A dog took me out at the knees last November. It was painful but provided me with investing illustrations galore.

I like to run, and at the beginning of one of my routes, I found myself knocked to the ground with a moving creature enveloping me. I didn’t see it happen. I felt it happen. The stock market is like that. The triumph and terror of sudden volatility.

That’s the risk one takes when exercising with AirPods blasting music straight into your cochlea.

Noise can be distracting for runners and investors. Our attention is caught up in our favorite news channel or podcasts. And sometimes their investment opinion doesn’t play out the way we think in our portfolios. 

Back to the dog.

Having been bitten before as a teenager, I immediately prepared myself for another munching.

Thankfully, it turned out to be one of those annoyingly anxious yet otherwise amiable dogs that enjoys a jog whenever its owner arrives home from work. Thrilled to be outside, to release the pent-up energy of being enclosed all day, the dog found another human running too. So the pooch, in all its tail-wagging canine glee, decided to come with. What it meant by “come with” was come in-between each of my moving legs.

The good news is I didn’t lose any more skin than I had already lost from the fall. I had not been bitten.

The happy beast proceeded to flee down some other street on its merry way through undiscovered neighborhoods. I, on the other hand, can assure you that if I had a tail, it would not have been wagging.

I stood up feeling the pain that comes from a 45-year-old body being flattened to the cement with an elbow gashed and hip bashed.

The pet parent said, “Are you alright?”

I paused and glared, replying, “I’ll know in a few minutes.”

I was silent, shaking my head, eyes shooting anger beams.

Let’s be honest. The only thing worse than seeing the infamous dog is seeing the owner of said dog.

What you really want to say in that moment is a sarcastic, “What do you think?” Or something uglier that sounds like this looks: “!#%$@&^!”

Have you ever said that to your investment portfolio or CNBC in the middle of a crashing market?

By God’s grace, I kept it clean, and eventually announced, “I’m all right.”

I also had a choice to make: walk home limping, nursing my wounds, or continue running a 5K before the soreness got worse.

This decision mirrors what every investor must do when facing inevitable market declines—sell, sit, or buy more.

I chose to run.

Earlier that day, I had been speaking to a client about market risks—specifically how sometimes it’s the things that no one sees coming that derail the stock market. That was not a prediction. It was simply a risk management conversation that a financial advisor must have, especially when markets are soaring. Everyone embraces risk when stocks are rising. They don’t like it so much when the market takes a beating.

Here’s the thing: Stocks don’t always go up. 

Sometimes things can hum along wonderfully when seemingly out of nowhere a correction—or even a crash—comes. In investing parlance, we don’t call these dogs; we call them Black Swans—rare, unexpected events that carry significant impact. 

These events, like my canine encounter, can appear without warning and knock you off your feet.

The S&P 500, our primary benchmark for U.S. large-cap stocks, has experienced many knockdowns over the last three quarters of a century:

Significant market declines will happen again. When? Who knows.

But they will. In fact, your odds of experiencing them increase over an investing lifetime.

The critical question isn’t if disruptions will occur, but rather: will you keep investing? Or will you quit, take your bag and go home?

You see, while the odds of facing a 20% or more decline increase the longer you hold stocks, the odds of significant average returns also increase the longer you hold stocks.

Fitness goals demand discipline, so do financial ones. Reality bites—or at least knocks you over—sometimes. Successful investors play the long game anyway.

This is not a forecast of doom and gloom. History shows that optimistic investors have triumphed over the long haul in the U.S. stock market. 

By far.

Since 1990, the S&P 500 has experienced a total return of a whopping 3,670%.

Translation: Investing $10,000 in 1990 would be hundreds of thousands of dollars today.

Terrible bear market declines don’t look as terrible over several decades.

But they still hurt when you are in the middle of one watching your portfolio get taken out.

So, what can you do? Know your financial goals, understand your risk tolerance, study your stock market history, and maintain appropriate diversification and guardrails. 

Life is risky. Running is risky. Investing is too—and there are no guarantees for future outperformance.

But I choose to keep running. The physical and mental payoffs have been a blessing.

Those who have kept investing through the bumps and bruises have likely been blessed too.

But my goodness, the bruises along the way can hurt. I had a colossal and colorful hematoma for months and even now if someone touches my side, I cringe a bit.

This shouldn’t surprise us.

There is no good story—or financial story—without getting knocked down.

The question is: Will you keep investing?

