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• Humboldt Hill Property Owner Caught Dumping Mass Quantities of Dirt on a Hillside With a Creek Flowing Onto Wiyot-Owned Wetlands

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More than a year before Mike Duncan took ownership of his residential parcel up on Humboldt Hill, he was warned against altering the stream bed that runs across it. 

Duncan was having a house built for himself and his family on this hillside property just south of Eureka, and in an email sent almost exactly two years ago, Kathryn M. Rian, environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW), explicitly mentioned this creek, telling Duncan, “[D]o not alter this stream in any way.”

The unnamed headwater stream runs from Duncan’s property through a Wiyot-managed wildlife preserve on its way to Humboldt Bay.

As the Outpost reported last month, Duncan did subsequently alter that stream bed through unpermitted grading and construction activity. He violated several county codes and state laws in the process and could now be facing criminal charges and hundreds of thousands of dollars in civil penalties.

According to inspection reports, the unpermitted grading and construction has destabilized the hillside, and the stream bed has been polluted with imported rock, concrete and other debris.

To briefly recap the situation, the county issued its first stop-work order in April 2023, citing unpermitted grading in a stream-side management area. In response to the county’s order, Duncan hired a local landscape design company to perform erosion control work, and the stop-work order was lifted. 

But those erosion control measures failed within a matter of months, triggering more scrutiny and regulatory oversight. Emails obtained through a California Public Records Act request show Duncan expressing a desire to cooperate and resolve the issues, but starting late last year, the county started receiving complaints from neighbors saying they’d seen “hundreds” of truckloads of dirt being delivered to his property at 89 Blue Spruce Drive.

In October, the county issued another stop-work order, and earlier this month, CDFW sent Duncan its own Notice of Violation. In a February site visit, department staff documented substantial alterations to the stream bed, channel and bank. They noted that native riparian vegetation had been removed; rock, fill material and debris had been placed along the steam bank; and various types of debris — including asphalt, concrete waste and sediment — were in spots where they could pass into state waters.

Rewinding the timeline a bit, here’s how the property looked in the spring of 2023:

And here’s a shot from April of 2024, still prior to much of the unpermitted construction activity on this hillside:

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Now let’s take a look at some shots taken during a CDFW property inspection on February 27, 2026, after all of the unpermitted activity:

In the Notice of Violation, CDFW staff reminds Duncan that in 2023, the department went easy on him. The Eureka office had received several complaints from the public and a referral from the Humboldt County Planning and Building Department, which had already issued its first stop-work order. Rather than taking punitive action, CDFW offered an advisory.

“Although the Department ultimately decided not to exert its jurisdiction over the drainage feature along the western edge of the property, it explicitly referenced the unnamed stream along the eastern edge of the property, advising against alterations to stream habitat and outlining permitting requirements,” the CDFW notice says.

In all, department staff documented violations of three Fish and Game code sections: 1602(a), 5650(a) and 5652(a). Each violation can be prosecuted civilly and criminally, with a maximum civil penalty of $25,000 per day. The criminal violations are considered misdemeanors.

In an email to the Outpost, CDFW Senior Environmental Scientist Supervisor Michael G. van Hattem said the department’s Notice of Violation was referred to the department’s law enforcement branch, which will decide whether or not to file with the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office. The DA’s Office would have discretion over criminal prosecution.

When the Outpost spoke with Humboldt County Planning and Building Director John Ford last month, he said his department hoped to coordinate with CDFW so that the various violations could be resolved through a single compliance agreement. Reached by phone on Friday, Ford said that work is moving forward.

“We’ve met with Mr. Duncan, and he is entering into a compliance agreement to abate the violations,” Ford said. All of the material that was brought in without a permit will need to be removed, and the riparian area that’s been damaged will need to be restored. Duncan and his consultants and contractors are preparing the remediation plan, which the county will circulate to CDFW, the Water Board and the California Coastal Commission for review and comment.

“Once we have something that achieves the goal of compliance, then the property owner would be responsible to implement that plan,” Ford explained.

Duncan, the general manager at Schmidbauer Building Supply, declined to say much when we reached him for last month’s story, and he did not respond to a voicemail seeking comment for this one. 

