Brother Jonathan Glinsey was born December 10, 1959 to Phyllis Ann Fields and Arthur Glinsey Sr. in Indianapolis.

He later moved from San Bernardino to Eureka. Jonathan married Carolyn Ann Thomas on June 22, 2019 in Eureka. He was a member of Galilee Baptist Church, where he felt comfort and spiritually supported by Pastor Burke. Jonathan went home to be with the lord on November 2, 2021.

He loved dancing and pop locking. He was a hard worker all his life. No matter what the job was, he always worked hard to get it done to the best of his ability. He was fun, loving, caring and loved to make people laugh. He had jokes for days. He was still trying to dance and joke till the day he was called upon by the lord. He enjoyed holiday decorating at home as well as decorating the outside of his bonus daughter’s house with lights and reindeer yearly for Christmas. Jonathan loved to clean and detail everyone’s vehicle when the opportunity came. He sang beautifully when his songs came on the radio and often with no radio at all. His favorite music to sing was Gospel and Christmas music. He loved to sing in church as well.

Jonathan was well grounded with the word of God. He loved worshiping and quoting the Bible. His favorite Bible verse he often quoted was John 3:16, “For God so loved the world.”

Jonathan was a fun, loving, caring husband, father, brother, brother in-law, grandfather, uncle and friend. He is survived by his wife Carolyn Thomas-Glinsey, sister’s Vanessa Martin and Marshell Patterson, his Sons Dante Halbert, Jonathan Glinsey, Johnathan Summers, and Joshua Glinsey. His Daughters, Tiffany Glinsey and LaToya Glinsey. He also had three bonus daughters from his marriage to Carolyn as well as multiple grandchildren, one great-grandson, and multiple nephews and nieces.

The celebration of his fun loving life will be held at Galilee Baptist Church December 4, 2021 at 3132 E St, in Eureka at 1 p.m. Please remember, masks are required to attend and there will be masks on site if needed. It will also be on Facebook live. Due to COVID-19 there will be no potluck following the celebration.

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

Libby Ann Cerny passed away on Wednesday, November 24, 2021. She was born on July 24, 1925 in Berwyn, Illinois the daughter of Francis and Anton Gabriel; both parents were originally from Czechoslovakia.

The family moved to Eureka when Libby was about three years old, as her parents assumed jobs for Hammond Lumber Company. The family lived on the logging camps at several camps above Cranell and Fieldbrook where her parents ran the cookhouse for the camps. There was Camp 1, Camp 20, Camp 46 and so on. Anton was the primary chef for the Cookhouse and known across Hammond Lumber Company for his famous flapjacks and the feasts feeding the hungry lumberjacks. One of Libbys early memories was being propped up in the cookhouse kitchen and turning the big wheel coffee grinder, which she thought was fun. Living in the lumber camps they moved a lot all by rail car, cookhouse and all. All of the family belongings fit in one steamer trunk at that time. The two main lumber camps they lived on was in Crannell and lastly was Big Lagoon.

Libby attended pre- and elementary school in Crannell, Arcata High School and graduated from Humboldt State attaining her teaching credentials. She taught in Orick on a substitute basis, the elementary school in Crannell, and primarily taught 4th Grade at Cutten Elementary School before retiring after 37 years in 1984.

She married her childhood sweetheart Frank Joseph Cerny on July 4, 1948. Prior to being married, Frank was already in the Marine Corps, stationed in Yokuska, Japan for World War II. When Frank was deployed she would anxiously await news from Frank and for when he would be home on leave. He was placed on military reserves at the end of World War II in 1945. It was during this time they both attended Humboldt State. Shortly after being married their first child, Frank Joseph Cerny, Jr., was born on April 25, 1949. Frank was called from the reserves to active duty in 1951 for the Korean Conflict. Frank was able to attend officer training in Quantico prior to being deployed to Korea. Libby and two-year-old Frank Jr. moved to Virginia while Frank attended officers school. Once he was to be deployed they drove back across country and Libby and Frank Jr. joined her parents during the time Frank was away. In 1952 Frank returned home and they moved to Samoa. Son Tony was added to the family in 1953. Libby and Frank built and moved the family to their new Eureka home in 1956.

Libby is survived by her son Tony and his wife Janice Cerny, nephews Bart Christen, Mark and his wife Tina Christen and their children Frankie and husband Dustin Flores, Hannah and AJ Christen; niece Susan and husband Steve Aherns; cousin Dennis and wife Leeann Fleishman; several nieces, nephews and cousins in the Czech Republic. She was preceded in death by her husband Frank Cerny, her eldest son Frank Cerny Jr.; father Anton and mother Francis Gabriel; sister Antoinette (Toni) and brother-in-law Al Christen; and sister-in-law Mary Peterson.

