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Press release from the McKinleyville Community Services District:

McKinleyville, CA – Beginning in mid-August 2026, the Murray Road Parking Area and portions of the McKinleyville Community Forest may be temporarily closed to allow hazardous fuels reduction work associated with the Murray Road Fuel Break Project. This project is part of the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) Phase VI and focuses on reducing fuels along Murray Road, a key ingress and egress route between McKinleyville and Fieldbrook. The work will improve wildfire preparedness by reducing ladder fuels, enhancing firefighter access, and helping provide safer evacuation routes for the surrounding community.

The Murray Road Fuel Break Project is one of five wildfire prevention projects being implemented through the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) Phase VI grant. The Humboldt County Resource Conservation District (HCRCD) serves as the project lead in partnership with the McKinleyville Community Services District (MCSD), Green Diamond Resource Company, and other local partners to reduce wildfire risk and improve community resilience throughout Humboldt County.

This collaborative project is designed to reduce wildfire risk, improve forest health, and increase the resilience of the wildland-urban interface surrounding the McKinleyville Community Forest.

For the safety of the public and project crews, please respect all posted closure signs and do not enter closed areas while work is underway.

MCSD will provide updates on its website and social media as work progresses and will reopen affected areas as soon as it is safe to do so. We appreciate your patience and cooperation while this important wildfire prevention project is completed.

For more information, please contact Kirsten Messmer, MCSD Parks & Recreation Director at kirsten@mckinleyvillecsd.com.

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If you’ve wandered around Old Town Eureka at any point in the last two days, you may have noticed volunteers and staff with the Humboldt Arts Council carefully dismantling and removing the Romano Gabriel Wooden Sculpture Garden from its Second Street display. Fear not, dear reader, the relocation is only temporary.

In an interview with the Outpost earlier this week, Haley Davis, education and outreach coordinator for the arts council, said the world-famous Italian folk art exhibition is being moved to a temporary storage to accommodate repairs to the building it is housed in.

“There was some damage to the roof this winter, and water got into the building,” Davis said. “Unfortunately, the walls and the ceiling have a lot of water damage, but luckily, the artwork wasn’t damaged because it’s on platforms. This restoration project is really about repairing the building.”

The arts council secured grant funding from the Kohler Foundation to help fund the major restoration project. While construction is underway, staff with the Balboa Art Conservation Center will assess each hand-carved and hand-painted piece of the display, which range in size from itty-bitty apples to 20-foot trees. The conservation team will clean and stabilize the wooden sculptures and offer advice on how to best maintain the exhibition.

“We’re not planning on doing any repainting of the art; we’re really trying to just keep it in its current state as best we can,” Davis said. “The goal is to return them in better condition than they left.”

Photo: Humboldt Arts Council

For those unfamiliar, the sculpture garden is the work of Italian immigrant Romano Gabriel, who settled in Eureka after serving in World War I and made a name for himself as a carpenter and prolific folk artist. Before the collection was relocated to Old Town, the pieces filled Gabriel’s Pine Street yard, almost completely obscuring his home and gaining national and international attention. Photographs of the sculptures have been featured in magazines and books, according to an article from the Eureka Heritage Society, and some of the pieces have toured Europe and been displayed at the San Francisco Museum of Art.

“He had a reputation for being a hermit, so it’s interesting that he was so extroverted with his art [because] it was a spectacle,” Davis said. “It’s kind of mind-boggling how many pieces of art there are, and it’s quirky to see the names of the artworks … there’s just so much character. 

“I’ve also heard that the wood he used is all reclaimed wood,” she added. “Some people say he used pallets from the grocery store, but I’ve also heard it was specifically fruit crates.”

After Gabriel died in 1977, the Ray Vellutini family bought his Pine Street Home and helped restore it. A few years later, the Vellutinis partnered with the Eureka Heritage Society and the City of Eureka to build a permanent display for the sculpture garden in Old Town.

Local documentarian Jeffrey Reinus was among the small group of volunteers carefully removing the sculptures from the display on Wednesday afternoon. While waiting for the U-Haul to make its way back from the storage site, Reinus chatted with the Outpost about the Romano Gabriel KEET-TV documentary he’s been working on since 2023, the last time the sculpture garden was deep-cleaned. It’s still in the works, Reinus said, but federal cuts to public broadcasters have made it more difficult to track down funding. 

