s reinforcing.”

The next time the stress comes, so does the substance of choice.

“We are a country that loves our substances,” Stockton says. “If you go to an addiction conference — right? — the morning starts with coffee and sweet rolls — sugar and caffeine! – and ends with dinner and a wine mixer.”

The substances vary, she says, given issues of access, legality and social environments. But the bottom line is universal.

“We all like that chemical modification,” Stockton says. “The problem comes not because of substance itself but because individual has that need to correct their internal balance.”

Drugs may work, at first, for a person who has experienced chronic stress and traumatic experiences. A child who grows up with what Stockton calls “a dysregulated dopamine access system” may not ever feel normal or right. That person finds a drug that boosts dopamine in their brain and, well, it’s fabulous.

“Taking drugs that boost your dopamine level may be first time you feel anything approaching normal,” Stockton says. “That’s the reason people become addicted and use them over and over again.”

Over time, the process becomes less effective. The drugs that boosted the system burn it out even more.

“We have to look at supporting children and families and increasing opportunities for people to have to have better life,” Stockton says.

Quitting fentanyl without pharmaceutical support — one cold rabid turkey

For perspective, a 43-year-old Eureka man, a father of three, quit heroin several times.

“With heroin withdrawal, he’d throw up,” his girlfriend Vanessa tells me. “He’d have a runny nose and be achy.”

Robert quit fentanyl once. Once was enough.

Day one was relatively ok. Day two – withdrawal symptoms made his life a living hell.

“He had fits,” Vanessa says. “He couldn’t keep his body from contorting and thrashing. He was like a rabid animal, out of his mind. I tried to talk to him. He couldn’t talk back to me.”

She describes her boyfriend head-butting and screaming at the friends who were helping him.

Robert says he doesn’t remember most of his experience detoxing from fentanyl. He remembers thinking that the only thing he wanted was for the pain to stop. When he came to, he was full of bruises from banging his body into objects.

Robert quit cold turkey, which he does not recommend.

“Everyone’s saying, you should have had medical help,” he says. “Everybody’s different but I’m never going to do that again.”

Robert and Vanessa asked to use their first names only.

Vanessa has never used opioids at all except after two surgeries. Even then, she asked the doctors not to give her fentanyl. She was told that fentanyl is used after all surgeries because it’s fast-acting and moves through your system quickly.

“I was mortified,” she says. “I told them I don’t want fentanyl. But they gave it to me. I felt stuck in quicksand.”

The day after the surgery, she felt severely depressed.

“They said that’s a common thing with opiates,” Vanessa says. “I hate it. It’s poison.”

Robert moved to Humboldt in 2021 to get away from San Bernardino and start fresh. But he got bored. It wasn’t hard to slide into Humboldt’s community of users.

“I can find people in the life,” he says. “I scored fentanyl one time, and everyone said it’s better and lasts longer. I got hooked on it.”

Some mornings before Vanessa left for work, Robert would ask her for $20. Then it was every morning. She saw the pattern. He’d be irritable and mean. He’d go out, come home and disappear into the back room.

“He’d nod out for hours,” Vanessa says. “This was my first experience with someone on fentanyl.”

Robert has lost three friends to overdoses. Vanessa says the drug-using community seems almost to expect those losses. “Yup, it took so-and-so now.”

Robert has also survived two overdoses. The first time, a friend revived him with two doses of Narcan. The second time, he ended up in the hospital.

“I died twice,” he says.

But nothing has been as bad as his cold turkey detox in August.

“You don’t understand what I went through. I’m never going to touch that stuff again.”

Getting help

I told Stockton about Robert’s rough experience quitting fentanyl cold turkey.

She reiterated that medication can help with withdrawal symptoms for a person who’s trying to quit opioids. Stockton points to research that shows a more beneficial long-term outlook for patients who undergo medication-assisted treatments.

If a person wants help with a substance use disorder, the county has a screening site and can do referrals. Here’s where to start that journey.

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Deidre Pike is a journalism professor at Cal Poly Humboldt.

Starla Kay Lozensky (Star) was born on January 22, 1974, in Crescent City and passed away unexpectedly from natural causes on November 11, 2022, at her home in Carlotta, at the young age of 48.

