A fruit tree planting from last year | Image from Cooperation Humboldt’s website

If you have space in your yard, but maybe don’t have the time, money or motivation to plant your own fruit trees, Cooperation Humboldt can help you out by planting one (or several) for you! You only need to do two things in return: take care of the trees and promise to share the bounty with your community. 

“Part of what we’re trying to do is shift our culture around resource and food sharing,” Cooperation Humboldt Food Team Coordinator Tamara McFarland told the Outpost in a recent phone interview. “We’re trying to shift people’s understanding of food from a commodity to a fundamental human right.”

The trees — which include a variety of apple, pear, asian pear and plum — are available for planting at any publicly accessible location, including private front yards, community centers, churches or schools. Cooperation Humboldt will take care of transporting and planting the trees, and recipients are responsible for watering and care.

Participants also have to sign an agreement saying that when the tree starts bearing fruit, they will share that fruit with anyone who wants some. Once the tree is fruiting — which will likely take about five years, McFarland said — Cooperation Humboldt will provide a sign to let folks know that they are welcome to pick the fruit.

Planting community fruit trees is just one of the nonprofit’s many programs, including little free pantries and free mini-gardens, that focus on promoting a solidarity economy — an economic system that aims to meet everyone’s needs without a focus on financial profit. This is the third year Cooperation Humboldt is planting free fruit trees, with 23 trees planted in 2019 and 57 planted  last year. “This year we’re hoping for 100,” McFarland said.

So far the trees have been planted primarily around Arcata, Eureka and McKinleyville, but McFarland said that volunteers can come to other parts of Humboldt, as long as the location is somewhat close to town, since the idea is for the fruit to be accessible to passersby. (Sorry, no trips down mile-long driveways out in the sticks.) In the future, however, McFarland hopes to be able to expand the program to include the more remote parts of Humboldt.

Map of all the current fruit tree locations | From Cooperation Humboldt’s website

This year Cooperation Humboldt is also partnering with Two Feathers Native American Family Services, providing 20 fruit trees for the organization to make available to tribal communities.

Cooperation Humboldt already planted seven trees last weekend and will continue to plant through April. If you or your organization are interested in participating, you can fill out this online form and a volunteer will contact you. Cooperation Humboldt will then work with you to decide what type of tree(s) are best for you and to identify the best location for planting.

McFarland hopes to see a lot of participation in the program this year and says that her goal is to increase food security, promote environmental sustainability and help beautify the area by filling our local cities with edible plants.

“The goal is really just to flood the community with resources that can be available anytime,” McFarland told the Outpost. “We want to basically turn this region back into a life-sustaining food forest. We sometimes say ‘we’re recreating a food forest one yard at a time.’”

Today, Dr. Ian Hoffman, Humboldt County health officer, took questions from reporters about the last week’s news from the pandemic — vaccine distribution, new variants — plus some long-term concerns such as school sports and reopening.

Video above, rough transcript below.

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From the North Coast Journal: On Nov. 17, your predecessor sent a letter to local school districts “strongly recommending” they move to distance learning for a 14-day period following the Thanksgiving holiday to monitor local virus activity following the holiday. Case counts and test positivity rates have steadily risen since and you indicated last week that we have yet to see the full impacts of holiday travel. Given all that, what’s your current advice to school districts considering a return to in-person instruction in the coming weeks and how might teacher vaccination status impact that advice?

Yeah the recommendation after the holiday travel around Thanksgiving and Christmas was really for a limited time frame to see what were the potential implications in the coming weeks for spread as kids went outside of the area potentially to visit family or friends. But outside of of that time frame, I’ve always strongly encouraged schools to open for in-person using the precautions that are in place; working with us to to try to open up the schools because it’s the really the best place for kids to be for a learning environment.

From the North Coast Journal: Humboldt County currently has far more people eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine than supply allows. How are you and public health prioritizing who of those eligible is first served, understanding there are the competing interests of vaccinating those at greatest risk of exposure (teachers and first responders) versus those at greatest risk of critical disease outcomes (those 75 and older) and prioritizing one inherently pushes the other further back in the queue?

