“Obrigado” is the Portuguese word for “thank you.” While in Portugal, Dad couldn’t remember that. He did, however, remember the Japanese word of the same meaning, “arigato.” So, in true Dad fashion, he was constantly - and mistakenly - saying “thank you,” in Japanese, slight head-bow included, to each and every encounter we had. It gave us all a good laugh, but also taught us that being kind is more important than being right.

Stephen James Hunt was born September 16, 1952 in Denver, Colorado. After moving around a while, his family settled in Los Angeles just before he turned two years old. There, he grew up on the beach, body surfing and playing volleyball, banging drums for his band, “Mother’s Intuition,” and was a member of the Junior Lifeguards and local YMCA. He attended South High in Torrance, where he played football and eventually met the love of his life, Diane. They married February 15, 1975 and a week later headed north to start their new life in Bayside.

His deep love of nature led him to earn a degree in biology from Humboldt State. Soon after, Diane gave birth to their children, Jessica “Spunky” Jean and Tyler “TDawg” William - the most adored and beloved gifts of his life. Many of those early years were spent camping and fishing with his buddies, playing beer league softball with “The Slugs” and starting his first business as The Mudman Drywall Company.

In 1986, they moved back to Los Angeles so that they could be near family and Diane could attend college. This led to more time on the beach and countless trips to Lake Mead with old friends and their aptly named boat “Ona Whim.” After six years in LA, they returned to Humboldt and found their home in McKinleyville. Steve earned his General Contractor license and created Alternative Design & Development where he rejoined the building community as an early adopter of steel stud framing. He loved doing commercial and residential work.

Steve worked tirelessly to provide for his family. He absolutely adored his wife and would constantly remind his children how lucky he was that she chose him to be her life partner. Together they traveled to many places including Alaska, Hawaii, Mexico, Belize, Spain and Portugal. Although his immediate family was small, his extended family of friends gave him a big circle whom he loved greatly.

Steve’s life energy defined him in many ways. Always going, always laughing, working hard and playing even harder. Whether it was on the racquetball courts, out on a boat, golfing or poker nights with the guys, he always found time to make the most of each day. Many referred to him as the “Energizer Bunny.”

He always enjoyed listening to music and taught himself to play guitar in his 40’s. A good blues album and cold beverage made him a happy man. His absolute favorite pastime was dancing with his bride.

Some of our fondest memories range from camping trips to Trinity Lake to winter trips to Mt. Shasta and Mt. Bachelor. Steve was always there with a dad joke, an unfiltered observation or a helping hand. He loved his friends and was a selfless giver. He absolutely adored his children and made sure to always let them know.

Most of his summers were spent on Trinity Lake with family and friends, camping on “The Island” and eventually joining the Redneck Yacht Club as a house boater and captain of the “Pura Vida.” He turned countless first time lake goers into wakeboarders, enthusiastically welcoming them into the “Shredder’s Club.” Every morning, he started the day with a dive into the freshwater. He would often reflect, on a quiet sunset on the water, how beautiful this life, the nature and the calm were to him.

One highlight of his later years was helping Diane with her pepper jam business, with his signature chili-pepper shirts and that never-ending smile. They were regular fixtures at local fairs and festivals and made many fans and friends from these adventures.In 2010, he started working at HSU as the Lead Painter, a job which held until he retired. He loved working in the university setting and the camaraderie of the department in which he worked.

Upon retirement in 2019, Steve was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, a heavy blow to everyone. Despite this, he held a positive outlook and never stopped dreaming or holding onto the good. That battle ended quietly, at home, in his sleep on August 19th, 2021. He was a kind and energetic soul and will be greatly missed by all that knew him.

Steve leaves behind his wife of 46 years, Diane; his children, Jessica (Tavis), Tyler (Ali); grandchildren, Davin and Dylin Cain and Marzo Hunt; his mother, Louise Sowerby and many other beloved family members.

A celebration of life will be held in October at the home he built for his daughter. Please contact the family for more details.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Parkinsons.org or a charity of your choice.

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

Tina Michelle Stillwell was born in Crescent City on July 2, 1965 to Dwight and Nada Stillwell. She entered into rest on August 27, 2021.

She grew up in Alderpoint with her brothers, sisters and many cousins, running around with no shoes and swimming at the river.

