Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:
Two correctional deputies were injured today during an assault inside the Humboldt County Correctional Facility.
On July 27, 2021, just before 10 a.m., two correctional deputies inside a housing unit were attempting to escort a disruptive inmate to a secure holding location when the inmate became combative. While refusing to comply with deputy requests, the inmate, 29-year-old Keith Tamas Vroman-Nagy, produced a sharpened pencil hidden on his person and attacked the deputies. During the assault, one deputy sustained minor injuries, while the other sustained serious injuries as a result of being stabbed just above the eye.
Both correctional deputies were transported to a local hospital for emergency medical treatment. One was treated and released, while the other is being transported to an out of area hospital for specialized treatment. The deputy is in stable condition and is expected to survive the injury.
Vroman-Nagy was booked on additional charges of attempted murder (PC 664/187(a)), assault with a deadly weapon upon a custodial officer (PC 245.3) battery with injury on a custodial officer (PC 243(c)(1)), battery on a peace officer (PC 243(c)(2)), battery with serious bodily injury (PC 243(d)), causing great bodily injury in commission of a felony (PC 12022.7) and resisting an executive officer (PC 69).
In 2020, the Humboldt County Correctional Facility recorded 33 assaults on staff members. Today’s attack is the 18th assault on staff this year.
“I am thankful that our brave Correctional Deputies will recover from their injuries. It is a miracle that our deputy did not lose his eye from this assault,” Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal said. “Our correctional deputies have a very difficult job and face challenges daily. Many of those challenges have been exacerbated by the regulations imposed on us through AB 109 Prison Realignment. Despite these challenges, our deputies continue to serve our community with unwavering resolve and compassion for those on the journey of rehabilitation.”
The Sheriff’s Office remains committed to creating a safe environment for both correctional staff and inmates within our Correctional Facility, and this incident remains under investigation.
Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:
On July 26, 2021, at about 3:27 p.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the Eel River near Holmes Flat for the report of a possible drowning.
According to witnesses, a 57-year-old male victim had been swept under by the river’s current while swimming and failed to resurface.
Cal-Fire, City Ambulance, Rio Dell Fire, Scotia Fire and Humboldt Bay Fire responded to assist in searching for the missing male. At approximately 4:08 p.m. emergency crews utilizing a Cal-Fire helicopter located the missing male in the river. Rescue swimmers brought the man to shore and initiated life saving efforts. Despite extensive efforts, the man was pronounced deceased.
Residents and visitors to Humboldt County are urged to take extreme caution while recreating in local rivers and the ocean. If you do decide to swim in the local rivers this summer, the Sheriff’s Office offers some safety tips:
Be sure to check river levels and flow information with the National Weather Service, in addition to water release information for the Trinity River.
Never swim alone.
Avoid swimming into a fast-moving current. If the current seems too strong, get out of the water.
Don’t consume alcohol while swimming.
Inflatable water toys should not be used in place of a life jacket. Young children should wear a life jacket when swimming in the river. Watch children at all times.
Dianna Hope Melton passed away on Wednesday, June 2, 2021 at the age of 72. She was born in Magee, Mississippi on January 5, 1949 to Joseph B. Martin and Ethel Mae Martin.
At the age of two Dianna’s family left there farm in Mississippi and moved to California for her father to work in the lumber industry in Eureka. Dianna resided there until her death.
Dianna graduated Eureka High School in 1967 and married Grady Melton on March 8, 1969 in Eureka by Rev. Max Kell from Pinehill Baptist Church.
She started her daycare in 1973 and was planning to retire this year. Over 40 years she had numerous kids and families that were very special to her. “Mema” is what she was known to them all. She was so selfless and was always there for anybody with anything that they needed. She was so loved and had so much love to give back.
She loved her Southern roots and enjoyed going to visit family in Mississippi with her sister, June.
She attended Apostolic Faith Church most of her life and loved her church family and friends too.
She is survived by her five children; Mark Melton, Kathy Giacone, Clint Melton, Amanda Griffith, and Ericka Melton. Grandchildren; NaKaylee Coleman, Shelby Giacone, Jackson Giacone, Riley Doyle, Brent Doyle, Kenzie Doyle, Carolina Melton, and Aviannah Hodge. Great-granddaughter Stella Miller and her sister June Wickberg. Nieces and nephews: Kay Armas, Sammy Wickberg, Christopher Martin, Jerome Martin, Sara Leslie, and Ryan Swarts which they referred to her as “Aunt DeeDee.” And many cousins from Mississippi.
She is preceded in death by her parents Joseph B. Martin and Ethel Mae Martin, her brother Danny Martin, her sister Connie Swarts and the father of her five children, Grady Melton.
Family and friends are invited to attend a celebration of life for Dianna Melton “Mema” on Saturday, August 14, 2021 from 1 to 3 p.m. at 1748 Thelma Street in Fortuna.
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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Dianna Melton’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.
Christie, at left, and a dead cow at his ranch in the Arcata Bottoms. Photos: Andrew Goff.