It’s a tough situation. We have to balance a lot of priorities and there’s really it’s a zero-sum situation at this point because when you give a vaccine to one person, you’re taking it away from another person. Very difficult decisions; were weighing the risk of disease with societal function and getting us back to a normal existence. We’re following the state guidance though and the phases in tiers and we’re moving through it and going forward as quickly as the vaccine supply allows.

From the North Coast Journal: There has been a lot of reporting nationally about new virus strains circulating that are potentially more contagious. What do you know about the prevalence of new strains locally and regionally, and does that change your advice to local residents, businesses and organizations regarding best practices to prevent disease spread?

I’ll answer the second part first. There should be no change in our practices because the things that we do to prevent the new strains are the exact same things we do to prevent the old strains. So that would be: distancing, masking, avoiding gathering, washing hands. As far as the virus strains locally, we’ve only had the report of the one strain that is becoming more prevalent in California that we don’t really know anything about. It’s still not strong evidence that it’s more contagious or more deadly or anything else. we just know that it’s becoming more prevalent and that is the only one that’s been found locally. We will continue to update if we find out more about new strains in Humboldt County.

From the North Coast Journal: Can you please provide an update on the testing laboratory partnership with United Indian Health Services and other entities? Is the lab up and running and, if so, how many samples is it processing a week? If it is not yet operational, why not?

It is operational. It’s been operational for a little while now for internal use. We’ve been directing testing there, they’ve been doing their own testing. They’re up to nearly a thousand samples a week. They’re working on a public-facing interface that will allow for people to register and so that should be coming. I think the progress is going well and we’re excited to have that partnership.

From the Redheaded Blackbelt: Now that local educators are beginning to receive the vaccine, how do you anticipate that affecting the level of risk for families in local schools which may be doing in person teaching?

We’re really excited to get the teachers their vaccines. I think it’s a really important aspect in preserving that societal functioning. I was talking about from a risk standpoint, we have not seen schools as a high-risk for contagious spread. We have not seen any outbreaks in a school. We have had cases in a school that lead to quarantines of the folks, but haven’t seen any spread yet. So I think it’ll be helpful for a lot of different reasons and will build confidence in opening schools and getting kids back in schools.

From the Redheaded Blackbelt: Have there been any confirmed cases of any variants of COVID-19 in Humboldt County recently? Do we know if they are related to the holiday surge?

I believe I already answered that.

From the Redheaded Blackbelt: Have we learned anything new in regard to how the new variants of COVID-19 are able to be more virulent or more highly transmissible from person to person?

I don’t have any new updates on that.

From the Senior News: Everyone is aware of the supply and distribution problems for vaccine, but do you have any new guidance for seniors, especially, who are getting the run-around in finding and receiving their shots?

Yeah, definitely.

We created an interest form on Humboldt Health Alert that can be filled out to give your information that you want to receive the vaccine.

We are using that information to invite people who don’t have access through their primary care providers and create clinics for them.

That can be used by anyone, but certainly if you’re in an age group that is open right now and you haven’t been invited by your provider, go on the website and fill that out.

If you cannot fill it out yourself, if you don’t have a family member or a friend or a neighbor who could fill it out for you, you can always call the Joint Information Center at 441-5000 and they can help you fill that out over the phone.

Lastly I’d say while we’re waiting for the supply to increase so we can get more vaccines out there, we all need to continue the masking, the distancing, the avoiding gatherings and hand washing that are going to reduce the spread of this disease.

From the Senior News: Do you have any further guidance for people who have received their first vaccinations about whether the second shots will be available on time? And would you comment on whether people should accept a different vaccine for the second shot?

The CDC doesn’t recommend that. I agree. I would not recommend a different shot for the second one. You should get the same that you got for the first one. There is flexibility in the timing of the second dose of the vaccine and I think as we are recognizing some of the struggles of rolling this out and a mass vaccination event across our whole country, we need to be a little flexible in that. So I think that there is flexibility. The current guidelines say that you could get it up to 42 days after the first dose which is longer than the recommended. And just being open to that if appointments are not available when it’s your time to get your second dose, it’s okay we’ll definitely try hard to get everyone their second dose in a good window.

