Elio “Bert” Bertolini
November 7, 1920 – January 23, 2021

On Saturday, January 23, 2021, Elio left us.

Elio “Bert” Bertolini was born November 7, 1920 in Korbel to Luigi and Bruna (Bonini) Bertolini. He was delivered by his great aunt, Assunta Papini, who served as midwife to most of the babies born in Korbel.

His father leased company land beside the Mad River where he grew vegetables and raised chickens for his truck farm business. Elio’s schooling was at Korbel Elementary and Arcata High School. His parents purchased land at Alliance (near Arcata) in 1936, where they continued farming. Elio worked for a short time at Hammond Lumber Company in Samoa before joining the U.S. Navy in January 1942.

After completing boot camp, he was assigned to Alameda Naval Air Station for training as Aviation Machinist Mate. He joined Air Group Eleven before being sent to Guadalcanal. Returning to California, he received training at Burbank and was assigned to Group VX4 that was conducting radar detection tests of submarines on the East Coast. He remained there until his discharge in November 1947.

After returning home he worked at the California Barrel Factory. An avid baseball fan, he joined the Humboldt County Redwood League playing for Arcata and Blue Lake teams. In 1950 he married Janice Clark in Blue Lake. They moved to Eureka where they raised their three children. He served an apprenticeship as heavy equipment mechanic at Dayton Murray Truck Sales in Eureka. At this time the lumber industry was flourishing with the demand for new homes. Truck Engineering purchased the firm and Elio continued working there until the company’s closure. He then worked for Tiny Parks Equipment Repair before joining Trinity Tractor. As the lumber industry began to slow, he found employment in 1963 with the California Division of Highways (now Caltrans) in the equipment department. He retired in 1985. Elio joined the Eureka Elks Lodge in 1950, where he became active in lodge affairs. He served as Exalted Ruler in 1977/78 and was later president of the Northwest District Past Exalted Rulers Association.

When he became interested in fly fishing, he and Janice began annual trips to Henry’s Lake Idaho. There he fished his favorite stream, the Madison River. He and Janice continued these fishing vacations for thirty years, before the long trips slowed them down. They did find time for camping when their children were growing up. Later they enjoyed Alaska cruises and six trips to Italy, where his parents were born. Following his retirement, he joined the Northern Counties Logging Interpretive Association, which had acquired one of the first early day tractors Hammond Lumber Company had used in logging. He wasn’t ready to retire his mechanical skills and spent several years restoring the HD60 Caterpillar. The NCLIA eventually became the Timber Heritage Association, where he continued as a volunteer while physically able.

Elio was predeceased by his parents, his sister, Mary Bertolini and daughter, Lori Bertolini

He is survived by his wife, Janice, son Louis Bertolini (Kathy), daughter, Lisa Ringelman (Jeff) and grancdchildren, Kelly DelRosario (Jaye), Erica Clarke (Laura), Jordan Ringelman, Nicholas, Joseph, and Julia Bertolini and three great grandchildren.

Memorial donations may be made to Timber Heritage Association, P.O. Box 6399, Eureka, CA 95502 or a charity of your choice.

A private family burial at gravesite will be held.

In today’s media availability on the pandemic, Humboldt’s health officer, Dr. Ian Hoffman, took a multitude of questions from local reporters on the vaccination statistics, disparate vaccination rates in the Latinx community and numerous other aspects of the county’s management of the pandemic.

Video above, rough transcript below.

###

From the Times-Standard: Approximately how many people over the age of 75 has DHHS been able to vaccinate to date? How many total people in that age group are there in the county?

So Humboldt County has approximately 10,000 people over the age of 75 and based on the data that we’ve pulled from CARE, which is a state database, approximately 50 percent or about 5,000 of those have been vaccinated to date.

From the Times-Standard: Anecdotally our staff has heard of people 75 and older having difficulty navigating the online process, often due to a lack of internet access. Has DHHS received complaints from this group related to difficulties with the process?

