U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman led a crowded town hall meeting this afternoon at the Adorni Center on Eureka’s waterfront, speaking to an anxious but broadly supportive crowd of around 500 people. Over the course of about an hour and 40 minutes he addressed what he characterized as the “existential threat to democracy” presented by President Donald Trump and his Republican enablers in Congress.

“The truth is, I have never been more worried and alarmed about the direction of this country,” Huffman declared early in the meeting. He said Congressional Republicans have abdicated their responsibility to serve as a check on the executive branch, choosing instead to be obsequious while Trump “lurch[es] toward authoritarianism.”

Among the crowd was a smattering of vocal critics of Huffman’s support for sending military aid to Israel. They occasionally yelled at him from the standing-room-only area at the back and from elsewhere in the large room. He addressed a few direct questions about the violence against Palestinian people in Gaza, and near the end of the meeting he delivered a forceful response to a couple of especially outspoken critics.

The crowd was mostly on his side, though. After entering through a side door, stage right, Huffman strolled to the lectern amid a hearty round of applause. About three quarters of the crowd stood as they clapped and cheered for the North Coast’s Democratic representative in Congress. 

Appearing chuffed by the warm reception, Huffman began with a couple of jokes. He noted the blustery weather outside and quipped, “Someone should propose an offshore wind project; this would be a perfect spot for that!” And after thanking the City of Eureka for making the Adorni Center available he remarked, “It is amazing to see this kind of a turnout. And gosh, I just wonder, how did George Soros find and pay all of you?”

But he quickly acknowledged the “sobering and grim” political moment. He rattled off a few Congressional “funding victories” from recent years, including the $426 million federal grant to build a heavy-lift marine terminal on Humboldt Bay (“We’re still going to have to fight for that funding,” he acknowledged); $37 million for Klamath River restoration; and $15 million for restoration of forests and watersheds in Redwood National and State Parks.

Huffman also noted his recent election as ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee. 

“But look,” he said. “I’m real clear on why probably most of you are here. I think you are all really reeling, as I am, from this wave of executive orders unlike anything that we have ever seen, from the wrecking ball of DOGE, from the on-again, off-again tariffs that seem to change almost by the hour and the economic chaos that all of this is unleashing, and just everything else that’s in the news right now.”

As the Trump administration flouts the law and tests legal boundaries, Huffman said, “Republicans in Congress … seem to have forgotten that we are a separate and independent branch of government that the Founders put right up front, Article I of the Constitution. … This Congress thinks it works for Donald Trump, and that is a big constitutional problem.”

He also lamented the “extralegal” (as in illegal) and “incompetent” actions of DOGE, the onslaught of executive orders gutting and eliminating federal departments and the billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook who are “bending the knee” before Trump.

He told a brief anecdote to illustrate the point: At a ceremonial lunch he was obligated to attend at the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, Huffman overheard Amazon’s CEO speaking to Trump’s youngest son, Barron. “And I can overhear Jeff Bezos kissing up to this kid Barron Trump and telling him what a brilliant and insightful young man he is,” Huffman said. “I mean, the level of sycophancy with billionaires trying to curry favor was unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”

Huffman said he agrees that the violence in Gaza has been horrific, and he’s even more horrified that the Trump administration seems willing to rubber-stamp more of it. He added that while he doesn’t like the current Israeli government, he also didn’t want to “throw the people of Israel under the bus.”

Faced with two lousy choices, Huffman said, “I tried to use our influence to redirect the Israeli government and the Israeli war plan, and it didn’t work. So I’m not happy with the outcome either.”

As staffers and volunteers walked around the room with live microphones, Huffman continued to take questions, addressing such matters as Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (“a singularly unqualified person running the Department of Health and Human Services”); the potential elimination of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); threats to social security, Medicare and Medicaid; and the elimination of funds for local food banks (“I can’t imagine anything more cruel and wrongheaded.”)

A woman named Carol Monet said she’s worried about green-card holders and other legal residents being “disappeared” by immigration officials for exercising their right to free speech.

Huffman said he saw the potential for such actions back when Trump was disingenuously disavowing Project 2025, and now it’s happening.

“Yeah, the arbitrary, random, secretive disappearing of people is happening across the board,” he said, noting that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been bragging about revoking the student visas of protestors who have “exercised political speech he disagrees with.” Huffman referenced the famous “First they came for … “ passage from the 1930s by German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller and said, “That’s exactly where we are in America right now.”

One attendee told Huffman that he was preaching to the choir and urged him to do more. He responded that while he may lack the charisma and star power of AOC and Bernie Sanders, he’s in their same “fight camp,” and he vowed to visit a Republican district soon.

A U.S. Navy veteran asked Huffman what’s being done to protect habeas corpus, people’s right to challenge the legality of their detention or imprisonment, given the recent crackdown on people who protested against the violence in Gaza.

“ICE is taking plain-clothes, Gestapo goon squads piped up to the gills to take people off the street, take them halfway across the country to a for-profit ICE detention center, or even worse, to yet another Republican-founded overseas torture, slave-labor gulag,” the man said. “What are we doing to protect our students from Cal Poly? And what are we doing to free the political prisoners already taken?”

Huffman said the rights of habeas corpus and due process are “at the core of who we are as a nation,” and he vowed to defend them in every way he can. But he also noted that, being in the minority party in Congress, he doesn’t have the ability to issue subpoenas or hold hearings. Still, he said he would lean on his Republican colleagues because “this shouldn’t be partisan.”

