(AUDIO) Black Humboldt talks Juneteenth on KSLG

On Thursday, June 19, Black Humboldt will again host its annual Juneteenth celebration, as part of the national holiday that commemorates the announcement of the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of enslaved African Americans throughout the former Confederate States of America.

In advance of the festivities, Black Humboldt’s Network Alchemist Lexxi and its Art & Culture Innovator Ra stopped by KSLG’s Old Town Studio to chat with DJ Sabina about the coming three days of joy, connection, community, as well as the importance of continuing to celebrate the achievements of the past in the present. With the impacts of slavery and the African Diaspora still affecting Black people today, the Juneteenth celebration serves as a reminder of the ongoing fight for equality.

The Juneteenth Multiday Cultural Festival runs Thursday, June 19 through Saturday, June 21, ending with a festival at Halvorsen Park on Saturday from 12-9 p.m.

More event info can be found on Black Humboldt’s social media pages and on the flyers below.

LINKS

• https://www.blackhumboldt.com/
• https://www.facebook.com/BlackHumboldt
• https://www.instagram.com/blackhumboldt

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This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

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A lawsuit recently filed in Tennessee could affect colleges that serve large numbers of Latino students in the Inland Empire and throughout California, including Cal Poly Humboldt.

Students for Fair Admissions, the national group whose lawsuit resulted in the US Supreme Court striking down affirmative action in college admissions, has joined a lawsuit recently filed by Tennessee’s attorney general against the U.S Department of Education.

The lawsuit says the education department’s special funding for programs targeting “Hispanic-Serving Institutions” is discriminatory and unconstitutional.

Hispanic-Serving Institutions are colleges and universities where 25% or more undergraduates are Latino and a large share of the students are low income. The program is designed to help colleges and universities attract and support Latinos and other disadvantaged students.

National studies show Latinos are more likely than non-Hispanic white people to be first-generation college students and to face financial, linguistic, and cultural barriers to higher education.

The Hispanic serving program has grown exponentially since federal laws created it in 1992. The education department in 2023 spent $418.8 million on grants and assistance to colleges that qualified. They used the money for labs, libraries, tutors, student service programs, scholarships, fellowships, remote learning and other things. Special grants also support Latino students majoring in science, technology, engineering and math fields.

California has the most Hispanic-serving colleges — 171 of the 615 in the United States — including most Cal State and University of California campuses. About nine in 10 Latino students in California attend Hispanic-serving institutions.

Most of the Inland Empire’s colleges and community colleges are Hispanic-serving, including Cal State San Bernardino, which reported 72% of its undergraduates are Latino, and Riverside Community College, where 68% of its students are Latino.

Taken together, Riverside’s three community college campuses are the largest Hispanic-serving institution, with more than 59,000 students, said Wolde-Ab Isaac, chancellor of the community college district. The federal government sends it $3 million to $4 million a year through the Hispanic-serving program, but that’s only about 1% of its more than $300 million budget.

Without it, the district would find a way to still provide the same services, he said, because that is part of the college’s mission.

“We are serving the underserved. Our populations are educationally and economically underserved,” Isaac said. “This is a system failure … We have a category of our people that have been deprived over many years of neglect, creating generational gaps, both in terms of economic inequalities, social inequalities, health disparities.”

Targeting funding to colleges that provide them with extra support and services is fair, he said.

The Inland Empire is one of the few regions in California where high school enrollments and graduating classes are increasing, he added, but the region also has some of the lowest college-going and college graduation rates in the state.

“We have the most dynamic, the most diverse, the most vibrant population of any (college) and we have a much bigger share of poverty in our areas,” he said. “We have so many young kids compared to any place else and yet those opportunities are not there to help them unlock those talents.”

Hispanic-serving institutions operate in 30 states. Tennessee is suing because none of its colleges has that designation. The lawsuit notes that Tennessee’s colleges have enrolled Latino students, but they fall beneath the 25% threshold.

“To be sure, all Tennessee colleges and universities serve Hispanic students,” the suit states. “They also serve needy, low-income students of all ethnicities. But under the statute, they get no HSI money because they lack enough members of one particular ethnic group. So all students at these schools suffer.”

It’s impossible to describe a life of over 80 plus years in just a few paragraphs but I would like to tell you a bit about my partner, Jim Goodsir. Born an intrepid storyteller, Jim’s idea of a great conversation was one that dipped into past adventures and characters he met on his travels.