# # #

Brandon Stockman has been a Wealth Advisor licensed with the Series 7 and 66 since the Great Financial Crisis of 2008. He has the privilege of helping manage accounts throughout the United States and works in the Fortuna office of Johnson Wealth Management. You can sign up for his weekly newsletter on investing and financial education or subscribe to his YouTube channel. Securities and advisory services offered through Prospera Financial Services, Inc. | Member FINRA, SIPC. This should not be considered tax, legal, or investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

We end the 2025 Sprint reports with our final national park tour – Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. Also, at the end of the report we will reveal the winner of the Sprint Guessing Game.

National Park #10: Banff in Alberta, Canada

The biggest draw to Banff National Park is Lake Louise, a lake like no other, nestled in the Canadian Rockies with water whose rich turquoise color seemingly defies explanation. “Beautiful” falls far short of describing the majesty and elegance of this place. Pictures can capture only a fraction of the glory that you see in person. And words cannot do it justice either. We will try to give you pictures and words that will at least convince you to put a visit to Lake Louise and Banff National Park high on your bucket list.

Ask 10 Americans to describe Lake Louise, and nine will say “beautiful.” Face it, Americans like to take the path of least resistance. Since I suffer from the same linguistic handicap, I decided to ask international visitors at Lake Louise to give me their best words to describe Lake Louise. Collectively, the descriptive words that represent 15 countries and six continents offer the scope and magnitude of the Lake Louise experience. Here we go: Amazing, Awe-Inspiring, Beautiful, Extraordinary, Fascinating, Glorious, Gorgeous, Grand, Heavenly, Incredible, Magical, Magnificent, Majestic, Marvelous, Mesmerizing, Mind-Blowing, Mysterious, Outstanding, Peaceful, Serene, Something You Need To See In Person, Spectacular, Splendid, Stunning, Wonderful, Unique, Unforgettable and Unreal. It is all that and more.

The best time to visit Lake Louise is between mid-June and mid-September. Before mid-June, the lake will likely still be partially frozen. After mid-September the chilly alpine winter begins to make its presence known.

It was my fourth visit to Lake Louise but my first since 1990. The Chateau Lake Louise is right on the lake, built by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in 1890. The CPR recognized it as a good tourist spot when the lake was discovered by one of its company explorers. The views from the guest rooms are unmatched. I stayed at the chateau in 1990 for about $150 a night. Today? That same room is $1378 a night. Plus a $45 daily resort fee. Plus a $55 daily parking fee. And you have to book a room far in advance.

But there is a much more affordable way to visit the lake. We stayed four nights at the Lake Louise RV campsite, just three miles from the lake. We booked it through the Parks Canada Reservation Service for $26 a night. There are also some minimal campfire and reservation fees. You put your dates in a queue, and the reservation service will notify you when the dates are open to book. We put our dates into the system in December and were notified on Jan. 24 that the reservations were open. As a bonus, the Canadian government passed an initiative to reduce fees and waive Banff admission fees between June 20 and Sept. 2, giving us a 25 percent refund on the campsite and free entry into the park.

PREVIOUSLY:

All dispatches from the Sprint can be found at this link.

Getting a place so stay is just half the battle. Finding a place to park when you get there has become a challenge. Attendance at Lake Louise has steadily increased since my last visit, increasing about 30 percent per decade with a sharper increase in the last six years. We heard two theories on why attendance has spiked in recent years. One theory is that social media and its influencers have spotlighted Lake Louise, creating the desire to visit. The second theory is that Covid denied the travel-happy Canadians the opportunity to leave the country, so they began to travel more in their own country. And they liked what they saw! It’s probably a combination of both theories. We ran into many Canadians from the Quebec province which seemed to support the Covid theory. Okay, back to parking.

About 16,000 people visit Lake Louise on a typical summer day. The hotel built its own parking garage about 20 years ago to take care of the guests in its 539 rooms. The Lake Louise lakeshore parking lot is limited and spaces, at a cost of $36.75 for the day, are usually filled by 6 a.m. (That’s in addition to the daily park pass fee of $22.) Your best parking choice is to use the shuttle service that goes to both Lake Louise and Lake Moraine. It’s a park-and-ride service that begins about six miles from the lake. The catch is that you must book it in advance. Use the same reservation service that is used for the campsites. Shuttles can be booked starting April 16. Don’t wait, even though a limited number of shuttle spots are released 48 hours before the desired departure date. We tried the 48-hour option and could not book one, likely because our internet service was too slow. Parking at the park-and-ride site is free, and shuttles are reasonably priced at $8 per person, $4 for seniors, and no cost for those 17-and-under. The shuttle operates every 30 minutes from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., with the last return bus departing at 7:30 p.m. The shuttle service also includes the “Lake Connector” shuttle, which provides access between Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. Parking is free at the Lake Louise lakeshore parking lot after 7 p.m.