Starla worked for many years as an owner-operator commercial truck driver transporting logs, equipment and construction materials. She later worked for the US Postal Service as a clerk at the Carlotta, Bridgeville and Fortuna Post Offices. Starla loved her post office customers and they loved her. They routinely brought her coffee and other goodies. She always took time out of her day to greet, listen and care for her customers.

In 2007, Starla married Jeremy Lozensky. Jeremy was the love of her life, and she devoted her time to raising their three children. She was a proud mother and adored her children, never missing a game or a performance. Starla loved her family deeply and was always delighted with the successes of her children.

Starla was an amazing and fiercely loyal friend. She treated everyone like they were her best friend. She loved people for who they were, never trying to change anyone. Starla was a loud, fun-loving football fan and her infectious laughter brought a smile to all who knew her. Starla was selfless and always did what she could to help anyone in need.

Starla is survived by her husband Jeremy, and their children, Hailey (19), Kali (15) and Jesse (13), as well as countless members of her extended family. She will be dearly missed. Friends and family are invited to attend a memorial service on December 16, 2022, at 11 a.m., at the Seventh Day Adventist Church, 2301 Rohnerville Road, Fortuna.

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

Jerry Oscar III
August 27, 1950 - November 25, 2022

Jerry Oscar III left this world peacefully on November 25, 2022. Jerry was born on August 27, 1950 to Jerry Oscar II and Harriet “Shorty” Oscar in Eureka, California. Jerry was a kind soul that will be missed by all. Jerry was a loving husband, father, uncle, cousin and friend. Jerry was a proud Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria Tribal member and spent much of his life residing on the Rancheria in Fortuna.

One of Jerry’s favorite pastimes was going to Bear River to play his favorite games. He spent much of his time maintaining his home which he meticulously built for his family. Jerry spent countless hours building his home on the land that his mother left behind.

Jerry was 18 when he enlisted to the Marines, he went on for four years serving his country in which he translated morse code for the military. Jerry went on to work as a Certified Nurse’s Assistant (CNA) at St. Luke’s Manner, where he met his long time partner Yvette Kemp. Jerry later went on to be a night-shift cashier at the Chevron in Fortuna for the next 19 years. On August 7, 2006, Jerry married his long-time girlfriend Yvette Kemp. Together Jerry and Yvette raised two daughters; Susan and Ginger. Jerry loved to provide for his family and his long time wife Yvette Oscar.

Jerry is preceded in death by his siblings; Michael, Larry, and Linda, along with his mother and father Harriet and Jerry Oscar II.

Jerry leaves behind his loving wife Yvette, two daughters; Susan and Ginger. He also leaves behind several nieces and nephews, 25 grandkids and his five cats he loved dearly; Minnie, Patches, Mickey, Jasmine and Bandit.

Jerry’s celebration of life will be held on December 15, 2022 at noon at the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria and his burial will be held on December 16, 2022 at noon at Ocean View Cemetery.

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

Renate Scheithauer passed to her rest on November 11, 2022. She was born in East Germany on August 25, 1922 to Victor and Margaret Scholz. She had just celebrated her 100th birthday.

She came to the USA in 1953 with her young son, six months after her husband had come. She rode a bus from New York to San Francisco, speaking no English. They settled in Eureka.

Renate started her career in banking with Crocker National Bank, and in 1958 she went to work for Bank of America, downtown branch, where she remained until 1984.

Renate was a faithful and supporting member of the Eureka Seventh-day Adventist church.

She was preceded in death by her husband Walter Ernest Scheithauer in 1996, and her son Dr. Bernd Walter Scheithauer in 2011. Renate is survived by her grandson Hans Scheithauer, granddaughter Monika Scheithauer Maxey, grandchildren Aiden, Finigan, and Cooper Maxey. She is also survived by several cousins, nieces and nephews still living in Germany.

For their friendship, care, love, and kindness Renate leaves special thanks to Gretchen Anderson, Madeleine Stagnoli, and Mardy Whitchurch. A memorial service will be held at the Eureka Seventh-day Adventist Church on December 18 at 1 p.m.

