Dee Dee was born in Eureka on May 15, 1956 to Alberta and Manual Dutra and passed away on Feb. 17, 2022.

Dee Dee grew up on her family ranch at the end of Park Street in Eureka.

She attended Glen Paul School as a young child and HCAR as a teen and adult.

Dee Dee enjoyed so many things in life. She loved painting, art projects and she especially liked entering her art work in local fairs, art shows and taking home her prized ribbons.

Dee Dee was a HCAR Board member for over 30 years, a member of Redwood Art Association, she attended HCAR Art studio and Bay Center, was a member of Trajectory, participated in People First of Eureka, Special Olympics…

Dee Dee loved old movies, classic TV shows, music and could tell you about most of the entertainers and singers of days gone by.

Deanna is survived my her brother Manual Dutra, uncle Albert Norton, close cousins Camie Nielsen, Charlene Kukkeon, Rita Beck, Melane Gonsalves and many more cousins and great cousins.

She is precedes in death by her father, mother and twin sisters.

Our family would like to thank Dee Dee’s many friends and her caregivers from New Choice for taking such great care of our Dee Dee, she was blessed by all your kindness.

A celebration of life will be held for Dee Dee on what would have been her 66th birthday Sunday, May 15, 2022 at the Eureka Women’s Club from 1-3 p.m.

In loving memory of Dolly ‘Sella’ Herren
May 5, 1944 – April 28, 2022

Dolly Herren, a daughter, a sister, mother, grandmother, auntie, cousin, and friend to many. Dolly came into this world on May 5, 1944, in Hoopa, to the late William and Annabelle (black) White and made her transition to make heaven her home to be with the Lord on Saturday, April 28, 2022.

Her favorite hobby was cooking. She was a brilliant cook. She loved her grandchildren. She lived in Stockton for a time, and loved traveling back and visiting her friends, as well as cruising the back country of Hoopa. She was a member of the New Life Church in Hoopa, where her brother, Pastor Lester White, was a minister.

Dolly was predeceased by her parents, her brothers Andrew, Lester and Wendall, and her sisters Vera, Radenia, and Darla and her two daughters Belinda and Annabelle Herren. She is survived by her two sons Ron Herren and Michael Herren and daughter-in-law, and grandchildren, her sisters Anita, Ollie Mae, Vonna, Billy “Chopsi,” brother-in-laws Jerry Davis and Frank Horne, as well as numerous cousins, nieces, nephews, friends, and many close friends and acquaintances.

A graveside service will be held at 12 p.m. on Friday, May 6, 2022, at the Jackson Cemetery on White Flat. 80 Pine Creek Road, Hoopa, CA. The viewing will begin at 11 a.m.

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On Thursday afternoon, Arcata City Clerk Bridget Dory emailed the six candidates running for one (count it, ONE!) open seat on the Arcata City Council in the June primary.

“I don’t want you to be shocked when you look at your [Voter Information] Guide,” Dory warned them. “The County Elections Office called today to inform us of the error.”

Turns out, the sample ballots and voter information guides mailed out earlier this week erroneously instruct Arcata residents to “vote for no more than three” candidates for Arcata City Council. The guides should say, “vote for no more than one.”

Following the unexpected resignation of former Vice-Mayor Emily Grace Goldstein in February, the Arcata City Council voted to hold a special election on June 7, coinciding with California’s primary. As noted above, six candidates are running for just the one open seat. (Two more seats will be up for grabs in November.)

We reached out to Kelly Sanders, Humboldt County’s registrar of voters, who said her office apologizes for the mistake, and she told us that the error will not appear on ballots, which are set to be mailed out on Monday. 

Sanders had just come out of a meeting with staff to discuss how best to notify all 11,000-plus registered voters in Arcata about the error. 

“We’re thinking a postcard,” Sanders said. Her office plans to mail the cards to Arcata voters, informing them of the mistake on the sample ballots and telling them to just choose one candidate. Unfortunately, Sanders added, “They’re going to end up getting the ballot before they get the postcard from us.”

