Allen Ray Adams passed away quite unexpectedly, in his home with his cherished wife Jacqueline Kay. He was the best husband, dad, papa, uncle, and friend.

Allen was born in Atoka, Oklahoma, on June 30, 1945, to Daniel O. Adams and Hazel B. Harrington- Adams.  As the youngest of three brothers along with five sisters, he shared a special bond with his siblings. His passing has brought an end to an era for his loved ones, as he joins James Adams, Charlie Adams, Ruby May Adams, Lillian Maxwell, Wilma Taylor, Mary Horath, and Wanda Vickers in Heaven. We believe they are celebrating their reunion, playing guitars and singing together, their spirits united in eternal harmony.  

Allen’s young life was extremely hard. He left Oklahoma and made his way to Humboldt County at the young age of 14. Mainly living in Manila, Calif., with whomever would allow him to stay in their homes. He met lifelong friends while in Manila, Jim and Donny Ford, Buddy Henderson Family, Baker Family, Papa Slim and Momma Lou. He had some pretty crazy stories to share with his many friends and family. He attending Arcata High School and College of the Redwoods, choosing not to graduate from either one but very well could have. We fondly remember when he took a sewing class!

Allen met the love of his life, Jacqueline Kay Barnick, at Arcata Redwood, where they both worked. What began as friendship soon blossomed into love, and they were married on June 14th, 1975 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Eureka, California. By marrying Jacqueline he not only gained a beautiful wife but also willingly became an instant father to Ricky, Tylene and Amber Barnick. Not many men would have stepped into such a challenging situation, especially considering the tragic experiences Jacqueline and her children had endured in the years prior, but Allen embraced it wholeheartedly.

His willingness to love, support, and become a true family man showed his compassionate and resilient spirit. On June 29, 1977, their family grew again with the arrival of Allen Ray Adams II who became known as Duece, and together they became a family of six. Their home was always open and welcoming — no one was a stranger, and visitors often stopped by to say “Hi” and share a “cup of Joe.” Speaking of coffee, it was their drink of choice; if a pot wasn’t ready, one was soon to be brewing, most of the time on the commercial grade coffee pot they had in their kitchen! All of the grandkids drank coffee at Nonnie & Papa’s house, a tradition and moments filled with love and warmth.

Allen worked many jobs at local mills and in construction throughout his life. When his body could no longer handle the physical demands of those trades, he joined Jacqueline Kay, whom he lovingly called Nonnis — in her at-home daycare (Nonnie’s Family Day Care). Many children and their families became like extended family to Papa and Nonnie, forging lifelong friendships. Quite a few families joined them at dinner time and during family events, making their home a hub of love and community.

Papa was the enforcer of discipline, often telling the kids to quit “whine-baggin” or “belly-achin” and Nonnie was the softy, offering gentle comfort.  As their children, we were incredibly fortunate to have our own children cared for by our parents in such a loving environment. And of course, we can’t forget the nicknames — everyone got one, including the day care kids!!  We especially want to thank the Daniels family for the extra love and attention they provided and continue to provide-to Nonnie. She loves you all dearly and cannot express her gratitude enough. Everyone’s support means more than they will ever know.

Allen, affectionately known as Pee Wee and later in life as Papa, was a man of distinctive style. His signature attire included western wear — cowboy boots, Western-adorned button-down shirts, Wranglers, and a cowboy hat, always dressed to the T. A talented musician, he played the guitar like a true pro, filling rooms with his melodies and guitar playing.

Known for his gift of gab, Allen could talk with anyone and had an uncanny ability to listen with genuine interest and care. Honesty, faithfulness, and old-fashion values were deeply ingrained in him, and he made sure to pass these principles on to those he loved. He often told his family, “Your word is all that you have,” emphasizing the importance of keeping promises and commitments. A wheeler and dealer at heart, he was always ready to strike a good deal, turning that good deal into a profit.

Country music was a vital part of Allen’s life; he was a talented songwriter who wrote many heartfelt songs and recorded an album titled “The Better Life” in Ventura, California. His music opened doors — he was invited to perform at numerous local events, sang a commercial, and played for friends during their final moments on earth. Allen wrote touching songs for his daughters, Tylene and Amber, and proudly sang them at their wedding receptions, where many tears were shed as expressions of love.

Since 1978, he documented his thoughts and experiences in a journal each night, capturing his life and his family’s journey. He shared his musical gift with the community, performing multiple times at Ridgewood and Cutten schools, once playing guitar with his grandson, Jordan Daniel Seaman, who was just in first grade at the time. A faithful member of Arcata Lutheran Church, Allen served on the church council and joyfully sang at various church events. His love for the Lord, the Son of God, was unwavering, and he wholeheartedly believe in life after death. We find comfort knowing that he is now watching over us from Heaven, his spirit forever present in our hearts.

