Donald McLean Johnson was born on May 16, 1938 and passed away on July 28, 2022. He is preceded in death by his parents, Carl and Jeanne Johnson; his brother, Wallace Johnson; and his beloved wife, Carolyn Johnson. He was a lifelong resident of Humboldt County and raised millions of dollars as an Auctioneer for local charities and fundraisers. Humboldt County Junior Livestock Auction, CASA of Humboldt, Humboldt State Athletics, Boys and Girls Club, Humboldt Arts Council, Ducks Unlimited, Dream Quest, Special Olympics, and many 4-H, FFA, and local schools have all benefited from his talents as an auctioneer and generous volunteer.

Don believed in two things — hard work and family. In 1948, Don’s father opened The Carl Johnson Company. Don worked part-time during his youth in the Livestock auction at the store, and when he was 19 years old, he drove cross country with his grandparents to auction school in Iowa. He graduated from The Reisch School of Auctioneering and became Colonel Don Johnson. His lifelong love of auctioneering continued throughout his career and was one of many of his jobs at work. Salesman, delivery driver, furniture mover, and buyer were some of his other titles. In 1975 he added owner to that when he and his wife, Carolyn, bought the business from his parents. Being raised on a dairy farm as a child, Don loved the work ethic of farmers and ranchers and hired many young adults who had been in 4-H and FFA. If an employee didn’t start with a work ethic, they’d sure learn one from him. We have received many notes and calls from the large group of employees he has mentored over the years, and all say they learned the value of a good day’s work from him.

His other passion was his family. Don is survived by his two sons, David Johnson and his wife, Lisa, and Dan Johnson and his wife, Kendra. He was proud to have worked side by side with Dave and Lisa for 45 years, who helped him keep the store up to date with technology and helped usher in a new era for the store. He was in awe of Dan’s business talent and watched Danco grow from just three employees to over 400. But even more than that was his delight in his grandchildren — McLean Johnson and his wife Dayna, Sydney Binz and her husband Jason, Carter Johnson, Madison Johnson, Jayden Johnson, and her fiancé Logan. Don was also blessed this year with his first great-grandchild, Memphis Johnson. He had amazing times with his grandchildren: watching them play sports, taking them to Snoopy on Ice, Oregon Ducks games, attending their graduations from college, and even weddings. His joy for them kept him going and brightened his days.

Don is also survived by his sister and brother-in-law, Carol and Rich Holland, his brother and sister-in-law, Doc and Connie Johnson, and his sister and brother-in-law, Jeanne and Bob Gregory. His nieces and nephews, Nancy and Doug Frey, Phil and Kristie Holland, Todd and Rachel Johnson, Stefan and Rachel Gregory, and their families.

At Don’s request, a private family service will be held in his honor. In lieu of flowers, please honor Don by shopping at a local store. He believed in supporting small businesses and local charities to maintain the unique personality of our area, keep our economy strong, and bond us as a community. Donations can be made to The Don and Carolyn Johnson Memorial Scholarship at PO Box 4467 Arcata, CA 95518.

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Whilst touring around Eureka on Tuesday, our very own Congressman Jared Huffman decided to pop by the Humboldt Transit Authority (HTA) to learn more about the agency’s effort to bring clean energy to the North Coast.

The California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) recently awarded a $38.7 million grant to the HTA to fund a fleet of zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell electric buses to replace existing diesel buses and connect riders to Mendocino County and, ultimately, the San Francisco Bay Area. The chunk of cash will enable the purchase of 11 state-of-the-art buses and the installation of a hydrogen fueling station.

Pratt

“We brought on the Schatz Energy Research Center to help us out determine what type of bus is going to work in a rural setting,” Greg Pratt, general manager at the HTA, told Huffman during a presentation. “They did a comparative analysis with electric and hydrogen and it became clear that the electric just didn’t have the range that a rural route needs, so we really started pushing the path to hydrogen.”

The HTA bought its first electric bus in June 2019. While the bus provides daytime service between College of the Redwoods and Cal Poly Humboldt, it does not have the capacity to take on a longer route. The new buses, which will be supplied by Alabama-based bus manufacturer New Flyer, can travel upwards of 300 miles.

