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During the public comment period of tonight’s Blue Lake City Council meeting, three council members, including the mayor and mayor pro-tem, were served with legal notices of voter-initiated efforts to recall them from office.

Blue Lake resident Elissa Rosado, who recently described herself as the best friend of recently ousted City Manager Mandy Mager, stood at the lectern and delivered the news to Mayor John Sawatzky, Mayor Pro-Tem Elise Scafani and Council Member Kat Napier. 

Here are the key points from that statement:

Politics in the usually sleepy city of Blue Lake have grown contentious — some might say outright hostile — over the past couple of years. Last year’s election narrowly resulted in a new council majority, a revanchist group so skeptical of the city’s housing development plans that it opted not to adopt a fully prepared housing element update, thereby risking legal repercussions from the state.

Proponents of the recall effort met in Perigot Park on May 8 to strategize and start gathering signatures. The recall supporters were largely supportive of Mager, who’d been effectively terminated by the new city council majority during a closed session meeting the previous day — though the separation agreement wouldn’t be finalized for another week, in an apparent violation (or perhaps two violations) of California’s open meetings law, the Ralph M. Brown Act.

Tonight, Sawatzky, Napier and Scafani took the paperwork from Rosado. Both Sawatzky and Scafani skimmed the multi-page documents as the next public speaker addressed them.

Per state law, each recall effort must take place independently from the others, though they can occur simultaneously. No date has been set for the recall election. First, the city clerk must submit the trio of recall petitions to the Humboldt County Elections Office, which must verify that all three have enough valid, verifiable signatures to qualify. For Blue Lake, that threshold is 30 percent of the city’s registered voters, which amounts to about 252 people.

If the signature threshold is met then the city council must call an election within 14 days. That election must then be held between 88 and 125 days after it’s called, or up to 180 days later if there’s a date in there that lines up with a regularly scheduled election.

City Council Member Christopher Firor was absent from tonight’s meeting. Check back tomorrow for a writeup on other matters discussed.

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• Highly Contentious Blue Lake City Council Race is a Nail-Biter, With Many Votes Yet to Be Counted
• Blue Lake’s City Council Election Tie Will Be Resolved By Pulling a Name From a Hat, Essentially
• NAPIER DEFEATS JONES: Blue Lake Election Tie Resolved By Pulling a Name From an Envelope Pulled From a Box
• Flouting State Guidance, Blue Lake City Council Votes Not to Adopt Its Own Updated Housing Element
• The Blue Lake Community is Under the Impression That Its City Manager Has Been Fired, But City Hall Won’t Say Whether She Has Been Or Not
• With the City Manager’s Abrupt Exit, Blue Lake Residents Mount Recall Effort Against Three Council Members
• Blue Lake City Council Finalizes Separation Agreement With Former City Manager Mandy Mager, Appoints Finance Manager Dani Burkhart as Acting Replacement

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Press release from CASA of Humboldt:

CASA of Humboldt is honored to announce it has been selected as a 2025 California Nonprofit of the Year by Assemblymember Chris Rogers of the 2nd Assembly District.

CASA of Humboldt is one of more than one hundred nonprofits across the state being recognized for their outstanding contributions to their communities. This honor highlights the organization’s unwavering dedication to supporting children and families impacted by the child welfare system throughout Humboldt County.

Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Humboldt recruits, trains, and supports community volunteers who mentor and advocate on behalf of local children and youth living in foster care. CASAs walk alongside children during some of the most uncertain moments of their lives— reminding youth that they are never alone, and they have a say in deciding their future. So far this year, CASA of Humboldt has served more than 100 children, ensuring their voice is heard in court, advocating for their best interests, and helping them access essential services and resources.

“Our advocates are often the only consistent adult presence in a child’s life during a time of incredible uncertainty,” said Jeanne Gordon, Executive Director of CASA of Humboldt. “To be recognized by Assemblymember Chris Rogers as a 2025 Nonprofit of the Year is deeply meaningful. It is a testament to the heart and resilience of our volunteers, the unwavering dedication of our staff, and the strength of the children we serve. We share this honor with every person who has ever stood beside a child and reminded them that they are seen, they are valued, and they are not alone.”

