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Whale, whale, whale. Would you look at that! Kayak Trinidad guide Nick Butterfield had a delightful encounter with a mother gray whale and her calf in Trinidad Bay today.

The whales hung around a tour group of kayakers for nearly two hours and at times came within just a few feet of their boats. “That’s about as close as you can get to a whale,” Butterfield noted in the video as one of the whales breached.

Jason Self, the owner of Kayak Trinidad, said gray whales will be migrating up the coast and through Trinidad Bay for the next few weeks, moving slowly and close to shore. “When the swell and wind are mild, the odds of spotting them from shore [and] from most area overlooks will be possible,” he told the Outpost.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Two Fishermen Missing on Humboldt Bay; Coast Guard Conducts Search Overnight
• Coast Guard Suspends Search For Father and Son Fishermen Who Went Missing in Humboldt Bay
• Humboldt Bay Fire Using Sonar Scans, Dive to Search for Two Men Who Went Missing On Humboldt Bay

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Humboldt Bay Fire has suspended search efforts for Scott Arbaugh, age 68, and Josh Arbaugh, age 49, a father and son who went missing while fishing on Humboldt Bay this past Tuesday evening. The US Coast Guard suspended its rescue operations Wednesday evening, but Humboldt Bay Fire’s Rescue Dive and Recovery Team continued search efforts through Friday evening.

Humboldt Bay Fire spokesperson Amy Conlin told the Outpost the dive team “exhausted their search and grid plans and found nothing.” The search is suspended until new information comes forward.

The McKay Community Forest is one step closer to reality with the release of the draft Forest Stewardship Plan. The McKay Community Forest looks to join its famous neighbor to the north, the Arcata Community Forest, as a local hub for recreation, wildlife, and even timber production—all directed by the Forest Stewardship Plan. Hank Seemann of Humboldt County and Stevie Luther of the Humboldt Trails Council join the show to talk about the future of the McKay, trail building, and just how soon you can take your dog for a walk in the woods here.

AUDIO:

“The EcoNews Report,” April 30, 2022.

LINKS:

• The County’s McKay Community Forest web site.
• The Humboldt Trails Council’s volunteer sign-up page.

Robert Dylan Pease passed away at his residence in Fortuna on March 26, 2022. He was a loving father, brother, and friend to many. His unfortunate passing was far too soon and he was just 43 years old. Robert was born on September 22, 1978 in Las Vegas to his parents Harold “Hal” and Lori Pease. He was the brother to his siblings, Jaime, Jesse, Matt, Shannon, Dawn and Tammy. In his earlier life they moved all over California and the country, even going as far as Minnesota.

After finally settling in Humboldt County, he attended East High School and graduated in 2001. In Humboldt, Robert made many friends — Jon Bius, Adam Dias, Adam Smith and Jaime “Chimpy” Oller, to name a few — who would stay friends and turn into family throughout his life. In 1998 he became the father to his only child, his daughter Sydney Pease, who he often referred to as “the light of his life.”

Robert was always an extremely hard-working man all his life, having his first job at a very young age. He began working at the saw mill in Arcata in 2002 and stayed there until moving to Nevada. After moving to Reno with his little family in 2004, he worked on property maintenance for many years, along with other odd jobs here and there.

Robert was incredibly handy and could fix just about anything. And if there was ever anything he didn’t know how to do, he would take the time to learn and teach himself how. He truly was a jack of all trades. He loved a good project and was known to bring home cars to work on for his next “project.” He loved a good project so much that he once won Metallica concert tickets by decking out an old van, even painting the whole side of it with the album cover. Just goes to show how incredibly crafty and creative he could be. Robert could take an old wood pallet and turn it into a perfect bookshelf or anything else you could need. Anytime someone needed help, whether it be working on your car, doing a home improvement project, or just about anything else, Robert was always there to lend a hand. He really was the kind of guy that would give you the shirt off of his back, up until his last days. He loved to draw and doodle and was known to leave little doodles on just about anything he could get his hands on. He was always up to shoot a round of pool, or play a game of hacky sack and was definitely always up for a game of poker. Robert really was always a kid at heart. He spent over 25 years collecting hot wheels, and grew his collection to over 700 of them. And if you would have asked him, he’d have no problem telling you all about them. He will be terribly missed by all of his family, his one and only child, and all the many many friends he had throughout his years.

