William Vail Allen passed away peacefully at his home in Eureka on March 14, 2021 after an eight-year battle with cancer. William was born to Royal Vergne & Mary Vail Wiseman on November 4, 1935 at Alta Bates hospital in Berkeley.

William lived in Berkeley for a number of years. In 1942, William moved with his mother and stepfather (David E. Allen Jr.) to Brookline, Massachusetts. David Allen was a Naval Officer and the family would make a number of moves during World War II. Once the war was over, the family settled in Palo Alto, California.

William attended Palo Alto elementary school and Jordan Junior High School, where he was valedictorian. After junior high, William attended Mountain View high school, where he developed an interest in science and mathematics. He went on to University of California Berkeley, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science & Masters degree in biology in 1957 and was admitted to the Phi Beta Kappa society. From Cal, William entered a PHD program at Stanford University, where he studied at the Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University in Pacific Grove. William received his PHD in biology in 1964.

While at Stanford, William met Sigrid Gussmann, a fellow Stanford student and the love of his life. They were married on June 30, 1962 in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.

William performed his post doctoral work in Plymouth, England, where he studied marine life. He would spend a year in England and return to the Bay Area in 1965, when went to work at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, working on astro biology projects.

In the summer of 1966, William received a job offer from Humboldt State University to be a Biology professor. He taught biology, physiology and genetics until his retirement in 2002, at which time he became a professor emeritus. William enjoyed helping young motivated students reach their potential. He was a mentor to countless graduate students who would go on to be doctors, professors and scientists.

William enjoyed sports. He was an avid tennis and racquetball player and played in basketball leagues until he was fifty. He loved watching his grandson’s basketball and baseball games. He loved watching the Golden State Warriors, especially during the Steph Curry era. He was a big fan of the Cal Bears. He often spent summers working on construction projects on his Fickle Hill home. With the help of graduate students and his boys, he built greenhouses, decks, ponds and doubled the size of his house. He also enjoyed feeding his pet koi carp and taking care of his tropical fish.

William was preceded in death by his father Royal Vergne Wiseman, mother Mary Vail Allen, stepfather David E. Allen Jr. and brother David E. Allen III. He is survived by his wife Sigrid Allen, brother Matthew V. Allen (Charlotte), sons Erich Allen (Carrie) and Kevin Allen (Charise), and grandchildren William D. Allen, Benjamin Allen, Grace Allen, Daniel Allen and Isaac Allen.

The family would like to thank the many caregivers, nurses and doctors at St. Joseph who were kind and took wonderful care of William during his fight with cancer. Special thanks to Dr. Luther Cobb and the outstanding caregivers, social workers and nurses from Hospice of Humboldt.

In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to Hospice of Humboldt. A celebration of William’s life will be scheduled for a time when it is safe to gather.

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

Fern Elizabeth Cartwright, born March 31, 1930 in Bemidji, Minnesota, and died March 18, 2021, just 13 days before her 91st birthday.

Mom lived in Lakeview, Oregon before moving to Eureka 63 years ago. She first worked at Cloney’s Pharmacy, then moved on to the womens’ clothing industry and worked at Lerners, McGaraghans and Roos Atkins.

She is survived by sons, Tom (Connie), Jerry, and daughter, Kandi (Darrell). Her grandchildren and great grandchildren: Lindsey (Kyle) Addison and Carson, Jaxon Rasmussen (Sadie and Brian’s son), Jamie (Curt) Bella and Claire, Brandee (Chris) Maya and Ryder, and Shane (Chelsea) Shelby. She is also survived by her sisters, Carol and Clara.

One of mom’s favorite things to do was to go to her great-grandkids’ sporting events and rarely missed a game.

She was preceded in death by her husband, George, granddaughter, Sadie, brothers, Frank, George and Charles, and sisters, Florence, Mary and Irene.

A very special thank you to all the staff at Alder Bay who endlessly treated mom with dignity and respect, lots of smiles, hugs when needed, and always a sense of humor, which was invaluable to mom. She called Alder Bay “Home” and loved you all.