She would always tell stories of her childhood. Tina played basketball and softball most of her childhood to Highschool. She graduated from South Fork High School.

Tina worked at Shop Smart in Redway for 20 years as the head baker.

She has always been a hard worker, and always did her job to make the customers want to come back.

She was one of a kind, with a heart of gold. If you seen her she always had the biggest smile on her face — a beautiful strong independent woman, and a laugh that will always be with us.

One of her favorite things to do was watch PBR on TV or in person at live events. It was some of the best times of her life. She also loved going to concerts. She could sit and do crossword puzzles for hours, and always had candles burning. She loved candles.

She also was one heck of a cook. She could cook anything.

Her pride and joy was her daughter, Jammie. They did everything together, and spent almost everything together.

In 2019 she became a grandma (GiGi) to her granddaughter, Khloe. To her it was sugar. She loved that little girl beyond words and spoiled her rotten in the short time she got to spend with her. She loved Jammie and Khloe more then anything in the world.

Tina is preceded in passing by her father Dwight Stillwell, grandma Amy, grandparents Albert and Rafaella Wantt, sister Lisa Crenshaw, brother Dennis Robinson, nephew Justin Stillwell, and many other aunts, uncles and relative.

Tina is survived by her daughter Jammie Anderson Morgan and granddaughter Khloe Anderson-Stoft of Harris; her Mother Nada Stillwell of Alderpoint and great-great uncle Claude Hoaglen of Dos Rios; brothers JR & Kim Stillwell of Covelo, Shannon Stillwell of Garberville Kenneth Robinson of Geyserville, and Kevin Stillwell; sisters Tammie Carr of Alderpoint, Arlene Stillwell of Redway, Shell Stillwell of Fortuna; nephews Curtis & Kaityn Crenshaw of Alderpoint, Elmer Stillwell of Garberville, Derrick & Beth Stillwell of Ohio, Travis Stillwell of Fortuna, Don Robinson and Brain Robinson of Geyserville; nieces Tracy Stillwell & Matt of Garberville, Kayla Davis of Redway, Kacy & Kris Mattews of Covelo, Kelsey & Aly Stillwell of California City, Kerra Stillwell of Covelo, Stephanie Stillwell & Jimmy of Miranda, Ashley & Josh Elder of Washington, Terra & Jeff Bastianon of Windsor; great-nieces and -nephews Gunner Lee, Logan & Easton Czupynski, Carlee & Makenna Davis, Carson, Kinley & Cooper Crenshaw, Ryder & Aalyiah Mills, and Chayton & Ayasha Elder; and many many other nieces and nephews, cousins and relatives that loved her so very much.

Tina will be missed so much by her family and friends. Once again, that big bright beautiful smile and laugh will be missed the most.

A celebration of life will be held at a later date.

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

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Gov. Gavin Newsom is poised to keep his job after months spent lambasting the recall as a Republican power grab; feverishly fundraising, wooing likely supporters and wrangling fractious progressive activists; sweating the odd, unexpectedly close poll; fusing policymaking and politicking; and calling upon big-name D.C. Democrats to come stump out west.

And after all that, it wasn’t especially close. After initial returns showed the recall failing by a nearly 70% to 30% margin, the Associated Press and TV networks called the race for Newsom.

Now begins a new contest: To spin the results most favorably for the 2022 election — which starts right now.

For Gov. Gavin Newsom and his political team, the last six months of campaigning offer an electoral blueprint to seek four more years.

The governor’s apparent victory ought to demonstrate to Democrats, both in California and elsewhere, the power of “showing what the alternative is,” said Newsom campaign spokesperson Nathan Click.

“So much of what we’ve tried to do — from branding it the ‘Republican recall’ to talking a lot about Larry Elder and all the other candidates’ opposition to vaccine mandates and mask mandates — we’re trying to show what’s behind door number 2,” he said. “We were telling the story of what would happen and the other guys were — and I think that’s really powerful.”

The campaign was nothing if not consistent on that point. On Monday, President Joe Biden jetted to California to make the closing argument against the recall at a campaign rally in Long Beach. Though he praised the governor’s leadership during the pandemic, the president spent the bulk of his speech hammering Elder, Newsom’s top Republican rival, who Biden described as “the clone of Donald Trump.”

