There is a tsunami warning in effect.  Get out of the tsunami zone immediately.

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Press release from Eureka Cultural Arts District:

Eureka, CA –  The Eureka Cultural Arts District is pleased to announce grant funding opportunities for artists and nonprofit arts and cultural organizations, made possible by the California Arts Council. This grant program aims to support projects by Humboldt County artists that benefit the community, offering an opportunity for artists and cultural leaders to develop creative strategies that address the unique challenges of our time.

Grant awards ranging from $500 to $2,500 are available to support projects taking place between December 5, 2024, and January 29, 2025. This is a fantastic opportunity for local artists, cultural organizations, and community leaders to bring their visions to life and enrich the festive season in Eureka.

Grants may be awarded for projects such as:

• Community holiday activities
  Activities or events that promote art or culture
  Creating public art (e.g., murals, performances, or socially engaged projects)
• Hosting symposiums, forums, or exhibitions on topics addressing community needs
  Offering community workshops, series, or other educational experiences
• Addressing public health or safety concerns through creative work
• Tackling environmental issues with artistic solutions
• Developing strategies that promote community resilience
• Engaging under-resourced communities in creative efforts that foster well-being
• Providing workforce opportunities through arts and culture
• Programs that enhance the quality of life for Humboldt County residents and visitors
  Street parties that bring together community
• Events that celebrate diversity. Holiday events.
• Theatre readings
• Pop-up productions or shows

The deadline to apply is December 15, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. For more details and to submit your application, please visit  https://www.eurekaculturaldistrict.org/

Federal immigration authorities are looking for a potential new detention center in Northern California, an effort that alarms advocates and some Democratic state lawmakers as President-elect Donald Trump gears up to unleash his mass deportation plan.

In August, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a request for information to identify additional detention bed space in the state as other federal agencies intensified border enforcement. The effort began in the wake of the Biden administration’s sweeping asylum ban, implemented in June, for migrants caught crossing the U.S.-Mexico border outside designated entry points. Under the ban, border agents can deport such migrants within hours or days without considering their asylum claims.

Advocates say an expansion of detention space would give Trump a runway to carry out more mass deportations in California. Immigrants in counties with more detention space are more likely to be arrested and detained, according to research by advocacy groups.

Unlike in Texas, where state officials are offering up land to the Trump administration to facilitate mass deportations, California tried to ban new federal immigrant detention centers from opening during the first Trump administration. The court blocked that, ruling that the state was unconstitutionally overstepping on federal immigration enforcement.California Attorney General Rob Bonta told CalMatters that the state may be powerless to stop the possibility of a new facility.

ICE’s expansion plans

Federal documents show ICE issued the request for information on Aug. 14. Such requests can pave the way for federal contracts, in this case to obtain “available detention facilities for single adult populations (male and female)” in Arizona, New Mexico, Washington, Oregon, and California. Its request says the facilities should each have from 850 to 950 detention beds and “may be publicly or privately owned and publicly or privately operated.”One of the facilities should be within a two-hour drive of the San Francisco field office, the documents state. The request also seeks facilities near field offices in Phoenix, El Paso, and Seattle.

“ICE has identified a need for immigration detention services within the Western U.S. area of responsibility,” ICE spokesman Richard Beam wrote in an email to CalMatters. “The proposed services are part of ICE’s effort to continually review its detention requirements and explore options that will afford ICE the operational flexibility needed to house the full range of detainees in the agency’s custody.”

Currently, ICE detains roughly 38,000 people every day in about 120 immigration jails across the country. In California, that number is just under 3,000 detainees each day, held in six facilities, according to the most recently available immigration data maintained by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.That’s the third-largest population of detained immigrants in the country.

While ICE, the federal agency responsible for immigration enforcement, owns and operates a very small number of facilities nationwide, it mostly contracts with private prison operators such as CoreCivic, GEO Group, and Management and Training Corp. Their detention facilities house 80% of ICE’s detainees. Stock for CoreCivic and GEO Group soared upon Trump’s win last month.

