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The Siren’s Song Tavern, Old Town Eureka’s only all-ages live music and entertainment venue, which doubles as a bar serving craft beers and ciders, finds itself in turbulent waters after learning that its lease will not be renewed.

Reached via phone, owner Liza Sibley said she’s actively searching for a new location while trying to negotiate for more time in the current spot, at 325 Second Street. 

“We’re trying to stay in Old Town or downtown,” Sibley said. 

When she was first informed that the lease wouldn’t be renewed, Sibley was told that she needed to have everything cleared out of the brick-and-mortar storefront by January 1, she said, though that date has since been moved to January 15. She believes that the business’s current three-year lease doesn’t actually expire until the end of April 2025 but said a miscommunication with the rental management agency led to the short eviction notice. So far she’s been unable to get the landlord or the rental agency to agree to a later move-out date. 

The Siren’s Song is located on the ground floor of the 116-year-old Healy Brothers Building, a Eureka historic landmark that formerly housed such fondly remembered businesses as Lazio’s Restaurant and the Old Town Bar and Grill. 

The three-story building was slated for demolition after suffering extensive damage in the large earthquake that struck Eureka on Jan. 9, 2010, but local developer Kurt Kramer agreed to purchase it, and after extensive renovations, including a seismic retrofit, it reopened almost two and a half years later. 

Reached by phone last week, Kramer was reluctant to discuss the reasons behind the decision not to renew Siren’s Song lease, except to say that there have been “operational issues” that proved too difficult to resolve.

“We’re in the business of renting places, so we very rarely want to see tenants leave,” he said. “But if they’re not behaving and operating properly, we just move on. We just can’t do it.”

Kramer said he does not yet have a new tenant lined up for the space.

Sibley, meanwhile, said she’s had a couple of leads on possible spots to relocate but nothing lined up just yet. The business launched a GoFundMe campaign in hopes of raising enough to cover relocation expenses and, ideally, improvements. In the week or so since the campaign launched, however, it has raised just a fraction of the target amount.

Sibley took ownership of the business in May of 2022, purchasing it from former owner JD Pegg, who clashed with public health officials during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

For Sibley, the most valuable thing about The Siren’s Song is its service as a venue for live entertainment at a time when such spots seem to be disappearing. Humboldt County has a small number of all-ages venues, in particular, she said.

”Savage Henry [Comedy Club] has some music,” she said. “Arcata has Outer Space, but they have no alcohol. … A lot of venues have closed since I became involved.”

The Siren’s Song hosts open mic nights and a wide variety of bands, including metal, punk, indie rock and more. “I’ve tried not to pigeonhole it,” Sibley said. In a sense, the draft beers and cider are secondary to the value of the performance space.

“If I have to move I want to, because I don’t think Humboldt can afford to lose another music venue,” Sibley said. “The alcohol sales is how we make our money to stay open, but I do primarily think of it as a music venue.”

The Siren’s Song will remain open at least through New Year’s Eve, when local band Image Pit will perform as part of a benefit show for the business. Sibley said she appreciates any support the community can provide.

“Even if you show support by coming to shows or buying a drink, everything is appreciated,” she said. “We’re doing our best to stay open as long as we can and, if we find a place, to make [the transition] as seamless as possible.”

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On Dec. 20 at about 9:30 p.m., a Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputy was on patrol in the area of 5^th St. and K St. in Eureka. The deputy observed a male subject riding a bicycle and pushing a second bicycle after dark without any visible lights or reflectors and conducted a traffic stop. 

The deputy contacted the male, identified as Steven Waggoner, 24, of Blue Lake, who was confirmed to be on probation for a felony burglary conviction and petty theft. The deputy searched Waggoner pursuant to probation terms and located 3.73g of methamphetamine and a pipe with white residue and black tar in his pockets. In a backpack Waggoner was carrying, the deputy located sandwich bags with 19g of psilocybin mushrooms and 5.8oz of marijuana, a revolver firearm, and multiple rounds of ammunition. 

Waggoner was subsequently arrested without incident and taken to the Humboldt County Correctional Facility (HCCF) to be booked for the following charges:

• Possession of a controlled substance while armed with a loaded firearm—HS 11370.1(a)
• Possession of a controlled substance (mushrooms)—HS 11350 (a)
• Possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamines)—HS 11377 (a)
• Possession of unlawful drug paraphernalia—HS 11364 (a)
• Violation of probation—PC 1203.2(a)
• Felon/prohibited person in possession of a firearm— PC 29800 (a)(1)
• Felon/prohibited person in possession of ammunition— PC 35305 (a)(1)

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.