Cars were another passion in Allen’s life, particularly the classic, vintage models rather than newer vehicles. He enjoyed attending car shows and cherished his collection of old cars he had during his lifetime. His son Duece is currently restoring his beloved 1957 Ranchero, a project that will be filled with love and memories and quite possibly a few tears. He helped his daughter Amber restore her 1964 El Camino. He enjoyed the flash and old time charm of vintage cars, and the smooth roar of their engines was music to his ears. The biggest grin would spread across his face whenever he heard that smooth engine sound. He often told his beloved Jacqueline Kay that he would love to own a Corvette, but after working part-time as a parking valet at Cher-Ae Heights Casino during his retirement, he changed his mind and said, “I never want to park a Corvette again, let alone own one!” His love for classic cars was a true reflection of his appreciation for timeless style and craftsmanship.

Family was everything to him and he was lucky enough to have so much family in his life and we have added more to our family since his passing. He is survived by his wife Jacqueline Kay. He loved her so much and she says he was the best, most beloved husband a lady could ask for, he was a Godsend to her, his son Ricky Barnick, his wife Gretchen and their daughter and grandchildren Meghann Barnick Erickson, her husband Cameron and their children Parker and Millie Erickson. His oldest Daughter, Tylene Barnick Lott Johnson, her husband Michael and their children and grandchildren, Sarah Lott — her sons, Isaiah, Jonah, Alexander and her daughter Kaiana Lott.  Jackie Lott and her partner Edgar, their sons Jovani, Noah, Isaac, Remi and daughter Ember Lott. Ethan Lott and his daughter Scarlett. His youngest daughter Amber Barnick Seaman, husband Jim and their sons, Jordan Seaman, his fiancée Kali and their sons Henry and Vince. Jason Seaman and his fiancée Shara and their children, Jesse, Kolt Davis, Reece, Hailee and Raylynn.  His youngest son and namesake Allen Ray Adams II, (Duece) and his wife Brooke.  Many nieces and nephews, too many to list but he loved you all very much.

Allen was preceded in death by his infant daughter, Naomi Adams, born from his first marriage, who passed away in September of 1964. He was also deeply affected by the loss of his youngest grandson, Justin Davis Seaman, affectionately known as “the Governor” who left this world in September 2019-just a few short months before our Papa’s passing. Allen felt his son-in-law and daughter’s heartbreak to the core with the loss of Justin.  

Allen never met a stranger, embodying kindness and warmth in every encounter. His love for God and his family was the foundation of his life, and he steadfastly kept his faith through all of life’s adversities. Loved by many, he is deeply missed on a daily basis. Though he is no longer with us, his warmth, spirit and boundless love remain eternal, forever etched in our hearts.

Orange Tic-Tacs, love pinches on the hand and corny jokes will always remind us of you. Until we meet again, we love and miss you, Papa.

A Celebration of life service will be held at the Arcata Lutheran Church located at 151 E. 16th Street, Arcata, CA 95521 on Sunday June 29th at 2:00PM with a reception to follow immediately in the gym located next to the church. Come celebrate a true western gentleman’s life and legacy. In lieu of flowers, the family would like to request donation be made to the Arcata Lutheran Church in Allen’s name.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Allen Adams’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.

Darrell Thomas Branson, 88, passed away on June 12, 2025, at Ida Emmerson Hospice House in Eureka, CA.

Darrell was born on September 26, 1936, in his parents’ railroad house in Cokeville, Wyoming. He was the seventh child and the youngest born to Cleo (Hoopes) and William Branson. In 1945, he, his parents, and four of his siblings moved to Rohnerville, California, from Deseret, Utah. Dad told the story of how the family’s car — a 1939 Chevrolet sedan — and a trailer that his dad built were so packed with belongings, along with everyone, a dog, and a guinea pig, that the car broke down due to the sheer weight of it all. They still made it to Rohnerville in two days.

Dad attended Toddy Thomas Elementary School and Fortuna Union High School. Toddy Thomas, the principal, taught Dad to play basketball, and that began a love of basketball in the family, with his sons and daughters playing — and continuing to this day with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren playing on teams. Dad played in high school and in church leagues. In 2016, Dad was inducted into Fortuna High School’s Hall of Fame for the 1952 Champion Basketball Team.

Dad met Mom on a double date when they were seniors. They were not on this date together, and Mom liked Dad more than she liked her date, so they began seeing each other. They married in March 1955. They were married 59 years until she passed away.

Darrell worked 26 years for Foremost Dairies in Fortuna. He also worked as a waiter during high school and held second jobs as a men’s clothing salesman and tax preparer. He worked at Humboldt Creamery after Foremost closed. Dad was also a co-owner of the family business, Hometown Aquarium in Fortuna, for 29 years.

When younger, Dad was a board member of the Rohnerville Elementary School District, a deacon at Campton Heights Baptist Church, and then at Loleta Evangelical Church. He also attended local churches during the last several years.

