Press release from the Arcata Police Department:

On 10/18/2022 at approximately 2252 hours, the Arcata Police Department responded to the 5200 Blk of Carlson Park Dr. in the Valley West neighborhood of Arcata, on the report of a possible homicide. Officers located 33 year old Nicklas Sellars of Eureka, deceased in a tent. It appeared Mr. Sellars had suffered multiple gun shot wounds. 

On 11/16/022, Arcata Police Department Detectives, with the assistance of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team, arrested 30 year old Devon Preston Cathey of Arcata, for the suspected homicide of Mr. Sellars.

Anyone with information on this crime is encouraged to call Arcata Police Department Detective V. Johnson at (707)822-2428.

California’s nursing agency this week approved rules that will allow nurse practitioners to treat patients without physician supervision. It’s a move that aims to expand access to care in the Golden State at a time when workforce shortages plague just about every corner of health care.

Monday’s vote is one of the last major steps necessary to fully implement a 2020 law that will allow nurse practitioners to practice more freely. Nurse practitioners, who have advanced degrees and training, currently must enter into a written agreement with a physician who oversees their work with patients.

Despite some earlier concerns about potential delays, nurse practitioners say they are now confident that applications to start the certification process will go live early in the new year as planned.

“Hopefully we don’t crash the website, but we are very excited,” said Cynthia Jovanov, president of the California Association of Nurse Practitioners. “This means that if I want to do a mobile clinic in Skid Row, I don’t have to be held hostage by paperwork to get a partnering physician who may not have the same desire.”

Nurse practitioners are a cost-effective way of bringing more primary care providers to communities that need them, particularly in rural areas, said Glenn Melnick, a health economist at the University of Southern California.

“And that can benefit the consumer as long as the quality of care is acceptable,” he said. Still, there are a limited number of them.

“If I want to do a mobile clinic in Skid Row, I don’t have to be held hostage by paperwork to get a partnering physician who may not have the same desire.”
— Cynthia Jovanov, president of the California Association of Nurse Practitioners

Nurse practitioners in California have been fighting to break free of physician oversight for years. The biggest pushback came from physicians. During legislative debate, the California Medical Association said nurse practitioners have less training than physicians, so allowing them to practice independently could lessen the quality of care and even pose a risk to patients.

Law is not ‘carte blanche’

In 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 890, which was authored by Assemblymember Jim Wood, a Santa Rosa Democrat. To go into full effect, the Board of Registered Nursing had to first iron out details, including how nurse practitioners would transition into their more independent role and what type of additional training or testing, if any, would be needed to obtain certification.

The law essentially created two new categories of nurse practitioners.​​ Starting in January, nurse practitioners who have completed 4,600 hours or three years of full-time clinical practice in California can apply for the first category. This first step will allow them to work without contractual physician supervision, but only in certain facilities where at least one doctor or surgeon also practices. The idea is nurse practitioners would still be able to consult a doctor when needed.

“So that does not give them (nurse practitioners) the carte blanche that I think some people were fearful of,” said Loretta Melby, executive officer of the state’s Board of Registered Nursing, during Monday’s meeting. “And then, when they are there for three years in that group setting with a physician or surgeon, only then can they advance to the (second category).”

This second designation will allow nurse practitioners full practice authority, without any setting restrictions. And in theory, nurse practitioners would be able to open their own medical practice. Given the phased-in approach, eligible nurse practitioners will likely obtain full independence around January of 2026.

California’s requirements for nurse practitioners to transition into full independence will be among the most robust in the country, according to one analysis by the California Health Care Foundation.

Nurse practitioners can perform physical exams, order lab tests, diagnose ailments and prescribe medication, but in California it had to be under the oversight of a doctor. Of the 31,000 nurse practitioners in California, an estimated 20,000 will be eligible to apply for expanded authority in 2023, according to the California Association of Nurse Practitioners.

Kenny Chen, a family nurse practitioner in South Central Los Angeles, exemplifies the type of clinicians researchers say California needs more of: He is interested in primary care; he speaks multiple languages, including Spanish and his native Mandarin; and he enjoys working with underserved populations.

Chen said that while he doesn’t expect major changes to his current role at Martin Luther King, Jr. Outpatient Center, the new law would allow his clinic to hire more nurse practitioners without having to meet physician-to-nurse practitioner ratios. “It can be very difficult to recruit physicians to come work in South Central LA,” Chen said.