Frank and Libby were married for 72 years and both lived a long and loving life. For the past 9 months Libby was residing at Alder Bay Assisted Living and received excellent care from Alder Bay as well as Hospice of Humboldt. Per their request, no services are planned, however donations may be made to Hospice of Humboldt who provide dignified and amazing loving care.

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

PREVIOUSLY

• Appeal of 8.5-Acre Cannabis Project Along the Eel River Triggers Debate About Weed Grows in Remote Humboldt
• Supervisors Add Conditions But Narrowly Deny Appeal of Rolling Meadow Ranch Cannabis Project in Remote SoHum
• Environmental Groups Sue Humboldt County Over Rolling Meadow Ranch Cannabis Project Near McCann

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A southern Humboldt landowner, working with a trio of environmental groups, has filed a second lawsuit against the County of Humboldt over an 8.5-acre cannabis project on the banks of the Eel River. 

The Rolling Meadow Ranch project, located near the remote community of McCann, was approved by the Humboldt County Planning Commission back in January and then appealed to the Board of Supervisors, who narrowly denied the appeal in March. 

The following month, the county and the Board of Supervisors were sued by project neighbor Mary Gaterud, the Northcoast Environmental Center (NEC) and Citizens for a Sustainable Humboldt. The suit claimed that the county’s environmental review process was woefully inadequate on numerous fronts.

Today, the NEC issued a press release (published below) announcing that a second lawsuit has been filed against the county, and also alleging (in the press release) that First District Supervisor Rex Bohn may have an undeclared conflict of interest and therefore should have recused himself from the appeal process. [NOTE: This post originally stated that the lawsuit alleges a conflict of interest. A follow-up email from a member of the involved environmental groups says that while the press release alleges a potential conflict, that allegation is not part of the lawsuit.]

The press release further alleges that since the appeal was denied, the county has granted applicant Rolling Meadow Ranch, LLC, grading permits “and other questionable approvals,” thereby drastically altering the project in ways that could lead to more potentially significant environmental impacts.

“These intolerable actions render the entire environmental review process a performative farce,” the press release states.

We reached out to Bohn to ask about the conflict-of-interest allegation. He said the claim stems from the business dealings of his 37-year-old son, Trevor Bohn, who has done some site-preparation work on the project and is selling the owner some greenhouses.

“I don’t have a conflict because I don’t have any financial gain in this whatsoever,” Bohn said.

He explained that he recently declared his son’s involvement to the county but was assured by county counsel that the situation didn’t constitute a conflict of interest. Bohn also acknowledged that he helped the property owner, octogenarian Florida resident Andrew Machata, during the permit process but added, “I help people from all over the county with their permits.”

Bohn said his son wasn’t working on the project when the permit came before the Board of Supervisors on appeal, though he can’t say for sure when Trevor’s involvement began.

“I don’t know because I don’t ask what Trevor does,” Bohn said.

Here’s the press release:

Northcoast Environmental Center (NEC), Redwood Region Audubon Society (RRAS), Citizens for a Sustainable Humboldt (CSH), and neighbor Mary Gaterud have been forced to file a second lawsuit challenging Humboldt County over the Rolling Meadow Ranch, LLC (RMR) industrial scale cannabis project located in a remote rural neighborhood.

In this additional lawsuit, the groups ask the Court to: 

1. suspend all County decisions approving the Project Changes pending trial,
2. issue an order vacating all post-approval Project Changes, and suspending all Project activity that could result in any change or alteration to the physical environment until the County and the Project applicant have taken actions that may be necessary to bring the Project Changes into compliance with CEQA,
3. require the County to prepare, circulate, and consider a new and legally adequate EIR and to comply with CEQA in any subsequent action taken to approve the Project.

This very controversial development project, opposed by the neighbors, the community, six environmental groups, the local Fire Protection District, and 1,979 petition signers, was approved by the Planning Commission on January 21, 2021, upon the recommendation of Planning Department Staff.

The neighbors brought an Appeal of this land use decision before the County Board of Supervisors, asking them to deny Approval of the Project. The Board denied the Appeal (thus upholding the Approval) by a 3 to 2 vote on March 9th, 2021, resulting in an adoption of an insufficient “Initial Study / Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND)” and approval of six Conditional Use Permits (CUPs). 

Supervisors Bohn, Bushnell, and Bass voted to deny the Appeal. Mike Wilson and Steve Madrone dissented, voting against Approval of a Project with obvious, unmitigated issues. Larry Glass, Board President of the NEC, says, “I believe Wilson and Madrone voted against this Project because everyone knew it wasn’t in compliance.”

