Press release from Calfire:

California has already experienced an unusually early start to wildfire activity amidst an ongoing drought and historically low rainfall and reservoir levels. While wildfires are a natural part of California’s landscape, wildfire activity in California and across the west is starting earlier and ending later each year. Warmer spring and summer temperatures, reduced snowpack, and earlier spring snowmelt create longer and more intense dry seasons that increase moisture stress on vegetation making forests more susceptible to severe wildfire.

The increasing fire danger posed by dead grass and hotter, drier conditions in the region is prompting CAL FIRE to suspend all burn permits for outdoor residential burning within the State Responsibility Area of Humboldt, Del Norte, and Western Trinity Counties. This suspension takes effect July 25th, 2022 and bans all residential outdoor burning of landscape debris such as branches and leaves.

“California wildfires continue to threaten our communities,” said Chief Joe Tyler, CAL FIRE Director. “With the conditions set for an early start of the 2022 fire season, it is imperative that we collectively take preventative steps now to prepare, and we ask all Californians to do their part in wildfire preparedness.”

Humboldt – Del Norte Unit Chief Kurt McCray is appreciative of residents and various community groups as well as cooperating government organizations who have conducted their burning safely this year. Safe burning helps reduce hazardous wildland fuels and allows the burning season to continue longer. Now, warmer and drier weather across the state has led to increasing wildfire danger. This, along with commitment of fire suppression resources across the northern California, has led to the implementation of the burn suspension in Humboldt, Del Norte and western Trinity Counties, effective at 6:00 a.m. July 25th, 2022.

While outdoor burning of landscape debris by homeowners is no longer allowed, CAL FIRE is asking residents to take that extra time to prepare your home for wildfire by creating defensible space and hardening your home ahead of wildfires.

Here are some tips to help prepare homes and property for wildfire preparedness:

• Clear all dead and or dying vegetation 100 feet from around all structures.
• Landscape with fire resistant plants and non-flammable ground cover.
• Find alternative ways to dispose of landscape debris like chipping or hauling it to a biomass energy or green waste facility

CAL FIRE may issue restricted temporary burning permits if there is an essential reason due to public health and safety. Agriculture, land management, fire training, and other collaborative prescribed fuel reduction burning may proceed if a CAL FIRE official inspects the burn site and issues a special permit.

The suspension of burn permits for residential landscape debris does not apply to campfires within organized campgrounds or on private property. Campfires may be permitted if the campfire is maintained in such a manner as to prevent its spread to the wildland. A valid campfire permit is required and can be obtained online at www.ReadyForWildfire.org.

For additional information on how to create Defensible Space, Home Hardening, Evacuation Planning and how to be prepared for wildfires, as well as tips to prevent wildfires, visit www.ReadyForWildfire.org.

###

In April, Juan Carlos Cruz Mora received an eviction notice from his landlord that alleged he caused property damage and dirty, unsafe living conditions in the Sacramento suburb duplex he had called home for the last 10 years. He had only five days to file a response in court.

Mora, who blamed his landlord for those issues, tried to file an answer with the court himself but feared a mistake could land him, his wife, and his two young children on the street. He said he paid a lawyer $1,000 to help.

“With one word I could lose the case,” he said in Spanish.

Thousands of California tenants lose their homes every year because they fail to submit that initial answer in court. Failing to check the right box or file a timely response could, indeed, trigger a default judgment against them.

A group of tenant advocates and attorneys today launched a tool they hope will change that.

More than 50 tenant advocates and attorneys from The Debt Collective, The LA Tenants Union, The Anti-Eviction Mapping Project, UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality & Democracy and the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment worked on the “Tenant Power Toolkit” over the last two years — a mostly volunteer effort, explains Hannah Appel, an anthropology professor at UCLA who came up with the idea based on her work as a co-founder of the Debt Collective.

The website they created resembles tax-return-filing software. It asks tenants a long series of questions in relatively plain English, or Spanish, that produces a legal document they can print and submit in court. Tenants in Los Angeles County can file the paperwork electronically. If they choose, tenants can connect to other tenants and legal aid organizations through the website.