He’s still looking for early photos of Gabriel’s garden, before it was completely filled. If you’ve got something to share, you can email him at romanogabriel.doc@gmail.com.

The restoration will take a couple of months to complete, with the goal of having the pieces back in the display by winter.

Those interested in lending a hand can come to the volunteer workdays on Wednesday, Aug. 19 and Thursday, Aug. 20. The group meets in front of the sculpture garden at 315 Second Street in Old Town Eureka at 1 p.m. 

Keep scrolling for more photos and video!

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

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For six years, Californians have been able to shake up a craft cocktail at home using alcohol delivered to their doorstep. Now, it’s last call for the distillery deliveries, unless lawmakers intervene by the end of this month.

That’s unlikely, thanks to opposition from California’s wine industry, Teamsters union truck drivers and corporate alcohol wholesalers and distributors.

The influential, well-funded groups lobbied the Legislature behind closed doors this year to block legislation that would have made permanent pandemic-era rules that allowed craft distillers to ship spirits directly to their customers.During the pandemic lockdowns, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order that allowed craft distillers to ship spirits to their customers’ homes. In the years since, lawmakers passed temporary laws allowing craft distillers — defined as those that produce up to 150,000 gallons a year — to keep shipping their spirits.The latest extension expires Dec. 31.

“I don’t have a lot of hope that we’re going to be able to salvage this,” said Folsom Republican Assemblymember Josh Hoover. He tried unsuccessfully this year to amend one of his bills to let small distillers continue shipping directly to their customers.

The groups blocking Hoover’s proposal have spent more than $1 million lobbying the Legislature and state government this year. They have donated at least 11 times that much to California politicians and their campaigns over the years.The craft distillers, who have spent a fraction as much on state politics, say all that spending from the opposition, particularly from corporate liquor distributors, appears to have paid off.

First: Cris Steller, owner of Dry Diggins Distillery, talks about the various products that are made in his distillery. Last: Bottles are filled with whiskey in the bottling area of Dry Diggins Distillery in El Dorado Hills on Aug. 4, 2026. Photos by Fred Greaves for CalMatters

“They went directly to legislators’ offices and basically torpedoed any effort we came up with,” said Cris Steller, acting executive director of the California Distillers Association and the owner of Amador and Dry Diggings Distillery in El Dorado Hills, a family-run business that makes whiskey, brandy, vodka and gin.

The fight is about more than whether Californians can have a bottle of whiskey or gin delivered. It illustrates how decisions are made in Sacramento, where wealthy and powerful interests can shape or kill policy in secret negotiations with lawmakers. Politicians, in turn, benefit when proposals die quietly because they don’t have to explain their decisions to voters.

Opponents insist they aren’t using the political system to crush competitors as national alcohol sales slump.

Instead, representatives of the major alcohol wholesalers and distributors that stock shelves at liquor retailers say they oppose the proposal because it primarily benefits out-of-state companies and weakens safeguards that include preventing alcohol deliveries to minors.

Teamsters lobbyist Matt Broad said the labor group’s truck drivers aren’t opposed to allowing craft distillers to ship their product. They just want them to use established shipping companies that have actual employees, including those that employ Teamsters, such as UPS. Those companies, Broad said, have standards to ensure liquor is delivered legally.

Federal law preempts California from mandating hiring unionized truck drivers, Broad said.

“We are absolutely not opposed to the little guys being able to ship directly to consumers, and in fact, we have a track record of supporting the proposal but with meaningful guardrails that protect our members and protect the public,” he told CalMatters.The California wine industry, which has been allowed to ship bottles directly to customers in California for decades, isn’t necessarily opposed either. But its representative says wine sellers are leery of giving little alcohol sellers delivery rights when big liquor companies deserve the same. Wineries of any size can ship to their customers in California.

Big booze, big labor spend big

The U.S. Postal Service prohibits most alcohol shipments to homes, but California allows certain types of alcohol sellers to use private shipping companies. Breweries are prohibited from shipping directly to California customers.Hoover hoped his Assembly Bill 2211, a proposal to give craft distillers the ability to offer tastings and sell spirits at locations other than their distilleries, could be amended to give craft distillers a permanent direct-to-consumer provision.