Dad worked hard to provide for his family. He was very skilled at home remodeling, building things, and had a green thumb. He enjoyed helping his family with various projects. Dad had a great smile, a wonderful laugh, and a good sense of humor. He attended many of his sons’ and grandsons’ basketball games. He also supported his kids’ talents, interests, and hobbies. He liked to fish, and when we were younger, Dad sometimes took us out on his fishing boat. He turned our backyard at Kenmar Road into a playhouse, a two-story fort, and planted a big willow tree for us to hide under, along with a cement pad area to shoot hoops. Dad was also a homebody. Even in retirement, going away for a few days was often plenty of traveling for Dad.

He is survived by his children Diana Branson, Sandra Branson, Jerry (Tammi) Branson, and Ken (Gina) Branson. Dad also leaves behind seven grandchildren, twenty great-grandchildren, six great-great-grandchildren, along with many nieces, nephews, and his sister-in-law Patti Branson.

Dad was preceded in death by our mom, Louise (Anderson), in 2014, and his second wife, Sandi (Bean), in 2024, whom he married in 2015. He was very devoted to and loved Mom and Sandi very much. He was also preceded in death by his parents, his siblings and their spouses: Francis and Jeanne Branson, Rose and Lamar Thornock, Velda and Gerald Abrahamson, Norma and Zip Gomes, Arlon Branson, Elva “Ann” and Glenn Gracey.

We would like to thank the medical staff at Seaview Rehab and Hospice of Humboldt for compassionately caring for Dad.

Family will hold a private service at a later time.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Darrell Branson’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.

The masked agents pull up quickly. They jump out of unmarked vans or trucks. They wear blue jeans or battle fatigues. They approach Latino men, at times yelling and carrying assault rifles. When someone runs, they’re taken. When they don’t answer a question, they’re taken. When they can’t produce papers, they’re taken.

Their families won’t know what happened to them. They’ll be shackled, whisked away to another state, forced to subsist for days on potato chips, apples, water, and the occasional cold sandwich. They’ll sleep on the floor with mylar blankets, without access to showers or even working bathrooms. These are not enemy combatants in a war zone, but people living and working in America’s second largest city.

In the last three weeks, federal agents have swarmed Los Angeles County, rounding up 1,600 people where they work, where their children play, where they shop for food. They have driven entire families into hiding. Videos of these encounters, shared on social media, have offered quick, shaky glimpses of the chaos.

But few details have emerged about what happens to those who are taken. CalMatters spoke with a number of men who were detained on the streets of Los Angeles during the first weekend of the raids. These are the stories three of them told about how they were arrested, how they were treated in government detention and, ultimately, how they were pressured to voluntarily leave the country.

***

At 3:10 p.m. on Sunday, June 8, Mauricio Oropeza was waiting for the 33 bus on the corner of Lincoln and Venice boulevards, in Santa Monica. He was headed back from his job cleaning apartment buildings for a maintenance company. It was a two-bus commute, and he was halfway home.

There were a few other people – three men, a woman and her daughter – waiting for the same bus. No one seemed to know what to make of the truck that suddenly pulled up in front of them, or of the men in jeans and baseball caps that stepped out of the vehicle. One of them was holding a photo of a Latino man with the word “BUSCA” – Spanish for “WANTED” – printed across the top.

“Have you seen this person?” he asked.

When two of the commuters began to run, Oropeza did the same. That’s when several Border Patrol vehicles stopped in front of them, he said, and armed men in tactical gear jumped out. One of the agents tripped Oropeza and pinned him to the ground.

“Don’t resist,” he told him.

Mauricio Oropeza in Santa Maria Ajoloapan in Mexico State in Mexico, on June 25, 2025. Photo by Cristopher Rogel Blanquet for CalMatters A room in Mauricio Oropeza’s home in Santa Maria Ajoloapan. Last: A horse grazes on grass outside of Mauricio Oropeza’s home in Santa Maria Ajoloapan in Mexico, on June 25, 2025. Photos by Cristopher Rogel Blanquet for CalMatters

The agents took his cell phone and Mexican passport. He was loaded onto one of the vehicles along with the other men from the bus stop, all of them struggling to adjust to their new reality. They would not be going home that night. They would not get to call their families to explain.

As they drove away, the agents spotted two Latino men walking on the sidewalk. Oropeza said they got on their radio, said “two more,” and then another vehicle peeled off to pursue them.

***

Less than two hours later and exactly a mile away, Omar Sanchez Lopez left his apartment on Rose Avenue and Lincoln Boulevard, in Venice, with his apron draped over his shoulder. He was on his way to work bussing tables at a nearby Italian restaurant when a Honda Civic pulled into the apartment complex parking lot. Lopez thought the driver, who was in jeans, t-shirt and baseball cap, was there to visit one of his neighbors. But then the man stepped out of the car and approached him. He was holding a piece of paper with photos of four Latino men, and he asked Lopez, in Spanish, “Do you know these people?”

Lopez, 27, didn’t answer. But the man continued: “Do you speak English? Where do you work? How old are you? Are you a citizen? Do you have papers?”

When Lopez asked, “why are you asking me these questions,” the man pulled out his badge and said, “ICE.”

Lopez thought about turning around to go back inside, but a masked Border Patrol agent got out of the vehicle and told him to put his hands behind his back. Within minutes he was handcuffed and sitting in the back of the car.