The questions vary by eviction type and location. For example, if their city has rent control for people over the age of 65 who lived in the building for five years, the tool will ask tenants for their ages and the time they lived in the building and invoke that defense on paper, even if the tenants didn’t know the protection existed.

Of more than 129,000 eviction cases filed between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019, at least 24,000 tenants lost their court cases in a default judgment, according to data from the Judicial Council. That’s 46% of cases in courts that reported their outcomes — which most courts don’t do. Default judgements dropped to 7,600, or 40% of reported outcomes, last year as a result of statewide eviction protections, which researchers say make that not reflective of a typical year.

“As a lawyer it really pained me to see tenants lose cases just because they couldn’t file a piece of paper,” said UCLA law professor Gary Blasi, one of the lead housing lawyers behind the tool. He called it the first of its kind nationwide.

Legalese isn’t the only thing that prevents a tenant from filing a response, according to Amber Crowell, an associate professor of sociology at Fresno State and housing coordinator at Faith in the Valley. Tenants often vacate their homes before going through the eviction process because they don’t think they stand a chance in court. Losing a case can damage a person’s credit and chance at renting another home.

The tool buys tenants at least 10 days to file an amended response and find a lawyer before the court trial. But its creators warn the website is no substitute for a lawyer. Access to legal aid remains rare for tenants, who nationally are represented by an attorney in 10% of cases, according to the ACLU. That statistic shrivels to 1% in Fresno, Crowell found in a 2019 study. Blasi expects the tool will have a bigger impact in places where people have greater access to legal aid.

“In an ideal world, the tool would not be necessary at all,” Blasi said.

Mora will defend himself in his upcoming court trial because he was unhappy with the private attorney he hired and unable to find free legal aid.

While it was put together on a “shoestring budget”, the group hopes to attract more philanthropic and state funding to keep the tool up to date, especially as local jurisdictions pass new tenant protections.

But money isn’t all they want from lawmakers. The groups argue tenants should have a right to legal representation in court — efforts that have had little traction at the state level. Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed a watered down version of that last year, a bill to create an ongoing legal services trust fund for tenants because he argued there was already money for tenant legal aid in the budget.

###

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

Steven Mark Perkins — beloved son, brother, father and friend — died peacefully on July 8, 2022 after a short painful battle with an aggressive form of lung cancer at the age of 60. Steve was born on May 5, 1962 at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Eureka and spent most of his grade school years in the Eureka City Schools district. Steve began his love of music at an early age, starting with piano at age 5, trumpet at age 10 and getting involved with playing the electric bass in his early teens.

Steve moved to Chicago in 1979 to finish high school, where he continued his music education playing bass in the high school jazz band at Walther Lutheran High School in Melrose Park, Illinois.

Steve moved to the Los Angeles area not long after graduation in 1980 and worked as a foreman for Sanders Hydroseeding Company out of Santa Ana for several years. He also continued to master playing the bass with several bands on the LA rock circuit in his free time.

Steve decided to leave Los Angeles immediately in 1992 as a result of the LA riots violence. His hydroseeding company sent Steve and his crew into South Central Los Angeles to help the cleanup efforts in the immediate days following the riots. However, the level of danger driving into the war zone in South Central LA on a daily basis proved to be too overwhelming. So Steve packed up his belongings and flew back up to Humboldt County within a matter of 48 hours to find safety, peace and quiet. Steve lived the rest of his years in Humboldt enjoying his friends and family, working various jobs, fishing the Pacific Ocean and Six Rivers, and enjoyed playing bass in several bands with his dear friends until his death.

Steve was the kind of guy who loved his family and friends and playing music with everything he had and did everything he could to take care of everyone he loved. Steve called his mom and sister who live in the Los Angeles area almost every night wishing them a good sleep and peaceful dreams and never forgot to tell them that he loved them always. He told his friends the same that he loved them. That’s what really made Steve special… his truly kind, loving, beautiful soul on earth.