Biden’s visit — along with pit stops by Vice President Kamala Harris and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren — offer another obvious lesson, said Bill Wong, political director of the state Assembly Democrats. “Every campaign from here on out, at least for the immediate future, is going to be nationalized with regard to running against the Republican agenda,” he said.

No Democratic challenger?

Juan Rodriguez, manager of the anti-recall campaign, said the unusually high Democratic turnout in a special election, which allowed Newsom to stay in the governor’s office, amounts to “a rejection of the conventional wisdom.”

Running on public health restrictions, elevating contentious national issues and talking about former President Trump — the campaign “can really be a case study that should be looked at closely for how to get people energized,” he said.

The fear of Elder, and Newsom’s relentless characterization of the election as a “Republican recall,” likely did help keep the vote “no” coalition together. Whatever reservations voters might have had with the governor, “the potential damage by a Trump-loving Republican in the governor’s office” rallied most Democrats behind Newsom, said Amar Shergill, chairperson of the California Democratic Party’s progressive caucus.

But the time for playing nice is now over, he said.

“I don’t think the governor or his advisor circle are so naive as to think that a big win and the defeat of the recall election is going to result in smooth sailing through the next election,” said Shergill. He said he and other progressive activists plan to begin lobbying the governor “to hold fast to his promise” to push forward a state-run universal health insurance program.

“You ignore the progressive movement at your own peril,” Shergill added.

But Rose Kapolczynski, a Democratic political strategist, said Newsom faces no serious risks as he prepares to run for re-election next year — certainly not from within his own party.

Imagine this, she said: “Progressive congressmember X decides to run against Gavin Newsom because he still hasn’t enacted single-payer health care. The first thing that everyone’s going to see is that progressive congress members X urged all of his supporters to vote no on the recall and save Gavin Newsom.”

GOP renaissance or last gasp?

Kapolczynski said she doesn’t see much of a threat coming from Republicans, either.

In 2020, the state GOP won four congressional seats, in part by running a more ethnically diverse and ideologically expansive crop of candidates. “Larry Elder comes along and destroys all that work by reminding people how extreme some Republicans are,” she said.

The emergence of Elder as a leading candidate was an “absolute boon” for Newsom, said Garry South, also a Democratic political consultant. It transformed what could have been a faceless referendum on the governor’s record into a strictly partisan standoff between a generally popular Democratic governor and a specific Republican.

In other words, it turned it into exactly the kind of election Newsom will likely face next November. It also helped that Elder is a firebrand who “is so out of sync with Californians he might as well be living in outer space,” South added.

Harmeet Dhillon, a California member of the Republican National Committee, said she doubts a different candidate would have been any less polarizing, only because Democrats would have been equally vociferous in their criticisms.

If Kevin Faulconer, the former mayor of San Diego who positioned himself as a relative moderate in the race, “set the electorate on fire and had Larry Elder not gotten into the race, you would have still seen Kevin Faulconer painted as some kind of Hitler,” she said.

Rodriguez with the No campaign stopped short of that comparison, but agreed that Elder wasn’t unique. “Whether it was Larry Elder, John Cox or Kevin Faulconer, they all represent a view of the world empowered by the national Republican Party,” he said. “It’s all an example of Trumpism.”

It remains unclear which Republican, if anyone, could mount a credible challenge against Newsom.

Elder has vowed to run again; today, he called himself a “political force.” But he would face long odds head-to-head against Newsom in reliably Democratic California.

Elder’s success, however, has humbled much of the GOP bench, including Faulconer, 2018 gubernatorial candidate John Cox and Assemblymember Kevin Kiley of Rocklin.

In the early vote tally, Elder had 42% of the vote among replacement candidates, compared to 18% total for Faulconer, Cox and Kiley.

Still, Matt Rexroad, a political consultant who tends to work for moderate Republicans, said it’s not all doom and gloom for the state’s second largest party. A Republican isn’t likely to occupy the governor’s office anytime soon, but that was never very likely in California. Newsom “is going to sleep walk into 2022, it’s going to be a yawner,” Rexroad conceded.

But a snoozer of a gubernatorial race at the top of the ticket coupled with a network of pro-recall activists still fuming across the state could result in the kind of GOP-heavy turnout that midterm victories in congressional and legislative races are made of, he said.

The state party “has used this opportunity to rally the troops,” he said. “And this energy could be used to pick up some seats in the Legislature or in Congress.”