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On Dec. 20 at about 7 p.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the 6800 block of Harrison Ave. in Fields Landing for the report of a disturbance that included screaming and honking coming from a vehicle. Deputies arrived and received a report that Sara Maltzman, 39, of Fields Landing, had just stolen a vehicle from that location.

A deputy located Maltzman driving the stolen vehicle along Civic Ave. in the Fields Landing area at about 7:45 p.m. and followed the vehicle to the residence on Harrison Ave.  Maltzman fled into a residence at that location. Deputies followed Maltzman inside and attempted to take her into custody, giving commands for Maltzman to exit, which Maltzman ignored. Deputies were eventually able to secure her in handcuffs and placed Maltzman under arrest. 

Maltzman was searched incident to arrest, and deputies located live ammunition in her pocket, which she is prohibited from possessing due to being the restrained party in a restraining order.

Maltzman was taken to the Humboldt County Correctional Facility (HCCF) and booked for the following charges:

• Take vehicle without owner’s consent—VC 10851(a)
• Obstruct/resister a public officer—PC 148(a)(1)
• Violation of a protective court order—PC 273.6(a)

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.

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

Today, Dec. 23, at 9:47 a.m., the National Weather Service (NWS) issued a Coastal Hazard Message, warning of a High Surf Warning in effect until 10 p.m. tonight. This alert applies to the coastal areas of Del Norte, Humboldt, and Mendocino Counties.

Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies responded to two separate calls for service today—one at Trinidad State Beach and one at Moonstone Beach—where individuals were at risk of drowning after being swept into the water. All four individuals involved in these incidents were safely removed from the water and are in stable condition.

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office urges residents to avoid beach areas, as breaking waves can sweep people off jetties and docks into dangerous seas. The NWS has warned of life-threatening surf conditions and significant beach erosion.

For more information on weather and hazard warnings, go to the National Weather Service.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Providence Plans to Drastically Reduce the Availability of Open Heart Surgery in Humboldt County Next Year, According to Employees at St. Joseph Hospital

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A couple of weeks ago, the Outpost ran a story by reporter Ryan Burns about the Heart Institute at Providence St. Joseph Hospital, and in particular about the future of cardiothoracic surgery after Dr. Joseph Arcidi, the only local surgeon who performs these surgeries, leaves the hospital, which employees had been told would happen by February.

In discussions with Providence’s public information team after this story was published, the Outpost sent the following question, a version of which we asked well before the original story was published:

Is Providence going to have an on-staff dedicated cardiothoracic surgeon available in Humboldt County 24/7 going forward, after Dr. Arcidi leaves? If not, how does the hospital plan to replace that resource?

A week after we emailed this question to Providence, the hospital sent a response to the story. Here it is:

Providence St. Joseph Hospital Eureka will continue to offer cardiac and vascular services 24/7/365 for our Humboldt County community. This includes PCI procedures to open blocked heart vessels that cause heart attacks, and other interventions to treat sudden or severe cardiac emergencies as we have done for many years. We are extremely fortunate to have a team of credentialed cardiovascular surgeons to serve patients at our hospitals and medical centers across Northern California. Providence assures our Humboldt community that we will continue to provide the safe, high quality, award-winning emergent heart care they need in alignment with national certification standards.

We were still unclear how this answered the specific question we had asked, which was about the future availability of cardiothoracic surgery in Eureka — not about PCI procedures, nor about surgery at other Northern California hospitals — so we asked again. The public information team told us that the statement above answered the question.

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Press release from the Humboldt County Drug Task Force:

On December 21st, 2024, Agents with the Humboldt County Drug Task Force (HCDTF) and Deputies with the Marijuana Enforcement Team (MET) served a search warrant on William Lavon Pree (43 years old from Antioch).

During the month of December, HCDTF received information that Pree was traveling to the Bay Area and purchasing large quantities of narcotics for the purpose of sales, and that he was in possession of firearms. Pree is a convicted felon for numerous violent offenses involving firearms including attempted homicide. 

HCDTF Agents observed Pree travel from Humboldt County, to Los Angeles, and then the Bay Area. Upon Pree’s return to Humboldt County, Agents conducted a traffic stop on his vehicle on Hwy 101 at Hookton Road in Loleta. The vehicle had four occupants, Josephine Lucy Daniels (Age 48 from Antioch), Willaim Pree, and two juveniles (ages 5 and 17). All occupants were detained without incident.