Supervisor Rex Bohn has subsequently admitted that an immediate family member is a stakeholder in this Project, and would be working for the Florida based Project Applicant. According to the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors Code of Ethics, our elected officials have a responsibility to be “fair in their judgement and actions,” and:

“In order to assure their independence and impartiality in the County’s best interest, Board members shall not use their official positions to influence decisions in which they have a conflict of interest of any nature. All Board members shall use their best efforts to refrain from creating even the appearance of impropriety in their actions and decisions.”

At a minimum, an abstention from voting on the Appeal would have allowed Supervisor Bohn to avoid the appearance of corruption, as is mandated by County Policy.

Since this Approval, amidst pending litigation, the Applicant has sought and obtained grading permits and other questionable approvals from the County that include changes to the Project that are inconsistent with mandatory provisions of the adopted Conditions of Approval, the Humboldt County Cannabis Ordinance, and other local and state land use regulations.  

These changes are drastic revisions to the approved Plan, and include no provision for the requisite rainwater catchment for fire suppression, grading of slopes in excess of 15% which violates the original “Prime-Ag Soils” designation, and operations without a PG&E power drop. This requires the use of many high wattage generators in excess of what was originally approved, dependent upon the transport of volatile fuel by large delivery trucks on inadequate roads, vastly increasing wildfire risk.

Another change includes the use of a private road as the main route to proposed cultivation sites, for which the Applicant does not have legal access. During the 2020 review process for the Project Description, the owner of this road lodged a publicly recorded objection to this trespass. In response, the Applicant and the County modified the Project Description in a revised IS/MND to reflect a longer, more circuitous route that addressed this concern and did not cross the neighbor’s property.  

Since Project construction has begun, not only has the Applicant been using this unapproved route, The County, by issuing grading permits depicting this route as the main access, has tacitly sanctioned this ongoing hostile trespass, and violated CEQA.

Additionally, the Condition of Approval requiring the Applicant to obtain a Lake and Streambed Alteration Agreement (LSAA) from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) for the secondary access route to the site via Alderpoint Road — which, according to the revised IS/MND has multiple documented stream crossings (34) requiring remediation prior to commencement of project construction and operations — has not been upheld. The LSAA granted by CDFW also includes the unauthorized, unanalyzed trespass route, and neglects to address a number of stream crossings on the main access route depicted in the IS/MND. As the lead agency, the County has a duty to ensure that its permitting process is integrated and aligned with that of CDFW’s.

Because these unanalyzed post-approval changes may cause potentially significant impacts to the environment, they are subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and subsequent environmental review.

The Groups involved in the original lawsuit formally alerted RMR and the County to the trespass issue and environmental noncompliance in a letter dated October 29, 2021. When presented with a substantiated explanation of the issues, the County dismissively defended the Project, as modified.

The County’s on-going concessions to the Applicant, which violate its own requirements, represents a serious and egregious breakdown in governmental oversight. These intolerable actions render the entire environmental review process a performative farce — weighted in favor of the financial interests of a private individual at the expense of the Environment and Humboldt County residents.

Mary Gaterud, a neighbor of the Project, and small cultivator who has gone through the County’s permitting process, is aghast at the inequity of the treatment afforded the Project Applicant. She says, “I am shocked by the uneven application of the law. This guy gets a pass from the County to break all the rules, while local legacy cultivators have been bled dry, jumping through all the hoops, trying to meet those same rules? They were designed to mitigate the impacts of exactly this kind of industrial operation… and yet they are not being applied in this case. The County is encouraging illegal cultivation operations with unanalyzed and unmitigated environmental impacts via a hostile trespass. Why is that? I’d be abated, fined, and possibly arrested for similar behavior.”

This blatant display of pay-to-play cronyism on the part of elected public officials and County Staff, salaried by Humboldt County tax dollars, must be challenged.

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DOCUMENT: Complaint from NEC et al.

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On Nov. 28, 2021, at about 11:51 a.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the area of the North Jetty for the report of a possible domestic violence situation.

Due to the location of the incident, a California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) warden was also dispatched to respond. A CDFW warden arrived and located 36-year-old Arthur Austin Streb and an adult victim. The victim was found to have moderate physical injuries resulting from a domestic violence incident.

Based upon the findings of their investigation, Sheriff’s deputies placed Streb under arrest. During their investigation, deputies also found Streb to be in possession of approximately 5 grams of cocaine.

Streb was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of attempted forcible rape (PC 273.5(a)), assault with intent to commit rape (PC 220), preventing/dissuading a victim (PC 136.1(a)), inflicting corporal injury on a spouse (PC 273.5(a)), possession of a controlled substance (HS 11350) and criminal threats (PC 422).