Assemblymember Chris Rogers applauded CASA of Humboldt for its life-changing impact on youth in the 2nd District. “CASA of Humboldt gives children a voice and an advocate when they need it most. Their impact in our community is profound and lasting, and I’m proud to recognize their incredible work.”

Now in its tenth year, the California Nonprofit of the Year initiative gives each state legislator the opportunity to spotlight a nonprofit making a significant difference in their district. CASA of Humboldt was honored alongside fellow changemakers and legislators at a celebratory event at the State Capitol on California Nonprofits Day, May 21.

CASA of Humboldt volunteers come from all backgrounds, united by a shared belief that every child deserves to be safe, nurtured, and heard. The organization is always looking for more volunteers and provides all the training and support needed to make a lasting difference.

To learn more about CASA of Humboldt or how to become a volunteer advocate, visit www.humboldtcasa.org.

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Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On May 26, 2025, at approximately 7:30 a.m., a Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) deputy conducting routine patrol in the Samoa Dunes Recreational Area observed a suspicious vehicle. Upon investigation, the deputy identified the occupants as Rick Camy, 38, who was on formal probation for a prior drug-related conviction, and Keara Loudon, 43, who initially provided false identification. Further inquiry revealed that Loudon was out of custody on bail and had an active arrest warrant.

Pursuant to Camy’s probation terms and Loudon’s arrest warrant, the deputy conducted a search of the vehicle, uncovering significant quantities of suspected methamphetamine and fentanyl inside their vehicle. Camy and Loudon were subsequently arrested and booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on the following charges:

Keara Loudon:

• PC 148.9: Providing False Identification to a Peace Officer
• H&S 11350: Possession of a Controlled Substance
• H&S 11377: Possession of a Controlled Substance

Rick Camy:

• H&S 11395(b)(1): Possession of a Controlled Substance with Prior Drug Convictions
• H&S 11377(a): Possession of a Controlled Substance
• H&S 11350: Possession of a Controlled Substance
• PC 1203.2: Probation Violation

Following the arrests, the deputy obtained a search warrant for Loudon’s residence in the 900 block of Rio Dell Avenue, Rio Dell. The search yielded additional narcotics, a digital scale, and drug paraphernalia, resulting in the following additional charges against Loudon:

• H&S 11351: Possession of a Controlled Substance for Sale
• H&S 11378: Possession of a Controlled Substance for Sale
• PC 12022.1: Committing a Felony While Released on Bail

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office remains committed to proactive patrols and narcotics enforcement to enhance public safety and address illegal drug activity in our communities.

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.

PREVIOUSLY

• Providence Plans to Drastically Reduce the Availability of Open Heart Surgery in Humboldt County Next Year, According to Employees at St. Joseph Hospital
• Providence Issues Statement on the Future of St. Joe’s Heart Institute

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Dr. Joseph Arcidi. | Submitted.

In mid-December of last year, local cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. Joseph Arcidi was in London, England, with his family, getting ready to deliver a talk at the 10th Annual International Coronary Congress, when his cell phone started going crazy with incoming texts. He decided to ignore them until after his address, at which point he picked up his phone and started scrolling through the messages.

“As I read through things after my presentation, I turned to my wife and said, ‘Huh! Honey, I guess I resigned!’”

This was a surprise to Arcidi, who’d been serving as medical director of cardiothoracic surgery at Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka for the past four years. During that time, and under his leadership, the hospital’s open-heart surgery program had made great strides, showing dramatic improvement in patient outcomes. Arcidi was proud of the turnaround he’d helped to steward, and while he’d heard that the heart program was in financial trouble, he had no intention of resigning.

