President Donald Trump signed a sweeping executive order Sunday that told federal agencies to “immediately take action” to deliver more Central Valley water and eliminate rules that stand in the way, including endangered species protections.

In the new order, Trump cited the Los Angeles fires, even though the actions he is ordering — primarily delivering more water from the federal Central Valley Project — would primarily serve farms. About 75% of Central Valley Project water is used for agriculture, while much of the rest goes to cities and towns in the San Joaquin Valley, including Sacramento and Fresno.

“In particular, the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce shall immediately take actions to override existing activities that unduly burden efforts to maximize water deliveries,” Trump’s order reads.

At stake are the rules that guide two massive Delta water systems, the federal Central Valley Project and a state-operated system, the State Water Project. These networks of reservoirs, pumps and canals deliver water to millions of acres of farmland and 30 million people. They draw water from rivers that flow into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco Bay, which imperils Chinook salmon, smelt and sturgeon that are protected by the federal Endangered Species Act.

Trump ordered federal agencies to “expedite action related to any exemption under the Endangered Species Act…for the long-term operation” of the water delivery systems. In addition, he directed the federal Bureau of Reclamation to “take all available measures to ensure that State agencies — including the California Department of Water Resources — do not interfere.” He entitled a section “Overriding Disastrous California Policies.”

Environmentalists are likely to sue if federal agencies override the Endangered Species Act when setting rules that control how much water is delivered via the Central Valley Project or State Water Project.

“Do not be fooled by Trump’s lies: none of the policies in this executive order will move even a single drop of extra water to communities devastated by these wildfires. This administration is presenting us with a false choice,” U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, a California Democrat who is the ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement Sunday. “Fishers, farmers, treasured species, and every water user all depend on our water resources – we do not have to pick winners or losers.”

Several community watchdog and environmental groups, including Restore the Delta and San Francisco Baykeeper, warned that Trump’s actions “will have devastating consequences for California’s water future, public health, and environmental protections, threatening a federal takeover of California’s right to manage its land and waters.”

Noting that the actions would benefit farmers, San Francisco Baykeeper Science Director Jon Rosenfield called the administration “a lawless regime that uses extortion to enrich their political supporters.”

Trump’s order said “it is in the Nation’s interest to ensure that California has what it needs to prevent and fight these fires and others in the future. Therefore, it is the policy of the United States to provide Southern California with necessary water resources, notwithstanding actively harmful State or local policies.”The environmental groups said Trump’s order “conflate fire prevention needs with water operations in California all based on the myth that water operations for environmental protections had any impact on water infrastructure used in the Los Angeles fires.”

Some Los Angeles fire hydrants ran out of water fighting the fires, but city fire and utility officials say it was caused by a sudden surge in demand and limited capacity of city pipelines — not a lack of supply. In addition, the city’s water comes mostly from the Owens Valley and groundwater, not the Delta or the Central Valley.

Rosenfield said the State Water Project ensures, even in the worst of droughts, that communities have a minimum share of water designated for purposes of “human health and safety,” which includes firefighting needs. “They always deliver that human health and safety water, always — it’s never interrupted,” Rosenfield said.

Trump called on the Bureau of Reclamation to operate the Central Valley Project with rules that his first administration implemented in 2020. Reverting to those rules could override rules signed into law by Biden administration officials and endorsed by state officials, in December. The Biden rules would reduce Central Valley Project farm deliveries, but the State Water Project — which serves Southern California cities as well as San Joaquin Valley farms — would receive more water compared to Trump’s 2020 rules.

Directors of the state’s water and resources agencies could not be reached for comment.

Ryan Endean, a public information officer with the California Department of Water Resources, said in a statement last week that his agency stands by its new Delta water management rules. Under those rules, Endean said, “farms and cities have the potential to gain additional water supply, while endangered species are protected. To abandon these new frameworks would harm California water users and protection of native fish species.”

The Central Valley Project provides about 5 million acres feet of water to farm, enough to irrigate about a third of the agricultural land in California, according to the Bureau of Reclamation. It also delivers about 600,000 acre-feet for municipal and industrial use, enough to supply about 1 million households with water each year.

The order follows a series of remarks in recent weeks by the President which reflect a profound misunderstanding of California’s water supply, weaving between inaccurate and fantastical.