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.

Humboldt State University release: 

In order to best protect the campus community, beginning Wednesday, Dec. 1, proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test result will be required for any visitor who is over the age of 12 accessing campus events unless they are staff, faculty, or a student.

[PLEASE NOTE: students and employees are not required to show proof of vaccination or negative test results because under University requirements, they have been either fully vaccinated or, if granted an exemption, are getting tested regularly for COVID-19.]
Attendees to events (indoors and outdoors) will have the option of showing:

• an HSU staff, faculty, or student ID
• OR proof of vaccination
• OR proof of a negative test result within 72 hours of arrival.

Regardless of vaccination status or test status, all attendees age 2 and older must wear a mask at all times while on campus except in designated dining areas while actively eating or drinking.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What if my child is under the age of 12?

Your child is always welcome to visit Humboldt State University. When entering an HSU facility, inform those at the door of your child’s age. Your child will be required to mask during the duration of the event if they are over the age of 2.

What can I show as a proof of vaccination?

You can show any of the following:

• Physical CDC Vaccination Card for COVID-19 or a photo/screenshot of your vaccination card
• State of California Digital COVID-19 Vaccination Record
• A printout from any state health department or physician’s office with your vaccination information stated clearly

What do I show as proof of a negative test?

Any photo/screenshot that shows the date of the test result and the date the test was taken or a printout of an official email from a lab with the test results and testing date clearly printed.

What events does this new policy apply to?

This applies to all events on campus (both indoors and outdoors). HSU students and employees will not be required to show proof of vaccination because under University requirements, they have been either fully vaccinated or, if granted an exemption, are getting tested weekly.

What if I lost my HSU ID?

Students and employees can show hosts their myhumboldt page. Log into myhumboldt and use the main page, which includes your student/employee identification number, as proof of ID. To order a replacement HSU ID, please fill out this form.

With Eureka Police Department Chief Steve Watson’s final day on the job before retirement scheduled for Tuesday, the City of Eureka announced Monday that an interim chief is expected to be named in the next 30 days. Until that announcement can be made, current EPD captain Brian Stephens will take on chiefly duties.

It’s worth noting that a name for potential interim chief is floating about in the ether. During an appearance on LoCO’s Humboldt Holding Up this past week, Chief Watson mentioned that Todd Jarvis, a retired assistant chief with the San Diego Police Department, is currently going through a background check with the aim of assuming the role. 

Stay tuned and read the City of Eureka’s release below: 

The City of Eureka continues to work towards appointing an Interim Police Chief to serve Eureka as the City recruits for a permanent Chief of Police. Appointment of the Interim Chief is expected within the next 30 days. Effective December 1 st, Captain Brian Stephens will be the acting Police Chief until the Interim appointment is made.

Chief Watson will retire effective Dec. 1

Acting Police Chief Stephens began his service to the City of Eureka in 1999 as an officer and served as a Field Training Officer, Instructor of Defensive Tactics and Chemical Agents. After spending 4 years as a Special Agent with the Humboldt County Drug Task Force, Stephens returned to EPD and promoted to Sargent. In November of 2014, Acting Chief Stephens was appointed Captain. Chief Stephens holds a Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST)Management Certificate and also graduated from the FBI Academy in June of 2018.

Acting Chief Stephens stated “I look forward to this opportunity to maintain the continuity of leadership within the department and will continue placing the members of our department and residents of our City first”.

“Acting Chief Stephens is well respected and a proven leader at the department”, said City Manager Miles Slattery. “I’m grateful that he is willing to serve and lead EPD during this transition.”

PREVIOUSLY: 

• WATSON ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT: Eureka Police Chief to Leave Position at the End of Next Month
• EPD Texting Investigation is Finalized, Though Not Yet Cleared for Release; Watson’s Retirement ‘Absolutely Not’ Related to Findings, Chief and City Manager Say
• HUMBOLDT HOLDING UP: Retiring Eureka Police Chief Steve Watson on the Challenges and Successes of His Time With EPD

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On Nov. 28, 2021, at about 8:30 p.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies on patrol near Loleta conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle for expired registration.

During the traffic stop, deputies learned that the driver, 39-year-old Demarcus Earl Conley, was a convicted felon restricted from possessing firearms. Deputies observed a rifle case inside the vehicle in plain view. Inside the case, deputies located an unloaded firearm that did not have a serial number, commonly known as a “ghost gun.”

Conley was arrested and booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of felon in possession of a firearm (PC 29800(a)(1)), manufacturing a firearm without obtaining a serial number (PC 29180(G)) and driving with a suspended license (VC 14601.1(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.