Lake access / parking option No. 2 is to take a bus from the city of Banff which is 40 miles away. It costs $7 and takes 47 minutes each way. You can park for free at the train station (if it’s not already full), then walk about seven minutes to catch the bus. The problem with this plan is that if you are at the Lake Louise campsite, you will have to drive 40 minutes to Banff, then take a bus for 47 minutes to go back to the lake, return to Banff by bus for 47 minutes, then drive back to the campsite with another 40-minute drive. Option No. 3 is to book a tour that will take you to both lakes. But the tour pickup point is the Banff train station, giving you the 40-mile back-and-forth drive again. Option No. 4 is to make a reservation at one of the chateau’s restaurants, and park at the hotel for $55. The moral to this parking dilemma is to book your shuttle tickets in advance. A three-mile hike from the campsite to Lake Louise via Lake Louise Drive is ill-advised because it is on a steep incline with constant traffic, mostly people driving to find the parking full then doubling back.

We booked a tour for one of our days, and we do not recommend it unless all other parking options fail, and you are desperate for lake access. The gist of the tour, besides a few tips on what to do if you encounter a bear, was to drop off the people in the van at Lake Louise for 90 minutes, then drop them off at Moraine Lake for 60 minutes. The rest of your half-day tour is spent in the van, driving back and forth to Banff. The van and bus tours all offer a limited time at the lake, from one to two hours. It was sad to see people rushing about the lakeshore, trying to get in a hike and some photos before rushing back for their departure time. Take your time, people! Book your shuttle! I mean, we spent two hours one day just asking people for a word to describe Lake Louise. That was the day we booked an Afternoon Tea at the chateau and coughed up the $55 for parking.

There is plenty to do at Lake Louise, some of it for a price. Canoe rentals are available at the Boathouse at Lake Louise for $150 per half hour. Horseback riding is available from Timberline Tours, featuring rides from two hours ($170) to eight hours ($365). There are several hiking options, all free! An easy, flat walk around the lakeshore takes about an hour, a moderate climb up switchbacks to the historic Lake Agnes Tea House is just over two miles, and a longer, more challenging hike (6.5 miles) leads to the Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House. Or you can take a quick polar-bear dip in the lake. (We saw a few hotel guests do this, with their plush robes at the ready.)

A few words about Moraine Lake, which is about nine miles south of Lake Louise. Our tour guide tried to make a case that Moraine Lake is more beautiful than Lake Louise. That’s like saying Jermaine Jackson, not Michael Jackson, was the true King of Pop. Yes, Moraine Lake is worth visiting and is impressive on its own merit. But it is just a shadow of Lake Louise in magnificence. Personal vehicles are not permitted at Moraine Lake, only shuttles, buses and guided tours can park there. Moraine Lake is closed in the winter months (October to June). It is not as large as Lake Louise but it also has the stunning turquoise waters and a backdrop of mountains.

About those turquoise waters. Here’s the story behind the color, believe it or not! Movement of the glaciers grinds the rocks beneath it into a powdery silt known as rock flour. As the ice melts, the water carries the rock flour into the lake but it’s so lightweight that it doesn’t sink. As sunlight hits the lake, water absorbs the longest wavelengths of the spectrum (red, orange and yellow), and the shorter wavelengths (green and blue) reflect back. Due to their size, rock flour particles absorb some of the blue, so the more rock flour there is, the greener the water looks. Voila, turquoise water! That’s their story, and they are sticking to it.

Banff is more than just a couple of spectacular lakes. Icefields Parkway, a road that connects Lake Louise and Jasper National Park, is considered one of the most scenic highways in the world. The many stops along the 143-mile glacier-lined highway include lakes, canyons, waterfalls, rivers, forested valleys, and many hiking opportunities. If you are a hiker, you will want to spend two full days exploring the parkway. Take a full day driving to Jasper, spend the night, then take another full day driving back – taking time each way to stop, see and hike. We did a one-day journey, driving just over halfway to Jasper with a lot of stopping and seeing and just a little bit of hiking.