Giving nurse practitioners more authority, he said, can also attract more of them to California. All other western states, for example, already allow nurse practitioners greater independence. California’s restrictions could be a deterrence, he said.

“It’s not like the nurse practitioner is now going to have the freedom to go out and perform surgery; that has never been a nurse practitioner scope of practice.”
— Loretta Melby, executive officer of the state’s Board of Registered Nursing

Ahead of Monday’s vote, the California Medical Association sent a letter to the Board of Registered Nursing stating that the nursing board’s rules for nurse practitioners to transition into their independent roles lacked clarity and didn’t provide any more meaningful guidance than what was already stated in the text of the law.

Melby, the nursing board’s executive officer, said she has also heard concerns that the law would expand the scope of services that nurse practitioners can provide, but clarified that the law doesn’t actually change the type of work nurse practitioners will be doing.

“What was updated was the supervision requirement,” Melby said. “And so it’s not like the nurse practitioner is now going to have the freedom to go out and perform surgery; that has never been a nurse practitioner scope of practice.”

New rules may increase health care access

According to workforce researchers, allowing nurse practitioners more flexibility is a small but key piece of the puzzle in alleviating California’s provider shortage.

Even prior to the pandemic, California was experiencing a shortage of medical providers. A 2019 report by a commission of health care experts estimated that by 2030, the state would need an additional 4,100 primary care clinicians. About 7 million Californians already live in provider shortage areas with a need for primary, mental and dental care, according to the report.

Rural counties tend to have the greatest shortages — in counties like Glenn, Trinity, San Benito and Imperial, more than 80% of people live without sufficient access to care. And when patients do find care, they often rely on nurse practitioners. Some studies have shown that although physicians still make up the biggest proportion of primary care providers in rural areas, nurse practitioners are choosing to work in rural settings at a faster rate.

Alexa Curtis, a family and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner at a substance use disorder facility in Nevada County, said the need in rural communities has driven most of her career. Curtis, who is also an associate dean at the School of Nursing at the University of San Francisco, plans to develop a rural street medicine program with a focus on unhoused people with mental health needs and substance use disorders.

Once she is granted greater authority, “I will be able to pursue that goal without the barrier and expense of needing to secure a physician supervisor,” she said.

But working with other types of providers, including physicians, will always be part of her practice. “It is how we are trained and how we function as nurse practitioners,” she said.

Earlier this year, Newsom also signed into law Senate Bill 1375, which authorizes nurse practitioners to provide reproductive care and first trimester abortions without doctor supervision.

These two wins were huge for nurse practitioners, said Jovanov, the president of the nurse practitioner lobby. “I can tell you that this will lead to many more bills for regulations that need to change. We’re on this momentum and that is really exciting.”

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CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

Betty Mae Yvonne Teasley, 96, of Weott, passed away peacefully on October 4, 2022. Betty was born on May 25, 1926 in Bandon, Oregon to Elmer and Juanita Snyder. In 1944, Betty moved to Bull Creek, California where she met Twyman (Tom) Teasley. Twyman and Betty were married in 1945 and resided in Bull Creek and South Fork before moving to Weott and building their home in 1955. In Weott, Betty attended Weott Christian Church where she found a wonderful community of people.

Betty worked for the US Postal service for 32 years. She started working at the South Fork Post Office and after the 1964 flood she moved to the Redcrest Post Office where she would retire as the Postmaster in 1984.

Betty was an avid gardener with extensive gardens around her home, which she would spend many, many hours carefully tending. She always knew the names of all the flowers she encountered. This love of gardening was evident throughout her life. She was a member of the Southern Humboldt Garden Club for over 60 years and she was a founding member of the Humboldt Rose Society. She was always attending, working, and showing at the local flower shows and was particularly fond of the flower show held annually in Weott. She encouraged her grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren to enter flower arrangements at the show.

In addition to gardening at home, she had gardens in Pepperwood where she would grow flowers and produce to take to the Farmer’s Market in Arcata. She was a staple of the Arcata Farmer’s Market starting in 1987. She was selling fresh vegetables, fruit, and cut flowers until a couple years ago. Her big, beautiful sunflowers were a favorite at the market

Betty truly loved to travel and she especially enjoyed traveling to see gardens. She was very fond of going to Hawaii and halibut fishing in Alaska, especially with her friend Velma Childs. In addition to traveling the US, she traveled to Europe, Australia, South and Central America, and Southeast Asia.