Still, the financial problems were real. Despite the improved outcomes, patient volume in St. Joseph’s heart program had not increased, Arcidi told the Outpost in a recent interview. And Providence, a Catholic not-for-profit health care system that now owns 51 hospitals and more than 1,000 clinics across the American West, was suffering six-figure operating losses quarter after quarter. 

For about a year and a half, Arcidi had been hearing from local and regional administrators that Providence was considering closing the heart program in Eureka, strictly for financial reasons, he said. 

Yet here he was in London, getting barraged with questions about his supposed resignation. The texts were coming in response to an Outpost story published earlier that day, which reported that Providence planned to significantly reduce the availability of open heart surgery in Humboldt County in 2025. We quoted several members of the 100-plus employees who attended a staff meeting where the decision was announced. At that meeting, they said, management announced that Arcidi, the county’s only full-time open heart surgeon, planned to resign by the beginning of February and would not be replaced.

“I hadn’t resigned,” Arcidi said. “I was — and I still am — on staff at St. Joe’s. I still have my privileges. I haven’t retired; I haven’t resigned.”

However, since Providence cancelled his employment contract, there’s no longer a full-time cardiothoracic surgeon in Humboldt County. Instead, out-of-county heart surgeons (based in Santa Rosa or Napa) come to Eureka twice per month, staying for three days at a stretch. Those three-day windows are now the only times when patients can undergo non-emergency heart procedures such as stent placements, angiograms and radial artery catheterizations. And open heart surgery is not available at St. Joseph Hospital 24-7-365, as it was until a couple of months ago. 

“It’s an effective closure of the program,” Arcidi said. (Providence denies this characterization, as you’ll read below.) 

After returning to the U.S., Arcidi spoke with several people who’d attended the December staff meeting, and they confirmed what the Outpost had reported — that his supposed resignation was the reason cited for reducing the availability of open heart surgery. 

“I knew that my contract was going to be cancelled because of the need to effectively close the program,” Arcidi said. “I knew that, and I knew that it was pending. And it would have been understandable, for me, had Providence said, ‘Dr. Arcidi has done wonderful work but for financial reasons we just simply are going to have to close [the program] and try to consolidate care or regionalize care.’ But that’s not the way it happened. … Instead, it’s all on Dr. Arcidi’s shoulders.”

When Arcidi took over as director of cardiothoracic surgery in January 2021, there were 20 open-heart programs in the Providence system, stretching from Washington through Oregon and California, plus Montana and Alaska. 

“Among those, at the time I took over, Providence St. Joseph Eureka had by far the worst quality of any of ‘em,” he said. Yet he was able to achieve “an almost instantaneous turnaround” in the program, with help from what he described as a great and loyal operating room team along with great cardiology staff and physicians. 

Virtually all open heart programs in the U.S. (97 percent) have their outcomes assessed and measured by the STS (Society of Thoracic Surgeons) Adult Cardiac Database, which Arcidi called “the grandfather of all surgical databases.” During his tenure, from 2021 through 2024, the cardiac surgery program at St. Joseph Hospital maintained zero percent mortality for all STS-modeled procedures — this despite having higher-risk patients compared to the communities for other Providence open-heart programs. The local program’s morbidity (or major complications) outcomes for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) was the lowest (which is to say best) across the Providence system during Dr. Arcidi’s tenure.

“We went from the worst to being the first among the 20 open heart programs in Providence,” he said, adding that the Society of Thoracic Surgeons even invited him and his team to conduct a national webinar on one specific aspect of cardiac surgical perioperative care, “because our results had been so unexpected for a remote, rural community center.”

Last June, his team also presented at a cardiovascular team meeting at Stanford University, co-hosted by the California Chapter of the American College of Cardiology, he said.

Given the program’s success, Arcidi is hurt that Providence seems content to let him take the blame for the recent reduction in services. 

