Rochelle (Shelly) Honig passed away peacefully at home on July 3, 2024 at 81, after a courageous battle with pulmonary disease. She was a dedicated stay-at-home mom, a compassionate public health nurse, an enthusiastic farmer at the local farmers markets and a master gardener.

Gardening was one of Shelly’s greatest joys; she cultivated not only her own garden but also shared her bounty with local food banks, embodying her commitment to community service. Above all, Shelly was immensely proud of her five children, who grew into outstanding adults, carrying forward her values of kindness and resilience. She loved her farm animals, particularly her chickens and goats.

Shelly was born on November 14, 1942 in Kansas City, Mo., and grew up in Middletown, Conn.. After high school, she attended the University of Connecticut, where she earned bachelor and master’s degrees in biology. Her first job was at the (prestigious) Sloan Kettering Cancer Research Institute in New York City, where she worked until her first marriage to Jay Davis. She helped her husband through medical school working in a cancer-research lab at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

In 1975, she arrived in Humboldt County with her first-born, Jenny, and very pregnant with Adam. She and her then-husband were looking for a good place to raise their children (who would soon include a third, Emily) where they could “get back to the land.” She was initially a stay-at-home mom—kept busy by three active young children, also by hosting a 4-H group, baking healthy breads, and growing a huge garden where she raised food for her young family and numerous gophers.

When her first marriage ended after 20 years, Shelly earned a nursing degree at Humboldt, and met Ron Honig. They were married in 1994 and blended their families, and Shelly became a step-mom to Hilary and Madeline. They enlarged the house, and Shelly began working as a public health nurse. Shelly continued her life long quest of learning by taking up hobbies, chief of which was to study the Jewish religion and became active in the local Jewish community. She and Ron also managed the large apple orchard that had been planted on their two-plus acres.

They could be seen at the Arcata Farmer’s Market providing apples, apple butter and apple-cider vinegar — as well as eggs from a decent-sized flock of chickens. She and Ron became familiar faces and many of their customers became friends.

In 1999, she first became a grandmother (Zoe), and seven other grandkids followed (Malcolm, Savannah, Gage, Graham, Hadley, Sawyer, and Milo).

After a long-ish illness, she died peacefully in her own home on July 3, 2024, after three days in Hospice Care. She has left an empty spot for those of us who knew and loved her. She would not have wanted flowers or donations in her name. Rather, she’d have asked you to be kind to somebody you don’t know.

Shelly’s spirit will be remembered fondly by all who knew her. She leaves behind a legacy of love, compassion, and dedication to her family and community. A LIFE WELL LIVED.

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Press release from the U.S. Coast Guard:

A Coast Guard helicopter aircrew medically evacuated an 8-year-old male off the cruise ship Royal Princess approximately 20 miles west of Eureka, Tuesday.

Coast Guard Sector Humboldt Bay watchstanders received notification at approximately 7 a.m. from Sector Columbia River relaying a request from the Royal Princess, stating that an 8-year-old male passenger onboard was diagnosed with appendicitis and needed to be medevaced.

Sector Humboldt Bay watchstanders then coordinated the launch of an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew around 8 a.m.

The aircrew arrived on-scene, hoisted the passenger along with his family into the helicopter, and transferred him to emergency medical services at Saint Joseph Hospital in Eureka around 9:40 a.m.

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PREVIOUSLY: County Supes Approve Civil Penalities on ‘Yee Haw’ Communal Living Property Near Trinidad

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For the past quarter-century or so, there have been two wildly divergent perspectives on the communal living property near Trinidad known as “Yee Haw.”

A stovepipe chimney emerges from hog-wire fencing in the window of a modified vehicle on the Yee Haw property. | Photo from county staff presentation.

Many of the dozens if not hundreds of people who’ve lived there — nestled in “hippie-rigged” shacks and tarp-draped old vehicles among the redwoods — see it as a sanctuary, an idyllic “intentional community” where people live close to nature. And they see the free-spirited owner, Charles Garth, as a benevolent figure whose generosity has saved them from homelessness.

But for county employees who work in code enforcement, public and environmental health, Yee Haw represents a long-standing collection of serious hazards to public health and safety, including unsanitary sewage disposal, stockpiles of junk vehicles and detritus, and inhabited structures that don’t meet any building, plumbing, electrical or public safety codes. These officials are more inclined to see Garth as recalcitrant slumlord who has consistently failed to bring his property up to snuff.