Betty was preceded in death by her husband Twyman, her granddaughter Shannan, her parents, her brothers Fred and Ronald (Bud), and sister June.

Betty is survived by her brother John Snyder of Gold Beach, OR and sister Kay Armstrong of Bridgeville, her five children, Garry of Athol, Idaho, Grady (Lynn) of Bayside, Cheryl Rockwood of Weott, Gerry (Kerry Randall) of Potter Valley, and Gregory (D’Ann) of Weott. She is also survived by numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren.

Betty was a genuinely kind and warm person who touched the lives of many people. A celebration of her life will be held in the Spring when the flowers are in bloom.

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

Charles Edward Ptaschek was born October 21, 1947 in San Francisco. He died on November 5, 2022 in Eureka. He resided in Rio Dell since 1999. He had also lived in Eureka, Arcata, Happy Camp and numerous other places. Charley was very friendly with a deep love of people and made friends wherever he went.

Charley worked at Fortuna Motors as a parts man for over 25 years, again meeting and befriending many of his customers.

Charley was preceded in death by his first wife Sharon Ptaschek, his parents Pat and Betty Ptaschek.

Charley is survived by his second wife of 16 years Marilyn Ptaschek of Rio Dell. His daughter Sarah Ptaschek of Madison, Wisconsin. His son Michael Ptaschek and his wife Angelique, their five children: Trinity, Jocelyn, Austin, Savannah, Kira of Rio Dell. He is also survived by his extended family Keith and Shirley Condit and their children Katie, Tony, and Bethi, and their grandchildren. Anita Bones and her sons Phillip and Isaiah. Maylynda Bones and her children Ashton and Lyndon.

Charley loved music and he had a special group of friends that he enjoyed getting together with and playing music when they could.

Charley loved animals, and quickly fell in love with any new additions to their home.

Charley was baptised as one of Jehovah’s witnesses April 10, 1976. He enjoyed talking to people about his deep faith and Jehovah’s promises for the future. (Revelation 21:3,4) We look forward to welcoming Charley back in the resurrection to the paradise earth in the near future.

There will be a memorial service for Charley on December 10, 2022 at 1 p.m. at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, 1475 Ross Hill Road, Fortuna. It will also be on zoom conference meeting ID: 981 6675 6918 password: 15602, with Steve Payetta officiating. The family would like to thank you for all your kind support through this difficult time.

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

The Eureka City Council will, as always, tackle some exciting and important issues during tonight’s meeting, including a few items concerning the City’s water and sewer systems.

Homeowners have been freaking out on social media in recent weeks in response to proposed water and sewer tax hikes from the City of Eureka. The council will discuss the proposed rate increase during tonight’s meeting, but is not expected to make a decision on the matter as of yet.

Let’s take a look at that agenda!

Water and Wastewater Revenue Refunding Bonds

The council will start off tonight’s meeting with a request from staff to refinance a series of bonds related to the City’s Water and Wastewater funds. 

In case you’re not aware (this reporter surely wasn’t), the City currently has four bonds, or debt obligations, related to the Water Fund and two bonds related to the Wastewater Fund. Each fiscal year, the City makes six separate principal and interest payments related to each bond. Since interest rates are lower than in years past, staff thought now would be a good time to refinance the City’s debt.

“This transaction is akin to a homeowner refinancing their mortgage for a lower rate/payment and it has no effect on the total debt owed by the City’s utilities,” Lane Millar, the City’s finance director, explained in an email to the Outpost. “The result of the two transactions is that the City will pay less in interest over the remaining life of the bonds. This will lower expenses in both the water and sewer funds.”

The City issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) earlier this year to find a bank willing to refinance the City’s debt at a lower rate. Last month, the City selected Signature Bank as the best option for the Water Fund and California Bank and Trust for the Wastewater Fund.

If approved, the proposed transactions will save the City more than $814,000 in interest expenses over the next 20 years.

“When combined, the current debt service payments, less receipts, will result in net cash flows of $18,589,570 [for the Water Fund] during the period of 04/01/2023 to 06/30/2043,” according to the staff report. “The total savings of the proposed transaction is approximately $142,619 with present value of savings of $184,269. …The total savings of the proposed transaction is approximately $671,820 [for the Wastewater Fund] with present value of savings of $545,959.”

In the past, the City has issued bonds to fund major capital improvements for its water and wastewater systems. Millar noted that the staff is “not proposing to issue new debt in this case” but is instead “looking to lower the cost of the debt already incurred.”

