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More than 17,400 high school seniors last fall got the sweetest news any anxious student can get: Congratulations, because of your high school GPA, you’re automatically admitted to one of 10 California State University campuses of your choice — and they’re all relatively affordable.

Even with less than a week to go before the campuses wrap their final decisions about whom to admit, a pilot program focusing on Riverside County is already showing that more students have been admitted from the county than last year, about 10,600 so far in 2025 compared to last year’s roughly 9,800.

The pilot builds on Cal State’s efforts to enroll more students and works like this: High school seniors receive a notice in the mail that they’re automatically admitted as long as they maintain their grades, finish the 15 mandatory courses necessary for admission to a Cal State, and complete an admissions form to claim their spot at a campus. Cal State was able to mail the notices because it signed an agreement with the Riverside County Office of Education that gave the university eligible students’ addresses.

Now in the program’s first year, Cal State joins other public universities across the country in a growing national movement to automatically admit eligible students. From November through January, Cal State informed students they were accepted to the 10 campuses. To claim a spot, students needed to go online and pick at least one campus.

If past admissions and enrollment trends hold, Cal State as a system will educate hundreds of more students, all from Riverside, than they would have without the pilot. That’d be a boon for a system that prides itself on its affordability and motto that it’s the people’s university; Cal State admits a far higher percentage of students than the University of California. It also could serve as a much-needed budget boost from the extra tuition revenue those students bring, especially at campuses with sinking enrollment.

Eight campuses — Channel Islands, Chico, East Bay, Humboldt, Maritime Academy, Monterey Bay, San Francisco​, and Sonoma — are so under-enrolled that Cal State is pulling some of their state revenues to send to campuses that are still growing. Cal Maritime is soon merging with another campus because of its perilous finances. The pilot also includes the two closest campuses to the county, San Bernardino and San Marcos.

The system chose Riverside County because all of its public high school students were already loaded onto a state data platform that can directly transmit student grades to Cal State — a key step in creating automatic admissions. Riverside is also “ethnically and economically representative of the diversity of California — many of the students the CSU is so proud to serve,” a spokesperson for the system, Amy Bentley Smith, wrote in an email.

At Heritage High School, a public school in Riverside County, the pilot encouraged students who previously didn’t even consider attending a public four-year university to submit the automatic admission forms to a Cal State.

Silvia Morales, a 17-year-old senior at Heritage, got an automatic admissions letter. “I was pretty set on going to community college and then transferring, because I felt like I wasn’t ready for the four-year commitment to a college,” she said.

Even with a 3.0 GPA, higher than the 2.5 GPA Cal State requires for admission, she nearly didn’t submit the forms to secure her admission until early January. That’s well past the standard Nov. 30 admissions deadline.

It wasn’t until her counselor, Chris Tinajero, pulled her into a meeting that she decided to opt into the pilot. “I went through the sales pitch like, ‘Hey, you get this guaranteed admission, you’re an amazing student,’” he recounted. The pitch worked. Though Cal State sent a physical pamphlet and her high school also emailed her about the pilot, “I wasn’t really paying attention,” Morales said. She needed an adult she trusted at the school to persuade her that the applications were worth the effort, she said.

Morales applied to three Cal State campuses in the pilot plus two outside the program that were still accepting late applications — Chico, Humboldt, Los Angeles, Northridge and San Bernardino. She got into each one, she said.

Her parents are “proud of me because I want to go to college,” Morales said. Neither went to college, she added. Final enrollment figures won’t be tallied until August, including how many of the students admitted through the pilot attended one of the 10 campuses. But the system’s chancellor’s office is already planning to replicate the pilot program in a Northern California county, which will be named sometime in April, Cal State officials said.

A bill by Christopher Cabaldon, a state senator and Democrat from Napa, would make automatic enrollment to Cal State for eligible students a state law. The bill hasn’t been heard in a committee yet.

A boost in application numbers

Of the 17,000 students who received an invitation to secure their automatic admissions, about 13,200 submitted the necessary forms. That’s about 3,000 more students who applied from the county than last year.

Those who otherwise wouldn’t have applied to a Cal State include students who were eyeing private colleges, said Melina Gonzalez, a counselor at Heritage who typically advises students who are already college-bound.