It has advanced through the Legislature without formal opposition or any lawmaker voting against it, according to CalMatters’ Digital Democracy database. The measure is pending before the full Senate.

There may be no formal opposition, but reports filed with the California secretary of state show an extensive behind-the-scenes lobbying effort aimed at preventing any changes.

At least six groups, including some of the biggest national alcohol distributors, have reported lobbying on Hoover’s bill.

The reports show those groups spent more than $1 million on lobbying this year. State ethics laws only require entities to report the total amount they spent lobbying the government in a year. They’re not required to report how much they spent on specific legislation, so it’s unclear how much they spent trying to influence lawmakers as they considered AB 2211 and its never-published direct-shipping amendment.

Those groups, along with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Wine Institute, have given at least $11 million to both Democrats and Republicans in California since 2000, according to Digital Democracy, including at least $738,000 since 2025, the start of the current two-year legislative session.

By comparison, California’s craft distillers reported spending $54,000 on lobbying this year.

They reported just three donations to lawmakers in the past decade, according to Digital Democracy. One was a $42 bottle of whiskey in 2022 to former Napa Democratic Sen. Bill Dodd, who now lobbies on behalf of the craft distillery industry. In 2023, Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas received $215 in tequila. Democratic Assemblymember-turned U.S. Rep. Adam Gray received a $1,300 campaign donation in 2016.

Hoover said he has been trying since last year to add language to his bill that would allow craft distillers to permanently keep shipping. He succeeded last year in getting the extension that expires Dec. 31, but this year he’s been unable to overcome the opposition to expanding the tasting room measure.

“I’m always open to figuring this out, if there’s a way that we can make this work. … but I don’t have a lot of hope that this bill is going to preserve those provisions this year,” he said.

With less than a month left before the Legislature finishes for the year on Aug. 31, Democratic leaders would likely need to sign off on changes to Hoover’s tasting room measure. They’ve offered little indication they intend to intervene for craft distillers.Rivas, who’s received at least $108,000 in donations over the years from opponents of Hoover’s unpublished proposal, declined CalMatters’ request for an interview. Senate President Pro Tem Monique Limón, who’s received at least $33,000, responded to an interview request with an emailed statement saying she is aware of the pending deadline.

“This bill will continue to work its way through the legislative process as intended,” it said.

Bottles of spirits produced by Dry Diggins Distillery in El Dorado Hills on Aug. 4, 2026. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMatters

Democratic Sen. Susan Rubio and her sister, Democratic Assemblymember Blanca Rubio, oversee the committees that regulate California’s alcohol industry. When Hoover’s measure passed through their committees, the chairs could have allowed Hoover to add the direct-to-consumer amendment. They did not.

Susan Rubio has received at least $65,000 in donations from the groups blocking the direct-shipping proposal, according to Digital Democracy. Blanca Rubio has received at least $129,000.Sen. Rubio’s spokesperson, Giovanni Ruiz Reyes, responded to interview requests with emailed statements. The first said “conversations between stakeholders are ongoing” and that she “looks forward” to reviewing potential legislation.Ruiz Reyes said in a second statement Thursday that she’s supported four previous extensions of the craft distiller shipping policy.“There is currently no bill or amendment before the committee seeking another extension,” Ruiz Reyes said. “Accordingly, it would be inaccurate to suggest that Senator Rubio or the committee has blocked or refused to hear an extension when no such proposal is currently before the committee.”

Assemblymember Rubio didn’t return interview requests.

Fewer Americans are drinking

The liquor industry is facing a nationwide decline as more Americans cut back on drinking.

In that difficult business climate, corporate liquor wholesalers and distribution companies lobbied “to obliterate competition,” said Dodd, the former state senator from wine country lobbying on behalf of craft distillers.

“We oppose any effort to make DTC (direct to consumer) permanent,” the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, the California Beer & Beverage Distributors and the California Family Beer Distributors wrote in a joint statement to CalMatters.