In California, private, for-profit prison companies run all six ICE detention facilities – the Golden State Annex and Mesa Verde detention facilities in Kern County; the Adelanto Detention Facility and Desert View Annex, both in San Bernardino County; the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego County; and the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Imperial County.

Across all six, the federal government has the capacity to detain up to 7,188 people statewide.

State Sen. María Elena Durazo, a Democrat from Los Angeles, said she was concerned about the potential economic impacts of ICE having an increased capacity for detention and, therefore, deportations.

“The expansion of detention in California concerns everyone in our state. Expanding detention correlates with increased ICE raids and family separation, all of which has devastating social and economic impacts for California,” she said. “In addition, these facilities are run by private for-profit companies that consistently place their bottom-line profit above the health and safety of those who work in or are detained in these facilities.”

Advocates argue that detention expansions lead to human rights abuses and undermine community safety.

“An expansion of ICE detention operations within the Bay Area and Northern California is going to be part of a reign of terror on our communities the Trump administration is threatening,” said Bree Bernwanger, a senior staff attorney on the Immigrants’ Rights team at the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. “We already know from existing facilities within California that ICE does not and cannot maintain safe and or healthy standards of confinement for people inside.”

The ACLU is suing to learn more about the federal agency’s expanded detention plans.

Bernwanger was referring to issues like complaints of sexually abusive patdowns. Also, in 2023, ICE allegedly retaliated against hunger strikers by storming into their cells, violently dragging them, threatening them with forced feedings, and then providing food that was not appropriate for breaking a 21-day fast, prompting a medical condition in at least one inmate, according to a claim filed by the inmate, who was represented by two advocacy groups.

In August, the civil liberties organization released a 34-page report detailing 485 grievances filed by detainees across six immigration detention facilities in California between 2023 and June 2024. Those grievances included allegations of hazardous facilities, inhumane treatment, medical neglect, and retaliation.

ICE declined to comment on the report.

California failed to ban for-profit federal detention centers

In December 2019, California passed a law that would have banned private immigration detention centers. It was part of a wave of resistance by California Democrats to the first Trump administration. It also prohibited the state from using for-profit prisons for any inmates starting in 2028. The for-profit facilities “contribute to over-incarceration” and “do not reflect our values,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement when signing the bill.

Days before the law was set to go into effect, ICE signed new contracts for its facilities in California. The federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals later overturned the state’s ban on private prisons.

Bonta, who wrote the unsuccessful ban as an Oakland assemblymember, told CalMatters in November that the state might not be able to stop ICE from opening another detention facility outside of San Francisco.

“It’s a matter of federal jurisdiction,” Bonta said. “It’s federal. I disagree, but my office’s disagreement was considered, and the court determined that it was a federal issue.”

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

Elizabeth “Betty” Walker (née Carpenter) passed away peacefully at home on November 13, 2024, with her family by her side. Betty was born on February 6, 1924 in Brownhills, England to Dora and David Carpenter, the fourth of eight children.

At nearly 101 years old, Betty lived a tremendous life — powered by her fighting spirit. During WWII, she worked as a bomb inspector, a critical role during the war effort, and met her first husband, an American soldier. She always dreamed of emigrating to America, and in 1947, she set sail on the S.S. America to realize this dream. She moved to Humboldt County in the early 1950s, after a brief period in Arkansas.

After her divorce, Betty began working at Ten Window Williams Jewelers in Old Town Eureka, where she developed lifelong friendships with owners, Bill and Mollie Williams. She became a familiar face in commercials and advertisements for the store and even served as the trophy girl for races at Redwood Acres. It was at Ten Window Williams that she met her second husband, Earl Walker of Walker & Sons Logging out of Blue Lake, California, when he came in to purchase a watch. After a brief courtship, the couple married in 1957 at the Little White Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Throughout her life, she was fiercely loyal to her family and friends and did everything in her power to promote the betterment of their lives. Inspired by her son Ron, who was born with Down Syndrome, Betty became a passionate advocate for individuals with disabilities. As an example of this, she was the president, and later chairperson, of Humboldt Community Access and Resource Center (HCARC), and was awarded Humboldt County’s “Citizen of the Year” in 1977 for her dedication. She was also instrumental in starting the Glen Paul School for special education. Though she remained in Eureka for most of her life, the family lived in Scottsdale, Arizona for five years during the 1960’s where Betty served on the Scottsdale Beautification Commission.