Nearby private colleges offer all students application fee waivers; at Cal State, typically only low-income students receive fee waivers. But the pilot provided each Cal State student one fee waiver worth $70, which was a draw to students and their parents who don’t qualify for the fee waiver but might struggle to pay.

Last year, 10 of the 100 senior students Gonzalez counseled didn’t apply to a Cal State. This application season, all her students submitted at least one Cal State application, she said.“It was big, it was really cool, their eyes, they were so excited,” she said of the automatically admitted students. “They would come in and show me their letters.”

Parents called her asking if the pamphlet from Cal State was authentic. With guaranteed admission, some parents ultimately decided to pay for additional applications to campuses in the pilot, knowing it wasn’t in vain.

At Heritage, high school counselors reviewed Cal State’s provisional list of students eligible for the pilot to add more seniors, such as those who hadn’t yet completed the mandatory courses but were on track to do so.

Tinajero was also able to persuade some students who hadn’t completed all the required courses for Cal State entry to take those, including online classes. Still, others with qualifying grades didn’t apply because they weren’t persuaded that a four-year university was for them. Tinajero sees program growth in the coming years, assuming Cal State continues with the pilot. Younger high school students who witnessed the fanfare of automatic admissions may take more seriously the need to pass the 15 required courses to be eligible for a Cal State or University of California campus, he said.

That’s part of Cal State’s vision for this pilot, said April Grommo, the system’s assistant vice chancellor of strategic enrollment management: Begin encouraging students to take the required courses in ninth grade so that by 11th and 12th grade they’re more receptive to applying to Cal State.

Pilot leads to more applications

The automatic admissions pilot is likely what explains the jump in overall applicants, said Grommo. “If you look at the historical numbers of Riverside County students that have applied to the CSU, it’s very consistent at 10,000, so there’s no other accelerator or explanation for the significant increase in the applications,” she said.

Some campuses in the pilot are probably going to see more students from Riverside County than others. The eight under-enrolled Cal State campuses each enrolled fewer than than 100 Riverside students as freshmen, a CalMatters review of 2024 admissions data show. Two enrolled fewer than 10 Riverside students as freshmen.

Cal State isn’t solely relying on past trends to enroll more students. Grommo cited research that suggests direct admissions programs are associated with increases in student enrollment, but not among low-income students, who are less familiar with the college-going process or have additional economic and family demands, like work and child care.

Even after students are admitted, some don’t complete key steps in the enrollment process, such as maintaining their grades in the second semester, completing registration forms to enroll, and paying deposits. Others, especially low-income students, have a change of heart over summer about attending college, which scholars call “summer melt.” Then there are the students who got into typically more selective campuses, such as at elite private schools and the University of California, and choose instead to go to those.

To prompt more students to actually enroll, Cal State officials in early March hosted two college fairs in Riverside County for students admitted through the pilot. About 2,600 students signed up to be bussed from their high schools to large venues, including the Riverside Convention Center, where they met with staff, alumni and current students from all 10 Cal State campuses participating in the program. Those were followed by receptions with students and parents.

Grommo said they maxed out capacity at both venues for the student events. While it’s common for individual campuses to host events for admitted students, it was a first for Cal State’s central office.

The event costs, physical mailers to students about their admissions guarantee, invitation to the college fairs and another flyer about the relative affordability of a Cal State cost the system’s central office around $300,000, Grommo estimates. But if the event moves the needle on students agreeing to attend a Cal State, the tuition revenue at the largely under-enrolled campuses alone would be a huge return on investment.

The effort is a far more targeted approach than another admissions outreach effort Cal State rolled out last fall to inform students who started but didn’t finish their college applications that they’re provisionally accepted, as long as they complete and send their forms. The notification went to 106,000 students and was the result of a $750,000 grant Cal State won from the Lumina Foundation, a major higher education philanthropy. The system will know by fall if this notification resulted in more students attending a Cal State.

But that was aimed at students who already applied. The Riverside pilot brings in students, like Morales, who wouldn’t have applied without the mailers and entreaties from counselors. She’s leaning toward picking Cal State San Bernardino for next fall. It’s close to home and an older cousin recently graduated who had a good experience there, she said.

