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Say goodbye to 15-cent hourly parking in Old Town, everybody! The City of Eureka is looking to bring its metered system into the 21st Century by shifting to an app-based pay-to-park platform with expanded monitoring and a new rate of $1.10 per hour, which includes a 75-cent hourly fee and a 35-cent transaction fee. The program is expected to roll out in the coming months.

At last night’s Eureka City Council meeting, Public Works Project Manager Jay Wortelboer presented staff’s plans to contract with Passport Parking, a North Carolina-based digital parking compliance platform, to “improve efficiency and utilization” of city-owned parking lots in Old Town and downtown Eureka. 

“Public parking in Old Town and downtown Eureka has seen little change over the last several decades,” Wortelboer explained. “This lack of progress has led to ongoing issues with lot maintenance, inconsistent enforcement, and outdated regulations. The city has received feedback from business owners expressing concerns about long-term parking limits negatively impacting local businesses, as well as a lack of enforcement throughout both Old Town and our downtown parking districts.”

The new system will implement an hourly fee in metered parking zones, depicted in orange in the map below, between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, excluding national holidays. While the current fee is set at $1.10, the city’s fee schedule would allow staff to increase the hourly rate to $3. The increased rates would not apply to Old Town/downtown residents and employees who’ve purchased a parking permit from the city.

If you’ve visited any major city in recent years, you’ve surely come across one of these “smart” mobile parking systems that prompt users to either scan a QR code or download an app to pay for parking. In this case, users have to create an account on the Passport Parking app — conveniently linked here if you’re feeling proactive — locate the designated parking zone, enter their payment information, license plate number and anticipated length of stay. 

“You can receive alerts before your meter expires, extend time and view all your parking history [on the mobile app],” Wortelboer said. “Passport allows multiple payment methods, [including] Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express. Additionally, we are in the process of setting up a cash pay option here at City Hall for prepay or anybody who likes to pay [with] cash.”

City staff will monitor payment and parking permit status in “digitally chalked zones” by scanning license plates. Citations can be paid or disputed through the app or to the city directly.

Cal Poly Humboldt is one of more than 800 cities and institutions that use Passport Parking for mobile meter enforcement, Wortelboer said, adding that the university charges $1.50 per hour for on-campus parking.

Following staff’s presentation, Councilmember Scott Bauer asked how much revenue the new metering system is expected to generate and how the funds will be spent. 

City Engineer Jesse Willor said most of the funds will go toward parking lot upkeep and deferred maintenance. “As you can tell, going from $0.15 an hour for years and years and years … that program wasn’t making money,” he continued. “I mean, you can see [the parking lots and signs] haven’t changed a lot in a long time.”

The funds would also cover the cost of a full-time parking enforcement employee, Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery added.

The new parking system is expected to roll out “in a few months,” Willor said. Once the program is implemented, staff will shift focus to on-street parking.

“We’re a little hesitant to jump right into the on-street stuff, given that we need to take care of our [parking] lots … to make sure that [the] next phase is rolled out in an efficient way that [is] beneficial to the community,” he said. “I do think that we want to be very quick on that turnover, because all of a sudden you’re going to see … these increases in the cost of parking in the parking lots and … free on-street parking. It’s going to shift parking around the city.”

The council agreed to receive the report but did not take any formal action on the item.

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Growing up in Los Angeles, Tisha Sloan always dreamed of acting in film. She got involved in theater at age 12 and went on to earn her Associate of Arts degree from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena, a Method-focused school where instructors encourage students to pull from their own life experiences.

Sloan realized that she was a bit short on those and, yearning to get out of L.A., she decided to move to Humboldt County, where she earned two more degrees in theater from Humboldt State University. She and the family she’d begun settled in to the slower rural lifestyle. 

“I wanted to raise my kids here with rivers and trees and cows instead of concrete, how I grew up,” Sloan told the Outpost in a recent interview.

But she stayed involved in acting, working as a company member and production manager for Dell’Arte for in the early 2000s and landing roles in the occasional community theater production or local TV commercial. (You might recognize her as the long-suffering housewife in a series of spots for Barry Smith Construction.)

