Marilyn Louise Barnes Van Deventer Goodwin
July 31, 1939 – October 23, 2021

Marilyn Louise Barnes Van Deventer Goodwin passed away peacefully on October 23, 2021, at Seaview Rehabilitation and Wellness Center at the age of 82. Known as Mary Lou to her friends, and Lou Lou to her grandchildren and employees at Eureka Florist, she lived her life in service to her community.

Mary Lou was born on July 31, 1939, and raised in Fortuna. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education and a teaching credential at Humboldt State University, and was the charter president of the Delta Zeta Sorority, president of the California Student Teachers, and HSU Outstanding Woman of the Year in 1959. She married Clayton Andrew Van Deventer (Zeke) in 1960 and had children Jon and Kris. Mary Lou and Zeke became co-owners of her parents’ business, Barnes Tractor & Equipment in Fernbridge for many years and enjoyed snow skiing with family and friends in Ashland and Bend, Oregon. While raising her children, she was very active in the 4-H Gardening Club, Methodist Youth Group and Sunday School, first woman trustee on the Fortuna Elementary School Board, and member of the Humboldt County Grand Jury. After Zeke’s untimely death in 1990, she bought Eureka Florist and worked closely with her daughter and son-in-law for the next 30 years, actively supporting the Henderson Center Merchants Association.

She married Charles F. Goodwin Jr. in 1992 and they enjoyed being grandparents to Kyle, a Civil Engineer in Chico, and Kaitlyn, a Senior Epidemiologist at the Arizona State Public Health Department in Phoenix. She was a two-time president and 50-year member of Fortuna Garden Club and longtime member and past president of Eureka Sequoia Garden Club. She received certificates from the California Garden Clubs, Inc. (CGCI) Flower Show School and Landscape Design School. She was chairman of the Fortuna Daffodil Show and judged flower arranging and landscapes all over the state, including the State Fair in Sacramento. After serving on the CGCI Executive Committee for six years, she was elected as their 32nd President from 1991-1993. She was honored as the CGCI Woman of the Year for 2009 and in 2016 was presented the CGCI Lifetime Achievement Award.

Serving on the CGCI Landscape Design Council, she honored noteworthy gardens of California Wineries statewide and over 100 outstanding landscapes in Eureka. Her recent conservation project was at the Stagecoach Hill Azalea Reserve, north of Trinidad, where her garden club members took cuttings and seeds, which were propagated at the Redwood National and State Parks Nursery. She entered numerous flower arrangements in the Humboldt County Fair and later helped fill the Lath House with informational displays promoting the benefits of joining local garden clubs. Her Eureka Sequoia Garden Club members were instrumental in planting the beautiful hanging baskets that adorn Old Town Eureka, during the summer.

Mary Lou was a 50-year and third generation member of Eastern Star serving as Worthy Matron in 1972 and 1976, with Zeke by her side, in Ferndale Chapter. Long is the tradition of her family’s service in the Masonic organizations: father and husband 3rd degree Masons; grandmother & mother Eastern Star members; daughter and granddaughter Past Honored Queens of Job’s Daughters’ International; son a past DeMolay Master Counselor; and Chuck and grandson members of DeMolay International.

She was a charter member of Soroptimist International of Eel River Valley and encouraged her daughter to join the Eureka club, where she now serves as Governor of Founder Region. Mary Lou was dedicated to making the world a better and more beautiful place. She was a role model to many women and girls and touched the lives of so many in her community. She is survived by her loving husband of 29 years Chuck Goodwin; children Kris (Doug) Chorbi & Jon Van Deventer; grandchildren Kaitlyn (Connor) and Kyle Chorbi; sister Bette June (Steve) Gatewood; brother-in-law Alain Chaillet; nieces and nephews Garrett (Cheryll) Gatewood, Vanessa (Patrick) Riggs, Julien (Sandra) Chaillet, Annoushka Chaillet, and great nieces and nephews Jacob, Owen, Emma, Caleb, Vincent, Claire & Sasha. She is preceded in death by her first husband Zeke Van Deventer; mother & father Grace & Neal Barnes; and sister, Neale Ann Chaillet.