A secret to Betty’s longevity was her passion for projects and many hobbies. She maintained beautiful gardens and a large property, which was featured in the Eureka Times-Standard; she loved creating unique crafts and gifts for her children and grandchildren and could whip up just about anything on her beloved sewing machine; she enjoyed her Victorian dollhouse and creating many additions and details — including decorating it for the holidays; and she was also a fantastic cook and baker — famous for her pumpkin and blackberry pies, lemon torte, and salmon with parsley sauce. She loved reminiscing every Saturday with her sister Gladys, who passed away earlier this year, about their childhood in England and Betty’s many visits home, including sailing famed ocean liners, the R.M.S. Queen Mary and the R.M.S. Queen Elizabeth.

Betty is survived by her five children: Linda Savage (Clark) of Monterey; Larry Walker (Lola) of Delta, Colorado; Wanda Dewalt (Don) of Phoenix; Ken Walker of McKinleyville; and Ron Walker of Eureka. She shared a special and unique bond with each of her grandchildren, including Jenny Savage (Jordan Pratt-Thatcher) of Big Sur; Katie Savage (Michael Handy) of Cayucos; Meagan Savage of Long Beach; Kimberly Walker of Phoenix; Charles Holmes of Phoenix; Jody Walker (Gareth Carter) of Brownhills, England; and Sindy Weals (Darren) of Brownhills, England. Her love extended to her great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren, who will also continue her legacy. She was preceded in death by her seven siblings; husband, Earl; and grandson-in-law, Michael Handy, who passed the day before Betty.

The family wishes to express heartfelt gratitude to Betty’s daughter, Linda, for her loving care during Betty’s final months, ensuring her wish to remain at home was fulfilled. They also extend special thanks to Betty’s dear friends, Dr. Don Iverson, Teresa Pearl, and Darla Dale, for their enduring friendship, love, and support, as well as Hospice of Humboldt for their compassionate care.

A celebration of life will be held for friends and family early next year. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Shriners Children’s or Hospice of Humboldt.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Betty Walker’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.

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The City of Eureka’s plans to expand the city’s affordable housing supply are moving right along. 

At last night’s meeting, the Eureka City Council unanimously approved development agreements with Dishgamu Humboldt, a community land trust operated by the Wiyot Tribe, and the Rural Communities Housing Development Corporation (RCHDC) for up-and-coming affordable housing projects. Three city-owned sites are slated for development, including a parking lot at the corner of 5th and D streets, another at 6th and L streets and the “Sunset Heights” property, a mostly vacant 3.5-acre site overlooking Highway 101 between Henderson and Harris streets. 

Speaking at last night’s meeting, Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery noted that the city established a memorandum of understanding with each entity last year. Approving a disposition and development agreement (DDA) is the next step in the process, he said.

“These disposition and development agreements are helpful for developers because it helps with being more competitive with funding,” Slattery explained. “For the Wiyot project, they’re looking at some tax credits that are mainly set aside for tribal organizations. They’re looking at applying for those [credits] in July 2025. … They’re in the process of going through the design elements for both 5th and [D] as well as 6th and L and will be going to design review prior to that date in July 2025.”

RCHDC is a little further along in the process, Slattery added. The Sunset Heights project will be presented to the Eureka Planning Commission at its regular meeting on Dec. 11.

The city’s plans to convert parking lots into housing have drawn criticism from some business owners in downtown and Old Town, as well as Citizens for a Better Eureka, a special interest group funded by Rob Arkley’s financing firm Security National. As many of our readers will recall, Arkley recently spent more than $1.6 million on Measure F, a failed ballot measure that sought to protect downtown parking lots by halting the city’s housing development plans. Eureka voters rejected the measure by a margin of more than two-to-one.