Omar Sanchez Lopez is detained by federal immigration agents on June 8, 2025. Photo courtesy Omar Sanchez Lopez

“What are you doing in the United States?” he said the agent asked him as they drove away. “It’s not your country.”

Lopez didn’t answer. He looked out the window at the traffic as the sedan pulled him farther and farther away from his home, his family, his life.

***

By the time Lopez and Oropeza were taken, Juan Flores Morales had been under arrest for more than 24 hours. He had been taking a lunch break on Saturday with three other men on his construction crew, eating a pizza outside the restaurant they were renovating in Inglewood, when masked Border Patrol agents rolled by in a truck.

Morales felt, for an instant, as though he was paralyzed. “The fear is crazy,” he said.

Then two agents got out of the vehicle, and Morales, 27, ran into the restaurant. He searched frantically for an escape, but a Border Patrol agent burst through the door and pinned him down.

“Tranquilo,” the agent told him. “Don’t move.”

They handcuffed him and asked whether he had participated in the immigration protests that had started the night before, following the first raids.

“I don’t get involved in that,” he told them. “You got us at work. You got us while working.”

They took his cell phone, he said, and plugged it into a device that unlocked it, which allowed them to look through his contacts and communications.

Morales thought his lack of a criminal record would help him. But it didn’t. “I don’t know why they don’t want us in Los Angeles,” he thought.

The agents drove him away, leaving his tools at the restaurant.

***

Lopez, Oropeza and Morales are now in Chiapas, Mexico City and Puebla, respectively, and we spoke to them by phone. Their accounts of their arrests, detention, and rapid removal suggest federal agents are working from a new playbook, one that dispenses with the longstanding practice of targeted arrests and relies on only the thinnest pretext, like a wanted poster, for approaching people who appear Latino.

In April, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction barring the Border Patrol from conducting warrantless raids in the Central Valley. “You just can’t walk up to people with brown skin and say, ‘Give me your papers,’” U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer L. Thurston said, finding the warrantless stops likely violated the Constitution’s protection against unreasonable searches.

The man who led that operation, El Centro Sector Chief Gregory Bovino, is now in charge of the operations across Los Angeles.

U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino attends a press conference in Los Angeles on June 12, 2025. Photo by Aude Guerrucci, Reuters

The men’s stories also suggest that agents are pushing people to sign removal forms before they can call home or speak with an attorney. Ahilan Arulanantham, co-director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law, said those tactics would be “blatantly illegal.”

“You can’t condition phone access on anything,” Arulanantham said. “They have a right to call their family. They have a right to call a lawyer.”

He also raised concerns about the treatment the men described in government facilities. “It’s not permissible to manipulate the conditions of detention to encourage people to give up their rights,” he said.

Migrants can challenge the legality of their arrest and detention, he said, but they usually have to be in the country and be able to call a lawyer.

The Department of Homeland Security didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Immigration detention centers are well above capacity, and the men we spoke with were almost immediately moved to an ICE tent camp in Texas and, within days, across the border to an immigration facility in Ciudad Juárez.

Before the Trump administration began its mass deportation campaign, many immigrants arrested away from the border were released on bond with a notice to appear in immigration court. Those with criminal histories were typically held in detention facilities.

Now, Bovino has made clear, he considers anyone who crossed the border without documents – the farm worker, the day laborer, the paletero – a criminal.

“Bad people,” he called them during a press conference with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem earlier this month.

New Immigration and Customs Enforcement data from June 1 to June 10, analyzed by the Los Angeles Times, shows that 69 percent of the people detained in the LA area had never been convicted of a crime.

A criminal records search in Los Angeles and the California state prison system for Oropeza, Lopez and Morales returned no results. Oropeza and Lopez said they had been caught at the border and deported years before.

***

From the bus stop on Venice Boulevard, Oropeza was taken to a parking lot in Santa Ana where the agents put him in shackles. He had chains on his wrists, his ankles, and around his waist. Then they loaded him onto another vehicle and drove him to a place he described as a kind of jail. There were no beds, he said, and everyone slept on the floor. Lopez and Morales were there as well.

At 5 am the following day, all three were taken to an airfield near the Mojave Desert, where they boarded a plane to Texas with around 35 other men from Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador.

First: Juan Flores Morales outside of this home in Tehuacan, Puebla in Mexico, on June 25, 2025. Last: Juan Flores Morales shows a document he signed prior to his deportation in Tehuacan, Puebla in Mexico, on June 25, 2025. Photos by Cristopher Rogel Blanquet for CalMatters

For the next few days, they were detained in an ICE tent camp in El Paso. Lopez said he was given a small bottle of water, potato chips and an apple. The cells were kept uncomfortably cold, he said, and the detainees were given only mylar blankets. When he asked to make a phone call, he was told he would need to share detailed information about the person he was calling – their name, address, place of work. He decided against it.