“To paint a narrative that was incriminating, or at least pointing the finger at me, was really disheartening,” he said. “I expected that a day or a few days after [the December news story] I would have gotten a call from either the hospital administration or someone [saying], ‘Oh, Joe, that’s not what was said’ or ‘We apologize’ or ‘That was clearly misstated.’ Nothing has ever happened.”

In fact, spokespeople for Providence have been unwilling to acknowledge any reduction of services whatsoever at St. Joseph Hospital’s open heart program. After our first story on the matter, Providence issued a statement saying the hospital would continue to offer non-emergency cardiac and vascular services 24-7-365. This statement failed to address our specific questions about the elimination of the county’s only full-time cardiothoracic surgeon position and the ensuing impacts on the availability of emergency open heart surgery. Instead it referred to its team of cardiovascular surgeons “across Northern California,” presumably referring to those based at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa.

When we reached out again for comment on this story, spokesperson Steven Buck, the executive director of communication for Providence South, sent along the following statement:

We are disappointed that the Lost Coast Outpost continues to quote misinformation regarding Providence St. Joseph Hospital Eureka’s heart program. What’s most important is that the community knows that the hospital will continue to offer cardiac and vascular services 24/7/365 for our Humboldt County community.

Although Dr. Arcidi is no longer a full-time employee of Providence Medical Group, there are currently at least four other qualified cardiac surgeons who have active privileges at Providence St. Joseph Hospital Eureka and are providing the level of coverage and services which are needed for the hospital to continue fully supporting the cardiac cath lab and cardiovascular service line.

Providence assures our Humboldt community that we will continue to provide the safe, high-quality, award-winning emergent heart care they need in alignment with national certification standards.

We wrote back asking him to identify what specific misinformation we had quoted and again requesting confirmation of the dramatically reduced availability of open heart surgery in Humboldt County. Buck’s response, below, sidestepped those questions again:

It is important to understand that elective, non-urgent cardiac interventions are available based on patient need/demand. We are currently providing elective, non-urgent cardiac interventions six days per month to meet that demand. Staffing the other 24 days per month would not result in any additional patients being treated or denied care. As we continue expanding our cardiology services in the community which includes the recruitment of another dedicated full-time interventional cardiologist, the amount of cardiovascular surgeon time will be adjusted accordingly to ensure patient needs are being met.

Arcidi said the assertion that there’s still an active cardiac surgery program at St. Joseph Hospital is undercut by the fact that Providence terminated the facility’s contract with STS Adult Cardiac Database in late January. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services use that database to determine payment amounts.

Even if there is technically still an open heart program at St. Joseph Hospital, Arcidi said, the limited hours have a real impact on emergency care. And he now feels reluctant to start his own practice in Humboldt County, despite the strong community connections he and his family have formed locally.

“The ability to actually perform surgery is going to be so impacted by what the hospital has done to the program,” he said.

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

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Those are among the hundreds of proposals California lawmakers swiftly rejected Friday under the banner of cost savings, as they cited the state’s $12 billion budget deficit — a worsening figure due to the threat of unprecedented federal funding cuts and California’s ballooning spending on health care for low-income residents.

“We are in (a) very difficult budget environment this year, so consequently many good bills are going to fall by the wayside today,” said Assembly Appropriations Committee Chair Buffy Wicks, an Oakland Democrat, before beginning that chamber’s hearing.

“We are not in a year where we can be expanding programs, developing new offices, new agencies, new departments, and expanding our footprints.”

The Friday procedure is known as the “suspense file” — the state Legislature’s most secretive and fast-paced biannual hearing, where the chairs of the Assembly and Senate Appropriations committees quickly shoot down pricey proposals with little explanation, often acting more aggressively during years of budget woes.

The suspense files are where the appropriations committees send bills that would cost the state at least $50,000 in the Senate and $150,000 in the Assembly. The process was originally a way for lawmakers to consider policy proposals that cost the state money together by balancing them against each other.