From the Associated Press: The California Department of Public Health’s four-week projections for regional ICU capacity shows the Northern California region falling from the highest, 47.9% now, to the lowest, 18.9%, in four weeks. Are you expecting a sudden drop in regional ICU capacity in a month, or do you think the state’s prediction is wrong? Have state officials offered an explanation? Why would the capacity decline so steeply in four weeks?

Yep we continue to monitor the situation. We definitely are watching the hospitals closely. The projections are something that are hard to know exactly where they’re going to go in the coming weeks. I don’t think we have any indication that our ICUs are going to be full in the coming week or two, but I do think there is a concern that there have been more hospitalizations for COVID-19 in the past really week, than than we’ve had at any point in the pandemic. We put some information out about that yesterday in our media release with a graph showing that. So we’re going to continue to monitor that. I’ve been in contact with the state about that trend here locally and if we see anything else that needs to be done locally we’ll definitely start to have that discussion.

From the Redwood News: Has there been any change in the supply chain of Covid-19 vaccines? Is the County receiving more doses per week?

Is there any indication the County will begin receiving more vaccines from the State? There’s been no change. It’s been pretty a steady supply of one to two thousand first doses with the matching second doses after the time period. So now we’re pretty much at about three to four thousand doses each week total. We don’t see any decline in that. There could be a small increase with some of the efforts that are being done at the federal level. So we’re anticipating that could be the case and we continue to plan for each week when we get our allocation numbers we look at those and we start to plan out the clinics for the following week.

From the Redwood News: It was mentioned yesterday that educators have begun receiving invitations for vaccination appointments. Can you give the community a better idea of the timeline for vaccinating educators? When do you think a majority of educators will be vaccinated and it’s safer for kids to return to the classroom?

Yeah we announced yesterday that we began the process of inviting educators starting with those who are doing in-person education first and when there’s enough vaccine we’ll open that up to all educators and this also includes support staff in the schools that are having in-person education. We feel that by mid-February we’ll be able to at least get an invitation out to everyone in the education sector for K-12 and we’re currently working with other sectors in education, child care to start to plan for when we can start to send invitations for them. I think in terms of safety and returning to classrooms, I think that vaccine is one aspect of that, but we have never used that as the reason to reopen schools. We do feel there are protocols and ways that we can reopen the school safely currently, but I think it will help everyone feel safer for sure.

From the Redwood News: Can you talk about the recent rise in hospitalizations and what that might mean for our case count, or death rate moving forward?

Should the community be concerned about this recent uptick, even though new case numbers have been on the smaller side over the last couple of days? I think that it is a concern as I mentioned and I don’t know which way this is gonna go. We’re gonna continue to watch it. The case count has remained fairly steady so we could be seeing what happened after the Christmas holiday and around the first few weeks in January playing out in terms of more hospitalizations, but we’ll continue to update as we know more.

From the North Coast News: Vaccine side effects – It’s normal to have certain reactions after a vaccination. But have there been any abnormal vaccine reactions locally in Humboldt County?

We’ve certainly had plenty of mild to moderate reactions. I do not know of any severe anaphylactic reactions in Humboldt County.

From the North Coast News: If the numbers they’re reporting vaccinating are first and second doses combined,  right? How many people have been vaccinated fully — i.e. first and second doses?

We’re working on trying to gather that information. It’s been tough because we don’t vaccinate everyone in Humboldt County through public health. We have a lot of different clinics and hospitals that are doing vaccination clinics. We’re working with them now to try to get better reporting from them on their numbers. And also working with the care system, the state-based system, to see where the data lags are and why those numbers are not seeming to match with what we feel like we’ve been given out here locally.

From the North Coast News: Since the vaccination doesn’t protect against transmission, only lessens symptoms, how will we accurately count cases in the coming months if fewer people are getting tested because they’re not as sick?

It’s a great question. We absolutely want people to keep getting tested even if you’ve been vaccinated. If you’re not feeling well, even for monitoring potential transmission, we know that statewide and locally the testing has dramatically dropped since the vaccination effort began. And I think we want to definitely get the message out that testing is still a hugely important part of controlling the spread of this disease.

