Immigrant communities across the United States opted to forgo work, school and other activities Monday to rally for “A Day Without Immigrants,” a national movement aimed at recognizing the essential contributions immigrants make to support daily American life.

Speaking to a group of roughly 50 community members at the Eureka Old Town gazebo, Karen Villa, a community organizer with Centro del Pueblo, called for immediate immigration reform.

“A Day Without Immigrants means a day without us in school, a day without our colleagues, a day without food on the table because a lot of us are working to put food on the table,” Villa said. “We want to be acknowledged. We want to have our rights. We want to be able to spend our time here in this country as citizens. Without us, this country wouldn’t be able to do a lot of things.”

Karen Villa.

The movement was sparked in 2017 in response to hostile immigration policies coming from the Trump administration. This year’s protests focused on immigration provisions within the Biden administration’s Build Back Better Act that would create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented individuals who entered the United States before Jan. 1, 2011.

“How many of us have lost our parents? How many of us have not been able to see our families? How many of us have had to leave our children behind just to put food on the table?” asked community member Reyna Bonilla, in Villa’s translation. “We’re not coming here to have a better life, we’re coming here because we need a better life. Here we are, we’re working, we’re trying our best and all we want immigration reform and we plead to our president here in the United States that he can provide this for us.”

Centro del Pueblo member Denise Hernandez echoed Bonilla’s call and asked for understanding noting, “We are just trying to feed our families.”

“We are not illegal persons. We are not immigrants. We are just human,” she said. “The seeds, the animals, the plants, they are immigrants and we are too. There is nothing wrong with moving. This is not an illegal action. We are trying to put food on the table.”

The rally continued in a march to the Humboldt County Courthouse. (Click photos to enlarge.)

A McKinleyville man is taking home a 2022 Kia Seltos after sinking a 94-foot, full-court putt in Lumberjack Arena on Saturday during the Cal Poly Humboldt Men’s Basketball game against Cal State East Bay.

William Paddock told the Outpost that he was hoping to entertain the crowd that night.

“I just wanted to put on a good show,” Paddock said. “They always say in golf: ‘Don’t leave a birdie putt short.’ So I made sure to have a big follow through and hoped to hit the board, at least.”

After hyping up the crowd, Paddock fired the golf ball across the hardwood. The crowd exploded as the ball slammed into the putting backboard, jumped into the air and settled into the narrow hole.

Cal Poly Humboldt Athletics Department employee Haley Miller said that this was the first time the university’s basketball team hosted the putting promotion.

“We used to run the same promotion at football games, but to my knowledge, there was never a winner,” Miller said.

Cal Poly Humboldt promotional partner Harper Motors will be providing the SUV, which Paddock said he intends to keep.

PREVIOUSLY:

• “Scanner Traffic Indicates,” Feb. 12.

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Press release from the Eureka Police Department:

On February 12, 2022, at about 8:47 p.m., officers with the Eureka Police Department responded to the intersection of Henderson Street and A street for a report of a hit and run traffic collision involving a juvenile pedestrian on a skateboard.

Humboldt Bay Fire and City Ambulance responded and provided emergency medical care and transportation of the juvenile to the hospital. The 15-year-old juvenile pedestrian suffered moderate facial and head injuries and at the time of this report is in stable condition.

The suspect vehicle is described as a grey 4-door sedan with a rear taillight similar to a Mercedes style light. Anyone with information is asked to contact Officer Ben Altic at 707-441-4060 x1304 or baltic@ci.eureka.ca.gov, refer case number 22-000651

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On Feb. 13, 2022, at about 11:53 a.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a residence on the 200 block of Old Dolly Varden Road in Blue Lake to conduct follow-up investigation into an ongoing trespassing issue.

During their investigation, deputies located 65-year-old William O’Brien Gammill inside a vehicle parked on the property without permission. Deputies learned that the property owner had asked Gammill to leave prior to this contact, however, Gammill did not comply with that request. Gammill was taken into custody for trespassing. During a search of Gammill and his vehicle incident to arrest, deputies located a firearm, ammunition and over 7 grams of Methamphetamine.  

Gammill was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of possession of a controlled substance (HC 11377(a)), possession of a controlled substance while armed (HS 11370.1(a)), prohibited person in possession of ammunition (PC 30305(a)), felon in possession of a firearm (PC 29800(a)) and trespassing (PC 602).

Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.

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Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On Feb. 13, 2022, at about 11:42 a.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a residence on the 1300 block of Howard Avenue, in the county’s jurisdiction of Eureka, to investigate the report of suspicious activity outside the residence.

Deputies contacted three individuals at the residence, two of whom were identified as 60-year-old Thomas Edward Schuyler and 63-year-old Kevin Bruce Couturier. Schuyler was found to have an outstanding warrant for his arrest and was taken into custody without incident. During additional investigation, deputies found Couturier to be in possession of a stolen motorcycle. During a search of Couturier incident to arrest, deputies located a concealed dagger.

Couturier was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of possession of a stolen vehicle (PC 496d(a)), carrying a concealed dagger (PC 21310) and providing false evidence of registration (VC 4463).

Schuyler was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of violating a court order (PC 273.6(a)), inflicting corporal injury on a spouse (PC 273.5(a)), criminal threats (PC 422) and grand theft (PC 487(a)).

The third individual was released at the scene.

This case is still under investigation. Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On Feb. 13, 2022, at about 9:52 a.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies conducted a probation search on 48-year-old Kenneth Alan Wolf at a residence on the 400 block of Briceland-Thorne Road in Redway.

Deputies contacted and detained Wolf at the residence. During a search of the residence pursuant to the terms of Wolf’s probation, deputies located 21 firearms, over 3,800 rounds of ammunition and approximately 22 grams of Methamphetamine.  

Wolf was arrested and booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of felon in possession of a firearm (PC 29800(a)(1)), prohibited person in possession of ammunition (PC 30305(a)), possession of a controlled substance while armed (HS 11370.1(a)), possession of a controlled substance (HS 11377(a)) and violation of probation (PC 1203.2(a)(2)).

Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.

Isabella Vanderheiden!

Today, the Lost Coast Outpost is thrilled to introduce you to the latest reporter to don the teal. She is none other than …

Isabella Vanderheiden! Three cheers for Izzy, everyone!

Some of you might already know Ms. V from her previous forays into the local journalism space — either from her days as the KMUD news director, or, more lately, as assistant managing editor of the LoCO’s crosstown rival blog, which goes by the whimsical old-timey name of “The Times-Standard.” If so, you’ll be familiar with the curiosity and dedication she brings to any number of topics — county government, the cannabis industry and environmental protection, to name but a few of her regular beats.

As of today, though, Izzy has thrown off the yoke of hedge fund capitalism and exists exclusively to serve you, the Lost Coast Outpost readership. What wonders will this new, unchained Vanderheiden perform, here in our pages, over the coming months and years and decades? Who knows! Let’s find out together!

But even as you hoist one for Vanderheiden, spill a little out for the Outpost’s dear, departed Jacquelyn Opalach. Or spill it out for the Outpost, rather! Because Opalach, who covered the Humboldt County education beat better than any other reporter in at least the last 20 years, has left the Outpost to do the things that astoundingly precocious, shockingly young people are supposed to do, post-pandemic — travel the world and get a degree. We’re pretty sure she’s currently on the first leg of that mission, but we’re still waiting for our postcard.

While we wait: Isabella Vanderheiden! Give her a warm Lost Coast Outpost welcome.