But the well-accepted open secret in Sacramento is that it’s also an opportunity for lawmakers to quietly kill controversial bills, appease powerful special interests or just winnow down the number of bills they’ll have to debate on the floor. Lawmakers decide ahead of time, in secret, whether to pass the bills to the full Senate or Assembly, or to withhold them. The public hearings are a rapid-fire announcement of the decisions.

On Friday, the Senate Appropriations Committee axed 29% of the 432 bills on its list, although it kept a handful of those alive to work on next year. That’s more aggressive trimming than the committee did last May.

“The state is facing a significant budget deficit and with that in mind, the committee had to make difficult choices on a number of bills to reduce costs,” said Senate Appropriations Chairperson Anna Caballero, a Merced Democrat, before the hearing. She opened the hearing with a defense of the arcane proceedings, explaining that the results would be posted online, but rushed out to catch a flight after the meeting without discussing her approach with reporters.

The Assembly Appropriations Committee killed 35% of the 666 measures on its suspense file, similar to last year. Lawmakers had been warned to keep the cost of their proposals down, Wicks said.

“We stressed heavily to members as they were putting together their legislative package this year to be very mindful of cost,” she told reporters.

The state’s fiscal future is anything but certain: As federal threats loom, Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this month rolled out a $322 billion spending plan that included significant cuts to Medi-Cal, the state’s health care system for low-income Californians, and a 3% cut to public universities.

Health care expansions on the chopping block

On Friday, some Assembly measures that would have expanded health care services for Californians met their fate. That includes Wicks’ own proposal seeking federal approval to qualify some housing services as Medi-Cal benefits, a $40 million endeavor that Newsom previously vetoed. The committee also killed a proposal to allow more Medi-Cal enrollees to receive home-based care and another that would have allowed higher-earning immigrants in the country illegally to purchase insurance plans on Covered California, the state-run health care marketplace.

Assemblymembers meet during a suspense file hearing at the Capitol Annex Swing Space in Sacramento on May 23, 2025. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMatters

In the Senate, lawmakers shelved a proposal by Sen. Catherine Blakespear to impose campaign contribution limits on candidates for judicial office and school board races, which the influential California Teachers Association opposed. They axed Sen. Henry Stern’s proposal to expand the state’s contentious new mental health program CARE Courts to include defendants with bipolar disorder I, and Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil’s bill to address mountain lion interactions that has pitted rural communities against animal rights and wildlife conservation advocates.

The Senate Appropriations Committee also killed two Republican tough-on-crime proposals, showing the limits of Democrats’ recent shift slightly rightward on crime. Until Friday, it had been surprisingly smooth sailing this year for Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones’ bill to block sex offenders from being released from prison through the state’s elderly parole program, and Sen. Kelly Seyarto’s bill to increase penalties for selling or giving fentanyl to minors.

The law enforcement-backed bills were opposed by criminal justice reform advocates, who still hold sway with the majority party and often argue it would be too costly for the state to imprison more people.

In a statement, Jones, a San Diego Republican, called the suspense file process “anti-democratic” and accused Democrats of “silencing the voices of victims and the public.”

Some measures are now postponed until next year. That includes two Assembly measures seeking tighter regulations on ticket sales for sports and musical events, amid fierce opposition from ticketing platforms such as Stubhub and from local chambers of commerce. The measures would restrict when those platforms can resell tickets, strengthen the disclosure of ticket information and require venues to accept proof of purchase as tickets.

Assm. Isaac Bryan, a Culver City Democrat who authored one of the measures, said Wicks never articulated her concerns with his proposal, even though Wicks told reporters Friday her staff had been in touch with Bryan’s office. “There was never an attempt to discuss the bill,” which led him to believe her concerns had been alleviated, Bryan said in a statement.

Lawmakers also pushed off some issues to be debated further during budget negotiations between the Legislature and Newsom. That process will accelerate in the coming weeks before a mid-June deadline to pass a balanced budget.