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California is preparing to share with an outside organization detailed information about driver license holders, including immigrants who do not have legal authorization to live in the U.S.

That breaks a promise the state made a decade ago when it began issuing licenses to unauthorized immigrants, advocates say, and it means more than 1 million people may face higher risk of deportation.

But if state officials don’t turn over the data, the Department of Homeland Security may refuse to accept California licenses and IDs at airports, the advocates believe, following a briefing with the California Department of Motor Vehicles and the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this month. State authorities confirmed they plan to share the data to comply with the Real ID Act of 2005, which set requirements for accepting state identification in federal facilities like airports.

Representatives from four advocacy groups who participated in the briefing told CalMatters the shared information will show whether a person has a Social Security number, meaning it could be used to identify people in the country without authorization.

The state plans to provide the information to the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, a nonprofit organization whose governing board is made up of DMV officials from across the country.

The information given to the association will go into the group’s State-to-State Verification system and its platform, known as SPEXS, which allows DMVs and contractors that work with them to verify if someone has more than one license issued in their name. Sharing that data allows agencies that issue driver licenses to verify that a person doesn’t have duplicate licenses in multiple states.

In the future, an ID database like the one the association maintains could be used to support mobile licenses people can use on their iPhones or online age verification for access to mature content or chatbots.

But advocates fear that federal immigration officials will try to gain bulk access to the data and use the fact that a person doesn’t have a Social Security number as a signal that they’re deportable.

The state received assurances from the association that safeguards will be added to prevent bulk searches for unauthorized immigrant license holders in the database and to prevent access by the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to people who joined the briefing with the DMV and governor’s office. But they remain skeptical.

To carry out the plan to share data with the association the California Legislature will need to approve $55 million to cover the DMV’s costs. It may also need to amend existing law, which states that a Social Security number obtained by the DMV cannot be shared for any other purpose than to address unpaid taxes, parking tickets, or child support.

A spokesperson for the governor’s office declined to confirm details of the call or respond to specific concerns from advocates.

“California continues to lead in supporting immigrant families and protecting personal data from federal overreach,” the spokesperson, Diana Crofts-Pelayo, wrote in an email. “The state has taken the same approach to protect Californians’ data during the Real ID implementation, while maintaining Real ID compliance for the benefit of all Californians.”

Ian Grossman, the chief executive of the DMV administrator association, told CalMatters that participation in the verification system is voluntary and that only authorized state employees or contractors have access to the system, that bulk searches of the system are not currently allowed, and all searches must contain specific information about an individual like their name and date of birth.

Social security number ‘99999’

For more than a decade, California and 18 other states invited undocumented people to obtain drivers licenses in order to support public safety and the economy. Economists say that such laws improve economic activity, drive billions of dollars in taxes into state coffers, and benefit public safety because people who lack federal authorization to be in the country can feel more comfortable reporting criminal activity.

More than 1 million people have obtained drivers licenses in California under Assembly Bill 60, a law passed in 2013. The law prohibs the state from using information obtained in the licensure process to consider an individual’s citizenship.

But the multistate verification system can reveal whether a person is an undocumented immigrant. According to an association manual obtained by CalMatters, the database will include the last five digits of a person’s Social Security number, and if that person has no Social Security number, the association allows states to use the placeholder “99999.”

Advocates fear that federal immigration officials could gain access to information in the database, including on undocumented Californians, by asking local officials to make requests on their behalf.

That sort of end run would not be without precedent.

CalMatters reported on instances last year and this year where local law enforcement agencies broke state law and shared information gathered by automated license plate readers with ICE or Border Patrol agents.

The DMV and the governor’s office say the association will notify California of requests from any entity other than a participating state, including attempts to subpoena the database for information about California license holders, providing them with the opportunity to challenge subpoenas or intervene in other requests. But if a subpoena is accompanied by a gag order the association could not deliver any such notification. An agreement between the association and the California DMV obtained by CalMatters states that the association will inform California “if legally permitted” if it receives a subpoena “to release, disclose, discuss, or obtain access to S2S information.”

Hasbrouck believes the DMV and governor’s office “must have known” the reassurances they got from the association were “hollow given the possibility of gag orders.”

He also said that, as a private entity, the association has less protection from court orders or subpoenas than a government agency. Its data sharing is also more easily hidden, since the association is not subject to Freedom of Information Act requests or open meeting laws.