The most heated exchange of the afternoon came toward the end of the event. A woman named Karpani Burns (no relation to this reporter) described a scene in which a Palestinian father held the head of his dead son and challenged Huffman to look at his own moral compass in the context of the “tens of thousands of people that have been murdered” in Gaza.

“I have not yet seen one move on your part to care, to do something except continue with your vote for arms to Israel,” she said. “You continually say they have a right to defend themselves. They are not defending themselves. They are butchering a people. It’s called ge-no-cide.”

Huffman said he finds the violence in Gaza morally repugnant. “I promise you, I really do,” he insisted. “I’m horrified by it, including the scenes that you described, which are really happening. And I wish there was something more that I could do to stop it, but I’ve not been sitting on my hands.” 

As he continued, a woman near the front started shouting at him, calling Israel an ethnic state. He asked to be allowed to finish.

“​​I believe the state of Israel does have a right to exist,” Huffman said. “That doesn’t mean I support everything they do, okay? So there are contradictions and nuances here. It is an issue that does not reduce to an absolute binary the way I think it has been suggested.”

He went on to say that he has tried to support Palestinians “in ways that many pro-Israel folks are upset with me for,” adding, “I’m probably in a position where I please absolutely no one on this issue.”

Other people in the room shouted angrily as he continued. The woman near the front kept shouting, “Palestinians have a right to exist!” Huffman engaged in a bit of back-and-forth before going on the offensive with a remark about the last presidential election. 

“You know what?” he said. “Maybe getting thousands and thousands of people not to vote for Democrats in the last election because they weren’t perfect with what you want was a dumb idea.” 

The crowd began cheering in response. He continued. “Maybe you should have some accountability for just totally misplaced advocacy on this issue, but let’s move on.”

The woman continued to shout at him — “You are a war criminal voting for genocide” — as others urged her to sit down. 

Huffman turned his attention to the last public speaker of the day, a man who recounted his harrowing experiences interacting with the American medical system as he sought care for his son, who suffered from severe mental disabilities in his youth. He said he and his son have reached a state of normalcy thanks to the $3,000 per month in Medicaid they receive, and he said the Trump administration represents an existential threat to that kind of care.

Huffman thanked the man for summing up what’s at stake in this political moment, noting the cruel irony that those dismantling the country’s social safety net are among the richest people on Earth.

“They’re these oligarchs that will never feel any of this, and they are just zeroing out programs without any concern for what it means for people’s lives … ,” he said. “Thank you for helping draw that connection, because it’s a super central part of this moment that we’re all in, and I think a very appropriate note for us to end on. Thank you for a great conversation.”

View more photos of the event below, and you can watch the video of the full town hall meeting at the bottom of this post, courtesy Access Humboldt.

They’re expecting a packed house at the Adorni Center on Sunday, where Jared Huffman is set to take center stage for a town hall meeting at 1 p.m. The congressman is expected to give constituents an update on how he sees the state of D.C. politics while also answering some questions. 

Access Humboldt is live-streaming the event. Watch below. LoCO will have a full report later.

The sound was deafening – chanting, stomping feet, cheers and boos. The din was coming from very nearby. Getting up from the desk where I’d been lesson planning, I went to the window. Outside a large group of students had gathered at the entrance to the building.

“Dersler yok!” Cancel classes! This was one of the rallying cries. The group about 150 or so students was led by a female student carrying a bullhorn. Others were demanding that security open the doors to the building, which had been locked beforehand as a precaution. Out in the corridor, a few students who had stayed for classes were standing at the windows, watching the demonstration and taking video on their smartphones. They grinned nervously, excitedly.

“I want to be active!” said one of them, a youth of perhaps eighteen, looking upon his peers with both admiration and envy.

Photos: Tressler.

The demonstrations have been happening here in Ankara and across the country for days, as the world by now surely knows. Since the arrest of popular Istanbul mayor and Turkish presidential candidate Ekrem Imamoglu last week, major anti-government protests have persisted in Istanbul, Izmir, and other cities. As you may have read, the mayor was accused of corruption and of links to the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, or PKK, which officially is listed here as a terrorist group. Here in the nation’s capital, similar unrest has continued both in the center district of Kızılay, where the government offices are located, but has also spread to university campuses. Which is what was happening outside my office window this past Tuesday.

Many students say that, as young Turks, they are worried about their country’s future and fed up with the ruling government, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has been in charge of this country since 2003, before most of these students were even born. Critics accuse Erdogan and his ruling AKP Party of manipulating the justice system, of falsely arresting Imamoglu so that, if convicted, he could be eliminated as a viable presidential candidate and also help AK Party recapture political control of Istanbul, which has been led by the minority CHP for the past few years.

After watching them protest for a while, I went back to my office to continue preparing for lessons. But then a roaring sound seemed to buzz around my ears, as if I were wearing headphones. Suddenly I realized the buzz was not a buzz but a clamor, much louder now than before, and it was coming from inside the building. You could even feel reverberations in the walls. The protesters were inside.

Out in the corridor, the students had gathered on every floor, holding signs (One young woman held a sign that read in English, “I DON’T NEED SEX BECAUSE THE GOVERNMENT F***S ME EVERY DAY;” another read, “LIBERTY OR DEATH” with the ‘A’ made into an anarchy sign.

The chants continued, as many students from the nearby classrooms joined them. There were more calls to cancel classes, calls for the government to resign, shouts of support for the minority party and so on, continuing for several minutes, with a few teachers, security staff and even janitorial personnel, their morning cleaning interrupted, quietly observing. Presently, the demonstrators filed out, exiting the building and taking their gathering over to a large green mall outside.