So take note, you early mail-in-ballot voters who live in Arcata. Read the instructions on the ballot and just choose your one favorite candidate. Still undecided? Well, the candidates statements in your information guide may help, along with our own LoCO Elections page, where candidates are answering questions from readers. 

Humboldt County Drug Task Force release: 

Since mid-April the Humboldt County Drug Task Force (HCDTF) has been conducting an investigation into Angela Early (41 years old from Eureka) and Brandon Battles (29 years old from Rio Dell) for trafficking fentanyl from the Bay Area into Humboldt County. On Wednesday May 4th , 2022 the HCDTF conducted surveillance on Early and Battles and two additional passengers, Summer Reed (33 years old from Klamath) and Tracy Miguelena (41 years old from Hoopa), as they travelled from Humboldt County to Oakland.

On Thursday May 5th, 2022 at approx. 0730 hrs. HCDTF agents with the assistance of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) made a traffic stop on Early as she drove her vehicle into Humboldt County. All four occupants of the vehicle were detained without incident.

HCDTF Agents served a search warrant on the vehicle and all occupants. Agents located approx. 3.5 ounces of fentanyl, a digital scale, & packaging. Early, Battles, Reed, & Miguelena were transported to the Humboldt County Jail where they were booked for the following charges:

• 11351 H&S Possession of fentanyl for sale
• 11352(a) H&S Transportation of fentanyl
• 11352(b) H&S Transportation of fentanyl across non-contiguous counties
• 182 PC Conspiracy

Anyone with information related to this investigation or other narcotics related crimes are encouraged to call the Humboldt County Drug Task Force at 707-267-9976.

Your candidates for Supervisor from the Fourth District, District Attorney and Arcata City Council have been furiously answering questions on LoCO Elections these last few days, and they’ve answered so many that it’s impossible to summarize them in a single headline. Here’s a quick rundown of their recent answers, with direct links.

Fourth District Supervisor

Candidate Natalie Arroyo hops in to answer a recent question about what she would do to protect abortion rights, after this week’s news. She also lays out some possible strategies to deal with regular flooding in the Elk River watershed, and lays out in some detail her thinking on the problem of balancing regional needs with NIMBYism. Also: An endorsement update.

Meanwhile, candidate Mike Newman clears up the question of whether he is still registered “Decline to State” or whether he has reverted to the G.O.P.

District Attorney

After a brief absence, DA candidate Michael Acosta returns to LoCO Elections to ponder the question of whether or not it should matter that he wasn’t born and raised in Humboldt County, and forcefully asserts that your choice of district attorney and the choices the district attorney makes does, in fact, have an impact on the levels of violent crime in the community.

Superior Court Judge

Candidate Ben McLaughlin answers a question about the possible demise of Roe v. Wade with some thoughts about the role of a local, county judge in situations like this.

Arcata City Council

Candidate Edith Rosen, a latecomer to the LoCO Elections party, makes up for lost time by answering a slew of reader questions, making her the MVP of this LoCO Elections cycle. We learn that she’s a hardline supporter of the push for more bicycle infrastructure, that she believes compassion and understanding are the keys to tackling the homeless issue, that she wants to see the city build a new library, and that she supports the controversial (to some) Old Arcata Road rehabilitation project.

Candidate Alex Stillman chimes in with her take on low-income housing development and housing equity.

When a draft Supreme Court ruling that would overturn the constitutional right to abortion leaked Monday night, Democratic leaders in California reacted swiftly with shock, grief and fury.

It didn’t take long for the personal devastation to turn political.

By Wednesday morning, Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is running for re-election this year, had already cut a new campaign ad about “reproductive freedom under attack.” In a tweet unveiling the ad, he framed defeating “anti-choice Republicans” as the “defining issue of the 2022 election.”