There will be a Public Celebration of Life reception on Saturday, November 27 from 2-4 p.m. at the Eureka Elks Lodge. Donations can be made to the Eureka Sequoia Garden Club in her memory to P.O. Box 479, Bayside, CA 95524-0479.

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

Edward Fracker
Oct. 26, 1928 – Sept. 7, 2021

Edward Fracker is the only son born to Mary and Edward G Fracker. His sister, Eleanor Van Wagner of Florida, 104 years old, tells us that he was a bit spoiled.

Ed was introduced to sailing at a very young age. A local Staten Island newspaper clipping he kept reads, “Ed Fracker, age 12, gains fame racing sailboat as a skipper.” Soon sailing, designing and making sails became his passion.

He grew up on Staten Island, N.Y. and graduated from New Dorp high school, where he played football and continued sailing boats. One of his winter time passions was ice sailing contests.

Ed was very proud of his forefather Thomas Fracker who was involved with the Tea Party of December 16, 1773. He actively protested taxation without representation.

Edward was drafted into the 279th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, I Company. Ed was wounded in Korea on top of Mt Baldy on July 3, 1952. Only 71 of the 172 men from Company I were able to walk down that mountain. His life was saved by a bulletproof vest, an incredible story in itself. He was later awarded the Purple Heart for being wounded that day.

After the war he was able to use the GI Bill to go to college. He attended Wagner College and graduated with a degree in chemical engineering.

Soon after he was married to his first wife Ann Shaff. They had three children — Mark, Eric and Christen. His first job after graduating was at Columbia Gas. Ed and Ann decided to start their own business, Fracker Sails in Cleveland Ohio. This is where Ed designed and patented a patch for sails. Business went well for them but they shut up shop in the ‘80s.

Ready for a change, Ed left Cleveland and moved to Seattle where he found a job at Ulmer Sail Loft. His passion for sailing made him many friends using the Sloop Tavern Yacht Club as his base.

Ed met his second wife Sharon in Seattle and ended up marrying her near her home in King Salmon. They spent many years living aboard their beloved boat “Fluffy.” They explored the West Coast from Canada to Mexico, often on other friends boats.

When they were done living aboard they settled into Sharon’s cottage in Eureka. Ed created his own sail loft and started Sails West making custom sails and doing repairs. During this time he also delivered boats, one from Seattle to Micronesia, another from South Africa to the East Coast.

Ed started volunteering for the VA driving veterans to doctors in San Francisco and locally too. He received a certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for his volunteer driving, 2001-2010.

Ed was active in the Humboldt Yacht Club. He loved sailing aboard Ed Matsen’s boat, probably because they won a lot. He was involved in the Junior Sailing classes at HYC. He also spent many hours volunteering on the “Golden Rule,” a boat used for education and promotion for the Veterans for Peace. He mostly did rigging and was frequently hoisted far up the mast in the boatswains chair. He did this well into his 80s. He loved sharing his knowledge about sailing and would share his wisdom freely.

He was amazingly healthy until the last year and a half of his life. He slowly lost his memory until it turned into extreme dementia. He contracted pneumonia about a week before he passed.

He is survived by so many friends and family and we all miss him. We love you, Eddie.

Marian Elaine (Johnson) Buck was born in Arcata on August 25, 1925. She died in her hometown on November 5, 2021 at the age of 96 after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease.

Marian was a lifelong resident of the Arcata/Bayside area, attending Old Canal School (on the Arcata Bottoms) and Pacific Union School, and graduating from Arcata High School in 1942. She left Humboldt County during World War II to pursue her lifelong career as a registered nurse.