Inside, the school was unusually quiet. It was expected to be a quiet week anyway, with the end of the holy month approaching and the coming of bayram and the spring weather. The demonstration seemed in line with how the past few days have felt – a whole country once again rocked by tumult and unrest.

I say “once again” because for anyone who’s lived in Turkiye any length of time grows accustomed to its volatility, natural or not. In the fifteen years or so I spent in Istanbul, one had the opportunity to witness the riots and protests over Gezi Park back in 2013 – the proposed destruction of a park in Taksim Square that quickly became a rallying point for anti-government protests. Many of us call recall every evening in Istanbul and in cities across the country the strangely musical clamor of pots and pans, an evening ritual in which people stood on their balconies and banged these kitchenware as a show of unity against the government.

Then, there was the failed military coup of July 2016, when a calm Friday evening was suddenly overrun with tanks and soldiers on the bridges, jets soaring overhead in the night, and frantic citizens (my wife and I included) scampering to buy supplies from the shops that were still open, fearing days or even weeks of crackdowns and deprivations.

And of course, there were other upheavals: March 2020, when classes and everything else suddenly were brought to a screeching halt with the pandemic and the announcement of lockdowns, and we all had to more or less spend the next year of our lives at home. We’d scarcely gotten used to being back outside when in February 2023, a massive earthquake struck, killing more than 50,000 and displacing thousands more.

Throughout these events, the economy has been an ongoing soap opera, with hyperinflation and with each cataclysmic event plunging the lira further down against the dollar (after the recent arrest of the Istanbul mayor, the lira briefly fell to 40-1, before rebounding to about 35 – people say that the government sold a lot of dollars to help stabilize the currency.

I could go on, but at this point, what’s the point? Things are too touch and go. Millions rallied to support Imamoglu this past Sunday by voting for him as a presidential candidate. Meanwhile, protests continue each day, as evidenced by the demonstration right here in the building where I work this past week.

After Tuesday’s protest, some students returned to their classes. A few of them, looking sweaty, tired but nonetheless proud (empowered?), stood and talked excitedly to each other in the corridors and outside in the smoking area. From previous conversations, I’ve gathered that many of them wish to leave Turkiye upon graduation. They want to go West, to Europe, North America. Most of them seek money, as young people tend to do, but also because they want greater stability. Of course, looking at the region – from Ukraine to Gaza, and also at the growing tensions around the world, particularly between America and Europe, one at times feels troubled by the notion that perhaps nowadays nowhere is entirely secure, that greener pastures may be illusory.

But I was touched by the students’ passion, courage and commitment. As a journalist, I have witnessed many demonstrations over the years. The causes may differ – from environmental protests in Northern California, to anti-nuke rallies in Prague, and so on — but the feeling is the same, the desire to seize the reins, to somehow make some kind of change. To see citizens, here or elsewhere, young or old, have that look in their eyes, and to hear it in their voices, is something that never ceases to amaze, even inspire.

Will any of it make a difference?

“No,” says one young man, when asked. His eyes fall briefly, crestfallen. Then again, how often do such demonstrations prove to be effective anywhere? But maybe that’s not the lasting thing. For these young people, so often accused of being lazy and self-obsessed with social media, maybe it’s a relief to know that maybe after all they do care about their country’s future, and about their own. Perhaps it is the dawn of something.

(Note: The Istanbul mayor remains in custody. Later in the week, the terrorism charge was dropped, which means Imamoglu’s interim replacement can be from his party, rather than a hand-picked AK Party member, which would have occurred had the terrorism charges remained. Many here attribute this as a sign that the nationwide protests appear to have had some impact.)

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James Tressler, a former Lost Coast resident and journalist, is a writer and teacher living in Ankara.

Betty Jane Eberhardt passed away peacefully on February 16, 2025, at Frye’s Care Home in Eureka, one week after her 96th birthday. She had loving phone conversations and visits with family on her birthday. She was very happy to meet her two new great granddaughters, in the months and weeks prior to her passing.

Betty was born February 9, 1929, in Loveland, Colorado, the youngest of 10 children born to Elizabeth Beideck and David Dreith, Volga Germans from Russia.

Her parents were farmers and life was not easy. Betty’s older siblings provided much of her care while the family worked in the fields. As she grew, Betty had to take on many farm duties including herding cows and bulls around a four mile pasture area when she was just eight years old. This was a big responsibility for a young girl. Years later, she and her sister Helen milked cows in the early morning before they headed off to school.

Betty’s mother passed away in 1937, when she was 9 years old. Her father married Anna Pauley, in 1938, adding an older step-sister to the household. Betty liked both of them. Unfortunately, her step-mother passed away when Betty was 17 years old.

Betty’s family lived in Colorado, until her father bought an 80 acre farm near Minatare, Nebraska. They moved to Scottsbluff, Nebraska, in 1940, living there until the farmhouse was cleaned up and upgraded with electricity.

Betty attended Minatare High School and she loved school. She had the most beautiful smile and made many friends, several of whom she stayed in touch with throughout her lifetime. Betty relied on friends to drive her to school. On occasion, she would have to walk the four miles to home, do her chores, and prepare the evening meal for her father and brothers. In her senior year of high school, Betty missed school every Monday, as it was her job to do the family laundry. Despite all the setbacks with chores at home and on the farm, Betty graduated from Minatare High School in 1947, the only child of her family to do so.