Advocates see ‘a direct betrayal’

Advocates who spoke with CalMatters said sharing the driver license information with the association sells out immigrant license holders. The law that created the program prohibits the state from using information the program gathers to determine citizenship.

“It’s unclear how extreme the danger people are being put into by this decision but there ’s no doubt we told people with AB 60 licenses this would never happen, but it’s happening, and that’s a direct betrayal,” said Tracy Rosenberg, head of advocacy at Oakland Privacy, who was on the call.

Linda Nguy, an associate director at the Western Center on Law and Poverty, compared the disclosure to a move last summer by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy to share data about millions of non-citizens with federal immigration agencies. That was a violation of federal law, department officials concluded, according to a memo obtained by the Associated Press.

Pedro Rios, director of the U.S.-Mexico Border Program at the American Friends Service Committee, was not on the call, but echoed Rosenberg and Nguy, calling the data sharing plan “a betrayal of California’s commitment to protect and defend all its residents, especially those who have an AB 60 drivers license.”

Becca Cramer-Mowder, who was on the call representing the Electronic Frontier Foundation, questioned why the governor’s office and DMV are in a rush to comply with the Real ID Act two decades after it passed at a time of increased pressure from the Trump administration.

“It just seems like we’re missing the bigger picture of this moment in time,” she said

The plan to share license information with the database depends on the state budget process because the DMV is requesting $55 million to move the data over to the association’s systems.

At a state Senate budget hearing last month to approve the funding, lawmakers questioned why the state should follow a timeline set by a private organization and share part of Californians’ Social Security numbers. They also asked the DMV to explore the reasoning behind a lawsuit filed by Oklahoma lawmakers in January to block data sharing with the association, in which they argued that sharing personal data collected for driver’s licenses violates state law there.

DMV director Steve Gordon told them that California unsuccessfully tried to convince the motor vehicle association to consider a unique identifier other than a social security number and “anybody who has a social security number that’s sharing information of course would have a concern” but told lawmakers “we need to go. We need to go now.”

DMV spokesperson Jaime Garza said that Californians can submit a request to surrender or cancel a drivers license but that driving without a license is illegal.

Nick Miller, a spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, told CalMatters lawmakers continue to work on the policy issue.

“Protecting immigrant communities from the Trump administration’s relentless attacks — and ensuring Californians are empowered and defended — continues to be a top priority for the Speaker,” he said in an email.

Rosenberg with Oakland Privacy suggested that the state might be better off opting out of the Real ID system than sharing information about its license holders, noting that more than 60 percent of Californians already have passports.

“I just wonder what would happen if the state asked Californians to get a passport in order to fly for a couple of years in order to protect 1 million Californians with AB 60 licenses. Maybe we should give people that opportunity.”

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

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Just a few months after California overhauled the way it teaches children to read, a new bill takes on math education — and may be just as controversial.

Senate Bill 1067 would require schools to screen all kindergartners, first- and second-graders for basic math skills, and give them extra help if they’re behind. The idea is to help those children catch up to their peers who might have had much more exposure to math before starting school.

“A student’s early math skills are the most powerful predictor of their later success in school,” said Amy Cooper, a senior advisor at EdVoice, an education nonprofit that’s cosponsoring the bill. “We’re not talking about tracking kids. There’s no labels. It’s just about getting support to students so that they can get up to grade level.”

California students, in all grade levels, have long struggled in math. Last year, just 37% of students performed at grade level in math, with some groups of students faring far worse. Just 16% of Black 11th-graders, for example, met the state’s grade-level standard. Nationwide, California ranks 43rd in 4th grade math scores, behind Texas, Mississippi, Alabama and dozens of other states.

One reason for the poor performance, experts say, is California’s uneven early education landscape. Until transitional kindergarten became available to all 4-year-olds last year, children showed up at kindergarten with a wide array of abilities and skills. Some had years of exposure to early math — either at preschool or at home — and could count, do basic arithmetic and even read a little. Others, especially low-income children, had no prior exposure to the ABCs and 123s, and lagged far behind. Even now, TK and kindergarten are optional, so some students start first grade with no previous math instruction at all.