So it wasn’t too surprising when, a couple of years ago, Sloan was contacted by Cassandra Hesseltine, the film commissioner for Humboldt and Del Norte counties, saying a film would soon be shooting in our region and the crew was looking to cast some locals. Hesseltine told the Outpost that she was directing a play at the time, and the production’s casting director reached out to ask whether she knew anyone who’d be right for a specific role. Sloan was Hesseltine’s understudy in the play.

“She was the only one I thought of, and then she nailed it, you know?” Hesseltine said. “I was like, ‘No way. That’s amazing.’”

Sloan still didn’t know what she was in for. “[Hesseltine] had me send my headshot and resume to the casting director, who then got back to me and sent me a couple pages of script,” Sloan said. “And we did a Zoom reading, and she really liked it.”

That casting director, Hollywood veteran Cassandra Kulukundis, then forwarded Sloan’s recorded audition to “the director,” who turned out to be renowned auteur and 11-time Oscar nominee Paul Thomas Anderson, though Sloan wasn’t aware of that fact at the time. 

As film commissioner, Hesseltine did know who was behind the production, of course, and when the two women bumped into each other at an event and Sloan mentioned that she’d soon be “doing a read” with the film’s lead actor, Hesseltine couldn’t hide her excitement.

“She started freaking out,” Sloan said. “So that was my first clue that this was actually something pretty big.”

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The film, of course, would wind up being One Battle After Another, Anderson’s star-studded, ~$150 million action comedy, scheduled for nationwide release a week from Friday. Loosely based on Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel Vineland, the movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Teyana Taylor and Regina Hall. Rave reviews are rolling in, with several critics hailing it as a masterpiece.

Hesseltine said her first meeting for the film was way back in April of 2019. Anderson, director of such films as Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love and There Will Be Blood, had already made several trips to Humboldt County, searching for locations and using what he saw to help him write the script, she said. 

The production, like so many others, was delayed by the pandemic. But in early 2024, the crew spent 11 days here in Humboldt County, filming at a variety of locations, including the Cutten Murphy’s Market, the streets of Trinidad and Arcata and the campus of Eureka High School, before going on to shoot scenes in Sacramento, El Paso, Texas, and Pinewood Studios in the United Kingtom.

Eureka resident Carlos McFarland was a Eureka High senior in 2023 when he heard through the school’s theater club that there was an online casting call for bit parts and background actors. 

“I had to reach out to the casting agent and ask if I could have an audition,” McFarland said in a recent phone interview. “I got emailed a little script and a few months later I got to audition.”

Like Sloan, he auditioned via Zoom, reading lines with the casting director. Also like Sloan, he initially had no idea how big this project would be or who was behind it. He wasn’t even sure he’d been cast until it was nearly go time.

“I heard back the week that they were in town, in Eureka,” he said. “I got a text from the casting agent to be at base camp by six in the morning.” 

Fellow Eureka resident Colton Gantt, now 24, saw the casting call for this mysterious 2024 production posted on Facebook. He had previously worked as a background actor for the 2022 coming-of-age movie The Sky Is Everywhere, which also filmed in Humboldt County, and figured he’d try to do it again.

Colton Gantt at a cast and crew screening in Hollywood last weekend.

“I had applied for just a background [role], and then later on they asked for a picture of me,” Gantt said. After sending one in he was told that he might be good for a small speaking part, and after auditioning via Zoom with the casting director, he landed the role. 

As with McFarland, he was kept in the dark until the production crew arrived here in Humboldt.

“They basically told me that it was a Warner Bros. production,” Gantt said. “They didn’t really tell me much at first, but once I got onto set they were like, ‘Oh, we’re going to introduce you to somebody.’ And that ended up being Leo.”

When we spoke, neither Gantt nor McFarland were sure how much they were allowed to say about their roles or the plot. But we know that DiCaprio plays a paranoid and washed-up revolutionary named Bob; newcomer Chase Infiniti plays Bob’s daughter; and McFarland and Gantt play the daughter’s close friends. You can see them both in this TV spot for One Battle After Another:

That’s Gantt behind the wheel (and front door) of his grandma’s red Toyota Yaris at the start of the clip, and McFarland being manhandled by DiCaprio. 

McFarland recalled eating a catered breakfast at the production basecamp on his first day and then being driven out to location near Freshwater. That’s when he found out who he’d be acting with.

“I realized when we pulled up to the set ‘cause I saw Leo there, which was really cool,” he said. “I did not know it was going to be with him.”