The key stops for us along the parkway were Bow Lake (23 miles from the start), Peyto Lake (4.5 miles from Bow Lake), Mistaya Canyon (9 miles from Peyto Lake), Weeping Wall Viewpoint (32 miles from Mistaya Canyon) and Bridal Veil Falls (4.5 miles from Weeping Wall). Bow Lake and Peyto Lake each have the turquoise-sheen from the glacier rock flour. Bow Lake is by the side of the road but to see Peyto Lake takes a bit of a commitment. It’s about a half-hour hike up a steep hill on a paved boardwalk to reach the Peyto Lake lookout point. There you will look down on the lake without any lake access. Still, definitely worth the extra effort. At the lookout there is another two-mile trail that will take you to the Bow Summit Viewpoint. It has an elevation gain of about 1,000 feet and will take about two hours to complete. The route follows along a meadow which is also a favorite route for mosquitos, but the end result is a fabulous view of Bow Lake.

To reach Mistaya Canyon you will trek along a rocky and muddy path of about a quarter mile. The canyon and the rushing Mistaya River were the highlight of the parkway for us. This is also a popular starting point for several scenic hikes: Sarbach Lookout (just over 3 miles), Glacier Lake (10 miles) and Howse Pass (16 miles).

We encountered another wildlife traffic jam on the way to Weeping Wall and Bridal Veil Falls. A family of bighorn sheep decided they had the right of way and wandered down the middle of the highway. Unlike the bighorn sheep at Badlands who stayed hidden within the rocky backdrop, these sheep decided blending in was not a priority. Our final stop was the waterfalls of Weeping Wall and Bridal Veil Falls. You can either see the falls from a distance or hike through rocky terrain to get a closer look.

On our return drive we were able to just enjoy the many scenic mountains and backdrops along the parkway without the distraction of finding our next stop. You must drive this parkway!

Speaking of scenic highways, the Trans-Canada Highway is a delightful way to see Canada’s major cities. The highway links all 10 Canadian provinces, linking them from coast to coast. It is 4,860 long and much of it passes through mountains and other scenic venues. There is even a website, transcanadahighway.com, that will help you plan the ultimate transcontinental road trip. One impressive feature of the highway is that tunnels and overpasses were built into the infrastructure, not for cars but for wildlife. You will periodically drive through tunnels on the highway where the overpass is covered with trees and vegetation. This makes for a much safer route for both the wildlife and the motorists.

Bridal Veil falls.

We will end our Banff review with a few things that stood out as Canadian oddities to us. There are almost as many A&W Restaurants as there are McDonald’s. And even more A&Ws along the Trans-Canada Highway. … Costco in Canada does not take Visa. (Fortunately, almost everywhere else does.) … Beware the amateur money-changers! Twice we had establishments that did not take credit cards offer us a 1-to-1 exchange from U.S to Canadian dollars. One was an RV Park where the next person waiting to check in was happy to give me $130 Canadian for $100 U.S. By the way, when you use a credit card, the banks use the latest currency exchange-rate to figure out your charge. … Canadians are extremely courteous drivers. When there is a merge or double-merge lane, everyone merges immediately and no one speeds past everyone in the merge lane to try to squeeze in at the merge-point. We found this approach to go much more quickly and smoothly.

BANFF STATS: It is 2,564 square miles. There are more than 1,000 miles of hiking trails. In 2024 there was an average of 11,589 visitors a day.

The Sprint Guessing Game Winner

The correct answers to the guessing game were 15+ wins for the home team (16), “yes” to seeing a complete game, average attendance between 29,000 and 31,000 (29,184), average length of game between 2:35 and 2:40 (2:38), and “no” to seeing license plates from all 50 states. (We saw the 49th state in Detroit on June 24.)

Two participants in the guessing game – Moosey and Charles Mc – tied with three correct answers out of five. The tie-breaker was to guess how many total miles were driven on The Sprint. Moosey guessed 12,878. Charles Mc guessed 15,675.6. Total miles: 16,175. Charles Mc is the winner!

Final Note

As we were nearing the end of The Sprint – more than 16,000 miles driven over 100 days – we recognized that we would return home just before our wedding anniversary. I asked my wife what she wanted to do for our anniversary and her response showed that my bent toward sarcasm has worn off on her. She said, “We should go on a road trip!”

