Vanderheiden in Orick | Photo: Andrew Goff

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Press release from the Humboldt Journalism Project:

Isabella Vanderheiden of the Lost Coast Outpost and Thadeus Greenson of the North Coast Journal have tied for first place in the Humboldt Journalism Project’s 40th Award.

The award is named to underscore its mission of honoring in-depth journalism relevant to those whose income puts them in the lower 40 percent economically in Humboldt County.

Vanderheiden won for “There’s a Ticking Time Bomb in the Heart of Orick, and It’s Not Clear Whether Anybody Can Do Anything About It.” Her piece probed complex issues of flood safety, river ecology, levee maintenance and much more, describing multi-layered conflicts in efforts to protect the struggling community of Orick.

Greenson won for a series of articles, including “Inadvertent Disclosure: Eureka City Schools emails shed light on Jacobs property swap.” His coverage, published in the face of a threatening letter from the school district’s attorney, shed light on the players behind a land deal that was intertwined with Eureka’s Measure F. That ballot measure, which failed in November, would have limited Eureka’s affordable housing plans and protected parking lots instead.

“These articles exemplify what can be done at the local level to ensure government accountability and transparency,” said contest judge Ricardo Sandoval Palos, the PBS Public Editor and a graduate of Cal Poly Humboldt. “These aren’t outlets with large staffs and big investigative budgets, but as intrepid journalists who know their communities, they have thoroughly explored some pretty serious issues.”

This year marks the fourth and final year for 40th Award, which began in 2021. Previous first place winners have included reporting on county redistricting, nursing home failures and health care in Hoopa. Recent honorable mentions included work on police misconduct and mobile home regulations.

The first-place winners each receive $1,500.

The Humboldt Journalism Project, a DreamMaker project of the Ink People, also awards reporting grants for public interest and investigative reporting, and it is exploring other ways to support local media, including student journalism.

More information about the project is available on its DreamMaker page on the Ink People’s website. Inquiries can be sent to journalism@inkpeople.org.