While attending the three-year nursing program at Children’s Hospital School of Nursing in San Francisco, she joined the Navy Nurse Cadet Corp. The war ended before she graduated from nursing school in 1945, and her position as a cadet nurse was never activated. She returned to Humboldt County and practiced as a licensed registered nurse well into her late 80s. While raising her son, she enrolled at Humboldt State College to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing.

Her service to medicine started as a floor nurse at Trinity Hospital in Arcata. She also was assigned to the ambulance team at the Arcata Naval Auxiliary Air Station (now Arcata Airport), which was built during the war to test defogging systems (FIDO: Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation) for airplane landings. Marian worked for Drs. Donald Bux, Charles Earl, Neil Watter and — for the last 20+ years of her nursing career — for Dr. Lawrence Senffner.

Marian was active in Eastern Star, serving as a Worthy Matron and Deputy Grand Matron, and she was an active member of the Registered Nurse Chapter of the Philanthropic Educational Organization (PEO). As a lifelong member of the Arcata Presbyterian Church, she served on many church committees and boards. Marian also served on the formation committee of the Mad River Community Hospital after Trinity Hospital was sold and as president of the Arcata High School Parent-Teachers Association.

Throughout her active life, Marian enjoyed a monthly game of bridge with her friends. Bridge Club at Marian’s house always included a good meal, starched and ironed linen tablecloths and napkins.

Marian’s true passion was the vegetable and fruit garden she and her husband, Seth, nurtured at their second home in Willow Creek. Soon after the first frost, she would start planting tomato, cucumber, and melon seeds. The window in Marian and Seth’s spare bedroom at their Bayside home was filled with seedlings, which she turned gently on a daily basis. Planting and harvesting seasons were always busy times in Willow Creek; Marian and Seth did not grow just a few plants, rather they cultivated row after row of produce…all of which was harvested and prepared for winter. She was most proud of her lime pickles!

Family was always in her heart, and she loved to hear stories about her son’s, nieces’, and nephews’ adventures. She looked forward to Sunday dinners at Sally and Peter Lindke’s Arcata home and checking out Sally’s garden.

As her Parkinson’s progressed, Marian joined a new community at the Timber Ridge senior residence in McKinleyville, where she worked on complicated puzzles, attended weekly bingo games, and shared stories with her dining table friends.

Marian is survived by her son, Thomas Buck of Hawkins Bar; nieces, Sally (Levings) Lindke of Arcata (Peter Lindke), Susan Levings of San Francisco (Jeffrey Miller), Cynthia (Levings) Gill of Dixon (Roy Gill), Claudia Johnson of Eureka, Shawna (Buck) Johnson of Seattle (James Johnson), Wendy (Buck) Bennett of Martinez (Craig Bennett); great nieces and great nephews, Jennifer (Lindke) Balarie of San Pedro (Ben Balarie), Kenneth Lindke of Arcata (Melissa Reneski), Elizabeth Miller of New York City, Chope Gill of Woodland (Christy Gill), Paige Kiehn of Woodland (Matthew Kiehn), Rilie Bennett and Jerry Bennett of Martinez. She is preceded in death by her husband, Seth Buck; parents, Martin and Lorena Johnson; sister, Clarice (Johnson, Levings) Vanoncini and brother, Clyde Johnson.

A private family burial will be held at the Greenwood Cemetery in Arcata.

The family extends its sincere gratitude to the staff members at Timber Ridge McKinleyville and to Hospice of Humboldt for their exceptional care of Marian, and to the loving care by Dr. Lawrence and Ellen Senffner, and Kay Hollyman. Your acts of kindness are forever in our hearts.

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

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The main event at Tuesday’s remarkable meeting of the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors resembled a desperate intervention of sorts — or perhaps a criminal tribunal — as department heads, fiscal staff and supervisors took turns lambasting embattled Auditor-Controller Karen Paz Dominguez for being uncommunicative, vindictive and woefully behind in her office’s responsibilities. 