Steve is preceded in death by his dad, Thomas E. Perkins. Steve is survived by his mom Alvina “Lee” Perkins and his sister Dr. Andrea Perkins of Los Angeles, and daughter Samantha Perkins. Steve is also survived by his dear family in Humboldt County including his best friend Ronette Sanders, Terri Cole, Kaileb and Julia Sanders, Anaiya Rau, Jacob Arts, Kaiden, Noah and sweet Jackson.

A celebration of life service for Steve will be held at Lutheran Church of Arcata located at 151 E. 16th St., Arcata, on July 19, 2022 at 7 p.m. with a reception to follow.

###

The obituary above was submitted by Steve Perkins’ 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 convene for yet another jam-packed meeting this week. What’s on Tuesday’s agenda, you ask? Let’s take a look!

‘The Sea Also Rises’

The council will review a recent report from the Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury regarding the local response to sea level rise. The report, “The Sea Also Rises,” describes the potential impacts of sea level rise throughout the Humboldt Bay region and calls for a coordinated regional response to address anticipated sea level rise-related flooding hazards.

Image via Humboldt County Grand Jury

“For more than a decade local coastal professionals have studied the future impact of sea level rise around Humboldt Bay,” the report states. “Their work, documented in several reports available since 2015, indicate that a two-foot increase in Humboldt Bay’s shoreline will be possible by 2050 and a three-foot rise may occur as early as 2070.”

The unincorporated communities of King Salmon, Fields Landing and Fairhaven/Finntown have already experienced the impacts of sea level rise. While Fairhaven/Finntown has yet to see significant impacts, King Salmon and Fields Landing have already suffered from flood damage, especially during King Tides. Property values in these communities are suffering as a result, according to the report.

The report includes a list of several other locations that will likely be affected by sea level rise, including State Route 255 as it traverses the Arcata Bottoms, the Highway 101 corridor between Arcata and Eureka, former pulp mills (Simpson in Fairhaven and Sierra Pacific in Manila), as well as more than 50 Wiyot cultural sites.

Coastal professionals interviewed by the Grand Jury noted two major hurdles confronting attempts to combat the adverse effects of sea level rise: permitting and funding. The Grand Jury offered three key recommendations for city, county, regional and state entities to coordinate and secure adequate funding.

“First, Humboldt Bay has the most vulnerable [sea level rise] coastline on the West Coast and should have top priority when funds are allocated,” the report states. “Second, State Senator Mike McGuire is the Senate Pro-Tem leader with considerable influence. He also sits on the Senate’s budget subcommittee that will allocate climate change mitigation funds so his active support for funding [sea level rise] mitigation efforts around Humboldt Bay should produce positive results. And third, a regional voice speaks louder than multiple local voices.”

The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, the Arcata City Council, the Eureka City Council and the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District are required to respond to the Grand Jury’s recommendations by the end of August.

The resolution up for consideration would serve as an acknowledgment of the report and reaffirm the City’s commitment to mitigating the adverse effects of sea-level rise. The resolution also states the City’s commitment to participate in a multi-agency steering committee “to discuss and provide direction regarding regional coordination on sea level rise adaptation and mitigation in the Humboldt Bay region.”

(The California Coastal Commission discussed this very topic last week but focused its conversation on Caltrans’ mitigation efforts on the Highway 101 corridor. You can find the Outpost’s coverage of that meeting here.)

Waterfront Eureka Plan

The council will also receive an update on the City’s waterfront development plan. City staff began a series of public workshops earlier this year to start the conversation and get a better feel for the community’s waterfront priorities. 

​​The proposed “Waterfront Eureka Plan” project area spans approximately 130 acres between B and Y Streets, including Old Town, the Library District and the commercial bayfront. While there are no plans just yet, the idea is to develop the underutilized sites and buildings in the area to create “a vibrant waterfront that welcomes new development while preserving community identity and culture,” according to the City.

So far, staff has learned that many folks are concerned about sea-level rise, housing, crime, blight, recreational opportunities and community gathering spaces.

The council will receive an update on staff’s work to date during Tuesday’s meeting. Next, staff will begin conversations with local stakeholders. In the meantime, they would like to hear from you about possible scenarios, designs and possibilities for future development of the plan area. Take the survey here!

