Colin McNaughton was born on April 27, 1957 and passed on May 3, 2026. Colin was often known as “Coley” by friends and family who knew and loved him. Coley was born in Eureka and raised in Fortuna by his parents, Smokey and Janet McNaughton, who owned and operated McNaughton Plumbing. Coley’s siblings included Kelly, Kevin, Kim and Christie McNaughton.

In his younger years, Coley worked at Fortuna Glass, and painted for Arnie King for many years. He also worked in the woods, loading logs and operating machinery for Randy Hoisington. In his later years, Coley was a ranch hand for Joe Russ for around 15 years. Coley had much respect and admiration for the people and families that he worked for.

In these later years you could find Coley at the King Ranch, hunting, fishing, cutting fire wood or looking for elk horns and arrowheads. Coley enjoyed the outdoors. Jumping in a side-by-side or four-wheeler and going for an adventure at the ranch would really put a smile on his face. He was known for doing things like cutting loads of firewood for the people he loved. Coley had many friends, and usually always had a friend riding shotgun with him when you saw him around town or on the road. Coley was a tough old guy who could be pretty grumpy at times, but he was also very caring, and had a big heart to those that were lucky enough to see that side of him.

It was hard on Coley to run into health problems in his final years, and not be able-bodied to do all the things he loved. He has now found peace and is no longer in pain.

Coley is preceded in death by his parents, Smokey and Janet, and his brothers, Kelly and Kevin. Coley is survived by his sons, Colt (Shasta) and Cody (Laura); his daughter Mary Liz (Robert); his grandchildren, Azalea, Waylon, Archer, Arlo, Frankie and Cash; his sisters, Christie Ammer and Kim McNaughton; and his lifelong friends, Susan and Laurie King.

There will be a celebration of life held at the Van Duzen Grange on Sunday, June 14 at 1 p.m. Please join us in honoring Colin’s memory. There will be light refreshments provided by the family.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Colin McNaughton’s family. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.

PREVIOUSLY

• Big Changes for Arcata’s Land Use Code Are Incoming (Albeit from Far Away)

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Arcata’s planning commission is meeting again tonight to discuss their proposals for the city’s land use code update, and some of them — getting rid of inclusionary zoning laws, eliminating neighborhood conservation areas and wood-burning stoves — are worth noting.

Several members of the planning commission added their ideas on what they’d like to see updated in the land use code ahead of tonight’s meeting. The commission will meet with the city council in a few weeks for a study session, when the commissioners will likely share their ideas for the updates. Any changes to the code likely won’t be adopted until early next year.

The commissioners’ opinions are important because they could become law, shaping the design and daily lives of Arcata’s residents for as long as they’re codified, which could be a long time; the last time Arcata’s land use code was updated was in 2008. 

Arcata’s Neighborhood Conservation Areas (NCAs) could be on the chopping block: commissioners Ashton Hamm, Peter Lehman, Matthew Simmons, and Abbie Strickland wrote in their comments that they’d like to talk about removing them from the code, or at least ensuring that updating housing within an NCA isn’t overly difficult. Buildings within an NCA are subject to additional review before owners or developers alter them, because they’re in a  “historically noteworthy” region in the city that need to have “harmonious” design, according to the city’s website. There are four of them, encompassing much of the neighborhoods around Cal Poly Humboldt and the land between K Street and Highway 101 from Samoa Boulevard up to 17th Street. A few of the commissioners have some gripes with them, criticizing the NCAs for slowing down and hindering the construction of badly-needed housing by allowing for too much public comment and for being too subjective.

“I feel that Neighborhood Conservation Areas should be eliminated,” Lehman wrote. “…This vague requirement—harmonious with existing character—is both not in keeping with our goal to have objective standards and is the kind statement that is often used to delay or prohibit needed housing—multifamily housing, for example. We could retain the Arcata Plaza Historic District, as it is core to the City’s character and is a small area. Otherwise, there’s no reason why the rest of Arcata should not have uniform permitting and design requirements.”

Wood-burning stoves could also be phased out. Arcata decided to prohibit the installation of new wood-burning stoves as part of the latest update to the General Plan in 2024, but replacing existing ones is allowed. Loya said city staff have been contacted by businesses interested in having a wood-fired pizza oven and saunas; it was one of the topics on a list of discussion topics he sent to the commission to review. None of the commissioners had anything to say on them, except for Lehman, who wrote that he didn’t think they should be allowed at all. 

“Wood burning has no place in Arcata,” he wrote. “The first sentence of Arcata’s Air Quality Element says, ‘The community values clean air.’ Air containing wood smoke is not clean…I recognize that wood burning has a long and storied history in this area and that wood-fired pizza ovens or saunas seem charming, but we must work to eliminate wood burning.”