Sure. Of course with this whole thing nationally, statewide, locally - it’s been very heavily dependent on people’s access to websites and internet and technology to schedule the appointment. So we have certainly received a few concerns. We’ve tried to address these by doing things like having people in the Joint Information Center be available to fill out those forms for anyone who can’t fill it out on their own. So anyone in that position if they need help filling out the interest form, would call 441-5000 and we have people in English and in Spanish who can help fill out those forms.

And the Times-Standard asks: are there other ways for people in the age group to sign up - which you just addressed. Are there other ways for them to be notified when an appointment is available?

Sure so once you’re on that list, when your turn comes up the JIC will reach out to people, either by email if they have a valid email address, or if they don’t they’ll call them. And we have a dedicated staff now who are reaching out to people who are in the priority groups who are on our list to alert them when an appointment comes available for them.

From the North Coast Journal: You told the Board of Supervisors in your report Tuesday the vaccination rate in the Latinx community is disproportionately low compared to the general population. What do you attribute this to and what is Public Health doing to address it?

We’re very aware of this situation and again not a situation that’s unique to Humboldt County, but something that’s been going on across the whole state. California we took the phases in tiers approach starting with phase 1a which is healthcare workers. We have to recognize that healthcare as an entity doesn’t always reflect the demographics of an entire society. Moving forward now we’re into different phases in tiers in that system. Those inequities should start to be balanced out and and we are making direct efforts to reach out to the Latinx community and through community groups, making the interest form available in Spanish, having Spanish speaking staff who can help them fill that out and we will be reaching out through, especially the food and agriculture group in phase 1b tier 1, where a lot of workers in our community are more proportionately Latinx.

From the North Coast News: Earlier this week you reported that only about 6% of Humboldt’s latino population were vaccinated against the virus, while 13% of the entire population was inoculated. What, if anything, is being done to boost rates of vaccination among that group? Are there any explanations as to why that demographic is being vaccinated at lower rates?

Hopefully that last question answer covered all of that.

From the North Coast Journal: We’ve noticed the Joint Information Center has been posting materials and videos in Spanish to its social media channels. What strategies are it and Public Health utilizing to make sure this information gets to members of the Spanish-speaking community locally who may not following the JIC’s mostly English feeds on social media or seek out information on county websites?

We do have a network within public health who meets regularly with the Spanish-speaking community here and the groups that represent them. We’ll continue to, as we make more outreach in the coming weeks and months to the Spanish-speaking Latinx community to utilize those networks through both the groups who represent them through their employers to make sure that we are getting them offers to come in for a vaccination and getting them information. I did a COVID Minute a little over a month ago in Spanish, hopefully that can get out there more. We’d like to do more of those, more specifically as we start to approach being able to offer more vaccine to that community.

From the North Coast Journal: The local Latinx community continues to be disproportionately impacted, accounting for 27 percent of COVID-19 cases while making up 12 percent of the population, and both officials and advocates have repeatedly pointed to a language barrier as a reason. What are you doing personally to use your fluency in Spanish to get public health information to the local Spanish-speaking population?

Yes. There are many reasons why the Latinx and Spanish-speaking community are disproportionately affected by this pandemic. Language is one of them, but there are lots of others there: the settings that they work in, the settings that they live in, their socioeconomic status. These all impact how this has affected the Latinx and Spanish speaking community throughout the pandemic. We are in the planning stages for food and agriculture, which is going to be a big place where we will be able to do a lot more outreach to the Spanish speaking population, so that is definitely coming and we’ll use all of the tools and resources we have to get the message out there. Personally, I can again speak to those groups, we can do videos in Spanish and we will continue to do those.

From Reporter Daniel Mintz: How many classroom teachers have been vaccinated and what percentage does that represent?

Through the data we’ve collected we think approximately over around 1,100 or more K-12. And it’s not just teachers, it’s K-12 educators, support staff, people who help the schools run, get the kids to school, bus drivers, people who are working the cafeterias, people who work in the offices.

So just over 1,100 of those have been seen for an appointment so far and that was at an estimate of about 3,100 that came from Humboldt County Office of Education. So roughly about a third of those so far have been vaccinated and that was from a few days ago, so it could be more now. And we keep offering more appointments to those groups as each week goes by .

From Reporter Daniel Mintz: At Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, you said there is potential for another surge as big or even bigger than the one that just happened. Can you talk about what will drive this and is there an estimated timing of it for Humboldt County?