Those two divergent perspectives have been a source of conflict since the first “Notice of Nuisance” was served on the property back in May of 2001, and they came crashing together again at today’s meeting of the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, where county staff laid out a 39-week plan to either coerce Garth into getting his parcel up to code or else proceed with tenant eviction and abatement measures, including environmental cleanup as well as demolition and removal of un-permitted structures.

In a staff presentation, Code Enforcement Manager Dean Beck offered a history of the property, located at 473 Quarry Road, and noted that Humboldt County Superior Court last year upheld $45,000 in civil penalties plus more than $17,000 in administrative costs. A lien on the property was recorded two years ago, and Garth has yet to make a single payment on that debt.

When county inspectors last conducted a full inspection, in 2021, they found that none of the code violations had been remedied. As he showed a series of photos, Beck mentioned unsafe stairways, improperly installed wood stoves, standing barrels presumably filled with human waste, RVs powered by unprotected extension cords and families living in structures that don’t meet minimum safety standards.

Previous code enforcement efforts were delayed or stymied due to court appeals, the death of local attorney Ed Denson (who represented Garth) and efforts to find alternative solutions. But now the county needs to act, Beck said, and staff has proposed a schedule that allows time for an appeal hearing, further legal appeals, tenant relocation, warrants and permits. 

“If all goes as outlined, county abatement may begin in June of 2025,” Beck said. He noted that the county previously received a bid for abatement, including removal of structures and disposal of junk vehicles, of more than $306,000, which represents more than 60 percent of his department’s annual abatement fund.

Humboldt County Planning and Building Director John Ford said staff has had discussions with Garth about possible remedies, including the potential to qualify this community as an emergency housing village, but no clear solution has been found. And every time staff works on this issue, the administrative costs continue to accumulate.

In the ensuing board discussion, Supervisor Steve Madrone, whose Fifth District includes Yee Haw, expressed sympathy for both Garth and his tenants, noting lack of affordable housing in the larger community and vouching for the efficacy of composting toilets, among other points. And he advocated for continuing to search for alternatives to eviction and code enforcement.

Madrone suggested that Garth’s efforts represent a laudable private-party attempt to address homelessness.

“Are there issues with solid waste, abandoned vehicles and other things? Certainly,” he said. “Are there some conditions that a lot of people would think are substandard? Certainly. But I’ve been in this community of people and on site many, many times — as recently as about four months ago — and I know progress is being made.”

Madrone theorized that Garth, who recently purchased a Trinidad property that includes an old church, might be able to qualify as an operator of an emergency housing village, which, per county code, must be operated by a nonprofit or religious institution. “Becoming a church is not that difficult,” Madrone said.

Another un-permitted structure at Yee Haw.

But Ford pointed out that the structures on the property would still need to meet building and safety codes. He also noted that these latest enforcement efforts were complaint-driven.

Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson was a bit more skeptical of Garth’s good-faith efforts, observing that if he had enough money to buy property in Trinidad he probably could afford to remediate some of the problems at Yee Haw. 

“From a public health perspective, our job is to prevent outbreaks, not to wait and respond to an outbreak of something … ,” Wilson said. “Something has to change.”

First District Supervisor and Board Chair Rex Bohn agreed, saying that if the county kicks this matter down the road any farther, then “there is no reason to have a code enforcement or an abatement process.” He later said that while he understands the need to provide housing for those facing homelessness, “I can’t see where anytime there’s going to be a housing shortage that bad where we throw all the environmental and safety and health standards the window.”

During the public comment period, a series of current and former residents of Yee Haw offered passionate defenses of the community and urged the county not to evict them.

“It’s between Yee Haw and the street,” one man said.

“We are solving homelessness, houselessness at Yee Haw,” another man said, “and we have been doing it for 38 years, and we’ve been doing it better than the county, with less money.”

An older woman who lives there described the property as “a really wonderful place” and said she’s “thrilled to be there.”

Another woman said, “I know from outside perspective we look like a bunch of dirty hippies. I have come to absolutely love this community and love my my cabin and my commune [and] my fellow people that I live here.” She said she looks forward to the county’s coming inspection. “I am excited to show you how much we have done and tried to grow as a community.”