McFarland admitted to being only a “mild” Leo fan and said he wasn’t nervous about performing alongside DiCaprio.

“He was super nice. At one point he said I was doing a good job,” McFarland recalled. “I honestly just wanted to do my best and remember my lines.”

Gantt, on the other hand, was a fan.

“It was really incredible to work with [DiCaprio],” he said. “He’s somebody that I’ve admired for a long time, and to share a set with him was surreal.”

Sloan, meanwhile, deduced the identity of her screen partner from the very excited Hesseltine, who couldn’t resist offering hints once she learned that Sloan would be reading scenes with him.

“She said, ‘You’re going to be acting with someone of Titanic proportion,” Sloan recalled. She’d been following industry buzz and quickly figured out that this was a Paul Thomas Anderson production, “which I was really excited about,” she said. “He’s one of my favorites. … I really couldn’t believe it was happening.”

Sloan spent the two weeks ahead of her Leo read-through watching as many of his films as she could find — “just to, like, get used to his face,” she said. “And it kind of worked!”

When she found herself performing opposite one of the world’s biggest movie stars, Sloan felt dissociated from herself. “It was all so unreal,” she said. But she found the crew to be exceedingly generous. “They were really kind and calm and very accommodating. I think they were well aware of how overwhelming this whole thing could be to someone new to it.”

About a week after the reading, Sloan got a call from Kulukundis, the casting director, who started talking to her about costume fittings.

“And I said, ‘Whoa, wait. Does that mean I got it?’” Sloan recalled. “And she said, ‘Oh, they didn’t tell you?’”

Like her young local costars, Sloan had nothing but praise for her time with DiCaprio.

“He was so very kind and welcoming at the audition in person that I felt pretty okay going in [to the film set], honestly,” she said. “And I have been acting since I was 12, so I understood the concept of getting into character and being in character and being professional in the scene.”

DiCaprio was also “a bit in character” when she arrived onset for her day of shooting at a Eureka High location. Sloan didn’t offer too many details about that day or the scene they filmed, but she said her character interacts with DiCaprio’s. Filming the scene took a long time, she said, with Anderson trying multiple camera angles and lenses across multiple takes. 

“After we’d been doing it for a while — a couple hours at that point — I think I felt comfortable enough to actually take a look around the room, because I was being so focused on who I was and where I was and what was supposed to be happening,” Sloan said. 

So she looked around, taking in the set and finally noticing all of the surrounding people with their lights and camera equipment. 

“And when I came back to facing Leo, he was looking right at me,” Sloan said. “And he said, ‘Stay in it,’ like a warning almost. Like, you know, ‘Stay ready.’ And the best part, though, is I, so, okay.” Sloan paused, excited as she remembered this moment. “I looked down, I got myself back into character, and I looked back up at him, and he kind of nodded, like, he could see it — that I got back into character. And that meant more than anything.”

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Both Sloan and Gantt were invited to attend a cast and crew screening last weekend on the Warner Bros. studio lot in Hollywood. 

“I jumped on the opportunity to go do that,” Sloan said. “And that’s the best part, honestly.” Her childhood dreams of being a movie actor had finally come true. “Getting onto the Warner Bros. studio lot, getting through that guard station with my ID, and [hearing], “Yes, your name’s on a list. Come on in.’ That was huge.”

Gantt said it was great seeing members of the cast and crew that he’d last seen up here in Humboldt, including Anderson. After seeing himself on the (very) big VistaVision screen, he said he’s still wrapping his head around the whole experience. 

“It was really surreal being a part of it, being surrounded by so many big names in the industry,” he said. “[There were] just a lot of people that I grew up watching, and to share a set with them was actually really cool.”

One Battle After Another opens Friday, Sept. 26, nationwide, including at Eureka’s Broadway Cinema, and it’s coming soon to The Minor Theatre in Arcata.

