As it does every election session, the Humboldt Organized for Peace and the Environment (HOPE) Coalition has released its round-up of who is recommending what vote on each of the 11 propositions on the state ballot this Nov. 5.

Why is this useful? Well, ballot measures can be confusing! It takes time to get to the bottom of them! So sometimes you just want to look to people you trust, who have put the work in, to figure out how you might want to lean on any given yay-or-nay ballot proposition vote.

Conversely, you might want to look to an organization you loathe and vote the opposite of the way it recommends. That works too!

In any case: The HOPE Coalition goes and rounds up the recommendations from a wide variety of sources and shares them with the community, for this purpose. They’re sort of the 538 of ballot prop recommendations.

Looking for more info on those propositions? You can’t do better than the Voter Guide published by our friends at CalMatters. They’ve got the text of all the measures, concise video explainers and more pro- and con- takes from across the spectrum

You can get the HOPE Coalition’s rundown in easy, printable PDF form at this link. If you’re an HTML native, you can find the relevant table translated into that format below. If you’re on your phone, maybe turn it sideways and scroll back and forth with your thumb.

The Outpost just got a call from Humboldt Friends for Life, a nonprofit that works with the Humboldt County Animal Shelter to provide care for the pets who wind up there, and to facilitate their adoption.

Friends for Life tells us that there are currently a number of animals in the shelter — such as Sophie, above — who need immediate medical attention. And that means that Friends for Life needs donations, stat.

Here’s Sophie’s story: From the Humboldt County Animal Shelter’s Facebook page:

Sophie and her other shelter friends need your HELP! Sophie was turned over to our animal control department after being found injured on Highway 299 due to falling out of/from a vehicle. Sophie has a fractured jaw, the gingiva of her upper palate (roof of the mouth) has separated exposing the nasal cavity to the mouth. In addition to these injuries, she has suffered a life of neglect. The condition of her ears suggest long-term chronic ear infections resulting in polyps. She has some significant dental disease, she is unspayed and has a mammary mass. She is somewhere between 10 and 12 years old and has a lot of life, spunk and love to give.

Donations are needed to help fund her path to recovery. Donations can be made to the Shelter’s Emergency Medical Fund (SEMF) which is managed by Friends for Life Animal Rescue via mail at PO Box 962, Eureka, CA 95502; online at www.dogrescuers.org via PayPal @friendsforlife707. Please specify donations are for the SEMF.

Any funds collected during this campaign that are not spent treating Sophie will be used to treat her other shelter companions who are in need of medical procedures such as heartworm treatment, orthopedic surgeries, and other procedures that exceed the $300 maximum allowed by the county budget.

PREVIOUSLY: CHILD ABDUCTION: Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Seeks Public’s Help Locating 4-Year-Old Hoopa Girl Missing Under ‘Suspicious Circumstances’

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Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

Thompson Thompson, age 4 of Hoopa | Photo provided by family

Previously missing child Thompson Thompson, age 4, was located safe on Oct. 12 after detectives worked with the suspect to ultimately reveal the child’s location. 

Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office detectives worked with in-custody suspect Peter Thompson to identify the location where Thompson Thompson was being cared for. Peter Thompson had previously refused to disclose information about the child’s whereabouts to law enforcement. However, a conversation with Detective Danielle Vickman led to a determination of the child’s location. 

Deputies responded to the location on Oct. 12 and received the child without incident. Thompson Thompson was ultimately turned over to the care of her legal guardians. Decisions regarding the future of the child’s placement will be made through Child Welfare Services (CWS) and Family Law Court.

Peter Thompson remains in custody currently for child abduction (PC 278).

For more details, see the Oct. 10 press release regarding Thompson Thompson’s missing person report.

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.

As a bill attempting to remedy California’s ongoing gas price spikes nears a final vote, questions about whether it could jeopardize worker safety have risen to the forefront.

The bill – Assembly Bill X2-1 – would require refineries to keep a to-be-determined minimum amount of gas supply on hand to help smooth out price spikes the state said happen when refineries go down for routine maintenance. The measure cleared the state Assembly earlier this month and the state Senate in a special legislative session last week, passing 23-9. A final vote on the bill, signing off on Senate changes, is expected in the Assembly today.

Those representing unionized workers in refineries argue that the legislation would jeopardize worker safety, and if storage requirements are untenable for refiners, closures and large job loss could follow. At issue is a provision in the bill that would give the California Energy Commission the ability to approve scheduled maintenance for refiners. State officials said this is meant to push refiners to be proactive in their maintenance planning, which, paired with higher reserves of gas supply on hand, would tamp down price spikes for Golden State drivers.

The state and the bill’s authors said current laws governing worker safety are not affected by the bill.