“What’s the best thing that happened to the Democratic Party in 2018?” asked Rexroad, referring to the “blue wave” midterms in which Democrats flipped 41 congressional seats, including 8 in California. “Probably how much they hated Donald Trump.”

The recall’s lingering impact

As early as Monday, some recall candidates were tamping down expectations, reminding supporters that no matter the outcome, the fact that the recall campaign got as far as it did should count as its own success.

Kiley said the grassroots organizations that sprouted up across the state to boost the recall effort will remain an electoral force to reckon with in the coming months. “The idea that this is somehow a mandate, that Californians are endorsing (Newsom’s) failed leadership, is pretty far-fetched,” he said. He declined to say whether he plans to run for governor again next year.

“This energy could be used to pick up some seats in the Legislature or in Congress.”
— Matt Rexroad, a political consultant for republicans

Elder has taken a less holistic view of the recall results. Even before the polls closed, the candidate began to suggest, a la former President Trump in 2020, that the recall defeat, even in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly two-to-one, could only be the result of fraud.

Elder’s decision to take a page from the former president’s handbook is only the latest indication that conspiracy theorizing about election results has found a permanent home in the Republican Party — even in California.

And while the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 showed the danger of questioning the democratic process, for California Republicans hoping to emerge from the recall invigorated, the politics might be lousy, too.

Political parties in democracies are supposed to be self-correcting: Those that are punished at the polls are incentivized to come up with a better message or a more appealing set of ideas, said David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, which advocates for more expansive and secure election policies.

Attributing failure to fraud will get in the way of that necessary self-reflection. “A party that misdiagnoses the reason behind its electoral defeat is very unlikely to fix itself,” he said.

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CalMatters reporter Mikhail Zinshteyn contributed to this story. CALmatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

UPDATE, 9:12 p.m.: Numerous news organizations, including the Associated Press, have seen enough: The recall has failed:

BREAKING: California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has defeated a recall attempt driven by GOP criticism of his COVID-19 policies. https://t.co/cumGmdm8vU

— The Associated Press (@AP) September 15, 2021

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UPDATE, 8:27 p.m.: As of this writing, the CalMatters widget, below, is acting a little wacky. It’s counting the first question right (recall or no?) but it seems to be choking on the second question (if yes, who should be the next governor)?

The recall is, in fact, failing hard right now. Larry Elder is way out in front on that second question, with 41 percent of the vote as of this writing. That’s 1,343,385 votes for Elder, not what CalMatters is saying currently.

Here’s the current election tally from the California Secretary of State.

Also: Humboldt County! Looks like Humboldt’s vote is roughly the same as the state’s as of this moment — basically, 70 percent against the recall, 30 percent in favor. Elder is also Humboldt’s top replacement choice, by a plurality if not a majority. Link to official county results here.

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Below: The CalMatters recall election tracker! Keep the switch flipped to the left for the statewide count as it comes in, or flip it right and pick your county of interest from the dropdown menu. — Ed.

After petition drives, ads, debates and millions of dollars, we’ll know soon whether Gavin Newsom will be the second California governor removed from office by the voters.

Polls statewide close at 8 p.m., and results will begin to be reported.

A reminder: the recall ballot has two questions.

Question 1 asks: “Shall GAVIN NEWSOM be recalled (removed) from the office of Governor?”

A yes vote is against Newsom and to boot him from office. A no vote is for Newsom and to keep him as governor.

Question 2 says: “Candidates to succeed GAVIN NEWSOM as Governor if he is recalled:”

If more than 50% of voters say yes on the first question, Newsom will be removed from office. Then whoever has the most votes among the 45 active candidates listed on the second question and seven write-in candidates — no matter how few and even if they don’t win a majority — will become governor in late October for the rest of Newsom’s term.

But it could be a while before we know the outcome — and not because of any fraud.

Due to the pandemic, all active registered voters received a ballot in the mail. To make it easier to vote, the state lets Californians mail in a ballot postmarked as late as Election Day — in this case Sept. 14 — and have it counted so long as it arrives within three days.

And the results could change dramatically — and not because of any conspiracy. County election workers have been counting ballots returned early for weeks. As of Monday, 40% of all mailed ballots had come in, and they are trending heavily in favor of Democrats, who account for more than half of ballots returned. Those results will be reported first.