Craft distilleries’ direct shipping “was always meant to be temporary pandemic relief, and it’s expiring exactly as designed, six years later” said the groups, which represent local and national companies that move many of America’s best-known beer, wine and liquor brands. They argue that after the law expires, spirits can still be delivered to customers through services such as DoorDash. DoorDash is listed as a member of the Wine & Spirit Wholesalers of America on its website.

The groups’ representative, Kevin Luckey, declined an interview request.

Steve Gross, president and CEO of the Wine Institute, said the wine industry has worked hard over the decades to have large and small wine sellers treated equally under California and national alcohol distribution laws. He said it would undermine his industry’s efforts if small distillers get delivery rights in California when large ones don’t have them.

“They have the option to go in and try and fight for a bill that we and others could also support,” Gross said. “They’ve chosen not to because those larger distillers are not their members.”

The Wine Institute is a lobbying group that represents more than 700 large and small wine sellers, including one of the world’s largest, Modesto-based Gallo Winery.

Craft distillers say they’ve tried to work with the groups blocking their bill to address their concerns, but they have gotten nowhere.

In the meantime, Steller, the El Dorado Hills distiller, has already started pulling back on shipping bottles to his customers because the Legislature won’t budge.

“I don’t want to keep putting money into a program that’s going to get yanked,” he said.

Jean Mae (Dobbert) Caldwell, Ed.D, 86, of Eureka was born on July 4, 1939, in Chicago, Illinois, and died on July 3, 2026 at St. Joseph’s Hospital, Eureka.

Raised primarily in Naperville, Illinois, she graduated in 1957 from Naperville High School where she was president of the Thespian Society. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Education from Drake University, and a Master of Arts in History from the University of Kansas. She taught high school in Garden Grove, California and wrote for the New Standard Encyclopedia in Chicago before taking a high school teaching position back in Naperville.

In the early 1980s, she earned her Doctorate in Education from Northern Illinois University, during which time she worked for the Illinois Council on Economic Education. From there she went on to the University of Central Oklahoma to run the Oklahoma Council on Economic Education, conducting teacher trainings in countless Oklahoma municipalities, and teaching “The Dismal Science” to UCO undergraduates as a tenured, full professor. As an active member of the national Joint Council on Economic Education, she traveled the country, presenting papers at many conferences and accepting several awards.

In 2000, she retired to Santa Fe, New Mexico, after which she did some educational writing and substitute teaching, in order “finance my travel habit” (her words). In 2005, she moved to Eureka, where she served as Volunteer Coordinator for the local Democratic Party office, once being named co-recipient of the “Democrat of the Year” award for staffing the telephone line from home during the pandemic.

Jean is survived by her daughter, Margaret, and her sister and brother-in-law, Laurel and Edward Snyder of Oro Valley, Arizona. She was preceded in death by her parents, Lenard and Harriet Dobbert.

A celebration of life will be held at The Meadows apartment complex in Eureka, from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, August 15.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Myers Flat Man Arrested for Firearms Violations After Allegedly Threatening Neighbor, Sheriff’s Office Says

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Press release from the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office:

On July 6, 2026, following a two-week trial, a Humboldt County jury returned guilty verdicts of all charges brought against 49-year-old Troy Spencer of Myers Flat including first-degree residential burglary, criminal threats, possession of an assault weapon, being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition. Additionally, the jury found two sentencing enhancements alleging he used an assault weapon in the commission of a felony and committed a residential burglary while out on bail to be true, thereby exposing him to a potential maximum of 13 years 8 months in prison under the law. Today, the Honorable Judge Kaleb V. Cockrum sentenced Spencer to serve 8 years, 4 months in prison.  

On January 31, 2026, armed with an assault rifle, Spencer went to the home of a female neighbor and began making threats from the exterior of her bedroom window. Spencer left her property then fired 5 shots from his rifle which were heard throughout the neighborhood. Shortly after firing shots, he sent a text message threatening, in part, that “the next 5 through that house…U wanted the gangster, u got him now.” The victim called 911 with the assistance of another neighbor.  HCSO Deputies, Sgt. Jonathan Eckert and Jacob McKenzie responded, investigated the crimes and discovered 4 additional firearms unlawfully possessed by Spencer due to his prior felony conviction.   

