On this week’s EcoNews Report, Warner Chabot of the San Francisco Estuary Institute joins Gang Green to talk about micro-plastic pollution, including that which comes from car tires. A chemical in tires has been found to kill coho salmon. Now the California Department of Toxic Substances Control is considering regulation to address this threat.
Louise Ethel Witt, 85, passed away peacefully in on May 15, 2022. Louise lived with her daughters Christine Witt in Willow Creek and Patricia Rose in McKinleyville. She passed away while visiting her daughters Jeanne Watkins and Elizabeth Oen in North Dakota.
Louise loved bird watching, beach combing, beating her cribbage opponents, and watching the deer, hummingbirds, and other wildlife that frequented her front lawn. She was nicknamed the “wise old owl.” She had many Facebook fans who followed her adventures at local beaches, bird watching, walks in the redwoods, Skunk Train rides and wig parties.
Louise was born to Ernest and Etta DeClusin in her family’s one- room cabin in Turtle River Township in December of 1936. From this humble start, she would grow into an amazing woman who influenced many lives.
After graduating from Bemidji High School in 1954, Louise joined the Women’s Army Corp In New York City where she met her husband, Charles H. Witt. She was proud of being a Vet and her service to her country.
Louise had four daughters: Patricia (Tommy) Rose, Jeanne (David) Watkins, Elizabeth (Norm) Oen and Christine (Mike Orr) Witt, and her step-daughter Jenny (Len) Doss; four grandchildren: Katherine Witt, Amelia (Quint Bayliss) Skunes, Rajean (Kelly) Erbar and Clark Robertson, and five great-grandchildren: Sydnie and Joslynn James, James Ricketts, Shae and Vincent Skunes-Bayliss.
Louise lived and traveled domestically and abroad until Charles retired in 1968 and settled in Bemidji, Minnesota where she continued her education at Bemidji State University. In three years she completed both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Special Education with a 4.0 GPA while working and raising her daughters. She taught after graduating and received an excellence in teaching award. Louise’s main passion in life was serving others. She volunteered with seniors, visually impaired persons, victims of domestic violence. Louise was generous with anyone who needed support. She loved to people watch and was known for her witty remarks about eligible bachelors.
She is survived by her brother Frank (Sharon) DeClusin, four daughters, her step-daughter, three grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews and a surprise stepson.
She was proceeded in death by her parents, Ernie and Etta, her brothers Eugene and Gerald, sisters-law Marilyn, Phyllis and Arlys, Son-in-laws David Watkins and Ron Skunes, her granddaughter Katherine and her nephew Ernest.
Louise’s daughters would like to thank Kathy and Dick LaForge for all the love and support they have provided for her while living in California, as well as her many friends, family and fans, coast to coast.
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The obituary above was submitted by Louise Witt’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.
Humboldt County Auditor-Controller Karen Paz Dominguez addresses reporters and the media from the courthouse steps. | Photos by Andrew Goff.
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In documents provided to local media and a subsequent press conference on the steps of the county courthouse, Humboldt County Auditor-Controller Karen Paz Dominguez emphatically disputed the information and findings in a scathing Civil Grand Jury report released Thursday.
Immediately after the hour-long press event, Paz Dominguez was approached by a process server who handed her a summons and a copy of a cross-complaint from the County of Humboldt.
The complaint accuses Paz Dominguez of misappropriating public funds, failing to comply with legal reporting requirements and violating a conflict-of-interest doctrine, among other charges. With this complaint, the county joins an ongoing lawsuit from the State of California against Paz Dominguez for failure to meet legally required deadlines for filing financial reports.
Positioned behind a standing desk and portable speaker attached to a running generator, Paz Dominguez said she is under a court-mandated admonishment that prevents her from discussing the details of her interviews with the Grand Jury. But she did say that she met with the independent investigative body only twice — first in August and again for an hour-long meeting last week, at which point the report had already been completed.
“What I will say is that any report is only as good as the information that is provided to the authors of the report,” Paz Dominguez said.
Asked by the Outpost whether she believes the county has lost $2.3 million in funding due to late financial reporting, as the Grand Jury report says, Paz Dominguez said she does not believe it “because the county does have several different methodologies for seeking those reimbursements, even if they are unable to do it in what we’ll call round one.”
She added that she hasn’t seen any evidence that corroborates the allegation. “The auditor-controller’s office does sign off on claims for the county, and there have not been any claims submitted to our office that made any reference to loss of eligible funds,” she said.
At several points she expressed frustration about not being allowed to go into further detail. “I wish I could talk to you about the interview,” she said at one point, adding that she has reached out to legal experts to see if she is still bound by the court’s admonishment, which is an instruction given to all subjects of Civil Grand Jury reports.
Asked broadly about what might motivate the wide array of forces seemingly aligned against her — from the county Board of Supervisors, which passed a vote of “no confidence” in her, to nearly all county department heads, several outside vendors, the State Controller’s Office and now the Civil Grand Jury, all of which have laid responsibility for various fiascoes at her feet — Paz Dominguez said the motives will be different for each party.