Tensions have been steadily building over the past couple of years around a variety of fiscal management issues, including overdue fiscal reporting, poor inter-departmental communication and various other matters. Lately the primary concern has been management of the county’s payroll function.

When Paz Dominguez assumed office at the beginning of 2019, payroll was managed by a more or less separate division within her office. Later it was moved into the Human Resources Department, then outsourced to an independent company, then moved back under HR before finally being moved back under the Auditor-Controller’s Office a couple of months ago, despite serious concerns voiced by some staff members. 

Meanwhile, Paz Dominguez has sparred with staff in the County Administrative Office, the Department of Health and Human Services and other departments while department heads complained that late fiscal reporting from her office was costing the county hundreds of thousands of dollars in state and federal reimbursements — allegations that she has repeatedly disputed.

Paz Dominguez has consistently held herself up as a reformer looking to overhaul the county’s fiscal management, which she characterizes as sloppy and vulnerable to manipulation and fraud. But staffers, department heads, supervisors and outside contractors have voiced increasing alarm over fiscal delays and other issues tied to her office, including an inability to get her to respond to emails and phone messages.

On Friday we reported that matters appear to be coming to a head. The Workforce Development Board is pursuing a vote of “no confidence” in Paz Dominguez and a letter submitted to the Board of Supervisors by anonymous county staffers threatens legal action or other measures in response to the “failures” of Paz Dominguez.

Well, today matters did indeed come to a head. Nominally, the item under discussion was a status report on the transition of payroll duties back to the Auditor-Controller’s Office. (It was on the consent calendar, but Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell pulled it for discussion.)

Paz Dominguez delivered a lengthy PowerPoint presentation on the matter — with occasional grilling from supervisors Bushnell and Rex Bohn, in particular. The exhibition was intricately detailed with graphs and graphics and included with a list of challenges hampering progress.

That list culminated with an allegation that her office has seen only “limited” support from county supervisors, department heads, deputy directors and managers, which is affecting employee morale. 

“And so I’m willing to put myself here on the stage and take ownership of my part in this challenge that we have,” she said. “I understand that my communication style may be different than what some people are used to.” But public griping — in the press and in meetings — has left employees feeling discouraged, she added.

Before she’d even completed her presentation, the floodgates opened. A couple of supervisors bristled at this characterization, and shortly thereafter dozens of employees called in and proceeded to unleash a litany of grievances.

Fourth District Supervisor and Board Chair Virginia Bass said she’s heard from employees who say they can’t even get a meeting with the Auditor-Controller. 

“Even today, you said you were too busy to be here,” Bass said.

Bushnell said she’s also had trouble communicating with Paz Dominguez. “In the past, I’ve emailed you questions. … I don’t know you, Karen. I’ve never even met you yet because of this pandemic. [But] I have emailed you questions and you shot back to me that I was being retaliatory. I’m not retaliatory. I’m trying to do my job the same as everybody else.”

She said someone called her last week to report that she hadn’t gotten her child support payment. This person was “bawling on the phone because she could not buy groceries,” Bushnell said. “I can’t get an answer for them. … What am I supposed to tell them? They also tried to call your office. They tried other pathways before they reached out to me. … And I understand that you say you don’t have time. But what am I supposed to tell my constituents when something like that happens? What am I supposed to tell other staff when they call me and say they didn’t get their paycheck or they got paid for two hours and they can’t get ahold of anybody?”

Paz Dominguez replied, “I can only take responsibility over what I can control and ownership over my actions,” adding that the issues Bushnell had raised were too complex to address in one small conversation. “I will say that it’s a team effort in this challenge. Everyone has had a part to play in the dysfunction, quite frankly, that we are facing right now.”

Complicating matters further is the fact that Human Resources Director Linda Le, who’d been working with Paz Dominguez on the payroll transition, submitted her letter of resignation last month. The Outpost learned that she’s departing for health reasons. Her last day will be November 19, and the county has hired an interim HR director, Dar Rhodes, to replace Le in the short term.