He said the agents told him that if he tried to talk to an attorney, he would be stuck there, under the same conditions, for eight months to a year. On Wednesday, just two days after he arrived in El Paso, he agreed to sign the voluntary deportation papers.

“How they treated you there, I would rather leave,” he said.

Oropeza signed the voluntary removal forms that day as well. Thirty minutes later, he was allowed to make his first call.

“I have a family, I have to provide for them,” he said. “I didn’t want to be stuck there.”

The next day, Lopez, Oropeza and Morales were driven across the border to Juárez, they said, along with dozens of other men from their cells who agreed to sign the forms. There, at a shelter set up by the Mexican government, they were able to shower, eat a hot meal and call their families.

They were also given 2,500 pesos – the equivalent of around $130 dollars – to make their way to somewhere else.

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This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

Homeless residents of some of California’s biggest cities increasingly are facing criminal penalties for the actions they take to survive on the street, according to a first-of-its-kind CalMatters analysis of data throughout the state.

Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson, which upended California’s homelessness strategy by allowing cities to enforce blanket bans on camping — even if no shelter beds are available. Immediately after the decision, unhoused Californians and the people who help them reported seeing an increase in enforcement. But CalMatters’ reporting, gleaned from more than 100 public records requests, appears to be the first statewide effort to quantify that increase.

CalMatters analyzed data on arrests and citations for camping and other homelessness-related offenses for 2024, comparing the six months before the June 28 Supreme Court decision to the six months after. We found increases in cities throughout the state, even in those where local leaders said they didn’t change their policy as a result of Grants Pass.

Here are some of the places with the most significant increases, according to police data:

• In San Francisco, then-mayor London Breed promised to be “very aggressive” in moving encampments following the Grants Pass decision. She delivered: Arrests and citations for illegal lodging increased from 71 in the six months before the ruling to 427 in the six months after — a 500% increase.
• Even though Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass spoke out against the Grants Pass decision, calling it “disappointing” and vowing to lead with housing instead of enforcement, homelessness-related arrests increased 68% after the ruling.
• Citations and arrests doubled in San Diego, which also doubled the size of its police teams that respond to homelessness.
• In Sacramento, the number of citations and arrests nearly tripled – from 96 in the six months before Grants Pass, to 283 in the six months after. From January through May 2025, Sacramento police had already issued 844 citations and arrests, suggesting enforcement continues to trend upward.
• Stockton issued just 14 homelessness-related citations in the six months before the Grants Pass decision. In the six months after the ruling came out, that number jumped to 213.
• It wasn’t just big cities that saw more enforcement: Citations and arrests increased by more than two-thirds in Ukiah, on the North Coast, and more than doubled in Merced, in the San Joaquin Valley.

The ruling, which found that the city of Grants Pass, Oregon did not violate the constitution by banning encampments throughout the city when no shelter was available, accelerated a shift toward a pro-enforcement approach to homelessness. Buoyed by voters fed up with large encampments near their homes, Gov. Gavin Newsom used the opportunity to urge cities to ramp up enforcement and pass anti-camping ordinances.

The people making the case for enforcement argue it’s a type of “tough love” that’s sometimes necessary to get people off the street. If someone refuses multiple offers of help, the threat of arrest might make them finally say yes, said San Diego Police Department Capt. Steve Shebloski.

“I hope nobody has to go to jail, and I hope everybody takes services,” he said. “I just dont think that’s the reality of where we’re at with certain individuals.”

The type of help police can offer varies widely by city and situation. In San Diego, the Homeless Outreach Team, which includes police officers as well as social workers and mental health professionals, is supposed to offer shelter before issuing citations or making arrests. Between May 2024 and May 2025, that team made 357 placements into housing or shelter, Shebloski said. People refused help 2,471 times, he said. And they accepted another form of services 3,578 times, from a referral to a treatment program, to a ride to an appointment, to a new toothbrush. The department does not track how many people wanted shelter but couldn’t get it.

In Stockton, police take a more hands-off approach: They hand out flyers with six phone numbers people can call to reach homeless shelters and other organizations.

But shelter beds aren’t always available. Last year, California had more than 187,000 unhoused residents, and fewer than 76,000 year-round shelter and transitional housing beds, according to data compiled by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Doctors, academics and social workers who work with people on the street often say arrests make it harder for unhoused people to get back on their feet. When someone living outside gets a citation, they often miss their court date — they might lose the ticket or simply forget the date amidst the chaos of life on the street — which leads the court to issue a warrant for their arrest. People with active warrants can’t qualify for many housing and treatment programs.

“They don’t understand. It’s not camping. It’s surviving.”

Beverly Harding, 58, Sacramento

In many situations, people cited or arrested for homelessness-related crimes are never charged, or the charges are quickly dismissed. But the threat of an arrest can be just as disruptive as the arrest itself. People leave their campsites to avoid getting taken to jail, and in so doing, lose touch with the outreach workers trying to connect them with housing and other services.

“In a weird way, it undermines the housing process to such an extent that you end up working for homelessness and against the people who are experiencing homelessness,” said Brett Feldman, director of street medicine at USC.