Betty met Elmer Eberhardt on a blind date. She said when Elmer gave her an unexpected kiss, she saw stars. She was smitten with Elmer, and she had found her soulmate. Betty and Elmer were married in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, in November, 1948. They lived in Omaha for a short time so Elmer could attend a trade school. In 1949, Betty gave birth to a son, David, in Scottsbluff, where they lived until 1953. Elmer’s older brother suggested they come to Northern California, where there were many jobs in the timber industry since neither Betty, nor Elmer, had any intentions of farming. After many months of contemplation, they headed west to Humboldt County.

Betty and her family soon found a tiny duplex in Eureka. After their daughter, Diane, was born in 1955, Bettyand Elmer purchased a small fixer-upper home on Hodgson Street in 1956. Their daughter, Debra was born in 1957, and the family was complete. They would live in this home until 1977, when they purchased a home in Cutten.

Betty was a good mother and wife. She took joy in caring for her family. She always kept a spotless home and wanted the yard to look nice. Betty enjoyed baking, and made countless pies, cakes, cupcakes, and cookies over the years for her family and friends. Throughout her life, Betty made many phone calls and sent cards and letters in her efforts to stay in touch with people. In addition to showing attention and kindness to others, Betty also took great pride in her own appearance and was always very well put-together. She loved to bargain- shop, and always made the greatest buys on beautiful outfits and shoes. Her hair was always curled, her makeup done just so, and her lovely smile and bright eyes were more accentuated by the ways she cared for herself.

Betty supported her children in their school functions and in Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Campfire Girls, and Job’s Daughters. Betty was an active member of Washington School PTA and was presented with an Honorary Service Award in the 1960s. In 1966, she began working for the Eureka City Schools in the cafeterias at Zane Junior High School, and later at Eureka Senior High School. She then worked as a teacher’s aide at Jefferson, Marshall, and Alice Birney Elementary Schools. Her final position was as a resource aide at Lafayette Elementary School, retiring in 1991. For a short while she tutored students at her home.

Betty and Elmer enjoyed exploring the beauty of Humboldt County. They made family outings to beaches, rivers, and forests. The Sequoia Park and Zoo were also favorite places. Sometimes, relatives from Nebraska and Colorado would visit. Betty and Elmer also loved traveling back to the Midwest to visit their family members. They would take their children to different National Parks, National Monuments, and tourist spots along their chosen routes. Betty and Elmer enjoyed exploring our beautiful country. They also traveled to British Columbia and Alberta, Canada, in 1969.

When Betty and Elmer moved to their Cutten home in 1977, they began a daily two mile walking routine. In later years, walking shorter routes, they could be seen holding hands as they walked. Betty and Elmer met their neighbors and became friends with other walkers over the years. After retirement, they did more walking and traveling. Betty and Elmer hiked to the top of Mount Lassen. They often traveled to Arizona to visit their daughter, Debra, and her family. On another occasion, after several months of preparation, they walked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back. They attended family reunions in the Midwest as well as their Minatare High School Class Reunions. Betty and Elmer joined OCTA (Oregon California Trail Association) and, for many years, hiked pioneer trails across the western states. They met and made lifelong friendships with several of the OCTA members. Betty and Elmer joined some of their family members on an Alaskan Cruise. Their children and grandchildren joined them on trips where they followed pioneer trails they had previously explored. Betty and Elmer especially enjoyed their annual family trips to Oregon beach houses near Gold Beach, for 17 years.Betty adored her grandchildren. She and Elmer attended their school functions, birthday, family, and holiday events. Betty loved having the grandchildren visit and always had homemade cookies for them.

Three of her granddaughters lived in Cutten and attended the neighborhood schools. Betty and Elmer provided the best ‘Grandparent Daycare’ during school holidays, summer vacation, and afterschool. Betty would help her granddaughters learn to read and do mathematics. They would watch her bake in the kitchen and sometimes sneak a bite of dough when she wasn’t looking. Betty and Elmer took the girls on walks and to Sequoia Park. The girls cherished this time with their grandparents. Betty and Elmer celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary in November of 2020. When Elmer passed away in 2021, at age 96, Betty lost her partner and the love of her life. Betty loved the wonderful life that she and Elmer had built together. Six months after Elmer’s passing, she moved to Frye’s Care Home in her Cutten neighborhood. Betty immediately initiated a daily walking routine which she kept up for several years. Some of the staff at Frye’s were like her extended family and cared for her until she peacefully passed away.

Betty is survived by her sister, Helen Honstein from Hay Springs, Nebraska; her children, David Eberhardt (Marie), Diane Larkin (Dan), Debra Harper (Pat); her grandchildren, Matt Eberhardt, Marc Eberhardt (Sara), Jacob Eberhardt, Sara Farley, Brooke Logan (Garrett), Amy Borden (Huna), Katie Larkin, Hannah Gossi (Jared), Emily Larkin Jewell (Brandon), Steven Harper (Rachel); her great-grandchildren; her great, great-grandchildren; and her nieces, nephews, cousins, and countless friends. Betty is predeceased by her husband, Elmer, by her parents, David and Elizabeth, her step mother, Anna, her siblings, Mary, Lydia, Alexander, William, Leroy, Lenora, Charles, and Harold, and a grandson, Bryan Hubbard. Betty is missed by family and friends, and those whose lives she touched with her kindness. The lasting memories of her legacy will live in our hearts forever, and her beautiful smile will never be forgotten. Knowing that Betty is again with her beloved Elmer brings us joy and gives us comfort and peace.

The family wishes to thank the staff at Frye’s Care Home and Hospice of Humboldt for the compassionate care Betty received.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Hospice of Humboldt. A small family Celebration of Life will be held in the near future.