Newsom’s film tax credit pushed to budget talk

They stripped out language in both Assembly and Senate bills to more than double the state’s film tax credit to $750 million. Newsom has pushed hard for the tax credit expansion to help the ailing Los Angeles industry and keep production in state, and he’s included the money in his budget proposals which lawmakers will debate separately.

Assemblymember Rick Zbur, a Los Angeles Democrat who authored the Assembly version of the measure, said the committee move was merely a technical one to separate budget allocations from policy changes.

“The increase in the size of the program will happen in the budget,” Zbur said. “I’m not that nervous about it.”

But to others, the move indicated that some lawmakers remain skeptical of spending so much on the program. Sen. Ben Allen, an El Segundo Democrat who sponsored the Senate bill to boost the tax credits, said he was “certainly disappointed.”

“It’s something we are going to push back against as budget negotiations begin to heat up,” he said in a statement.

An ambitious and highly technical proposal by Sen. Scott Wiener reining in the landmark California Environmental Quality Act to make it harder for opponents of development to sue to block housing projects also will be debated in the budget process.

In the Senate Appropriations Committee, lawmakers passed the bill but Caballero said they would continue negotiating it to help the state meet its housing needs “without compromising environmental protections.”

We passed the one-third mark with two more baseball parks visited this week, our 10th and 11th of the trip: Tampa and Miami.

Game #10: Astros versus Rays at George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, May 19

Imagine your vacation house survived a hurricane and a neighbor who you don’t even like needed to rent it for the summer after his house was severely damaged by the hurricane. That’s the Tampa Bay Rays situation for 2025 (and beyond?). Hurricane Milton damaged the roof of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg last year, rendering the stadium unusable. In April the city agreed to spend $22.5 million to fix the roof. For this year the Rays made a deal with the Yankees to use Steinbrenner Field in Tampa – the spring training home of the Bronx Bombers.

Spill one out for The Mick. Photos by Trepiak unless otherwise noted.

At the start of this season, much of the Yankee signage remained, creating what one usher called “a house divided.” Fans walked into the stadium with a prominent “NY” logo just above the “Home of the Rays” sign. Fortunately, that’s all been cleaned up but the Yankee plaques honoring all the retired numbers remain outside the main stadium entrance. Can it really feel like you’re at home with the Yankees of the past watching your every move? Maybe that’s why the Rays have a losing record at home.

Game atmosphere: Positive

Steinbrenner Field was designed to give Yankee fans a great spring training experience. The dimensions of the park are the same as Yankee Stadium, and the seats are up close and personal. You can see inside the dugout from the Field Box Seats. “You’re closer to the action,” said Ryan Rondeau, a member of the Rays Tech Team. “There is not a bad seat in the house. Of course, the heat sucks in Florida. And we’ve had two rain delays this season.” The heat and rain were non-factors in Tropicana Field where the retractable roof kept the field dry and the temperature a cozy 72 degrees.

It was 87 degrees at first pitch with humidity at 65 percent. “It’s too hot for anything right now except for sitting on the couch,” said one fan. A local newscaster gave the game forecast on the big scoreboard just before game time. “There is not much of a cooling influence,” he said, noting it would stay in the 80s the entire game. But we can’t fault the Rays for the hand they’ve been dealt. (Hurry up and fix that roof!) Steinbrenner Field has a Major League feel, albeit a Mini-Me version of an MLB park.

The Rays make good and frequent use of the fireworks feature of the scoreboard, blasting them twice during the national anthem and after home runs by Rays players. … Raymond the mascot is more active than most of the mascots we’ve seen so far – no small challenge with the heat and humidity. He roamed the stands for fan selfies, participated in an on-field race with two others mascots between innings, and performed various antics from the top of the dugout.

Fans cheered their Rays at every opportunity, but truly came to life every time Jose Altuve of the Astros came to the plate. Or, as he should be called in Tampa, Jose Al-BOO-ve. It seems the Rays fans are still ticked off about the whole 2017 cheating episode that enabled the Astros to steal a World Championship. Their loud displeasure was especially interesting since the Rays did not even make the playoffs that year. Altuve is the only position player still on the Astros from the 2017 team. The boos turned to cheers every time as Altuve went oh-for-four. The Astros got plenty of cheers, too, as about 20 percent of the crowd were Houston fans.