From the Times-Standard: Can Dr. Hoffman comment on the possible return of youth sports in Humboldt County based on the current CDPH tier level, as California HHS Secretary Mark Ghaly approved during his COVID-19 update conference on Jan. 26. When would calendars for the Humboldt-Del Norte prep league be looked at and/or approved by county health officials? Has there been any communication or coordination between the Humboldt-Del Norte prep league and the county related to the return of youth sports? Are there any impediments outside the current health guidelines for the approval of youth sports calendars?

We have been in contact with the Humboldt-Del Norte prep league. We’ve met with them recently to go over the guidelines and there are plans in place to start those in the coming weeks. Also discussions of moving forward if we go into other tiers how to get those youth leagues up and running safely. I’m sure that they will be putting out a calendar shortly once they finish reviewing all of the guidance and the discussions that we’ve been having with them. The guidance can be found on the state’s website as well at covid19.ca.gov and so that’s the guidance that we’ve been working off of with the Humboldt-Del Norte prep league.

From the Times-Standard: Can you provide a ballpark estimate of when during the upcoming year restaurants, retail establishments, and other businesses and nonprofits can expect to resume normal operations? Will that normal still require social distancing and masking?

Yeah such a good question we get time and time again. I definitely hope that we can get back to some form of normalcy when we have enough vaccine to penetrate enough of the population. If we look at some timelines that could be as soon as the end of the summer beginning of the fall that’ll all depend on the supply of the vaccine and how much they can get us each week to get towards that goal. I do think that we will probably still be in some stage of masking and distancing well into the rest of this year. A hopeful estimate could be that next winter wouldn’t look like that, but most public health officials do feel that it’s likely that COVID will still be around next winter and that we’ll need to follow some sort of guidance. So we’ll see mostly it’ll depend on the amount of disease that’s circulating at that time based on the vaccine and the other precautions that we use like distancing, masking and avoiding gatherings and hand washing.

From the Times-Standard: What percentage of vaccines received by the county have already been used?

The county has used all of the vaccine that we have. So we’re waiting for our new shipments each week. There are other vaccines in the county and while we don’t have completely accurate numbers on those because they’re not given by us, I am in communication with all of those clinics that are giving them and they are they’re using up what we give them each week and asking for even more than they got the week before or not able to give it to them because of the limited supply.

An eviction moratorium extension and $2.6 billion in rental relief overwhelmingly passed both chambers of California’s legislature today amid questions from legislators over the efficacy of the state’s rollout plan and the equity of the money’s distribution among small, rural areas.

The state’s eviction moratorium will be extended until June 30 if signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who supported the legislation during last-minute negotiations among legislative leaders, tenant associations and the powerful California Apartment Association.

California’s families need protections NOW from eviction.Today we’re announcing an agreement to extend eviction moratorium through 6/30.We’re ensuring that up to $2.6 billion in renter aid is administered quickly & equitably. #CaliforniaForAll https://t.co/g0xR3SYasv

— Office of the Governor of California (@CAgovernor) January 25, 2021

If the extension hadn’t passed today, the eviction moratorium would have expired on Jan. 31.

“We need to protect people right now,” said Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, a Lakewood Democrat. “The fact that there are many out there right now in the rain, the wind and cold weather suggests the size of the problem we face.”

Estimates on the number of people at risk of eviction range from 240,000 households to 700,000 households, and state Sen. Robert Hertzberg, a Los Angeles Democrat, said the varying estimates means “nobody knows” the true scale of the back rent owed by tenants statewide.

“What’s the size of the debt? Nobody knows,” Hertzberg said. “We’ve got to extend it so people aren’t thrown out. We have to act and we have to act now.”

No senators voted against the eviction moratorium, but one assemblymember did, Sacramento Republican Kevin Kiley, who urged legislators to focus their time and money on creating jobs.

Despite a federal eviction moratorium that runs until the end of March, legislators were working to preserve the complicated and delicate framework of California’s deal, which allowed those who have paid 25% of their rent during the pandemic to avoid eviction and owe the back rent as civil debt.

Converting back rent to civil debt means landlords can take their tenants to small claims court, but cannot evict them for the debt they owe.