Some leaders are pushing back against the enforcement mindset. This week, two Democratic Congress members introduced the “Housing Not Handcuffs Act,” which would prohibit federal agencies from punishing people for living outside if they have no other option.

Grants Pass made no difference, say cities where arrests and citations spiked

In the year since the Grants Pass decision, at least 50 cities and three counties in California passed new ordinances targeting homeless encampments, according to a recent analysis by UC Berkeley Law students and faculty. Some ban camping only in specific areas, such as near schools, waterways or levees, while others ban camping throughout the entire city. Some cities, such as Fresno, made camping a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail and $1,000 in fines.

Even cities that didn’t pass ordinances started cracking down on encampments with new vigor, using old rules.

To quantify that crackdown, CalMatters filed more than 100 public records requests to police departments, sheriff’s offices, prosecutors and city and county governments for data on arrests, citations, charges filed and encampment removals. Those requests span a sample of about 35 large and small cities and counties throughout California. When requesting law enforcement data, CalMatters asked each agency to provide a list of the ordinances it uses to address homeless camps. In some cities that included ordinances that specifically prohibit encampments, but it could also include rules that ban sitting or lying on the sidewalk, impeding the right of way, storing belongings on public property and violating city park rules.

Los Angeles Councilmember Nithya Raman said she was surprised to see the data showing arrests related to homelessness increased 68% in her city, jumping from 920 in the six months before Grants Pass, to 1,549 in the six months after. Not all of those arrests led to someone being taken to jail. Some were what is called “noncustodial arrests,” where the person is released on site.

There were no policy changes in how the city dealt with encampments after the Supreme Court ruling, Raman said. But the city continues to expand its list of “sensitive locations,” such as near schools, where it bans encampments, she said.

“One of the city’s top priorities is to reduce unsheltered homelessness and bring people indoors and off the streets,” Raman said. “Our urgency to do that did not come from the Grants Pass decision in any way, shape or form. We were already focused on that.”

Mayor Bass’ office did not respond to requests for comment.

But Feldman, who provides medical care in encampments on the streets of Los Angeles, said he saw a noticeable change after the Supreme Court ruling. Suddenly, the areas where his team used to regularly find people were empty. That was a problem, because only about 5% of the team’s patients have reliable cell phones. If medics can’t find their patients, they can’t give them important follow-up care — such as their monthly antipsychotic injection or medicine to treat opioid addiction. As a result, their patients get sicker.

“It was really tough for a few months,” Feldman said, though he believes enforcement has gone back down to pre-Grants Pass levels in recent months. That’s because most people have moved out of the heavily enforced areas (such as around schools) and re-settled in places that escape police notice, he said.

The data CalMatters obtained from the Los Angeles Police Department does not include 2025 information.

San Diego similarly did not pass a new camping ban after Grants Pass. Its “unsafe camping” ordinance passed in 2023, and police also enforce older rules that prohibit encroaching on the public right of way. Shebloski says Grants Pass hasn’t changed anything in San Diego, despite the correlated increase in enforcement — 524 arrests and citations in the six months before Grants Pass, and 1,045 in the six months after. That’s because the police department added officers to its Neighborhood Police Division and Homeless Outreach Team, under the direction of its new police chief — which coincidentally lined up with Grants Pass, he said.

“I can tell you there’s absolutely zero operational direction that, ‘Grants Pass is now passed, go out there and write tickets,’” he said.

Outreach workers struggle to find clients

Beverly Harding, 58, has been on the streets for about 10 years. For the last year of that time, she was sleeping in a makeshift tent she pitched in various places along X Street in Sacramento, by attaching tarps to the shopping cart that held her food.

She still cries sometimes when recounting her run-ins with police, who she says have confiscated treasured items, including a necklace that held her mother’s ashes. An arrest last fall was particularly traumatic. A friend’s dog had bitten her wrist a few days before, and she’d gone to the hospital for treatment, she said. When the officers grabbed her injured wrist and handcuffed her, Harding said she almost passed out from the pain. She said she still gets shooting pains through her damaged wrist.

“They don’t understand,” Harding said. “It’s not camping. It’s surviving. And if you don’t have a home, where else are you going to try to survive? Anywhere you can.”

These days, the authorities are moving unhoused people around Sacramento on a daily basis, said Joe Smith. He’s the director of residential services for homeless services nonprofit Hope Cooperative and board chair for the county’s continuum of care, which coordinates the area’s response to homelessness. Because of that movement, Smith said, people are seeking out hidden spots to sleep, away from the gaze of law enforcement.

That’s making it harder for outreach workers, who have housing and other services to offer, to find their homeless clients. Smith saw that first-hand last fall. An unhoused man finally got a spot in Smith’s Hope Landing housing program after years of trying to get off the streets, but no one could find him. The program pushed his move-in date back three times, in hopes that someone would be able to track him down.

The client eventually resurfaced and Smith was able to get him into housing earlier this month. It was just in time: A few more days, and the client would have lost the spot and had to start the entire process over. Even so, the delay meant he needlessly spent about six extra months on the street.