Nichole Norris, a former employee of Denson’s who has worked to advocate for Yee Haw residents while also reporting about the issue for Kym Kemp’s Redheaded Blackbelt, said spoke in defense of Garth and the opportunities he gives people who have nowhere else to turn. Specifically she mentioned that it can take a year or more to obtain emergency housing services through the county.

When Garth himself addressed the board he said that the photos of his property that had been displayed were “ancient” and that county staff had misrepresented the history of events. But he said he can definitely work with the county to address issues onsite.

Mario Kalson, the county’s director of environmental health, appeared via Zoom and said that his department does not have any wastewater treatment or septic system permits on file for the Yee Haw property, and he said there are “fundamental problems” with allowing waterless toilets for such a large number of residents at the property, which is zoned agriculture general (AG), meaning no more than two housing units are allowed.

Madrone quibbled with that assessment and again spoke about the merits of composting toilets, and the two went back and forth about the feasibility of them at Yee Haw.

Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell thanked the public for their feedback while suggesting that they look to Garth to take responsibility for keeping them from homelessness. Addressing him directly, she added, “To the landowner, please … these folks are really depending on you.”

Wilson said that while he’s sensitive to the fact that this is a class issue — with people who own their homes discussing the fate of people on the verge of homelessness — it’s important to have “equitable enforcement” of health and safety codes.

Bohn said he’s fine with the 39-week schedule that staff has laid out, especially given the two decades-plus that these issues have persisted. 

Ultimately, the board voted to accept the staff report, effectively giving a green light to this 39-week plan toward eviction and abatement, though as Ford noted there will be “an opportunity for an off-ramp” from that plan: namely, if Garth pursues a rezone and general plan amendment while making substantial progress toward removing junk vehicles and addressing the code violations.

“But if there’s not progress being made, and if things are not moving ahead, then we will stay on the path to towards removing everything from the site that’s not legal,” Ford said.

Before wrapping up for the day, however, Madrone called Garth back up to the lectern and proceeded to read the list of code violations, asking him to respond “yes” or “no” to the question of whether he’s willing and able to remedy each one. Garth argued a bit about the merits of a few of the items but ultimately said he’ll do what’s necessary. 

Crap! It would seem that LoCO is late to the game when it comes to conducting polls about Eureka’s Measure F. You better believe this is embarrassing to us! Never you fear, though. We plan to make up for lost time today in the dumbest way possible.

Stretch out your voting thumbs, friends. It’s POLLZ time.

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ONE MORE POLL TO GO

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Thank you for playing, Humboldt! As a reward for sticking with us, you have earned a heaping pile of MOO DENG. And don’t forget to vote!  

Four boats sitting in the Marina are abandoned and unloved, but their days of taking up space will soon be over.

The boats, abandoned in the Marina when their owners rented moorage and disappeared, will be destroyed now that Eureka has received a $28,000 grant from the Division of Boating and Waterways, a department of the state park system. The Humboldt Bay Harbor District was also granted $30,000 out of the Surrendered and Abandoned Vessel Exchange program.

People abandon or turn their boats over to the government when they no longer work, or when they simply can’t afford the upkeep. Sometimes people rent moorage and then disappear or die, and the boats are left to rot. Grant recipients use the money to pay third-party contractors to remove and destroy the boats. During their last funding cycle, the Community Services department destroyed six boats. 

Jeff Raimey, the Eureka Community Services Deputy Director, told the Outpost that it’s relatively uncommon for people to give them their boats if they’re not wanted anymore, though if it happens. When it does, they prefer to sell them. Currently, they have no method for people to surrender their boats to them on land because the abandoned boats in the Marina are all they can handle. When they’re destroyed, that service will resume. 

“We’re just trying to be good stewards of the bay,” Raimey said. “We’re working together with the Humboldt Bay Harbor District and some local groups … to deal with these issues, which can build up over time if the abilities aren’t there to get stuff out of the water.”

DOCUMENT:

• “Polling Memo” from FM3

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Press release from the Yes on F campaign:

A recent poll revealed broad community support for housing at the abandoned Jacobs property, emphasizing the need to protect Downtown Eureka’s economic and cultural vibrancy. The data underscores the community’s support for a better plan for Eureka’s future, where housing, economic health, and culture all go hand-in- hand.