As in the pandemic election of 2020, more Republicans are expected to vote in person and they’re more likely to support the recall. So the results could shift that way as those ballots are counted.

While media organizations will call the race as soon as the result is clear, the secretary of state has as many as 38 days after the election to certify the official results.

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CALmatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

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In their first substantive meeting in three weeks, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors assembled via Zoom again Tuesday to address a range of topics, including the ever-present COVID pandemic, the boom in air traffic at the Humboldt County Airport, the thrills of redistricting and more.

Here’s a rundown of the major topic of discussion.

Small growers suffering

During the first public comment period of the day, four local cannabis farmers called in to address what two of them described as a “dire situation” in their line of work. As reported in a recent High Times story, the price of outdoor, light-dep weed from the Emerald Triangle has collapsed this year, largely due to overproduction in the legal marketplace.

John Wilhelm of McKinleyville said that this year’s smoke-damaged harvest is being returned by retailers as unsalable. Meanwhile, he said, mega-farms to our south are flooding the market with indoor cannabis, with the ensuing glut of commodity-scale buds forcing small farmers into bankruptcy. 

“We need your help,” Wilhelm told the supervisors. He asked that local growers be given more time to meet the requirements of existing compliance agreements with the county and that they be allowed to enter into payment plans for taxes and permitting fees. 

Tina Gordon lambasted “exploitive and irresponsible processors,” saying she got ripped off by out-of-town interests and asking that local growers be allowed to process their crops on their own farms. 

James Bueller, a welder/fabricator who recently moved to Humboldt County, evidently to join the cannabis industry, said that while the region may have worldwide recognition for its quality bud, the county is “shooting itself in the foot” with overtaxation.

“Small, independent producers aren’t able to compete at a commodity scale,” said Lindsey Jones of Willow Creek-based Aloha Humboldt. She asked for more transparency on county spending of revenues from Measure S, the county’s cannabis cultivation tax, and more flexibility in methods of selling the crops, such as cannabis tastings and farmers markets.

COVID update

As anyone who’s been tracking recent case counts, hospitalizations and deaths can attest, the state of the COVID pandemic in Humboldt has been bleak of late. But in an update to the board today, Humboldt County Health Officer Dr. Ian Hoffman said things are finally trending in the right direction with declines in both case numbers and hospitalizations.

In his latest written report to the board, Hoffman outlined the burden being placed on local health care workers during the recent surge in cases. The average ICU stay for COVID patients is upwards of 19 days, and the amount of hands-on care they require is “incredible,” the report says. Paralyzed patients must be turned several times a day by nursing teams also charged with managing ventilators, intravenous lines and monitors while wearing protective equipment.

“We are seeing increasing numbers of hospital workers with traumatic experiences similar to those who work in war zones,” the report says.

An unprecedented number of healthcare workers have simply left the workforce due to the physical and emotional toll, leaving hospitals to fill the positions with traveling workers who are in high demand across the state. 

Hoffman said that while there has been “a tremendous number of cases” among children, he doesn’t attribute it to schools reopening. Rather, he said kids make up a large proportion of those still unvaccinated, and enhanced testing is picking up the infections. Protective measures in the schools are working, Hoffman said, but vaccination will work even better. He said there are indications that vaccines will be approved for kids age 5 to 11 as soon as November.

Hoffman repeated the message that Public Health has been delivering for months now. “The vaccine is by far the best way to prevent this disease and address it as a social concern and a community concern,” he said.

After his presentation, Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell asked Hoffman what advice he has for those who haven’t gotten their jab. 

“Whatever people’s opinions, there are people who are not going to get vaccinated,” she said. “I wonder if you have some options or suggestions for that group of people. What should they do?”

Hoffman began by suggesting that people should consult with their doctors and “actually look at the research and the data” on vaccines, but Bushnell interrupted, saying she was asking options and guidance for people who simply aren’t going to get the vaccine.

Hoffman again suggested that people laboring under “misinformation or mistruths” should ask vaccinated people for their opinion or look to leaders in their community. But people who just aren’t willing to get the vaccine should mask and stay away from social gatherings, he suggested.

Bushnell said she’d heard some suggestions for keeping your immune system up, such as taking vitamins.

“There’s no recommended vitamin mixture that is proven to reduce your chances of getting COVID,” Hoffman replied, adding that prevention is the best medicine.

