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A lovely lady known as Bev died on November 6, 2020. Bev was born Beverly Ann Canfield to Charles and Mildridge Canfield in San Luis Obispo 73 years ago. Bev grew up in Hoopa, where she attended elementary school and graduated from Hoopa High. After high school Bev and her friend Judy moved to Oregon to work at a company that made mobile home vents. Bev had many fond memories with Judy. At one point someone installed vents backwards and the work crew had to be uninstalled and redo all the vents. They laugh now, but it wasn’t so funny then. Sometimes at the end of the month when there wasn’t much money between the two they would eat Saltines and make the best of it.

Bev later moved to Trinity County, got married and divorced, then married in 1971 to Jack Welch. They had daughter and a son, Nancy and Christopher. During this time Jack and Bev bought a house in Arcata. Bev was a wonderful stay-at-home mom, happily devoted to keeping the house up and running and taking the kids to any and all events that occurred and so much more.

About 1986 Bev started working at Jacoby Creek School, working in the cafeteria serving lunches. That is where Bev bloomed. No longer was she just known as Nancy and Chris’s mom. She loved the kids and gave loads of hugs. Bev was also the crossing guard at Jacoby Creek School. She watched as the crosswalk evolved over the years. The hustle in bustle in the morning could make for a dangerous walk. Bev took her job very seriously as a crossing guard and appreciated those who respected that. There is a short video that was made a few years ago called “Stop, Look and Listen.” Bev was honored to be a part in the video. The video is on YouTube and is another kid-friendly tool to encourage safety. Bev made so many wonderful friends at JCS. Friends that fought for her to keep her job when budget cuts were being taken. Friends that knew she was having a hard time at home taking care of her elderly cantankerous mom. Friends that were great to laugh with. Friends that when there was cake in the staff room, would save her a piece. She loved working at Jacoby Creek School.

I was reminded that Bev also worked at the Bayside Market for a time for Julie Moore. Forming a beautiful friendship. Bev would help Julie start her business day.

Bev worked quite a few years at Bayside Post Office. She sorted paper to be recycled, cleaned the lobby to her standards, swept the outside and much more. Whatever she was doing she was always up for a friendly hello or wave .

Bev absolutely love spending time with her family. Whether it was camping, making Halloween costumes, hand-stitching quilts, gardening or playing games. Anything that brought her favorite people together would make her happy. Bev would have her two grandkids (Zach and Riley) over for sleepovers. Often times they would do crafts, play games and sometimes pull weeds and make a game out of that! Hanging with the girls on our annual ladies camping trip was a thing she looked forward to. A long weekend of playing games, swimming, telling stories and jokes.

Bev excelled as a painter. In the beginning she took some art classes in oil. But, for the most part she was self-taught. She religiously followed Bob Ross and Bill Alexander on PBS. If it didn’t move there was a good chance she would paint it. That is what we always teased her. Her most recent painting projects were done in acrylics, which was her favorite. But she painted or tried at least once in most all mediums. Bev painted on boots, rocks, canvas, pumpkins, flower pots and faces etc.

Bev loved making people happy. She, hated the act of bullying and hospitals. In the end, she passed away in her own bed at home and on her own terms. Exactly the way she wanted.

Bev was preceded in death by her parents Mildridge and Charles Canfield; siblings Dorothy Denton, Betty Almond, Coralie Canfield, Rose McCoy, Robert Canfield and James Canfield.; nieces Shelly Denton and Doreena Ruth; nephew Robby Canfield.

Beverly Welch is survived by her husband Jack Welch; children Nancy Sanders husband Bruce; son Christopher Welch; grandson Zachery Sanders and granddaughter Riley Sanders; nieces and nephews Kelli Welch, Kevin Welch, Timothy Denton, Tammy Harris, Tracy Sloan, Randy Coleman and Ronnie Coleman.

Bev’s family would like to give a huge thank you to Delma Powell, Michael Lindsey, Moms neighbor Carla, Lorre Hopson, Terri Scholz, John and Julie Moore, Kris Croy and family, Bev’s Nurse Catina, Sonya Jackson and Moms longtime friend and honorary family member, Mark Cofield. Mark gave Bev and her family his love, his time and knowledge of caregiving. We appreciate all of you so very much. I’m sure many more who we have forgotten to mention. Thank you for all the love, cards, and well wishes. You mattered. Celebration of life will be at a unknown later date.

Mom, we love you so very much. You will never be forgotten.

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Dian Pecora, a member of the COVID-19 vaccine planning team with the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), got emotional when announcing today’s exciting news: “We have received our first doses of vaccine,” she says in the video above.

Specifically, the county got 975 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which must be stored in ultra-low temperature freezers. The county has partnered with Eureka’s St. Joseph Hospital, where vaccines doses for both Humboldt and Del Norte County are being stored. 

Pecora said health care providers hope to be putting “shots in arms” by the end of this week. 

Phase one in the three-phase distribution plan will see doses administered to health care workers, primarily in hospitals, Pecora said. Supplies will be limited for a while.

