###

The North McKay Ranch subdivision, a proposed mixed-use development with plans for up to 320 housing units, took a big step forward last night as the Humboldt Community Services District’s (HCSD) Board of Directors agreed to pursue annexation of the 81-acre project site in Cutten.

If the district’s annexation application gets approval from the Humboldt Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo), then the subdivision will have a source for its water, wastewater and street lighting services through the HCSD.

It has taken the project a long time to get to this point. In fact, depending on your start point, the timeline could be as long as 30 years, according to project developer Kurt Kramer, who said as much via Zoom during last night’s meeting. That’s if you go all the way back to when Louisiana-Pacific owned the forested land and undertook a subdivision master plan ahead of selling off the parcels.

Kramer himself has spent more than two decades getting the project this far, which required numerous public hearings, negotiations and modifications to appease critics, a full environmental impact report and approval from both the Humboldt County Planning Commission and the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors. (See the links at the bottom of this post for details.)

Kramer’s application for annexation by the HCSD languished for more than a year due to disagreements over who would pay for the necessary infrastructure.

At last night’s meeting, with Director Joe Matteoli absent, the board made it clear that Kramer himself will need to bear those costs. Before diving into deliberations on the matter, however, Director Greg Gardiner asked staff to lay out the scope of the project.

General Manager Terrence “TK” Williams gave the details: In total, all phases of construction call for 50 small-lot single-family units, 96 standard-lot single-family units and 174 multi-family units, plus 22,000 square feet of commercial development. Another 34 accessory dwelling units (ADUs) could also be developed at full build-out.

Gardiner quickly voiced his support for the project, noting its long time in development and its proposed inclusion of low-income housing, “which we desperately need right now.”

Director Heidi Benzonelli, on the other hand, had questions for Kramer. As shown in the map below, the project is planned to be developed in multiple phases over many years. Benzonelli asked for a timeline for phases one and two and the expected median price of the resulting homes.

Kramer, his disembodied voice reverberating in the boardroom, said the only thing he’s looking to accomplish in the foreseeable future is build Phase 1 (in green above), which calls for three single-family homes on Manzanita Avenue. “And I can’t even begin to tell you what the cost is for this housing,” he said. 

That’s because things can change rapidly, Kramer explained, noting that the district’s own connection fees have “effectively doubled” over the past 18 months. “Everything’s going up. … I hope you understand, I can’t even begin to throw a number out.”

Benzonelli said she understands that, but her fear is that Kramer may come back sometime in the future looking to renegotiate terms.

“My job here is just to assure that we can provide the water and the sewer for this project … without burdening the ratepayers and my constituents with the cost of this development,” she said.

Kramer said he has no intention of burdening the ratepayers, but there’s additional work needed before the district has adequate sewer service capacity. Kramer has also agreed to foot the bill for a 250,000-gallon water storage tank.

He went on to say that there’s a 20-year development agreement on this project, and he lamented the difficulty in making progress.

“This is a very difficult project, and private, market-rate development is effectively over in Humboldt County if we can’t come up with some viable solutions to to make it happen,” Kramer said. If the county wants to continue only pursuing subsidized low-income housing projects then “that may very well be what this project evolves into,” he added.

Gardiner again voice his support for annexation, citing “the future and our kids.”

Despite a late plea from Benzonelli for community feedback at the meeting, the only person to address the board during the public comment period was Gordon Clatworthy, a district ratepayer and former candidate for Humboldt County Supervisor who was there in part to record the meeting for Access Humboldt. (He spoke in favor of annexation.)

Director Michael Hansen noted the project’s previous agency approvals and said the question before this agency was pretty narrow: “Can the district provide water and sewer? Yes, we can,” he said. “There’s some upgrades to infrastructure [required]. We made sure we put into the document that it would be at no cost to the district, and we’ve got agreement with Mr. Kramer on that. I’m ready to move forward with this.”

Benzonelli asked Kramer for one more assurance that he won’t change the plan for services. He said he has no issues with it.