Peter Lehman, founding director of the Schatz Energy Research Center at Cal Poly Humboldt, said his team is working with New Flyer to develop a bus with a larger fuel cell and more hydrogen stores on board.

Lehman

“It will revolutionize not only Humboldt County but the nation,” Lehman said. “This new bus will be a big deal in transit all over the country because a lot of rural agencies have the same issues that [we have].”

But how will we get hydrogen up to our rural neck of the woods? Pratt said the transit authority is looking to contract with Air Products to truck in up to 18,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen once per week.

One of the main criticisms of hydrogen-fueled technology is the cost of hydrogen, which is nearly double the price of diesel. Even still, “hydrogen will get you further,” Lehman said. “You’ve got to remember that the efficiency is greater, so you’re getting almost twice the mileage with hydrogen buses.”

“Do you imagine a long-term scenario where you’re cracking hydrogen up here locally?” Huffman asked.

“That’s the goal,” Lehman said.

The HTA has also been working with transit authorities throughout Northern California to create a multi-county integrated fare payment system – Redwood Coast Express – with fare capping to further incentivize the use of public transportation and limit the burden of fares for the rider.

“If you start in Del Norte and you come down to Humboldt and get about halfway through you won’t have to pay anymore. You just continue on,” Pratt said. “Same thing for the week. If you [spend] $20 in fares in a week, that’s your cut off and you can ride as much as you want for free. For the month it would be like $50.”

In addition to enhancing transit connectivity throughout Northern California, the grant will give the multimodal EaRTH Center a much-needed financial boost. The Eureka Regional Transit & Housing Center, popularly known as the EaRTH Center, which will serve as the City’s future mass transit hub and provide housing for students, traveling medical staff and working residents.

Eureka City Councilmember Natalie Arroyo noted that the future site of the EaRTH Center on Third Street between G and H streets already functions as the primary location for transfers. 

“It’s kind of a transit hub right now, but there’s no place for people to get information about transit hub or a place to do ticketing…so it will be one location where people can safely wait,” she said. “And it’ll contribute to the safety of the site as well, just having people living there, coming and going all hours with security. There’s really a lot of advantages to that.”

Before embarking on a brief tour of the future hydrogen fueling station, Huffman credited the county for leading the charge in the push toward renewable energy.

“There’s some exciting work underway here with Humboldt Transit Authority,” he said. “I think Humboldt is really on the leading edge of zero-emission transit.”

A privately contracted firefighter working in an evacuated area of the McKinney Fire was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries last night after a bridge on Humbug Road was washed out by flash floods.

Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Courtney Kreider told the Outpost that the firefighter was driving on the bridge when it gave way.

“He’s lucky to be alive,” Kreider said.

Whitney Creek in Siskiyou County after yesterday’s rainstorm.

The U.S. Forest Service announced this afternoon that the firefighter is out of the hospital and recovering at a nearby hotel.

“Yesterday we got a little too much of a good thing with a torrential downpour, which triggered flash flood alerts from the National Weather Service around Siskiyou County,” Klamath National Forest Supervisor Rachel Smith stated this afternoon. “We’ve experienced some mudflows on and adjacent to the fire, resulting in trees or debris across the road. Last night, a damaged bridge resulted in one of our brave firefighters needing to be transported to Fairchild Medical Center. Luckily, he was treated and released late last night and is safely back in a hotel to rest up.”

Despite areas of the fire receiving as much as three inches of rain last night, the McKinney Fire reportedly still poses a significant threat to its surrounding communities.

“This continues to be a fire with substantial potential,” Smith said. “It is burning in an area that hasn’t seen significant recorded fire activity in some time.”

As of this morning, the fire was reported to be 57,515 acres in size and 0 percent contained.

“With drier and hotter weather in the forecast, increased fire activity is anticipated over the next few days,” the fire’s incident management team stated today. “Yesterday’s showers kept the fire from gaining significant growth. This allowed firefighters to move to an offensive approach where they can now focus on opportunities to go both direct and indirect on the fire. With the rainfall also comes hazardous debris, such as mud, downed trees, and rockfall; ultimately causing fire personnel to work more cautiously in these areas of the fire.”

The death toll for the fire remains at four. Siskiyou County Sheriff Jeremiah LaRue confirmed that all four victims were residents of Siskiyou County.