As the stark reality has sunk in that the landmark Roe v. Wade decision is unlikely to make it to its 50th birthday, many Democrats are leaning forcefully into abortion rights as a key election issue. With decades of public polling indicating that a majority of Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, it could be the party’s most potent counterweight in a campaign cycle in which Republicans seem poised to capitalize on voter frustration over inflation and crime.

“Don’t think for a second this is where they stop,” Newsom said Wednesday outside Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, where he raised the alarm that conservatives would also seek to roll back other rights such as same-sex marriage. “Pay attention, America. They’re coming after you next.”

In his remarks, Newsom called for a stronger Democratic counteroffensive on protecting abortion. He slammed Republicans for claiming to be pro-life while opposing policies to provide more support to women and families after a baby is born, previewing a political attack that could soon be coming to swing districts across the country.

“That’s how extreme the Republican Party is in the United States of America. You want extremism? Rape and incest, they don’t even make an exception,” Newsom said. “Wake up, America. Wake up to who you’re electing.”

Democrats, weighed down by sagging approval ratings for President Joe Biden and in danger of losing control of Congress in the November midterm election, have been struggling to find a message that might motivate liberal voters to show up to the polls and persuade moderates to stick with their governance.

Jack Pitney, a professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College, said the reality of a Supreme Court ruling against abortion rights could provide a significant boost. Though warnings about that potential outcome have not historically driven turnout for Democrats while the Roe decision withstood decades of attacks, Pitney said voters are much more alert to loss.

“The issue has moved from the realm of the hypothetical to the realm of the real,” he said.

And it could remain near the top of the news through the rest of the year, with the official opinion expected this summer and then potentially dozens of states passing new abortion restrictions after that.

“It’s kind of like a wildfire, and the burning embers and debris will spread over the electorate for months to come,” Pitney said.

Still, it is uncertain how much of a difference abortion can make for Democrats, who are facing significant political headwinds nationally from pocketbook issues such as spiraling inflation and high gas prices.

While probably not potent enough to shift the balance of power, Pitney said abortion could move the margins in close races with national implications, such as the contests for U.S. Senate in Georgia and Wisconsin. Some Republicans are already planning to push for a nationwide abortion ban should the GOP win complete control of the federal government in the next few years. The ruling, Pitney added, might also help Democrats regain some ground with young voters, who have particularly soured on Biden.

There is probably less of a potential impact in California, where Democrats have nearly maximized their power at every level of government.

Beth Miller, a Republican political consultant, said Californians who are motivated by abortion rights are already quite engaged politically. She is skeptical that it will bring new or infrequent voters the the polls, especially when abortion access is not under immediate threat here.

“The overriding issue in California is the cost of living,” Miller said.

But California Democrats are quickly elevating abortion to the forefront of their messaging anyway, with some even fundraising off the news that Roe v. Wade may be overturned. More than 70% of Californians oppose repealing the ruling, according to a poll this year by the Public Policy Institute of California.

Within hours of Politico publishing the draft Supreme Court ruling on Monday night, Newsom and legislative leaders pledged to put an amendment on the November ballot enshrining the right to abortion in the state constitution. Though “not why we’re doing this,” Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, a San Diego Democrat, acknowledged during a press conference Tuesday that she hoped the measure would boost turnout.

During his visit to Planned Parenthood on Wednesday, Newsom agreed that “folks should really be pissed off at this moment. If this doesn’t animate people to get involved…I don’t know what the hell will.”

The greatest impact could come in a handful of swing U.S. House districts, where the Democratic Party is defending vulnerable incumbents or seeking to win back seats it lost two years ago. Anti-Donald Trump fervor among suburban women drove Democrats to major gains in places such as Orange County in 2018, and anger over abortion restrictions may provide a similar motivating force in 2022.

In the Santa Clarita Valley outside Los Angeles, where Republican Mike Garcia won a congressional race by fewer than 400 votes in 2020, his Democratic opponents have repeatedly lambasted the draft Supreme Court decision on social media and in local news outlets since Monday night.