Born in the Midwest in the early 1940s, Jim was a middle child tucked between an older brother and younger sister. He grew up with parents who allowed him to be a wild kid in a small town, running free through tame woodlands in dairy country. Jim’s childhood stories describe him as the constant creator of minor mayhem. With a slight smile of satisfaction, Jim would launch into another tale perhaps entitled, “The time I fell into the septic tank and thought no one would notice,” or “The time we painted the dog green,” or “The time I rode the motorcycle through the high school hallways while class was in session.” Over time, these stories were shown to be true.

Many of these misadventures resulted in a warmed behind, but on occasion, he would be thrown into a situation that served him. As he told it, one of his neighbors, a retired teacher named Gladys Stare, had the first television in town. Jim and his buddies decided they would influence Gladys, without her knowing, to let them watch her TV. However, Gladys was a firm negotiator and traded them one hour of TV for one hour of reading from her personal library. Jim took her up on the deal and without planning it, fell in love with books and learning.

Jim spoke fondly of working summers as a teenager, staking tobacco, detasseling corn, and trimming Christmas trees, with long hours in the hot sun. He learned how incredibly refreshing the taste of ice water could be.

Jim spent his late teens and early 20s in the Marine Corps. He learned that you never volunteer for anything. We heard hair-raising tales, from the typhoon that ripped transport trucks off the deck of a troop ship he had the misfortune of being assigned, to marrying a woman with two kids, only to discover that she actually had six, and he had to support them on a private’s salary! These stories both ended well. He was below decks when the typhoon blew over and the marriage was short lived.

Subsequent years found Jim trying various trades to make his way. The mid-1970s found him in a blue panel van named Gertrude – one more hippie headed for Humboldt County. Jim found a job at Lazio’s Seafood and this small twist of fate changed his life. Describing himself as having long hair with a chest length beard and looking for all the world like Charles Manson, he started work there shoveling fish guts. He ended up as a clean-cut manager overseeing freezing fish. The feeling of welcome that he felt during his time at Lazio’s was a memory he returned to over and over.

Success followed through the years as he was hired to be General Manager at SeaPro, a large seafood processing company in Seattle, and later, to run summer halibut fisheries with Native corporations on St. George Island in Alaska’s Bering Sea. Jim celebrated all his work years in fisheries as a tribute to the generous support he received from Laurie Lazio and Lazio’s Seafood.

Jim loved to travel and would have loved to travel more. In the early 1980s, he traced his family roots to the Orkney Islands, meeting more Goodsirs than you could shake a stick at. A year or so later, armed with motorcycles, he and his partner at the time, Bonnie, toured Europe for 6 months. Jim savored the sights and sounds of those trips for the rest of his life.

In the mid 1980s, Jim returned to Humboldt County, falling into another joy — Humboldt State University. Majoring in Philosophy and Religious Studies, Jim found kindred souls in his quest for truth and the understanding of himself. Religious Studies professor Duncan Bazemore and his wise wife Loré, as well as religious studies students, provided a mirror to Jim’s world. If asked what religion he followed, Jim would answer that Hinduism came the closest to reflecting his beliefs.

Jim had an artist’s heart. His eye for photography and room design was superb. He passionately built adult-sized rocking animals – lions, giraffes, dinosaurs and dragons. Untrained in drafting designs, he labored slowly with one shape after another until the finished animals matched his internal picture and rocked to perfection. Unfortunately, the business was short-lived because no one in the household possessed the marketing skills to sell the lovely creatures.

My son Ben and I were privileged to be the recipients of Jim’s stories and part of Jim’s life from the late 1980s. He shared his love of agate collecting with us. Days at the beach would end with all of us damp, sandy and full of the best homemade fudge. We had pockets full of shiny agates and stories about how this rock was sitting right there with everybody walking right by it! With lines of agates set across the kitchen table from biggest to smallest and the very best set to the side. Our home was decorated with gallons of agates, vases of agates, baskets of agates.

I was cleaning out a drawer of odds and ends when I ran across a clip Jim used for keys. He had strengthened a part that slid over his belt. I remember his supreme satisfaction over this improvement. You would find nothing ambiguous about Jim. He knew what he liked and was always about the details. He never left the house without his hat, scarf, jacket, cane, gloves and leather bag containing a lucky rock/phone/keys/comb/money clip/wallet. Hours could be spent looking for any missing items before we were free to move about the county.

Coffee was a ritual of extreme importance to Jim. For many years, Jim had favorite coffee shops. At the last, he settled on Cafe Mokka at Finnish Country Sauna and Tubs. The atmosphere reminded him of his travels in Europe. Most days, you could find him at a corner table, comfortably arguing politics with owner Stan and Z, another intrepid Mokka fan. A newspaper, cup of coffee with extra foam and a thumbprint cookie completed the picture.