Relocation of Broadway Dolos

The biggest (and heaviest) question of the night: What to do with the dolos on South Broadway? (There’s just the one out there; “dolos” is singular. Dolosse are those wave-dissipating concrete structures piled out on the jetty.) The council will consider relocating the enormous concrete dolos from the former Chamber of Commerce just up the road to Coast Guard Park at the intersection of Broadway, Fairfield and Del Norte streets.

The council adopted a resolution to declare ​​2112 Broadway Street as surplus back in 2018 and authorized the City Manager to move forward with a negotiated sale of the property. In the time since, the City has negotiated and finalized the sale with SJN Hospitality, LLC, which plans to build a hotel on the property.

“Concurrent with its action in 2018, the council directed staff to keep two elements of the site – the large concrete dolos and the Blue Star plaque – intact, unless a relocation could be negotiated,” the staff report states. “During subsequent negotiations with the buyer, the City agreed to relocate these elements from the site.”

The move is complex and will involve large equipment and significant traffic control because the dolos is extremely heavy, weighing in at about 42 tons. Moving the dolos will cost the City just under $50,000, whereas demolition and debris removal costs would run at about $10,000.

“Because of the significantly lower cost of demolition as compared to relocation, staff believes it is prudent for the council to revisit the direction given to staff in 2018,” the staff report states. “Regardless of the option chosen, staff anticipates completion of the work associated with the dolos this summer.”

You can view the Coast Guard Park concept plan here.

Pierson Properties

The council will also consider a General Plan amendment and a zoning reclassification for the Pierson properties located at the corner of Fairfield and Harris streets. The council held a public hearing on the item earlier this month to receive public testimony on the proposed amendments. The council is expected to vote on the item tomorrow night.

If approved, the amendments would change the General Plan Land Use Map designation to General Commercial from Medium Density Residential. The zone reclassification would change the zoning designation to Service Commercial from Residential Medium.

The council approved a land swap between the City and the Pierson Company earlier this year in which Eureka agreed to trade three City-owned downtown parking lots for a piece of land near Winco to facilitate the development of affordable housing. The proposed changes would remove the existing cap of 22 dwelling units per acre and allow for higher-density development as well as a “broader mix of uses” on the vacant property.

###

The Eureka City Council meets on Tuesday, July 19 at 6 p.m. at Eureka City Hall — 531 K Street. You can also watch the meeting online here.

Press release from the County of Humboldt:

The County of Humboldt, in its role as a member of the Humboldt County Fire Safe Council (HCFSC), is offering private landowners the opportunity to participate in the Fire-adapted Landscapes and Safe Homes (FLASH) cost-share program. Grant funding for this program is provided by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) as part of the California Climate Investments Program as well as the U.S. Forest Service through the California Fire Safe Council. Technical assistance and up to $4,500 in reimbursement is available to landowners seeking to create defensible space around their homes and reduce hazardous fuels (flammable vegetation) along access routes and in strategic locations on their property.

Interested landowners who are invited to participate in FLASH will receive a free site visit and a Home Risk Assessment from a trained FLASH Technician. During the site visit, the FLASH Technician will evaluate wildfire hazards and make risk reduction recommendations. Landowners are then provided with a vegetation management prescription and a reimbursement estimate. Cost-share rates and practices are determined by fuel loading, slope, ecosystem type, and accessibility, and are subject to approval by the landowner. Landowners choose how they want fuels on their property to be removed — they can hire a crew, complete the work themselves, or a combination of the two. Once the project is complete, landowners receive a reimbursement payment for a portion of the cost on a per acre basis (minimum 0.5- acre project required in most cases).

While the program is offered countywide (excluding municipalities), those who live in neighborhoods located within the wildland-urban interface, within the State Responsibility Area, and within a High or Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones are at the highest risk to wildfire impacts and are the target audience for FLASH. Visit the FLASH webpage for more information and to fill out an interest form at this link. This multi-year, first-come-first-serve program will remain open until all available grant funds are committed.

Please direct questions to FLASH Program Manager Julia Cavalli at: 707-296-1498 or jcavalli1@co.humboldt.ca.us.