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

Press release from Mary Burke for Supervisor:

Mary Burke, a long time active community member, has announced her candidacy for Humboldt County’s 5th District Supervisor in the 2026 election. Burke believes that Humboldt County’s livable future depends upon our ability to come together and make critical decisions that are based on values of community health and protection of our basic needs.

Burke’s public service is reflected in the saying that “the world is run by the people who show up.” Since Burke made McKinleyville her home, she saw the potential to build community connections through parks and trails and quickly looked for ways to get involved and better understand the landscape. She was appointed to MCSD’s Recreation Advisory Committee and in 2017 she was elected to the McKinleyville Community Services District Board of Directors; and was subsequently appointed to the McKinleyville Municipal Advisory Committee (MMAC). After her elected role with MCSD, Mary continued with MMAC as a community member on subcommittees. There she worked to bring attention to multimodal issues; and to the connection between local governance and the underlying conditions for economic and community vitality.

“As Mary Burke’s neighbor, friend, and colleague, I have spent many hours working with Mary to identify and address the needs and aspirations of the people who live here,” says Lisa Dugan, former County Department Head and current MMAC subcommittee Chair. “In the past 5 years we researched and developed relationships with both local and state-wide colleagues in order to bring a future vision into focus through transparent planning at public meetings. Mary possesses a rare combination of skills: she’s a connector that helps people find shared values, and she has the ability to literally bring people from a variety of backgrounds to the table and give life to their vision.”

With more than a decade of hands-on work in watershed and salmon habitat restoration as well as experience in public works operations, Burke understands that the health of our people and landscapes are intertwined. She brings the ability to weave these elements of community health into the large-scale watershed restoration projects she manages and into connecting smaller communities like Orick to broader regional economic development.

“Mary Burke is the kind of leader that brings people together,” Supervisor Steve Madrone said. “Her curiosity about people’s experiences and what they value leads to a real sense of connection. I am pleased to endorse Mary Burke in her campaign for 5th District Supervisor, she has the skills and experience to lead the County into our future.”

Burke is clear-eyed about the challenges we face as a rural county - deteriorating or lacking infrastructure, economic conditions marked by instability and change, and under-resourced but vital services to meet our community’s basic needs. Burke is dedicated to the long game and the relationships it takes at the state and local level to develop a sustainable County-wide workforce. As a working mother, a neighbor, and with lifelong roots in McKinleyville, Burke’s family lives in the same neighborhood where she spent many hours as a youth along the forested bluffs of the Baduwa’t. She knows firsthand the connection our communities have to the land, whether through traditional ceremony, ranching, harvesting, or simply walking or rolling through our neighborhoods; these connections motivate and inspire Burke’s campaign.

“Politics is about actions that meet people’s needs. Working people who work together will find the best solutions for the people who live here,” Burke said. “I am ready to walk this path alongside my neighbors to build the future we all deserve.”

During her campaign, which will build momentum from now through November 2026, Burke will embark on a listening tour of the 5th District to get grounded in the successes and challenges people experience and their dreams for their future.

For more information, visit burkeforsupervisor.com and follow the campaign on social media.

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PREVIOUSLY:

• HUMBOLDT’S CHAMP DISC HANDLER! Longtime McKinleyville Resident Inducted into the ‘Ultimate Hall of Fame’

The Klamath dams are out. Let’s celebrate! Goudi’ni Native American Arts Gallery presents Undammed, an exhibition that celebrates the historic removal of dams on the Klamath River. Art has been at the forefront of the struggle by Native communities to bring down the dams, from protest art lampooning corporate executives to bumper stickers expressing solidarity with the cause. Gallery Director Brittany Britton and artists Lyn Risling and Annelia Norris, join the show to discuss the upcoming show, the role of art in dam removal activism, and the local Native art scene.

The gallery is open Wednesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Friday 11 a.m.-3 p.m., and Saturday 11 a.m.-2 p.m. It is closed Sunday-Tuesday. The gallery will be open 11 a.m.-2 p.m. during the California Big Time & Social Gathering on Saturday, April 5. Visits can be arranged via appointment. Please contact the Gallery Director Brittany Britton at rbg@humboldt.edu, or call (707) 826-3629.

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As its name suggests, Bridgeville has been defined by the four bridges that have spanned the Van Duzen River and the town’s 120-year-plus history. The remote community, which lies about fifty miles from Eureka, owes its very existence to its crossroads location.

Before 1875, when the first bridge was built, people crossed the Van Duzen River at a place known as Robinson’s Ferry after local rancher and early settler William Slaughter Robinson. Even though the river was narrow at the crossing, fording the swift water was a risky struggle. This limited the horse-drawn traffic of that day to low-water conditions in the summer.

According to historian Owen Coy (The Humboldt Bay Region, 1850-1875), Humboldt County residents had been agitating for a road to Mendocino County for more than a decade before the bridge was built. In 1874, after much discussion, Humboldt County supervisors authorized construction of a road from Kneeland Prairie and Yager Creek south over the open hills to the county line.

Coy states, “By June 1875, the road had been built from Kneeland Prairie to a point past old Camp laqua, while the Van Duzen River had been bridged at Robinson’s ferry.”

To mark its new status, residents called the town Bridgeport. A report printed in the West Coast Signal on February 14, 1877, describes the town:

Another one of the attractive localities on the nearly completed overland road is the new town of Bridgeport, situated at the crossing the Van Duzen River, and the junction of the Humboldt and Mendocino and Kneeland’s Prairie Roads. By those who have visited Bridgeport in the spring, summer or autumn, it is pronounced to be one of the pleasantest retreats in the county, and the region round boasts an abundance of wild game and fish.