‘Critical tipping point’

Some of those children catch up eventually, but many continue to fall further and further behind, research shows. And because math is sequential, catching up becomes harder over time, and the gap widens. Some researchers found that early math skills can even be a predictor of how well students do in high school and college.

It’s still too early to gauge the impact of transitional kindergarten on students’ long-term math performance, but so far there’s still a gap between children who’ve had exposure to math — either through preschool or at home — and those who haven’t. Low-income children are far less likely to get that early exposure, said Alice Klein, a developmental psychologist and research director at the education research firm WestEd.

“It is a critical tipping point,” Klein said. “Unless those students get intervention, the gap will widen. It’ll be harder for them to access higher-level math classes later on, and this will have implications for future job opportunities and the economic future of California. It’s a continual closing of opportunities.”

Transitional kindergarten teacher Rachelle Bacong leads students during a math lesson at Ira Harbison Elementary School in National City on April 21, 2026. Photos by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters

Klein supports the math screening legislation because she said it’s an effective way to identify students who are struggling and provide them with support. At least 20 other states have math screenings and have seen positive results, she said.

“I’m so happy that California is considering passing this bill,” Klein said. “It’s a great start, and could be the next step” in improving math outcomes in California.

Numbers and objects

Districts would have their choice of several screening tests to choose from, each ranging from 10 to 20 minutes long and testing children’s knowledge of basic math concepts. For example, kindergartners might be asked to look at two groups of dots and decide which group has more. Or they’d be asked to identify certain numbers and show that they understand what the numbers mean — that “three” means three objects, for example. English learners would take the test in their native languages.

The bill is authored by state Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, a Democrat from San Diego, and last week passed unanimously in the Senate education committee.

Its cosponsor, EdVoice, was behind the push for phonics-based literacy instruction in California public schools. That initiative passed, but only after a long fight with the California Teachers Association, the state’s largest teachers union, and English learner advocates, who argued that it didn’t give teachers enough flexibility and that it wouldn’t be effective for students whose first language isn’t English. The final version of the bill doesn’t require schools to take advantage of state-funded teacher training, but it does require them to use phonics-based classroom materials.

Too many tests?

There might be a fight over the proposed math testing as well. The California Teachers Association opposes it, as well as California County Superintendents, the Association of California School Administrators and the California Mathematics Council.

They argue that the screening is unnecessary because the state already has a comprehensive new math framework and has made other big investments in early math. It’ll take time for those investments to show results. Also, the math framework emphasizes critical thinking and real-world math problems, and the screening might be too narrow and not take into account young children’s developmental differences.

They also argue that the testing will be pointless unless the state funds tutoring to help those students who are identified as needing extra help.

Transitional kindergarten students arrange number blocks during class at Ira Harbison Elementary School in National City on April 21, 2026. Photo by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters

Nick Johnson, an associate professor of teacher education at San Diego State University, questioned whether schools need yet another standardized test. The federal education policy No Child Left Behind, adopted in the early 2000s, focused heavily on testing, and led to few improvements, he said.

“Since No Child Left Behind testing, we’ve assumed that (standardized testing) will improve student learning,” Johnson said. “But the evidence shows that’s rarely true. Is public education in a better place now than it was 25 years ago?”

Magic of math

Rachelle Bacong has been teaching kindergarten and TK for 30 years in National City, near San Diego. She weaves math into every activity the children do. When she sets up an art project, she asks them how many chairs are at the table and how many scissors they’ll need. When she makes smoothies with them, she asks them how much juice or how many chunks of bananas they should add. When the children wash their hands, she asks them how long they spent at the sink.

They also spend a good portion of their day playing with blocks, tiles and tubes, experimenting with shapes and dimensions. Bacon’s goal is to make math fun and easy to grasp, no matter where the child is developmentally.

“Math crosses all cultures, abilities and backgrounds. It’s accessible to everyone. It’s my job to design the learning environment to make it accessible to everyone,” Bacong said. “That’s what’s so magical about it.”

Transitional kindergarten teacher Rachelle Bacong insider her classroom at Ira Harbison Elementary School in National City on April 21, 2026. Photo by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters

She also spends time every day explicitly teaching them math, although in a way that’s blended with play. She’ll teach them songs about numbers, show them how shapes fit together, and gently guide them when a solution might not be clear. Math instruction needs to come from several angles, she said, because children’s cognitive skills develop at such different rates.