Ditching inclusionary housing rules — laws that force developers to set aside a certain amount of housing in new developments for the impoverished — is also possible. Arcata passed an inclusionary zoning resolution last year that mandated that all new housing developments with 60 or more units have to rent 3% of their units to very low income households, 6% to low income households, and another 10% for moderate income households. (How much the rent actually costs can change annually, and is determined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development or the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee.) David Loya, Arcata’s director of community development, noted in a memo to the commission that the rules faced “immediate backlash” from developers and housing advocates, and requested that the commissioners talk about the regulations. 

Lehman wrote that the idea was “laudable,” but said he didn’t think that inclusionary housing was the right idea, noting that he thought Arcata could use more higher-end housing befitting a wealthier, white-collar segment of the population. A consulting agency hired to help Arcata update the code wrote that inclusionary housing should only be continued if it’s been effective and offers incentives “beyond” what California can provide through its State Density Bonus program. 

The planning commission will meet in the city council chambers at 5:30 tonight.

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PREVIOUSLY

• Five Old-Growth Redwoods Were Cut Down in Lower Redway. How Could That Happen?
• SoHum Residents Protest the Removal of a 252-Foot Old-Growth Redwood From a Lower Redway Property
• Removal of Lower Redway Old-Growth Redwood Temporarily Halted Amid Safety Concerns
• Lower Redway Old-Growth Redwood Cannot Be Removed Until the Property Owner Secures a Special Permit, County Says

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Press release from the Humboldt County Administrative Office:

The Humboldt County Planning & Building Department would like the public to know that the Board of Supervisors will reschedule its consideration of a report regarding redwood tree removal on a property in lower Redway, which had been set for June 2.

The report will explain to the Board and the public why the trees were removed and outline steps on how similar situations will be addressed in the future.

Currently, four trees have been removed and there is a single old-growth tree remaining on the subject property. An application for a special permit has been submitted to the Planning & Building Department for the removal of the remaining tree. 

This special permit is expected to be considered by the Humboldt County Planning Commission at its upcoming meeting on Thursday, June 18. Once the Planning Commission makes its decision, it can be appealed to the Board of Supervisors. If the Board receives the tree removal report before the permit process is complete, its members could be limited in how freely they can discuss the matter if an appeal is later filed. Therefore, it is important that this permit process is completed before the tree removal report is presented to the Board.

For more information, please contact Humboldt County’s Planning & Building Director John Ford by email at jford@co.humboldt.ca.us.

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Stu’s Brews is taking over the former Old Town Coffee and Chocolates in Henderson Center, giving it a second location.

The sale of the shop’s equipment and its recipes was finalized Friday.

Folks at the Eureka coffee spot, which opened in May 2024, are working hard to set up the new shop at 502 Henderson St., where a handful of cafés and bakeries have been hosted across decades.

“[It’s] pretty cool that we signed and picked up the keys the day after our two-year anniversary,” said Aaron “Stu” Salles, who co-owns Stu’s Brews with his wife Victoria “Hope” Salles.

He said the expansion of Stu’s Brews, which runs a drive-through on Fourth Street in Eureka, will allow the family-run operation to make good use of a full prep kitchen.

Salles said the drive-through started with his passion for coffee and their shared love of food.

“That entity kind of turned into, basically, doing our favorite stuff that we could do, to serve up to other people, within the constraints of a coffee drive-through in a tiny little building,” he said.

After finding success and enjoyment running the shop, the pair moved their eye toward expanding and opening another location.

The drive-through has limits on what food can be prepared through its permit, explained Salles. They can’t handle raw meat or bake bread, and had to get a special permit to use a toaster.

With the new neighborhood spot, he said they will be able to offer a spread of baked goods at the drive through and the new location, made in-house.

Earlier this month, both locations of Eureka’s Old Town Coffee and Chocolates abruptly closed.

When asked about the Old Town spot, Salles said while the location is “fantastic,” scaling the business by adding two new locations at once would be risky.

“We did entertain the idea of taking both locations, but we really decided that operationally, opening two [new] locations at once just wasn’t a sound move for us,” he said.

He said one goal with the future Stu’s Brews Bakery and Café is to honor previous bakeries and cafés that have used the location over the years, like Old Town Coffee and Chocolates, the Corner Cafe and Bake Shop, Vellutini Baking Company and the Eureka Baking Company.

“This cake menu itself has basically been offered here since the 1990s,” he said.