A very special thank you also to Gayle Newman who visited mom daily while she was in the hospital when family was not allowed due to Covid-19.

Sara and Steve from Hospice! Thank you, thank you!

In lieu of flowers please consider donating to the American Cancer Society, 2942 F Street, Eureka; or, Hospice of Humboldt, 3327 Timber Fall Court, Eureka.

It was mom’s wishes that no services will be held.

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A note from the great-grandchildren to Grandma Fern:

Fern loved with all she had and enjoyed the simple things in life. She loved her family and friends and surrounded herself with love and joy. Her baking and cooking couldn’t be matched and she moved around in the kitchen very well. Her flower garden was the prettiest in the neighborhood with Dahlias and Gladiolus. She cared for everything and everyone with passion. She loved and she will forever be loved by everyone who knew her.

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

May E. Basler passed away March 11, 2021 at her home in Eureka. May was born on June 22, 1944 in Jasper, Texas to Bertha and Kenneth Lilly.

May moved to Humboldt County from Texas with her family in the seventh grade and attended local schools. May married the love of life, Robert (aka Bad Bob) Basler, on July 7, 1961. May was a homemaker most of her life and spent many years supporting her husband’s local painting business and their two children in their schooling and extracurricular activities. May loved spending time with family and friends. Nothing was more important to May than God and family. Over the years, May and Bob opened their hearts and home to support several nieces and nephews in their earlier years of life. Their home was often the place, family and friends would get together for celebrations and visiting. May was a member of Calvary Baptist Church in Eureka.

May was preceded in death by her two children, Jimmy D. Basler and Brenda L. Basler, as well as her parents Bertha and Kenneth Lilly, in-laws Madonna and Leo Basler, and her siblings Evelynn Carpenter, Alice Hernandez, James E. Pannell Sr., and Mary Holdcraft. She is survived by her husband of almost 60 years, Bob Basler, sister Betty O’Dell, and numerous nieces, nephews, friends, neighbors and her church family.

The family requests in lieu of flowers, donations can be made in May’s memory to your favorite local charity or to Calvary Baptist at 3400 F St. Eureka, CA, 95503

May will be laid to rest at Ocean View Cemetery following a private graveside service with the Reverend Don Reed officiating.

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

UPDATE, March 24:

California Highway Patrol Public Information Officer Paul Craft responded to the Outpost‘s request today for similar reports filed with CHP:

In the last few months, the CHP was dispatched to several reports of an unknown item striking a windshield. The most recent incident was two days ago in the area of Myrtle and Felt, but the reporting party just called in today to report it and it is currently being looked into by an officer.

The other recent calls taken by our office occurred in December (Myrtle at Freshwater) and October (US-101 at Samoa Blvd). There have been no suspects identified in any of these cases.

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More than a dozen Humboldt County residents shared recent accounts on social media today of their car windows being broken by unknown objects while driving through Eureka.

An overwhelming number of these incidents — shared to the Humboldt community Facebook group “Humboldt County On Alert” — occurred along the same stretches of Broadway Street and Myrtle Avenue, leading residents to suspect that someone may be intentionally targeting cars in these areas with rocks, slingshots or BB guns.

Alyssa Del Grande told the Outpost that something cracked her truck windshield on Christmas Eve while she was driving on Myrtle Avenue.

Eureka Police Department spokesperson Brittany Powell told the Outpost that at least 13 police reports matching these stories have been filed with EPD since November.

“Most of the time it has been reported that an unknown item hit a window or windshield while the victim was driving in either the areas of Myrtle and West Avenues or the 2200 Block of Broadway,” Powell said. “It’s an issue we are aware of and we are looking at all reports for similarities and trends so that we can narrow down a potential suspect(s).”

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s office has also received four similar reports in less than three weeks: two on Myrtle Avenue, one on Old Arcata Road, west of Pigeon Point Road and one on Fern Street in Cutten.