On March 18, 2026, after being charged for his January crimes, Spencer was released from jail on bail and broke into the same female neighbor’s home wherein he stole multiple items of jewelry. HCSO Deputies Luis Bonilla Sierra and RJ Truex investigated and arrested Spencer. 

Deputy District Attorney Brandon Boozari prosecuted Spencer for his crimes with the assistance of District Attorney Investigator Martin Morris, and District Attorney Victim Witness Advocate Michala Pelren. Spencer was represented by local defense attorney Zachary Curtis. 

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PREVIOUSLY: Big Trouble in Little River: After 16 Years, an Environment Dispute Between State Regulators and an Octogenarian Farmer Just Upstream From Moonstone Beach Could be Coming to a Head

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A 16-year effort to hold a McKinleyville-area property owner accountable for polluting Little River hit a major turning point today after the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board unanimously voted to refer the case to the state Attorney General’s Office for review. Now the case will play out in the courts.

Since December 2010, state agencies and environmental advocacy groups have sounded the alarm over allegations of unpermitted solid waste disposal and unauthorized grading at the 226-acre property, which is just upstream from Moonstone Beach. Water board staff assert that “poorly managed livestock grazing” and abandoned cow and horse carcasses have contaminated Little River with bacteria, specifically E. coli and fecal coliform, putting beachgoers and threatened salmonid species at risk.

The property, owned by the Vern C. McGaughey Trust, has been the subject of dozens of warning letters and violation notices from the California Coastal Commission, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), state water authorities and various local agencies. Despite numerous attempts to resolve the matter and threats of fines exceeding $6,000 per day, 88-year-old Vern McGaughey has yet to comply.

Speaking at today’s water board meeting in Crescent City, Assistant Executive Director Joshua Curtis explained that his “foremost priority” is to facilitate the restoration of contaminated sites, emphasizing that a “site restored is a win for water quality and a win for the people of California.” However, when attempts to gain compliance fail, the state is left with “few options.”

“Our primary tool is to issue an administrative civil liability complaint, or ACLC, and bring that case to this board for adjudication,” Curtis continued. “An ACLC is an effective tool, and it does come with limitations. [It] can limit creative settlement options, and by proposing penalties, sometimes push cleanup further out of reach. … Referring this case to the attorney general keeps the focus on cleanup and restoration, and offers significantly more flexible settlement options.”

Sending the case to the attorney general would open a path for the state to pursue civil litigation to address noncompliance with the cleanup order, staff attorney Paul Ciccarelli explained. “Ultimately, the superior court will serve as a trier of fact and issue a decision on the merits,” he said. “A referral still allows for settlement discussions and gives the board more flexibility than administrative enforcement.”

Brian Fuller, a senior engineering geologist, provided the board with a detailed list of alleged environmental violations and history of attempted enforcement of the property, as seen in the following timeline. (Note: NOV is a notice of violation, an EIA is an environmental impact assessment and a CAO is a cleanup and abatement order. LEA refers to the local enforcement agency.)

“The river and adjoining wetlands have been significantly degraded over more than a decade,” Fuller explained as he clicked through images from the site. “These pictures from January 2011 show concrete waste [and] landscaping fabric lining the banks of a tributary to the Little River on the property. … The 2023 [EIA] documented that … more waste had been dumped, and also evidence of poorly managed livestock grazing, including abandoned horse carcasses in the wetlands.”

Following staff’s presentation, Ken Bareilles, a local attorney representing McGaughey, shared his client’s side of the story. Bareilles acknowledged that McGaughey, whom he described as a “very highly regarded, very honest person,” had failed to get the permit needed to address the issues on his property, but accused staff of failing to acknowledge the root of the problem.

“Before you make decisions, you have to look at the history and see what the original causes of the problem are,” he said. “He did it to stop further erosion from the bank of the stream.”

Bareilles explained that, about 20 years ago, Little River became clogged with fallen trees and debris, causing a dike along the channel to crack and flood the property. 

Screenshot.