The property adjacent to the bridge is owned by Mr. John J. Hale, and we are informed on good authority that Miller, Sweasey and Co., proprietors of the Humboldt and Mendocino Mail Stage Line, have leased the hotel stand and will make Bridgeport one of the eating and change stations on the route. In the hands of an expert in the hotel business, the Bridgeport House will soon become a popular place of retreat.

In May of 1877, when the post office was established, it was found that a town in Mono County had already claimed the name of Bridgeport. Residents searched for a new name, and the town promptly became known as Bridgeville.

Not quite four years after it was built, the first bridge, said to have been weakened by decayed posts, collapsed in a late-winter torrent of high water. The March 1879 tragedy claimed one life, that of young Johnney Hale.

The boy was the son of John Hale, an early settler who had built the twenty-four-room Bridgeville Hotel, a two-story structure that was later lost to fire in 1919. He also acted as postmaster, and owned the other buildings in town.

On the day of the tragedy. Hale, along with some other men, had been monitoring the high waters around the bridge most of the day. His son, who had been watching from the apparent safety of the bridge, was drowned when the entire structure suddenly washed into the river. Another of Hale’s sons and two men were likewise dropped into the river, but survived. Johnney’s body was recovered twelve miles down river and he was buried in Bridgeville Cemetery.

To avoid another washout and the potential for future tragedies, plans were laid for a new bridge high enough to avoid a similar problem. Key to its support were two sturdy, above-deck wooden arches that stretched across the river to firm supports on either bank. The deck, along with the hand- fashioned arches, was enclosed in the classic covered-bridge style to protect the bridge from the elements. The covered bridge, completed in 1879, lived up to its expectations and served the community well into the era of the auto.

Ed Barnum was the next proprietor of the town, having purchased the store and land from Hale. A printed clipping from the Susie Baker Fountain Notebooks, identified only as “Aug. 1882?, ” states:

A news ‘“brief described the town of Bridgeville: “Bridgeville is now about one of the liveliest places in the county. E.B. Barnum, owner of the place, has quite a little town of his own. He resides there with his family, keeps a hotel, store and the post office. There is also a blacksmith and a harness shop and a Good Templars lodge located on the premises.”

Another description of Bridgeville. published in 1881 by W. W. Elliot in The History of Humboldt County, California, gives a slightly different impression:

This town, situated on the Van Duzen, is some twenty-five miles east of Hydesville. It has two hotels, blacksmith shop, store and a few dwelling houses, and has an air of thrift. Nature has done her part toward making this place most favorable for spanning the stream. The river is narrow, the banks high, and large rocks put on either side, forming perfect buttresses, from which the bridge rises in a graceful arch far removed from the dangers of high water.

The town’s next owners, the Cox family, came to Bridgeville in 1909.  Nova Scotia native Henry Cox and Maria Jane Coffren had been married in Bayside. After moving to the remote inland community, Henry ran the Bridgeville Hotel for several years, and then, in 1912, acquired the entire town from the estate of Ed Barnum for the reported price of $15,000. At this point, before the railroad from San Francisco to Eureka was put through in 1914, Bridgeville continued to be an important stop on the road from the south. Also, the new highway east to Red Bluff had been completed, and Henry thought that when people from the Sacramento Valley began 10 travel westward to the coast that Bridgeville would become a major stopping point.

Maria Jane (Coffren) Cox and Henry Cox were married in Bayside. They came to Bridgeville in 1909.

Of Henry’s seven children, six eventually moved on to other locales. One son, George Henry, lived the rest of his life in the small community, and has descendents living there today. Born in Bayside in 1889, George Henry attended Eureka Business College, frequently referred to as Craddock’s Business College after its principal, then joined his father in running the general merchandise store. The store, a neatly painted white structure in the center of town, was identified with a sign that read “Henry Cox & Son,” and in case travelers didn’t know where they were, large letters near the top of the two-story building spelled out BRIDGEVILLE.

George Henry Cox saved hundreds of documents from store transactions, including correspondence. These not only give valuable insights on the commerce of the day, but highlight the personal service, often above and beyond the call of duty, that Cox rendered to the townspeople. He helped many of them, a number of whom were illiterate, with minor legal chores like filling out forms or preparing documents. To ease the hardships of their remote location, he did his best to fulfill the many special requests that arrived daily from in-town and outlying customers.

He also gave generously to the community. He purchased trout to plant in the Van Duzen River to enhance the fishing for townspeople, and each Christmas he decorated a large evergreen tree with lights on his property near the center of town.

George Henry and Jessie Cox.

The correspondence shows that the Coxes were not bashful when it came to addressing wrongs. A letter offers insights on how they approached problems:

July 18, 1916
The San Francisco Bulletin
R. A. Crothers, editor and proprietor

Dear Sir:

In your issue of the Bulletin dated July 14, 1916, you published an article entitled Humboldt Highways by Virginia Ballen.

This article contains the vilest slander and the most deliberate falsehoods we have ever seen published relative to any place. We cannot conceive what Virginia Ballen’s motive could have been for writing such an article and we did not believe it possible that any paper would publish such slander.

There is not a single word of proof in the whole statement as regards Bridgeville. Bridgeville has no saloons. There is not a saloon within 20 miles of here and there has not been for 10 years or more. There is no gambling in Bridgeville and no ramshackle buildings. We believe it is one of the prettiest summer resorts in Humboldt County and you can readily see the damage this article will do to our business.