In Pacific Palisades on Friday, while visiting with local leaders in the aftermath of the region’s wildfires, Trump said, “We have to have that water … You’re talking about unlimited water coming down from the Pacific Northwest, even coming up from parts of Canada, and it pours down naturally … you’ll never run out, you’ll never have shortages and you won’t have things like this, and when you do you’ll have a lot of water to put it out.” Water does not flow into California from Canada, and the Pacific Northwest does not feed into Central Valley rivers.

The order also includes provisions to expedite aid to victims of the Southern California wildfires and Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.

He ordered federal agencies to provide a plan that “expedites options for housing relief to survivors displaced by wildfires in California.” Also, “within 5 days from the date of this order, he ordered federal agencies to “expedite the bulk removal of contaminated and general debris” in order “to accelerate the rebuilding of areas devastated” by the wildfires.

County officials and the Army Corps of Engineers officials have warned homeowners in the fire zones that sifting through debris and removing it could be harmful without guidelines and precautions from the EPA for handling hazardous waste.

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

The leader of the California Senate has reappointed the former chair of the chamber’s insurance committee, despite uncertainty over her possible involvement in a federal corruption probe.

On Friday, Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire announced he was reappointing Democratic Sen. Susan Rubio of West Covina to chair the committee after the seat had been vacant for three weeks.

“Senator Rubio has headed up the Insurance Committee since 2019, and I have confidence in her experience and her ability to lead the committee while the state faces unprecedented challenges with the insurance market,” McGuire said in an emailed statement, referencing the Los Angeles fires.

The insurance committee chair was the only one McGuire left vacant when he announced his committee assignments on Jan. 3. McGuire told CalMatters he had been “awaiting additional information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office before finalizing any decisions.”

McGuire said Friday in a statement: “The Senate takes allegations of ethical and criminal behavior incredibly seriously which is why I directed the Senate’s legal counsel to pursue answers as to whether any violation involving a member of the Senate occurred. What’s been learned: No case has been filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and no additional information is available from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles had no comment and referred CalMatters to the Department of Justice’s policy guidelines that detail when federal prosecutors can publicly discuss investigations.

“DOJ generally will not confirm the existence of or otherwise comment about ongoing investigations,” it reads. “DOJ personnel shall not respond to questions about the existence of an ongoing investigation or comment on its nature or progress before charges are publicly filed.”

Federal officials have not identified Rubio by name in the corruption probe, which has ensnared a handful of other officials in San Bernardino County, Compton, Commerce and Baldwin Park.

However, no one else matches the description of “Person 20,” who according to recently released federal court documents asked for $240,000 in bribes from a cannabis company and accepted $30,000 in illegal campaign contributions. The allegations stem from when Rubio was a member of the Baldwin Park City Council.

Rubio emphatically denied accepting bribes in an interview with CalMatters’ reporting partner, CBS News, that aired Wednesday night. But when asked if she denied that she was “Person 20” she responded, “I’m not saying that.”“I’m just saying that you read the report,” she continued. “And whatever is happening there is happening there, but I think that (investigators) would have to reach out to me in order for me to be part of any of this.”

Rubio’s office previously told the Los Angeles Times in a statement that she “volunteered hours of her time” aiding the authorities in their investigation and that she “has no reason to believe that she would be included in any criminal allegations.”

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

If you drink coffee, there’s a chance you have a brewing ritual. A ritual that you likely have some attachment to. Hey, maybe you’re even passionate about it. It can be an immersive sensory experience: Grinding the beans and inhaling their rich, earthy scent. Waiting for the kettle to whistle and emit a stream of vapor if you’re using a French press or pour over. The distinctive, rain-like sound of a drip coffee machine filling your kitchen as the sun breaks free of the horizon. At its best, it can be a mindfulness practice, a reminder to slow down and appreciate the moment. To start the day with a level of presence and patience.

Or… you could pop in a K-cup.

While the stripping away of ritual in favor of speed and convenience is arguably problematic for the human psyche, this is a column about environmental sustainability. But there’s usually a correlation between things that are bad for our mental health and practices that are bad for our planet. NPR reported last year that Keurig agreed to pay $1.5 million in penalties for misleading statements about how recyclable their single-use pods are. Just because they’re technically recyclable, it doesn’t mean it’s easy to do so, leading to a history of large recycling companies not accepting them. A Berkeley non-profit called “The Story of Stuff Project” estimates that the number of K-cups currently in landfills “could wrap around the planet more than 10 times.”

