Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:
On Oct. 19, 2025, at 4:52 p.m. Humboldt County Sheriff Deputies were dispatched to an interrupted residential burglary in the 900 block of Spring Road in Shelter Cove.
The victim, a 40-year-old female of Shelter Cove called the Humboldt County Emergency Communications Center and reported that she arrived home and encountered an unknown male inside her house and that he fled the residence with some of her property.
As deputies were responding to the scene, a second caller identified the suspect as 39-year-old Matthew Hayes, a resident of Shelter Cove.
Deputies responded to Hayes’ residence located at 125 Eileen Rd. They obtained an arrest warrant for Hayes and a search warrant for his residence. During the investigation, deputies were advised by another citizen that Hayes had been seen inside an Airbnb located in the 800 block of Spring Rd. Deputies responded to that location and took Hayes into custody without incident.
Hayes was transported to the Humboldt County Correctional Facility and booked on the following charge: 460(a) – First Degree Burglary.
This is Hayes’ third arrest within a one-month period. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office thanks the citizens of Shelter Cove for remaining vigilant and proactive in keeping their community safe. The Sheriff’s Office remains committed to the safety and security of the residents of Humboldt County and urges the public to report any unusual activity in their neighborhoods.
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.
James (Jim) Louie passed away on September 23,
2025. He
was born August 7, 1948 in San Antonio, Texas. At a young age, Jim
became a proud resident of Humboldt County and deeply appreciated all
that the region had to offer.
His
greatest enjoyment came from taking his boat, The Hunky Dory, out on
the ocean for fishing and crabbing. Jim was a dedicated bowler,
actively participating in many leagues and attending tournaments
across California and Nevada. His wide range of hobbies included
fishing, visiting casinos, automotive work, photography, cooking,
motorcycling, attending concerts and more.
Jim
was a member of several organizations, including Moose International,
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and the Fraternal Order of
Eagles.
He
was predeceased by his parents, Wa Hing and Shun (Sunny) Yau Louie,
as well as his brothers Tom and Jon. He is survived by his children:
Angela Christie (Brian) of Coos Bay, Oregon,
and Jamie Louie (Kimberley) of Vancouver, Washington;
four grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; his brother Doon Louie;
and Doon’s children.
A
Celebration of Life will be held on November 8, 2025, from noon
to 2 p.m. at the Moose Lodge — 4328 Campton Road, Eureka CA
In
lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to The Parkinson’s
Foundation or to your local Hospice.
###
The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Jim Louie’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.
Harmonic Howl performs at Saturday’s “No Kings” rally in Eureka | Photos/video: Isabella Vanderheiden.
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Thousands of sign-wielding demonstrators swarmed the Humboldt County Courthouse in Eureka this afternoon for the “No Kings” rally, joining cities across the nation in condemning the policies and actions of the Trump administration.
Demonstrators waved colorful, handmade signs and sang along to protest songs led by Harmonic Howl and the Raging Grannies as passersby honked in support. Many attendees sported inflatable animal costumes, including at least a few frog costumes popularized by Portland’s self-proclaimed frog brigade. The sprawling crowd wrapped around the courthouse, stretching along both sides of Fifth Street for several blocks.
It’s always hard to say how many people actually attend these things. From our guess, it looked to be a few thousand? The Outpost ran into Eureka Police Chief Brian Stephens, who stood on the periphery of the demonstration with a group of EPD officers, and he guessed that the crowd was slightly bigger than the protest held back in June. “Maybe 2,500 or 3,500 people?”
Asked if there had been any issues with the protest, Stephens shook his head and said everything was going smoothly.
As per usual, your LoCO took lots and lots of photos of all of the crafty signs you made. You may peruse them below.
Approximately a third of U.S. residents are non-drivers. Some by choice, but many are physically incapable of driving or financially cannot afford to. The Week Without Driving is an annual campaign that encourages people, especially those who drive, to go a week without their car — use alternative methods, like public transit, walking, biking, or riding-sharing to meet their transportation needs — to see what life is like for non-drivers. The week highlights barriers to transportation and aims to promote better-designed transportation systems and infrastructure for everyone.
This year, Humboldt County Supervisor Natalie Arroyo attempted a week without driving. She joins hosts Tom Wheeler and Colin Fiske to discuss her experience and the work of local governments to make our transportation system better.
In today’s episode of Humboldt Outdoors, local documentarian Ray Olson takes us back to the anti-Vietnam War movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s — a period that sparked mass demonstrations and student strikes across the country, including the largest student protest ever held on the Humboldt State campus.
