Ruth Louise Gray, formerly of Trinity Center, went to meet her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on January 12, 2022. She passed peacefully in the presence of her family.

Ruth was born February 27, 1934 in St. Helena to Clarence and Olive Hague. She grew up on a walnut ranch with her family along the Silverado Trail near Calistoga. There she picked walnuts and prunes for extra money. Her father taught her to hunt deer and pheasant, her mother and sister taught her to plant gardens, and her brother taught her to identify wildflowers. She was a member of 4H and played clarinet in the high school band. After high school, she moved to Santa Rosa, to attend junior college. It was there that she met Earnie Gray and they soon married. Their first home was in Richardson’s Grove State Park, where they worked for the summer. In the fall they drove to San Jose pulling their Prairie Schooner trailer. Earnie attended San Jose State and Ruth cared for their children, Gerry and Laura. After Earnie’s graduation they moved to Santa Rosa, where Earnie worked as an insurance agent and Ruth cared for their now four children (with the addition of James and Andrew). The family was very active in the local boat club.

In 1964 the family moved to Eureka, where Ruth soon became a very active mother. She belonged to numerous clubs: Bridge, Sorority, PTA, Cub Scout Den Mother for Den 5, and Heritage Society to name a few. It was at the Women’s Bible Study Fellowship that she believed and accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior. Ruth helped start the first Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Eureka. Her home was a refuge for abused dogs.

In 1982, after her divorce from Earnie, Ruth moved with her dog to Trinity Center. She made many friends in this tight-knit community. She became a Sunday School Teacher, AWANA Leader, Bulletin Creator and Financial Secretary for her local community church. She sang in the church choir, attended women’s bible study and prayer meetings. Ruth joined the fire department as an EMT. Traveling with the Weaverville Historical Society was favorite of hers. She worked at the Jaktri Market in Trinity Center with her best friend Top for many years. Weekly hikes in the Trinity Alps with friends was a “must-do.” Ruth swam, fished, hunted, painted, wrote and gardened in Trinity Center. Ruth was fondly nicknamed “Hero” because she drove many folks to their doctor appointments out of town.

Ruth’s most favorite times were with her children, grandchildren and great- grandchildren playing games, hunting agates at the beach and taking them swimming every day in the summertime. She taught numerous children how to water-ski with the bribe of a milkshake afterwards. Her kindness, humor, generosity and fun spirit will be missed by all.

Ruth was preceded in death by her father Clarence Hague, her mother Olive Hague, her brother Harry, her sister Grace, and her son Gerald Gray. She is survived by her daughter Laura (Mark) Butler, son James (Melody) Gray, son Andrew (Darcy) Gray, twelve grandchildren and their spouses, twelve great- grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

The family would like to thank Frye’s Care Home in Eureka, where Ruth resided for three years before her death.

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UPDATE, 7:21 p.m.: The Eureka Police Department lets us know that Mr. Seward has been found and is safe.

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From the Eureka Police Department:

On Monday, January 31, 2022 at approximately 4:30 p.m. Robert Lee Seward, 71 years of age, walked away from a care facility in the area of Henderson and B Streets.

Seward is described as a white male adult with white hair wearing blue jeans and a black jacket with a PG&E logo. Seward is unfamiliar with the area he is missing from and may be confused.

If seen please contact the Eureka Police Department’s 24-hour dispatch center at 707 441-4044.

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Faced with mounting cries of protest from struggling cannabis farmers, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider the prospect of implementing a Measure S tax relief program.

If approved by a majority of the board, the program could allow qualifying cultivators to have their 2021 and 2022 excise tax bills postponed, reduced or even waived entirely, though details of the plan have yet to be worked out.

Such a program could also wind up costing the county millions — or even tens of millions — of dollars, potentially forcing departments to enact hiring freezes, eliminate staff positions and cut back on services, including some aimed at helping cannabis farmers.

Measure S taxes, which were approved by voters in 2016, get assessed to licensed cultivators based on the size and type of their grow operations, ranging from just over a dollar per square foot of canopy if the plants are grown outdoors to $3.255 per square foot if they’re grown inside, under artificial lighting. Mixed-light grows, meanwhile, get taxed at $2.169 per square foot.

While voter-approved taxes can’t be raised without going back to the voters for approval, the text of the county’s cannabis cultivation tax code specifies that the Board of Supervisors may repeal or amend the taxation code “in a manner which does not result in an increase in the amount of the tax or broaden the scope of the tax imposed herein.” In other words, the board could implement this tax relief program without consulting the electorate.

In recent years, and especially over the past six months or so, many of the county’s 900-plus permitted cultivators have been clamoring for tax relief, both online and in public, as wholesale prices plummeted to all-time lows, largely due to overproduction in the state’s legal cannabis marketplace.

While some have questioned how the county’s hundreds of small-scale growers can expect to succeed in the face of airplane-hangar-sized grows being approved in other counties, state and local leaders have been sympathetic. The board’s Cannabis Ad Hoc Committee, which is comprised of Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell and Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone, have heard the cries for help, and this program is their attempt to offer some.