Director Julie Ryan asked whether that plan for services could be altered by a future board five or 10 years down the road in such a way that the district takes on some additional costs. Williams said it’s possible, depending on various factors. However, Gardiner noted that it’s equally possible that grant funding could pay for some of it. 

“We simply don’t know,” he said.

When it came time for the vote, Gardiner made the motion to puruse annexation, and there was a long, dramatic pause before any of his colleagues offered a second. Finally, with a sigh, Benzonelli offered the second. 

The unanimous vote in favor of the motion effectively directs staff to prepare a resolution to annex the property. That resolution will come back to the board at a future meeting for approval.

###

Fear sells.

Not just in marketing, but in the markets.

President Trump’s “Liberation Day” occurred last Wednesday in the Rose Garden, and the stock market did not get the liberating memo. Stocks followed up with their worst day since the pandemic in March of 2020, and the sharp selling has escalated dramatically. Bespoke research notes,

4,915 is bear market territory for the S&P. The S&P is at 4,920.

On pace for the 3rd fastest 20%+ drop from an all-time high in market history. COVID and 1929 were the only ones faster.¹

The selling of stocks due to fear within investors is pervasive and palpable. The VIX index—what some call the “fear gauge” that measures volatility on Wall Street—has spiked to levels not seen since the days of COVID and the Great Financial Crisis (though it has not quite reached those heights).

This trepidation is driven by uncertainty. Uncertainty around tariffs and their impact on the American economy. Uncertainty around whether companies can or will issue forward guidance in the upcoming earnings season when they don’t know what the costs might be.

All of this creates a concoction that, as even conservative economists like Thomas Sowell say, “is a formula for having people hang on to their money until they figure out what you’re going to do” and, if it continues over the long-term, has had negative results historically.²

Will the President of the United States and the author of The Art of the Deal negotiate a result in the short-term that works for the long-term? Whether you agree with it or not, this is the administration’s argument.

Investors should be careful in trying to guess what the market may or may not do based on the constant stream of news updates. If you change your portfolio as much as the news changes on tariffs, you might make a trade that is more contingent on the present than where you want to be financially in the future—and drive yourself a little bonkers all along the way.

Jason Zweig, the wise financial writer from the Wall Street Journal, captured this reality and issued a caution to investors in his column last Friday:

If you overhaul your entire portfolio in response, you aren’t just acting as if you know what the market is going to do next, which is close to impossible. You’re also acting as if you know what Donald Trump is going to do next—which is impossible.³

Speaking of the President, literally as I’m writing this, news has broken of a pause on some tariffs and the market is soaring.

It’s totally normal right now to be fearful and curious as to where “the bottom” is in the markets and wonder if this most recent news was it. But allow me to let you in on a secret: that is virtually unknowable.

This may mean that in order for you to be a good investor, you need to think about decreasing your intake of news and social media. A dopamine-driven culture does not form durable investors let alone resilient humans. Nor does surrounding yourself with constant pessimism. As one investor put it, “The greatest trick the devil ever played was making you believe that the pessimists are the good guys.”

US stock market history is replete with pockets of short-term pain and a plethora of long-term gain.

One thing we can know right now is that in the past when volatility spikes, recoveries can follow.

One must be realistic though.

Notice how those can cluster. This means the downtrend can last awhile.

The good news is that this kind of fear has historically been followed by excellent returns.

Treat stock market volatility as the regular subscription price you pay for investing for long-term returns. Those who want higher returns will need to treat market swings as an integral feature of investing. 

It’s just the way it works.

Of course, this does not mean that everyone should be in stocks. Some have short-term financial needs or simply cannot handle it. Times like this are a good reminder of the necessity of risk management.

Here is something to keep at the forefront of your mind in all this.

Life is not determined by a bad few months. Nor is your investment life.

Investment portfolios and financial plans don’t normally survive making erratic trades.

Be careful that you don’t make an investing mistake now based on fear that leads to financial regret later.

# # #

Sources:

1. Posted by @bespokeinvest on April 8, 2025 via X. Accessed online: 
2. “Thomas Sowell Discusses the Trump Tariffs” in an interview with Hoover Institution on April 2, 2025.
3. “Trump Just Shredded the Economic Playbook: Here Are Your Next Investing Moves” (April 4, 2025). 