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PREVIOUSLY

• Film Set to Shoot in Eureka is From Renowned Director Paul Thomas Anderson, With Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn and Regina Hall, According to Industry Reports
• (PHOTOS) Hollywood Magic Transforms Cutten Plaza Into a Mexican Mini-Mall for DiCaprio Movie Production
• Northtown Arcata Will Be Swarming With Movie Folk Tomorrow, As Bigtime Production ‘BC Project’ Films in the Neighborhood
• (WATCH) First Look at Leonardo DiCaprio In Character for New Paul Thomas Anderson Film Currently Filming in Humboldt
• MOVIE DAY! My Diary of Hanging Around Waiting For The Stars to Show Up In Northtown, and the Things I Saw There
• Buh-Bye, Leo! Local Production on Paul Thomas Anderson’s New DiCaprio Movie Has Wrapped
• Alas, We Have to Wait Until Summer 2025 to See Leo Dicaprio’s Locally Filmed Paul Thomas Anderson Movie
• (VIDEO) Teaser Trailer Just Dropped for the New DiCaprio Movie Partly Filmed in Humboldt and Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
• (VIDEO) There’s More Humboldt in This Full-Length Trailer for DiCaprio’s ‘One Battle After Another’

Five staff members of the Northcoast Environmental Center (NEC) announced Monday in a letter to the executive board of the NEC that they had unionized and were striking until their demands were met, claiming that their “private Free Speech rights” were “infringed upon” by the board, and also that they were generally being treated unfairly.

The signees included all of the members of the NEC’s staff except for Public Lands Director Larry Glass, who is also a secretary on the NEC’s board. 

Three of the staff (Moxie Alvarnaz, Carlrey Arroyo, and an unidentified third member) were at meetings of the Arcata City Council last month where public commenters, attempting to persuade the city to change its approach to cleaning up and moving homeless people from a private property in Arcata, shut down proceedings by shouting over meeting participants, frequently berating and personally insulting them. 

City employees, including a former NEC employee and Mayor Alex Stillman, reached out to the NEC board to complain about how the staff members acted at the meetings; the board decided to reach out to meet with two of the staff to work something out, but the staff decided to unionize and strike instead.

As of publication, none of the staff members have returned a request for comment.

Alvarnaz speaks at the Aug. 6 Arcata City Council meeting

Glass said in a phone interview with the Outpost yesterday that the staff members’ actions at the city council meetings damaged the NEC’s reputation immensely. More than 20 people have unsubscribed from NEC’s EcoNews publication, and former employees and members have said they don’t want to be associated with the NEC. Member groups like the Audubon Society, the Native Plant Society, and the Sierra Club called the NEC to ask them to explain what was happening, Glass said; a board member that represents the Sierra Club almost quit. 

This month’s EcoNews will not be published. Their offices are closed, and the NEC won’t be able to conduct any business. The board will meet soon to discuss how to handle the situation.

“It showed the organization in a very unprofessional light,” Glass said. “…It’s very serious. This whole thing has been a complete disaster for us.”

In the letter, the strikers bristle at what they see as a suppression of their right to free speech, citing the First Amendment in their letter as a guarantor that they can “[voice] outrage at anti-homeless sweeps, police violence, and continued gentrification in their City of residence.” (The First Amendment only protects citizens against government suppression of free speech. Third parties, like social media companies or employers, aren’t covered.) 

Because they didn’t identify themselves as employees of the NEC at the city council meetings, the staff believe they should not be disciplined. The NEC disagrees, as does their lawyer, because plenty of people at the meetings knew who they were and their employers. 

Glass denied that they were “targeting” anyone — all they wanted to do, according to him, was discipline two of their employees for representing them unprofessionally, and couldn’t manage even that. 

“I feel betrayed personally,” Glass said. “These people were employees, and, I thought, friends. I was hoping we could resolve the issue, and we wouldn’t have any further events like that in the future. That’s what I was hoping for: a resolution. I certainly didn’t expect it to escalate the way it has.”

The strikers also complain that their workplace has become “hostile” after board members attempted to meet with them to evaluate their work performances. 

Board members also wanted to judge how well they had done at managing the NEC. Instead of having an executive director, the staff split the director’s responsibilities for a six month trial period, which started in November of 2024. The trial ended long ago, and NEC leaders still haven’t been able to set up a meeting with the staff to break down how they did.

Board member Margaret Gainer criticized the letter announcing the strike, and said she was disappointed that they had been so hard to contact and work with.

“Their announcement was, A: difficult to understand, and B: riddled with things that aren’t factual,” she said in an interview with the Outpost. “What was not explained was the typical process for employees, how to help them be their best, and all of the things that are nonprofit best management practices. None of that is explained in the announcement.”

