Gerald (Jerry) Wendell Davies
 August 29, 1935 – September 29, 2021.

It is with great sorrow and sadness that we share the loss of Gerald Davies - beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and well-known Eureka City Schools music teacher — on September 29, 2021, in Eureka.

Gerald Davies (“Jerry” to most, Papa to his family) was born on August 29, 1935. He graduated from Arcata High School in 1953, where he met the love of his life, Elanore Schmitt —a love that led to a lifelong marriage beginning in 1956. He continued his education at Humboldt State College, pursuing music education and then taught music for the next 35 years at Eureka City Schools.

In 1963, Jerry built their home in Jacoby Creek, where they ultimately raised their four children. While raising his children he built a summer home in Hawkins Bar, commonly known as the “18-Side Round Home.” Then in 1990 he built their Willow Creek retirement home, where Jerry enjoyed planting and harvesting an amazing garden. His homegrown “Ginormous” pumpkins were a huge hit in his grandkid’s kindergarten classrooms. He also spent many years teaching his grandkids his incredible skill of woodworking. Both he and Elanore were avid San Francisco Giants fans, and seldom missed watching a game together until she passed in 2018.

He leaves behind his four children: Sandra Lane (Kevin), Karen Lorenzo (Tim), Jean Batini (Charley), and Eric Davies (Amy); as well as six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Jerry will be most fondly remembered for his passion of music, which he shared with others, including his dance/band group, comprised of his music-teaching, music-loving cronies. Music truly was his passion — so much so that he always had his fingers tapping to a beat he was hearing, whether he was listening to music playing in his head, or the music on the show he was watching on tv. He will be greatly missed by the many lives he touched in his 86 years.

No services will be held at this time. Instead his family will celebrate his life with a small family gathering in the Trinity Alps at a future date, to honor his last wishes. Special thanks to Hospice of Humboldt for his end of life guidance and care, and to Eric and Amy Davies for their countless hours of love and care. In lieu of flowers, the family would prefer memorial contributions be made to Elementary Music Trust Fund c/o Business Services, Eureka City Schools 2100 J St. Eureka, in honor of this music teacher’s passion, or to Sequoia Humane Society - 6073 Loma Ave, Eureka

You will forever be remembered as The Music Man – “76 Trombones led the big parade with a 110 cornets close at hand.”

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

Jerry Dean Carter was born on September 15, 1940 and passed away one week before his 81st birthday on September 8, 2021 in Kneeland.

Jerry was born to Berniece “Bea” Cole and Arvell Carter, the second of four sons, in a tiny town in Northeastern California called Fall River Mills. Bea and Arvell divorced when Jerry was quite young. They moved around a lot during his childhood, but his happiest boyhood memories were from the period of time they lived in Lookingglass, Oregon, just outside of Roseburg. He spent time hunting deer and adopting a menagerie of pets from baby coons to skunks. When Jerry was 12, Bea married Russell Ragan, who proved to be a strong presence in Jerry’s life as his stepfather. Russ had two daughters from his first marriage, so a blended family developed. They eventually moved to Fort Dick, California, where Jerry attended Del Norte High through his Junior year.

When Jerry was 17, he joined the US Navy. He served five years, from 1958 to 1963. His tour was extended because of the Cuban Missile Crisis. He traveled all over the Orient, spending time in Japan and the Philippines. He also received a Commendation in 1961 for having “assisted in securing the ship’s boats which were in danger of being lost from the effects of typhoon NANCY. Without regard for your personal safety, you braved the force of wind and sea to secure these boats. Your actions were in keeping with high traditions of the United States Naval Service.” Typhoon NANCY was considered a Category 5 Hurricane and caused some $500 million worth of damage, so it was no small feat! One of Jerry’s Navy buddies, Billy Bob, kept in touch with him all these years, and passed away earlier this year, too.

When he returned home from his service, he met Patricia “Pat” Marks and they began dating. Soon after, they married. Around this time, he began working in the printing industry as a pressman. In late 1966, they moved to Humboldt County and settled in the Blue Lake area when Jerry began working at Eureka Printing Company. By 1975, Jerry had bought into the company and worked it as the majority Owner/Operator. He was also involved with Six Rivers Racing Association during these years, both as a car owner and driver. He earned the nickname “Crash” for taking out 93 feet of fence in a single wreck at Redwood Acres. It was a record at the time, and we believe no one ever broke it. He later served as the Flagman, where he had fewer accidents.