Assemblymember Jim Wood, a Santa Rosa Democrat, said he was concerned that the implementation of SB 91 and SB 89, the two bills passed Thursday by both houses, would mirror the inequities of the rollout of federal pandemic-relief CARES Act funding.

“Smaller counties simply weren’t treated equally,” Wood said. “A lot more resources went to larger counties on a bet that some of those counties would have more outbreaks of coronavirus than they did, while some of the smaller counties had some of the highest rates in the state.

“In rural communities, we often get short shrift.”

A January report from the state auditor found that counties with smaller populations received a disproportionately small amount of federal coronavirus aid, despite several smaller counties being hot spots of coronavirus outbreak.

The eviction moratorium extension was the subject of weeks of negotiations dating back to December. One of the principal points of contention was the income cutoff for assistance in the form of federal rental relief. The federal dollars can only be given to those making 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI).

The CAA had proposed additional state funding to compensate landlords whose tenants owe them back rent and were between 80% and 150% of the AMI.

“I am hopeful that if for some reason, all folks within the 80% AMI category were taken care of, the Legislature will come back together and extend the reach of the relief, if there is money remaining,” said Ted Mermin, executive director of the Berkeley Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice. “There is work to be done before (the end of the moratorium in) June, especially looking forward to people’s credit reports, getting them into new homes after the pandemic and their ability to handle the remaining debt.”

Assemblymember Laurie Davies, a Laguna Niguel Republican, said mom-and-pop landlords didn’t get enough relief in the legislation passed Thursday.

“I ask that we all keep in mind that the rent that they receive doesn’t just go to pay the mortgage, but it also covers insurance, property taxes and maintenance,” Davies said. “By only offering them an 80% recovery, many of them will have to hold off on maintaining the rental properties, which could easily become a safety issue to those we’re trying to protect.”

Support was overwhelming for the bill, however.

“I represent the sixth-poorest district in this state,” said Assemblymember Mike Gipson, a Carson Democrat. “This bill is essential to protect all individuals in the state of California that are suffering from this pandemic.

“Members, understand this, it’s not their fault.”

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

The Coast Central Credit Union branch at the Bayshore Mall was robbed again yesterday afternoon at about 4:30 p.m., the Eureka Police Department has confirmed.

EPD spokesperson Brittany Powell tells the Outpost that an unknown man walked into the bank at that time, handed a teller a note and left with an unknown amount of cash.

The department’s calls for services log notes that officers responded to a commercial panic alarm at the mall at 4:31 p.m.

No suspects have been identified at this time, Powell said. Eureka Police are working closely with the FBI on the case.

Numerous Coast Central locations, including the branch at the Bayshore Mall, have been held up in the past few weeks. Last week the FBI put out a wanted poster for a suspect wanted in connection with those incidents, whom the bureau dubbed “the Lost Coast Bandit.”

Defense attorney Russ Clanton has filed a motion to dismiss the case against Bronson Moon Lewis Jr., one of two men accused of the grisly murder of Hoopa resident Julian “Jules” Tripp in July.

Clanton also filed a motion to unseal a law enforcement search warrant used in the case. Attorneys are scheduled to meet privately with Judge Kaleb Cockrum this afternoon to discuss that motion.

Lewis.

Lewis, 18, and Daniel Armendariz, 19, are accused of killing the 42-year-old Tripp during an altercation on HIghway 96 between Hoopa and Weitchpec. According to witnesses during Lewis’s preliminary hearing, Tripp was first stabbed and left lying down a bank near the roadside. Then, Lewis allegedly went to Hoopa and picked up an assault rifle, which he used to finish Tripp off.

Deputy District Attorney Trent Timm, who is prosecuting both men, told Cockrum today he has not had time to file a response to the dismissal motion, and a response will take him “three weekends” to complete. Cockrum ordered Timm to have the response in by Feb. 11. Arguments on the motion are set for Feb. 25.

Lewis’s preliminary hearing was held shortly after his arrest, and he is waiting for a trial date to be set. But Armendariz’s case has not yet been to preliminary hearing.