However, the city is still tied up in litigation with Citizens for a Better Eureka over claims that the city failed to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) when it designated several city-owned parking lots as surplus to make way for affordable housing developments. The ongoing lawsuit was not discussed at last night’s meeting.

Councilmember Kati Moulton made a motion to approve the disposition and development agreements. The motion was approved 4-0, with Councilmember G. Mario Fernandez absent.

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Harris Medical Center

Earlier in the meeting, the city council unanimously approved a general plan amendment and zoning reclassification for the Harris Medical Center project, a multi-use housing development and medical facility slated for the former Apostolic Faith Church on Harris Street, near Henderson Center. 

The project plans, submitted by Dr. Deepak Stokes, an OB-GYN currently working with Providence Medical Group, include an urgent care clinic, medical spa, office space, a commercial café and up to 12 dwelling units – two units in the existing building and 8-10 units in two new two-story residential units – along with associated site improvements. 

Julian Berg, an architect with NorthPoint Consulting Group, said the project will include a mix of multi-family housing, including apartments and townhomes. 

“Having been born and raised here, it’s really exciting to be doing a mixed-use project like this,” Berg told the council. “I really believe in this kind of development because it creates a more dynamic and safe neighborhood. When you have housing, office, commercial space and, of course, health care all in the same vicinity, it creates a much better community space. … We desperately need more medical facilities, so it’s really great that Dr. Stokes is here to help us with that.”

Councilmember Renee Contreras-DeLoach agreed, adding that the project will address “numerous needs” for folks living near Henderson Center.

“This is what we hope for as a city, right? Getting to see something be redeveloped into something that’s going to be far more useful and contribute in so many positive ways to the community,” she said. “I think that this development is that.”

After some additional discussion, Contreras-DeLoach made a motion to approve the general plan amendment and zoning reclassification. The item passed 4-0.

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A recording of last night’s meeting can be found at this link.

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PREVIOUSLY

• The Blue Lake City Council Race Could Very Well End in a Tie. Here’s How It Would Get Decided.

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It happened. The Blue Lake City Council race ended with an exact tie for the third of three available seats this election season. The final election report, released Tuesday evening, shows that two candidates — incumbent councilmember/mayor Adelene Jones and challenger Kat Napier — each received 245 votes.

As we explored in a post last week, California Elections Code 15651 says that such ties must be resolved via a random selection process like drawing straws or pulling a name out of a hat.

Blue Lake City Manager Mandy Mager told the Outpost in an email that the city will hold a special meeting next Tuesday, Dec. 10, to resolve this tie and seat the new council, which will include victorious candidates Michelle Lewis-Lusso and John Sawatzky, who defeated incumbents Christopher Guy Firor and Christopher B. Edgar.

”During the meeting, the City Attorney and the City Clerk will introduce the tie-breaking process and will conduct the action,” Mager explained. 

What exactly will this drawing of lots look like? Mager said Jones and Napier’s names will be placed in envelopes, which will then be deposited into “some form of container.” A designated person (she didn’t say who that person will be, nor who will designate them) will draw an envelope from the container to determine the winner. That person — either Jones or Napier — will then immediately be seated alongside their fellow council members, and the meeting will commence. 

Dramatic! 

We reached Jones via phone earlier today. She said that as far as she can determine after discussing the matter with a former city clerk, this has never happened before in the City of Blue Lake.

“Unprecedented,” Jones remarked.

She said she’s been in contact with Humboldt County Clerk/Recorder and Registrar of Voters Juan P. Cervantes. She shared with him some concerns she had regarding people who may have cast ballots despite living outside of city limits, but Cervantes confirmed to her that all tallied votes had been verified.

A voicemail left for Napier was not returned by the time this post was published. 

Jones said this election cycle had more tension than she’s ever seen before in Blue Lake. She said a small group of people started coming to meetings “very upset.”