Jerry and Pat had one son and two daughters together before they separated, and Jerry had another daughter with Elletta Tripp. Elletta adopted two boys who also called Jerry dad. Then he met Betty Boozer, and they spent 30+ years together, until her passing in 2018.

Jerry was an amateur fisherman and hunter and loved gardening. In 1993, he purchased 20 acres up on Kneeland with the intent of getting away from it all, and being so far from town no one would ever come to visit him (which didn’t really work - everyone wanted to come see the beautiful spot he had staked out for himself). He spent his time away from the print shop taking care of his land, cultivating crops, and complaining about the deer who ate most of his bounty before he ever could. He kept chickens for fresh eggs, but got the biggest kick out of the rooster he called ‘Bob’ who terrorized the grandkids, grown kids, and anybody else who got in Bob’s path. He also had a goat for a time, but his true loves were the dogs that became his sidekicks while he roamed his kingdom. Dobber was the first of these precious pets who brought him much joy and caused his human kids to concede that he loved his fur babies the most.

In 2012, at age 72, he retired from the printing industry and sold Eureka Printing. In October of 2018, the shock of losing his partner of so many years hit him hard, as he fully expected to die before Betty. He often expressed that he couldn’t believe he had lived as long as he did, as most of his people passed years before. He was determined to stay up on “the mountain,” and in the end, he got just what he wanted. He passed at home on September 8th, and in the blink of an eye, was gone. He never wanted to linger in a hospital or be anywhere else other than home.

He was preceded in death by his father Arvell, his stepfather, Russ, and his mother, Bea; his brothers, Ray, Teddy, and George, as well as his stepsister Janet Davis; his partner Betty, and his beloved dogs, Dobber, Rowdy, Shugy Bear, and Rudy. His last pet, Rascal, was diagnosed with terminal cancer two weeks before Jerry passed away, and joined Jerry in the hereafter on September 9th.

He is survived by his children, David Carter (Karen), Elizabeth Carter Ward (Bruce), Candy Carter, Jaime Tripp-Carter (Kyle), Anand Tripp, and Michael Tripp; many grandchildren and great-grandchildren; his stepsister Joyce Tanner (Ron), many nieces, nephews, and other extended family.

There will be a Memorial Service on October 16, 2021 at 11 a.m. at Capella By the Sea in Brookings, Oregon, for family and close friends.

Preceded in death by his father, Barry C. Slack-Hay, DDS (1946-2018), his mother, Kathy D. Sorenson-Hay (1059-2000), he was the paternal grandson of Frederick C. Slack (1910-1965) and Jean Ruth-Hay (1917-2004) and the maternal grandson of Don Sorenson (1924-2012) and Joan Gibbs-Sorenson (1933-2021).

His extended family included aunts and uncles Kenneth and Rona Sorenson, Jimmie and Lori Thompson, Bob and Margarita Hay and Diana Hay; cousins Colby and Shane Sorenson, Lisa and Leanna Thompson, Bob and Cher Hillier.

Miles was born November 17, 1988, in Fortuna at the Redwood Memorial Hospital. He was delivered by Dr. Johanson, and after an extremely difficult birth was left with severe health issues for the rest of his life.

He graduated from Fortuna High School in 2005. He loved to read and discovered the literary greats, Auden and Keats among them. Not a day would go by that he wasn’t reading and writing. He was a talented poet in his own right.

Through poetry he could express his deepest grief, sorrows, frustrations, joys, wonder and irony that he was otherwise unable to express. He enjoyed meeting with his friends for coffee. He mentioned Larry often. He attended and loved poetry reading groups.

Miles suffered two extremely sad events in his life when, in the year 2000, his mother passed away, followed by the death of his beloved father in 2018. After his father’s death in 2018, Miles’ struggles increased.

Miles was a very talented young man who will be greatly missed by his friends and family, all those who knew and loved him.