There’s a line in public protest, she said, between what’s acceptable and what’s not. A heads-up to the NEC’s upper management that they were planning on protesting would have made a big difference. 

“I’m just so disappointed that there’s been this long history of really effective, strategic, thoughtful, well informed, well researched impact on environmental issues in our region, and strong protests that made a difference, and that they have chosen to go this route,” Gainer said. “It’s too bad. That history of strong, effective, strategic, clear, purposeful protest is a part of what we’re proud of the NEC. And this is certainly a different way.”

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

 On Sept. 17, 2025, at approximately 2:39 a.m. a Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputy conducted a traffic enforcement stop on a vehicle in the 1400 Block of Glendale Drive in Blue Lake. The driver of the vehicle was identified as 59-year-old Brandi Lynn Manjarrez of Loleta who was on active probation for three counts of felony narcotic related offenses.

 

Per the terms and conditions of her probation, Manjarrez was subject to search at any time and was not to use, possess, traffic drugs or associate with drug users or traffickers. During this investigation deputies determined she was in violation of her probation, and she was arrested and transported the Humboldt County Correctional Facility for processing and booking. During this process a body scan revealed she had an object concealed in a body cavity. She was then transported to a local hospital for medical clearance.  

 

While at the hospital Manjarrez was found to be in possession of narcotics.  After medical clearance she was transported to the HCCF and booked on the following charges:

 

• H.S. 11351 - Possess / Purchase for sale narcotics / controlled substance
• P.C. 4573 (a) – Smuggle controlled substance into jail
• H.S. 11364(a) – Possession of drug paraphernalia 
• P.C. 148(a)(1) – Resist/Obstruct/Delay Peace Officer 
• P.C. 1203.2(a) – Violation of Probation
• H.S. 11350(a)- Possession of narcotics/ controlled substance

 

This case is still under investigation.

 

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.

Press release from Redwood National and State Parks:

Since January of 2025, Redwood National and State Parks has had several metal objects stolen from the parks, including war veteran memorial plaques, donor recognition plaques, metal art sculpture objects, and commonplace items such as shower drains. These items celebrate and recognize individuals and groups who have contributed to the redwood forests and include items that bring culture and inspiration into the parks, benefitting visitors and local communities.

Redwood National and State Parks welcomes public assistance with this issue by being on the lookout for these items at metal recycling locations or other potential resale locations. If anyone is aware of these items being resold or has information about the burglary you are encouraged to call Ranger Greg McKisson at (707) 498-4362 or leave a tip anonymously at 707-465-7353.

>Pictured above are examples of the types of the metal items that were recently stolen from Jedidiah Smith Redwoods State Park, including a 20-inch bronze canoe tactile model and a 12-inch bronze Coho salmon tactile model.

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

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Several health care bills are now on the governor’s desk, aiming to improve access for Californians who can’t afford prescription drugs, shorten delays to medical decisions, and address threats to personal privacy.

This year, California lawmakers backed at least half a dozen bills that would change how consumers access drugs and health care – and set new protections for their medical privacy. Opponents of some of these efforts say more regulations will only make health care more expensive, while advocates say consumers need protection from the federal government and from powerful industry lobbies that drive up costs.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has until Oct. 12 to approve or veto these measures.

Making prescription drugs more affordable

Rising drug costs are one of the leading drivers of increased health spending. Between 2022 and 2023, the most recent year state data is available, spending on prescription drugs increased by nearly 11%. That’s part of why state lawmakers are trying to make prescription drugs cheaper for consumers by limiting out-of-pocket costs and cracking down on companies that control prescription drug benefits.

Newsom vetoed a proposal to cap insulin costs two years ago, pointing to a $100 million state initiative to manufacture low-cost insulin instead. But with that project — named CalRx — yet to produce any insulin, lawmakers returned with a new push to bring immediate relief to diabetes patients.

Reintroduced this year by Sen. Scott Wiener, Senate Bill 40, which passed unanimously in the Senate and Assembly, would cap monthly out-of-pocket spending on insulin at $35. It’s a life-saving drug, but its high cost, which can be hundreds of dollars per month, can lead patients to skip doses and ration medication.

Wiener said he brought this measure back in the hopes of helping patients find financial relief as soon as January. “Whatever happens with CalRx is not mutually exclusive with the goal of capping (out-of-pocket) costs for insulin,” he added.