The lawyer for Arcata rancher Ray Christie, who is scheduled for retrial next month on four felony counts of animal cruelty, has filed a motion asking for a new trial on the 25 misdemeanor charges a jury convicted him of in January 2020.
Attorney John Cogorno filed the motion based on what he believes were erroneous and misleading instructions given to the jury before they began to deliberate. Christie was convicted of 25 counts of disposing of dead cattle within 150 feet of state waters. Investigators who raided his ranch on the Arcata Bottoms found hundreds of decomposing carcasses.
Jurors could not reach verdicts on the felony animal cruelty charges and several of the misdemeanors. On the felony counts, 11 of 12 jurors voted to convict.
In his motion, Cogorno cites several examples of alleged mistakes in the instructions Judge Christopher Wilson read to the jury. Among them is that the district attorney’s original written complaint accused Christie of “littering,” a word not included in the state Fish and Game code. Littering was changed to “disposal.” Also, the jury was told that during the trial, evidence was presented (when jurors were not in court) that Christie illegally removed ear tags from some cows and allowed cows to escape his property. Yet he was not charged.
In the motion, Cogorno argues that removing ear tags has nothing to do with the accusations Christie faced at trial. He said giving jurors that information was “misleading and highly prejudicial,” and may have influenced their decision to convict Christie.
“Therefore,” he writes, “this raises the crucial question here as to whether the defendant was convicted of an offense not charged in the information.”
This morning Cogorno and Christie appeared via Zoom for a trial confirmation hearing, and for Cogorno to argue his motion. Deputy District Attorney David Moutrie has filed a written response.
The hearing was mistakenly set before Judge Larry Killoran instead of Wilson, the trial judge, so was rescheduled for Aug. 4. Moutrie told Killoran that Cogorno recently revealed he intends to call new witnesses for the second trial, but is past deadline on turning over witness statements.
“If you have new witnesses or some other defense (strategy) in mind you need to provide it,” the judge told Cogorno.
The problem, Cogorno said, is the prosecution won’t tell him whether they intend to retry Christie on the misdemeanor charges the jury couldn’t agree on. If those charges were simply dismissed, he said, he could “substantially” cut back on the number of witnesses.
“I do not know if they’re going to retry the hung jury counts or will just proceed on the felonies,” Cogorno said.
Moutrie looked perplexed, saying he thought it was well-known that Christie is being tried only on the felonies. (After Christie’s first trial, then-prosecutor Adrian Kamada said the misdemeanor charges were not being tried again. The Outpost reported that on Jan. 22, 2020.)
“We are going to try only the felonies,” Moutrie said today.
“Well, there you go,” Judge Killoran said.
Cogorno pressed on, asking if that meant the charges were being dismissed.
“We’re not going to retry them,” Moutrie repeated.
Cogorno apparently is not persuaded, saying in an e-mail today that the charges should be dismissed, and if they aren’t he will assume Christie is being retried and he will prepare accordingly.
“I would assume that those misdemeanors would also be included in a retrial,” he said, indicating he’s skeptical that the prosecutor intends to dismiss.
That and other issues, such as the motion for new trial, should be clarified if Wilson presides over the hearing next week. He has already provided a blistering response to Cogorno’s attempt to have charges dropped. At that time his argument was that Wilson should not have dismissed a juror for misconduct.
Cogorno appealed Wilson’s ruling to the state Court of Appeal, which denied his writ.
Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office needs the public’s help to locate missing person Walter Wayne Wright, 35, of Westhaven.
Wright was reported missing on July 21, 2021 at about 12:45 p.m. He was last seen on July 11 at about 1 a.m. when he borrowed a friend’s vehicle to drive home. Wright failed to return the vehicle at the agreed upon time. The vehicle was later found unoccupied at Wright’s residence in Westhaven with his personal belongings still inside.
Wright is described as an American Indian male, approximately 5 feet 11 inches tall, 140 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing dark blue jeans, a shirt, a black hat with “Cali” written in red and a thick silver ring on his pinky finger.
Anyone with information for the Sheriff’s Office regarding Wright’s possible whereabouts should call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom gives a press conference at Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Union City on April 15, 2021. Today Newsom announced state employees and health care workers must be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing and wear masks while working. Photo by Anne Wernikoff, CalMatters
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Amid
an uptick in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, California Gov.
Gavin Newsom today announced
that health care workers and state employees must be vaccinated or
undergo weekly testing and wear masks.
Employees of hospitals, nursing homes, dentists’ and doctors’
offices and other health care settings will have to comply with the
requirements by Aug. 23. In addition, all employees of state agencies
will be subjected to a verification process that will be mostly in
place by Aug. 2, according to state officials.
Short of a vaccination mandate, the new policy comes as the Delta
variant has become the dominant strain in California —
approximately 80% of the COVID-19 cases sequenced were of the Delta
type, according to the state. Experts say the Delta variant is
highly contagious and poses a serious threat to
unvaccinated people.