Eureka voters surveyed widely agreed that the former Jacobs Middle School property — currently vacant and deteriorating — should become housing rather than California Highway Patrol’s regional headquarters. According to the poll, 60% of respondents believe Jacobs should become housing, while just 22% favor the CHP state building.

Additionally, there is significant support—62%—for keeping Downtown Eureka vibrant as a center for tourism through local shops and restaurants, as well as arts and cultural events, by maintaining parking to accommodate people.

“Our residents clearly support a balanced approach that addresses both housing needs and the health and survival of our small businesses,” said Sue Santsche, owner of The Spa at Personal Choice. “A Yes vote for Measure F is an opportunity to create a thriving downtown that benefits everyone without driving many of us out of business by removing all the parking.”

The poll tested attitudes toward the key issues that a winning Yes on Measure F vote will make possible for Eureka through the Housing for All and Downtown Vitality ballot initiative. FM3, a respected opinion research company, conducted the poll, which surveyed 392 randomly selected Eureka voters in the City of Eureka via telephone and online. The margin of sampling error is +/—5% at the 95% confidence level. The poll was conducted from July 26 to August 25, 2024.

According to its website, Measure F does two essential things for Eureka: it opens up the Jacobs site for hundreds of housing units for working—and middle-income families and ensures downtown maintains accessible parking that businesses need to survive and events need to draw people.

“Putting roofs over heads and keeping businesses and restaurants open means a vibrant future for Eureka, which is exactly what Measure F does,” said Mike Munson, Yes on F campaign co-chair. Munson pointed out that thousands of voters signed petitions to place Measure F on the ballot. “Measure F also is supported by a broad and diverse coalition including two former Eureka mayors, Nancy Flemming and Frank Jager, small business leaders, and voters throughout the city.”

Yes on F co-chair Michelle Costantine added, “We must pass Measure F for more housing and a way to create a promising, vibrant future for Eureka.”

Football practice has always been something of an extreme sport in the Coachella Valley, where temperatures can flare far above 100 degrees for weeks on end.

But a change in California law authored by an Inland Empire lawmaker requires extra monitoring of young athletes on the hottest days and sets strict guidelines for how and when they can play in extreme heat. The rules will affect high school athletics throughout the state and expand safety practices that schools in the desert have observed for years, said Estevan Valencia, athletic director at Palm Desert High.

“We’ve been playing sports for over 100 years out here,” he said. “Our coaches and parents and kids have all grown up in this type of environment.”

Coaches shift practice schedules to early morning or after sunset, he said, or they call for frequent water breaks and monitor athletes for signs of heat stress, such as red faces or dizziness.

“We’ve been doing this for a long time; now it’s just mandated and monitored,” he said.

The California Interscholastic Federation developed the rules to meet standards set in the law by Assemblymember Kate Sanchez, a Rancho Santa Margarita Republican whose district includes parts of western Riverside County. Though the law passed last year, the regulations took effect in July, in time for back-to-school sports and the recent heat wave.

For Rafael Perez, cross-country coach at Norte Vista High in Riverside, it means reigning in his students’ normally far-ranging runs.

“On high heat days, we limit them to a smaller space so they can pause and have water breaks, rather than having them two miles out and having them have heat-related problems where they’re too far for any support,” Perez said.

Practice in the desert

As temperatures soared to 114 degrees in the Coachella Valley earlier this month, coaches moved practices to cooler times or indoors and vigilantly watched what is called the wet bulb, a handheld instrument at the heart of the new rules.

“The wet bulb looks like a cell phone on steroids,” Valencia said. “We turn it on, and it gives us a reading of temperature, humidity and wind.”

Junior student Isidro Leanos runs along a bike path outside Norte Vista High School in Riverside on Sept. 19, 2024. Photo by Carlin Stiehl for CalMatters

Caption: First: The shadows of students as they stretch before cross-country practice. Last: Students run along a bike path outside of Norte Vista High School in Riverside on Sept. 19, 2024. Photos by Carlin Stiehl for CalMatters

The device is designed to approximate the effect of heat on human bodies, accounting for air movement, sunlight and evaporative cooling. At high humidity a wet bulb reading will be at or near air temperature, but in dryer conditions its temperature measurement drops, estimating the effect of evaporation. It was invented in the 1950s to protect Army and Marine Corps service members from heat illness, and it has been used in sports since then.

