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California State University’s recent COVID-19 vaccine mandate leaves a lot of decisions up to each of its 23 campuses — so much so that at some, students could be unvaccinated and remain on campus a month or more into the fall term.

The language of the interim mandate, made public July 27 and spelled out formally July 29, sounds black-and-white: If students want to attend classes in person or visit campus at all, they’ll have to be vaccinated or face possible academic and disciplinary consequences.

But the deadline — Sept. 30 or sooner — comes long after most campuses start their fall terms, which is around middle or late August.

Cal State East Bay is requiring students to be fully vaccinated on Sept. 15. Meanwhile, fall term begins Aug. 18 — leaving nearly a whole month of unvaccinated students potentially commingling with students and staff. There are other safeguards. Everyone visiting the campus will have to wear masks when indoors following county orders in response to rising COVID-19 caseloads. And students who aren’t vaccinated will undergo weekly testing in that first month.

“I didn’t really consider the time gap between the 15th and then the start of school,” said Cal State East Bay rising senior Kabir Dhillon, who’s also the student body vice president. “It just makes me feel … a little bit worried, not gonna lie.”

Cal State East Bay is among more than a dozen campuses with a substantial gap between the start of the fall term and when students must be fully vaccinated. Many of those campuses will require masks and social distancing. Others will provide regular testing until the deadline strikes.

“I didn’t really consider the time gap between the 15th and then the start of school. It just makes me feel … a little bit worried, not gonna lie.”
— Cal State East Bay rising senior and student body vice president Kabir Dhillon

San Diego State isn’t waiting. Its deadline for full vaccination is Aug. 16, a week before classes start. By late July more than 25,000 students had verified they were vaccinated; last fall the university enrolled around 35,000 students. Humboldt State’s deadline is Sept. 10, which is the end of the first week of face-to-face classes. Up until that point all classes will be held virtually — and 40% of classes will remain fully online for the term. Some other campuses say students have to have one shot completed by late August, at least.

The vaccine requirement is a course reversal for the CSU, which previously maintained that it would enforce a mandate only after the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention formally approves one of the three vaccines in the U.S. currently authorized under emergency-use orders. But unlike the University of California, which made clear in June it would require inoculation before the CDC formally approves the vaccines and formalized that decision July 15, the CSU waited longer, informing the public of its plans only three weeks before the start of fall semester. Most UCs begin classes in late September because they’re on the quarter system. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is the only CSU campus that starts classes in September.

“Obviously, if the CSU system had changed policies to require vaccines under (emergency use) at the same time the UC system did, there would have been more time for students, faculty, and staff to get vaccinated by the start of the semester,” said Cal State East Bay public health professor Andrew Kelly.

Another public health professor echoed the concern. “Allowing students to be unvaccinated until Sept. 30 will certainly be a problem,” said Stanley Salinas at Chico State. “Requiring masking on campus is a fine start, but students spend the majority of their time off campus and a mask in a backpack is far less effective than a vaccine administered.”

Chico State is among the campuses requiring students to have their first shot completed by late August.

Blain Roberts, a professor of history at Fresno, is considering recording all her in-person classes and posting them online for at least the first month of school until the vaccine deadline hits. That way students who are afraid of potentially unvaccinated peers in their classes can follow the courses along from home.

She was among the hundreds of faculty urging the CSU chancellor’s office to require vaccines earlier. The open letter noted the system requires a host of other vaccines against communicable diseases.

Getting the word out

On the flip side, Sept. 30 isn’t that far away, and for some students, the timeline to get a vaccine may be tight.

If students procrastinate, “that is an issue,” said Krystal Raynes of CSU Bakersfield, one of the two students on the CSU Board of Trustees that oversees the whole system. “I didn’t realize that it was full vaccination by September 30,” she said, referring to the system rule that students must be fully vaccinated and that at least two weeks passed since their last shot for the vaccine.

Technically there’s time to reach the systemwide deadline. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is one shot, so students seeking a vaccine now could be fully inoculated 14 days later. The far more popular Pfizer vaccine has a five-week window before full vaccination hits: the first shot, a second one 21 days later, plus the 14-day wait. The Moderna vaccine is a six-week process.