“In the meantime, please remember: Vaccines do not work immediately. They take time, Pecora said. “So continue your safety precautions. Be safe. Wear your masks, distance your space and hand wash.”

From the Humboldt County Joint Information Center:

Humboldt County Public Health received its first shipment of 975 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine this morning. Due to ultra-low temperature storage requirements, these initial vaccine doses are being stored in a specialized freezer purchased by St. Joseph Hospital to meet the unique storage requirements of Pfizer’s vaccine. Public Health will work with health care providers in the next few days to distribute the first doses of the vaccine consistent with state guidelines.

The national vaccination strategy developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention breaks vaccination planning down into three phases. Phase 1 vaccine distribution will focus on priority and high-risk populations, while vaccine doses are scarce. The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is expected to provide additional information about distribution in Phases 2 and 3. 

According to the CDPH Allocation Guide for COVID-19 Vaccine, California will prioritize the following groups for vaccination:

• Persons at risk of exposure to … COVID-19 through their work in any role in direct health care or long-term care settings. This includes persons at direct risk of exposure in their non-clinical roles, including but not limited to environmental services, patient transport or interpretation. 
• “Residents of skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities and similar long-term care settings for older or medically vulnerable individuals.”

Humboldt County Public Health will be working with partners to allocate and distribute vaccine to priority health care populations consistent with these state guidelines. Meanwhile, the federal government has also partnered directly with pharmacies nationwide, including CVS and Walgreens, to distribute vaccine to residents and staff at long-term care facilities. This program is expected to roll out next week.

“We are very excited to have received the first batch of Humboldt County’s vaccines this morning at Saint Joseph’s Hospital,” said Humboldt County Health Officer Dr. Ian Hoffman. “As we know, there are not nearly enough doses to go around. We will be following state guidance and vaccinating the highest risk people first, which includes all hospital staff, emergency medical services and long-term care facility residents and staff.”

Following this first vaccine shipment, Public Health is anticipating a second shipment of Pfizer vaccines as early as next week and expects Moderna vaccines to follow, pending Emergency Use Authorization by the Food and Drug Administration.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine requires two doses to achieve full effect. The second dose of the Pfizer vaccine should be administered three weeks after the first. 

“This is an important first step towards getting COVID-19 under control,” said Dr. Roberta Luskin-Hawk, chief executive, St. Joseph Health, Humboldt County. “We are excited to partner with the County and store the Pfizer vaccine for Humboldt County.  We look forward to offering the vaccine initially to the highest risk members of our health care team who have stepped up to care for our community during this pandemic. We will continue to offer the vaccine in accordance with guidance from public health officials.”

For up-to-date vaccine-related information, visit https://humboldtgov.org/2872/Vaccine-Info.

Eureka Police Department press release: 

On December 11, 2020, at about 8:30 PM, a uniformed Eureka Police Department (EPD) officer  was conducting foot patrol at the Humboldt County Library (1313 Third Street). The officer  saw Mario Marcel Garcia (age 40 years) and another male subject engaged in suspicious behavior possibly associated with narcotics sales at the library. The officer recognized Garcia,  with whom he’d had numerous past law enforcement related contacts.  

The officer requested a local wants and warrants check on Garcia. EPD Dispatch advised Garcia had  an outstanding, no bail felony warrant for his arrest. The officer attempted contact with Garcia who  walked away from the library eastbound along Third Street. As a second officer (EPD sergeant) arrived on scene to assist, the first officer attempted to contact Garcia again near the intersection of  Third/P Streets. Garcia fled from the officer northbound on P Street.  
As Garcia was fleeing from officers, he was observed reaching towards the waistband area of his  pants. The first pursuing officer saw the handle (grip) of a handgun protruding out of Garcia’s  waistband, at which time he radioed that Garcia had a gun.  

The officers continued chasing Garcia on foot while ordering him to stop. Garcia jumped over the  embankment at Second/P Streets into the thorny berry bushes below. Garcia resisted all commands  given to him by the officers. Due to Garcia’s active resistance and his failure to comply with  commands to put his hands in the air and to stop reaching around behind him, one of the officers  deployed his TASER at Garcia. 

Garcia was taken into custody a short time later. A loaded handgun was found on the ground  underneath him. While searching Garcia incident to his arrest, officers found a loaded pistol magazine  in Garcia’s back pants pocket that also matched the magazine in the recovered firearm.  

Garcia was transported to the St. Joseph Hospital for medical clearance. Once medically cleared,  Garcia was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility for the following fresh violations:

PC 29800(a)(1)- Felon in Possession of a Firearm, PC 30305(a)(1) - Felon in Possession of  Ammunition, PC 25400(a)(2) – Felon with Concealed Firearm on Person, PC 148(a)(1) - Resist or  Obstruct a Peace Officer, and PC 1203.2(a) - Probation Violation. (Case # 20-006864.) 