Smith, who was homeless himself between 2005 and 2011, said he’s “deeply concerned” the increase in enforcement is making other people lose out on housing opportunities.

“How devastating is that?” he asked. “Surviving outside becomes a lifestyle for you, and your ticket out comes up and nobody can find you. What a shame that is.”

A missing tent doesn’t mean someone has found housing

Shortly after the Grants Pass decision, then-Mayor Breed vowed to crack down on homeless encampments. What difference did the 500% increase in arrests and citations make in the city?

The number of tents and structures on San Francisco’s streets dipped to 222 in March — the lowest it’s been since the city began counting regularly in April 2019. That’s down from 360 in April 2024.

But just because someone has ditched their tent doesn’t mean they are off the street.

“Most people are just sleeping on cardboard or on the street and moving every night,” said Chris Herring, a UCLA professor of sociology who researches homelessness in San Francisco and beyond.

In Stockton, the city launched a “take back our parks” campaign to crack down on encampments after Grants Pass. Around the same time, the police department was recovering from a COVID-19 pandemic-era staffing shortage and increased its staffing in the departments that typically respond to homeless encampments.

Police issued hardly any citations for violating park rules (including camping, drinking and lighting fires in a public park) or obstructing sidewalks in the six months before the Grants Pass ruling. In the six months after, police cited people for those offenses 213 times.

Police give a 72-hour warning before they clear an encampment, said Officer David Scott, public information officer for the Stockton Police Department. If people don’t move after those 72 hours are up, officers may cite them. In rare cases, if someone is being combative, police may make an arrest instead, he said.

Police also hand out flyers with phone numbers people can call for housing, shelter beds, showers, meals and other resources.

“We’re always going to be out there,” Scott said. “We want to provide those resources and help to those individuals that are vulnerable. And we’re going to continue the efforts in that area. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to make sure that our city is safe and as clean as we can get it.”

The flyers list numbers for six service providers (including one that’s listed twice). But there’s no guarantee any will be able to help with whatever the homeless person calling needs. St. Mary’s Community Services, one of the providers listed, had two-dozen beds available across its men’s, women’s and recuperative care programs as of June 25. A week before, it had just 11. None were available for families.

Police have no way of tracking whether anyone calling St. Mary’s or the other providers gets help, or whether they just move a few blocks down the road and start the cycle over again.

And for some people, police interactions don’t stop just because they’ve moved indoors.

After living on the streets for about a decade, Harding recently moved into a community of tiny homes for homeless residents in Sacramento, where case workers are supposed to help her find permanent housing.

Shortly after, Harding and her boyfriend were hanging out in front of a nearby laundromat, using the Wi-Fi. She was downloading music onto her phone, and he was downloading games. Harding said they had a thin blanket over them, because it was cold.

An officer showed up and told them camping wasn’t allowed there, and they had to move, Harding said.

“I said, ‘Excuse me. I’m not camping. I live next door.’”

Aaron Schrank and Lisa Halverstadt contributed to this story.

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This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

County Supervisor Steve Madrone and Humboldt County’s Planning and Building Director John Ford addressed concerns and refuted misinformation about the McKinleyville Town Center Project at a standing-room-only meeting of the McKinleyville Municipal Advisory Committee (MMAC) last night. 

The Town Center Project is a proposed development project that would add blocks of pedestrian and cyclist-focused retail and housing space to McKinleyville, as well as a park and other outdoor amenities, as a way to add a central hub to a sprawling, suburban town. 

The MMAC didn’t end up voting on approving a draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) or the draft ordinance at this meeting, instead kicking it to the next meeting on July 30. 

It’s contentious. The draft EIR runs over 1,000 pages, giving both detractors and advocates plenty of material to complain about. Ford and Madrone talked for hours about the community’s concerns, and even distributed a six-page leaflet created by the building department addressing many of them.

Wetlands are one of the community’s main concerns, taking up about one page out of 12 on a letter addressed to Ford penned by a group of concerned citizens. 

Defining what, exactly, constitutes a wetland is almost straightforward. There are what are called three-parameter wetlands (basically: the land is water-logged, supports wetland vegetation, and is composed of soils unique to wetlands), and there are single-parameter wetlands that only need the wetland soils to count as a wetland. Different agencies use different standards. The Town Center Ordinance uses the three-parameter standard. 

According to Ford, they found about 0.64 acres of single-parameter wetland on the property spread out over four chunks on the western side. It’s currently being grazed by animals and maintained by lawnmowers. Fourteen acres of that has been set aside to make a park that would also include a grove of spruce trees. 

By law, any wetlands developers fill in must be replaced at a ratio of 1.5 to 1; if one square foot of wetlands is filled in, it’ll be replaced by a foot and a half. Madrone said the best sections of wetlands would be preserved and linked together to form one “high-value” wetland, with a stream. 

Commenters at the meeting and online also demanded that there be an affordable housing requirement if developers want to build on the property. So far, the only planned development on the parcel is a senior citizen community called Life Plan Humboldt, but its zoning requirements could total over 2,500 housing units and 900,000 square feet of retail and office space. 