# # #

Brandon Stockman has been a Wealth Advisor licensed with the Series 7 and 66 since the Great Financial Crisis of 2008. He has the privilege of helping manage accounts throughout the United States and works in the Fortuna office of Johnson Wealth Management. You can sign up for his weekly newsletter on investing and financial education or subscribe to his YouTube channel. Securities and advisory services offered through Prospera Financial Services, Inc. | Member FINRA, SIPC. This should not be considered tax, legal, or investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

To Chief of Police Brian Stephens and his fellow officers present at the Hands Off Protest:

I am reaching out to you to extend my personal thanks and heartfelt appreciation for your de-escalation efforts at the Hands Off protest on April 5, 2025 in front of the Humboldt County Superior Courthouse in Eureka.

At the time of the incident when your team’s intervention was required, I was still on site, though positioned on the steps close to the courthouse doors, filming the band that was playing there. As I turned away from the band and looked down on the street, it was clear that there was a commotion affecting traffic, with civilians in the street and a truck stopped with the driver having exited his vehicle, prompting you and your fellow officers to respond to a developing disturbance.

As someone who studied domestic and international social movements in my undergraduate years, I felt keenly aware of the risk of quick escalation of physical conflict in an amassed crowd setting. I grabbed my younger sister and got us away from the area as quickly and safely as possible. But in reviewing footage and published local articles concerning the play-out and outcome of that incident the next day, I felt relieved to learn how you and your team managed to separate parties, redirected folks not in vehicles off of the street, and got traffic moving again.

The actions of yourself and your team, I personally interpret to be actions that valued our community’s safety while also safeguarding citizens’ rights to assemble and to exercise free speech.

As a mother of a six-year-old daughter, I feel obligated to take my physical safety seriously — more so than before I had a child who needs to grow up with her mother there for her. However, as a social worker, I feel a responsibility to use my right to free speech to express solidarity for marginalized folks’ rights, whether they are children and families I serve, my neighbors, or mine and my daughter’s for that matter. For that reason, I was at that protest along with the two previous protests in Eureka. I hope to continue to safely protest at more in the future.

How you and your team handled things on April 5th encouraged me to feel affirmed to pursue my values and exercise my rights while still having good odds of coming home to my little girl.

Thank you for your service to our community last Saturday.

Kind regards,

Elle Penner

The Eureka Police Department, via its Facebook, is promising lights, sirens, ambulances, people scurrying here and there and even helicopters sometime today, as the St. Bernard’s student body gets one of those dramatic scared-straight lessons about the dangers of drunk driving.

It’s gonna be one of those deals where everyone simulates a gory car crash right out in front of the school. One student will pretend to be decapitated and all the others will come by and gawk at paramedics as they struggle to sew her head back on. Cops will run this way and that, there’ll be some street closures probably, a grieving mother will wail to the heavens so that kids might be edified about the pain they inflict upon their families when they choose to drink and drive.

Don’t be alarmed. Let the kids have their fun.

Lawrence passed away unexpectedly at home in Eureka on March 30, 2025, with his partner Tina by his side. Over the past few years, he has had many health challenges that he faced with bravery.

Lawrence “Larry” Landry aka “Pops” aka “Lar-Bear” was born in Lake Charles, Lousiana to Carlton and Victoria (Declues) Landry. His family heritage is Creole – a mixture of French, Black, and Native American.

In 1952, the family moved from Louisiana to Eureka. Larry attended local schools, graduating from St. Bernard’s High School in 1969. He was one of just a few black students integrating local schools in the 1950s and 1960s, and only the second black student to attend St. Bernard’s. He was an athlete, competing in wrestling (beating many of the best local wrestlers by his junior year), track and field, football and basketball. While at St. Bernard’s, he set the shot-put record that stood until 1997. When it was finally broken, Larry made a point to meet the young man who broke his record and shake his hand.