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

Well, here’s a pleasant Friday surprise: The California Transportation Commission is kicking down a cool $1 billion to fund 93 new walking and biking projects in some of the state’s “disadvantaged communities.” Humboldt County communities qualify as such, but hopefully today’s news makes us incrementally more advantaged: millions of dollars are headed our way for new walking and biking projects.

According to a press release from Caltrans, approximately $9 million will go toward the City of Eureka’s Bay to Zoo Trail, which will establish two brand-new miles of Class I bike path and non-motorized facilities through the city, connecting with Zane Middle School and Washington Elementary with access to St. Joseph Hospital.

Another $2.3 million has been earmarked for Eureka’s C Street Bike Boulevard project, which calls for traffic calming elements and other bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements at busy intersections.

And that’s not all! Humboldt is also slated to receive about $12.4 million, including almost $11 million in federal money, to install a retaining wall and drainage improvements along Avenue of the Giants. And another $1.6 million will go toward sidewalk improvements in Eureka.

Get the full breakdown in the following press release from Caltrans:

SACRAMENTO — The California Transportation Commission (CTC) this week approved $1 billion for 93 new walking and biking projects for disadvantaged communities as part of the 2023 Active Transportation Program and allocated nearly $878 million for projects to repair and improve transportation infrastructure throughout the state. The allocation includes more than $209 million in funding from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA) and more than $339 million in funding from Senate Bill (SB) 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017.

The active transportation projects approved at the meeting will benefit disadvantaged communities throughout California, two-thirds of which will implement safe routes for children to walk or bike to school. The projects make up more than half of the 2023 Active Transportation Program, with an additional $700 million to be awarded in the spring. Much of the funding comes from a one-time infusion of $1 billion for active transportation in the 2022-23 state budget as part of a nearly $15 billion transportation infrastructure package.

“California and our federal partners are continuing to make historic headway in addressing our transportation needs and advancing safety, equity, climate action and economic prosperity,” said Caltrans Director Tony Tavares. “Importantly, this includes significant investments in infrastructure that allows everyone to access active means of transportation, like walking and biking.”

Active transportation projects approved at the meeting include:

• Approximately $9M toward the City of Eureka Bay to Zoo Trail in Humboldt County.
• Approximately $2.3M toward the City of Eureka C Street Bike Boulevard in Humboldt County.
• Approximately $7.7M toward the Gualala Downtown Streetscape Enhancement Plan in Mendocino County. 

The $878 million in projects the CTC approved include:

• Approximately $12.4M including more than $10.9M in federal IIJA funding toward the construction of a retaining wall and drainage improvements along Route 254 south of Maple Hills Road near Miranda in Humboldt County.
• Approximately $1.6M toward emergency allocations in Eureka for roadway and sidewalk repairs from I Street to W Street on U.S. 101 southbound in Humboldt County.
• Approximately $21M including more than $18.6M in federal IIJA funding toward improvements at Eel River Bridge No. 10-0236 on Route 162 near Longvale in Mendocino County.
• Approximately $6M toward roadway and culvert repairs from south of Old Sherwood Road to north of Piercy along U.S. 101 in Mendocino County.
• Approximately $3.8M toward emergency allocations toward guardrail, sign, fence, embankment and drainage repairs along U.S. 101 south of Willits in Mendocino County.
• Approximately $2.7M toward median barrier and retaining wall construction and roadway improvements near Willits from Black Bart Road to Waterplant/Grider Road along U.S. 101 in Mendocino County.

SB 1 provides $5 billion in transportation funding annually that is shared equally between the state and local agencies. Road projects progress through construction phases more quickly based on the availability of SB 1 funds, including projects that are partially funded by SB 1. For more information about transportation projects funded by SB 1, visit RebuildingCA.ca.gov.

Press release from the Drug Task Force:

On Friday December 9, 2022, Agents with the Humboldt County Drug Task Force obtained information that indicated stolen property from a burglary, being investigated by Eureka Police Department, was located at a residence located near the intersection of Wabash St. and B St. in Eureka.

A Humboldt County Superior Court search warrant was obtained for the residence, and with the assistance of the Eureka Police Department and the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, the search warrant was executed. Numerous subjects were located on the premises and detained. During a search of the property 16 stolen firearms were located, along with stolen ammunition, and miscellaneous stolen property.

Woods.

