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President Trump signed an executive order today to discourage state governments from regulating artificial intelligence and urge Congress to pass a law preempting such regulations.

The order is likely to hit hardest in California, which since 2016 has passed more laws to regulate artificial intelligence than any other state, according to a Stanford report from earlier this year. California is also home to the world’s leading AI companies, including Anthropic, Google, Nvidia, and OpenAI.

Trump’s order would require the heads of the Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission, and Department of Justice to challenge state AI laws. It also calls for the development of model AI legislation to preempt or supersede state law unless those laws address children’s safety, data center infrastructure, state government use or AI, or other yet-to-be-determined areas.

For states that continue to regulate AI, the order instructs federal agencies to explore whether they can restrict grants to them, including by revoking funding known as Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment. California has a potential $1.8 billion in broadband funding at stake, much of which was committed to specific projects earlier this month and is set to deliver internet access to more than 300,000 people.

In a social media post earlier this week and remarks from the Oval Office today, Trump said the executive order was written to prevent businesses from needing to comply with laws from multiple states and that having to do so threatens America’s competitive advantage over other nations. Investors in tech startups, such as the Menlo Park venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, have urged the president to restrict state AI regulation and celebrated the president signing the order.

Trump’s order specifically criticized a Colorado law that requires testing and disclosure of AI that makes consequential decisions about people’s lives and seeks to prevent discrimination, a standard California lawmakers may revisit next year.

Among recently-passed California laws that federal agencies may challenge are:

• A ban on AI makers blaming the technology itself for harming people when defending themselves in court.
• A prohibition on algorithms raising prices.
• A requirement that the makers of AI supply the public with tools to identify AI-generated photos, videos, and audio so that they can better spot fakes.
• A law going into effect next month that requires AI makers to disclose details about the data they use to train their models.

Members of Congress routinely call California an example of AI regulation run amok, but lawmakers from both major parties have supported regulating AI, with more than 70 laws passed by 27 states this year, according to a report by the Transparency Coalition. California again led the nation with the passage of roughly a dozen laws as Texas, Montana, Utah and Arkansas followed with the most AI bills signed into law this year.

The executive order comes on the heels of a second attempt in Congress to preempt state AI laws, which fell short last week. Republican members of Congress first attempted to ban AI regulation by state governments for 10 years this spring, an initiative derailed in part by concerns about the fate of a law that protects country music musicians in Tennesse and others that seek to block child sexual abuse material.

Polls show Californians and Americans support AI regulation. A Carnegie Endowment California poll released in October found that nearly 80% of Californians strongly or somewhat agree that, when it comes to AI, safety should be prioritized over innovation. A September Gallup poll also found that four out of five Americans want lawmakers to prioritize safety over innovation, even if that means the technology is developed more slowly.

In addition to endangering the lives of children, artificial intelligence can lead to false arrests, discriminate against job applicants and employees and deny people government benefits or health care that they’re entitled to. The technology is also power hungry, potentially driving up electricity rates and endangering clean energy goals. It also needs large amounts of fresh water for the cooling systems in data centers. Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group that sued to stop a California data center project one year ago, called the executive order an early Christmas gift to big tech

Opponents of the executive order say it leaves Californians vulnerable to harm.

“Make no mistake: this order doesn’t create new protections, it removes them. That’s not governing. That’s a dereliction of duty wrapped in yet another distraction from a fracturing MAGA movement and a president who doesn’t understand the real dangers of rapidly advancing tech,” State Sen. Tom Umberg, a Democrat representing Santa Ana, said in a statement last month, when a draft of the executive order leaked to the press.

In the California Legislature enthusiasm for regulating AI shows little sign of abating. More than 100 film industry workers from groups like the Animation Guild and SAG-AFTRA showed up at a committee hearing earlier this week about protecting the work of creatives. Many spoke in support of a bill requiring AI companies to disclose what copyrighted material they use to train their models.

Animation Guild president Danny Lin said at the hearing that AI threatens nearly 40,000 jobs in California’s film, television, and animation industries.

“L.A. is bleeding out before my very eyes,” Lin told state lawmakers.

In response to the executive order Lin told CalMatters calling out a Colorado law that seeks to prevent discrimination and protect working class people doesn’t give her confidence that the legislation the president is calling for will address the concerns of creatives whose work is used to train generative AI models.