We enclose you late photographs of hotel and store at this place so that you may see for yourself. We shall expect you to make suitable amends for the article published at once. Please let us hear from you without delay.

The Coxes also helped fellow storekeepers from other towns. This letter of January 25, 1922, from the nearby town of Carlotta, obviously responds to a message that had been sent earlier:

Gentlemen:

We are glad to receive some encouragement that the Spingath Brothers may be located, because they owe us over $200 and if we can get a stranglehold on them we intend to hold fast until they come through.

Please keep us posted and greatly oblige.

Very truly yours,

Carlotta Store

The Cox family had more challenges than those of the pen. In December 1919 disaster occurred when their hotel and store both burned on a frosty morning. They quickly converted an old saloon and blacksmith shop into a store, which they operated together until the elder Cox died in 1934.

In 1925, after 46 years of service, the covered wooden bridge was torn down and replaced by the town’s third bridge. The new concrete span was designed by John Leonard, the noted engineer who pioneered the used of reinforced concrete in bridge construction. Another outstanding example of his work in Humboldt County is the Fernbridge, built in 1911, and long regarded as remarkable for its size, beauty and durability.

Construction of the third bridge roused considerable curiosity from George Henry’s eight-year-old daughter, Laura June. Each day she would perch near the site and watch employees of Mercer-Fraser Company do their jobs. Her presence became so integral to the project that when the arched, open-rail bridge was near completion, crewmen let her embed her footprints in the span beneath the pavement.

Through the years, children have continued to draw pleasure — and challenges — from the bridge. It became a rite of passage to walk the length of the bridge on one of its narrow concrete rails. Those who were daunted by the long drop to the roiling, boulder-strewn Van Duzen River were branded as cowards. Another common practice was to pretend to fall from the bridge, startling passersby who didn’t know there was a flat rock just below that offered a safe landing.

The third bridge stood witness to many changes in the town. In 1966 George Henry Cox died at the age of 77. Ownership of the town passed to his daughter, Laura June Cox Pawlus.

Laura Jane Cox, shown here with her mother, Jessie, wife of George Henry.

Pawlus, who served as Bridgeville’s postmaster for twenty-seven years, was interviewed by the late Andrew Genzoli for his column, “Redwood Country.’” Excerpts from the column, which was printed in the Times-Standard on April 29, 1977, follow:

The postmaster is an historian in her own right and says the first pioneers found a beautiful, unnamed valley along the banks of the Van Duzen River … As the community grew, there became the need to communicate with the outside world and the necessity for a good mail service. Humboldt County was so isolated by mountain ranges, most of the mail arrived by sailing or steam vessels at Humboldt Bay or by pack train over the mountains, weather permitting. A wagon road was needed to link the developing towns throughout the back country …

John Carr, using Chinese labor, constructed a road from Hydesville through Cuddeback [now Carlotta], Bridgeport, Blocksburg, Bell Springs, Cummings and eventually extending south to Cloverdale … Henry and Maria J. Cox purchased the Bridgeville Hotel which housed the post office … Maria Jane Cox became postmaster from May 4, 1910, until it was transferred to M. Lou Ballard. In 1912, George Henry Cox, son of Maria and Henry J. Cox, purchased the rest of the town of Bridgeville in partnership with the senior Cox family. George assumed the position of postmaster and served until 1955, except for an eight-year period when his partner in the grocery store, George F. Normale, held office.

Upon her father’s retirement in 1955, Laura June Pawlus became postmaster, a position she held for twenty-two years. With her retirement in 1977, the Cox family had attended to the postal needs of the community for more than fifty-four years.

Pawlus sold the town for $150,000 in 1973 to Elizabeth Lapple of Los Angeles, who felt the need to escape the pressures of the city with her two sons and move to a more serene environment. Their move coincided with a four-year “Hippie” invasion and drug scene with an attendant increase in problems and a general decline of the town.

Several years after she purchased it, Mrs. Lapple put the community up for sale. The Rev. A. M. Stevens of Fremont, who had founded a religious corporation called Faith Challengers, purchased the site from the Lapples in 1977 for $450,000. Stevens and his group planned to operate the town as a retirement home for the elderly.

He had trouble from the start, however, finding enough money for the down payment. In addition, he ran into difficultly with the Humboldt County Health Department when he tried to repair some of the long-neglected old buildings in town.

Meanwhile, the sale and purchase of the town had attracted nationwide media attention, including that of the wire services and publications, including the New York Times and Time Magazine. An article from June, 27, 1977, in Time, recounts how Stevens and his religious group became involved:

“I was riding down the freeway when I heard on the radio that this little place I’d never heard of was for sale, and the Lord made it known to me that this is where we should go and do his work.” The little place that the Rev. Alvin Stevens heard about was the entire town of Bridgeville, all 80 acres and 25 buildings of it.

Stevens sped 330 miles north of San Francisco for a look and immediately fell in love with the region, its mist-shrouded forests and trout-filled streams. This would be an ideal spot to raise families, Stevens decided, and to care for the elderly poor, who “live worse than hogs many places …”

Stevens, 48, a onetime construction worker from Oklahoma, took his dream to the folk at Stonybrook Full Gospel Temple in Fremont, a Pentecostal church that he had scraped together. After a prayer meeting, five of the 70-odd parishioners agreed to sell their houses to make up half the down payment. Last week 48 church members arrived at their newly bought Eden and found, as often happens with Edens, that the place was a mess. .. . Bridgeville had turned into a rural slum in the middle of God’s country. Wrecked cars now lie forlornly about. The main water system and septic tanks are broken, as are the toilets in apartments underneath a sagging dance hall …

The parishioners, who set up a three-member town board, have the skills to rebuild the place, explains Stevens. A store and restaurant will raise capital. The refurbished Country Cafe is already open, complete with no-smoking signs, five paintings of Jesus and delicious homemade pies.