“Many cultivators have voiced concern that they will not survive current conditions,” the staff report for tomorrow’s agenda item says. “The Cannabis Ad Hoc Committee is concerned about the long-term viability of the Humboldt County cannabis industry, particularly those smaller farms who may have fewer financial resources.”

The proposal being forwarded by the ad hoc committee would allow “qualifying cultivators” to apply for a partial or complete waiver of two years’ worth of excise taxes. The report doesn’t spell out the exact criteria for growers to qualify but says it would be based on “need and actual profit or losses incurred for tax year 2021 and 2022.”

The program would also allow qualifying growers to postpone paying their 2021 and 2022 tax bills — which get assessed after each year is over — until 2024, at which time the bills may or may not be waived. Also, county staff plans to explore the option of offering repayment plans, though the staff report notes that they need to do “additional research to ensure [any such plan] meets legal and system constraints.”

Of course, the county tax bill is hardly the largest expense for local cannabis farmers struggling to gain a foothold in the market. The state’s own cultivation tax, which is calculated based on weight rather than canopy size, costs licensed growers roughly three to six times more than Humboldt County’s cultivation tax, according to calculations that were based on figures from a 2013 Washington state study. (The math is a bit squishy due to the variability in plant density, yield and other factors.)

But, as noted by Humboldt County Growers Alliance Executive Director Natalynne DeLapp in this week’s North Coast Journal cover story, state taxes are a lot harder to get repealed or modified. While both Assemblymember Jim Wood and Senator Mike McGuire have indicated that they’re willing to sponsor cannabis tax relief legislation, success on that front is far from assured.

“Without relief at the state level, the entire burden for relief for the cultivators falls on the county and its residents,” the county staff report laments. 

That could wind up being a heavy burden indeed. The county collected $17.5 million in Measure S tax revenues in 2018 and again in 2019. It collected $10.3 million in 2020, though it billed for $19.4 million, much of which may still come in.

While cannabis tax revenues are expected to drop steeply during the current fiscal year, this tax relief program being proposed could easily cut $12 million per year out of the county’s General Fund balance, according to the staff report. With labor costs rising, such a significant budget cut would force the county to consider painful options including staff layoffs, an immediate hiring freeze for all General Fund positions and/or reductions in certain programs and services, “particularly those that are directly funded by Measure S, such as Project Trellis.” 

Humboldt County Economic Development Director Scott Adair on Monday said it’s not all bad news on the cannabis front. For example, his agency just wrapped up a contract with College of the Redwoods to provide no-cost businesses education services for industry professionals participating in the Project Trellis-funded Local Equity Program. Cannabis business owners who are not enrolled in the county’s equity program can still take the classes at a reduced cost, Adair said.

And on Friday, Adair and his staff learned that Humboldt County is eligible for another $3.4 million in state equity funding for Project Trellis. The equity program aims to provide business support services to local cannabis entrepreneurs who’ve been negatively impacted by the War on Drugs. 

Adair said the news came with “great timing [considering] how desperately the cannabis community needs assistance right now.”

Economic Development Coordinator Peggy Murphy said CR will be offering courses on such topics as human resources, business planning, grant writing and cannabis marketing. Classes will meet Wednesdays from 6-8 p.m., she said. Anyone with questions is encouraged to reach out to the department (scroll to the bottom of that linked page) for details. There’s also more information on the county website, here.

Adair said it’s difficult for the slow-moving mechanisms of county government to meet the needs of an industry for which the market conditions can change so rapidly. “So we’re constantly having to pivot or change course,” he said. But Project Trellis has provided services to more than 200 cannabis professionals, he added. 

A Project Trellis update is also on Tuesday’s board agenda, and it will include an update on a county-led marketing initiative that has become mired in controversy. With the cannabis tax relief program under consideration, the marketing initiative could wind up being scrapped altogether, Adair said.

Regardless, you should expect a lot of passionate testimony from the local grower community on Tuesday.

“We’re expecting tomorrow to be somewhat tumultuous,” Adair said. “I think it’s going to be a fairly powerful, maybe even emotionally energetic meeting.”

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On Jan. 29, 2022, at about 4:23 p.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies on patrol in the area of Togo Street, in the county’s jurisdiction of Eureka, observed two individuals known to be on formal probation outside a residence associated with numerous narcotics-related investigations.   

One of the individuals, 35-year-old Heather Christine Rose Haselip, was found to have multiple outstanding warrants for her arrest. During a search of Haselip and her belongings incident to arrest, deputies located drug paraphernalia and items consistent with the sale of controlled substances.

Deputies conducted a probation search of Haselip’s vehicle parked outside the residence. Additionally, the second individual, 33-year-old Scott Antonio Arreguin, was contacted at the vehicle and searched pursuant the terms of his probation. During a search of Arreguin and the vehicle, deputies located approximately two ounces of suspected fentanyl, approximately .36 grams of heroin, additional items consistent with the sale of controlled substances and stolen property.