Kreider said that there is currently no reason to believe that anyone is missing as a result of the recent flash floods.

Highway 96 remains closed in the area.

This festival season Arcata will welcome a new event that celebrates Japanese culture and heritage. Humboldt Asians and Pacific Islanders in Solidarity, or HAPI, has been working to put on Humboldt’s first Obon Festival, a traditional Japanese celebration honoring the spirits of the ancestors. 

Amy Uyeki, one of the festival organizers and a member of HAPI’s steering committee, told the Outpost that the group has been dreaming of bringing an Obon festival to Humboldt for a couple of years now and felt that this year, with people holding more community events and gatherings feeling a little safer, would be a good time to introduce this event to the community. 

Obon, or just Bon, is a Buddhist custom that has been celebrated in Japan for more than 500 years. Traditionally held in July or August (the date varies depending on region), Bon is a time for families to gather and remember their ancestors. “It’s about honoring those who’ve come before us, those we’ve lost,” Uyeki told the Outpost. 

Similar to Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos, Bon is believed to be a time when the spirits of the deceased return to be among the living. Families prepare by visiting and cleaning the departed’s graves, decorating altars in their remembrance and cooking their favorite foods. People also often decorate their homes with lanterns to help guide the spirits to the physical world. Also like Dia de los Muertos, Bon is not meant to be a somber time, but rather a joyful celebration, full of food, music and dance. 

This will be the second event organized by HAPI to honor Japanese and Japanese American culture. In February of 2020, HAPI organized its first event, the Taiko Swingposium, a performance collaboration between San Jose Taiko and the Humboldt Orchestra that combined taiko, jazz and swing dance to tell the story of how Japanese Americans participated in swing dances to boost morale in World War II internment camps. The story behind these performances was very meaningful to Uyeki, whose parents both spent years in internment camps during the war. 

Following the Swingposium events, HAPI was looking for suggestions for other events to uplift the Asian and Pacific Islander community, Uyeki said, and many local Japanese Americans said they wanted an Obon celebration. Of course when COVID hit, the idea had to be put on hold. 

Since COVID, HAPI has kept busy focusing on other projects,  like the Eureka Chinatown Project, an effort to honor the history and culture of the first Chinese people in Humboldt County. Members of HAPI have brought awareness to the history of Eureka’s old Chinatown neighborhood and the horrific Chinese expulsions, renamed an alley in Old Town to honor Chinese immigrant Charlie Moon, commissioned a beautiful Chinatown mural and held a Chinese New Year celebration in Eureka.  

The Humboldt Obon Festival – which will be held in Arcata’s Creamery District on August 14 – will include a community altar to honor those who have passed, food vendors serving Asian and Pacific Islander cuisine, activities for kids and music performances, and music performances, including Taiko drumming. The festival will also begin with a blessing by Rinban Gerald Sakamoto of the San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin.

Bon Odori during Obon in Tokyo | Photo: Jakub Halun, via Wikimedia Commons. Creative commons license.

As is traditional during Bon festivals, the event will also include the performance of Bon Odori – a folk dance performed to welcome in the spirits of the dead. Bon Odori varies in different regions of Japan, often depicting unique aspects of that region’s culture and history. The movements are usually simple, so that they can be easily replicated. 

In preparation for the Humboldt Obon festival, Sensei Craig Kurumada has been teaching free Bon Odori classes at Redwood Raks in Arcata, so that community members can learn the dances and perform them at the event. Most of the classes have already finished, but there is still a chance to join for the final class on Monday, Aug. 8. 

“The idea is not mastering [Bon Odori], but participating together and having fun as a community,” Uyeki said. 

Uyeki is very excited to help share this important part of Japanese culture with the community and feels that with recent racist acts in Humboldt and the general rise of anti-Asian racism since COVID, now is an important time to educate people about the past and also celebrate different cultures. 

“This is really a festival of joy,” Uyeki said. “So we’re trying not only to honor family and people we know who’ve passed, but also to come together as a community and build those community connections.” 

The Humboldt Obon Festival will be on Sunday, Aug. 14 from 4 to 8 p.m. at 1251 Ninth Street in front of the Arcata Playhouse. You can find more info at hapihumboldt.org. 