###

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

PG&E recently tendered its License Surrender Application and Decommissioning Plan for the Potter Valley Project to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. This plan details when and how PG&E plans to tear down its two dams on the Eel River. And since an agreement has been reached for run-of-the-river, wet season diversions to replace the existing diversion to the Russian River, support for dam removal is now pretty much universal between the two basins.

PG&E’s Application is eye-wateringly long and technical. Thankfully, Scott Greacen and Alicia Hamann of Friends of the Eel River are here to help break this all down.

My grandfather, Davis Schemoon, came to the United States from that war-wracked country we today call Lebanon. He was ethnically Syrian, since there was no Lebanon in those days. His passport indicated he was a citizen of the Ottoman Empire, as Turkey owned practically all of the Near East at that time.

“Grampa,” as all of us grandchildren called him, was born in 1860 in the mountain resort town of Zahle, located in the Bekaa Valley amid the Anti-Lebanon Mountains. The village was one-half Christian and one-half Muslim. He was a Maronite Christian. The church was named after Maron, a bishop in the very early Christian church.

After attending American University in Beirut, Davis came under the wing of American Presbyterian missionaries at that school. This was fortunate for him, because those missionaries sponsored Davis to come to the United States and sent with him letters of introduction to people here. The missionaries described him as a moral man and a good businessman. They were correct. Davis remained in business the rest of his life and attended church regularly.

Davis Schemoon came as an immigrant to this country in 1887, in the first boatload of newcomers from the Near East. Since he could speak English fairly well and had education beyond that of the average immigrant, he was asked to talk about his native area through the Chautauqua traveling lecture series in upstate New York. He spoke on the Arabic language, the customs, religious history and geography of the land of his origin. In 1890, after lecturing on the circuit for several years, he traveled west to San Francisco. There, he bought a house on Telegraph Hill just below Coit Tower. Davis paid $900 for the property, which he later sold. Today, because of its location and outstanding view, that home - which is still standing - would sell for close to $1 million.

Davis Schemoon and his wife, Amelia, pose for a portrait with George and baby Alfred.

After working in San Francisco for a year, Davis sent for his wife, Amelia, who had remained overseas while he was making enough money in the United States to support them. Three of their eight children, George (known as Toofy), Alfred (Najeeb) and my mother, Mary, were born in San Francisco. Their other children, Joseph (Yusef), Kelly, William, Amelia, and their youngest, Edward (Assad), were all born in Humboldt County.

North on the Pomona

Davis first heard about Humboldt County in 1896 from a fellow countryman who was living in this area. That same year, he and his growing family boarded the steam schooner Pomona and came to the North Coast. The family’s new home — located at 226 West Grant Street in Eureka — sat between Pine and Summer streets. It is still there today. The Schemoons’ neighbors included the Berrys, who lived across the street; the Toninis who lived around the corner; and Sergeant Hill of the Eureka police force and his family who lived on the west side of Summer Street. The Pinochis, who owned the Butternut Bakery, resided next to the Hills, and the Fred Moore family was just up Grant on B Street.

For his first local business venture, Davis put a large leather container filled with clothes and various sundries on his back, and peddled them Near Eastern-style in Eureka and as far away as Blue Lake. Later, he bought a team of horses and a wagon and sold his wares all the way to Hoopa. His route took him near the old Highway 299 over the Lord-Ellis Road and down into Redwood Creek, then down river for a few miles until he hit the old road that ended on the south side of Hoopa. Since no one had much cash in those days, a barter system was often used. At one time, Davis had accumulated a whole room full of Native American baskets and other artifacts. The collection would have been priceless today, but it disappeared when the younger Schemoon siblings rented out the family home and moved back to San Francisco during World War II. Fresh out of the Army, I came back to Eureka to visit in 1946. I checked on those baskets during my stay, but I was too late. Someone had realized their worth and taken off with them.

A Budding Businessman

In 1907, Davis opened up a clothing store right across Second Street from where the Eureka Rescue Mission is now located. A few years later, Davis — who wanted to move up Second Street a bit closer to town — closed his first store. In 1912, he started a second clothing store called Davis Schemoon and Son since his oldest child, George, was working with him by then. This new clothing store was located at the corner of Second and E streets, home of today’s Irish Shop. Uncle George worked for my grandfather until he joined the Army and was sent to France during World War I. The clothing store closed shortly after the war was over.