She welcomes extra help for children who need it, but she’s skeptical that a test will reflect how individual children process math concepts. She already knows how her students are faring, and she fears that screening results will be used to stigmatize children, teachers or schools.

“My fear is that it’ll focus on a child’s deficits,” Bacong said. “Math needs to be joyful, fun and developmentally appropriate. We want to set students up for success, so they’ll be prepared for whatever they’re going to be designing or building in the future.”

We sadly announce that Carolyn Otis passed away suddenly on March 25, 2026 at her home in Arcata. Carolyn Chaffee, on August 28, 1940, blessed the world with her birth. Eldest daughter of Pep and Ralph, she was soon joined by Beth and a few years later Bob completed the family.

Carolyn grew up in the Midwest. She went to Ohio Wesleyan University, got her BA and went on to teach school in Catskill, N.Y., then on to working for Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation demonstrating all-electric kitchens. Carolyn’s love of travel and her deep compassion for others led her into the Peace Corps and deep into South America. Although they first met in Seattle at the Peace Corps training, it was on the shores of Lake Titicaca she fell for the love of her life: Brooks Otis.

Carolyn and Brooks returned to California and married in 1968. They lived in Escondido and then moved to Eureka, where she gave birth to their son Dan Otis. In 1974 they co-founded Wildwood Music. They moved into their dream home in Arcata in 1975. Carolyn’s “kitchen plastics from the ‘50s” collection is located there, along with her hooked rugs, handcrafts and treasures from her world travel. In Arcata, she was a small business accountant who is fondly remembered by many local businesses.

Carolyn had many interests and many friends. She was active in the League of Women Voters, the Historical Sites Society of Arcata, the Handweavers Guild and was interested in yoga, tai chi, the Tarot, meditation, quilting and countless other things. She was a sweet, kind, intelligent, thoughtful and generous friend, always more interested in others than herself, but very grounded—with a memorable laugh.

We are planning a memorial event sometime in the summer for Carolyn. Carolyn Otis was curious about life and the world around her. As her friends say… “Carolyn always had a few more questions.”

Margie Ann Yates, 95, of Fortuna, passed away peacefully in her home on March 26, 2026, with her children at her side.

Margie was born on November 8, 1930, in Powell, Wyoming to Jewel (Hammontree) Owen and Homer Altus “Jack” Turney Owen. Her older sister, Eva Sue, was her best friend out in the oil fields of Elk Basin, and they shared many stories of dust, the Great Depression, living in Denver, running a farm stand and their trip to California in 1942 to help with the war effort. They settled in Marin County where Jewel worked as “Rosie-the-Riveter” at Mare Island and Jack worked as a builder. With parents like that, it’s no wonder Margie was hard-working and knew that she could do anything she set her mind to.

Margie graduated from San Rafael High School in 1948, young, bright and in love with Jim Yates, her middle school sweetheart. They were married in 1950 and enjoyed spending the next 68 years together – a lifetime of love and happiness. They raised two children, Annie (1952) and Bob (1955), continually encouraging and supporting them while being patient and kind - a challenge during the 1960s and 1970s. At their 50-year anniversary, Jim, the gentlest person ever, joked that the only time they ever argued was when he wanted to kill the kids and she wouldn’t let him! Margie also made a difference in the lives of many other young people and friends. She listened carefully. She was known for helping to solve problems with her spot-on pearls of wisdom while rarely giving advice. (Stuck in a rut? Remember, a rut is a grave with the ends knocked out. That will get you moving!) She was a trusted confidant and reliable supporter.

Margie was trained as a bookkeeper but was also a skilled draftsman and designer. She learned building skills from her father while she was young. Eventually, she designed, decorated and landscaped her own home in Santa Rosa in the 1960s. In 1961 Margie went to work for the North Coast Builders Exchange, where she would flourish for 35 years and retire with accolades. There she was appreciated for being able to run the office, keep the books, interface with the construction industry, fix or figure out anything mechanical, put together a newsletters and events, understand blueprints, advance the cause of Women in Construction and bring in the age of technology – all with a soft touch and steel determination.