Additionally, Garcia’s no bail (mandatory appearance) felony warrant for which he also was arrested  was issued for the following offenses:  
PC 12022.53(b) – Firearm Used in Commission of a Felony, PC 422 – Threats to Commit Crime  Resulting in Death or Great Bodily Injury, PC 273.5(a) – Inflict Corporal Injury on Spouse/Cohabitant,  PC 12022.5(b) – Use of an Assault Weapon in Commission of a Felony.  

A later examination of the firearm recovered from Garcia revealed it consisted of a Glock lower (the pistol grip and trigger housing were from a Glock) and a .22 caliber upper conversion kit.  This functionally made the firearm a .22 caliber, full-sized, semiautomatic pistol. There was no  serial number on the firearm. A functions check revealed it was fully operational. 

“This tense, highly dangerous incident is yet another example of the dedication and courage our law  enforcement officers demonstrate every day in service to their communities. They are asked to do what has  become an increasingly difficult job with ever higher expectations and demands placed upon them, yet they  continue to suit up and perform their duties with great professionalism and restraint.” ~Chief Steve Watson 

“Ice Cream Cake.” | 2Tank

The Humboldt hip-hopper that brought us the love song collaboration “About You” has a follow-up music video about cannabis and social media marketing.

Artist 2Tank is back with a video for his new song “Ice Cream Cake” featuring local rapper Wess Vega.

The music video, which is themed around the cannabis strain of the same name, is also inundated with advertisements for a local dispensary and a paint party company. Both companies are also named in the video’s credits and one has seemingly cut a deal to sell the rapper’s merch’ in-store.

A hot new track, an egregious piece of product placement or the work of a savvy businessman out to make that paper, yo? That’s for Humboldt to decide.

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See more locally-filmed music videos from 2Tank and rapper Wess Vega below.

If you had a personal stake in November’s city elections, then the Tuesday meeting of the Eureka City Council will be one you don’t want to miss. Most of the night will be devoted to implementing the will of the voters and setting things up for the next year. New city councilmembers Kati Moulton and Scott Bauer will be sworn into office. The new council will decide which of its members it will assign to serve as liaisons to and members of various committees and commissions and the like. They’ll choose a mayor pro-tem – the person who will run meetings in the event that Mayor Susan Seaman is indisposed.

The council will also pass a new ordinance to implement Measure H, the citywide 1.25 percent special sales tax that voters approved by nearly a 2/3 margin in the November election. (The measure technically extended an existing special sales tax of half a percent, then added another 0.75 percent to that.) The ordinance will become effective on July 1 of next year, meaning that sales taxes in the city will go up on that date.

So: A lot of elections housekeeping, but there are a couple of other items of interest on Tuesday evening’s agenda. There’ll be an update on the city’s current finances – always a matter of concern during these uncertain times – and a year-in-review presentation from Humboldt Bay Fire. The council will also hear a report on traffic safety within the city, which may be especially notable given the number of high-profile collisions in the last few weeks, including one that led to the death of a 72-year-old woman in a wheelchair on Harris Street. Eureka’s per-capita number of traffic collisions have always been through the roof, compared with the rest of the state, though a lot of that may be down to the fact that the city’s daytime population is so much higher than its number of residents.

A little video overview of the city’s Department of Community Services.

On the consent calendar: The city looks to continue its recent spate of promotions from within by elevating Donna Wood, longtime deputy director of Community Services, to the top job. Wood has been serving as the interim director of the department since July, after former director Miles Slattery was tapped to become interim city manager, and after the council signs off she’ll be given the reins on a permanent basis. Community Services is a huge, variegated department that encompasses a great number of city programs – parks, marinas, youth programs, management of city facilities and more – and Wood will be its first female director.

Taking a quick peek at the “closed session” calendar, in which the council and staff may discuss legal issues outside the public eye: It appears that the city may have some interest in purchasing a famous/infamous parcel of land near the Bayshore Mall. The lot, owned by local landscaper Ed Kirkpatrick, once served as an ornate refuge for local people experiencing homeless; in January 2019, the Eureka Police Department broke it up, citing conditions unsafe to both the residents and the surrounding wetlands, as well as numerous incidents of illegal drug trafficking and other crimes on the premises. The agenda item says only that Slattery, now the permanent city manager, is negotiating, or is authorized to negotiate with Kirkpatrick over “price, terms and conditions” for the parcel.

The Eureka City Council meets via Zoom at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 15. The full agenda, with instructions on how to watch or participate, can be found at this link.

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On Dec. 13, 2020, at about 8 p.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the 1800 block of Elm Avenue in McKinleyville for the report of an assault that had just occurred.

Deputies arrived on scene and contacted a 31-year-old female victim. The victim told deputies that she had gone for a walk, during which she was reportedly attacked from behind by an unknown suspect in the area of Second Road and Elm Avenue. The suspect reportedly pushed the victim to the ground and stole the victim’s debit card and cash.

The suspect is described only as a white male adult, approximately 5 feet 10 inches tall with a thin build.

This case is still under investigation.

Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.