Yesterday Armendariz’s attorney, Conflict Counsel Meagan O’Connell, said she plans to have tissue samples taken from Tripp’s remains and have the samples analyzed by a laboratory in Nevada.

Armendariz’s next court hearing is Feb. 3, when a date for a preliminary hearing may be set.

Lewis and Armendariz were among five teens who were in Lewis’s pickup truck when they came upon Tripp’s truck and camper parked along Highway 96. Driver Dale Mabry bumped into the camper, and an enraged Tripp jumped out and began throwing rocks at Lewis’s truck. Witnesses said Lewis and Armendariz chased Tripp down the road, and he was stabbed after he jumped over a bank.

According to witnesses, Lewis came back to the truck and said he had chopped off either Tripp’s hand or arm. Both Lewis and Armendariz reportedly said Tripp needed to be “finished off” because he could identify them.

With deepest sorrow we announce the sudden passing of Tyson Lee Partee, age 20, taken tragically in a car accident near Willow Creek. Tyson was born in Eureka in Humboldt County on August 29th, 2000 and passed away on December 16, 2020. Tyson was a member of the Choctaw Nation. Tyson attended grammar school in Arcata. He graduated high school from Pacific Coast High School in 2018. In high school Tyson wrestled and played football

Tyson was a bright soul. No matter the situation, he would always bring a smile to your face. This wasn’t something he tried to do, it was just his way. He carried himself well and shared his knowledge of life with others. His love and passion for the outdoors was something special that stood out about him. He was a very smart and hands on young man and we lost him way too soon.

Tyson was an avid outdoorsman. He loved to hunt; deer and duck mainly, depending on the time of year. He received his first pellet gun for his second birthday from his mother. This gift was an indicator of the path his life would take and the beginning of what would become a deep love of hunting. During duck hunting season he would have his father take him from place to place. They would drive around for hours together looking for the best hunting spot.

Tyson was also a passionate fisherman, just like his father. If his father didn’t know where Tyson was he could usually guess and find him at the river. He loved to fish or go scull boating from the Eel River and Humboldt Bay on up to our three local lagoons and out to Lewiston Lake and Lake Earl. One of his father’s most precious memories was spending time together on their Alaskan fishing trip. They fished for salmon on a gill netter. They got to camp out on the boat for four days waiting for the next fishing period. They bonded over fishing, got to see a glacier, and the highlight was watching grizzly bears in their natural habitat. It is a favorite memory for his father.

Tyson adored his three little sisters — Nekhia, Makenna and Aislynn – and was a very protective brother. Always trying to make their lives fun, he made a point to share his love of being outdoors with them. He especially loved to take them fishing and was an excellent teacher. He helped all three of his sisters catch their first fish. Both parents fondly recall friends calling Tyson the “first fish guy” because he helped so many people with their first catch. Many hours of quality time were spent on the various local rivers and we have so many precious memories of being on the water with him.

Another passion of his was motorcycle riding, something that was encouraged by his grandpa Garth and Nana Lorrie. He spent a ton of time at their house ripping around on the motorcycle track they built him. He also shared a love for riding around their property on the razor with his step father Justin.

Tyson loved going to Ruth Lake, where he spent time at Grammy and Opah’s. While there they attended the Ruth Rodeo. Tyson mutton busted with his cousins Anika and Jaiden and good friends Sarah and Carol. They also participated in the animal scramble at the rodeo. His Nana Lorrie and mother Shawna would tell them to get pigs or chickens to bring home, but they always came back with rabbits in their arms.

Tyson went on several exciting and memorable vacations. Some of his favorites were a trip to Wyoming with his friends, and vacationing to Mexico with his family. He vacationed in Wyoming with Gunner, Brandy and Ron. While there they attended the Cody Night Rodeo. They were enthralled with the bulls, broncos and cowboys they saw. They then ventured on to Yellowstone National Park which was a highlight of the trip! Tyson is a true outdoorsman and Yellowstone National Park stole his heart. Most people love to vacation and Tyson was no different. He was honored to go on a Mexican cruise and to visit Puerto Vallarta with his family. While vacationing together, they all enjoyed the sights, spending quality time together and dancing the night’s way. They ziplined, bathed in the warm sunshine and staying true to his roots Tyson fished with his sister Aislynn and Grandpa Garth.