Wiener focused a lot of attention on prescription drug costs this year. Another of his measures, Senate Bill 41, would create some of the strongest regulations in the country for pharmacy benefit managers.

Pharmacy benefit managers serve as intermediaries between health insurance companies and drug manufacturers. They manage claims, negotiate the price of drugs under a complex system of rebates, and control the list of prescription drugs that insurers will cover.

In California, they’ve gone largely unregulated.

Wiener’s proposal would prohibit pharmacy benefit managers from “steering” patients to specific pharmacies or charging patients more for a drug than they reimburse the pharmacy. It would also, among other regulations, require them to pass all savings negotiated with drug manufacturers on to patients.

Opponents of the measure argue that it would prevent pharmacy benefit managers from effectively negotiating lower drug costs with manufacturers and will cost the state billions of dollars. They also contend that enough regulation was inserted into a budget deal Newsom made in May requiring pharmacy benefit managers to be licensed by the state and note that the state finance department is opposed.

“Californians simply cannot afford policies like SB 41 that would enrich pharmaceutical manufacturers by raising costs across the state’s patients and small businesses,” according to an unsigned statement from the Pharmaceutical Reform Alliance, a group representing pharmacy benefit managers.

Helping Californians with timely access and hospital bills

Thousands of Californians struggle with health care delays and unpaid bills each year. Health advocates say these issues cause many people to wait in limbo while their condition deteriorates or forgo health care altogether.

One of the reasons for delays is prior authorization, a process in which medical providers must get approval from health insurance before they can provide a service or dispense medication. Insurers say prior authorization is needed to keep health spending down by preventing people from getting unnecessary or duplicative services, but doctors and patients criticize it because it can delay care.

Two Democrats, Sen. Josh Becker from Menlo Park and Assemblymember John Harabedian from Pasadena, want to make it easier for patients to get the care recommended by their doctors without waiting for insurance to weigh in.

Becker introduced Senate Bill 306, a measure that would eliminate prior authorization requirements for treatments that health insurance plans approve 90% of the time. Harabedian’s measure, Assembly Bill 512, would speed up the process by shortening the time health insurers have to respond to prior authorization requests. Insurers would have to make decisions for requests made electronically within three days for standard requests and 24 hours for urgent ones.

“Doctors should be spending their time with patients — not drowning in paperwork for treatments that nearly always get approved anyway,” Becker said in a statement earlier this year.

The state’s doctor lobby sponsored both bills. Meanwhile, health insurers opposed them, arguing that current prior authorization rules are necessary for safe and cost-effective care.

Lawmakers also voted for legislation that aims to make it easier for patients to receive financial assistance from hospitals.

Research has shown that many patients do not know about or do not apply to hospital charity care programs even though they may qualify. Assembly Bill 1312 by Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo, a Santa Clarita Democrat, requires hospitals to check whether patients are eligible for financial assistance or discounted payments before sending them a bill.

Under the proposal, hospitals would have to presume that people who are enrolled in means-tested programs, such as food stamps and cash assistance, are eligible for financial aid, along with people who are experiencing homelessness. Hospitals would have to proactively screen patients for charity care eligibility if they are uninsured, enrolled in Medi-Cal or in a Covered California health plan.

If signed, the bill would take effect in 2027.

Protecting sensitive medical information

As the Trump administration pushes the limits on immigration enforcement and pushes norms on abortion restrictions, California lawmakers are seeking to boost privacy protections for sensitive medical information.

Sen. Jesse Arreguín, a Berkeley Democrat, sought to add protections for immigrants in medical facilities. His bill came as incidents where immigration agents showed up at hospitals raised questions and confusion, as well as fear among patients and health workers.

Senate Bill 81 would require hospitals and clinics to designate “non-public spaces” in their facilities and restrict immigration agents from entering those spaces unless agents can present a judicial warrant. The Fourth Amendment already protects people from unreasonable searches in places where they can expect privacy, such as a medical exam room. If signed, this bill would add a state-level layer of protection.

“This legislation is urgent and necessary,” Arreguín said in August. “No one should have to choose between seeking medical care and fearing detention or deportation.”

Lawmakers are also attempting to safeguard abortion information after Texas and other states that heavily restrict or ban abortion enacted laws allowing their residents to sue out-of-state abortion providers.