“It’s pretty apparent that if we had a federal government that was actually focused on regulating this technology then the states would not feel the need to step in and create state specific legislation,” she said.

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The Humboldt County Association of Governments (HCAOG) yesterday issued a press release inviting locals to “help shape the future of mobility in Humboldt County.” 

That’s HCAOG’s main deal: transportation. It’s a Joint Powers Authority comprising the County of Humboldt and all seven of its incorporated cities (Arcata, Blue Lake, Eureka, Ferndale, Fortuna, Rio Dell and Trinidad). And the guiding document for HCAOG’s governing board on this front is the Regional Transportation Plan. 

As a policy document, the RTP guides transportation priorities and funding decisions, influencing everything from road maintenance and safety improvements to public transit, bike and pedestrian facilities and planning for zero-emission vehicles, as HCOAG explained in its recent press release.

While that may sound like the greenest of environmental agendas, local enviro group leaders are raising a skeptical eyebrow toward HCAOG after getting a look at the latest Regional Transportation Plan draft.

The RTP gets updated every four years, and HCAOG recently released a draft of its latest version, which has been given the zippy title, “Varieties in Rural Options of Mobility (VROOM) 2026 – 2046.”

The public comment period on this document is now open, and will remain so until Monday, Dec. 29. An HCAOG official tells us that an online survey — accessible through this link — had received only 100 responses through Wednesday afternoon, and the agency is urging more people to weigh in.

“Community input — whether made in-person, by email, or through the online survey — will directly inform strategies to make travel safer, more efficient, and more accessible for everyone but especially for vulnerable users such as seniors, youth, people with disabilities, pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit riders,” the agency said.

The draft plan identifies more than $1 billion in funding needs for local streets and transportation infrastructure projects such as road rehabilitation, trails, bridges, interchanges, roundabouts and bike lanes. The agencies of HCAOG hope to increase the frequency and availability of public transportation and modernize the fleet of public vehicles.

So why are environmental groups upset? Because, for one thing, the new draft of the RTP eliminates every prior instance of the phrase “climate crisis.” As shown in the image above, each reference to “crisis” has been crossed out and replaced with “change.”

While that editorial choice may strike many as subtle, groups including EPIC (the Environmental Protection Information Center), CRTP (the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities) and 350 Humboldt all see it as a rhetorical downgrade that minimizes the urgency of human-caused climate upheaval. And they say there’s evidence to support that argument elsewhere in the document.

Screenshot of another edit to the RTP’s wording.

“The watering down of the plan’s language is matched by backsliding on Safe and Sustainable Transportation,” the groups say in a joint press release issued yesterday. “The plan proposes an unnecessary and harmful delay to HCAOG’s target for the construction of non-car-dependent housing, as well as delays to electric vehicle charging station targets and other needed climate actions.”

The groups identified a more fundamental concern, too: The new plan would eliminate a policy calling for “project funding consistency.”

“In other words,” they say in their press release, “HCAOG is removing the only policy that held it accountable for the projects it funds being consistent with its own climate and safety goals. Without implementation, a plan is just words on paper, and funding consistency is one of the key reasons for a regional transportation plan to exist. To ensure that the region’s transportation projects save lives and help stabilize the climate, HCAOG must put its money where its mouth is.”

As for the edits to terminology, an HCAOG staff report on the draft RTP acknowledges switching all references of “Climate Crisis” to “Climate Change.” It says that change was recommended by the authority’s Transportation Advisory Committee “based on [a] desire to use more conventional language.”

The Outpost recently emailed HCAOG Executive Director Brendan Byrd for more information. He stressed that, since this is a draft document, the change is only a potential revision. He also elaborated on the reasoning proffered by the technical committee members thusly:

[O]ne of our committee’s recommended that the Board consider the change from ‘Climate Crisis’ to ‘Climate Change’, the thought being that ‘climate change’ is more conventional/familiar language, is more consistent with other planning documents, and that the wording may reach or speak more directly to a broader cross section of our many stakeholders as we seek to address this critical issue through our RTP.

Colin Fiske, executive director of CRTP, said in an email to the Outpost that he doesn’t think this explanation stands up to scrutiny. From Fiske:

The claim that “climate crisis” is not conventional/familiar language is contradicted by its widespread use in documents and public statements from local, state, national, and international agencies for the last several decades. It’s become so common in recent years that the current AP style guide recognizes it for use in news coverage.