“Let me be clear, ABX2-1 does not prohibit a refinery from conducting important maintenance. Refiners can and should perform the maintenance they need to to keep their workers and facilities safe,” Assemblymember Gregg Hart, a Santa Barbara Democrat and one of the bill’s authors, said at an Oct. 7 state Senate hearing.

The bill’s latest version requires protecting the safety and health of “employees, local communities, and the public” in the process.

The State Building and Construction Trades Council represents many unionized workers employed in refineries. Jeremy Smith, chief of staff for the group, expressed concern that this plan could come at the expense of worker safety. If the state denies a refinery’s planned maintenance, he said, it could lead to “catastrophic breakdowns.”

“Maintenance must be done on a schedule based only on the condition of metals and infrastructure and the lifecycle of equipment such as vessels, pipes and valves,” he said at the hearing.

A worst-case scenario could be an explosion at a refinery, trades council president Chris Hannan told CalMatters. An explosion in 2015 at a Torrance refinery owned by ExxonMobil injured two workers and led to higher gas prices.

State energy commission vice chair Siva Gunda — who was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, convener of the special session and key backer of the legislation — pushed back on such concerns. Not all refineries plan for maintenance the same way, he said, resulting in some having adequate supply for the market while others don’t “because there is no incentive” to keep a higher level of supply. The energy commission identified a 15-day supply of gas as a key point at which gas prices begin to shift.

The finer details of how the state’s plan would work are to be determined through a rulemaking process if the bill is passed. Gunda said the state would examine refiners’ current maintenance protocols during that process to understand if they are working.

“If existing protocols currently work, we will not touch them,” he said.

The state also pointed out that the legislation does not supersede other labor laws, such as Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements.

“I continue to raise those same concerns that the decisions regarding scheduling of refinery and maintenance should not be left up to bureaucrats.”
— State Sen. Steven Bradford, Democrat from Inglewood

Prior legislation gave the state access to refiners’ data it is currently using to support its argument that the state’s price spikes are driven primarily by short supply during refinery maintenance. State Sen. Steven Bradford, an Inglewood Democrat and chairperson of the Senate special session committee, said he was “encouraged” by provisions in that earlier legislation that require meeting annually with labor representatives through an advisory committee, but noted that the six-person committee has yet to convene because Newsom’s administration hasn’t appointed its members yet.

Bradford previously carried legislation, unsuccessfully, that would have required the state to consult with labor groups about the impact on refinery employees and the communities around the refineries.

“I continue to raise those same concerns that the decisions regarding scheduling of refinery and maintenance should not be left up to bureaucrats, but should be in the hands of the men and women who do this work on a daily basis of operating these complex facilities,” he said at the hearing.

The bill has drawn strong criticism from groups representing the petroleum industry over whether new storage would need to be built to meet the bill’s requirements. The industry said the measure will lead to higher prices. It has also argued that it will need to build more costly storage, but amendments in the Assembly stipulate that the reserve requirements, to be determined by a special committee, cannot be larger than fits in existing tankage.

Chevron, which recently announced it is moving its headquarters to Texas, took the unusual step this week of submitting a letter to the chair of the Assembly Committee on Petroleum and Gasoline Supply contesting what it called “frankly ridiculous claims” of price gouging driving price spikes.

“We will do our part to ensure California consumers are informed about your role in shaping policies making life even more unaffordable,” the company said in the letter.

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

Carmen (Schuler) Mills was born at home on December 2, 1925 at a time when most rural homes did not have electricity or inside toilets . She grew up during the Great Depression and experienced World War II. She married Ernest Schuler, who served in the US Navy in the South Pacific during the war. After the war, Ernest was stationed at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. The young couple spent a magical two years living in and experiencing the awakening elegance of post war Oakland and San Francisco. Carmen went to modeling school and the style and grooming lessons she learned influenced her lifelong habits of daily taking time to look her best.

The young couple returned to Humboldt County in 1946 to begin a family, and daughters Sandra (Schuler) McColgan and Karen (Schuler) Sauls were born. Carmen lived for 37 years in McKinleyville, where she was very active in the community, served as room mother for both daughters, acted as PTA secretary and reporter, and received an honorary life membership for her service. She was a 4-H leader for many years and was ahead of the times in leading a campaign with the Dow’s Prairie 4-Hers against littering.

Carmen’s other contributions to the community of McKinleyville included involvement in charity fund drives, school librarian, assuming positions as secretary for the Chamber Commerce, McKinleyville Area Planning Committee, and member of the College of the Redwood’s Citizen’s Advisory Committee for the McKinleyville Campus.

Carmen had a love for writing and wrote stories and poems for her daughters which she often illustrated. She also wrote skits for school and 4-H presentations. Carmen returned to Humboldt State and took journalism classes to hone her writing skills and wrote for local newspapers, the Lumberjack at Humboldt State University, and was the McKinleyville correspondent for the Humboldt Times. Carmen’s love for writing and history enabled her to interview and capture stories about the lives of local “old timers” including memories from her own family, the Nortons. These stories were featured in a weekly column in the Arcata Union, “Just Looking Back into McKinleyville’s Past.” Carmen enjoyed opportunities to lecture on McKinleyville history in the local schools.