It’s almost break time on this fine Humboldt Wednesday. You’ve been workin’ hard (maybe). As reward, LoCO invites you to take a long lunch complimented by a tall, cool glass of milk graciously provided to you by the local funk purveyors and dairymen of Diggin Dirt. 

Specifically, we direct your attention to the Tim Cash-directed music video, above, for the band’s song “Milkman” — off their album Funkacillus Groovidophilus — which was shot in Arcata and released earlier today.

Diggin Dirt is wrapping up a lengthy tour of the western United States, but if you like this product and wish to sample further, we will note that the boys have already booked the Arcata Theatre Lounge for a two-night stand ending this coming New Year’s Eve. Got milk?

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Christian Hill, communications manager for Providence of Northern California, called up the Outpost this morning to strongly suggest the publication of a press release he was about to send. Hill argued his case in the following voicemail:

Hill voicemail

Sold! Without further ado, the Outpost proudly presents this important, good news press release from Providence:

Fortuna, Calif. (August 3, 2022) – The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released their Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings for 2022 and Providence Redwood Memorial Hospital (RMH) was one of just 431 hospitals nationwide to receive the highest CMS rating of five stars.

Over 3000 hospitals received star ratings between one star and five stars in the U.S. based on their performance across five quality categories – mortality, safety, readmission, patient experience, and timely and effective care. According to CMS, this year:

• 198 hospitals received a one-star rating
• 702 hospitals received a two-star rating
• 895 hospitals received a three-star rating
• 895 received a four-star rating
• 431 received a five-star rating

Redwood Memorial Hospital’s five-star rating puts them in the top 13% of all hospitals rated by CMS.

“This recognition is a testament to our caregivers at Redwood Memorial who continue to demonstrate their commitment to clinical excellence,” said Laureen Driscoll, regional chief executive, Providence Northern California and interim chief executive, Providence Humboldt County. “I could not be prouder of the care they deliver to our communities in light of the challenges brought by over two years of the pandemic.”

The Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating (Overall Star Rating) summarizes a variety of measures across the five areas of quality into a single star rating for each hospital. Once reporting thresholds are met, a hospital’s Overall Star Rating is calculated using only those measures for which data are available.

Click here to learn more about the CMS Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings for 2022.

On December 28, 1985, William was born to his mother, Trina R. Byrd, and father, William H. Crutchfield Jr. William was the first born to his parents, Trina being 16 years old and Bill being 17. They all grew up with each other. For the first two years of Williams life, he had lived with his parents at Grandma Marian’s house.

Grandma Marian said, every morning when he woke up, he had a Radar for her and would come out of the room with his eyes barely open and would find her wherever she was at in the house. Grandma Linda said when he was a baby and stayed with her, she would take him to work with her at the mill, where she had his play pen set up while Trina was going to school. She enjoyed spending time with William as he was her first grandbaby.

William was the second born grandchild on his father’s side, and the First-born grandchild on his mother’s side. He brought so much joy and uncontrollable laughter to his family. He was a very happy baby and was so very lovable. He loved his family more then anything else.

William was a very clean person. He always kept everything he had so nice and organized. He loved fashion and always dressed his best. He was always the best-smelling person in the room. William was cherished by his younger siblings and cousins. He was adored by his family.

Being the oldest of his siblings, William had three brothers and three sisters from his father and two brothers and one sister from his mother. His sister Talina said, we all looked up to William because he was the coolest big brother you could ask for. It was an honor to be William’s little sister. He was the funniest and always had everything so put together. When William would call, no matter what time it was, we always answered because it was William. It would always be a great conversation. Some of the best memories are being together at the beach with our brother Mikey and his two nephews and niece who he adored so much. I will always remember laughing so hard when we went on the biggest rides at the amusement parks. I absolutely loved Williams cooking. I would always ask him to cook for me because it was better than going out to eat. William had the best taste in music, it was always upbeat and made you want to dance.

William was raised up with his brother Kason and their best memories go with the both of them.

William was very close with his cousin Loreta. Growing up they had the best of times being mischievous and running around on the beaches of Trinidad together, always laughing at everything. William always being the ringleader, with no fear he did whatever came to his mind.