“Some of them are going to be motivated because they wholeheartedly believe that they have been provided accurate information and that they are doing the best possible for the community that we live in,” she said. Others have a “vendetta” that’s evidenced by the way they talk in public meetings and email communications “and the way that some of these supervisors communicate about me or the Auditor-Controller’s Office,” she said.
She also argued that conflicts between the elected auditor-controller and the rest of the county have existed for decades.
Later in the press conference she painstakingly went through through each of the Grand Jury report’s 17 recommendations, explaining why she disagrees with nearly all of them.
She took questions from reporters for close to an hour. Much of that time, First District Supervisor Rex Bohn was seated atop the courthouse steps to Paz Dominguez’s left. She was joined throughout by Assistant Auditor-Controller Jim Hussey.
First District Supervisor Rex Bohn (right) listens to the press conference.
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When she was done speaking, a man who’d been lingering on the periphery approached and walked up the steps. He handed Paz Dominguez a paperclipped stack of papers, said a few words that were inaudible from where the Outpost was standing and then quickly walked away.
Afterwards, we asked Paz Dominguez about the interaction.
“It’s nothing we didn’t already know about,” she said, explaining that she’d been handed a cross-complaint. Last month, the Board of Supervisors voted in closed session to have an outside law firm file a cross-complaint to accompany the State of California’s lawsuit against her and the county.
The Outpost obtained a copy of the complaint, which contains six causes of action:
Failure to Comply With Budget Reporting Requirements
Failing to Comply With Financial Transactions Reporting Requirements
Mandamus Relief (requesting the court issue a writ of mandate to compel Paz Dominguez to perform her assigned duties)
Violation of Government Code Section 1090 (which says, in part, “Members of the Legislature, state, county, district, judicial district, and city officers or employees shall not be financially interested in any contract made by them in their official capacity, or by any body or board of which they are members”)
Violation of Common Law Conflict of Interest, and
Misappropriation of Public Funds
Causes four through six pertain to a contract that Paz Dominguez entered into with Edge Caliber Coaching and Consulting, whose principal is Danny Kelley. The complaint alleges that Paz Dominguez failed to follow the county’s established contract approval process, after which Kelley voted for the Humboldt County Democratic Central Committee’s endorsement of her re-election bid and made a non-monetary contribution to her campaign valued at or about $1,144.
You can download a copy of the lawsuit via the link at the bottom of this post.
Meanwhile, the press packet Paz Dominguez emailed to reporters this afternoon contains dozens of documents — 17 megabytes worth — including one titled “A-C Initial Analysis of GJ Report.” That document is a reproduction of the report that has been extensively annotated with close to 100 comments responding to various segments of the report.
By and large, the comments serve to dispute and dismiss the allegations in the report, sometimes referencing documents provided in the press packet and other times saying she is still working to gather evidence. You can download a copy of the annotated report via the link below.
We emailed Civil Grand Jury foreperson Jim Glover this afternoon asking for more information, noting that a 2018 press release from the court said:
Beginning this year, the Court implemented a new policy regarding the release of Grand Jury reports during June election years. The policy allows the release of reports until the second Monday in February; reports completed subsequent to that date must be released after the June election.
Is that policy still in place? we asked. And if so, why wasn’t it followed this year?
Glover replied:
That was of great concern to us many months ago. We have a different presiding judge now and the decision was that there would be no blocking of reports because of elections. That might change in the future with yet a different judge, but those are the guidelines we are operating under presently.
Hope that answers your question.
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Original post:
Press release from Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury foreperson Jim Glover:
Yesterday, Thursday, Jun 2, 2022, the Civil Grand Jury issued a final report detailing its investigation into the Auditor-Controller in Humboldt County.
This report is the result of months of interviews and exhaustive research into a topic that is at the forefront of the minds of many in our community, especially so close to the date of local elections.
The Civil Grand Jury is aware that some have questioned the timing of the release of this report, suggesting that it is politically motivated. However, that is not the case. We felt it was our responsibility to investigate this topic that is affecting the lives and livelihoods of members of our community without regard to the question of politics. The timing of our investigation and release of our report were done in consultation with our legal advisors and the Humboldt County Superior Court.
The goal is to better inform the public. This investigation began in August and September of 2021, long before we knew if or when our report might be completed. Once we felt we had done a thorough inquiry into the subject and prepared a report which would give the people of Humboldt County a full and informative picture of the situation, it was reviewed by our legal advisors, as well as the Court, and released in a timeframe similar to any other report we prepare. At no point were the Civil Grand Jury’s actions or decision making informed by politics.
Any questions regarding this process should be directed to the jury in writing for a proper response. There can be no further discussion by the jury regarding the report itself.
Auditor-Controller Karen Paz Dominguez, up for reelection in the current cycle, is currently holding a press conference on the steps of the Humboldt County Courthouse, where she is addressing the highly critical Grand Jury report that was released yesterday.
(From left) Dr. Christine Bobowski, Jen Otting and Dr. Justin Otting at their brand new pharmacy | Photos: Stephanie McGeary
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If you were distraught when local pharmacy Cloney’s in McKinleyville closed last year, you can now find joy in the fact that a new locally owned pharmacy will soon open in the old Cloney’s location to fill the void left in the community’s hearts.