As Jim’s health worsened, friends stepped in to provide support. Jim began to fall without warning. His very good friend and neighbor, Robert, showed up at any hour to lift Jim back to his feet. Robert built a bench to fit over one of our bathtubs so that there would be no more broken ribs from falls. Our house was rearranged to provide soft landings.

In Jim’s final days, he stood for hours sorting agates and displaying them on shelves. Sometimes dementia will cause a person to be angry and lash out. Instead, Jim wrote mostly unfinished letters to friends and family, telling them how much they meant to him. Every conversation and note ended with the words, “I love you.” Every day, he pondered the blessings of his life. He was very clear that the visits of our friend Loré and his Hospice support staff helped to keep him alive and supported.

Jim died at the end of March 2025. He is survived by his wife Susan and stepson Ben, Brother Fred and Sister Gail as well as extended family. Jim’s parents lived in his memories as did his nephews, Joel and Hunter.

Please, consider celebrating Jim’s life in the way he thought to be most perfect: Tell the story of one of your most outrageous childhood adventures to a friend while you enjoy a cookie and cup of coffee at Cafe Mokka. Go to the beach and see if you can find an agate. Ponder your blessings.

The family thanks Hospice for its support of Jim at the end of his life. We also thank Lost Coast Outpost for allowing us to share Jim’s life with the community. These special gifts are greatly appreciated.

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​This story was originally published by Canary Media.

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A big-budget offshore wind project that would clean up a contaminated California port and turn it into America’s first hub for floating wind turbines is the latest target of an increasingly emboldened national anti-offshore wind movement.

Representatives of a D.C.-based conservative think tank, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), and a local California community group asked the U.S. Department of Transportation early this month to cancel a $426 million grant issued last year to repurpose the Redwood Marine Terminal in Northern California’s Humboldt County for wind. If successful, they could stymie the state’s plan to generate up to 5 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030 and 25 gigawatts by 2045.

[CLARIFICATION: The community group, Responsible Energy Adaptation for California’s Transition (REACT) Alliance, is based in San Luis Obispo.]

Anti-wind activists told Canary Media they are looking to capitalize on the ​“timing” of a recent implosion of offshore wind plans in Maine, which — like California — sought to pioneer floating turbine technology in this country. Currently, all turbines operating or under construction in U.S. waters are fixed to the seafloor.

The move represents a westward spread of anti-wind activism from the East Coast, where longtime organized opposition has found sympathetic ears as it petitions the Trump administration to tank permitted projects.

For example, in February, groups lobbied for a halt to offshore projects already being built, an approach the Trump administration tested out in April by freezing New York’s Empire Wind installation, though construction was already underway. President Donald Trump reversed that decision after a month, but the move signaled that opposition groups have gained traction.

“They are clearly feeling emboldened by Donald Trump,” said J. Timmons Roberts, a professor of environmental studies and sociology at Brown University, who studies networks of anti-wind activists. ​“They are taking these local victories on the East Coast and continuing to move along.”

Both CFACT and the California community group, Responsible Energy Adaptation for California’s Transition (REACT) Alliance, are part of the National Offshore Wind Opposition Alliance, a coalition formed last year to broaden the fight against offshore wind, which had previously played out mostly at the local level.The Humboldt project was awarded the DOT grant in January 2024 and a developer has not yet been announced, but it’s been five years in the making. Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District has already used nearly $20 million in state and federal funds to design and permit much of the planned wharf. The federal grant includes additional funds for port expansion as well as environmental restoration, a solar array, trails, public kayaking access, and a fishing pier.

Earlier this month, CFACT and REACT Alliance sent a letter to DOT Secretary Sean Duffy challenging the project’s ​“public interest” grant requirement, citing the ​“lack of viability of the floating offshore wind ​‘industry.’” The letter also points to Trump’s anti-wind directive, which halted federal permitting and leasing for wind projects but did not mention grants for supporting wind infrastructure, like ports.

“We decided that the timing and the political will was there for us to go ahead and write this letter and to ask for the grant to be terminated,” said Mandy Davis, REACT Alliance’s president.

Davis told Canary Media that two recent setbacks in Maine’s pursuit of floating offshore wind motivated the group to act. First, Maine’s application for the same DOT grant awarded to the Humboldt Bay Harbor project was rejected in October. Those funds would have helped finance a port for floating offshore wind on Sears Island, Maine. Secondly, this spring, the Department of Energy clawed back a grant to the University of Maine to build and test the state’s first floating turbines.