The concern is for the variants of which there are several globally right now. We know that there have been a few cases of those across California, none locally here yet, but certainly the state health officers are watching this very closely and concerned that if these variants spread more widely in the coming weeks or months that we could see another surge. So this is really the time for us to double down on our efforts for wearing a mask; using the opportunity to really increase your mask efficacy. Making sure it’s a tight fitting mask, that it’s a double layer or even double masking with a surgical mask and another mask on top of it if possible, distancing and as we have noted the whole from the beginning that gatherings are a really big source of spread. So avoiding those gatherings and obviously hand washing as well. All those things are going to help if we do those, just like they would with the coronaviruses that have been around so far. If the variants make their way here and start to spread those are the same things that are going to help us drive down the rates and decrease the spread.

From Reporter Daniel Mintz: Recently you said ‘negative impact of variants on vaccine efficacy is speculation.’Has your thinking on that changed any?

Yeah, since the last time we had this question there’s been a lot more studies that have come out and data gathered. So certainly if we’re watching the global and national news we’ve noticed that there is concern for an impact. It’s not that they’re completely - that they don’t work anymore, they are still highly efficacious even against most of these variants, it’s just that the efficacy is decreased from the incredible efficacy of 95%. We still don’t have great numbers on that so I think that it’s still early to make too many conclusions about it. Locally we’re going to keep focusing on trying to decrease the spread of this disease through all the things I just mentioned in the last question, through our contact tracing and then through the tool of the vaccine getting it out there as broadly and widely as possible and as quickly as possible.

From the North Coast News: Cases of the seasonal flu are down in the state of California according to CDPH data. Is Humboldt County seeing the same trend? What do our numbers look like? What do you believe contributes to this?

Yes, the trend is here too. We’ve had very few cases of flu. Much, much, much lower than we would see in any typical year. I think what contributes to this is all the things that contribute to the decreased spread of COVID; wearing a mask, avoiding gatherings, washing hands. The things that we do to avoid COVID are the same things that we do to avoid the flu.

From the North Coast Journal: Prior to yesterday’s announcement expanding vaccine eligibility, what’s your best estimate as to what percentage of those eligible had been vaccinated locally?

So I think I mentioned about 50 of the 75 year olds about a third well in the teacher group we were targeting first in person teachers and we knew that those had all been targeted already so we opened it up to the rest of that group. I think first responders who are in that group are very few left of those in phase 1a, still some coming through for sure, but not not that many. The door always stays open, it never closes. So anyone who’s in a priority group that has been open, it’s always open for them. Really the decision, the way we decide when to open up more is when we see sort of things slowing down. We don’t want to have a gap in our ability to fill those appointments because every appointment that isn’t filled, is a lost opportunity to put a shot in an arm that day. So we want to make sure those fill. It’s a fine line, we want to also target the vulnerable populations and the populations that we are trying to get through the line, but if that line starts to slow down too much we see a gap so we have to open it up a little bit wider and it is a fine balance.

From the North Coast Journal: From your comments to the Board on Tuesday, it seems the county is expanding vaccination eligibility while thousands of people previously eligible still have not received a first vaccine dose. How is the county ensuring that distribution remains equitable across all socioeconomic groups and that people without primary care providers or medical homes aren’t getting crowded out of appointments and left behind?

So part of that I think was answered in the last question. In terms of how it’s staying equitable and people without a medical home we are working through the interest group or the interest form rather to try to gather some of that information directly from people. Also working with our medical community to identify people who haven’t had an opportunity yet, who don’t maybe have insurance even. So that’s an ongoing project that we’re working on to identify people and and do outreach directly to them.

From the North Coast Journal: You mentioned some demographic data regarding vaccine distribution locally at the board meeting. Will this data be added to the county’s COVID-19 dashboard and is vaccine distribution also being tracked by zip code similar to the state’s health equity metric?