Redwood Community Pharmacy – co-owned by pharmacists Dr. Christie Bobowski, Dr. Ethan Decota, Dr. Justin Otting and business manager Jen Otting – will officially open in the McKinleyville Shopping Center next week, giving McKinleyville residents another option for filling their pharmaceutical needs.
McKinleyville only has two other pharmacies, CVS and Rite Aid, and the owners of Redwood Community Pharmacy say they were fed up with the long lines and the lack of service provided by the chains. Dr. Otting was previously employed at CVS, and said that, especially since COVID, the pharmacy department was severely short-staffed, causing employees to work very long hours. And the issues at the McKinleyville CVS only worsened when Cloney’s closed down and the CVS pharmacy took over all of Cloney’s orders.
“It was just overwhelming,” Otting told the Outpost in a recent interview. “The prescription count doubled overnight…We would go in an hour and a half before opening, work all day, maybe get a 20 or 30 minute lunch break in there. A typical work day would be 14 hours.”
And because of the staffing issues, Otting added, he and other pharmacists would often have to complete clerks’ duties that ideally should not fall on the pharmacists’ shoulders, such answering the phones, working the drive-throughs and ringing people out. When pharmacists have to spend time on these other tasks, “they spend less time consulting with their patients,” Otting said.
Of course, the patients also suffered with the closure of Cloney’s, and many of them were not even informed beforehand that their prescriptions had been taken over by another pharmacy, Otting said. The overwhelming level of orders and short staffing also resulted in customers having less consultation time with their pharmacists, having longer wait times in line, longer hold times when they call (if they can get through on the phone at all) and a generally lower level of customer service and care.
By opening Redwood Community Pharmacy, the team hopes to take the pressure off of the other pharmacies and provide the community with a higher level of care than they can find at the bigger chain pharmacies. Redwood Community will also provide customer services, such as delivery and med packing, that Cloney’s provided.
Redwood Community will have a full-time delivery driver on staff and will provide delivery anywhere between Trinidad and Eureka. Delivery is free for anywhere within a seven-mile radius of the pharmacy. If you fall outside of that radius, there is a delivery fee of $3.99. Because there will only be one delivery driver (at least at first), orders will be coordinated so that the driver doesn’t have to make multiple deliveries to the same area each day.
The pharmacy also plans to offer med packing, which means the
pharmacists will combine and prepackage customers’ prescriptions into
labeled calendar packets, similar to the way birth control pills are
labeled. This way, rather than have a bunch of individual bottles to
keep track of, a person can have all their daily medications in one
place and be able to clearly see if they have or haven’t taken them.
This service is especially helpful for the elderly, or people that
suffer from schizophrenia, or some other chronic brain disorder that
makes it difficult for them to remember if they have taken their
medications, Bobowski explained.
Another service Redwood Community Pharmacy will offer is compounding – a practice where a licensed pharmacist mixes, combines or alters the ingredients of a drug or drugs, to create a medication specifically tailored to the individual’s needs. “So, if you want, like, a certain kind of pain cream that isn’t available from big pharma, Justin can make it for you,” Bobowski said.
Aside from providing all of the services of a more traditional pharmacy, Bobowski and Otting said that it is also important to them to be able to take the time to consult with their patients, to answer people’s questions and address their concerns. If your insurance provider doesn’t cover your medication, they want to work with you to find a suitable alternative or to come up with a payment plan to fit your needs. If you have questions about your medications, they want you to be able to call your pharmacists, rather than having to call your doctor. Because, after all, a pharmacist is supposed to be the most knowledgeable expert when it comes to medications.
“We really care about people and about taking care of them, which is why we went into pharmacy in the first place,” Bobowski said. “We’re really hoping that in the community and in McKinleyville that we become the first thing you think of when something is going wrong [with their medication] and we’ll be able to give them good advice about what to do and really help them.”
Redwood Community Pharmacy officially opens for business on June 8 and will have a grand opening event on July 9 with food, games and raffles.
The Eureka Street Art Festival (ESAF) has set its sights on its next target for murals: the Samoa Bridge. This project will include painting the four piers under the bridge that border the waterfront and Halvorsen Park. This project is part of the Clean California Initiative effort, led by Caltrans.
“Why there?”, you may ask yourself. Murals are a proven tool to brighten areas, deter graffiti, and just make people smile. These murals will be joining a handful of others being painted on the waterfront and along the 101 during this summer’s Festival, from August 1st to 6th.
We are looking for your input about what you would like to see in these murals. Take the short survey here.
This community beautification project was made possible through Governor Gavin Newsom’s Clean California initiative, a sweeping $1.1 billion multi-year effort led by Caltrans to remove trash, create jobs, and engage communities to transform state and local public spaces. Visit CleanCA.com for more information about this transformative program.
The Eureka Street Art Festival’s mission is to create intentional, accessible art that enlivens public spaces, stimulates community revitalization, and attracts visitors to Eureka. Our long term aim is to recreate this event annually and continuously introduce new public art in Eureka. Excess funds raised by the Festival will go towards the maintenance of existing public art throughout the city.