Christy Smith, who lost to Garcia two years ago and is seeking a rematch, attended an abortion rights rally Tuesday evening, posing near a giant replica of a wire hanger with a “keep your policies off my body” sign. She called it a “warning” to Garcia.

Another Democrat challenging Garcia, Quaye Quartey, said in an interview that the draft ruling had created “more of a sense of urgency” around stopping the “Republican onslaught on our democratic values.” He noted that Garcia had signed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to overturn Roe and co-sponsored a bill to ban abortion nationally by declaring that life begins at conception.

“We know that he’s dangerous, and this is just another example of how dangerous he is,” Quartey said.

Yet not every Democrat has rushed to embrace the topic, hinting at some of the political nuances that could emerge as the immediate outrage over the draft opinion settles.

Unlike many of her colleagues, state Sen. Melissa Hurtado of Hanford, who faces one of the toughest re-election bids of any legislator this year, has yet to comment on the decision. Since Monday, she has posted on social media about mental health awareness, teacher appreciation and even Star Wars Day, but not abortion rights.

Neither has Assemblymember Rudy Salas of Bakersfield, who is seeking to take out Republican David Valadao in a Central Valley congressional seat with an increasing Democratic voter registration advantage.

Neither Hurtado’s nor Salas’ campaigns responded to interview requests. But both are running in districts where a majority of voters are Latino and white conservatives have traditionally held disproportionate sway in elections because of low turnout.

The PPIC survey found that support for Roe v. Wade was considerably lower among Latinos than other ethnic groups in California — just 64%. And while a slim majority of Republicans (54%) do oppose overturning the decision, that compares to 77% of independent voters and 87% of Democrats.

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

Desiree Garibay used to sleep outside in Redondo Beach. One night in July 2020, she was lying down in a city park and police issued her a ticket.

She missed her court date, and the ticket became a warrant for her arrest. She said she became even more determined to avoid the courthouse.

But on a Wednesday in April – nearly two years after getting the ticket – Garibay stood by while Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Lonnie Smith waved a metal detection wand over her black Selena sweatshirt. Then she walked into what appeared to be an outdoor job fair, with white tents arched over picnic tables.

Cheery nonprofit workers in matching turquoise shirts greeted her and asked if she needed anything. Palm trees swayed in a breeze from the ocean six blocks west.

A judge in a black robe sat behind a courtroom bench, but instead of handing down sentences, she told defendants things like “excellent job,” “congratulations” and “you have so much good news.”

This is still, technically, Los Angeles County Superior Court. Except it’s outside. And, more critically to people like Garibay, 31, the court makes the unhoused defendants a promise: If you show up to court, we will not put you in jail.

Further, they pledge to help those in attendance get housing. The job fair tents are actually a collection of homeless advocacy organizations, legal expungement teams, mental health and drug counselors, and housing assistance groups.

California already has more than 450 homeless courts across 19 counties, but the Redondo Beach court organizers say their model works better. Here, court convenes in a central location where the unhoused tend to congregate – in this case, close to a food donation center and two religious homeless outreach organizations.

Now organizers want to take that concept and apply it statewide.

A bill sponsored by Torrance Democrat Al Muratsuchi, AB 2220, would create a homeless courts pilot program, offering grants to counties which can tailor programs to their own communities. Outdoor court in Sacramento in August may be less appealing than a spring beach day in Los Angeles County. But the idea is to help counties take their courts to places the unhoused are more likely to show up, while providing services such as employment assistance and substance abuse recovery.

The specifics of the bill’s funding are unclear. The bill calls for giving the Judicial Council an unspecified amount from the general fund to administer the programs.

“At first I didn’t answer the summons, I got a warrant, and there were old warrants too, three (altogether),” Garibay said.

It’s a familiar refrain to homeless advocates and defense attorneys: One original charge metastasizes into a series of missed court dates, warrants for failing to appear and possible jail time.