The claim that it is more “consistent” with other documents to omit the term “climate crisis” is curious, since it’s never been specified which documents it should be consistent with and why such consistency in language would matter. Furthermore, terms like “climate change,” “global warming,” “climate crisis,” and others are all commonly used in planning documents at all levels. …

The claim that the term “crisis” is polarizing and doesn’t appeal to all stakeholders deserves a little more consideration than the other two justifications, but in the end doesn’t make much sense either. Polarization on this issue has already reached such a point that the federal government is literally scrubbing all references to climate science from federal documents and websites, no matter what terms are used. Will HCAOG’s next move be to follow suit and erase all references to climate in local government documents to pander to federal science deniers? Euphemisms can only get you so far. In the end, we have to acknowledge reality, and the reality is that climate change is a crisis of massive proportions.

The biggest problem here is that HCAOG has for years accurately acknowledged the climate crisis, and now wants to reverse itself. That decision is even more damaging than other documents and agencies that fail to use the word “crisis” in the first place, because it suggests to the public that:

(a) climate change used to be a crisis, but isn’t anymore, which is the opposite of the truth; and/or

(b) that HCAOG isn’t taking climate as seriously as it once did.

Our biggest concern is that the second interpretation may be accurate, because the RTP update seems to back up that interpretation with other changes that weaken its climate commitments.

The link at the end, there, takes you to a letter to HCAOG leadership from the three environmental groups.

To reiterate, HCAOG is inviting local residents to submit their own feedback on the draft RTP. Here, again, is the link to the draft document, and here’s the link to the community survey. 

Lotta trees in them there hills. They’re blanketed in the things, and this time of year, when every good girl and boy get a yen to put some of the outside inside, people flock to them like ants to a picnic to carry off some prime specimens. 

In fact, if you bought a permit and went out there sometime in the last couple weeks and harvested yourself a tree, you bought one out of 2,649 Six Rivers National Forest Christmas tree-cutting permits the Forest Service has sold since they went on sale in November, according to a Forest Service spokesperson who talked to the Outpost today. (If you haven’t bought a permit but want to, get one here.)  

To cut a tree down, it must have a diameter smaller than six inches and be farther than 100 feet away from a paved road or 50 feet from a dirt road. Just cutting the top off of a tree isn’t allowed. There are also some areas you’re not allowed to take from, so make sure to consult the maps on the webpage linked above before you go.

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PREVIOUSLY

• Two Humboldt County Men Arrested for Murder After Gunshot Victims Found In Burned Vehicle in Butte County

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Press release from the Butte County District Attorney’s Office:

Two Humboldt County men were each convicted today after a jury trial in Butte County Superior Court for a gruesome double murder in the rural Cherokee area of Butte County.

Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey said Samuel Ashley, 43, and Wesley Evans, 45, were each found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder. Additionally, the jury found a special allegation of multiple murder to be true for each defendant. 

A homicide investigation was initiated on January 30, 2025, after the badly burned remains of two men were discovered in a vehicle on Condor Road in Cherokee. The investigation found that Ashley and Evans had traveled with the victims from Humboldt County to Butte County.  

The victims, Juan Daniel Arreola Solano, 26, and Esequiel Velle Arellano Jr., 22, were identified through DNA samples obtained from family members.   

One of the victims repeatedly stated he had a deal for firearms with Ashley and Evans. The five-week jury trial began November 3rd, and the jury deliberated for about 5 hours before reaching their verdict late today.

Ashley and Evans remain in custody without bail and are scheduled to appear in court on January 9, 2026, for sentencing. Ashley and Evans each face a life sentence without the possibility of parole.   

Ramsey said, “The nature of the case presented significant investigative challenges, but the Butte County Sheriff’s detective unit did outstanding work.”  

Ramsey also noted that the complex prosecution of the case was ably handled by the trial prosecutors, Chief Deputy District Attorney Mark Murphy and Deputy District Attorney Megan Grow, during which 23 witnesses and over 200 exhibits were presented to the jury.  

You seeing smoke in Blue Lake or Arcata? That’s probably this, which Green Diamond just told us about:

Green Diamond has initiated a controlled burn near Korbel. Smoke will be visible from Blue Lake, Arcata, and McKinleyville. Burning operations are implemented in coordination with CAL FIRE and North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District.