Still, summer “is one of the most inconvenient times of the year to announce something,” said Dillon.

Campuses have been active in getting the word out through emails to students and posts on Twitter and Instagram, as well as messages on student portals. A few campuses shared data on how many recipients of their emails opened them. Fifty-four percent of students at CSU Northridge opened the initial email informing them of the new policy July 27, a campus spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, several campuses are offering vaccines on-site, including Raynes’ own campus of CSU Bakersfield, which also offered vaccines during the spring. “During the summer I think they’re doing a really good job reaching out through all virtual media necessary,” she added.

Students face consequences for avoiding vaccine mandate

Students have a strong incentive to abide by the vaccine mandates if they intend to take courses in person. Virtually all CSU campuses say students will be barred from university classrooms and facilities if they don’t comply, unless they have an approved medical or religious exemption. Students may face disciplinary action, including suspension, the Chancellor’s Office noted in its July 29 memo on the interim policy. Students with valid exemptions must undergo regular testing.

“Obviously, we hope this doesn’t happen, but failure to comply could result in disenrollment from classes,” said Chi-Chung Keung, campus spokesperson for Cal State Fullerton.

Humboldt State said a student taking in-person classes who refuses to be vaccinated will be blocked from school access and that their missed labs and classes “will not be forgiven.”

“Obviously, we hope this doesn’t happen, but failure to comply could result in disenrollment from classes.”
— Chi-Chung Keung, campus spokesperson for Cal State Fullerton

Dissident students may struggle to find the courses they need to complete their degrees. Several colleges said not all of their in-person classes will also be available online. Students at San Francisco State not meeting the verification deadline will be dropped from their in-person courses. It’s on them to find the online courses they’ll need, said a campus spokesperson.

At least one campus isn’t quite sure what the consequences are for students who remain on campus but won’t get vaccinated. Cal Poly Pomona told CalMatters that anyone who isn’t vaccinated after Aug. 16 will undergo weekly testing. The university still hasn’t determined whether those students can remain on campus after Sept. 30. As of late last week, about 10,200 students uploaded proof of their vaccination. Last fall the school enrolled nearly 30,000 students.Other flexibility may give some students and faculty worry. Not all campuses have an ironclad requirement that students upload proof that they’re vaccinated. The Northridge campus is taking a hybrid approach: while students need not upload visual proof of their vaccines, the school will randomly pick students weekly to verify that they’re telling the truth, a spokesperson said. Chico State has a similar policy, a spokesperson for the school said. CSU systemwide policy doesn’t mandate that campuses must require students to upload their vaccination cards.

And though the consequences for ignoring the requirement are mostly clear for students, they’re not for unionized faculty. That’s because collective bargaining rules require that the CSU and labor unions confer on employee disciplinary action. Those negotiations are still ongoing, said a CSU spokesperson.

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

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Mercidez was Born May 19, 2001 to Thomas Mosier Jr and Sherri Rose Trippo, and entered into the eternal dance place on August 4, 2021. Merc was a Hoopa Tribal Member, graduated from Hoopa Valley High School, Class of 2019. She loved glamming herself up real big beauty queen style for her TikTok videos – our very own fashionista. Always doing her hair, makeup and loved her nails. She loved painting, riding horses, cheerleading, playing sports, going to bingo with grandma Tina and Auntie Non-Dil, and most of all hanging out with her friends.

Merc was a dance girl at heart, in touch with her culture-making regalia and participating in ceremonies. She loved spending quality time together with her mother, binge-watching their favorite shows and taking road trips to go shopping and getting their hair and nails done. She loved watching her brother Tom play football, going fishing and hunting with her dad, as well as taking trips with her auntie Jessie and grandma Joann. Merc and her brother Tom were two peas in a pod growing up. The two of them did everything together, they had an inseparable sibling love. Merc had a heart of gold, her beauty shown inside and out, the love she had for everyone never went unnoticed.