“Once it broke through the levee, Little River — which, when it has a lot of heavy rainfall, it flows tremendously — started flowing down through Mr. McGaughey’s property and cutting a great big swath right through his meadow,” he said. “That flow was causing tremendous erosion on [his] property. It went down through his field, and it turned eventually, and it went right into Little River, and … he’s [taken] steps to repair it … but it’s so vast now — it’s terrible now —  and it’s cut off his only access to the whole rest of his [property].”

Several times, Bareilles said his client was willing to address the issues on the property but couldn’t because of the stop work order issued by the county in 2022.

After wrapping his presentation, Bareilles asked the board if he could give the rest of his allotted time to McGaughey’s neighbor, notorious cattle rancher Raymond Christie, who, he said, has “tremendous knowledge of that whole area” and could speak to legacy issues on the property. The board agreed.

Over the course of 20 minutes, Christie described his upbringing on the neighboring property and recurring issues with Little River getting “plugged up” with debris. He named several county and state employees who, he claimed, had blatantly ignored his repeated requests to address water quality issues in the creek and accused CDFW staff of thwarting a restoration project in Little River. 

Screenshot.

“I’ve been reaching out to water quality for several years about a lot of different problems we have in Humboldt County, and it’s all went on deaf ears,” he said, accusing water board staff of cherrypicking information. “I got photos and videos — I’ve been documenting the whole time. The river — they neglected to show you this — is no longer going in the channel. There’s a half-mile stretch of river there that is dead. … Why didn’t they show you that? Because they didn’t want to.”

Christie claimed the fecal bacteria in the river is coming from another property further upstream that’s dumping sewage directly into the waterway. 

“Nothing ever been done about it,” he continued. “All this stuff that Vern’s being blamed [for], all Vern was trying to do … was protect his land from Fish and Wildlife’s actions of plugging up that river. It’s absolutely ruined his land. … Vern is not guilty of this, and I’m going to tell you something right now: I will fight with Vern to the bitter end on this whole thing because the whole truth has not come out.”

All who spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting urged the board to approve the resolution and forward the case to the attorney general for review.

Michael van Hattem, a senior environmental scientist with CDFW, described McGaughey’s property as “one of the worst” he’s ever seen for environmental violations. He described “countless solid waste dumps,” including derelict vehicles and RVs, as well as “land and habitat abuse.”

“CDFW recognizes the Little River Watershed as a critically important resource for salmonid recovery,” he said. “Given the ongoing harm to Little River and its floodplain, wetlands, sensitive species, habitats, tributaries, and the responsible party’s refusal to comply with the cleanup order, judicial enforcement of the water code is the most appropriate and efficient option [for enforcement]. CDFW and our … partners fully support fixing the issues in Little River once and for all, and that starts with the McGaughey property.”

Several other speakers, including Jen Kalt, executive director of the Humboldt Waterkeeper, raised concern about the presence of fecal bacteria in Little River and the potential for people to get sick from accidentally ingesting the water. 

“We’ve received numerous complaints from people who have children who experience explosive diarrhea and vomiting after playing in the river or after rinsing off their wetsuits in the river,” she said. “As you heard, Little River also supports spawning coho and other protected species. It’s a really important watershed … and it could be a really incredible place if it could be cleaned up and restored. … The Little River doesn’t belong to any individual landowner; it belongs to all of us.”

Following public comment, board member Molli Myers asked staff about the stop work order. “Is there anything that is stopping them from cleaning this up right now?”

“No,” Fuller said. “The cleanup and abatement order was drafted in consultation with all the other agencies so that it could be consistent with their actions. … We’ve worked closely with our agencies to make sure that Mr. McGaughey doesn’t have to deal individually with all the agencies. We’ve really tried to be consistent, as shown by our actions and joint settlement discussions.”

Bareilles emphasized several more times that the stop work order was preventing his client from moving forward with cleanup, and claimed he had “never gotten word back from the county” about how to move forward.

In a terse exchange, Board Chair Alexandra Hart emphasized that it is the property owner’s responsibility to follow up, not the county’s.

Screenshot

“You’ve had no follow-up with the county? You haven’t called them?” she asked.

“We’ve met with them,” he replied.

“But you haven’t had a subsequent follow-up call since then,” she said. “You haven’t pressed the issue. I mean, the onus is on the property owner to do that.”