Margie and Jim joined the Order of Easter Star in 1974 and became part of a fraternal family that became a lifetime joy. Margie held many offices in Rose Valley Chapter, Santa Rosa and in Rohnerville Redwood Chapter, Fortuna, as well as Deputy Grand Matron for the State of California in 1986. They traveled extensively to visit other chapters and attend events. They were as comfortable in formal wear as they were in blue jeans. They belonged because they believed in being part of a service organization, being connected to other good people, and the value of having close friends. Margie and Jim remained active members for more than 50 years.

Margie & Jim always lived close to her sister. Sue and Ed were their best friends as well. The families shared holidays, vacations, birthday parties, weekend dinners, card parties and overnights for many years. Cousins Bob and Sharon, Judy and Annie were often confused as siblings when they were together. Those nieces remained close to Aunt Margie and came to see her often. Margie cherished them like her own. She was happy to remember her sister and share those memories.

After Margie and Jim retired, they hit the roads in their travel trailer. They teamed up with friends from high school, neighbors, and masonic friends to visit, relax and see the United States. Of course, Margie took along her word puzzles, handwork and a notebook to record all of the details – like dates, times, weather, mileage, gas, sites, campgrounds…. She could have written a travel guide for RV enthusiasts.

Margie was a creative perfectionist that seemed to be able to do anything. She could sew a formal gown, do flawless handwork, draw and paint, and was a great cook. She didn’t just garden; she landscaped, passing that love on to her daughter. She was keenly intelligent and organized. She kept her mind sharp by doing all of the daily puzzles in the newspaper, plus a few online brain twisters. Only recently did she reluctantly give up bookkeeping – when the checkbook was off by two cents. “Old bookkeepers never die, they just lose their balance!”, she quipped. At 95 she was still serving on the Finance Committee for her church and Eastern Star.

If you knew Margie, her faith in God and belief in goodness came through in everything she did. She always had a smile and took time for others. Her cup remained more than half full, and she was genuinely positive. Above all, Margie was gracious. She rarely complained, gossiped or spoke ill of anyone. A close friend described her as “a faithful and Faith-filled woman.” She was a good friend, a loving mother and wife, and adoring grandmother and great-grandmother, a mentor and dear friend to many. She was a rare and wonderful human. Her spirit will be missed.

Annie and Bob were very close to their parents and marveled at their good fortune to have such special parents. Bob lived with them for over 10 years, sharing and caring for them as they aged. He made it possible for each of them to live at home and to age and die gracefully supported by love. Angels come in many forms. Margie was always grateful to have her children nearby and they were with her to the very last breath.

Margie is reunited in death with parents, Jewell and Jack Owen; sister Eva Sue Hansen; husband James Yates; and many other family and friends that preceded her on the 95-year journey. She joyfully leaves behind son Robert Yates of Fortuna; daughter Annie and Beau Sicotte of Eureka; two granddaughters, Chelsea and Mike Johnson of Tumwater, Wash., and Hailey and Colin Casper of Arcata; two great-granddaughters, Kristen and Erika Johnson of Tumwater; nieces Sharon Byrne of Modesto and Judy Lee of Petaluma; nephew Steve Lowry of Santa Rosa; and their extended families.

Please join us for a celebration of life on May 2, 2026 at 1 p.m. at the Fortuna United Methodist Church, 922 N Street, Fortuna. Please support the Hospice of Humboldt or the charity of your choice in her honor.

Joni passed away at home April 12, 2026. She was born on June 28, 1952, in DeWitt, Iowa. She was the seventh child in what would be a total of eight children born to Harold and Mary Hahn.

The family moved around between Iowa, Washington and California, eventually settling in Eureka. Joni met and married David Hubbard in 1970. Joni had her son Bryan in 1971 and Jason in 1974. You could often find her bragging about her boys, sharing how proud she was of both of them.

She began her cosmetology career soon after Bryan was born. She opened her own salon, Harrison Styling, then she worked at Shear Designs, and finally retiring to her home salon where she could garden between clients. She loved sharing stories with all her clients, who inevitably became friends — while making them look and feel beautiful.