Back to those opened floodgates. Below is a sampling of quotes from county staff who called in on Tuesday.

Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Director Connie Beck:

Financially, we receive little to no information from the Auditor-Controller’s Office. An example of this is that staff have been provided timelines and due dates for the close of fiscal year 20/21 four times with no follow-up information. Staff ask questions; they don’t get any answers. …

Due to the state of our finances, I’m leery about trying to provide additional services because our fund balance — or lack of — will continue to grow. As an administrator of over 100 programs and 200-plus contract providers, I’m really struggling with when to [notify] the committee that we will need to scale back our services due to the uncertainty of our reimbursement.

DHHS Deputy Director of Finance Trevis Green:

DHHS is extremely concerned that the way things are going, the department will lose the ability to claim even more reimbursements, see more allocations cut and suffer through even more cash flow issues as we move forward.

Green mentioned a quote Paz Dominguez provided to the Outpost last week, in which she alleged that departmental claims of lost reimbursements were false, the result of individual departments “choosing” not to claim expenses. Green begged to differ:

I find these comments extremely insulting. For somebody to try to blame-shift these problems onto the departments is unacceptable, and my team and I stand ready to prove the losses that we are suffering from the choices that are being made in the way the business practices are being rolled out through the [Auditor-Controller’s Office].

Deputy Director of Sheriff’s Administration Regina Fuller, one of 11 employees who signed this Aug. 23 letter to the Board of Supervisors articulating concerns about moving payroll back the the Auditor-Controller’s Office:

We were very concerned that with this transition the Auditor would be focusing all of her time on payroll and that the financial situation would fall even further behind. And I can tell you from my experience … that is the case. The financial situation is behind … . 

The breakdown of communication is my biggest concern, absolutely. Departments are being shut out or not being communicated [with], both for this payroll transition and for our financial situation.

Planning and Building Director John Ford:

I was a little concerned when the comment was made that a lot of the morale problems are due to negative comments by department heads. I am a department head and I can assure you, I do not make negative comments. We work very hard to collaborate and coordinate with Auditor-Controller’s Office. And I frankly took offense at that. That’s not a good way to solve problems.

Ford recounted a story about an employee whose paycheck was sent to the wrong address, causing a bureaucratic confusion that took a while to clear up. 

And in the process, he was treated like he was trying to cheat the system. And he was furious. … And he was encouraged not to respond [to the Auditor-Controller’s Office], not to send any letters [or] emails. … And when we can’t get into the [Auditor-Controller’s Office], when we can’t talk to people [to] work things out verbally … it makes it very, very difficult to problem-solve.

Economic Development Director Scott Adair:

I happen to be calling in today from a hotel room in Monterey where I’m presently working and meeting with representatives from the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, as well as other economic development practitioners, at a statewide event … During the morning session, after introducing myself to a fellow participant, I was met with the reply, “Oh, Humboldt County. I hear you guys are a hot mess up there.” …

Everyone here knows that calls have been placed by staff and other officials to elected representatives at the state level to try to resolve the conflict here. … Our agency is under advisement from the state that several of our state and federal WIOA [Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act] programs are at risk of being frozen or cash being put on hold or revenues being put under de-obligation, where our community would have to pay back grant money, because our single audit remains incomplete. …

I understand that other agencies also have funds and programs at risk because the single audit and other year-end closing activities remain incomplete. I am concerned that when there are millions of public dollars at risk and critical programs on the line, and the Auditor-Controller herself has stated that her office is short staffed and overwhelmed — and that she’s unable to make critical meetings — why did we as an organization assign to that agency more scope and further responsibility? 

The failure to complete essential and fundamental functions puts our entire county and its populace at risk. And I don’t know the answer here. But I think that staff are looking to the board for that answer. Because you’re our leadership. …

When our tools and resources are at risk, I believe it is our moral, fiduciary responsibility to ring the bell and raise the flag and warn you that something needs to be done. … Something is broken. I think that’s apparent. Something is broken.