Merc is survived by her parents, Thomas Mosier Jr and Sherri Rose Trippo, paternal grandmother Joann Marshall, maternal grandmother Tina Rose Lewis, great grandmother Alice Ammon, loving Brothers Thomas Charles Joseph Mosier (Josa Talley), Michael Risling, Johnny Leach III, Dakota Mosier Sr. (Future Williams), Wayne Mosier and Zane Grant III. Her Sisters Nevaeh Mosier, Destiny, Charlie, and Alicia Jewel Perry, Perseis Leach and Harlee Snow. Her aunt Non-dil (Jay) Leach, Ralphy Peters, (Madolin O’Rourke), auntie Jessica Mosier. Aunt Amelia Juan and (Sean O’Neill) and her Baby Snowflake “Hunnas” O’Neill and numerous family, friends and loved ones. She is preceded in death by grandparents Thomas Mosier Sr, and Charles Trippo, great grandparents Earnest and Henrietta Mosier, Joseph and Unis Marshall, Clarence “Buckloo” and Margret Lewis, Vernon and Delores Trippo, and Rod Ammon

Wake will be held Tuesday, August 10 at Tina Lewis’ residence. Services will be held Wednesday, August 11 at 10 a.m. at First Baptist Church. Graveside to follow at the Lewis Family Cemetery Big Hill. Pot luck reception immediately following at Pookies Park.

Pallbearers: Thomas Mosier III, Dakota Mosier Sr. Johnny Leach III, Zane Grant III, Quentin Mosier, Ki-Mit Peters, Trout Peters, Ralphy Peters, Josh Mcknight.

Honorary pallbearers: Thomas Mosier Sr, Jay Leach Jr, Ralph Peters Jr, Derrick Hyman, Clearance “Sling” Lewis, CJ Lewis, Howard Lewis, Matthew Lewis, Norman Lewis Sr, Norman “little Norm” Lewis, Bronson Lewis. Joseph Lewis, William “Billy Buck” Peters, Vernon “Muggins” Peters, Melvin Robinson, Jessie and Skyler Mosier, Emil Marshall, Will Maten, Sean O’neill, Joe Trippo, Robert “Papa Rob” Blake, Wolf and Panther Colegrove, Jake Marshall, Jason Marshall, Adrian Euan, Rocky Ericson, Lonnie Wilson, Hootie Lewis, Loren and Sherman Norton. Magnum Williams, Mitch Burchard, Chance Carpenter.

On June 23, 2021, Charles Leslie Mooney completed this leg of his journey, and put out his thumb to hitch a ride to whatever lies ahead. He left us all too soon, dying unexpectedly, asleep in his favorite chair, in the home he built and shared for 46 years with his beloved wife Donna Jean Backus. My parents met over 53 years ago in a revolving door on Donna’s 21st birthday, and they’ve been going around together ever since.

Born November 28, 1943, in Cumberland, Maryland, to Michael Alyosuis and Violet Leona Mooney. Charles and his siblings, Amy and Larry, were raised by their Aunt Nola and Uncle George Zimmerla after their mother’s untimely death. Following a tumultuous childhood, Charles enlisted in the Air Force, at the tender age of 17. A year of specialist electronics training gave him the opportunity to serve in Fukuoka, Japan. He fondly recalled this time with tales of racing motorcycles, living in a castle with a moat, all-night drinking contests, and I assume some occasional work on the Thunderchief F-105D.

Upon completing his service, Charles landed a job at Elmat, in Mountain View, California, and quite unintentionally found himself growing some of the silicon crystals that would drive the explosion of the semiconductor revolution (in the yet-to-be-named Silicon Valley). Despite these auspicious beginnings, he (proudly) never quite managed to successfully operate a single function on his iPhone.

After learning about the GI Bill, Charles embarked upon a decade-long college career, which served as the foundation for his lifelong passion for learning. At Foothill Junior College, he sang in their nationally acclaimed choir, and traveled to Hawaii to perform at the Governor’s Mansion. Tired of the smog and traffic that accompanied an expanding Bay Area, Charles and Donna escaped to the North, eventually settling in Trinidad (a quaint drinking village with a fishing problem).