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

City of Fortuna release: 

The City of Fortuna is partnering with Bird, the Los Angeles, California-based, shared electric scooter company, to bring e-scooters to the city in the coming days. Bird is a naturally socially distanced way to get around. The scooters are available through a mobile phone application and riders pay to use the scooter per minute, at no cost to the city.

City Manager Merritt Perry stated, “I hope these scooters provide a fun transportation alternative and help close the gap between the “last mile”, from a transit stop to a person’s home or work.”

The company plans on offering scooters to residents and visitors in order to help reduce carbon emissions, as well as traffic congestion on roadways. The scooters also provide a safe way to get around during the pandemic and offer residents without cars another transportation option.

The electric scooters can be used on roads and in bike lanes and have a maximum speed of 15mph. Scooters must be parked out of the way of pedestrians and never blocking driveways. Riders are required to be 18 years-old and above to access the scooters. They are also encouraged to wear a helmet on every ride and required to obey all standard rules of the road.

Council Member Mike Johnson stated: “You can fly to your destination on a Bird scooter. Don’t be a Dodo, wear a helmet.”

Here is the range in which the Bird scooters will operate

Bird offers the following programs that are available for all who qualify:

• Community Pricing - Bird’s Community Pricing Program offers a 50% discount to low- income riders, Pell grant recipients, select local nonprofit and community organizations, veterans, and senior citizens. It’s designed to be the most inclusive micromobility discount program available anywhere. To sign up for the Community Pricing Program, download the Bird app, create an account, and email your proof of eligibility to access@bird.co.

• Free Rides for Healthcare Workers and Emergency Personnel - Bird is proud to offer free rides to healthcare workers and emergency personnel. To sign up, simply email a copy of your medical identification card along with your name and phone number to together@bird.co. Eligible riders will receive two free 30-minute rides per day for as long as it takes to help our communities to recover from this global health crisis.

• Community Mode - Community Mode allows anyone with a Bird account to report or provide feedback on vehicle-related issues such as poorly parked or damaged vehicles in their area. When a report is submitted, a member of the Bird team is assigned to correct the issue. Anyone can access Community Mode by tapping the yield sign on the bottom left of the Bird map.

Additional safety features and community offerings from Bird:

• How to Bird: Check out this blog post for all you need to know to safely ride, park and experience the benefits of Bird shared scooters in your city.

• Beginner Mode - Great for new riders or those who just want to cruise, this feature offers a gentle acceleration mode that helps riders feel comfortable and build confidence.

• Community Mode - Community Mode allows anyone with a Bird account to report or provide feedback on vehicle-related issues such as poorly parked or damaged vehicles in their area. When a report is submitted, a member of the Bird team is assigned to correct the issue. Anyone can access Community Mode by tapping the yield sign on the bottom left of the Bird map.

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Downtown Arcata will soon have a new place for artists to display their work and for art lovers to buy it (or at least gaze at it.) A small space with an apropos name, The Arcata Gallery, will open this Saturday with a show featuring works by local artists.

Both artists themselves, gallery owners Eli Grant and Matt Henderson said that they had found it somewhat difficult to find places to show their art in the area. One of the missions of The Arcata Gallery, they said, is to be accessible to artists who maybe don’t feel like their work could be shown in other spaces.

“When I was starting out as an artist and looking at places to hang my work, it felt like a lot of places weren’t my style or my niche,” Grant told the Outpost earlier this week, as he and Henderson were readying the gallery for the grand opening. “We want to cater to everyone and all styles and just be totally community-oriented.”

Henderson (left) and Grant take a break from hanging paintings

“[We want it to] just be a place for young artists to come in and feel like they belong,” Henderson added.

But Henderson and Grant wanted to be clear that they’re not only showing young people’s work and they will be carrying paintings, sculptures, jewelry and pottery from artists of all ages and backgrounds.

For the opening, The Arcata Gallery will prominently feature five local artists — Henderson, who will display his vibrant splatter paintings; Grant, who does psychedelic resin pours; Julian DeMark, who will show his woodblock prints, sculptures, and and birchwood engravings, Rob Busch and Ceak Kytrell, who will both display their oil paintings.