William enjoyed spending time with his mom whenever he could. He would go pick her up and take her out on the town and always had good time. He was her best friend. He was also her first born.

In 2001 William had gotten the opportunity to go to Germany with his grandma. He loved every minute of sight-seeing and learning new things. One of Williams favorite things was traveling. As a Trinidad Rancheria Tribal member, he got the opportunity to travel with the Tribal Youth program to Sea World, Six Flags, Mount Shasta and Mount Batchelor where he learned how to ski and ice skate.

William had moved down south to Sacramento and got to spend time with his Sacramento side of the family. Cousin Airel said, she always loved visiting with William. He hardly allowed people in his room, his room was sacred. After her tenth time a day asking him to go into his room she would have to agree to sit on the bed and not touch anything and of course she had no problem agreeing because being there in his room, in his presence, was the greatest. Being around William was a gift, whether you got to partake closely in his life or just watched from a distance. He was such a bright soul. William would light up any room and had such an amazing energy to him.

William loved to socialize and always made friends everywhere he went. Nobody was as close to him as his siblings and cousins. William began going to school in Sacramento. He worked at multiple casinos and was a very valued employee and co-worker. In William’s adult life he was always a hard worker and was proud of it. William set an example for the younger generation of what responsibility meant. He worked hard for the nice things he had.

William loved to cook. You could taste the love in his food. William started dating his husband Eddie on February 16, 2006, in Sacramento and they fell madly in love. William and Eddie finally got married February 16, 2016, after 10 years of amazing memories, because that was the date Eddie officially asked William out. William and Eddie spent years together in Sacramento with Eddie’s daughters Alexia and Elexani. They spent so many days at the river bar with family and friends. He loved going to the state fair, amusement/water parks and taking long walks on the river bars of the Sacramento and the American river. He enjoyed going to old town Sac by the pier where they enjoyed eating and drinking at local restaurants. He also enjoyed going to Costco and the mall but was also happy staying home to make dinner with Eddie. William enjoyed his Sacramento life and loved his Sacramento family. Eddie was truly the love of Williams life.

William taught himself how to do woodwork and he taught himself well. He wanted his creations to be authentic. Everything he created with his hands was amazing.

Throughout William’s life he enjoyed laughing, climbing trees, goofing around, camping, traveling, exploring, spending time at the beach, swimming at the rivers, hanging out with his friends and family and listening to music. William was the biggest protector to his family, and we will miss his handsome smile and his precious laugh.

William R. Crutchfield is survived by his husband, Jose Torres, and two step-daughters, Alexia & Elexani Torrez, and their extended family; father William H. Crutchfield Jr. and mother Trina R. Byrd-Taylor; grandmothers Marian Seidner and Linda Cisneros; siblings Talina & David Nelson (Kit-ka, Toh-tet and Taloa); Michael C. Taylor Jr.; Samantha R. Crutchfield (Aaralyn Morris, Aaron Phines and Lana Meyers); Julia (Honeys) & William Simms (Willie, Kepel, and Wyatt); Brendan Crutchfield (Michael); Alex Crutchfield; Megan Crutchfield; Trayce Crutchfield; Aunties: Tracy Cady-Crutchfield (Michael (Riley, Alexis, Avah, Tiah), Nathaniel (MaryJane), Carleen Seidner (James (Josiah, Trinity, and Harmony), Loreta (Tinaya, Vaskak, and Jade), Sheila (Maverick, and Chloe), Justin), Chelsea Simpson (Ashley and Tyler), Uncles: Rick & Kari Byrd, Myriah Viveiros (Airel (Travis and Zola), Ricky & Pearl (Myla and Jasmine), Michael(Michael JR. and Kolton), Jordan, and Logan(Madeline); Bob & Lisa Byrd (Seth, Tristan, Noah, Chase) and Numerous extended family members and of course all the many friends.

Preceded in death by his grandfathers William H. Crutchfield Sr., Richard N. Byrd; brother Kason H. Crutchfield; great-aunts Melva & Don Duclo, Pamela Cisneros, & Linda Byrd.

There will be a celebration of life at Tish Non Village Community Center — 266 Keisner Road, Loleta — on Saturday, Aug. 6 at 1 p.m.

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