There must be more sustainable ways to enjoy the world’s favorite caffeinated beverage, right? Why yes, there are. So many ways:

1. Reusable K-cups: If you’re smitten with the Keurig system, you can invest in stainless steel, reusable K-cups. Simply pack it with ground beans, pop it in like you would the single-use variety, and hit “go.” Toss the grounds and rinse it afterwards, and you’re free to use it over and over.
2. Coffee filters: Spare the planet from all those paper coffee filters that add up over the years, and invest in a reusable coffee filter for your drip machine. The metal ones are easy to clean and can be used for years. If you’re attached to paper filters, opt for the ones that aren’t bleached white, as those can’t be composted.
3. Consider the French press: This method has a built-in filter and doesn’t require any waste other than the beans.
4. Compost those beans: Coffee grounds are a fabulous addition for the compost. If you compost for your own garden, you can personally reap the benefits. If not, it’s great to toss them into the local green bins if you’re able to.
5. Coffee on the go: Most coffee shops are happy to fill your personal mug or to-go container, which reduces overreliance on single-use cups. These single-use plastics are often not recycled despite being labeled as such. And some places, like Jitter Bean, give a discount on your drink when you use the mug you purchase from them, so it eventually pays for itself. Plus, it keeps my coffee hot for hours.
6. Forswear the straw: If you don’t have a reusable mug the next time you’re in the coffee shop drive-thru, resist the offer for a straw to go with your cold drink. Many single-use cups now have built-in spouts, making straws unnecessary. If straws are your jam, consider investing in the reusable version. I found some that are dishwasher safe and BPA free. Finding the right system for having them available in my car or purse when I’m on the go remains elusive to me. Drop your strategy in the comments if you’ve got a successful one!

Happy (sustainable) caffeinating!

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Ashley Nichole Thomas is a marriage and family therapist who’s passionate about shrinking her carbon footprint. In her free time she writes fantasy novels, and remains unconvinced that fairies don’t exist.

Maria Lourdes Furtado passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on January 21, 2025.

She was born on January 25, 1939, in Ponta da Faja Grande, Flores, Acores and the last surviving member of her immediate family. Maria immigrated to the United States in 1956 and lived in Arcata until 2002, before moving to McKinleyville.

Maria started working as soon as she got to the United States. Her first job was in the kitchen at the Big 4 Inn and she continued working in commercial kitchens at the Eureka Inn and Jolly Giant Commons at HSU. She retired in 2001 to care for her Mother.

Our Aunt truly spent her life in service to others. She learned to speak English soon after arriving in the United States and would drive new immigrants to their appointments and help translate for them. She was a devout Catholic and attended daily mass for many years.

Every holiday Maria selflessly prepared an amazing meal. It brought her great joy to be caring for her family and spending time together. Maria was an early advocate for the homeless, purchasing and preparing monthly meals for the unhoused in Arcata. She enjoyed gardening and flowers. She always had freshly cut flowers to put at her parents’ grave. Many hours were spent enjoying daily walks. Maria was a talented crocheter, creating many heirloom keepsakes that we will treasure.

Maria is survived by her niece Diane (David) Sloane, nephews Rev. Jose Furtado, Jim (Keri) Furtado and Steve (Lorrie) Furtado, grandnieces Kelsey Sloane & Jenna Furtado, grandnephews Justin Furtado & Ryan Sloane, sister-in-law Fatima Furtado, and cousins in Canada, Massachusetts and in Flores, Acores.

She is preceded in death by her beloved parents Alberto L. & Serafina L. Furtado, brothers Angelo L. Furtado and Pedro N. Furtado.

A rosary followed by a funeral mass will be held at 10:45 a.m. January 29th at Christ the King Catholic Church at 1951 McKinleyville Avenue, McKinleyville. Interment will follow at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Arcata.

Memorial Contributions may be made to Eureka Rescue Mission, St. Vincent DePaul’s Dining Facility, or donor’s favorite charity.

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The City of Eureka will open an extreme weather shelter tonight in response to frigid weather conditions anticipated across the region. Temperatures are forecast to dip below 30 degrees tonight through Sunday morning, with wind chills as low as 25 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

If you or someone you know needs shelter tonight, be at one of these locations at the specified time, and city workers will drive you to the shelter:

• Free Meal at 6 p.m. (35 West Third Street)
• Sacoo Amphitheater at 6:30 p.m. (near the Adorni Center)
• HOPE Center at 7 p.m. (720 Wood Street)
• 14th and Koster Streets at 7:30 p.m.