He tells the Outpost this cake menu will mostly stay the same, with a few additions like flavors inspired by signature drinks.

Salles said, if all goes to plan people will be able to order cakes (for pickup only) as soon as June 14, treats that will continue to be crafted by Kristyl Mentink, who’s baked cakes there for the past seven years.

But the customer-facing café part will take a bit longer to finish brewing.

The plan is a new blue and white paint job, alongside a gutted interior to make space for new bakery display cases and coffee setup. Stu’s Brews is also planning new signs and an awning at the location, in place of the Old Town Coffee and Chocolates insignia.

Salles said they like fixing up spots — the drive-through had weeds, hanging gutters and dilapidated asphalt when they took over.

He said customers saw the elbow grease him, his wife, and their family and friends put into revamping the location in between day jobs, and said folks gave the drive-through a try after seeing the hard work the crew put into its curb appeal.

“I really think the same thing is going to apply in Henderson, over here. I’m really looking forward to how beautiful this is going to look inside and out,” he said.

He guessed about 10 people will eventually work at the shop (two have been hired so far, including the cake master) with some overlap in employees with the existing location. They plan to offer interviews to other former employees of Old Town Coffee and Chocolates.

He estimates the cafe will open around Sept. 1, though “it’s possible we could open sooner or later than that. That will become more clear in the next couple of months,” he said.

The founders of Old Town Coffee and Chocolates are happy to see the pair take on the shop.

“Both Gail [Mentink] and I are very pleased that Stu and Hope will be opening the bakery at the Henderson Center location. Our understanding is that they will continue baking the delicious cakes as well as adding their own unique Stu’s Brews flair,” said OTCC co-founder Cathy Kunkler in an email to the Outpost.

“The 20 years of owning and running Old Town Coffee & Chocolates was a dream come true and we dearly cherish the memories,” she added.

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Meanwhile, the Old Town location remains closed. As of Tuesday, the window hosts signs promising to be “back soon!” following the service of an eviction notice last week.

Kunkler said the future of the Old Town location is a work in progress but is anticipating a positive outcome and announcement soon.

UPDATE: She been located and she’s fine, the Sheriff’s Office says.

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Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office needs the public’s help to locate missing person Kylie Bones, 24, of the Southern Humboldt area. Bones is believed to be missing under unknown circumstances.

Bones was reported missing by a friend on May 26, 2026, at approximately 10:00 a.m. after she failed to return from a float on the Eel River near Garberville. She was last contacted on May 24, 2026, at around 1:00 p.m.

Bones is described as a white female, approximately 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighing about 110 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.

Anyone with information for the Sheriff’s Office regarding Bones’ possible whereabouts should call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251.

Press release from the U.S. Coast Guard:

The Coast Guard medically evacuated an injured hiker from the Lost Coast Trail near Cape Mendocino in Humboldt County, Monday afternoon.

At approximately 12:15 p.m., Coast Guard Sector Humboldt Bay watch standers received a request from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to transport a hiker with a reported broken leg from the Lost Coast Trail near Cape Mendocino. Sector Humboldt Bay launched an Air Station Humboldt Bay MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew to hoist the hiker from a remote section of the Lost Coast Trail.

The aircrew transported the hiker and her husband to St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka for further care.

Press release from the Eureka Police Department:

On May 28, 2026, beginning at approximately 10:00 a.m., personnel from the Eureka Police Department, Arcata Police Department, Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, and several allied law enforcement agencies throughout Humboldt County will participate in the annual Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run.

The Law Enforcement Torch Run is a nationwide tradition that brings together law enforcement officers and local communities in support of Special Olympics athletes and programs. The event raises funds for year-round sports training, athletic competitions, health services, and inclusive opportunities for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

As part of the event, participating officers will carry the “Flame of Hope” along the waterfront trail in a coordinated statewide effort leading up to the Special Olympics Northern California Summer Games. The Torch Run represents law enforcement’s ongoing commitment to inclusion, community partnership, and support for Special Olympics athletes and their families.

The run will begin near the boat dock at the Arcata Marsh before continuing south along the waterfront trail toward Eureka. Portions of the event will also take place on Second Street in Eureka, giving community members and local businesses an opportunity to show support for the runners and athletes involved.

Motorists and residents should expect minor traffic delays in parts of Arcata and Eureka during the event, especially near waterfront trail crossings and along Second Street. Drivers are encouraged to remain alert for runners and escort vehicles and to plan travel accordingly.

Community members interested in supporting the Law Enforcement Torch Run and Special Olympics Northern California can donate through:

https://p2p.onecause.com/letrrun/team/humboldt-county-torch-run.