Robert is reunited now with both of his parents, his brother, and all the other loved ones that have passed on. Knowing he is now with family and in good hands will bring us comfort in our time of grief. He is succeeded by his daughter, Sydney Pease, his brothers Matthew and Jesse, his sister Shannon, and all his nieces and nephews that will miss him. We’ll be gathering together this weekend on April 30 at the Rio Dell Fire Hall to celebrate his life and memories. May he rest in peace until we can meet again.

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Born Sept. 2, 1929, June was the third child born to William Lindblom and Ethyl Lindblom, in Bellingham, Washington.

June described her childhood on Victor Street in Bellingham as “perfect.” Her mother, Ethyl, was born in Kansas, and was an incredible seamstress and cook. Her cupcakes were the best ever made. Her father, Bill (William), was a very hard working commercial fisherman. Bill was proud to be the first in his family born in the United States, as his parents and siblings were all born in Sweden.

June was always called “kid” by her dad, and she loved it. They had a special bond her entire life.

In June’s senior year of High School, she met the love of her life, Dale Baldwin. They met the day Dale returned home from serving in the US Navy, and were never apart again until Dale passed away in 2020 at the age of 94. They were married January 29, 1948 and moved to Eureka the very next day. They were happily married for over 72 years, and were shooting for 75.

Dale’s parents, Edith and Walter Baldwin, also made the move to Eureka in 1948.

Dale and Walter ran Baldwin Masonry after their arrival in Eureka. When Walter passed away the business became Dale Baldwin Masonry and remained so until Dale retired around 1990.

June and Dale welcomed their daughter, Laurie, into this world November 1, 1959, and son, Mark, on January 10, 1962.

June was active in the Girl Scouts in Cutten in the 1970s, and remained in contact with several of her scouts most of her life.

June was also the librarian at Cutten Elementary in the 1970s. She loved working with the kids and wasn’t bashful about keeping them in line.

June and Dale loved auto racing, and traveled all over the Western US to enjoy races with the family, and especially loved going to Redwood Acres Raceway in Eureka.

After their retirement, June and Dale moved to the small mining town of Ajo, Arizona when they spent their retirement years with their friends there. June was still driving around the Arizona highways until she was 91, and loved every minute of it.

After Dale’s passing, June moved back to Humboldt County and spend her last couple of years with her son Mark Baldwin and his wife Sharon Baldwin.

June was thrilled to be able to visit with her grandson Kevin Skelton and wife Kristi, grandson Greg Baldwin, granddaughter Christina Smith, grandson Kenneth Smith, great-grandchildren Joey and Jaxon.

June was very excited about Kevin and Kristi’s first baby coming in August, and was ready to meet her new great-grandchild, however she did not make it to see the new baby this summer.

June was especially thankful to get to spend time with her niece, Christy Embleton, and husband Gary recently. They all went on a day trip up the coast to see the Redwoods.

She spoke on the phone with Christy almost every day, and they enjoyed a lifelong bond. She was hoping to make a trip to the L.A. area to visit with Christy and Gary this summer.

June enjoyed her phone conversations with close friend Delores Torgerson, and they would talk for what seemed like hours.

June also wanted to make one more visit to Ajo to see her friends, especially Maribel Reyes, who was always there with a helping hand anytime June and Dale needed her. She was family to them.

June passed away on March 30, 2022 in Fortuna after a brief illness.

June is being laid to rest at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Cemetery with Dale in Marana, Arizona.

Our family will be forever grateful for this time we got to spend with Mom in her final days.

Valerie was born in Weitchpec (1955) to Katherine Pearson and Dale Sanderson and later adopted by Henry Beck. She grew up in Humboldt County for the majority of her life and was currently living in Hoopa. She has two children, Henry Frank and Thomas Frank; two grandchildren, Sophia Luster and Charlee Frank. She loved her children and grandchildren, and when she was around them she would spoil them as much as possible. Her smile was so big when she was with her granddaughters.

She was married to Ronald Dean Tuey for over 30 years. She loved her Uncle Billy Pearson, Auntie Barbara Pearson, and Auntie Donna. Valerie loved cooking and worked for a private school as the lead cook. Later in life, she was the one-hour photo clerk for Walgreens in Arizona. She was an animal lover to the core, she must have had every stray in the neighborhood in her house at one time or another. When she did not let them in the house, she would set up an enclosed space with a blanket for her furry friends.

Valerie had a kind and loving spirit. She enjoyed people, which made her a natural in the one-hour photo lab. She used to talk about her time with Walgreens quite often. Valerie was a strong, independent, and empathetic woman. If she could help you, she would without hesitation.