Other writing accomplishments included a history written about pioneer immigrants George Fredrick and Elizabeth Schuler for the Shasta publication The Covered Wagon.

Carmen had a strong faith in God and lived a positive life and expressed a grateful attitude despite long suffered health issues. She attended First Baptist Church in Arcata and its satellite church in McKinleyville and the Bayside Community Presbyterian Church.

In later life she enjoyed traveling with her second husband Karl Mills, who preceded her in death.

Carmen Mills at 98 outlived most of her family and friends but will be greatly missed by her daughters Sandra McColgan and Karen Sauls and step-son Jeff Mills, her granddaughter Kathryn Sauls-Sparks and husband Joesph Sparks and great-grandson Atticus Sparks, her buddy despite a 90 year old age difference. Other family include nephew Calvin Norton and wife Sue and numerous nieces, and grandnieces and grandnephews.

A special thanks to the Helping Hands Boarding Care Home owners Navgeet Kaur and Harjit Rana who provided such an excellent, clean and safe environment for our mother in the final two years of her life and for all her loving and competent caregivers.

A graveside ceremony for Carmen will be held at Greenwood Cemetery in Arcata on Friday. October 18 at 11 a.m.

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

Gary Richard Colegrove Sr. was born on November 6, 1939 and crossed over October 7, 2024. He is preceded in death by his mother Mabel “Mama Mia” and father Alfred “Top Gunner” Colegrove Sr., his siblings, Christopher Colegrove, Alfreda Pratt, Bryan Colegrove, Alfred Colegrove Jr. and Lionel Colegrove. He is survived by, his wife of 61 years, Kathy Colegrove, his children, Kimberly (Robby), Gary (Tonya), and Brandy (Wally), his grandchildren, Tristan (Cameron), Nanya (William), Ellen (Jarod), Andrew (Lexi), Loowyza (Chris), McKenna, Trinity, Alan, Anthony “Bro” and Walter III “Wogs”, and his great-grandchildren, Hayes, Harlowe, Jameson and a new little bundle of love still on their way.

To many, he was known as Geronimo, Angel, Soldier, but to those who loved him most, he was Dad and Papa Gary. He was born in the old Indian Hospital, on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation, where he was also raised and attended school. Surrounded by his culture and his people, he was a proud member of the Hupa Tribe with Yurok and Quinault descent. He married the love of his life, Kathy (Lucas) Colegrove, the love birds celebrated 61 years of marriage this year, a testimony to the strength of his love. The love and adornment he had for his children shined through his grandchildren as well, his love never wavered. He had a good heart and was generous to a fault; he was spoiled in love and loved spoiling others, most notably his kids and grandkids. He was always picking up a little something and surprising you with it, whether something reminded him of you or he thought you needed a pick-me-up, he was always thinking of his loved ones. He loved cruising in his red truck with his wife Kathy and his dogs, Papa never left the house without at least one of them. He had a kind-hearted and gentle sense of humor and enjoyed making everyone laugh; you could always find him laughing and smiling with loved ones. He had a special bond with all of his grandchildren, giving them each nicknames that they’ve carried into adulthood, demonstrating his care for them and thoughtfulness. He knew how to make everyone feel special with ease, loving was second nature to him and we are all so honored and blessed to have been loved by him.

Throughout his life he has had many careers; he worked in the logging industry, at Senior Nutrition delivering lunches to elders, and retired at Kima:w Medical Center as Maintenance Supervisor. Each job brought him fulfillment in different ways; he enjoyed working in the woods with the down to earth hardworking souls like himself, or when he delivered lunches to the Seniors of the Hoopa Valley, he had many enriching conversations with elders that he carried with him throughout his life. Oftentimes after his shift he would stop again on his way home for a quick visit to check back in with the elders he had a bond with; he valued and admired all of the time spent with them, listening to and learning their lessons and stories to pass on. At Kima:w Medical Center, as a natural caregiver and genuinely thoughtful person, he used his “Injunuity” and problem solving to take care of everyone’s needs. In each position throughout his life, he made many lifelong friends.

He traveled to many places including Yosemite National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Zion National Park, the Grand Tetons, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, Grand Canyon, the Skywalk, Monument Valley, Four Corners, Mesa Verde, and went on a cruise ship to Alaska (Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Victoria BC). He has also traveled all over the West Coast from northern Washington and Idaho to San Diego visiting family and enjoying the sights. When he was younger he enjoyed trips to Reno with his wife and Inlaws. They would bring back all the kids a silver dollar as a souvenir; it was always the little thoughtful things like this, he always made sure to do, that reminded you he was thinking of you and loved you even when he was away.