Davis leads both REACT Alliance and the National Offshore Wind Opposition Alliance. She insists that neither of those groups receive any monetary support from CFACT, though the D.C. think tank co-signed the letter. According to the research group DeSmog, CFACT has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from fossil-fuel groups over the years.

“CFACT has, for decades, been undermining the science of climate change and attacking efforts to address the issue. This is just their latest effort to destroy a climate solution,” said Roberts.

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Clare Fieseler, PhD, is a reporter at Canary Media covering offshore wind. Her story is reprinted here with permission.

[Ed. note: The following letter comes to us from Manila resident Michelle Baggett. When we first read it, we thought, oh, everyone knows about poison hemlock, right? But then we thought: Well, Michelle didn’t know about it. Maybe there are other people like Michelle! So here we are.]

Attention:

Poison Hemlock can be found throughout Humboldt County and can cause harmful toxic effects to the body if touched, and can be deadly if eaten.

Poison Hemlock was pointed out to me last week along the Elk River Reserve trail near the Herrick Ave. Park and Ride. I was surprised that Poison Hemlock was growing right along the trail where people could touch it and pets could eat it.

I went home after my hike to find a Poison Hemlock plant in my compost pile. I would have pulled the plant out without precautions thinking that it was a different species of Queen Ann’s lace because the plants look very similar. One is a flower, the other is poison.

If I hadn’t been informed that the plant was extremely toxic I would not have taken the necessary precautions that are needed to stay safe and out of the hospital for a toxic exposure to Poison Hemlock.

Once you learn to identify Poison Hemlock you will notice that it can be found along our roadsides, our trails, and in many yards throughout Humboldt County. Route 255 along Arcata Bottoms is a good example of the how prolific Poison Hemlock is in our area.

It would be a great service to the community if you could point out the bodily threat that Poison Hemlock can pose when not handled properly.

I have attached a short description of the dangers Poison Hemlock can pose to people and pets below when handled improperly:

All parts of the plant are highly toxic to humans and animals. Poison hemlock is most dangerous when eaten, but the plant’s toxins can also be absorbed through the skin or breathed in. The primary toxin in poison hemlock is coniine. Coniine stops the nervous system from working properly, which can lead to suffocation.

Please consider doing a segment on the danger of Poison Hemlock in our community.

[Ed. note II: OK, Michelle!]

Humboldt Bay Fire release:

Humboldt Bay Fire is on scene of a vegetation fire in the area of 6th Street between T and V Streets. The fire appears to have originated from a transient encampment. There are no reported injuries.

6th Street is currently closed between T and V to allow emergency crews to work safely. Please avoid the area and use alternate routes.

We’ll provide updates as more information becomes available.

Press release from Cal Fire:

With a recent increase in fire activity, higher temperatures, lower fuel moistures, and minimal precipitation in the forecast, the threat of wildfire impacting life, property, or natural resources is observable.

Photo: CALFIRE.

CAL FIRE Humboldt – Del Norte Unit Chief Kurt McCray would like to thank citizens of western Trinity County who have conducted debris burning safely and helped reduce hazardous wildland fuels.

Thereby with the authority vested by the Director of the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection as per section 4423.1 of the Public Resources Code; CAL FIRE suspends, except within the incorporated cities, the privileges of burning by permit and other uses of open fire in the geographic area described as:

ALL STATE RESPONSIBILITY AREA LANDS WITHIN WESTERN TRINITY COUNTY

Campfires within organized campgrounds or on private property that are otherwise permitted will be allowed if the campfire is maintained in such a manner as to prevent its spread to the wildland and other private property. In accordance with section 4423.2 of the Public Resources Code, state rangers or other authorized agents of the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection may issue restricted temporary burning permits whenever it can be shown that burning or use of open fire is essential for reasons of public health, safety, or welfare. A campfire permit can be obtained at local fire stations or online at PreventWildfireCA.org.

This order shall become effective at 8:00 AM, Tuesday, June 17th, 2025, and remain in effect until I formally terminate this proclamation.

Here are some tips to help prepare homes and property:

• Clear all dead and or dying vegetation 100 feet from around all structures.
• Landscape with fire resistant plants and non-flammable ground cover.
• Find alternative ways to dispose of landscape debris like chipping or hauling it to a biomass energy or green waste facility.

The department may issue restricted temporary burning permits if there is an essential reason due to public health and safety. Agriculture, land management, fire training, and other industrial-type burning may proceed if a CAL FIRE official inspects the burn site and issues a special permit.

For additional information on how to create Defensible Space, on how to be prepared for wildfires, as well as tips to prevent wildfires, visit www.ReadyForWildfire.org.