“I know what your thoughts as a doctor are,” Bushnell said. “I just want to have a conversation because not everybody is choosing that path.”

Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone said he understands that some people are choosing not to get vaccinated. “I would ask those folks, if you do get COVID, will you choose not to go to the hospital?” He said he didn’t mean to sound harsh, but COVID patients are putting a massive strain on local hospitals while other patients deal with life-threatening emergencies.

Madrone said he respects people’s right to make a choice about vaccination, “but maybe make a choice not to get hospitalized,” he suggested.

Bushnell pushed back. “If you’re sick and feel the need, you need to go to the hospital,” she said.

The public comment period offered ample evidence of the misinformation running rampant in the community. A man who gave his last name as Teter said the long-term side effects of the vaccine could eventually “take lots of people out of our community.” He also suggested that blood supplies for senior homes shouldn’t come from vaccinated people because the vaccine kills antibodies in the blood. (Totally false.)

A couple of callers said it’s unfair that only unvaccinated people will be required to undergo regular testing under President Biden’s COVID-19 Action Plan since vaccinated people are capable of spreading the virus, too.

Another caller advocated use of ivermectin, an anti-parasite drug frequently used to treat farm animals but roundly rejected by the scientific community for treating or preventing COVID.

Yet another caller said vaccine mandates are a clear sign of communism and warned, “Pretty soon, eating poop will be mandated.”

Hoffman took some time to debunk a few of these claims. The vaccines are safe and effective, he said, and data from the CDC, California Public Health and local Public Health show that while it’s possible for fully vaccinated people to contract and spread the virus, the chances are much lower and the effects of infection among the fully vaxxed are typically mild.

As for ivermectin, “this is a treatment that has no scientific basis to support its use” to treat COVID-19, Hoffman said. In fact, the doses people are taking on their own have led to hospitalizations due to toxicity.

Airport taking off

Things are going quite well at the Humboldt County Airport. That was the main message delivered in a report by Jack Penning, a managing partner at Volaire Aviation Consulting, a firm that has been working with Humboldt County to recruit new air service.

Those efforts have proven successful, according to Penning. “The next few minutes are going to be highly positive,” he said, adding that the boost in air traffic and passengers at the local airport has been “really one of the great success stories of the entire country in regional air service over the last two years.”

The pandemic has hit the airline industry hard, with nearly 400 routes canceled since March of 2020. But Humboldt County has seen increased service over that same period, including the addition of Avelo Airlines’ service to and from Burbank and American Airlines’ twice-daily service to and from Phoenix. Meanwhile, United Airlines continues its service to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver.

“So we’ve been able to convince airlines that they should add service in our market while removing it from others,” Penning said. He explained that the typical traveler has changed during the pandemic from a business person to a traveler, “the person who wants to be outdoors, who wants to be socially distant, who wants to go to new places [but] who can’t travel internationally because of travel restrictions. We fit that perfectly with the coast ,with the redwoods, with all there is to see and do in our part of the world.”

In June, the county hit an all-time high for numbers of passengers, 26 percent higher than the previous June high, and the numbers only increased during July and August, Penning said. 

“We’re at the point where we have to really work with the carriers on where they can park at the terminal, because there’s not enough apron space,” he added, saying that problem would have been unimaginable five years ago. 

Even with a record number of seats available, the planes in and out of Humboldt have been 68 percent full. That’s the third-highest figure among West Coast airports, well above the average of just 50 percent. Fares have also come down, Penning said, and he believes there’s even more capacity for growth and new airline service, potentially to San Diego, Las Vegas, Seattle and/or Dallas.

He credited the expansion largely to marketing efforts of Fly Humboldt along with revenue guarantees for new routes. 

Madrone said he’s been getting complaints about airplane noise and suggested that we should try to attract quieter planes. Avelo’s 737s are particularly loud, he said.

Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson asked whether the increased air traffic could provide more carbon offset opportunities.

Regarding the noise, Penning said technology continues to advance, and quieter planes should become the norm over the next decade or so. And regarding energy usage he mentioned the solar farm and battery array planned at the Humboldt County Airport.

Redistricting

Back in June, the Board of Supervisors appointed members of the Redistricting Advisory Committee, a group charged with redrawing the county’s political boundaries to align with the latest Census data. At today’s meeting, Chris Chafee, chief analyst with the firm Redistricting Partners, provided an update on that process.