“In this very plaza, almost 60 years ago, 3,000 to 4,000 students and faculty gathered for the largest one-day political protest in the history of this campus, among the largest ever to occur in Humboldt County,” Olson explains in the video above. “At the time, this was known as Sequoia Plaza on the campus of what was then known as Humboldt State College. Today, we’re going to journey back to that charged moment in time … and meet some of the students who stood on this very ground and raised their voices against the Vietnam War.”
Olson speaks with some of the Humboldt State College students who “became the stewards of change” and led the local anti-war movement, including former state senator Wesley Chesbro, local author Katy Tahja and Zach Zwerdling, founder of the Zwerdling Law Firm.
Nationwide protests erupted in early 1970 after the United States invaded Cambodia, and increased dramatically after Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire at a Kent State University protest in Ohio, killing four students. The day after the shooting, Humboldt State students filled the Sequoia Theatre (what is now Van Duzer Theatre) to figure out how to take meaningful action.
Chesbro | Screenshot
“I remember that energy,” Chesbro recalls. “There was just a really powerful sense that we had to do something, that we couldn’t just sit by and watch. That led to a student body president Bill Richardson calling for a campus meeting … and it was packed. There was an hours-long discussion about what to do, and there was an agreement to call a rally for the next day to try to bring the student body together.”
“Not only were we very aware that we were at risk of being asked to go fight the war, but now the war was actually coming home and coming to us,” he added. “That was really the spark that began the discussion and a rapid series of events that led to the student strike at Humboldt State.”
The big protest took place on May 6, 1970. Click “play” on the video above for the full story.
In 1930, this Weott couple took pride in both the new car and the milking cow. Pictured are Mr. and Mrs. Duncan Fisher of Weott Heights. Photo via the Humboldt Historian.
In its heyday (early 1930s), Weott was
quite a community. It had three motels,
two garages, three gas stations, two
stores, three restaurants, two bars, a
theatre, a barbershop, a meat market,
and a church. The majority ofthe people
were woodsmen — who made redwood
ties, stakes and posts. There were tan-bark peelers, wood cutters, truckers and
ranchers.
I can remember:
Walt Schelling, who had the big dance
hall and apple orchard. He shipped apples to a dryer in Sebastopol.
Mac Willet, who had a grocery store
with everything from chicken feed and
barley to hard tack candy in the big
glass containers on the counter. When
the grocery bill was paid, the kids were
allowed to reach in for a handful. What a
treat!
The J.E. Johnson store, the largest
mercantile store in the area. Customers
would come in from Bull Creek, South
Fork, McCann, Myers Flat and other
outlying areas. The post office and groceries were downstairs and work clothes
and shoes were upstairs. A soda fountain was added later. Ed and Agnes
Johnson were always there to help the
community.
The Loma Vista, which had the telephone switchboard, soda fountain,
rooms upstairs, and the smallest bar on
the North Coast. It had six stools and no
tables. Ed Davis and his wife were the
proprietors.
Bill Kerns’ Trucking, with trucks that
were solid-tired Kleibers in the early
days and later replaced with the Bulldog Macs. He did general trucking over
the southern part of the county. His
wife, Marge, still lives in Weott.
The Park Edge Auto Court, with small
cottages made of redwood, situated
against the large trees of the state
park.
Monty’s Bar, the main stopping place
for travelers from San Francisco to Eureka and a “hang-out” for a lot of the
locals. One local character we all remember was Charley “Wildcat” Kenney. He was a large person with long
fingernails and a big red beard. “Wildcat” spent summers on Grasshopper
Lookout and winters in town. There
were lots of other characters around.
Troublemakers were not tolerated by
Monty.
John, the Greek’s Cafe, the main eatery in town in those times, specializing
in strong coffee and chicken fried
steak.
Pesula’s garage, where anything you
wanted done to your rig could be done.
Sometimes the repairs might be crude,
but they worked.
The meat market, where the kids
would stand around with a long face and
eventually be handed a weiner.
Jim Cara’s barbershop, where one
could get a 35-cent haircut with a bit of
brilliantine smeared on and feel ready
for any Saturday night party.
The theatre brought folks to town
from miles around. The Saturday night
special found cars lined up on both sides
of the main street (101 highway). Finally, the price of admission got up to 15
cents for kids and 35 cents for adults. A
chance to run the projector put you in
the elite class. There was always the
once-in-awhile attraction of turning a
couple of bats loose in the theatre and
watching them fly up and down the light
beam from screen to projector. This
added interest to the picture on the
screen.