Years later, my grandfather started two grocery stores in Eureka. The first one, located on the corner of Summer and Grant streets, opened in 1922. The second store, on the corner of Summer and Simpson streets, opened in 1926. The latter — run by my Uncle George — was across the street from the Eureka Auto Camps, then the name for a trailer park or motel. There were cabins on the grounds, I remember, as well as places to pitch tents. Ancient cypress trees surrounded the Auto Camp. My cousins, George and Helen Schemoon, my brother Jim, and I spent many happy hours climbing on those large trees when we were young.

Davis ran the grocery store at Grant and Summer streets. The Tonini girls, Anna and Lilly, came to that store often to buy hairnets. Mr. Dixon, who lived up on Union Street, preferred the strong Toscani cigars. Kids in the neighborhood would congregate around the penny-candy counter. A big stock of bananas was always hanging in the window of the store. Most customers wanted to cut bananas from the stock themselves. A curved knife was there to accommodate them. In the back of the store was an old-fashioned coffee grinder. The wheel on the grinder was four feet in diameter. Coffee beans came in bulk form in a sack so customers could have my grandfather grind as little or as much as they desired.

A Tragic Accident

Early in the century, the streetcar line was extended out Summer Street to Broadway and out Broadway to Bucksport. The track ran right alongside my grandfather’s store. My grandfather still had a team of horses and a wagon then and my Uncle Kelly would usually accompany him while he was delivering the groceries. My uncle and grandfather were down on Broadway one day. The streetcar tracks had just been put in. The horses were unfamiliar with the clangs and bells of the trolleys and they shied and Grampa and his brother were thrown to the ground. My grandfather landed on the street and, with the exception of a few bruises, was OK. Uncle Kelly, however, landed on his back squarely on the tracks. He was disabled for life. He became a familiar sight around town, selling various sundries out of a drawer from his wheelchair.

Closing Shop

After working as a businessman for many years, my grandfather retired and turned his stores over to George and Edward. George’s store burned down in a spectacular fire in the 1930s. In 1942, Edward — who was operating the store my grandfather had managed — went into the service. He closed the store down and never returned to Eureka. Edward was the last person to carry the name Schemoon around here.

In 1965, remaining family members sold all the property Davis had accumulated over the years. Today, there is a private home and a dry cleaning establishment on the lot where George’s grocery store once stood. The other store is still standing, though it is used as a warehouse.

Grampa died in Eureka in 1935 at the age of seventy-five. His funeral was one of the largest in this area at that time. Relatives and friends came all the way from Lebanon to attend. He is buried along with my grandmother, one aunt, and two uncles at Ocean View Cemetery in Eureka.

###

The story above was originally printed in the Summer 2000 issue of the Humboldt Historian, a journal of the Humboldt County Historical Society. It is reprinted here with permission. The Humboldt County Historical Society is a nonprofit organization devoted to archiving, preserving and sharing Humboldt County’s rich history. You can become a member and receive a year’s worth of new issues of The Humboldt Historian at this link.

Ginger Olsen passed away peacefully on July 21, 2025 in the exact spot she wanted to be, at her ranch on the top of Humboldt Hill, overlooking the ocean, with loved ones by her side. Ginger lived a remarkable life marked by dedication, compassion and an adventurous spirit.

Ginger was born in 1937 and spent the first half of her life in big cities, living, working and pursuing her education in New York, New Jersey and L.A.

It was by chance on a weekend getaway to Humboldt County that she saw and fell in love with the ranch at the top of Humboldt Hill. In true Ginger style, she made an offer and decided to move here, still having a job and house in LA and having no plan about what she was going to do here. She just knew this was where she wanted to be.

Ginger was a devoted nurse who not only cared for countless patients but also inspired future generations by teaching nursing. She achieved a Ph.D. in Education, reflecting her passion for learning and imparting knowledge. Ginger taught nursing at College of the Redwoods, and also ran a program for people who had gotten a DUI. Beyond her professional achievements, Ginger was also an election worker year after year. She was vocal about everyone exercising their right to vote, and if you didn’t, she would ask why not! You could often find Ginger at a rally in front of the courthouse, or on the phone to one of her representatives, and if she didn’t like the answers she got, you might just find her running in the next election! Ginger made sure her voice was heard by any means. Ginger and her life partner Diana owned a goat farm where they crafted award-winning cheeses, and could be found at the farmers Market in Arcata for many years. Their Capricious cheese won best in show at the American Cheese Society’s nationwide show, beating out some very stiff competition.