With church people in town and beer banned, the hippie families who remained were exiting “as soon as we can find another place to live this cheaply.” For them, the attraction of Bridgeville had ended. The townspeople were pleased to see the improvements but the dream collapsed under the weight of the financial burdens. Then along came Don Houston, head of another religious organization called Visions for Missions, Inc. from San Jose. He purchased the town from Stevens just before Elizabeth Lapple, the former owner, could complete foreclosure. He came up with $80,000 — enough to swing the transaction.

A story in the Humboldt Beacon of Feb. 8, 1979, by Willie Knapp, described the latest turn of events this way:

Houston’s organization appears to have some clout behind it and the initial plans he has for the newly acquired town seem grandiose at this time …

He is planning to spend about $ 1.5 million the next year or so to turn the sleepy town into a throbbing re.sort area. Plans have been discussed that include a 4-unit motel and coffee shop, a restaurant and dinner house, a general store, a 30-unit RV park, three 12-unit condominiums, a health care and medical service center, a public water system, a Christian Service Center, an industrial parts assembly plant and light industrial facilities …

However, there is one important part of the planning project that must be completed before all other buildings can start. And that is the installation of a sewer system for the town.

Rev. Stevens stayed in town and Houston paid him five hundred dollars per month to help with the new project. This arrangement was brief because the two pastors went separate ways when Houston insisted on plans to sell alcoholic beverages and cigarettes in the cafe and general store. Stevens was strongly opposed to these items, and had kept them off the shelves during his tenure of leadership. He left town, leaving some burning questions behind. Like: What happened to the money collected by Stevens and his group for a raffle of a 1978 car? Did that raffle ever take place? Was it used to meet the debt obligation like the religious group said it was? And what about the elderly who had invested their life savings and were left destitute?

After working on his grand plan for about four years, from 1978 to 1982, Houston, like his predecessor, ran into financial problems and he tried to sell the property. There were no takers and the town ownership reverted back to the Lapples. With the death of the elder Elizabeth Lapple, her daughter, Elizabeth, became the owner, and remains so today. [UPDATE from 2025: No longer. The town is owned by the estate of Daniel La Paille. Wikipedia is up-to-date, so far as we know.]

Now, the only business in Bridgeville is the post office. The store and the cafe are gone. The post office, together with a public elementary school, community center and state fire station, keep the community spirit alive. Because many people live in areas beyond the town, it is difficult to arrive at a population figure. A highway sign says 300, the school enrollment is near 100 and the post office, covering such widespread areas as Bridgeville to Ruth by motor route, serves an estimated 400 to 500 patrons. One resident’s educated guess is that the town population is about 50.

Today, except for the old bridge, the only prominent reminder of the past as you drive into Bridgeville is the large barn built in the early 1900s and first used as a livery stable for the pack trains and stage lines. Since about 1920 it has been used for a number of different functions including a garage, recording studio and storage area.

In 1997 a chapter ended in the life of the town’s third bridge. After Caltrans decided it was necessary to build a new bridge, the old one was closed to vehicle traffic. Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the graceful old bridge is used only by pedestrians. On a warm summer day voices can be heard drifting up from below the span as townspeople enjoy a swim in one of several swimming holes along the river. During the town’s annual celebration, “Bridgefest, ” booths and other attractions appear on the bridge deck.

The time-honored bridge will witness another chapter in Bridgeville history, just a short distance downstream, in August 1999 when the town’s newest span and fourth bridge, which opened to traffic in 1997, is dedicated to the memory of George Henry Cox, a longtime civic leader and merchant in Bridgeville. The dedication will be part of the Bridgefest celebration.

Faster, wider and longer than the third bridge, the latest structure was built over a five-year period at a cost of six and a half million dollars. According to Jessie Wheeler, the daughter of Laura June Pawlus and the granddaughter of George Henry Cox, only private funds will be used to finance the bridge dedication, including the placement of a marker that pays tribute to George Henry Cox. A fund has been set up at Coast Central Credit Union in Fortuna for deposit of donations for the project. The name of the account is the George Henry Cox Memorial Dedication Fund.

Jessie Wheeler, a Bridgeville native and longtime resident, says she has seen the town emerge from a “terrible state of depression” into a community with pride and a sense of direction. She feels this has been largely made possible by a grant from the “Healthy Start” program, which makes funds available to launch improvements. Among other projects, the grant has allowed purchase of a van used to transport school children in remote areas from their homes to a school-bus stop, a task that some parents find difficult with the result that school attendance dropped off. Other evidence of the town’s rebirth is the establishment of a community center, a senior lunch each Thursday with an attendance of fifteen to twenty people, the annual Bridgefest community celebration, a Fourth of July party, and ice cream socials, which all enhance a sense of community.

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Author’s note: Credit goes to the following for some of the information and insights used to compile this article: Jessie Wheeler, Jennifer Hawley, Don Tuttle, Evelyn Shuster Worthen ‘s book, The Unfolding Drama of Bridgeville, A Former Stagecoach Town, and the staff at the Humboldt County Historical Society.

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The story above is excerpted from the Winter 1998 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.