Agents searched Pree’s vehicle and located over 450 Xanax bars, a half pound of cocaine, a loaded 10MM Glock handgun, a loaded 9mm ghost pistol (privately manufactured with no serial number) equipped with a “Glock Switch” enabling the firearm to shoot fully automatic, more ammunition, high-capacity magazines, and a digital scale.

Both juveniles were transported to a safe location by law enforcement and Humboldt Child Welfare Services will receive the criminal report. Pree and Daniels were placed under arrest and transported to the Humboldt County Correctional Facility where they were both booked on the following charges:

• 11351 HS — Possession of narcotics for the purpose of sales 
• 11352(A) HS — Trafficking narcotics
• 11352(B) HS — Trafficking narcotics through noncontiguous counties 
• 11370.1 HS —Possession of a loaded firearm/narcotics
• 32625(A) PC — Possession of a machine gun
• 30605(A) PC — Possession of an assault weapon
• 25400(A)(1) PC — Illegally possessing a firearm inside of a vehicle
• 24610 PC — Possession on a non-detectable firearm
• 29800(a)(1) PC — Felon in possession of a handgun (Pree only)
• 30305(a)(1) PC — Felon in possession of ammunition (Pree only)
• 273A(A) PC — Felony child endangerment

Anyone with information related to this investigation or other narcotics related crimes is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Drug Task Force at 707-267-9976.

UC Berkeley professor Susan Shaheen has sent over a dozen students to the Education Symposium, a two-day conference that exposes college juniors and seniors in California to careers in transportation.

During the event, students learn about the transportation industry, get matched with a mentor, meet with practitioners in the field and participate in a competition. At the end, they’re eligible to apply for three Education Symposium scholarships to enter the industry.

The symposium is organized by the California Transportation Foundation, a non-profit started by Heinz Heckeroth, a former deputy director for the California Department of Transportation. The foundation works to make students interested in transportation careers, offering dozens of scholarships to students to enter the field, among other things.

“My perception has been that a lot of people who go to it are very inspired,” Shaheen, who is on the board for the foundation, said. “You’re hearing from people who are really senior in the field, and they’re talking to you, they’re focused on you, they’re answering your questions, and working side-by-side with you on a project for the symposium.”

As part of this year’s symposium, held in Fresno in November, students participated in a mock grant competition, designing proposals to address sustainable transportation.

“Transportation is not necessarily the sexiest career choice,” said Marnie Primmer, the executive director for the foundation. “It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that maybe some other career choices open to students, but that’s why our education symposium is such a great opportunity, because it introduces students to what it’s really like to be a transportation professional.”

Part of what makes the program successful is the type of mentors it’s able to recruit, according to Primmer and Shaheen. These include people working in both the public and private sectors and academia. They range from engineers to planners to policymakers and many of them are high-ranking in their sphere, with several former directors of Caltrans serving as mentors.

A key challenge Primmer faces with courting students is helping them understand exactly what jobs there are in the transportation industry: everything from the engineers that design highways to the policymakers that plan public transit systems to the maintenance workers who keep the systems functioning.

In the past few years, the industry has seen a dip in students interested in transportation, Primmer said. For example, engineering students have opted for careers in software engineering instead of civil engineering. However, this is changing as students seek more hands-on careers, she said.

“If you work on a highway project, or you work on a new transit system, you actually get to see the fruits of your labor and the impact that it makes on your community,” she said. “With many students who are interested in passion projects, and in connecting their purpose with their career, civil engineering becomes a much more attractive opportunity, because you’re actually seeing the results of the work you put in.”

Many of Shaheen’s students are interested in sustainable transportation, particularly since she directs the Innovative Mobility Research lab at the Transportation Sustainability Research Center at Berkeley. “With any transition, the jobs do change,” she said. “When we go from horse and carriage to car, there’s major changes. And when you make changes to electronics, to the sensing systems, or the propulsion systems and how they’re fueled, that involves education and workforce development.”

Another major shift in the industry, perhaps the biggest one, is self-driving cars, Primmer said. Google, Apple, Ford, Mercedes, Tesla, Honda, Toyota and more are all working on self-driving programs.

“I think that technology is advancing in a way that will be transformative for transportation in the next 5 to 10 years,” she said. “But I do think that opens up new opportunities for students who are tech savvy and who are willing to be the bridge between how we’ve always done things, and how we’re going to do things in the future.”

Primmer says one of the most important ways to attract students to the industry is storytelling, which helps them put it in perspective.

“It’s the foundation of everything we do,” she said. “You can’t get to your dentist appointment, you couldn’t get there if you didn’t have a good transportation network. Your access to education, your access to good paying jobs, your access to amenities in your community, is all dependent on a functioning transportation network.”

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