The short answer is we’re looking at that internally right now. Whenever we have data we want to make sure that it’s really accurate and clean before we put it out on a website, a public-facing website. So we are using it internally to sort of guide our decisions. As we make sure that it is accurate and the data that we want to represent Humboldt County, there are discussions of creating a vaccine dashboard like that. The state is also creating their own vaccine dashboard which currently has the number of vaccines given for Humboldt County residents. They’re also talking about an equity, race and ethnicity dashboard that will show some of that data, but again all of that takes time and we have to make sure that what we put out there is accurate and not reflecting an inaccurate picture. So it will be coming.

From the Times-Standard: As COVID-19 affects younger age groups, what would a return to Red and Orange tiers look like for prep sports? Are the Humboldt-Del Norte League and county health authorities planning for these tiers?

So the second part of that question is yes, they are. Everyone is really excited to get kids back outside and playing sports. Some are already happening right now in the purple tier. If you’d like more information on which sports are in which tier, it is an exhaustive list so i’m not going to go over now, but you can find it on the CDPH website under the youth sports guidance.

From the Times-Standard: An argument sometimes seen on the parent-led group Let Them Play CA is that because the infection rates among school-age individuals is relatively low in states where team sports have been allowed, that these may return here in California. With cases in the 10-19 group growing most in the region, would you advise against the return of team sports?

I think that the guidance that we have right now is good guidance and so if it’s followed correctly, I think it will definitely reduce the risk of spreading among those sports in those teens.

From the Times-Standard: Do you expect a future increase in COVID cases related to upcoming Valentine’s Day celebrations involving day trips, dining out or couples gathering? Any extra precautions ahead of any Valentines Day celebrations?

I think that any holiday has the potential for spread. So we encourage everyone to continue to use the same precautions. The statewide travel ban or sorry travel advisory is still in effect. Distancing and gathering outside of your household is discouraged because that is the primary way that we’re seeing the spread of COVID-19.

PREVIOUSLY:  Heaps of Old Sap Fueled Intense Samoa Mill Fire; Blaze Likely Caused by Transients, Arcata Fire Says

###

Arcata Fire District press release:

(Manila, CA) – February 11, 2021 – After receiving new information about the structure fire that occurred on February 9, 2021 at the old Emmerson Mill, the Arcata Fire District (AFD) now believes the fire to have been intentionally set. The preliminary cause was listed as a discarded cigarette but this is no longer believed to be the situation that occurred.

On February 11, 2021, AFD received a call from a concerned citizen that had been hiking in the dunes when the mill fire started on February 9th. The citizen saw a second fire in the vegetation just north of the structure fire. The citizen called 911 to report the fires. Thinking it was odd for two fires to be occurring at the same time, the citizen contacted AFD to share what they saw. After receiving the call, an AFD Investigator went back out to the property and located the area where the second fire occurred.

AFD was not aware of the second fire when they responded to the structure fire because it had burned out on its own. After investigating the second fire, AFD is confident that both fires are related and human caused.

Battalion Chief Campbell reports: “This was not a coincidence. Two fires occurring at the same location and the same time is intentional. We need the community to help us find who is responsible.”

Two people were seen near the old mill building smoking cigarettes approximately one hour before the fire started. AFD is looking for information that may help identify who the two people were.

Anyone who may have information about either fire is encouraged to contact AFD at 707-825-2000 or Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at 707-445-7251.

PREVIOUSLY:

Nordic Aquafarms press release:

Nordic Aquafarms has submitted permit applications and related studies to the Water Quality Control Board, California Coastal Commission and Humboldt County Planning Department for their land-based aquaculture facility planned for the Samoa Peninsula.

The community is encouraged to attend this town hall meeting to learn more about Nordic Aquafarms permit process, hear application and study highlights, a general overview of Nordic’s planned approach to construction and more. At the end of the presentation, Nordic will also welcome questions from the audience.

Please note that because this meeting is open to all visitors, guest video and audio features will be disabled. Questions will be received via chat or can be submitted via email prior to the meeting to prevent unwelcome visitors from sharing offensive content. We apologize for any inconvenience or frustration this may cause. 

Public Information Meeting and Q & A Session with Nordic Aquafarms

When: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, February 11, 2021

Zoom Log-In Information https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85877678524

Meeting ID: 858 7767 8524

One tap mobile: 1-669-900-6833

For more information or support in logging into the meeting, please email lynette.mullen@gmail.com.