Arreguin was arrested and booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of possession of a controlled substance (HS 11350) and revocation of probation (PC 1203.2(a)).

Haselip was cited on charges of possession of a controlled substance for sales (HS 11351), possession of stolen property (PC 496(a)) and violation of probation (PC 1203.2), in addition to warrant charges of petty theft (PC 488) and revocation of post release community supervision (PC 3455(A)).

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. 

From California State Parks:

On January 21, 2022, representatives from the Wiyot Tribe and community along with North Coast Redwoods District staff installed a new land acknowledgement sign at Fort Humboldt State Historic Park. This sign, along with about 30 others, are being designed in collaboration with Tribal partners, and installed in parks across the north coast.

The sign reads “Fort Humboldt State Historic Park is located on the land of the Wiyot people. The name for this place is Jouwuchguri’m”. The sign’s borders are a Wiyot basketry design symbolizing friendship.

The name “Jouwuchguri’m” is a Wiyot name which means “to draw ones legs up to their body.” This name reflects the inhumane conditions inflicted upon Indigenous people who were held against their will near Fort Humboldt in the early 1860s. This a more contemporary name by comparison to many other Wiyot placenames, due to it’s direct connection to experiences at the Fort. An original name for this area is still being explored via archival research.

District Superintendent, Victor Bjelajac states “By having these signs placed in a California State Park, we feel this will help contribute to a movement throughout the 280 state parks in California to further elevate, honor and celebrate the Indigenous voices and stories that are rooted in the ancestral lands that our parks now protect.”

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PREVIOUSLY:

• Fear Not Those Helicopters, Humboldt!
• 3 Army Chinook Helicopters Fuel Up at ACV; F-18 Does Low Fly-By for Unknown Reason
• A Couple of Chinook Helicopters are Passing Through Humboldt This Afternoon
• … etc.

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As is often the case when the whirlybirds start rattling Humboldt County windows, the metaphorical LoCO office phone started ringing off the hook this morning just after 11 a.m. Everyone wanted to know: What in the Lord’s name was that?!?

This time the sight was a little more impressive than average. Residents from Eureka north to McKinleyville reported a tight formation of six black choppers, clearly military, moving north in ominous fashion. What the… ?

Come on up out of your bunkers, guys. As the links above should demonstrate, this is not all that terribly unusual. Once in a while the military flyboys like to touch down on our shores to gas up their iron steeds. Sometimes they’re headed from this place to that; sometimes they’re just tooling around the coast for training purposes.

Cody Roggatz, Humboldt County’s director of aviation, told the Outpost a few moments ago that he didn’t have a whole lot of information to share about their mission.

“They appear to be military and quite honestly we’re not privy to the details of the mission or what they’re up to,” Roggatz said. “They may have just needed to fuel up. I haven’t checked with staff to see if they’ve been fueled up yet. They were definitely military assets.”

Roggatz checked back in shortly after this conversation to affirm that they had, in fact, needed to fuel up, and that they’ve now moseyed on up the coast.

The Outpost checked in with a flight tracking map while the helicopters were still within our borders and confirmed that at least one of the military assets belonged, specifically, to the United States Army.

Now, what do you think, everyone? Is it time to retire the LoCO tradition of playing Rod Deal every time a helicopter is spotted?

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On Jan. 26, 2022, at about 11:45 a.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the Samoa Beach parking lot in Samoa for the report of a robbery.

Deputies contacted an uninjured adult female victim at the beach. The victim told deputies that she was returning to her parked vehicle at the beach when she heard glass breaking and then found an unknown male suspect rummaging through her vehicle. When the victim confronted the suspect, the man brandished a knife at the victim and demanded her purse. The suspect stole the victim’s wallet and then fled the area in a late 1990s / early 2000s white four-door sedan.

The suspect is described as a white male adult, approximately six feet tall, with a thin build. He was last seen wearing a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans and a white face covering.

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.

Community members are urged to use caution when recreating at our local beaches. Leave nothing of value inside your vehicle when parked at local beaches or trails.

Following the “leave nothing” model, community members should:

1. Keep the interior of your vehicle “showroom” clean. Always remove valuables from inside your vehicle. NEVER leave purses, bags, briefcases and wallets inside your vehicle unattended.
2. Think twice when storing valuables in your trunk. If your vehicle is equipped with a trunk release button on the inside, car prowlers can easily access your vehicle’s trunk space. While “hiding” items in your trunk may reduce the chance for your vehicle to be a target, the action will not completely protect you from theft.
3. Remove garage door openers, key cards, and house, work or car keys from your vehicle.
4. Always lock your vehicle, even if you are home. In public places, it may be tempting to leave your vehicle windows down to avoid vandalism. However, this puts you at even more risk, leaving vehicle registration and insurance information accessible to anyone nearby and increasing your chances of falling victim to identity theft, burglaries at your home and vehicle theft.
5. Ensure your car insurance covers glass damage and consider installing a more sensitive car alarm system.

If you come across a crime in progress, for your safety, do not confront the suspect, but call 9-1-1 immediately.