One Christmas, my wife and I had brought up presents the first week of December. The week of Christmas we came back up to open presents with her and her husband. I was the one passing out the presents. As I handed mom her first gift, I kind of noticed that one of the edges was torn, but taped. As I handed my 64 year old mother her second present, I happened to notice another taped up corner. I stopped and looked at all of mom’s presents had all been torn in the corners and taped backed up. I said, “Mom, did you try to peek at your presents?” She said, “No” with a huge childlike smile and finished “If I had done that son, it would have been a waste of my time, because you and my daughter had put everything in brown boxes. I will say that when I was sweeping one morning, I wasn’t wearing shoes and one of my toes caught the edge of that present and that is how it got ripped, so I taped it up.” I replied, “Mom did your toe get caught on all your presents?” We laughed so hard that our stomachs started to hurt. When you got mom around presents or sweets, the 10-year-old girl would come out of her. All the way to the end, Mom would come out of her fog when we brought chocolate cake.

One of my favorite memories is the time when my wife and I visited her the first time after our wedding and mom gave Di Anna a great big hug and told her that she always wanted a daughter and now she has one.

Valerie really did her best to not judge anyone, she forgave people easily and accepted them for where they were at, right now. She did not have the easiest life, but she made the best out of it. She was her harshest critic and as I sat with her on her last day, I let her know that she had nothing to fear, that our ancestors are waiting for her to make her journey home and I listed off everyone I could think of and let her know that they will be okay. She was fighting, but her body could not fight anymore, so I told her, “Mom I love you. I see that you are fighting, Today is a good day to fight but mom, today is also a good day not to fight.” Her face softened and she crossed over. She looked so peaceful laying there, I kissed her forehead and sang her song to help her with her journey home and my wife and I left the hospital and sat with my brother and Aimee who were waiting for us outside.

Valerie’s family would like to thank the PHU staff at the Providence Hospital in Eureka and to the Eureka Rehabilitation and Wellness Center staff for the care they gave my mom and for the care that they gave to her family and friends.

Mom is home now and she is no longer suffering. She taught me how to trust people, how to enjoy people, how to forgive, how to cook, how to enjoy the little things in life and be grateful for them. Rest in peace and I will see you when I cross over. I love you.

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UPDATE, Monday, 10:45 a.m.: We’ve updated this post with information from incumbent Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone’s Form 460. See below.

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It’s election season once again, and campaign donations have been rolling in.

The first pre-election batch of Form 460s — the campaign disclosure statements required of all candidates who spend at least $1,000 — were due yesterday, and while not all of them have been uploaded to the county election office’s online document center, most of ‘em have!

What do they show? Well, broadly speaking, the challengers — especially the conservative ones — have dramatically out-fundraised their counterparts, be they incumbents or more lefty challengers.

California’s June 7 primary is now just around the corner. In fact, ballots will start hitting mailboxes in just over a week. (The Humboldt County Elections Office plans to mail them out on May 9.) 

The best-funded candidates don’t always win — especially at the local level — but the 460s can still give us a sense of the enthusiasm behind each candidate as well as some insights into the nature and interests of their supporters.

Okay! Let’s dive into the data.

With incumbent Fourth District Humboldt County Supervisor Virginia Bass not running for re-election, this is an exciting three-way race. Local political observers have been eyeballing yard signs and keeping a mental tally in hopes of identifying a frontrunner.

In the money race, however, this thing is a bit of a runaway. Mike Newman, a former Eureka city councilmember and Bass’s appointee to the Humboldt County Planning Commission, raised a whopping $57,200 since the beginning of the year. That figure handily outpaced his fellow challengers, both of whom currently serve on the Eureka City Council. Furthermore, his campaign has only spent $17,333 to date, meaning he’s got almost $40,000 left in his war chest.

Natalie Arroyo, meanwhile, brought in $18,921 this period. Combine that with the $13,510 she raised last year and her campaign has raised $32,431. According to her campaign forms, she has spent most of that amount, leaving just over $1,700 in reserves.

Kim Bergel trails the money race, here, with her campaign having raised $7,348 thus far, about $3,000 of which has yet to be spent.

While county supervisor races are nominally nonpartisan, in practice the Humboldt County electorate typically divides fairly neatly and predictably along ideological lines, with conservatives coalescing behind their chosen candidate while lefties fall in line behind their own. 

With this being a three-way race, the dynamic is perhaps a bit more fluid — on the left, anyway. The county’s local conservative establishment has assembled, wallets outstretched, into Newman’s camp.