But Garibay left court smiling, her ticket dismissed. She also walked away with a lead on a new place to stay.

“The best thing about it, other than bringing it to the community where they are, is that a lot of what we do in California for the homeless is in silos,” said Redondo Beach City Attorney Mike Webb. “We bring it all in one place.”

From all outward signs, the homeless court appears to be working. Attendance is far from perfect, but it’s much higher than what homeless courts typically drew when the court was held at the county courthouse in Torrance, Webb said. Statistics provided by the city of Redondo Beach show monthly attendance between 68% and 100%, for an average of 80% attendance since the court moved outside in September 2020.

Webb is the public face of the program, testifying twice at the Capitol, and said the court’s encouraging attendance statistics were a combination of design and circumstance. The court only moved outside because of the pandemic.

“I wish I could say we masterminded it, but really, the pieces fell into place and it became something that worked,” Webb said. “In my 35 years of working in criminal justice, I have not seen anything (else) where the interests of everyone align.”

Previous attempts at statewide homeless court programs have failed. A 2002 proposal to create a homeless court pilot program in four counties was vetoed by then-Gov. Gray Davis, who cited the bill’s proposed costs against the state’s $24 billion budget deficit.

A 2013 bill that would have encouraged counties to make homeless courts more accessible was set for a hearing in the Assembly Judiciary Committee but was postponed and never heard.

Muratsuchi pitches the courts as an alternative to the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) Courts proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Newsom’s proposal would mandate that all 58 counties create courts that could compel people with serious mental illness into treatment. They would not need to be homeless to participate.

The proposed CARE courts faced criticism at their first hearing in late April from mental health advocates and some Democratic legislators, who singled out the proposal’s language permitting the courts to involuntarily commit unwilling defendants into mental health treatment.

“We’re seeing that there was a lot of pushback on the CARE courts,” Muratsuchi said. “While debates are ongoing, the Legislature and the governor should keep in mind this tried and proven model of homeless courts.”

Muratsuchi said the “critical difference” between CARE courts and the Redondo Beach model is that the latter won’t force defendants into mental health treatment.

His bill passed unanimously in the Assembly Judiciary Committee last month, and received one vote in opposition in a subsequent hearing in the Assembly Health Committee.

That opposing vote, from Placerville Republican Frank Bigelow, is rooted in an analysis from an Assembly Republican Caucus consultant who warned members that the courts could allow pretrial diversions for any felony, said Hannah Ackley, Bigelow’s chief of staff.

Ackley said that diversion programs for mentally ill defendants, for instance, don’t allow for pretrial diversions for serious felonies, including murder. She said the consultant report is not public.

“Our consultant suggested the bill would be supportable if it were amended to include the same limitations for homeless suspects that would also apply to mentally ill defendants,” Ackley said in an email to CalMatters.

Muratsuchi told CalMatters he’s planning to change the bill’s language around felonies.

Asm. Frank Bigelow has taken at least $619,000 from the Agriculture sector since he was elected to the legislature. That represents 13% of his total campaign contributions.

The courts are already enmeshed in the ongoing public debate over Prop 47, a 2014 law that reclassified several property and drug crimes from felonies to misdemeanors and sunsets in November.

A team from the Los Angeles County public defender’s office attends the homeless courts specifically to help defendants expunge their criminal records.

One of the team’s principal duties at the Redondo Beach court is helping reclassify convictions – which were felonies before Prop 47 passed in 2014 – to misdemeanors.

That, said Los Angeles County Assistant Public Defender Tom Moore, is key to helping get defendants housing.

“One of the biggest obstacles to housing is a felony on your record,” Moore said. “We frequently come across clients who don’t know they can have those felonies reclassified.”

Garibay said she has moved in with her boyfriend in Torrance, but is still looking for a permanent place to stay.

“They actually work with you,” she said. “I like just the fact (that) they’re helping me with housing, just my own place finally to call home.”

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