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Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office wishes everyone a pleasant Memorial Day weekend. As we honor those who have served in our military and enjoy the outdoors, we urge caution regarding swimming in our local rivers. It remains too early in the season to safely swim in several of our waterways, notably the Trinity River. Both the Trinity and Klamath Rivers pose significant risks due to high water levels, cold temperatures, submerged obstacles, and swift currents. Even experienced swimmers may struggle in these conditions. Therefore, we advise the general public to refrain from swimming in these rivers at this time.

 For those choosing to swim in one of our local waterways, we offer the following safety recommendations: 

• Check river levels and flow information provided by the National Weather Service.
•  Avoid swimming alone.
• Stay near the shoreline.
• Avoid swimming into strong fast-moving currents.  If the current seems too strong, get out of the water.
• Refrain from consuming alcohol while swimming.
• Do not substitute inflatable water toys for a life jacket. Ensure young children wear a life jacket and supervise them closely while swimming.

 The Sheriff’s Office emphasizes the importance of exercising caution and using common sense when enjoying our counties rivers and the ocean. Your safety should always be the top priority.

California lawmakers voted to offer an official apology for the state’s role in supporting slavery and moved several other reparations bills but let others die.

Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a Democrat from south Los Angeles, authored AB 3089, the apology bill, after serving on a nine-member state task force that studied harms committed against Black residents.

“We were people’s properties in this state. And it was defended by the State Supreme Court and other courts,” Jones-Sawyer told the Assembly ahead of the vote.

Four Democrats and 12 Republicans did not vote on the apology bill. The Assembly approved the bill 62–0, including six Republicans who voted for it. Now it heads to the state Senate and, if approved, to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.

State lawmakers embraced and applauded as soon as the bill passed. Jones-Sawyer said Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia have all enacted some form of apology for their role in slavery.

His bill is one of more than a dozen in a package of reparations bills supported by the California Legislative Black Caucus. In February the state Assembly approved a resolution acknowledging “harms and atrocities” state leaders inflicted on Black residents over the years. Assemblymember Akilah Weber, a Democrat from San Diego, authored that bill.

Other key bills in the Black Caucus’ reparations package cleared important hurdles.

A proposal by Democrat Sen. Steven Bradford of Inglewood to compensate Black residents for land unjustly taken by eminent domain moved forward.

The California Senate also advanced proposed legislation that would create an agency to help Black families research their family lineage and confirm eligibility for any future restitution measures, and a bill that would establish a reparations fund. The bills will now head to the state Assembly for another vote.

State Sen. Steven Bradford, a Los Angeles-area Democrat, said the state “bears great responsibility” to atone for injustices against Black Californians.

“If you can inherit generational wealth, you can inherit generational debt,” Bradford said. “Reparations is a debt that’s owed to descendants of slavery.”

A bill that would require state licensing boards to prioritize Black applicants passed the Legislature’s appropriations committees. The Pacific Legal Foundation testified in opposition, saying it is unconstitutional.

“The state’s licensing laws are already too burdensome. Making race a factor is an insult to the state’s workers who just want the means to earn an honest living,” Andrew Quinio, a foundation attorney, told lawmakers April 23.

Two other proposals aimed at implementing the California Reparations Task Force recommendations quietly died in the suspense file last week: SB 1007 would have provided financial aid for buying or maintaining a home and SB 1013 would have granted property tax relief to descendants of slaves. Bradford wrote both bills, but the Black Caucus did not designate them as priority bills this year.

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The CalMatters Ideas Festival takes place June 5-6! Find out more and get your tickets at this link.

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

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By Christopher Buchanan, Christina Chkarboul, Atmika Iyer, Briana Mendez-Padilla, Jacqueline Munis, Jada Portillo, Hugo Rios, Elizabeth Wilson, Amelia Wu and Mikhail Zinshteyn

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While some universities in California are negotiating with student protestors, hundreds of students and faculty throughout the state are facing legal and academic repercussions for protesting the Israel-Hamas war.

Protesters, who have largely been non-violent, have disrupted events, occupied buildings and public spaces, erected encampments, and skirmished with counterprotesters, resulting in university leaders citing campus policy violations and calling in law enforcement to forcefully remove protesters. According to a CalMatters analysis, at least 567 people, many of whom are students and faculty, have been disciplined by their universities or arrested since the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing over 1,100 and sparking a counter-offensive by Israel that has killed 35,000 Palestinians.