Her next task? Working with her parents to complete the federal application for financial aid by April 2, the deadline for guaranteed tuition waivers for low- and middle-income students.It’s possible that Cal State may take the direct admissions pilot statewide. All counties are required by state law to join the state-funded data system that Riverside is already a part of to electronically transmit students’ high school grades to Cal States and UCs. Doing so removes the need for schools to send campuses paper transcripts. The deadline for all counties to join the state data system is summer of 2026.

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California may lose more than $1 billion in public health and mental health funding as a result of new federal budget cuts that target COVID-19 pandemic response grants, according to the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency website.

The federal Department of Health and Human Services terminated $12 billion intended for infectious disease response, mental health services and other public health issues, according to national reports.

Most of the money came from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, while $1 billion was cut from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

California officials are still tallying up the money because the Trump administration clawed back additional health-related grants that went to counties and the University of California.

Dr. Erica Pan, the state’s top public health officer, confirmed in a statement that the CDC notified California officials that it intends to “immediately end” pandemic-era funding, which was scheduled to last in some cases until 2027.

The money currently supports services such as respiratory virus testing and monitoring and childhood vaccinations. It is also used to improve public health data systems and to address health disparities, Pan said.

In an interview with the news website Fierce Healthcare, the state health department said the public health grant terminations total $709 million. The health department did not immediately confirm that number for CalMatters.

Separately, The California Department of Health Care Services also had five grants terminated this week totalling more than $700 million, according to the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency website. Officials for health care services, which oversees the state’s mental health programs and Medi-Cal insurance program for low-income residents, did not immediately respond to questions about the canceled funding.

COVID grants lasted several years

The federal government awarded billions of dollars in emergency relief to state health departments during the COVID-19 pandemic. After the federal public health emergency ended in 2023, Congress allowed states to use the money for other public health investments.

“All Californians deserve to live in healthy and thriving communities, which is the role of public health,” health officer Pan said. “CDPH remains committed to seeking the resources required to support the critical, lifesaving infrastructure needed to keep people healthy and protect them against infectious disease, vaccine-preventable diseases and health emergencies.”

A representative for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defended the cuts.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago,” HHS Director of Communications Andrew Nixon said in a statement to NBC News, which first reported the cuts.

California is using the money to address a number of persistent public health challenges, including record rates of sexually transmitted infections, the emerging threat of bird flu and a deadly flu season.

Hundreds of dairy herds in the Central Valley have been decimated by bird flu, or H5N1, in the largest outbreak in the country. At least 38 people have also been infected, including a child with no known contact with cattle or other wild animals.

The most recent influenza season was the deadliest in years. More than 1,400 people have died, including 24 children and teens, according to state data.

Michelle Gibbons, executive director for the County Health Executives Association of California, said local health departments’ ability to carry out vital functions will be severely diminished by the funding loss. Many have come to rely on the money for daily operations after decades of underfunding at the state and federal levels.

As a result of the cuts, laboratories will have less testing capacity and investigations into disease outbreaks will slow, Gibbons said. Data systems that were created with federal money to automatically report test results and track vaccine availability will revert back to manually-maintained spreadsheets, and health agencies will likely have to make difficult decisions about laying off personnel, she said.

“Helping people understand the role and the value of public health is challenging, because when public health is working, you don’t actually see it,” Gibbons said. “(But) we’ve already seen what happens when we take funding out of our public health infrastructure.”

DOGE health cuts to UC and California counties

The Department of Government Efficiency website lists another $103 million dolled out directly to California counties that also has been eliminated. The money was intended for Riverside, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco, San Bernardino, San Diego and Tulare counties, among others.

An additional $169 million in health funding has been terminated from California universities this week, including six University of California campuses, according to the website.

The University of California is part of an ongoing lawsuit aimed at stopping the Trump administration from halting billions of research funding allocated by Congress.

Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials said in an unsigned statement that a grant related to epidemiology and laboratory capacity has been rescinded by the federal government. The state health department has also given the county informal notice that funding for the county’s vaccine services will likely be terminated as a result of federal action.

In total the department expects to lose “more than $45 million in core LA County Public Health funding.”

“Much of this funding supports disease surveillance, public health lab services, outbreak investigations, infection control activities at healthcare facilities, and data transparency,” officials said in the statement.

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Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.