“We’ve met with them in good faith, said we’re ready, willing and able, but we need to get permits to cross this gap that has been created,” he said.

Myers interjected, emphasizing that the stop work order is “only one of the issues,” underscoring the “degradation” on the site.

“I can see the pictures; there’s dead animals, carcasses that have been there rotting for I don’t know how long to be in that condition,” she continued. “And all the commenters are right; there’s little kids in that river all the time. It’s unacceptable, and I feel like you’re defending it.”

After some additional conversation, the board voted unanimously to approve the resolution and forward the case to the attorney general for review. The document can be read in full at this link.

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Communities up and down the California coast may be in for one doozy of a winter as a “Super El Niño” threatens to bring big, destructive storms, widespread coastal flooding and the highest sea levels ever recorded in the region.

McGuire. | Screenshot.

That was the warning issued this week by climate scientists and meteorologists participating in a virtual town hall hosted by California Senator and U.S. Congressional candidate Mike McGuire. 

There are currently better than four-in-five odds that the current warming phenomenon in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean will trigger a “very strong” weather pattern from October through December, one that would rank among the largest El Niño events in the historical record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA). 

“The Super El Niño has a real potential for larger and more destructive storms, flooding events, ocean-based heat waves — which we’re already starting to see off the Pacific — and enhanced summertime monsoonal moisture that’s coming up from the Pacific, which can bring lightning to fire-prone regions across the state and right here in Northern California,” McGuire said in his introductory remarks.

Dr. Daniel Swain, whom McGuire described as one of the nation’s top climate scientists, explained that temporary (if escalating) warming trends in the equatorial Pacific Ocean can produce large-scale climate effects around the world for months following the peak of the event. This year’s version of the phenomenon, known as El Niño, is extraordinary.

“What we’re seeing right now is something that is fairly remarkable from a historical perspective,” Swain said. The biggest impacts, which likely won’t arrive for a couple of months, are likely to hit Southern California the hardest, but even here in Humboldt County we’re likely to see significant coastal flooding, especially during strong storms and king tides.

“It’s very strong, and could even become, potentially, the strongest on record,” Swain said, regarding the Super El Niño. “In fact, that is what some of the best predictive models are currently indicating is a distinct possibility. So we may be seeing an event that we haven’t really seen before in living memory in California.”

Dr. Mark Merrifield, a scientist and professor with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, said the one thing we can count on is higher sea levels.

“They are already starting to increase,” he said, referring not just to the slow and steady rise caused by climate change but also an anomalous surge tied to this weather phenomenon.

“We can expect [that] by fall, winter this year, we should be seeing sea levels far above the average seasonal cycle going forward,” Merrifield said. “[W]e’re expecting likely the highest sea levels ever recorded on the California coast.”

El Niño events, like their counterparts, La Niñas, are cyclical climate patterns. Strong ones in 1982-83 and 1997-98 caused abnormally wet winters and large waves here in California. 

Dr. Merrifield noted that, due to “a sort of unlucky coincidence,” the Pacific’s multi-year tidal cycle is scheduled to peak around Christmastime, joining forces with the most serious impacts of El Niño. These combined phenomena are likely to generate large waves, extra-high sea levels and heavy rainfall, causing “considerable coastal flooding, intrusion of groundwater and coastal erosion.”

If there’s any good news, McGuire said, it’s that California voters recently passed Prop. 4, a $10 billion climate bond designed to help communities prepare for floods, coastal erosion, wildfire, sea level rise, extreme heat and other climate-driven disasters.

“At the end of the day, we can’t control the weather,” McGuire said, “but what we can control is how prepared we are before the weather hits. And that means continuing to invest in infrastructure, supporting our local communities and making sure Californians have the latest, most accurate information they need before potential disaster strikes.”

To that end, the town hall heard from Nate Ortiz, assistant director of planning and preparedness here at the California Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES). He noted that the state has a lot of resources available, and he encouraged people to sign up for emergency alerts. (Humboldt County residents can do that here.) Ortiz also recommended preparing emergency supply kits and a “go bag” that contains key documents, such as passports, social security cards and birth certificates.

You can watch the entire town hall event, including a Q-and-A with the panelists, below.