Future location of “Sunset Heights.”

Eureka city government got some good news yesterday, when it found out that a state agency had awarded its “Sunset Heights” development near the Eureka Mall a $21.7 million grant from the California Strategic Growth Council.

The grant, which comes from the council’s “Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities” fund, will help finance the building of 43 affordable housing units aimed at families, along with transportation improvements near the project and throughout the city.

Eureka city government acquired the Sunset Heights lots in 2022, through a land swap with the Pierson Company, who, in a complicated deal involving Redwood Capital Bank, traded its former headquarters on the bluff above Broadway for three downtown parking lots that had been slated for development.

The Sunset Heights project is being managed by the Rural Communities Housing Development Corporation, a Ukiah-based nonprofit developer.

Yesterday’s award will help finance the first phase of the Sunset Heights project. The second phase, which will include roughly the same number of units, is still seeking funding, according to Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery, who spoke with the Outpost briefly this morning.

The monies come from the California’s “Cap and Trade” program, which was recently rebranded as “Cap and Invest.” The program is designed to limit the amount of greenhouse gases produced in the state.

As such, a lot of the award — some $8 million — will go toward beefing up alternative transportation in the city. This includes improved sidewalks, more frequent bus schedules and a brand-new bicycle boulevard, after the fashion of the newly redesigned C Street, but running from west to east. Slattery told the Outpost that the city is currently looking at using 15th Street for that project.

Here’s a fuller picture from the Strategic Grown Council’s project description: 

The Sunset Heights – Parcel 1 project, located in the City of Eureka, will develop 43 units of affordable housing for households earning 30 – 60% AMI in addition to improved pedestrian, bicycle, and transit infrastructure. The infill site is situated in a densely populated neighborhood on a bluff overlooking Humboldt Bay and the Broadway/Highway 101 Commercial Corridor below. Fast moving cars traveling to and from the Commercial Corridor make it difficult for pedestrians and bicycle riders to get around safely. The project proposes to improve safety on those streets, near the entrance and exit of the new housing development, through traffic calming measures to slow down cars. New and improved walkways will make it easier for residents of all abilities to access shopping, other key destinations nearby, and a transit service that will be doubled in frequency. A new bicycle boulevard will improve east-west connectivity within an existing multimodal network throughout the city that encourages mode shift, improves safe access to bicycle facilities and walkways, and connects bicyclists to transit services.

The new GreenPoint Rated Gold housing development will feature views of Humboldt Bay, outdoor exercise equipment to encourage physical activity among residents of all ages, secured bike parking, and an on-site bus stop for Dial-A-Ride shared transit users. The project features partnerships with Westside Community Improvement Association and the City of Eureka to expand existing workforce development and anti-displacement programming. The AHSC award will also fund the creation of a new program to encourage active transportation and safety in partnership with the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities.

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PREVIOUSLY:

• Eureka City Council Approves Land Swap With Pierson Company, Will Develop Housing Near Winco Instead of on Three Downtown Parking Lots
• Eureka City Council Advances Development Agreement for Affordable Housing Projects on City-Owned Parking Lots, Approves Church Conversion Near Henderson Center
• What’s Next for Sunset Heights? The City of Eureka Will Discuss Next Steps, Funding Priorities at a Public Meeting Next Week

Press release from the Eureka Police Department:

On December 9, 2025, an officer with the Eureka Police Department responded to a reported hit-and- run at W. Wabash Avenue and Spring Street. One of the involved drivers fled on foot before officers arrived.

The collision occurred at a signal-controlled intersection in a residential area. Three vehicles were involved: one sustained moderate front-side damage, one motorcycle sustained major damage, and a third vehicle had minor front-end damage. No unusual roadway conditions were noted.

Evidence was documented through photographs and Body-Worn Camera footage. A witness reported seeing one vehicle strike another and leave without stopping, and provided a description and partial license plate.

The fleeing driver has not been identified at this time. The primary impact area was located within the intersection. The collision was caused by a failure to yield during a left turn, a violation of California Vehicle Code 21801(a).

The case remains under investigation. If have any information regarding this incident, please contact Eureka Police Department Criminal Investigations Unit at 707-441-4300.