In an interview with the Outpost today, Ford said the planning department would likely take the step of including some affordability requirements in the zoning laws, which he said was a little unusual but made sense to do if people wanted it.

The McKinleyville Town Center project has been on McKinleyville’s Community Plan since 2002, but community members and government officials didn’t start drafting an ordinance that would shape how it looks and operates until 2019. The project site is mostly located west of Central Avenue on 134 acres (owned by Anne Pierson, descendant of Pierson’s Building Supply founder and totem pole constructor Ernest Pierson) behind the McKinleyville Shopping Center, though a small chunk extends east across Central and envelops Pierson Park. 

It’s a big space, and those 2,500-something housing units could fit over 6,000 people. It would be a huge increase for McKinleyville (population 16,000), and the 36% increase was bandied about a few times. 

Some commenters also didn’t like the idea that the Town Center could be made up of four-story buildings, which they thought was too high. Others, such as the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities’ president Colin Fiske, said they were disappointed buildings wouldn’t be built to the full 75 foot height its zoning allows. 

Madrone reminded people that any increase would happen gradually over the course of several decades, and that Humboldt County was still dealing with a housing crisis and affordability issues. 

“This is not easy stuff, right?” Madrone said. “Nobody’s, like, ‘Oh yeah, let’s just grow the town by 36%.’ A lot of people [think] we already grew too fast. A lot of housing has been put into the community, but it’s been single family housing that’s spread out. We have a little bit of land left; we’re going to keep doing that? Are we going to do a little bit of stuff [vertically] up and create a vibrant town center?” 

Ford said he was grateful for the comments and looked forward to developing the ordinance further. 

“No process is perfect,” Ford said. “No ordinance will ever be perfect, but this has been an intentional desire to engage the community in a discussion about what’s important in the town center. There are people whose fingerprints are on it — even some people who feel like they haven’t been heard.”

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PREVIOUSLY: TODAY in SUPES: Arroyo Delivers Presentation on Local Medical Provider Challenges

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Dear Supervisors:

We commend Supervisor Arroyo for taking a lead role in heightening attention to the health care crisis facing many of our residents, and the Board of Supervisors for paying early attention.

Each of you represents a district within a county that is among the most geographically isolated  in the State of California. All districts represent a county with the 52nd lowest per capita income of the State of California! 

This County is critically underserved on many levels when it comes to adequate health care. There is a crisis unfolding before our very eyes, a crisis that we must confront sooner rather than later. Health care is a human right in a civilized society, yet the health care crisis Humboldt County is experiencing disproportionately places at risk, at times with devastating consequences, low-income individuals and families just above the medicare income cap, fragile elders, those without adequate social support systems and those with private or no insurance who cannot access medical care locally.

Your Human Rights Commission urges action immediately to address the decreasing number of doctors and healthcare services within our area. Experts have noted that since 2005, [there has been] a 28% reduction in primary care physicians and a more than 33% loss of surgical and medical specialists. Our population is aging, continues to be low in income, and is far removed from population centers where these needs could be better met.

The Human Rights Commission urges the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, as leaders with the interest of the entire county as your portfolio, to join with interested institutions such as Cal Poly Humboldt, College of the Redwoods, our chambers of commerce and others in convening a public process to identify public solutions and generate action to confront the crisis. Such action is not to criticize or doubt our health care institutions, but to recognize that the public interest is larger, is not exactly the same, and may likely have other assets available to complement their activity. 

This isn’t so much a matter of throwing money at a problem as it is thinking “outside the box.”

Our economic, educational, and health futures depend on decisive steps being taken. Recent conferences such as Supporting Healthy Aging and Surveying our Medical Landscape have drawn a bleak picture of a critical component of our infrastructure if we do not begin taking action now.

The Human Rights Commission stands ready to assist in whatever way is useful. We are not health experts either, but we recognize the future of our county is dependent as much on healthy communities as it is on prosperous ones.

Respectfully,

Jim Glover, Chair
Humboldt County Human Rights Commission

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On June 25, 2025, at about 9:30 p.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the 100 block of Hookton Cemetery Road in Loleta for a report of a gunshot victim. Initial reports indicated that a 27-year-old male suspect arrived at his father’s residence and caused a disturbance outside. The suspect then fired shots from outside into the residence, then forced his way inside, where a shooting occurred.

Deputies arrived on scene and located a 52-year-old male victim with three gunshot wounds. The victim was alert and transported to a local hospital for medical treatment. The suspect was not located at the scene.

At approximately 9:46 p.m., the suspect was reported [located] at a local hospital seeking medical care for gun shot wounds. Deputies responded to the hospital and confirmed the individual’s involvement in the incident. Due to the suspect’s ongoing medical treatment, further information will be released at a later time, pending medical clearance and investigative procedures.

This incident remains under investigation. Additional information will be released as it becomes available.

Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the HCSO Major Crimes Division at (707) 268-2539.