For additional questions or concerns, contact the City of Eureka at (707) 441-4253. Click here for information about extreme weather shelters and warming stations located elsewhere in the county.

Stay safe out there, folks.

Every year, delegates from across the globe meet to discuss how we can muster an international response to climate change. On November 5, 2024, voters elected Donald Trump to be president and one of his first actions was to, again, pull the United States from global climate accords. How can we take meaningful action on climate change when an election fundamentally changes American climate policy? And are these annual meetings actually accomplishing anything or is the age of multinational climate action over?

Guests Derek Walker Adjunct Professor in International Climate Change Law at Vermont Law and Michelle McMillan, law student at Vermont Law share their perspectives.

The California Gold Rush produced many things that were not meant to last. A man’s dream went about as far as his dollar, and that wasn’t far considering what it cost to live and work at the river’s edge, panning for gold in the 1850s. Likewise, the towns that were built contained wooden structures that were raised quickly and were easily burned to the ground in the event of a fire.

In 1856, Augustus Jacoby had more permanent plans in mind when he constructed his storehouse in the small community of Union, now Arcata. Taking advantage of local resources, Jacoby built his building with bricks made by local people in Union and stone hewn from a quarry nearby.

Carpenters working in Union at the time were not accustomed to building brick and stone structures, so it was necessary to call in an outside contractor to do the work. Clark W. Durkee, a “Jack of all trades” and well-known contractor of that period, was hired to build Jacoby’s storehouse. The structure was hailed as the first brick building in Union and the first fireproof structure in Humboldt County.

After its completion in 1857, Jacoby’s building was used to store groceries and supplies, which were shipped by pack train to the mines of the Klamath-Trinity area. It was used as a shelter for women and children during the Indian troubles from 1858 to 1864, and miners could also store their belongings there while seeking riches in the hills beyond.

In the late 1870s ownership of Jacoby’s storehouse changed hands a number of times until it was bought by a young businessman, Alexander Brizard, in 1879. The company of A. Brizard has owned the building ever since, making it the longest surviving family-owned business in Arcata. [ED. NOTE FROM 2025: While this may have been true in 1988, it is true no longer. The Storehouse is now owned by an LLC headed by local entrepreneur/restaurateur Bill Chino.]

In addition to the Arcata store, Brizard eventually opened nine branch stores in Humboldt and Trinity counties to serve the needs of miners and ranchers far from supply sources.

Today, Wallace C. Appleton is president of what is now Brizard Company. He is married to Josephine Brizard, granddaughter of A. Brizard, the original owner. In an interview in his office on the fourth story of Jacoby’s Storehouse, Appleton described some of the development that has taken place on the structure since its original foundation was laid in 1857:

The building was about 100 feet long and 35 feet wide originally. Then in 1907 they enlarged it. They took out the east wall, the north wall and the south wall and left the west wall which is still there. Then, they enlarged the building to 185 feet by 50 feet wide and added the (three) additional stories. They made the bottom into a mercantile and on the second floor, where the shops are now, they had shoes and all types of clothes. On the mezzanine floor they had furniture. The same original store was kept intact until 1974.

In 1974 Brizard Co. made some major decisions concerning the branch stores and Jacoby’s Storehouse.

In 1974, it was decided to close the business out. The branch stores, of course, had roads to them way back in the 1900s but it was hard to drive down because of the old cars and the roads were just one-way with turnouts and there were all kinds of twists and turns. In took from two to two-and-a-half hours to drive from Willow Creek to’ Arcata. So people did most of their shopping at the stores up in the hills. Then, as the roads improved, it was kind of a treat for people to get out and shop in Eureka and Arcata, and the business at the branch stores gradually dropped off, so they had to be closed up.

At the time of closure, Brizard Co. had no plans to renovate the Arcata building, but seeing that there were many possibilities, the company hired professional help to give them advice concerning their options.

We hired a consulting firm from San Francisco and had them do an economic survey of the area and they came up with a recommendation of what we should do. What you see here today is pretty much what they recommended as far as the types of businesses and offices we have.