An avid traveler, Ginger explored the world, embracing diverse cultures and experiences. At 69, Ginger traveled to Lebanon to teach cheese making and ended up having to be evacuated by the military due to unrest in the area. It was a profound experience that changed her forever and was the subject of her book, which she published this year, at 88 years old!

Ginger was a proud, active member of Alcoholics Anonymous for over 40 years, embodying a life dedicated to service and helping others find hope and recovery. She even opened a transitional living house and was responsible for helping countless people get off the streets, further highlighting her dedication to service.

Ginger leaves behind both East Coast and West Coast family. Her commitment to family was second to none. She used to always say, I don’t throw away family! And you could always count on her to lend an ear (and tell you what to do!) even in your darkest hour. She was a beloved spouse/life partner, step-mother, bonus mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, daughter, cousin and especially Tanta. Ginger loved all of her family, but it’s important to mention that she shared a very special bond with her niece, Renee Winslow, who came from the east coast to live on her Tantas goat ranch during high school. The bond they built remained strong until the moment Ginger left us … and I’m sure will be carried in Renee’s heart forever. She is already missed sorely by us all.

Ginger was extremely proud to have seen the laws change in this state/country such that she was able to legally marry her life partner, Diana Livingston, who cared for Ginger for years all the way to the end, allowing Ginger to live out her life for as long as possible. We all should be so lucky to have that kind of love in our lives.

A celebration of Ginger’s Remarkable Life will be held on August 23, 2025, from 2 to 5 p.m. at Ginger and Diana’s Ranch, located at 7333 Humboldt Hill Rd, Eureka. All are welcome and encouraged to attend. Feel free to bring a side dish or dessert to share if you want, and/or a memory of Ginger to share with us. We ask that you carpool whenever possible. For more information, text 707-845-4191, messages will be checked and responded to once a day.

Ginger’s legacy of strength, service, resilience and zest for life will continue to inspire all who knew her.

###

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

###

As pressure mounts for their return, half a dozen Democratic lawmakers who fled Texas to stop a Republican-led redistricting scheme traveled to Sacramento on Friday to urge on California’s retaliatory response.

The Texas delegation appeared at the historic governor’s mansion alongside Gov. Gavin Newsom, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and top legislative leaders, who publicly endorsed for the first time Newsom’s plan to redraw California congressional lines in the state to favor Democrats. They expect to make the proposed map available next week.

“We are here because we do know that courage is contagious,” Texas state Rep. Ann Johnson said, “and we are here to give hope to others to stand up and be courageous in this moment.”

Nearly the entire Democratic caucus of the Texas Legislature left the state earlier this week to deny Republicans a quorum and prevent them from taking up their redistricting proposal. At the request of President Donald Trump, who is seeking to protect a narrow GOP majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, Texas Republicans are advancing a plan that could flip five seats currently held by Democrats.

It’s unclear how long the Democrats will be able to hold out as GOP leaders demand their return. The House has issued civil arrest warrants for the missing lawmakers, who also face $500 fines for each day they are absent, while the FBI is getting involved in tracking them down. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday sued to expel 13 of them from office.

“We take this fight one day at a time. We fight to win today and tomorrow we assess,” said Texas state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, one of the legislators Paxton is seeking to have removed.

This is the second time in two weeks that Newsom has hosted Democratic legislators from Texas at the governor’s mansion as he seeks to drum up public enthusiasm for his redistricting plan. He wants to call a special election on Nov. 4 and ask California voters to replace congressional district lines drawn by the state’s independent commission with a new map crafted to benefit Democrats.

Initial internal polling, shared with state lawmakers in private meetings on Sunday, showed a feeble majority of 52% of California voters in support — enough to win in November, but perhaps not enough to withstand a combative fall campaign that will almost certainly draw national attention and resources.

Gov. Gavin Newsom addresses the media during a press conference with a delegation of Texas Democrats who fled their state over the GOP redistricting plan, at the Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park in Sacramento, on Aug. 8, 2025. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMatters

“I think the voters will approve it. I think the voters understand what’s at stake,” Newsom said Friday. “We live in the most un-Trump state in America.”

Legislature will quickly take up redistricting

With time running short to meet an Aug. 22 statutory deadline for the November special election, California can no longer wait to see if Texas acts. Democratic leaders in California are still finalizing the language and district lines for their proposal, which the Legislature is expected to take up as soon as it returns from summer recess on Aug. 18.