Over the years he created regalia, participated in ceremonial dances and supported the ceremonies. It is with great honor and pride we look forward to watching the regalia he has crafted, dance with the generations to come, knowing the amount of love and good medicine placed into them. Most recently he created a new retirement hobby of making hand split cedar Xontahs’ to include hat racks, key holders, mirrors with key holders and ornaments. He took the time and effort to make sure all of his kids and grandkids had individually crafted pieces for their own homes to cherish for years to come. He enjoyed spending time outdoors, gathering traditional foods and a good drive in the mountains. He was a hunter, fisherman, and adventurer. He had stories for days about his travels and the predicaments he would get into. He loved to camp most summers with his family; he would spend all summer up Box Camp or at the bridge at Pine Creek, driving to work everyday from those locations.

For a short period of time in his childhood he was raised with his grandfather and grandmother and gleaned a wealth of knowledge from them, including the invaluable knowledge of speaking in Hupa and Yurok language, as both grandparents were speakers. Being with his grandparents was a special time in his life, he often shared and spoke the same languages with his kids and grandkids. Along with many other phrases he used daily, he used dongq’a’-tsit, “hold on”, to slow life down and enjoy the moment.

He enjoyed his daily trip off Bald Hill for his fountain pepsi returning home to read the San Francisco Chronicle. He preferred old western movies and the sports channel for the ball-games, olympics, etc. He also enjoyed traveling to ball-games to support his kids or grandkids in whatever sport they were up to at the time, all he needed was his Bepsi and his paper for the road and he’d be sure to show up no matter how far or long you played. He was always our #1 fan in life, in and out of sports, he rooted and supported us more than we could have ever asked for or deserved. He was a movie connoisseur of all genres, in the earlier portion of his retirement, you could find Papa with a bowl of ice cream in front of the flat screen in the sunroom geared up for a movie-marathon, and you were always welcome to join. One of his favorite actors was Chief Dan George, he purchased and watched every movie he could find with him in it. He was fond of the Louis L’Amour novels and old country music. His all time favorite pastime was listening to native singers at ceremonies. He truly enjoyed and appreciated all the singers, just know you made his day.

With a life crafted through these lessons, stories and experiences he gracefully taught his children and grandchildren the ways of the world through the eyes and heart of a kind man. We are eternally grateful and will carry his love with us forever. Gary leaves behind many loved ones; he loved his family, his culture and his community.

Pallbearers: Andrew “Roo” Stephens, Walter “Wogs” Morton III, Alan & Anthony “Bro” Bennett, William Kerr, Jarod Fullerton, Robert Hunter Jr., and Cameron Boyce.

Graveside services were held Saturday October 12, 1 p.m. at the Colegrove Family Cemetery on Pine Creek Rd., Hoopa. 

He truly loved his Hupa community and everything about it, rest in peace Papa.

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

Imagine watching 22% of your entire investment account value vanish in one day.

Read that again. Not a year. Not a month. Not a week. One single day.

Unsettling, isn’t it?

This scenario isn’t hypothetical. It’s what happened to investors whose portfolios were entirely in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on October 19th, 1987. Later this week marks the anniversary of that infamous day: Black Monday.

The $500,000 portfolio you had while you sipping your morning coffee, before using your Aqua Net hairspray to make yourself presentable for the day, would have been worth less than $400,000 during the news with Dan Rather that evening.

Talk about a severe case of the Mondays.

But what if I told you there’s something worse than watching your portfolio’s value plummet by that magnitude?

Much worse.

Imagine selling that day. Reacting to the nausea of that moment by liquidating all your stock investments.

Unfortunately, many who are prone to this kind of behavior are often those who should never do so. Frequently, these investors have years of investing ahead of them, or their heirs have decades of market participation left.

You see, the world didn’t end on Black Monday.

In fact, as the above chart reveals, if investors had held on for just two years, their investable assets would have been worth significantly more than the Friday before that ugly Monday. It would have taken only about a year and a half to get back to even. A year in a bad market feels like dog years, yet in the scope of one investing lifetime, which is often composed over decades, a few years is merely a blip.

Is it easy to hold? No. Does this mean one should never sell? Same answer.

It’s normal human behavior to wonder, when this kind of volatility happens, if it’s different this time. Every investor and context is unique, too, but selling in the worst declines has historically been the worst time to do so. 

Remember that.

And I hate to tell you this, but when a stock market crash happens again, you are probably going to forget.

To paraphrase the famed investor Benjamin Graham: one of the most common problems investors have is amnesia, and they tend to suffer from it at the worst possible time.¹

Don’t.

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Source:

1. Quoted by Wall Street Journal investing columnist Jason Zweig on October 7, 2024. 

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.