The council will also receive a report on a recent water and sewer rate study during tonight’s meeting. The item is somewhat related to the aforementioned bond discussion, but the items will not directly impact one another, according to Millar.

“I hesitate to directly relate the refinancing to the rate study because I think they should be understood apart from one another,” he said. “What I mean [is], the interest savings are good, but they will occur between now and 2042. Since the rate study looks out five years, the refinancing will have no effect on the proposed rate changes.”

However, any effort to reduce costs to the water and sewer systems can reduce rate increases over the long run, he added.

Private Sewer Lateral Ordinance

The council will also consider 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. 

“The main hurdle has been the fact that replacement of the lower lateral requires a Class A contractor due to the insurance requirements of working in the City right-of-way,” the staff report states. “The number of Class A licensed contractors in our area is limited and owners were often having to hire two separate contractors to replace the upper and lower lateral. This increased the cost, complexity and duration of the process significantly.”

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 sale trigger will increase the number of laterals replaced annually, helping to satisfy the City’s obligation to reduce wet weather flows,” the staff report continues. “The set fee, payable prior to closing, will allow sales to progress unimpeded, as timing is often critical in the sale of the property. The City would then aggregate the projects and bid them together as a single public works project.”

The fee amount would be based on the average City bid cost of lateral repair/replacement over the previous two years. Currently, the anticipated fee would fall under $10,000, the staff report says. Property owners who feel they can get a better deal through a private contractor will still have the ability to do so. 

You can view the revised ordinance at this link.

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The council will also review another segment of the City’s proposed Coastal Land Use Plan during tonight’s meeting. Rather than bringing the entire proposal to the council for consideration in one go, staff decided to break the plan into several digestible chapters to present to the council through January. 

This week’s installment will focus on land and aquatic resources. You can read more at this link.

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​​The Eureka City Council will meet on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 6 p.m. at Eureka City Hall — 531 K Street. The agenda can be found here.

Humboldt Bay Fire release:

On November 19th 2020 a newborn baby was safely surrendered to Humboldt Bay Fire Station 1 on C St. in Eureka. Since the inception of the Safe Surrender program for HBF in 2013, this was the first experience the department had with activation of the protocol. All Humboldt Bay Fire Stations are designed as drop-off sites for “safely surrendered babies.” The California Safely Surrendered Baby Law allows a parent or other individual having lawful custody of a child 72 hours or younger to voluntarily surrender physical custody of the child to any firefighter on duty at any of our stations. This may be done discretely without fear of judgement or prosecution for child abandonment.

After the child was transported for further assessment to the hospital and entry into the county’s system, HBF personnel did not know the outcome of the child’s story.

On Thursday November 10th 2022, nearly two years after the incident, the child surrendered that day paid a visit to Station 1 with their newly adoptive parents. As luck would have it, when the visit was made the firefighter who received the child that day was on duty in the administrative offices of Station 1 and was able to meet the child, now nearly 2 years old, and their new family. The emotional visit was welcome closure to the story as the child was healthy, happy, and greatly loved by their new family. Needless to say we at Humboldt Bay Fire feel very privileged to have been apart of their story and know that we played a small part in the wonderful outcome.

The success of this story only goes to prove the value of this program. The California Safe Surrender program had a demonstrated history throughout out state in truly making a difference in the lives that it touches. Per the California Department of Social Services website most recent information, From January 1, 2001 to December 31, 2017, there were 931 newborns surrendered in California. This is compared with 164 infants abandoned since 2001. Available data indicates a generally decreasing trend of abandonments since enactment of the Law, from 25 cases in 2002 to five or fewer cases per year since 2010, representing a decrease of at least 80%.

PREVIOUSLY: At-Risk Woman Last Seen Walking Along Highway 36 Today; Sheriff’s Office Seeks Help Finding Her

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Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

The Humboldt County Coroner’s Office has positively identified human remains discovered in the Bridgeville area as that of local missing woman Patricia Ribeiro.

On November 11, 2022, at about 1:10 p.m., the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Communications Center received a call regarding skeletal remains found by a resident near a private road located off of Highway 36 Milepost Marker 31.5. Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies and a deputy coroner responded to the scene and recovered the remains.

Foul play is not suspected at this time. An external examination of the remains is scheduled for Thursday, November 17.

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office extends our deepest sympathies to Ribeiro’s family during this difficult time.