You may recognize the work of Kytrell, who often paints and displays his work outside on the Arcata Plaza or next to the Old Town Gazebo. Grant and Henderson said that as soon as they started launching the gallery, they knew right away that they wanted to show Kytrell’s work. “He’s a hard-working painter and he’s trying to go full steam ahead into the art world,” Grant said. “And I just love his spirit. The moment we approached him he was just so ecstatic.”

An oil painting by Ceak Kytrell

In addition to curating art shows, Grant and Henderson want the gallery to serve as a community gathering place (in a COVID-safe way, of course.) In the future they hope to hold classes and workshops led by local artists, artisans, writers and more.

When asked about the gallery’s name, Henderson and Grant said they just wanted something simple and to the point, but also felt that it expressed their deep connection to the town and their desire to be community-oriented.

“We’re just both such Arcata dudes,” Grant told the Outpost. “We’ve both been hanging out in Arcata forever. We both grew up here. And we just felt like it would belong to the community. It’s not ‘the Matt and Eli Gallery,’ it’s ‘The Arcata Gallery.’”

The Arcata Gallery — located at 1063 H Street, next to Arcata Pizza & Deli — will open its doors on Saturday, Oct. 2 at 10 a.m. and will stay open until 9 p.m. There will be live music, food and drinks starting at 4 p.m. Masks are required. Regular gallery hours will be Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

You can learn more or contact the owners by following The Arcata Gallery on Facebook or Instagram.

Humboldt County Drug Task Force press release:

On September 30th, 2021 agents with the Humboldt County Drug Task Force (HCDTF), with the assistance of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO), served a search warrant in the 100 block of Sunset Ave. in Samoa. This search warrant was written for suspected methamphetamine sale and illegal firearm possession by Kenneth Colin Hooper (32 years old).

During the service of the search warrant agents detained Hooper without incident. Agents conducted a search of Hooper’s residence and located the following evidence:

• 1/4 pound of methamphetamine
• Polymer 9mm handgun (ghost gun) with 34 round magazine
• Digital scale
• Packaging
• 1 gram fentanyl

Some of the methamphetamine located was unpackaged and within reach of Hooper’s young children inside of the residence. Hooper was arrested and transported to the Humboldt County Jail for the following charges:

• H&S 11370.1 Possession of controlled substances while armed
• H&S 11378 Possession of methamphetamine for sale
• H&S 11366.5 Operating or maintaining a drug house
• PC 29800(a) Felon in possession of a firearm  PC 273a(a) Child endangerment
• H&S 11350 Possession of a controlled substance
• PC 29810(b) Illegal manufacturing of a firearm

Hooper’s children were released to their grandmother and a report of this investigation will be forwarded to Child Welfare Services (CWS).

Anyone with information related to this investigation or other narcotics related crimes are encouraged to call the Humboldt County Drug Task Force at 707-267-9976.

Local reproductive rights advocates will hold a rally in front of the Humboldt County Courthouse on Saturday in conjunction with similar events being held across the country spurred by recent restrictions to abortion access in Texas. The event is being promoted by the National Women’s March organization.

Full details in a press release from rally organizers below:

Please join us for the Eureka Rally for Reproductive Rights and Abortion Justice, a National Women’s March event, in front of the Eureka Courthouse this Saturday, Oct 2, at 2 p.m. to defend and protect reproductive rights.

This is in response to Texas’s unconstitutional six-week abortion ban, which renders Roe v. Wade effectively meaningless in Texas. This “sue thy neighbor” law means people who help or intend to help someone get an abortion after six weeks in Texas could be sued by a neighbor, distant relative, abusive partner, or even a stranger from out of state. It empowers vigilante bounty hunters and incentivizes them to surveil and harass people. This sets a dangerous legal precedent. If the courts let this bill stand, we can expect to see similar bills introduced in states across the country. We must fight city by city, state by state, to ensure that people can still access the health care they need. We cannot allow the reality of Texas to become the reality of this country.

On October 2, Eureka will be joining towns and cities across the nation and in all 50 states. Bring a sign, wear your best pro-choice attire, and stand up for reproductive rights and abortion justice! Planned Parenthood will be tabling! Planned Parenthood provides essential health care for all people such as birth control, STD testing and treatment, cancer screening, and abortion.

Masks are required at this event. CDC recommended protocols will be maintained for everyone’s safety.

For more information, see the Women’s March website or Facebook event page.