The wet bulb is a more universally accepted measurement for heat stress than standard readings of air temperature or a heat index, said Dave Gustafson, director of educational services for Desert Sands Unified School District, which includes Palm Desert High. “It’s a bit of a change from what we’ve been used to.”

The new rules flow from those readings, with escalating restrictions on sports practice and competition at higher wet bulb temperatures. The heat thresholds vary by geographic zones. Coastal areas are in Zone 1, with restrictions at lower temperatures than schools in Zone 2, which is slightly inland. Hotter and dryer inland areas — with the highest heat thresholds — are in Zone 3.

Every school district in the Inland Empire falls in Zone 3.

Training in the hot zones

At the first heat threshold of 82.2 degrees Fahrenheit for Zone 3, coaches must provide more frequent water breaks. At the next heat level football players must shed parts of their uniforms. As heat rises further they’re forbidden to wear any protective gear. At the final heat level of 92.1 degrees Fahrenheit, outdoor practice is forbidden entirely for that zone.

That gives Zone 3 schools a little more leeway to hold hot weather practices than the other schools. But many days early in the athletic season still exceed the temperature limit, which means teams must reschedule or take practice indoors.

“We have to be very flexible,” Valencia said.

The law also requires all campuses with interscholastic sports to draw up an emergency action plan in case of sudden cardiac arrest, concussion or heat illness.

Sanchez, who played volleyball from elementary through high school, crafted the law after learning about the numbers of sports-related traumas and deaths, said Griffin Bovée, her Capitol director.

He cited a report by the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury that found 2,878 catastrophic injuries or illnesses in high school and college sports nationwide from 1982 to 2020. That’s about 75 catastrophic injuries or illnesses a year, including two football deaths each year.

“The impetus for the bill was, unfortunately, many instances of student athletes dying from heat stroke,” Bovée said. “Usually the average is two per year who die while playing, which to the assemblywoman is two too many.”

Preventing athletes’ deaths

The Korey Stringer Institute, established in honor of the Minnesota Vikings lineman who died from heatstroke in 2001, wrote in support of Sanchez’ bill, citing heat illness as the third most common cause of school athletic deaths. The institute is at the University of Connecticut.

By far the greatest number of heat-related deaths of high school athletes occurs in football, but basketball, track and field, and cross-country also had significant mortalities.

That’s why when temperatures rise, Perez limits runners to laps on the track or along the campus perimeter where he can keep an eye on them, and he doubles down on water breaks.

Coaches and players say they try to strike a balance between avoiding dangerous heat and preparing for hot weather games. Without some heat conditioning during practice, they’re at risk of illness at competitions.

“In the past when it was really hot, we would still be outside for heat acclimation,” said cross-country team member Natalene Ocampo,15, a sophomore at Norte Vista High School. “But if it was way too hot outside we would go in the weight room.”

Her teammate Liliana Rubalcalva, also a 15-year-old sophomore who is new to cross-country, said even the limited afternoon practices have been a challenge, after her previous habit of solo night runs.

“Starting to run after school because of the heat, the first time I did it, I wasn’t able to do the entire practice,” she said.

Senior student Andrew Hernandez and Junior student Oscar Abad run along a bike path outside Norte Vista High School in Riverside on Sept. 19, 2024. Photo by Carlin Stiehl for CalMatters

Although athletic programs in the Inland Empire and other scorching parts of the state face slightly higher thresholds for heat restrictions than coastal areas, the rules can still leave them at a disadvantage, coaches said.

“Let’s say we have a couple weeks where it’s extremely hot, and we don’t get to practice during the week but play football on Friday night, versus a school in Orange County that has had a full week of practice,” Valencia said, “if you’re not allowed to condition, that could potentially be an issue whether we could compete safely on Friday night.”

To level the playing field, some coaches in extreme heat zones may ask the California Interscholastic Federation to move a sports season back a couple weeks, to avoid the most intense temperatures of summer and early fall, he said.

In the meantime, coaches are watching the wet bulb and pushing practices earlier in the morning and games later in the evening than usual.

“We all love Friday night football games, but recently we’ve had to see start times a lot later than we’re used to,” Valencia said. “But it’s all in the name of keeping our student athletes safe.”

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