Charles dabbled in various careers: logging truck driver (proud trucker and Teamster for life), carpenter, redwood tree farmer, architect (particularly fond of hyperbolic paraboloid roofs), and horticulturist. But his true calling turned out to be the oldest of professions: not prostitution, but that of proud father, teacher, and best friend to his beloved son, Brian Patrick Backus-Mooney.

From explaining the inherent contradictions of Capitalism, to an always unique birthday or Christmas gift (uni- cycle, hurling stick, tree-climbing gear), my dad always kept things interesting. Without the use of any organized type of religion, he lived and shared a deep sense of humanism, morality, and spirituality. Charles despised disingenuity, greed, and hypocrisy. His material possessions were few, including half a dozen pool cues, a few pocket knives, and an uncountable number of books.We take great solace that his beloved grandchildren, Dy- lan Charles (the “Fire Marshall”), and Liana Marie (his “Dulce Corazon”) saw him frequently and knew him well, and will carry his love and memory with them forever (“How long is forever? Duh, forever!”). Grandpa Charly never ended a visit without expressing his gratitude for Dylan and Liana making his golden years so golden, and thanking his beloved daughter-in-law Christina for “giving him this family to love.”

Those who went before: parents, Michael and Violet, brother Larry, brothers Gary and Danny. The rest of us mortal souls charged with carrying on his legacy: wife, Donna Backus, son, Brian Patrick (Christina) and their children, Dylan Charles and Liana Marie, sister, Amy (Richard) Ashbury, sister, Pamela (Gary) Shanholtz, brother, Dale (Belinda) Mooney, and numerous nieces and nephews and all of their beautiful progeny. And of course, to all of his friends: you know who you are, so find a bottle, raise a glass, even balance one on your (surgically flattened) head if you’re up for it…here’s to living your true life, finding the things that bring you joy, and exuding love and peace out into the world.

If you are looking for something to do in Chuck’s honor, drop a five or a twenty into a homeless person’s hand, support your local public television station, get vaccinated, and be kind. Celebration of Life/Wake/Raging Party planned for around summer solstice, 2022, exact time and location TBD.

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Omar “Sonny” Marcus Dean III, 65, crossed over to the other side at his home surrounded by his loved ones on August 5, 2021. He was born May 29, 1956 in Hoopa to Omar M. Dean Jr. and Alfreda Colegrove Dean, and was the third of four siblings. There was a thunder and lightning storm the day he was born and his great grandfather Francis Colegrove nicknamed him “Thunder.” He was proud a member of the Hoopa Valley Tribe.

Omar attended Hoopa Valley Elementary School, Hoopa Valley High School, and vocational school in Fresno, earning a certificate in automotive body and fender repair. Once on one of his many fishing adventures over Bald Hill to the coast with his family, he got into a fender bender with his Chevy Blazer, and before his next trip he used his trade school skills to repair his rig. Everyone was impressed with the quality and timeliness that he repaired his vehicle. He worked for Hoopa Tribe’s Public Utilities District for many years until he was disabled due to a back injury.

Omar lived in Los Angeles for a brief time with his family while his parents worked and attended barber and cosmetology school. He returned to Hoopa with his family in 1960 where he lived for the rest of his days, with the exception of the time attending school in Fresno.

Omar dearly loved his children, grandchildren, family and friends. He loved to go fishing and eeling and included his people in many of his adventures, from the Trinity River in Hoopa to the mouth of the Klamath River. If you knew him, you knew he loved a good eel roast and cooking them for his friends and family. Omar was always joking, so much – you never knew when he was serious. He had a knack for giving nicknames to the children in the family — Puddles, Squeeze Me and Little Hill were a few. He had a green thumb and grew his yearly summer garden and maintained a yard with beautiful well-kept grass. In the summer he could often be seen with his cutoff jean shorts and flip up sunglasses mowing his lawn. Even in his later years and even in ill health, Omar was a fun loving, adventurous soul making friends up and down the river and wherever his escapades took him.