Michael Charles Coragliotti
July 12, 1943 - March 4, 2025

Michael was born on July 12, 1943, in Concord, California to Bernice and Donald Coragliotti. He grew up in a lovely rural part of Concord, with his family’s fruit, almond and walnut orchards as his backyard. Michael was the center of attention amongst his many friends, enjoying life and holding court around the backyard pool.

After graduating from St. Mary’s High School in 1961 Michael received a BA Degree from Cal State Hayward in 1969. After this accomplishment he went on to obtain his Real Estate License and then became a Paralegal in 1992. In addition, Michael joined the American Society of Notaries in 2000. Michael was always involved in his community from an early age, collaborating closely with his grandfather, Frank Rose, a prominent Concord resident. He carried this commitment with him when he moved from Concord to Lake County, becoming involved in local issues and always lending a helping hand to those in need.

Michael made friends everywhere he went and always had treats ready for his companions of the four-legged variety. He was a curious individual, a voracious reader who sought to expand his knowledge through travel and conversation with those of differing views. He traveled extensively, both in the United States and abroad. Michael enjoyed learning about different cultures and had a large, diverse group of friends.

Michael was a real inspiration; he loved his life and cheated death many times. Roaring back, setting new goals, buying and selling real estate and driving his family to distraction with his harebrained schemes - which somehow seemed to turn out. He was especially enthusiastic about two things - politics and debate, the latter being his favorite pastime. As much as Michael loved pushing people’s buttons, he was a kind, compassionate person who was more than happy to extend a helping hand. He was a listening ear, a loving son, partner, brother, uncle, and friend.

Michael was preceded in death by his long-time partner Douglas Westly Gaunt, his parents Bernice and Donald, and his beloved grandparents Frank and Louise Rose. Michael is survived by his siblings Ginger McClain, Timothy Coragliotti (Regina), Roberta Coragliotti (Kirk Terrill), Ginger’s sons Henry and Donald, Timothy’s four children Tony, Anna, Patricia and Michelle and Roberta’s son Will (Bekah) and his first cousin, Bobette Geraldi Benn.

Michael was truly one of a kind and will be dearly missed, though we take comfort in believing that he is attending heavenly Lion’s Club meetings with Pa and taking Grama to the swankiest lunches Heaven has to offer.

A wake will be held in Eureka at a later date. Notice will be forthcoming. In lieu of flowers please donate to your local animal rescue or favorite charity in his name.

The family would like to thank the staff at St Joseph’s Progressive Care Unit for their exceptional care and kindness.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Fortuna is Losing Its Police Chief

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Press release from the Fortuna Police Department:

The City of Fortuna has unanimously approved the appointment of Lieutenant Matthew Eberhardt as the Fortuna Police Department’s Interim Chief of Police, effective March 29, 2025. Chief Eberhardt, a dedicated public servant, has been a member of the Fortuna Police Department since March 1998, steadily advancing through the ranks to serve as the department’s second-in-command under Chief Casey J. Day. Prior to joining the Fortuna Police Department, Chief Eberhardt served the Ferndale community, contributing to a distinguished career spanning over 28 years in public safety. Additionally, he is a veteran of the U.S. Army National Guard.

The appointment of an interim chief ensures a seamless transition of leadership, allowing the department to continue its mission of protecting and serving the community without interruption. Chief Eberhardt’ s extensive experience, operational expertise, and deep understanding of departmental functions make him well-equipped to lead during this period of transition.

Chief Eberhardt has played a pivotal role in several key department initiatives, including officer training, community engagement, and operational enhancements. Under his leadership, the department remains committed to proactive policing, crime reduction, and strengthening relationships with residents, businesses, and community partners.

The City of Fortuna and the Fortuna Police Department encourage the community to support Chief Eberhardt in his new role. Public safety is a shared responsibility, and continued collaboration between law enforcement and the community remains essential to maintaining a safe and thriving city.

The Fortuna Police Department extends its gratitude to Chief Casey J. Day for his years of dedicated service and exemplary leadership. His unwavering commitment to public safety and operational excellence has significantly strengthened the department and the community it serves. The department also acknowledges the City Council for its support in ensuring a smooth leadership transition. The department congratulates Chief Eberhardt on his appointment.

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On March 25, a deceased male subject was found in an overturned vehicle on Beaver Slide Ln. in Briceland. An autopsy of the subject was completed. 