Newsom has said the California redistricting measure will also include trigger language, with the new map only taking effect if Texas or other states redraw district lines before the 2026 midterms.

Sources who were not authorized to speak publicly have told CalMatters the redrawn map broadly aims to shore up Democrats in several swing seats while flipping five Republican-leaning districts to solidly Democratic, offsetting the potential gains in Texas.

It could spell the end for Reps. Doug LaMalfa of Chico, who represents California’s northeastern corner; Kevin Kiley of Rocklin, whose sprawling district runs down the eastern border of the state; Darrell Issa of Escondido, who straddles southern Riverside and eastern San Diego counties; and David Valadao of Hanford and Ken Calvert of Corona, perpetual Democratic targets in the Central Valley and Riverside County, respectively.

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas on Friday dismissed criticism from Republicans that the new map has been drawn in secret without input from voters.

“Once these maps are released, voters will have the opportunity to digest these maps, review them for weeks and months leading to this election,” Rivas said. “If there is another state with a more transparent process, where voters will get the ultimate say in these new maps, please let me know what it is.”

As California and Texas accelerate their efforts, other states are still weighing whether to join a national arms race for control of the House. After a visit this week by Vice President J.D. Vance, Indiana’s Republican Gov. Mike Braun was noncommittal about redistricting the state, where Democrats hold two of nine congressional seats.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren of San Jose, who chairs California’s 43-member Democratic House delegation, said Friday that every single one of them supports the redistricting plan.

That includes Pelosi, who accused Trump and congressional Republicans of trying to rig the next election because they cannot defend their agenda and have no winning ideas to present to the American people. She said California was right to fight back to protect democracy.

“We have a responsibility to prove through the night of this Trump administration, the darkness of it all, that our flag is still there, with liberty and justice for all,” she said.

PREVIOUSLY:

• UH-OH! Vero Fiber Down in Eureka While Company Looks for a ‘Possible Fiber Cut’
• DAY TWO: Vero Fiber Still Down in Eureka; Company Tracks Problem to a Main Cable Cut by a Fire Somewhere

###

Early this morning, Humboldt County’s newest internet service provider — Vero Fiber — finally managed to put its Eureka customers back on line, after a 36-hour outage caused by a fire near Laytonville that took out the main fiber-optic cable between here and the Bay Area. 

This afternoon, the Outpost was able to get in touch with Evan Biagi, Vero’s chief revenue officer, to talk about what went wrong and what it plans to do about it. 

First of all, Biagi wished to assure Humboldt County that the company had taken the outage very seriously. He said that Vero management had been receiving texts every hour updating them on progress toward a fix.

“We’re holding ourselves to a higher standard, here,” he said. “It’s just not acceptable to have outages like this in our world.”

So what went wrong? According to Biagi, it wasn’t that Vero had consciously put all its eggs in that one fiber-optic cable through Laytonville.

Biaggi told the Outpost that the company was very aware of the problems Humboldt County has experienced in the past, back when there was only one fiber-optic line connecting it with the wider word. Vero had implemented redundancy to prevent these issues before it ever started hooking up homes in Eureka, Biagi said. It found out, when the fire hit, that this redundancy did not work as expected.

So the first thing that the company will be addressing is making sure that they nail down a redundancy plan that does work if the north-south line is severed again.

“We’re now in the mode where we’re expecting this to happen again, and how do we make sure our network stays up when that occurs?” he said. “We want to build the most robust network possible, so a single incident doesn’t impede internet services.”

Biagi assured the Outpost that such will be the case even after Vero lights up its own big fiber-optic line to Humboldt — the Digital 299 project, which runs along the highway to Shasta County. Biagi assured the Outpost that even when that project is fully operational, the company will maintain redundancy options with the other main cables out of town.

Vero customers should soon be receiving an email that will further apologize and atone for the trouble the outage has caused. But all in all, Biagi said, Humboldt seems to be cutting his company some slack through all of this, and he said that this has been noticed and is very much appreciated.

“We’ve been following a lot of chatter out there, and the lack of negativity on public forums has been great,” he said. “I think that speaks to the community there.”

###

UPDATE, 2:36 p.m.: The email to customers went out shortly after this story was published. In it, Vero credited all its Humboldt County customers with one free month of service and pledged $5,000 apiece to the the Laytonville Volunteer Fire Department and Food for People.