Omar is survived by: his children Marcus Dean Rowe, Lodi, Amber Joyce (Dusty), Brooking, OR, Lonnie Dean, Hoopa, Al Kenny Dean (Ashley), Hoopa, Bradley Hostler (Haley), Sacramento, Sonny Jim Dean (Autum), Hoopa, and, step son Matthew Swanson (Sasup), Hoopa; grandchildren Na-res, Lorece, Omar V, Natayah, Summer, and Morning Star Dean, Julianna, Marcus II, and Nicholas Rowe, Richard, Kisan, and Chi-geri, and Gemma Dean, Tianna, Allanya, and Jerimiah Dean, Eli Hostler, Jacobi Alan Betts, Payton Dean, Sebastian, K-Lynn, Kyha, and Danille Swanson; stepfather Alex Pratt; and stepmother Kathy Baldy Dean; great uncle Mel Youckton; aunts Ilene Colegrove, Lila Gerstner, Charlene Colegrove, Vonice Colegrove; uncle Gary Colegrove Sr. (Kathy); siblings Deborah McConnell (Bob), Alfreda Jackson-Brown, step-sisters Kathleena Valdez, Allison Hescock (Sonny), and Arlyiss Pratt, step brother Daniel Pratt (Tawny); and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles and special friends.

Omar is preceded in death by: son Nandayehi Omar Thunder Dean IV; grandson Running Bear Dean; parents Alfreda Colegrove Pratt and Omar M. Dean Jr; grandparents, Mabel and Alfred Colegrove Sr, Julianna and Omar M. Dean Sr; great grandparents Theresa and Joseph Capoeman; aunts Marilyn Colegrove, Sarah Reyes (Manuel), Olivia Cano (Peely), Elizabeth Hernandez; uncles Christopher “JB” Colegrove, Alfred N. “Riggie” Colegrove Jr, and Bryan “Stoney” Colegrove Sr, Lionel Colegrove, Joseph, Robert and Richard V. Dean; sister Rebecca J. Ferris; brother Richard V. Dean; nieces Stephanie Ferris, Julie Anna Ferris; great niece Baby Angel Ferris, great-great niece Gracelyn Billy,

A viewing will be Wednesday, August 11, 2021, 5 to 7 p.m., at Sanders Funeral Home, Eureka, and graveside services and internment will be Thursday, August 12, 2021, 11 a.m.. at the Colegrove Family Cemetery, Hoopa with a reception immediately following at Pookey’s Park. CDC Safety Protocols will be followed. Please wear a mask. Officiant will be George “Pordie” Blake, and Sanders Funeral Home in Eureka is in charge of arrangements.

Pall bearers: Marcus Dean Rowe, Lonnie Dean, Al Kenny, Bradley Hostler, Sonny Jim Dean, Matthew Swanson, Tsewenaldin Van Pelt, Robert and Stuart McConnell, Joe and Stanley Ferris Jr, Pride and Anthony Painter.

Honorary pall bearers are Alex Pratt, Gary Colegrove Jr. and Sr, Bob McConnell, Daniel Pratt, Rodney “Burgey” Ammon, Robert McGahuey, Cole Cross, Stanley Jones, Darren “Abner” Randall, Gus Bibancos, Oscar, Sylvester, and Douglas Brown. David Billy Jr, Dale Ferris, Agapito Perez, Avery Ferris, Eric Castaneda, Quentin Matilton, Micah Titus II, Darren Howerton, Isha-Kom McConnell, Kekyua and Kay-Cam Van Pelt, Bryan, Billy, Lonny, Nolan and Alphonso Colegrove, Rocky, Rosco and Diggs Colegrove, Greg Cano Jr and Sr, Richard V. Meyers, Tuekwe Hunsucker, Orion and Louis Cosce, Richie Dean, Jay Duran, Charles McCovey V, Omar Dean V, Richard P. Dean, Sebastian Swanson, Dave Drake Jr and Sr, Barry McCovey Jr, Kalvin and Leland Merlin, Whits Marshall and Kevin McConnell.

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Donna Kay Cox Richardson passed on August 7, 2021 in Eureka at the age of 82.

Donna was born January 23, 1939 at Prust Maternity Home in Ferndale to Earl E. and Karla Hansen Cox. She was a life long resident of Ferndale, a 1956 graduate of Ferndale High School, and attended Humboldt State University.

She considered her first and most important career to be that of wife, mother, and homemaker. After raising her children, she began her second career as secretary at Ferndale High School in 1986 and retired in 2002.