During the autopsy, the decedent was positively identified as David Taylor, 84, of Whitethorn. Taylor died within minutes of the motor vehicle collision of a cervical spine fracture.

On Feb 18, Taylor had been reported as a missing person having last been seen on Shelter Cove Rd. in Whitethorn on Feb 6. 

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the many agencies and personnel for their efforts and assistance in searching for Taylor. 

Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.

Receive HCSO news straight to your phone or email. Subscribe to news alerts at: humboldtsheriff.org/subscribe.

During a time of great political turmoil in our country, Congressman Jared Huffman will face his Humboldt constituents during a town hall meeting at the Adorni Center in Eureka on Sunday. According to a notice sent out in advance of the event, Huffman plans to offer up his thoughts on the current state of Washington, D.C. while also taking time to answer audience questions.

The limited free tickets offered for the gathering have already been claimed, but there are plans for Access Humboldt to provide a live stream.

Full details in the release below:

Please join Congressman Jared Huffman for a town hall on Sunday March 30th from 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm at the Adorni Center in Eureka. Rep. Huffman will provide an update from Washington D.C., share plans as Ranking Member of the House Committee on Natural Resources, discuss the new Trump Administration, and take questions from participants. Guests can also listen to the town hall via Access Humboldt online or on TV.

When: Sunday, March 30th

Time: 1:00 pm (PDT) - 2:30 pm (PDT)

Where: 

• In-Person with RSVP: Adorni Center, 1011 Waterfront Dr, Eureka, CA 95501. RSVP here. Priority will be given to constituents of California’s Second District on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Virtual (no RSVP required): Online: https://www.accesshumboldt.net/watch; Cable: Northern Humboldt: Optimum Cable Channels 8, 10, 11 and 12, Southern Humboldt Wave: Channel 7

*Note: Rep. Huffman is holding a series of town halls throughout the district throughout the year.

If you would like to attend in-person, RSVP by Friday, March 28th at 5 PM. Please click here to RSVP. Guests will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee admittance. Large bags or backpacks and signs will not be permitted in the venue. Please contact Huffman.Response@mail.house.gov if you need translation assistance.

Photo: Dan Berger Photography.

The folks over at Recology are over the moon at the fact that one of their own — Zac Ramsey, who has worked Arcata routes for more than 20 years — has been crowned as the nation’s Regional Residential Driver of the Year by the National Waste & Recycling Association.

The award was announced earlier this week.

“He is the first to lend a hand, the first with a great joke on a rough and cold Monday morning, and he has always loved his 6,000 customers like family,” according to testimony submitted by Linda Wise, a former general manager of local Recology operations.

Recology Humboldt’s current general manager, Frank Nelson, tells the Outpost that besides being an incredibly stand-up human, he enjoys the fact that Zac hauls trash from every home in Arcata, all by himself, making him an essential if sometimes anonymous part of the fabric of the city.

“He services all residential trash cans for every home in Arcata each week. He has a team that helps with Cal Poly, and his coworker Dan services recycling, but I just think it’s awesome that he dumps all those people’s homes, and nobody knows it’s just one dude.”

Ramsey will officially receive his award at a black-tie gala at Las Vegas’ Fontainebleau Resort in early May. Click here for tickets.

From Recology:

We’re so excited to share that Zac Ramsey, side-loader driver at Recology Arcata, has been awarded 2025 Driver of the Year by the National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA) in the Regional Residential category!

The NWRA Driver of the Year awards recognize waste collection professionals for their commitment to safety, years of service, route difficulty, and community engagement. With more than 150,000 waste collection drivers nationwide and companies from every state competing, this is an incredible honor. 

Zac services the entire City of Arcata. He drives a side-loader, picking up about 1,000 totes a day. He has worked in the industry for 23 years.  
“Zac has dedicated his life to our industry,” says Linda Wise, former General Manager of Recology Humboldt County. “He places his customers’ needs and those of his team first.” 

Frank Nelson, General Manager of Recology Arcata, says Zac’s special bond with the people of the community was made apparent in the heartfelt letters many residents wrote in support of his Driver of The Year candidacy. When not at work, Zac helps coach youth baseball teams. 

Congratulations, Zac, and thank you for all that you do for your community!

The “Recology Chaser” YouTube channel contains an enormous amount of raw footage of Ramsey and his colleagues at work. The above video is sort of a compilation, we believe.