Ballpark cuisine: Neutral

The food at Steinbrenner Field is served hot and tastes good. There just isn’t anything beyond normal baseball fare. No specialty items. The closest thing to a specialty item is the Burst Burger (known as the Aaron Judge 99 Burger during spring training). It’s a half pound of beef with all the fixings for a filling experience. A local pizza place, Colony Grill Pizza, has been around since 1935 and dishes up high quality thin-crust slices with its signature “hot oil” topping. And there is the usual assortment of sausages, hot dogs, chicken tenders, nachos, burgers, sliders, tacos and barbecue sandwiches. The right field and left field corners each feature an air-conditioned area where food and drink can be purchased. Or in the Field Box Seats, for $200 or more per ticket, you can fetch the inclusive food and drink in a private area underneath the stands or have it brought to you. And you have a place to retreat to if there is a pesky rain delay.

Club hospitality: Positive

Hurray for people who want to help! We felt like we had family working in the Rays Communication Department. At first there was a misfire because the person in charge of credentials in 2024 is longer with the team. But then we were assigned to Tabitha Labrato who took great care of us, providing credentials good for being on the field during batting practice, and issuing great game seats – 11 rows up from the field just off home plate on the first base side.

Game details: Astros win 4-3. Attendance 10,046. Time of game: 2:32.

Helpful tips: No outside food or beverages, but they do allow you to bring in empty plastic bottles that can be filled at the (tepid) water stations throughout the park. (It’s almost 90 degrees – how about some refrigeration units for the water stations?) Bags must be clear, and they say no purse bigger than 5”x7” but aren’t sticklers about it like other parks.

You don’t see that every day: The lineup for the Astros featured their three outfielders batting 7-8-9. The outfield position used to be where most of the team’s power hitters played. Think Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr. or Barry Bonds.

Game #11: Cubs versus Marlins at LoanDepot Park in Miami, May 21

Miami is at the bottom of the National League East standings. Same for 2024. Somehow they managed to finish third in 2023 and make the playoffs as a wild card team. Then the Marlins made some administrative changes and have been free-falling ever since. Low attendance has plagued them after the 2023 season. They are averaging less than 14,000 fans per game this year, and had just over 14,000 fans per game last year. It is trending in the wrong direction!

Game atmosphere: Neutral

This game was the oddest one so far. LoanDepot seats 37,000 but there were less than 7,500 in attendance. Of those 7,500 – more than 75 percent were Cubs fans. Any attempt to get Marlin fan involvement going through videos, music, mascots or PA announcements fell flat because all the Cubs fans ignored it. The game itself was a good one – tied at 1-1 after the first inning. It stayed that way - with plenty of good pitching and defense - until the Cubs scored in the eighth inning. … The PA system was LOUD between innings with music hitting the 82.7 decibel level. Maybe because there weren’t many fans to absorb the sound? … There were at least six Marlin fans at the game, seated two rows behind us. Six boys around 19 years old, one with a booming voice and five that snickered through the game, egging him on with his occasional loud exclamation about nothing. I know the decibel level of the music because I downloaded an app during the game to measure the decibel level of the loud-mouthed fan (80 decibels!). His shouted comments weren’t particularly witty and usually had nothing to do with baseball. It seems there is a fine line between wit and nitwit. For instance, when Michael Busch of the Cubs was batting, Mr. Loud Mouth shouted, “Your dad wasn’t a very good president.” Then, after a pause, “Neither was your grandfather!” About midway through the game, we finally figured out there were about 30,000 empty seats to choose from to move away from the bombastic boor.

The crowd came to life with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. That’s when all the Cubs fans stood up and cheered, anticipating the final out of the game. … The stadium has a retractable roof so the Florida heat was not an issue. … Clear panels cover much of the left field side of the field, showcasing a view of the downtown Miami skyline. … They have drinking fountains but no drink stations.