“At this time, it doesn’t look like we have enough information to connect any of these cases to one specific person,” HCSO spokesperson Samantha Karges told the Outpost. “However, we encourage anyone who has experienced vandalism to their vehicle to please give us a call and report it. The more reports of these incidents occurring that we receive, the better we can identify problem areas and address the situation.”

The Outpost also reached out to the California Highway Patrol for additional crime reports but did not receive a response.

A number of photos from these recent reports were shared with the Outpost. They have been included at the bottom of this story.

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When it comes to government-sanctioned public art in the City of Eureka, “Cat Food” casts a long shadow.

In case you’ve forgotten that particular controversy, three years ago, the Eureka City Council heard from an indignant local spa owner who was positively livid about the artwork recently painted on the utility box outside her store’s picture windows. The offending design? Bright, cartoony food items with cute kitty cat faces.

The city, which had commissioned the piece as part of its burgeoning public art initiative, agreed to arrange for another artist to repaint the offending box — while offering “Cat Food” artist Samantha Moore a different location. Happy ending. But the dustup triggered a heated community debate about public art and its impacts on private commerce. (Of course, public speech can have impacts, too: Internet hordes punished the spa owner’s perceived snootiness with a barrage of negative Yelp reviews.)

At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisor meeting, the organizers of the 2021 Eureka Street Art Festival approached the board to request permission for a giant mural on the blank western wall of the county courthouse — a truly drab slab of mid-50s concrete. 

Presenting the proposal, Jenna Catsos said she and her fellow organizers have had their eye on that “big blank wall” for a while. This summer’s event, scheduled for August 7-14, will be the fourth annual weeklong, citywide art fest. 

All five supervisors were supportive of the proposal, though First District Supervisor Rex Bohn clearly wanted to avoid a repeat of the “Cat Food” debacle.

“Even though I loved it, I don’t think we need cats eating sushi,” he quipped when the conversation turned to the mural’s subject matter. He suggested “something reflecting [Humboldt County’s] natural beauty,” like maybe trees, ocean and fish. He also said the bank across the street should be consulted, since the employees there will be looking at it every day. But he’s fine with any subject matter, he said, “as long as it’s middle-of-the-road.”

“I actually like the cats eating sushi, but I’m weird,” Fourth District Supervisor Virginia Bass said, later adding that she’d love to see something brighten up this building, which she called “one of the strangest structures.”

Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson said he’s thoroughly supportive but has no need to offer input on the mural’s content. “Quite frankly, I’ve had no input on what’s been happening so far, and it’s been great,” he said. A bit later, however, he said he’d like to see art that “projects positive rather than darker” energy, though the darker stuff has its place.

Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone commended the “fantastic” arts initiative, calling the existing works “magnificent” and saying he loves the variety. He suggested using the local history book “Two Peoples, One Place” as possible inspiration, a guide to honoring the dual local histories of native tribes “but also logging and fishing.”

Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell said, “[W]hatever we choose should be very neutral in content” because the courthouse is a public building that people use for a wide variety of reasons. She reiterated this point: “I’m really encouraging that it be very neutral in content.”

Catsos said the cost of this mural could run as high as $36,000, but the money will come from community fundraising, business sponsors and grants. She added that studies show that public art boosts community pride, making cities more welcoming and walk-friendly while boosting the economy.

While the festival often invites artists from around the globe to participate in the festival, the organizers are hoping to commission a local artist for this particular mural, though it must be someone who has worked on such a large scale before. The county will be asked to leave the mural up for at least five years.

After some debate, Bohn made a motion to appoint a three-person committee comprised of Bass (since the courthouse is in her district) along with an employee from the county’s Public Works Department and someone from the County Administrative Office. They’ll be tasked with selecting an artist and approving a design.

Allegedly, Humboldt County has more working artists per capita than anywhere else in the state, and while some of you Kahlos and Riveras may have felt your creative juices a-bubbling at the words “very neutral” and “middle of the road,” we’re guessing you might have some inspiring ideas of your own. 

So we’re inviting our creative readers to get creative. Grab the photograph above and create your very own mural proposal. Paint it, Photoshop it, hell, steal it from Beeple. (No, don’t.) Then upload your masterpiece to our comment section below.