The annual election cycle per-donor limit in county races is $1,500, and Newman’s campaign has collected more than a dozen max donations, plus another dozen-plus contributions at or near the $1,000 mark. That includes checks from long-established conservative donors such as O&M Industries President Rob McBeth (along with three of his relatives), the Humboldt Builders Exchange Political Action Committee (PAC), Russ Cattle Company (and individual members of the Russ family), Greg Pierson’s Pierson Company and former county planning commissioner Robert Morris.

Newman also landed a $1,500 donation from his employer (local insurance firm George Peterson and Associates) and a $250 check from First District Supervisor Rex Bohn.

As for Arroyo, she has union support in the form of max donations from the Building and Construction Trades Council for Humboldt and Del Norte Counties, the Central Labor Council of Humboldt Del Norte Counties and Operating Engineers Union Local No. 3 District 40 PAC. She also brought in more than $2,000 (between this and last year) from former county supervisor Bonnie Neely [CORRECTION: The total from Neely was $1,315], plus a $500 donation from U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman’s campaign coffers and a $100 donation from Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson.

Bergel’s list of donors is relatively short, which means that many of the contributions to her campaign were under $100 and thus not subject to disclosure. She did land a $1,500 contribution from Sacramento-based National Union of of Healthcare Workers Candidate Committee for Quality Patient Care and Union Democracy, plus $1,000 from retired Carlotta resident Donald Erikson.

Up in the Fifth District, which encompasses the county’s northern region, from McKinleyville to Orick to Orleans, Weitchpec and Willow Creek, the money race remains a bit unclear. That’s because, as of 4:30 p.m. Friday, incumbent Supervisor Steve Madrone’s Form 460 had not yet been posted to the Humboldt County Elections Office website.

Madrone and the Elections Office both confirmed to the Outpost that the paperwork was submitted on time, but the process of redacting and uploading it wasn’t quite finished as of this writing. We’ll update the post once that information comes in. [See below.]

While Madrone’s numbers remain a mystery for now, it will come as a big surprise if his campaign manages to out-raise that of realtor and recent Orick transplant Larry Doss, whose campaign posted receipts totaling a whopping $90,882. Add that to the $8,000 he hauled in last year and the campaign’s within spitting distance of six figures, with more than half of that still in the bank.

Nearly three dozen donors ponied up the max amount, including Newman supporters such as Morris, the McBeth family, the Russ family and Eureka’s Wahlund Construction.

Greg Pierson’s construction firm Pierson Company (or Pico) also chipped in $1,500, and it’s worth noting that his family owns most of the land on which the McKinleyville Town Center is slated to be built. 

Doss’s campaign collected big-dollar checks from Miller Farms Nursery, Elk River Timber, the Humboldt County Sheriff Organization PAC, Cher-Ae Heights Casino, GR Sundberg, Inc., the Humboldt Builders Exchange PAC, the CalFire Local 2881 Small Contributor PAC, Barnum Timber Company, Four Star Realty and Humboldt County Planning Commission Chair Alan Bongio.

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Madrone’s Form 460 has been posted. It shows that he brought in $36,808 this reporting period, a respectable haul but less than half of his competitor’s total.

The incumbent landed union support, garnering $1,500 donations from the Central Labor Council, the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 5 PAC, the Building and Construction Trades Council of Humboldt and Del Norte Counties PAC and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 551 PAC.

He also got max donations from environmental activist Dr. Ken Miller, Pierson Building Center owner William Pierson, Suzanne Cook, Scott Sway, Diane and Kevin Jenkins (owner of McKinleyville Ace Hardware) and Greg Blomstrom.

State Senator Mike McGuire, who has endorsed Madrone, chipped in $500.

District Attorney: Here’s another race in which the incumbent — Maggie Fleming, in this case — is not running, leaving three candidates to vie for her position. 

Assistant District Attorney Stacey Eads, whose campaign is endorsed by her boss, raised $42,050 this period, though nearly 10 percent of that — $4,200 — was her own money, according to her Form 460. (As the candidate, she can contribute more than the $1,500 individual donation limit.)

Fleming’s obsolete re-election coffers provided Eads’s campaign with $1,500, as did attorney Jason Eads, along with Bret Harvey, Raser Properties, LLC, Johnson Properties and the campaign of former San Luis Obispo County DA Dan Dow.

Former deputy DA and current Deputy Public Defender Adrian Kamada has lined up many progressive and union endorsements, but for now his campaign fundraising activity remains a mystery. [Not anymore! See below.] As of late Friday afternoon, the Elections Office had not received his Form 460. That doesn’t mean it’s late, necessarily. Staff explained that as long as it’s postmarked by Thursday’s date, the form won’t be considered delinquent. We’ll update this post when the info comes in.