In his senior year at St. Bernard’s, he was in a production of Up With People – a musical entertainment group promoting multiculturalism, racial equality, and positive thinking through song and dance. In the early 1970s he played football at College of the Redwoods and boxed with the Eagles Athletic Club. Larry enjoyed riding motorcycles in his younger days and played city league basketball for a number of years.

He had a great love of music. Just a few days before his passing he was sitting in the sun on the porch, grooving to Percy Sledge.

Larry never met a stranger. Always friendly, always willing to lend a hand. He loved to laugh, especially with his family.

Larry worked at a variety of jobs over his lifetime – Hilfiker Pipe, Construction, Crestwood Manor, Commercial Fishing (on the Linda Ellen and the Gary Lee), Noel’s TV and Appliance, plus a bit of Humboldt County-style gardening 😊.

He helped Benny Gill with remodeling the Whaler’s Inn (now La Patria) in Fields Landing many years ago. His name, along with many others, is burned into the beam above the bar.

He was the first black commercial fisherman in Eureka. It was dangerous, tough work but he loved it. When he worked at Crestwood Manor, his caring and ability to work with psychiatric patients was legendary. When a staff member needed assistance, they didn’t just page for help, they paged for Larry.

Larry loved animals and had quite a collection over the years – birds, snakes, an alligator, rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, ducks, geese, cats, fish, and many beloved dogs. He also loved rocks of all kinds. He enjoyed excursions to collect rocks and trips to Champman’s Gem and Mineral Shop. Chapman’s was a special source of joy for him in recent months. He enjoyed getting out in the community on his scooter with family. He took many scoot/walks all over Eureka with his son Lonyx.

Larry married twice – first to Donna (Borden) Landry-Rehling. That marriage blessed him with his son Lonyx Landry. Later he married Rosemary (Bulger) Landry. His beloved daughter Derixa Landry came from that marriage. He met Tina Moulton in late 1978. That union added three more very welcome children – Lenoxx, Victoria, and Lexus Landry. When Lexus was born, he was a stay-at-home dad for a while and made the comment “This is so fun, I want another one!” Tina quickly disabused him of that notion.

Larry’s children were everything to him. He was so grateful that all his children stayed close by, and he got to see them often. His children rose to the challenge as Larry’s health declined and we will be forever grateful for that. He was looking forward to his 75th birthday party in April.

Larry was predeceased by his parents Carlton and Victoria Landry, his brother Joseph Landry, his sister Gertie Mae (Landry) Bryson, his two infant brothers David and Anthony Landry, his great nephew Marcus Bryson, and his great niece Shyelynn Landry.

He is survived by his partner Tina Moulton, his ex-wives Donna Landry-Rehling (Bryan) and Rosemary Landry, his children Lonyx Landry (Kathy), Derixa Landry (Brad) Lenoxx Landry, Victoria Landry-Chesbro (Alan), and Lexus Landry. Also survived by his brother Alvin Landry (Raelene) and sister-in-law Vertie Landry, grandson Lyndin Landry, granddaughters Savannah “Bo” Risling, Lina Landry, and Nyexa Landry Brambani, nephews Garrick Bryson (Cecilia), Danny Landry, Michael Landry, Christopher Landry (Julia), nieces Cynthia (Bryson) Shelton (Mark), Cathy Landry and Crystal Landry, plus many many great nieces and nephews. Also missing him are his two Italian Greyhounds Madonna and Riot, and his grand-dogs Bisous, Bobbi Dazzler and Stuart Little.

The family wishes to thank everyone who helped care for him: Angela Smith NP, Kidney Care Services of Humboldt, Open Door Community Health, Providence St. Joseph both inpatient and outpatient services – Med Surg 2 you are all amazing; Fresenius Dialysis Center, Humboldt Medi-Trans, Humboldt County IHSS, Humboldt Bay Fire, City Ambulance, EPD and Ayers Family Cremation.

A special thank you to St. Joseph Providence Pet Therapy Program teams Allan Wiegman/Kiya and Jeanne Sapunor/Otis for therapy dog visits while Larry was in the hospital – you brightened his day. His one complaint about the hospital was that there weren’t any dogs!