Donna was a member of NDGW, Oneonta parlor and Order of Eastern Star. She served as Booster Club President from 1976 – 1982 and was instrumental in forming the Booster Band in 1978 When Ferndale High had no band for their activities. She and her husband were honored as “Outstanding Boosters” in 1980; an honor voted on by the senior class. Donna was also selected as “Staff Member of the Year 1998-1999” at Ferndale High, something of which she was very proud. In 2008 she was selected “Volunteer of the Year” at the Ferndale Museum.

Donna is survived by Jerry, her husband of 62 years; her sister, Sandra Sullivan; a daughter, Kathy (Richardson) Dodds and husband Dave of Elk Grove; sons, Ron Richardson and wife Susie of Arizona; Gregg Richardson and wife Laura of Hillsboro, Wisconsin; Grant Richardson and wife Robin of Naples FL; Brad Richardson and wife Ellen of Ashland, Oregon; and 26 grandchildren – Lindsey, Stephanie, Katie, -Vincent, Kayla,- Christiana, Janelle, Karina, Rachel, Luke, Lee, James, Anna, Will, Ben, John, - Matthew, Andrew, Jay, - Emma, Stephen, Christopher, Joshua, Jonathan, Brianna, and Olivia. She is also survived by eighteen great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her dear Mes Amies group — Judy Dixon, Ginny Dwight, and Linda Russ.

Donna experienced many joys in her life. Too many to mention here. However, one of Donna’s greatest joys was spending time with her family on their houseboat at Trinity Lake during the summer months for a period of years. She thoroughly enjoyed the sun, the water, and the good times had by all. Donna also was very proud of her beautiful flowers and vegetable garden. She spent endless hours weeding, pruning, planting and maintaining her yard with the help of her husband. She liked nothing better than to have her hands in the soil. She also made some damn good jam from the many berries they cultivated on their property, which was always in great demand from the family. Volunteering at the Ferndale Museum was another bright spot. She made many friendships and enjoyed sharing her knowledge of the history of this beautiful town.

She was preceded in death by grandparents, Carl L. and Alma Hansen and James T. Cox and Mary Titus Meyers, her father, Earl E. Cox, and her mother Karla Leger.

Friends will be invited to attend a Memorial Service to be determined at a later date.

Memorials can be made to Ferndale Museum. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Danish Lutheran Church in Ferndale.

Nina Lee Jeffre passed away peacefully on July 10 from pancreatic cancer. She died at her home in Eureka with her husband by her side.

Nina was born January 31, 1953 in Berkeley, California to M. Patricia (McFarren) Jeffre and Raymond A. Jeffre. She is survived by her four children (Emma Miller, Forrest Cord, Stephanie Hedt, Michael Hedt), four beloved grandchildren (Aedan, Dmitri, Dorothy, and Everett), sisters (Janet Blake and Susan Schilling), and her loving husband of 24 years, Thomas Hedt.

Those who knew her know that her life was too rich and expansive to be summed up in anything less than a novel. She was an artist, educator, nurturer and revolutionary who showed us all how to live life to its fullest. Always up for an adventure, her community spanned from California to the far reaches of Alaska to the south coast of Washington and the deserts of Arizona. She met every challenge with strength and compassion and found beauty in all things, but had no patience for injustice or unkindness. She was a light in this world and is deeply missed.

She is preceded in death by her parents and two of her four siblings. A celebration of life will be held in Trinidad in September. Her family asks that donations be made to Hospice of Humboldt in her honor in lieu of flowers.

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Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division is investigating a suspicious death following the passing of an elderly Hoopa woman.  

On August 3, 2021, at about 12:52 p.m., Hoopa Valley Tribal Police Officers responded to a residence on Pine Creek Road in Hoopa for the report of an elderly female victim with serious injuries. The victim, identified as 73-year-old Barbara Jean McNeil, was transported to an out of area hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries.

McNeil’s death is considered suspicious and an autopsy is planned for this week. McNeil’s cause and manner of death are pending the results of the autopsy.

This case is still under investigation. More information will be released as available and appropriate to the investigation.

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.