Based on the preliminary Census data, the population in each of the county’s five supervisorial districts have changed, with fewer people in the Fourth District and more people in the Third. But the numbers aren’t too lopsided.

While the goal is to draw the lines in such a way that the five districts have equal populations, courts allow cities, counties and local agencies such as water districts and school districts to have deviation of up to 10 percent between the most- and least-populous divisions. The county is already within those goalposts, so the new lines shouldn’t be too dramatically different, Chaffee said.

The one caveat, he added, is that the state has yet to reallocate incarcerated people at their home addresses, rather than counting them as residents where they happen to be locked up. 

There will be two more public hearings in the coming weeks before the board is asked to adopt new boundaries suggested by the Redistricting Advisory Committee.

Firefighting equipment worth thousands of dollars was ransacked from the Samoa Peninsula Fire District last week.

Samoa Peninsula Fire District volunteer Angie Unea told the Outpost that the firehouse was likely burglarized during the night of September 8, and estimated that the thief made off with about $4,000 worth of equipment.

“I just don’t understand why someone would steal from the fire department,” Unea shared on social media. “Someone broke into our Samoa Station, ransacked all three fire engines, contents from medical bags [were] strewn all over the place, equipment from all the compartments and tools were thrown all around the floor.”

A cordless Sawzall and SPFD magnets for the volunteer department’s engines were among the items taken.

“If you see someone selling a new cordless Milwaukee sawzall or find our logo magnets please [message] me,” Unea wrote. “We’d love to get our stuff back.”

The Samoa Dragstrip passed around a donation boot over the weekend and brought in more than $1,500 to help recoup some of the lost supplies. Local community members also set up a GoFundMe page today in hopes of covering the remaining expenses.

“Captain Zippo,” left, and Diallo Lawson are engaged to be married now | Photo: JL Photography

Love was in the Humboldt Bay air this past weekend as one of Humboldt’s maritime heroes popped the big question in impressive fashion to her very surprised significant other. Before we proceed further, we’ll end your suspense right here off the top: Yes, he said “yes.”

When Madaket captain Libby Tonning — affectionately known to friends and fans alike as “Captain Zippo” — told her boyfriend Diallo Lawson that they’d be taking a September evening cruise with friends and family (including both sets of their parents), it was under the pretense that the season was ending soon and this would be the last chance to get everyone out on her boat. 

In truth, Tonning had other life-changing plans in mind. She and Lawson had been dating for about a year and a half and were already discussing a future life together, which included plans to work on her family’s farm in New Mexico. She decided it was time to close the deal on the inevitable.

“We’re ready,” Tonning told the Outpost. “He’s a farmer and we have the same ideas in mind about what kind of family we want to build.” 

Tonning was also beginning to feel the pressure. She felt like if she didn’t propose soon then Lawson would beat her to it. “It’s like, who’s gonna win the race?” she explained. 

So, this past Saturday night, with her devious plan in place and her unsuspecting partner and their clued-in loved ones in tow aboard the Madaket, Tonning set out on perhaps her most important Humboldt Bay cruise yet. As the ship navigated toward a section of the Samoa Bridges, some friends stationed on the structure above unrolled a banner sporting a very pointed message:

“DIALLO, MARRY ME?”

As we said previously, it was a “yes.”

“What a night! It all went off without a hitch,” Tonning later told us via text. “The weather, the tears of joy, a flock of pelicans flying in the shape of a heart … Everything! And yes, he screamed when he saw the banner!”

With their betrothal secured, back on land the night continued with the happy couple and their crew making their way to the back room of the Vista Del Mar which, Tonning said, was “laid out like a Michelin star restaurant.” Love is fancy sometimes. 

As she looks toward the future, Tonning said she and her new fiancé’s plans will likely take them out of Humboldt as they slowly transition into farm life in New Mexico. She’ll probably make some trips back to Humboldt to help prepare the Madaket for another year on the water, but her days as captain are numbered.

“I think this is my last season,” Tonning said. But as her plans take her away from ocean air and into the nation’s interior, she’s glad that the memory of her engagement will forever be tied to the era of life when she was a salty captain on Humboldt Bay.

“I needed Madaket to be a part of this,” she said. “And I pass under that bridge multiple times everyday so it seemed like a right setting. It’s special.”