The $1.3 million project was financed solely by Brizard Company without any grants or low-interest loans from the government. This was in accordance with Appleton’s strong beliefs about the government’s role in restorations such as these.

I, frankly, don’t believe in grants and low-interest loans because the federal government is so far in debt. In my opinion, they don’t have the money to do that. If the deficit keeps going the way it is, we could wind up with a big collapse of the economy.

So, I know a lot of people are for those, but I never was for them. We’ve always done our own thing. We’ve used all our own funds internally or borrowed from banks.

The initial reconstruction plan was drawn up by Beacom Construction Co., a firm from Fortuna, but it was not until a local craftsman, James A. Groeling, came onto the scene that the full potential of the renovation was realized.

“When I came into the storehouse,” said Groeling in an interview, “The project had already begun. They had an the time the Appletons assumed they (Beacom) were going to do the finish work. I then had run into Hank Appleton (son of Wallace and Josephine) and started discussing the possibilities of actually doing something quite special as opposed to what the architect had hauled out, which was a basic shopping center in this building.”

Groeling, a 39-year-old cabinetmaker’s son originally from Lakewood, Calif., has studied architecture for close to twenty years, starting in high school where he won awards for his work. He studied under two talented practicing architects at Cerritos Junior College, and went on to work in nearly all the trades, ranging from construction to model making.

I kind of fell into an interesting position with the storehouse in that I had a well rounded background. Not only am I a cabinetmaker and a fine woodworker, but I know construction and that allowed me to fit right in. It gave me a little bit of merit when it came to discussing the project with Beacom Construction.

We had already contracted them to do the whole project, but they really had no way to create what needed to be created. Something had to be created or the project was going to be rather flat. So they were a little skeptical of me at first.

Groeling worked with five craftsmen and a number of people from a local guild — Savoy Studios, which included the best glass workers, painters and lamp-makers from Humboldt County and abroad.

It was pretty interesting in the beginning. Mr. Appleton, being the pleasant fellow that he is, was able to give us a certain amount of faith that we needed to attempt the project. He felt like we could do it and that says a lot for Mr. Appleton because without that, we would have never gotten the project going.

To provide the best possible working conditions for Groeling and his woodworkers, a large barn at the corner of Union and Seventh streets in Arcata was converted into a workshop. From here they produced the beautiful entries that are now seen throughout the structure and proved their qualifications as craftsmen.

Groeling recalls one memorable experience he encountered while working on the project

We were sandblasting the outside of the building, and Hank and I were standing out there and we looked up and we could barely see the word ‘Studebaker.’ I asked Hank about it and he said, ‘Ya, they sold Studebaker wagons here.’ Those letters were underneath the paint and when they started sandblasting it off, you could make it out, which I thought was pretty amazing.

They had a wagon store in the basement and there was a tunnel that went all the way through. So you could actually drive through the building. There was hardware there and rough plumbing and that’s where they had the wagons.

The biggest problem that Groeling encountered while working on the project was dealing with time constraints.

The grand opening celebration was set for Nov. 4, 1977.

From the point when we agreed on the date for the opening, all our crews had to really begin to push. What we ended up doing, because there were so many people and so many crews working, was to arrive at about 5 p.m. and work a second shift.

By Nov. 1, the crews were working around the clock to finish before opening day. On the afternoon of the fourth the project was completed and ready for the grand opening that evening at 8 p.m. A barrier had been constructed to keep the entrance from public view. Groeling described his feelings upon completion of such an extensive project:

I’ll never forget it. The whole crew, as soon as the opening was beginning at around 8 o’clock and it was just starting to rain a little bit, went across the street and sat on the bus stop, sitting there in the rain, just looking at this thing. I had designed the whole front, and we had gone in and built it, all the doors and the glass tiles and everything, but we had never seen it in its entirety. So they tore the barrier down that day and it was really neat. It turned out better than I had hoped.

With 37,000 square feet of space, Jacoby’s Storehouse now contains over thirty businesses and private offices including two restaurants, a dessert shop, a bank, a hair salon and assorted novelty and clothing stores. It was designated California Historical Landmark #783 at the time of the A. Brizard Centennial in 1963, and on June 17, 1982, it was placed on the “National Register of Historic Places.” It continues to serve Arcata and the surrounding area as a place of business and a building of prestige, just as it did in the beginning.

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The story above is excerpted from the July-August 1988 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.