Ballpark cuisine: Neutral

It is mostly standard baseball fare with a couple of exceptions. CAO Bakery & Café offers Cuban food with Fritas (Cuban cheeseburgers), Croquetas (ham and cheese sandwiches) and Arroz Con Pollo Bites (shredded chicken in a rice ball stuffed with mozzarella cheese). Of the three, only the Pollo Bites truly satisfied with its tasty combination. Beis Bowl is a food cart where you build your own bowl with a variety of grains and protein to choose from- similar to what you would find at Chipotle. There is also a Kosher Grill serving up mostly hot dogs. Pepsi sponsors a great family value package for Wednesday and Sunday games called “4 for $44.” Forty-four dollars gets you four tickets to the game, four hot dogs, four sodas and four small popcorns. The seats our way out in the Home Run Porch hinterland, but a great value nonetheless. … There is also an all-you-can eat section (Legends Level in Sections 201-204) with unlimited hot dogs, chili dogs, nachos with cheese, chili nachos, cheeseburgers, popcorn, peanuts, cookies and non-alcoholic drinks. All for $66 per person. To buy these tickets you have to navigate the Single Game Ticket Offers on the team website, find the All-You-Can-Eat Seats under Value Offers, then click “Buy Now” for the game of your choice.

Club hospitality: Positive

The team provided parking and tickets between home plate and the first base dugout.

Game details: Cubs win 2-1. Attendance 7,482. Time of game: 2:36.

Helpful tips: Only clear bags are permitted besides a small purse (6”x 8” maximum). Unopened plastic water bottles are allowed. Musical instruments are not only allowed but encouraged as the team tries to manifest a “fiesta” atmosphere – although we didn’t see any instruments and heard only one cowbell in the stands. Several parking garages are nearby for as little as $15.

You don’t see that every day: A bobblehead “museum” representing all 30 teams is featured in a large glass-enclosed, two-sided display case in the outfield plaza area. There are more than 600 bobbleheads featuring players, mascots and broadcasters.

Bonus: New Orleans

No MLB park. No National Park. But New Orleans is between Texas and Florida so it was definitely worth a visit. We had our best experience of New Orleans (pronounced New-OR-lins by locals, as if it’s one word) before we got there. We stayed with friends in Louisiana west of New Orleans and enjoyed a Crawfish Boil, homemade pralines, beignets and Boudin before we headed east on Interstate-10.

Dat dere’s a mess o’ CRAW-feeee-ish.

A quick tour of Cajun cuisine: You need about five pounds of crawfish per person for a crawfish boil, since each crawfish yields only its tail for meat – about the size of the tip of a child’s pinky. Getting to that tail-meat is an art by itself. … Beignets (pronounced ben-yayz) are a French-style, deep-fried pastry. … Pralines (pronounced praa-leenz) are a nut confection made with pecans or almonds coated with caramelized sugar. … Boudin (pronounced boo-da, with the “da” like “dan” without the “n”) is a sausage link, sometimes with smoked pork and pepper jack cheese.

New Orleans, still in recovery-mode since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, in spite of that continues to feature a robust music, culinary and party scene. Driving and parking in New Orleans is a challenge, so instead park for free near the edge of the city limits by the streetcar line. The streetcar will take you right to the French Quarter. It’s only $3 for an all-day pass on the streetcar – 80 cents for seniors. The culinary-party connections are everywhere, including restaurants such as “Voodoo Chicken and Daquiris” and another one promoting its pizza and daquiris. One passerby summed up the scene with, “It’s always happy hour in New Orleans.” The restaurant where we dined featured live music (a horn-playing soul singer) where we enjoyed the gumbo and fried shrimp po’boy.

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Tom Trepiak is the former sports information director at Humboldt State and a member of the Cal Poly Humboldt Athletics Hall of Fame.