As a result of the search, Solomon Woods was taken into custody on the following charges:

• PC 29800(a)(1)- Possession of a firearm by a prohibited person
• PC 496(a)- Possession of stolen property
• PC 30305(a)- Possession of ammunition by a prohibited person
• PC 30605- Possession of an assault weapon
• PC 1203.2- Violation of probation

Anyone with information related to this investigation or other narcotics related crimes are encouraged to call the Humboldt County Drug Task Force at 707-267-9976.

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As the end of the year draws near, the Eureka City Council is gearing up for some pretty big adjustments — namely saying goodbye to Councilmember Natalie Arroyo after an eight-year stint on the council and welcoming two new faces aboard, G Mario Fernandez and Renee Contreras de Loach. Mayor Susan Seaman will also bid the council adieu and hand the reins over to Mayor-Elect Kim Bergel.

The council mentioned this bittersweet transition several times during this week’s meeting but agreed to save the heartfelt goodbyes and the sappy stuff for the council’s last regular meeting of the year on Dec. 20. 

I’ll bet you’re wondering what else happened during Tuesday’s meeting. Let’s take a gander!

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The council signed off on a fleet of eight new police patrol vehicles during this week’s regular meeting. The vehicles will augment the Eureka Police Department’s existing fleet and replace patrol vehicles that are over 13 years old with upwards of 100,000 miles accrued.

The item, which was pulled from the agenda’s consent calendar for further discussion, asked the council to allocate an additional $515,000 to the Eureka Police Department for the purchase of eight fully outfitted Chevrolet Tahoe vehicles from CAP Fleet through Northwood Auto Plaza in Eureka for a total cost of $551,717.08. 

“We’re struggling a bit because we’re sending officers out in the field every day in cars that were put into the field in 2008, 2009, 2010 and they’re worn out and they’re breaking down all the time,” said Eureka Police Chief Todd Jarvis. “We’re at a critical point where we need to get the equipment to be able to serve the public.”

Jarvis | Screenshot

Public Works Director Brian Gerving acknowledged that the Chevy Tahoe – one of the biggest SUVs on the market – doesn’t exactly fall in line with the City’s commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but said hybrid and electric vehicles are hard to come by.

“We’ve been asked to look at other options but there are a few points there,” Gerving said during Tuesday’s council meeting. “Availability. Just like any other vehicle, they’re difficult to come by. Suitability [is another issue]. They just don’t have the space and the performance necessary for these response vehicles. Staff has had a practice for the past  – as long as we have records – of obtaining pursuit-rated vehicles or special service-rated vehicles for our emergency response, whether that’s fire or police.”

Even still, he said staff would continue to explore options to incorporate more electric vehicles into the city’s fleet.

Jarvis further explained that “pursuit-rated” implies a different level of construction that makes the patrol vehicle “a little more hearty” and a little safer.

“It makes it safer for the officers that are operating it and for the citizens that are around it because it does have better brakes, better suspension [and] it allows us to run all the equipment we have because it has upgraded electrical systems and things like that,” Jarvis said. “We’re not looking at these so that we can chase people all over town.”

Following staff’s brief presentation, Councilmember Leslie Castellano acknowledged the immediate need for new patrol vehicles but suggested staff act more proactively to procure hybrid and electric vehicles in the future. 

“To really implement something like that we would need to kind of think ahead probably a few years, in terms of the charging infrastructure and even getting on waitlist for vehicles,” she said. “Are those the kinds of things that council should or could be giving more direction on in terms of that kind of forward-thinking?”

Staff is already looking into it, Gerving said, but they’re still a few years out. “We just don’t see the availability of suitable [electric vehicles] for large portions of our fleet just yet.”

Councilmember Scott Bauer mentioned that a friend of his has been on a waitlist for a fully electric truck for over a year and half because of global supply chain issues.

“We’re stuck in this world post-COVID where we don’t have the things we need to transition to a clean fuel economy,” he said. “I think the city has done a lot with transitioning our municipal fleet to electric … and in this situation, when it comes to first responders, we’re kind of stuck right now. … I only know one municipality that has electric pursuit vehicles and that’s Fremont.”

Bauer made a motion to approve the funding allocation. Councilmember Natalie Arroyo offered a second before acknowledging that “it will disappoint some folks.”