In 2008 Joni married George Bladow. George was her person; he loved and cherished her. Together Joni and George loved fishing, traveling, and enjoying the great outdoors. You could often find them enjoying their backyard, growing a variety of flowers, fruits, and veggies. She loved to entertain and cook for everyone. On any day you would find her doing a client’s hair, working in her backyard, reading or visiting with friends and family. Joni and George made their backyard and deck a tranquil place to gather, relax, and socialize. If you’ve been there, you know.

Joni is survived by her husband George, her son Bryan, and four of her siblings (Norma Pagel, Janice Worden, David Hahn and Lee Ann Walstrom). She leaves behind many nieces and nephews, whom she loved very much. She also leaves behind many special friends, all who became a huge part of her life: Katrina, Willa, Thea, Rosie, Emily, Diane, Debbie, Brent and Jessica are just a few of her closest friends that held their own special spot in her heart. She had many more people that meant so much to her she considered them family, we are sorry we can’t name them all. If you knew Joni, you knew she loved with all of her heart. She would bend over backwards to help the ones she loved. 

Joni was loved and is going to be greatly missed. Per her request, there will not be a ceremony. We ask that you keep her family in your prayers and enjoy a cocktail in her name. If you have a memory of Joni that you would like to share, please add to the comments. We would love to hear your stories of Joni.

The Humboldt County District Attorney’s office today announced an offer to Jake Combs, who is being retried for murder after an appeals court overturned his 2023 conviction.

During pretrial arrangements, prosecutor Whitney Timm announced that in exchange for dropping a 2025 drug charge, the office would agree to a deal.

Under this proposed offer, 34-year-old Combs would plead guilty to first degree murder, alongside a weapons enhancement, for a sentence of 50 years to life.

This is quite similar to his since-overturned sentence.

Combs was sentenced in 2023 to 50 years to life in prison for first degree murder for killing 25-year-old Trevor John Earley of Alderpoint. He was also convicted of the weapons enhancement.

Combs in 2022. File photo.

This conviction was overturned in 2025, when an appeals court found the court erred in admitting certain evidence about Combs allegedly attacking an inmate showed to jurors during the trial.

Since then, Combs was accused of possessing six grams of methamphetamine in jail in August 2025, shortly after being transferred from Calipatria State Prison to the Humboldt County Correctional Facility for retrial, according to court records.

Under the deal, this drug charge would be dropped.

Timm pointed to Comb’s testifying on his remorse before offering this deal on the record. According to reporting from the Times-Standard, before being sentenced in 2023 he apologized to the victim’s family, though they had left the courtroom en masse before he spoke.

Combs deliberated with his attorneys, co-counsels Ryan McClurg and Emery Welton from the Public Defender’s office, after the Timm announced the deal on the record.

But the court continued forward with preparations for a jury trial Monday afternoon. Attorneys debated including — or excluding — particular pieces of evidence in the trial.

They hashed out whether comments on feelings towards animals should be excluded, if it was fair game to include a statement he made to other inmates that he “domed some n____r and they’re trying to give me 50 to life,” whether evidence from an alleged assault one year ago on an inmate could be included (to be used when jurors are evaluating the verity of Comb’s statements, as he’s expected to take to the stand again), etc. One medical professional who testified is no longer fit to serve as a witness.

Welton pointed out, while debating whether to include Combs’ early statements to law enforcement, the defendant had previously confessed on the stand. The trial aims to hone in on the man’s intent and premeditation.

Judge Kaleb Cockrum noted the case was serious, while going over housekeeping details.

Jury selection is set to begin Tuesday. Attorneys estimated the trial will take three weeks.

PREVIOUSLY:

• 29-Year-Old Arrested in Connection With Alderpoint Homicide This Morning
• Friends and Family of Alderpoint Murder Victim Pack Courtroom as Suspect is Arraigned
• TODAY in COURT: Two Local Murder Cases Moving Forward
• TODAY in COURT: Man Convicted of Rio Dell Murder May Finally be Sentenced Next Month; Alderpoint Murder Suspect Scheduled for Preliminary Hearing
• Alderpoint Murder Suspect Told Cops He Shot Man in the Head to Save His Puppy, Investigator Testifies
• Alderpoint Man Convicted of Murder in 2022 Shooting Prompted by Dog Dispute
• Overturned Murder Conviction Retrial Approaches; Jake Combs Jury Trial Set for April