UPDATE, Monday, 1:58 p.m.: Kamada’s Form 460 shows that he raised $39,214 in this reporting window and has spent all but $616 of that. He donated $3,574 to himself and received max donations of $1,500 from Robin and Cherie Arkley, the George Peterson Insurance Agency, Howard Hunt, Nick Abrahamsen, Tyler Kearns, Jessica Kearns, Allison Holland, Etta Bergstresser, Richard Bergstresser, Brian Whited, Garden Depot in McKinleyville and the Central Labor Council of Humboldt and Del Norte Counties AFL-CIO.

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Eureka attorney Michael Acosta, whose trial for felony charges for allegedly selling drugs and maintaining a drug house remains ongoing, has opted out of campaign fundraising altogether. He told the Outpost in an email last month that he finds campaign yard signs “aesthetically unpleasant,” saying they turn “neighborhoods into commercial corridors with miniature billboards selling politicians, and then becoming lawn litter after the election.”

As for raising money for a political campaign, Acosta observed, “The traditional campaign strategy of amassing a war chest of campaign contributions, impressing name recognition into the voters minds through advertising and avoiding the actual issues for as long as possible doesn’t appeal to me. I am running for District Attorney to raise awareness about the government corruption that has led to public frustration with our system of justice, and knowing that I have very little chance of success in the actual election, but every chance of success in my political activism about these issues that may someday lead to real positive changes.”

Incumbent Auditor-Controller Karen Paz Dominguez didn’t decide whether she was even going to run for re-election until shortly before the candidate filing deadline, and challenger Cheryl Dillingham cut it even closer.

For a position that has historically been pretty much a snooze in the eyes of the voting public, the A-C race this time around has provided arguably the most dramatic storyline of this election season thanks to the unholy clusterfuck of the county’s books (delinquent fiscal reports date back years) and the very public arguments over who’s to blame.

(A third candidate, Mychal Evenson, will appear on ballots, but he has dropped out of the race and is supporting Dillingham’s bid.)

Dillingham has out-fundraised Paz Dominguez more than three-to-one, with her campaign bringing in $32,022 to the incumbent’s $8,953.

[CLARIFICATION: Dillingham loaned her own campaign $12,000, so the fundraising total from donations alone is $20,022.]

Paz Dominguez’s campaign funds have come mostly from small donations. Her Form 460 lists just eight donors who chipped in $100 or more. The top donor, Patterson-Conners Insurance owner agent Carol Conners, donated $258. 

Dillingham’s campaign, meanwhile, got a $1,350 donation from Evenson’s abandoned campaign. She also donated $1,000 of her own money. Conservatives including the Russ family, Debra McBeth and Rex Bohn (whose campaign fund donated $500) made contributions, though so did former county supervisors Bonnie Neely, Mark Lovelace and Clif Clendenen.

Another incumbent retiring — Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters Kelly Sanders — and another three-way contest! All three of these candidates already work in the office, either on the Clerk-Recorder side or in the Elections Office.

Tiffany Hunt Nielsen brought in $26,408 to her campaign this filing period, including a $1,500 donation from civil engineering firm Omsberg & Preston and donations of $1,000 (give or take a few bucks) from the California Land Surveyors Association, Pierson Company, Humboldt West, LLC, and L&H Properties, LLC.

Juan Pablo Cervantes’s campaign raised $13,998, including a $1,500 donation from himself, and max donations from William Pierson (brother uncle of Greg, patron of progressives and owner of Pierson Building Center), Aisha Cissna and the Central Labor Council of Humboldt-Del Norte Counties AFL-CIO.

As of this writing, Ben Hershberger’s campaign did not have a Form 460 uploaded to the county website, which could mean it simply hadn’t been put up yet or that his campaign hadn’t raised or spent enough to require one.

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Running unopposed this season we two have incumbents — Humboldt County Sheriff William “Billy” Honsal and Superintendent of Schools Michael Davies Hughes — as well as two hand-picked successors — Howard LaHaie, who will succeed Mari Wilson as Assessor, and Amy Christensen, who has already assumed the role of Treasurer-Tax Collector following the retirement of John Bartholomew.

In a fantastic development for campaign finance transparency, the Humboldt County Office of Elections is posting candidates’ campaign finance documents online for the first time this election season, which means you can take an even closer look at these documents from the comfort of your own couch, office chair, beanbag, whatever. Here’s the link you’ll need.

And if you care more about what the candidates believe — of course you do! — head on over to LoCO Elections, where they’re answering questions posed by readers and constituents. And don’t forget to vote on (or before) June 7.