A Celebration of Life will be held at Eureka Woman’s Club, 1531 J Street, Eureka on Saturday May 3, 2025. beginning at 3 p.m. For questions, please reach out to one of Larry’s children.

Carmelo Flory Gamaza (“Venezuela”)
January 22, 1949 - April 1, 2025

Carmelo Gamaza, known to most of his friends as “Venezuela,” passed away suddenly in his Arcata home on April 1st in the company of his dear friend and caretaker, Arleeth Torres.

Carmelo was born in Caracas, Venezuela and as a young man traveled the world, throughout South America and Europe. He emigrated to the United States when he was in his 20s, and established a home in Los Angeles where he managed properties. He moved to Humboldt County in 2001 and helped manage the Arcata Night Shelter.

He leaves behind his son Benjamin and daughter Triana, both of Los Angeles.

Venezuela had a fun-loving and positive attitude about life, and was a loyal friend to many. He had an intense interest in spirituality and meditation, he loved learning and music, and he especially loved the ladies.

He will be sorely missed by all.

###

PREVIOUSLY: There’s a Ticking Time Bomb in the Heart of Orick, and It’s Not Clear Whether Anybody Can Do Anything About It

###

After more than ten years of meticulous planning and collaboration among local landowners, government officials, tribes and environmental scientists, the Redwood Creek Esturary Restoration Project is finally gaining momentum.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Humboldt County officials will host a public meeting at the Orick Community Hall at 4 p.m. on Wednesday to discuss next steps for the estuary restoration project, which aims to revitalize critical habitat for threatened and endangered salmonid species in Redwood Creek.

“This week’s community meeting intends to introduce the Redwood Creek Estuary restoration study to members of the public that are not involved in the study through the Redwood Creek Estuary Collaborative,” Joél Flannery, senior project planner for the Army Corps of Engineers San Francisco District, wrote in an email to the Outpost. “We also hope to gain valuable insights and engage in conversation about the estuary, drainage impacts and restoration visions.”

The restoration project would undo decades of ecological degradation caused by the earthen levee system that runs through the heart of Orick. Originally designed to control flooding along the lower 3.4 miles of Redwood Creek, the levees have “reduced the size, complexity, and ecological function of the estuary,” according to the project’s description.

Over the years, Redwood Creek has become overgrown with vegetation and impaired by large sediment deposits, dramatically reducing flood capacity.

Looking at an aerial view of the estuary, as seen below, you can see where the levee system cut off a large meander on the south side of Redwood Creek. This not only altered the natural flow of the estuary but also impaired its ecological function.

“The levee impacts to the estuary were identified many decades ago,” Flannery said. “Discussions about how to leverage [the] Corps’ authority to address the levees’ impacts to the estuary have been ongoing since at least the early 2000s.”

When the Redwood Creek Flood Control Project was constructed in the mid-1960s, the Army Corps of Engineers didn’t know the channel would rapidly accumulate sediment because the project’s designers didn’t sufficiently evaluate environmental impacts downstream. The levees were built just a few years before the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) — the nation’s first major environmental law that required federal agencies to consider the environmental impact of their actions — was enacted in 1970. As such, the project was not subject to the rigorous environmental review required by today’s standards.

The County of Humboldt periodically removes sediment and vegetation from Redwood Creek, but it’s been about a decade since any substantial maintenance occurred.   

While restoration would exclude the portion of the levee system that runs through Orick, the project could alleviate flood risk upstream by enhancing floodplain connectivity at the estuary.

At the end of last year, the Army Corps of Engineers and the county, in partnership with the Redwood Creek Estuary Collaborative, initiated a feasibility study for estuary restoration. Once that process is complete in the next two and a half years, the collaborative will finalize the design selected through the NEPA process and apply for the permits needed to move forward with estuary restoration.

“Given the complexity of the study, coupled with planning and design requirements, the earliest we can expect construction would be the summer of 2029,” Flannery said. “The length of construction time is currently unknown.”

###

The Redwood Creek Estuary Restoration Project public meeting will take place at 4 p.m. on Wednesday at the Orick Community Center — 101 Swan Road in Orick. Check back later this week for coverage of the meeting.