For the record, the theme of this year’s Eureka Street Art Festival is “Welcoming and Wayfinding.” (Upon learning this fact, Bohn, unimpressed, cracked, “So it’s gonna be a mural of a traffic jam?”) Use that theme as inspiration, if you like. Oh, and the supervisors really want the mural to be locally relevant, but probably not like this:

We and Eureka Police Chief Steve Watson know from experience that our readers can do better than that. We can’t promise that the county’s mural committee will approve or even consider your designs, but maybe, just maybe, a groundswell of public support will once again shape Eureka’s public art. 

As long as the bank tellers approve.

A Eureka man was arrested yesterday in connection to a child sex abuse case being investigated by the Trinity County Sheriff’s Office.

Steven Rebel May of Eureka. | HCSO

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office arrested 35-year-old Steven Rebel May after serving an arrest warrant at his home on the 3700 block of Harris Street yesterday at approximately 8:30 a.m.

May was booked into the Humboldt County Jail on numerous charges, including the recurring sexual abuse of a minor, contact with a minor with intent to commit a crime, an attempted lewd act on a child, and distributing lewd material to a child.

KIEM reports that a search warrant was also served in connection to this case on electronic devices inside a trailer at Redwood Acres yesterday.

The Outpost reached out to the Trinity County Sheriff’s Office for more information but has not immediately received a response.

Eureka’s Community Services Department release: 

Parks are undeniably the fabric of our community, providing a community meeting space to forge connections, access the benefits of health & wellness, and connect with the beauty of our natural world. Sequoia Park has provided this to our community since 1894, and we are very excited to unveil the details for the Sequoia Park Improvement Project to ensure it continues to provide these benefits for generations to come.

As you may have noticed, there is construction activity currently underway at Sequoia Park. This is Phase 1 in the works (the green section on the map), made possible due to a competitive grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) for the Redwood Sky Walk and park improvement funds. The northeast corner is receiving improvements first due to the close proximity to the Redwood Sky Walk and meeting grant requirements including ADA access, roadway improvements, and diverse play elements.

In Phase 1, currently in process, the northeast corner of Sequoia Park is being enhanced with a collection of natural-looking playground equipment, as well as landscaping to allow children a place to explore and engage in a safe and stimulating environment. (Equipment shown below are some examples of what this might look like, and are subject to change as plans are finalized.

In Phase 2, the Treehouse Adventure Playground, which was inspired by the Redwood Skywalk at the Sequoia Park Zoo, will be located in the existing redwood grove in the upper meadow and will provide an extensive, immersive, customized play experience in the trees, which will be suitable for everyone. Current plans include ramps and suspended bridges, allowing for fun exploration. There will also be an assortment of slides, ladders, nets, and other unique play equipment which will allow a multitude of different methods by which to enter and exit the Treehouse Adventure Playground. (The images and renderings below provide examples of what the Treehouse Adventure Playground might look like. They are subject to change as plans finalize.)

How did this come to fruition?

In 2017-2018, an extensive community input process was conducted with an outpouring of community support and feedback, made possible by Redwood Capital Bank who provided the funds for Greenway Partners to create preliminary designs. A community fundraising campaign will be launching soon to carry the remaining phases to the finish line.

Why is this project so important?

Community feedback has indicated that outdated and broken amenities such as old restrooms and playground equipment are in dire need of replacement. Furthermore, there is limited ADA access in and around the park which limits the ability for all to enjoy this special space. The beloved open green space will be improved with new grass and irrigation for lounging in the sun and playing games as our community has enjoyed for over a century. The swings will be updated with more seating options including the addition of inclusive seats and a seat where you can sit across from your child! All improvements were carefully vetted to ensure this project enhances what is loved, restores what is broken, and provides what is missing.

Park use during construction:

Construction will be active over the next few months. Please respect safety fencing and the construction crew as they are hard at work. If you have any concerns or questions, they are best directed to the Eureka Community Services Department rather than on-site contractors. You can reach us at 707-441-4241.