Others to chime in included Treasurer-Tax Collector John Bartholomew, Chief Probation Officer Shaun Brenneman, North Coast Regional Child Support Services Director Bennett Hoffman and Public Works Director Tom Mattson, all of whom voiced concerns about communication problems, payroll issues and year-end audits.

Given an opportunity to respond, Paz Dominguez said she has only had the benefit of one payroll specialist to help her, and she insisted that she has been responding to inquiries. 

“I don’t agree with characterizations that have been expressed here today,” she said. “But it could it could be something as simple as, I see a six, you see a nine. Which one is correct?”

She reiterated difficulties due to short-staffing, a high volume of demands and challenges caused by the pandemic.

“What I’m hearing here — you know, if I put the personal away and I just look at professional — what I see is just frustration, because everyone is frustrated,” Paz Dominguez said. “Everyone is overworked. Everyone is stressed out.”

Trying to center all of the dysfunction on one person does a disservice to the public, she argued, sounding emotional. She said that by the time her office was asked to take over the payroll function, the county had reached crisis mode. 

“At this point, I’m hearing what everyone is saying, that they want to be involved,” she said. “They want to have meetings. They they don’t like my emails. I don’t send them enough. … Everyone got their opportunity to let it out. Now we just need to move forward.”

She said everyone should probably take a deep breath and accept that this is where we are, adding that she’s committed to moving forward.

But the complaints about her performance weren’t over. Bass opened the public comment period, and the onslaught of criticism continued. Humboldt County Planning Commissioner Thomas Mulder said, “You know what? If you are not capable of doing the job, walk away. Walk away.”

A procession of fiscal employees from DHHS called in. Jessica Bradbury-Maciel, a budget specialist for that department, said, “It is incredibly soul-crushing for staff in Public Health — [who] are still very deep in the COVID response, often doing several jobs — to continually hear the Auditor-Controller’s Office blame their mismanagement and shortfalls on the pandemic and staffing shortages. We are still held to all of their deadlines and meet those despite the additional workload of the pandemic.”

Katherine Lourenzo, the county’s payroll manager, who is currently on stress leave due, she says, to “the toxic workplace” Paz Dominguez created, said, “Today’s presentation made it very clear to me that the elected Auditor-Controller does not have the ability to manage the responsibility of the payroll function.”

Katie Collender, a former senior administrative analyst in the Sheriff’s Office, said she was a dedicated county employee and still would be “if not for the toxic environment created by the Auditor-Controller.” She has yet to receive her final paycheck, despite turning in the paperwork on time, she said. She was among the signatories to the Aug. 23 letter urging the county not to move payroll back under the Auditor-Controller’s Office. “I have to wonder if the auditor is not issuing my final check as a form of retaliation,” Collender said.

Several other county employees spoke, with only one, Senior Accountant-Auditor Jim Hussey, who works in Paz Dominguez’s department, speaking in defense of the auditor-controller.

All told, this collective condemnation stretched on for close to four hours. Bushnell observed that the whole conversation had been difficult. “I’m sure it was not fun for anyone participating or listening,” she said. She wound up making a motion that will require more accountability from Paz Dominguez to the board.

Specifically, she asked staff to move the regular payroll update report from the consent calendar — where items are often approved without discussion — to the departmental reports section, where a “personal discussion” can take place. Her motion also asked the County Administrative Office to come up with “metrics and comparables” that will allow the board to assess whether payroll and other functions of the Auditor-Controller’s Office are moving forward.

The motion passed unanimously.

Humboldt Bay Fire press release: 

At 5:56am on Tuesday, November 9, 2021 the smell of smoke prompted a passerby in the vicinity of Watson and D Streets to call 9-1-1.

An EPD Officer was first on scene and located heavy black smoke coming from a large, abandoned two-story Victorian structure on the 1600 block of D Street. Battalion 8103 arrived shortly thereafter and found fire erupting from the rear of the structure, quickly upgrading the response to a second alarm and drawing in HBF’s fifth engine and a mutual aid company to the scene.