More than 3,000 people infected
with COVID-19 are hospitalized in California,
which is comparable to late October 2020, before the vaccine was
available.
“We are at a point in this pandemic where individuals’ choice
to not get vaccinated is now impacting the rest of us in a profound,
devastating and deadly way,” Newsom said during his announcement.
The California Hospital Association voiced strong support for the
governor’s order, calling the requirements “important and
necessary steps that must be taken in this extraordinary situation.”
But one of the state’s largest health care unions declined to
comment directly on the new policy. The union prefers “education
and outreach” over mandatory vaccination or testing, said Renee
Saldana, press secretary for SEIU-UHW, which represents about 100,000
California health care workers, including certified nursing
assistants, respiratory therapists, hospital cooks and janitors.
Saldana also declined to comment on what the union would do if
health care providers require mandatory vaccinations for workers, as
some
hospital systems have done.
The Veterans Affairs Administration today said it
would require COVID-19 vaccinations for some of
its workers, including doctors and nurses. It is the first federal
agency to do so.
Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, an Oakland Democrat, said she is
exploring legislation to clarify that employers can mandate that
their workers get shots. Experts say it’s a tough ask, but not
impossible or illegal. Employers can require vaccines, but
cannot discriminate against people who aren’t
vaccinated because of a disability or religion, according to the
state’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
Wicks said she’s heard from small businesses owners who are
interested in mandating vaccines among their employees but are afraid
of being sued.
“Beyond legislation, I think what we need is a cultural shift
around this idea of proof of vaccination,” Wicks said. “Our
education leaders, our religious leaders, they should say, ‘we’re
going to require this’…same thing with gyms, that’s an obvious
place we should be doing it.”
California eliminated its colored-tier system for businesses when
it reopened on June 15. An
analysis by the San Francisco Chronicle
estimated that about a dozen counties would be in the most
restrictive “purple” tier if those rules still applied.
“The idea that we would be in a purple tier, which means schools
and indoor dining would be closed, to me that was very alarming, it
was a wake up call,” Wicks said. “We need to consider further
measures to ensure people are getting vaccinated.”
Shira Shafir, an epidemiology professor at UCLA, said from a
public health perspective, it is extremely valuable for employers to
require their workers to get vaccinated.
“Given the risk of transmission, it is really important to use
all public health prevention measures we have at our disposal,” she
said. “Vaccines protect against the Delta variant, but they only
work if people get them.”
Requiring — or in the case of the state, strongly encouraging —
health workers to get vaccinated helps protect people who are
immunocompromised or older because even if vaccinated, their bodies
may not be able to build strong protection, Shafir said. It also
helps protect children under 12 who cannot yet be vaccinated.
About 5.3% of all COVID-19 tests are coming back positive as of
today; about six weeks ago, the state reopened
its economy with a positivity rate under 1%.
Conversations around stricter vaccination policies and mandates in
the workplace have been gaining traction in California. At least two
Bay Area counties, San Francisco and Santa Clara, had already
announced plans
to require vaccination among county workers.
San
Francisco is also requiring that workers in
high-risk settings including hospitals, nursing homes and jails, be
vaccinated by Sept. 15.
Another large employer, the University of California system,
recently
finalized its vaccination policy, which will
require that students, staff and faculty be fully vaccinated before
the start of fall classes.
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Barbara Feder Ostrov contributed to this report. CALmatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.
A 22-year-old woman died Friday evening after getting swept underwater by the currents of the Trinity River at Kimtu Beach.
Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the beach, a popular swimming spot near Willow Creek, at approximately 6:18 pm., according to a statement sent by Public Information Specialist Samantha Karges.
“Hoopa Tribal Officers and medical personnel were first to arrive on scene and performed life-saving efforts on the victim,” Karges said, specifying that CPR was initiated. [CORRECTION: Karges later told the Outpost thatit was actually the Yurok Tribal Police rather than the HTO.] “Despite these efforts, the victim succumbed to her injuries.”
Drownings are a tragically common occurrence on Humboldt County rivers, particularly the Trinity, whose pristine beauty is belied by swift and icy currents. This was the second drowning in Humboldt County rivers this year. The other victim was 65-year-old Leonard Crothers, who drowned in the Eel River at Holmes Flat in April.
The Sheriff’s Office is awaiting confirmation that the victim’s next-of-kin have been notified before publicly releasing her identity.
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UPDATE: Shortly after this post was published, the Sheriff’s Office issued a press release. Not much new information was included, though it said an autopsy of the victim has been scheduled for Tuesday, July 27, and it included the following list of safety tips for local river swimming:
Be sure to check river levels and flow information with the National Weather Service, in addition to water release information for the Trinity River.
Never swim alone.
Avoid swimming into a fast-moving current. If the current seems too strong, get out of the water.
Don’t consume alcohol while swimming.
Inflatable water toys should not be used in place of a life jacket. Young children should wear a life jacket when swimming in the river. Watch children at all times.