It is with great sorrow the Phillips family announces the passing of our beloved Brenda Phillips. Brenda was born on May 5, 1967 and went to meet her papa on July 1, 2022.

Brenda was born to Rod and Darlene Phillips on May 5, 1967. She attended Alice Birney, Jacobs Jr High School, and graduated from Eureka High in 1985. She later attended Frederick and Charles Beauty College, starting her career as a hair dresser. In the early 2000s, Brenda got her dream job as an activities director with Crestwood Behavioral Health, where she started a program called “Dreamcatchers.” She loved her clients with a passion, and during her favorite time of year, Christmas, she always made sure every client had a stocking.

Brenda was always happy. From the time she popped out of bed in the morning she always had a smile on her face. She was bubbly, the life of the party, and had a laugh that was sure to put a smile on the faces around her. Camping was her favorite pastime, which she enjoyed with her family as often as she could. Her children, Tayler and Justin Phillips were the light of her life. She also loved playing Barbie’s with her granddaughter Danica, and yard sale-ing with her grandson Prince.

She is preceded in death by her father, Rod Phillips. She is survived by her mother, Darlene Phillips, her daughter Tayler Phillips and fiancé Brandon Bean, her son Justin Phillips, and grandchildren Danica Phillips, Prince Bean, and baby Bean who will make an appearance in the fall. She is also survived by her sister Denise Phillips-Brazil, brother Kevin Phillips, and nieces Kristen Webb, Emily Phillips, and Katie Phillips.

Our family wishes to thank her best friend of over 35 years Suzie Webb, for the instrumental help with getting Brenda home for her final days. They had a bond that could not be broken and were friends through thick and thin. She also had numerous friends, whom she loved very much, that were a huge part of being able to keep her in her home until her last day. We also wish to thank Hospice of Humboldt for their compassion and care.

A celebration of life will be planned and held at a later date. In memory of Brenda, please take some time to spend with your family, playing card games or doing arts and crafts as she loved to do!

Linda was born in Berkeley in 1949 and passed away on June 29, 2022. She leaves behind two brothers, two children, their partners, and two grandchildren, as well as countless others who will mourn this loss.

Linda, affectionately known as Billie by her husband, was brought up in the Bay Area and called California home until she and her husband Ed moved to Spokane, Washington in 1979 to raise their daughter, Carrie and son, Eli near her parents and younger brother Steve.

Regarded as a leader and devotee of memos, Linda held the title of Division Supervisor for Washington State Department of Social and Health Services until her retirement in 2008. Having begun her career around 1972 at various agencies around the Bay Area, she worked for 38 years as a social worker. While Linda did loath the commute to downtown from the Valley - especially in ice! - she deeply cared for many of her employees, forming several life long friendships along the way.

A prolific reader, Linda turned both of her children into bookworms. While she enjoyed cooking much more than the resulting messy kitchen, she loved learning new, fun recipes from her chef cousin Jim. Most of all, she provided her family with a safe, stable and loving home.

Following her husband Ed’s passing in 2007, she began wintering in Arcata, CA to spend more time with her daughter and other family - among them her big brother Don and his wife Ann, who always made her feel loved, protected, and cared for. While COVID made her a year-round resident of Arcata in 2020, thankfully she’d already moved into the cozy cottage behind her daughter Carrie’s house where they shared many cups of tea while chatting and looking out at the garden.

Always a passionate Democrat and social worker at heart, Linda believed in equal opportunity for everyone and donated generously in support of social justice and human rights. She also donated to GoFundMe pages of people who needed help, especially any cause involving a child in need. That’s just the way she was. She cared.

Last November Linda fell ill as a natural progression of several preexisting conditions and although the road from then to now has been difficult, she passed away peacefully with her daughter and other family by her side, knowing she was well loved. She had a wonderful laugh, sparkling crystal blue eyes, and a gentle way in the world. She will be so missed.

We’d like to thank Hospice of Humboldt for supporting us along the way.

In lieu of flowers, we ask that donations be made to any of the following organizations that she supported:

Shriner’s Hospital
St Jude Children’s Hospital
Labeled & Loved

Written by her children,
Carrie and Eli Greenlaw

###

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