“It seemed to start when we talked about the need for low-income housing,” she said. “Some folks didn’t want that to happen.”

The city of Blue Lake has been mandated by the state of California to plan for at least 40 new units of housing, and with limited available real estate within city limits the council approved a multi-use residential and commercial project in the industrial Powers Creek District, to be built by Danco. 

“I have toured the projects that [Danco] did in Arcata,” Jones said. “They’re very nice. They have a manager onsite, energy efficiency and common grounds. I was in support of this, and that made some people not happy.”

She said that if the new council members plan to block new housing development they’ll have to deal with repercussions from the state, which has the authority to force local jurisdictions to plan for residential development. 

“I don’t know how they’re gonna fight the state,” Jones said. “The state can do what it wants.”

In recent weeks, Jones has been meeting up with a small group of supporters outside of the post office to discuss the latest developments, including each new report coming out of the Elections Office.

“All of my supporters have been very sweet,” she said. “We’ll see what happens.”

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No surprises in the rest of the final election report. Donald Trump got about 33.5% of the presidential vote countywide, compared to 62% for Kamala Harris. That’s a slightly higher percentage for Trump from four years ago and significantly higher than eight years ago, but due to lower overall turnout Trump actually received fewer Humboldt County votes than in 2018 2020.

Assembly candidate Chris Rogers will succeed Jim Wood, coasting to victory across the district, including here in Humboldt, where he outperformed Republican challenger Michael Greer 62.75% to 37.25%.

Incumbent U.S. Congressman Jared Huffman likewise clobbered his opponent, Chris Coulombe.

In Arcata, incumbents Stacy Atkins-Salazar, Sarah Schaefer and Alexandra Stillman all won their re-election bids, as previously reported. Likewise in Eureka incumbents Kati Moulton and Scott Bauer defeated challengers Kenny Carswell and Thavisak “Lucky” Syphanthong, respectively.

The strength of incumbents was also on display in Ferndale, where sitting council members Leonard Stephen Lund and Phillip Ostler were re-elected.

In Fortuna, incumbent Tami Trent was re-elected alongside Fortuna Ace Hardware owner and council newcomer Jerry D. King.

Humboldt County’s half 1 (per)cent sales tax initiative, Measure O, passed easily while Eureka’s pro-parking initiative, Measure F, went down in flames. 

Here’s a statement from the Elections Office, with a link to the elections results webpage:

All ballots for the Nov. 5, 2024, General Election have been verified and counted. The Humboldt County Registrar of Voters certified the election on Tuesday, Dec. 3. The certified results and official canvass certification is expected to be presented to the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Dec. 10.

“As we certify the results of the November 5th General Election, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the election workers, community members and voters who made this process possible,” said Humboldt County Clerk, Recorder and Registrar of Voters Juan P. Cervantes. “To those who gave up their weekends, worked long hours after their regular jobs, and prioritized participating in the democratic process - thank you. Your dedication is the foundation of our democracy. Democracy thrives on responsibility and daily acts of engagement. It is upheld by those who understand that their role extends beyond casting a ballot and continues through actions that ensure its promise remains strong in Humboldt County.”

For more information on the results of the election, please visit the Elections Results webpage or call 707-445-7481.

Save a spot for the Cal Poly Humboldt community in your prayers today. The campus is currently without sushi.

Yesterday afternoon, the county’s Division of Environmental Health issued a shutdown order to the Advanced Fresh Concept Franchise Corp.’s local sushi franchise location, there on the Cal Poly Humboldt campus.

Shouldn’t be that hard of a fix: The health inspectors dinged AFC Sushi for too-tepid water in the handwashing station, and could find no evidence of sanitizing solutions or testing strips at the facility. When those things are fixed, AFC Sushi — North America’s largest sushi franchise, we are told — can get rolling again.

Until then, students will either have to go across the footbridge to get their sushi in town, or else eat something other than sushi.

DOCUMENT:

• AFC Sushi Inspection, Dec. 3, 2024.