PREVIOUSLY: 

• Massive New Fish Farm in the Works for Samoa Peninsula; Harbor District Expected to Bless Project Helmed by Norwegian Firm at Special Meeting Monday
• Norwegian Fish Farm Says Its Samoa Operations Will Create 80 Jobs, Produce 50 Million Pounds of Salmon or Steelhead Per Year
• Humboldt Baykeeper Says: Samoa Fish Farm Proposal Looks Good So Far, But the Devil Will Be in the Details
• Harbor District Agrees to 30-Year Lease for Massive, Land-Based Fish Farm on Samoa Peninsula
• Let’s Take a Closer Look at This Big Fish Farm Proposal for the Samoa Peninsula
• Nordic Aquafarms, the Company Planning a Massive Land-Based Fish Farm in Samoa, Will Hold a Public Forum to Talk About the Idea Next Week
• Nordic Aquafarms Set to Ask County for ‘Financial Incentives’ Before Committing to Indoor Fish Farm Project
• County Agrees to Pursue Infrastructure Funds in Hopes of Landing Fish Farm on Samoa Peninsula
• PETA Buys Bus Ads Opposing Fish Farm on Samoa Peninsula: ‘You Can’t Be a Fish-Eating Environmentalist’
• Due Diligence Complete, Nordic Aquafarms Decides to Move Forward With Aquaculture Facility on the Samoa Peninsula
• Nordic Aquafarms, Which Now Has a Local Office and is Recruiting Employees, Will Host a Community Meeting Tonight
• Nordic Aquafarms Hires Idaho Native as First Cali-Based Exec, Signs Contracts for Permitting, Engineering
• Nordic Aquafarms Terminates Humboldt-Based Exec After Seeing Photo of Him Posing With a Lion He’d Killed
• A Delegation of Norwegians is on a Whirlwind Tour of Humboldt, Scoping Green Economic Development Opportunities
• Nordic Aquafarms Expands Aquaculture Facility Plans, Releases Images Showing What the Fish Farm Would Look Like
• Nordic Aquafarms Submits Discharge Permit Application for Land-Based Fish Farm on Samoa Peninsula

Arcata Police Department press release:

On Monday February 8, 2021 at 3:30 p.m., the Arcata Police Department responded to Mad River Community Hospital for an adult male assault victim with major head injuries.

APD investigators learned three males assaulted the victim with clubs at an encampment where the four men reside located in the 5200 block of Carlson Park Drive in Arcata.

36-year-old Samuel Oliver Nord and 38-year-old Alexander Francis Lamebear Jr. were taken into custody by APD. The third suspect has been identified as 26-year-old Jesse Allan Beer and remains at large.   
Nord and Lamebear were booked and lodged at the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on attempted murder charges.

The victim remains hospitalized in stable condition and is expected to survive. This is an active, on-going investigation and anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Arcata Police Department.

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

The suspect in the homicide of three Bear River residents has been taken into custody in Utah.

Johnson.

The suspect has been identified as 18-year-old Mauricio Eduardo Johnson of Loleta. Johnson will be held on a no-bail warrant for charges of murder.

Through the course of their investigation, Humboldt County Sheriff’s Investigators determined two vehicles associated with Johnson to be traveling in the State of Utah. Sheriff’s Investigators contacted the Utah Highway Patrol and the Tooele County Sheriff’s Office for assistance in apprehending Johnson. 

Keener.

At approximately 2 p.m., law enforcement located the two vehicles traveling on I-80 in Tooele County, Utah. One involved vehicle yielded, and a female subject was detained. The second involved vehicle failed to yield, and a short pursuit ensued. Law enforcement deployed a spike strip, disabling the vehicle. Inside the vehicle, law enforcement located Johnson and Von Eric Keener, age 46. Keener was taken into custody on a parole warrant. Johnson was taken into custody on a warrant for murder. 

The female is still detained as of this release with criminal charges anticipated. 

This is still a very active investigation and more information will be released when available.

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the Utah Highway Patrol and the Tooele County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance in the apprehension of Johnson. 

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.