Those who knew Tyson will miss his broad and welcoming smile, curly hair, politeness, generosity, kindness, gentleness, mild mannered, and soft spoken nature. Those around him always felt loved. His family is forever grateful to the family friends who helped mentor Tyson around his love for the great outdoors. The happiness and positive energy Tyson brought with him left an impact on you. He was a man of honor and exhibited that honor in his relationship with his family. He was a very happy, positive, and high spirited young man. He will be greatly missed.

He is survived by his father Tyler Partee, mother Shawna Brink, step-father Justin Brink. Siblings: Nekhia, Makenna and Aislynn Brink. Great-Grandmothers: Kathleen McLearn, Marjorie Birney, Ruth Carterby and Carol Vanvoltenburg. Grandparents: Richie Partee, Jenny Ghera, Garth and Lorrie Vanvoltenburg. Aunts and Uncles: Jenin and Melissa Costa, Ryan Partee, Jessica Vanvoltenburg, Ron Ghera, Jerry (Uncle Jer Bear) and Tiffany Brink, Jeff and Joal Brink and Tiffany and Tim Reynolds. Cousins: Holden, Hucksley and Hazel Costa, Aria and Emma Ghera. Jacob Kalina, Lynnea, Marissa, Allie, and Hunner Brink. Wyatt and Brielle Reynolds. As well as numerous friends including: Nina, Dennis and Kathy, Benda (Auntie Duh), Dennis, Brandy, Gunner, Danner, Issac, Elijah, James, Kaden, Hailey, Falcon, Joaquin and family, Nea and family, Robert and Jordan. He is preceded in death by Great-Grandparents: Fred McLearn, Elwood “Bud” Birney, Norma and Loyd “Gommie and Pop” Partee, William “Bill” Vanvoltenburg, Arnold Carterby, and Michael Ghera.

A celebration of Tyson’s life will be held on Saturday, February 27, 2021 from 1-6 p.m. The family welcomes all who wish to attend. The service will take place in Klamath. Please bring a dish to share. Anyone who would like to attend can request details through tysonleeparteeinfo@gmail.com.

We will also create a private Facebook group with service details. If you do not have Facebook the above email has been created to provide details also.

COVID-19 restrictions will be in place. Facial covering and social distancing are required for anyone attending. A live stream of the service will be available by going to this link on Saturday, February 27, 2021 at 1 p.m. Flower donations can be sent to Paul’s Chapel in Arcata. Please have them delivered on Friday February 26, 2021 so they can be delivered to the service on time.

The Humboldt Bay Entrance Channel was reopened at 3 p.m. today after the U.S. Coast Guard deemed it safe for passage following Sunday’s fishing boat wreck at the South Jetty.

Three crew members were rescued from the commercial crabbing boat “Sunup” at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday after the vessel lost propulsion in the channel and crashed into the jetty.

The USCG dispatched a 47-foot motor lifeboat and a MH-65 Dolphin helicopter to the scene, where crews found the boat mostly underwater. Two of the distressed fishermen were rescued directly from the sinking boat and the third was pulled from the water.

“The situation became grave when the third fisherman fell into the water with the other two clinging to the sinking vessel,” Petty Officer Ruben Colon said. “Without a doubt, staying with their vessel until the last minute enabled us to quickly find and rescue them.”

The rescued crew was taken to Station Humboldt Bay with no reported injuries.

The boat rapidly broke up and sank following the rescue, spilling approximately 900 gallons of diesel fuel into the channel.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife Senior Environmental Scientist Jeffery P. Dayton stated in an email today that no wildlife or natural resource issues have been reported in connection to the spill.

“I believe it is likely the bulk of the fuel purged shortly after hitting the jetty as the wood hull vessel broke apart sank and dissipated rapidly overnight with the Sunday night storm and high surf energy in the bar,” Dayton said.

The USCG initially closed the channel due to the possibility of sunken debris from the crabbing boat affecting navigation in the area. The CDFW reports that two wood chip carriers were temporarily affected by the closure.