“As far as planning ahead for the greening of our fleet, I think that’s incredibly important,” she said. “The Humboldt Transit Authority, for example, we had high hopes for having all electric, chargeable buses and that just did not work in this community for the range we needed them to have. Now we’re going the hydrogen route. So that’s another thing to consider exploring as we install the infrastructure to have hydrogen fueling.”

The council passed the motion in a 4-0 vote with Councilmember Kati Moulton absent.

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Keeping with the law enforcement theme, Mayor Susan Seaman invited Chief Jarvis to discuss the City’s anonymous gun buyback program. The buyback program is intended to promote “responsible, safe, and secure gun ownership” by removing “unwanted guns that could potentially get into the hands of criminals,” according to EPD.

“This is in response to some interest that you showed after the Uvalde school shootings. We’ve had several since then throughout this country and we’re trying to put this [program] together so that we can get this done while you’re still the mayor,” Jarvis said to Seaman. “We’ll have officers there to meet you and secure the firearm. Please, if you do come down, just leave the firearm locked in your vehicle, make contact with the officers and they’ll come down to the vehicle with you and they’ll safely remove the firearm.”

Jarvis emphasized that the process is completely anonymous. “We’re not asking for an ID. We will run each of the firearms once this is over and if there’s anything that’s been reported stolen that’s been turned in to us, we will try to track down the owner and return it if we can.” The firearms will be destroyed after they are accounted for.

Individuals who turn in firearms will receive a Visa gift card – $50 for rifles and shotguns and $100 for handguns and assault weapons – to further incentivize participation in the program. Even if the gun is broken or non-functioning, EPD will still accept it.

“This has been very successful in other communities,” Jarvis added. “[The intent] really is not to take guns away from people, but if people have unwanted firearms that they don’t know what to do with, this is an avenue for them to relinquish them and know that they’re not going somewhere where they will fall into the wrong hands.”

The gun buyback program will take place on Sunday, December 18 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Wharfinger Building, 1 Marina Way, in Eureka.

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The council returned to several other items relating to the City’s water and wastewater infrastructure that were discussed during its last meeting on Nov. 17. 

The council approved a revision to the City’s Private Sewer Lateral Ordinance. The ordinance, adopted by the city council in 2019, shifted the responsibility of maintenance and repairs of the lower lateral – which is the sewer pipe connecting a property’s plumbing system to the public sewer main under the street – solely to the property owner.

Since the city adopted the ordinance, staff have reported ongoing issues with laterals not being replaced by property owners when they should be, largely due to the cost. To alleviate this issue, staff proposed the implementation of a set fee and a point-of-sale trigger to “significantly accelerate the rate at which aging sewer laterals are replaced.” 

The council reviewed the proposed revisions during its Nov. 15 meeting and agreed to move forward. After a brief discussion at this week’s meeting, the council voted 4-0, with Moulton absent, to implement the proposed changes.

The council also unanimously passed a resolution approving the issuance of both water and wastewater bonds as well as an amendment to the City’s municipal code in accordance with the 2022 California Building Standards Code.

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And last but certainly not least, the council agreed to give Eureka’s 20/30 Park a new name – “Da’ Yas,” which means “where the cypresses are” in Soulatluk – to go with its incoming improvements, which will include all-new playground equipment, an upgrade to the park’s baseball field and some exciting new amenities.

Humans can be resistant to change and, understandably, some folks weren’t happy to hear that 20/30 Park would be renamed. The park was named after and made possible by the 20/30 Club, an association of young men in their 20s and 30s who did good deeds around town, but the club hasn’t been active for quite some time and the City felt as though it was time to make a change.

The City has been working with the Wiyot Tribe for the last year to come up with a short list of Soulatluk names for the park’s rebranding. After polling the community, they landed on “Da’ Yas” to honor the cypress trees that populate the park.

The council unanimously approved the adoption of the park’s new name in a 4-0 vote, with Moulton absent. 

Early on in the meeting, the council also approved a request for up to  $592,119 in funding for new playground equipment for the park. The item appeared on the council’s consent calendar and was passed without further discussion.

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You can find a recording of Tuesday’s meeting at this link.