The fire was initially declared an offensive fire and the first engine on scene began fire attack on the second floor. Due to deteriorating fire conditions, the engine company reported they were backing out of the structure and triggered a switch to a defensive fire operation.

The crew of Truck 8181 extended the aerial ladder and began flowing water from above down onto the flames, protecting nearby residences. Due to a partial collapse of the roof, the Truck was able to extinguish a large portion of fire from above and improve conditions enough to warrant crews re-entering the structure for an offensive attack and search for victims. The fire was completely controlled and extinguished shortly thereafter.

Once the fire was contained and the investigation complete, City of Eureka Code Enforcement took control of the scene and boarded up the building for safety.

The structure was vacant at the time of the fire and there were no injuries to civilians or fire personnel. Fire and smoke damage to the second story and attic of the structure is extensive, estimated at $200,000.

The fire appears to be human-caused and remains under investigation. We encourage anyone who may have seen or heard anything at the time of the fire to call our headquarters station at 707-441-4000.

Humboldt Bay Fire would like to thank Eureka Police Department, Arcata Fire District, City Ambulance, City of Eureka Code Enforcement and Director of Public Works, and Humboldt Bay Fire Support for their assistance on scene. We would additionally like to thank Samoa Peninsula Fire District and Cal Fire for covering HBF’s jurisdiction while units were committed on scene.

More than 3,000 customers are currently without power around Humboldt County due to 50-mph winds that toppled trees into power lines last night.

The north end of McKinleyville saw peak gusts of 52 mph last night. As a result, more than 600 customers are currently without power in areas west of the California Redwood Coast-Humboldt County Airport. Power is estimated to be restored in the area by 8 p.m.

“At about 6 p.m. last night, a tree came down onto power lines at Central Ave., north of Airport Road in McKinleyville,” PG&E spokesperson Deanna Contreras told the Outpost. “The county did remove the tree and PG&E crews are now replacing a power pole.”

Approximately 1,000 combined customers in Arcata, Bayside and Kneeland are still without power. Electricity is estimated to be restored in Arcata by 10 p.m. More than 300 customers are also without electricity in Trinidad and Petrolia, respectively.

Contreras said that crews are still working to remove downed trees from all the affected power lines.

“Winds definitely played a part, and the rain-soaked ground played a part in tree failures,” Contreras said. “Because of the extremely dry conditions that we’ve seen for a long period of time, we’re seeing some of [the trees] fail.”

Crescent City recorded the strongest winds along the North Coast last night, with 70 mph gusts measured at the Jack McNamara Airport.

Follow the latest outage and restoration information, check the Lost Coast Outpost Outages map.

As documented in the above video, the bomb squad has fired a shell at the suspicious device. Sheriff’s Office Spokesperson Samatha Karges, at the scene, tells the Outpost that it has been determined that the object was not, in fact, explosive.

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Photos/video: Andrew Goff

Law enforcement has massed around K Street between Third and Fourth in downtown Eureka this morning, after the discovery of a “suspicious device.” The Sheriff’s Office’s Explosive Ordinance Team is out with all of its gear, and K Street is closed near the site.

#HappeningNow HCSO EOD Team is out near 4th and K Streets in Eureka investigating a suspicious device located in the area. Please avoid the area while law enforcement works. Hwy 101 is still open at this time. pic.twitter.com/DMnBzn7wKd

— HumCoSO (@HumCoSO) November 9, 2021

#update A business at the corner of Third and L Streets in Eureka has been evacuated as a safety precaution due to a suspicious device located in the parking lot next to the building. Two other nearby buildings have been advised to shelter in place. pic.twitter.com/GP1IszYW5t

— HumCoSO (@HumCoSO) November 9, 2021

No word, at this moment, whether this is an actual explosive device. We will update.