Already doctors in California and New York have been sued for providing abortion medication to residents in states where the procedure is not allowed.

If signed, a bill authored by Assembly Majority Leader Cecilia Aguiar-Curry would allow doctors, pharmacists and other authorized prescribers to prescribe abortion pills without putting their names or the patient’s name on the prescription label. The Davis Democrat’s measure aims to create an added level of legal protection for abortion providers in California during a time marked by conflicting inter-state laws.

In a statement, Aguiar-Curry said the proposal “is about making sure Californians can get the care they need without fear or politics getting in the way.”

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Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.

Andrea Jeanette Rose Marshall Kelsey
November 8, 1941 – September 12, 2025

Andrea Jeanette Rose Marshall Kelsey was born on November 8, 1941, and peacefully passed away surrounded by family at her home in Hoopa, on September 12, 2025. She was the beloved daughter of Ernest C. Marshall and Rosalind Marion Risling Marshall.

During the 1970s, Andrea attended the University of California, where she earned a double major in Creative Writing (Letters and Science) and Native American Community Development (Applied Behavioral Sciences). She went on to serve as the administrative assistant for the Native American Language Project at D-Q University and later became an Outreach Officer for the University of California. She also served as Education Director for the Hoopa Valley Tribe.

From 1980 to 1985, Andrea was the Editor and Manager of Common Sense, a local Hoopa newspaper project. At the same time, she owned and operated a gift shop in Hoopa called I-Ee-Quee. She later moved to California’s Central Valley, where she served as Executive Director of Local Indians For Education (LIFE), Inc.

Andrea’s many accomplishments also reflected her passion for the arts, publications, and productions. She was an accomplished poet and playwright and enjoyed painting, traveling, and serving as a Presbyterian Church Chair and Youth Group Leader — among countless other pursuits she loved.

By her friends and family, she was called “Jen,” and in later years she was affectionately known as “Grummy” by her grandchildren. She was truly the coolest — fun, vibrant, and deeply curious. With a love for art, poetry, world history, politics, and philosophy, she was a captivating conversationalist. She generously shared her family’s traditional stories and songs with anyone who visited or asked. She could always find the magical, beautiful, and spiritual dimensions in this world and readily shared this perspective.

In the 1970s, she was a daring and passionate college student who participated in the Occupation of Alcatraz, climbing a fence to help reclaim a federal facility for the Indian college known as D-Q University — all while driving a brand new Ford Mustang. She was fun, and she was fun to be around.

Andrea was preceded in death by her brothers Ernest E. Marshall and Larry Marshall; her sister Ernestine Marshall Prindle; and her sons Dale Dalton Kelsey and Michael Robert Kelsey.

She is survived by her children Jene (Edward) Moore, Honor Kelsey-Tracy, and Alfred Kelsey; her grandchildren Morgan (Lyle) Tracy, Lawrence (Erika) Tracy, Kendall (Merv) Allen, Ryan Allen, Adam (Ashley) Allen, and Dale (Danielle) Kelsey Jr.; and her great-grandchildren Rian (Danger) and Taelyr Tracy; Chayden, Dayne, and Deja Baldy; Leila, Queen, Tashee, Isde:w, Diniwh, and Xodistl’o:n Tracy; Callen and Delmar George; Isaiah Campbell; Josiah and Elijah James; Alani and Aryah Allen; and Aiden and Jamison Kelsey. She is also survived by her sisters Darlene Marshall Hailey, Bonny Marshall Roberts, and Betty Marshall Hutt.

Pallbearers:

Alfred Kelsey, Adam Allen, Lawrence Tracy, Rian Tracy, Lyle Baldy Jr., Chayden Baldy, Dayne Baldy, Isaiah Campbell, Josiah James, Elijah James, Clifford Marshall, Jordan Hailey, Joey Hailey, Gordon (Sport) Surber, Wesley Hutt, Merv George Jr.

Honorary Pallbearers:

Dale Risling, Gary Risling, Edward Moore, Lyle Marshall, Barron Risling, Leslie Risling.

Andrea is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews, and we apologize to anyone who may have been unintentionally omitted.

A graveside service will be held at the Hoopa Tribal Cemetery on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, at 11 a.m., with a reception to follow at the Hoopa Fire Hall.