There was the Burgess Shingle Mill, with the big steam engine puffing and
blowing and running two head rigs. The
wet redwood shingles tipped out, falling
down the shoot to be packed into bundles. You wondered where some of those
shingles would end up. This old mill
kept bolt makers and truckers busy.
The schoolhouse on the hill had a little
auditorium — restrooms downstairs, and
two classrooms and library upstairs.
Having the restrooms downstairs caused
problems at times. The library was used
more for disciplinary action than for
reading. Each classroom had four grades: one through four and five
through eight. A teacher, Elva Quarheim, was a favorite, along with Jim
Marvel. His short after-lunch nap, with
eyes closed and ears opened, had to be
handled with caution by the students.
The large steep stairs from the classrooms down to the ground was the fire
escape. If the fire didn’t get you, the
descent of the stairs would. This building is presently the American Legion
Hall.
The waterworks at times was a hit-and-miss affair. Water would come
from a creek on the mountain west of
town, down under the Eel River, up the
mountain east of town to the large redwood tank, back down on gravity flow,
with the water hitting the downtown
area with considerable force. How the
old pipes, with their inner tube patches
and clamps, held as well as they did was
a miracle. But, oh boy, what wonderful
tasting water from that pure creek.
The annual “go-round” with the road
grader was always a big thing with the
local kids who tagged along, right behind the grader, grabbing turned-up
marbles, odd rocks and even now and
then a coin.
Another annual event was the salmon
run, deciding which big one we wanted
and chasing after it up the riffles, usually going home empty-handed and wet.
There was a nighttime venture or two
at eeling. The old wooden boat, lantern and hook were all one needed.
In later years, most of this came to an
end with the 1955 flood. Observing it
from the hill above the town, you could
see, as the water rose, buildings being pulled, like a car backing out
into the street, out into the main current
and swept down the highway into a
log jam, or out into the river.
Weott is still surviving, but without
that downtown spirit it used to have.
###
The story above was originally printed in the March-April 1989 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 Historianat this link.
In loving memory of Kaden
Quinn Marinez, known by his loved ones as Peanut. Kaden set sail on
his final journey on September 21, 2025. With Kaden’s departure we
remember life lived with a tender heart and sense of adventure.
Kaden
was born on June 22, 2004, in Fortuna. From the tiniest of kittens to
the most loyal dog, Kaden had a special way with animals; they sensed
his compassion, and they loved him in return. Kaden found his passion
early in life and that passion was recently reignited. Kaden’s
passion was fishing and being on the water. He spent countless days
guided by the tides. For Kaden, fishing wasn’t just a passion but a
way of life, a tradition and a deep connection to nature. Whether on
a rushing river, the calm bay or his favorite fishing spot, he felt
most at home with a line in the water and hope on the hook.
Known
for his quiet strength, gentle smile and enduring patience, you would
often hear Kaden ask, “do you need anything?” He was always
willing to lend a hand. When presented with a difficult task he would
say, “I’ll figure it out” and with determination, that is
exactly what he did. Kaden was a storyteller, a teacher, and a man
who understood that some of the best conversations happen without
words with only the sound of waves to fill the compassionate silence.
Kaden
returned home on September 21, 2025, while doing what gave him life —
fishing. We are saddened by his passing but are brought peace in
knowing he passed doing the one thing that fed his soul and filled
his heart.
Kaden is survived by his parents, Monica and Robert Marinez, his sisters,
Melissa Marinez and Vanessa James, his brother, Michael Mendiburu,
his sister-in-law, Jenna Mendiburu, his brother-in-law, Jonathan
James, his nieces and nephews, Henry, Emmett, Alliyah, Malachi and
Jalyssa , his grandma, Dolores Aranda, his uncle, Thomas Aranda, his
uncle, Ignacio Parra, aunt, Norma Parra along with Zack Kumrud and
Jacob Adkins who were more like brothers than friends, with many more
family and friends who Kaden made a lasting impression on.
Kaden
was preceded in death by his brother Anthony Marinez, His
grandfather, Faustino Aranda, and his Tata, Edward Lawrence.
As
Kaden would have wanted, may we all find time to slow down, cast a
line and appreciate the beauty in the quiet moments.
Kaden’s
Celebration of life will be held at Old Growth Cellars on November
16, 2025 at 11:30 a.m.
For further details regarding the celebration of life, please visit
Kaden Marinez’ Celebration of Life Facebook page.
###
The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Kaden Marinez’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.