For months, pro-Palestinians have been intent on forcing their universities to divest from weapons manufacturers and companies with ties to Israel, and pro-Israelis have insisted the language and actions of the pro-Palestinian groups have been creating anti-semitic environments.

At some campuses, students and faculty are facing consequences for what they see as engaging in their First Amendment rights to speech and to peaceably assemble. An unknown number of students have been suspended or warned of possible suspension, while other students and faculty have been arrested on suspicion of trespassing, attempted burglary and unlawful assembly. And although some campuses are dropping charges, students and faculty throughout California face long-term repercussions.

Students and faculty face legal consequences

Law enforcement officers in riot gear have arrested hundreds of students and faculty for participating in pro-Palestinian encampments on several campuses, including Pomona College, University of Southern California, Cal Poly Humboldt, UCLA, UC San Diego and UC Irvine.

Twenty students arrested at Pomona College on April 5 were suspended and cut off from their access to housing and the campus. At USC on April 24, 48 were students, three faculty members and three staff were arrested on suspicion of trespassing.

First: A pro-Palestinian protester is arrested by Los Angeles Police Department officers during a protest in Alumni Park at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles on April 24, 2024. Last: Pro-Palestinian protesters listen to speakers during a protest at Alumni Park at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles on April 24, 2024. Photos by Jules Hotz for CalMatters

Protesters are slowly pushed towards the gates behind them as Los Angeles Police Department officers move to close the University of Southern California campus during a pro-Palestinian protest in Los Angeles on April 24, 2024. Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters

The next day, UCLA students began an encampment. The ensuing violence by counterprotesters and law enforcement against the camp protesters has drawn condemnation and resulted in the reassignment of UCLA Police Chief John Thomas on May 22, according to a statement from vice chancellor for strategic communications Mary Osako.

Third-year philosophy student Aidan Doyle said despite being aware of potential legal and academic consequences, including dispersal notices from the university and law enforcement, he and many other students felt it was absolutely necessary to continue their protest to call attention to the many deaths in Gaza.

“Despite all the roadblocks that the university and even the police presented to protesters, there’s still an electrified student base who wants to take the side of Palestine,” Doyle said.

After an aggressive group of counterprotesters stormed the UCLA campus in the early morning of May 1, the university moved all instruction online and called in outside law enforcement to clear the encampment that night. Officers arrested 254 protesters and dismantled the encampment. A CalMatters analysis of video from the sweep at UCLA found 25 instances of police brandishing “less-lethal weapons” in students’ faces.

After being injured by police during the sweep, Doyle was among the students and faculty members taken in packed prison buses to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles. He has been charged with trespassing, though he and his lawyer believe the charges will be dropped.“(The encounter with counterprotestors) was such a heinous assault and nobody got arrested. Then, the very next day, 200 people who acted peacefully were arrested,” he said. “It’s a hard pill to swallow that the administration is predisposed to dislike us.”

Last: Groups of pro-Palestinian protesters gather at an entrance to their encampment at UCLA on the late evening of May 1, 2024. Law enforcement would eventually clear the encampment on the morning of May 2, 2024. Photo by Ted Soqui, CalMatters

Despite the violent apprehension of students at UCLA, two more UCs called in law enforcement to clear protest encampments over the following two weeks. Police arrested 64 individuals at UC San Diego’s Price Center on May 6, 40 of whom are students now facing charges including failure to disperse and resisting arrest, as well as suspension from the school. And at UC Irvine, law enforcement cleared the encampment on May 15, leading to 47 arrests including 26 students and two employees.

A fourth-year UC San Diego student who asked to be identified as Jewish but also requested anonymity for fear of academic consequences was arrested for failure to disperse while attempting to secure the encampment after police arrived.

“No one really wanted to be the person who broke rank [in holding the encampment perimeter] because we all believed in what we’re doing,” the student said. “We wouldn’t have done anything different.”

UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla said in a statement that the arrests were made after multiple orders from police officers to disperse were ignored: “UC San Diego encourages and allows peaceful protests, but this encampment violated campus policy and the law, and grew to pose an unacceptable risk to the safety of the campus community.”

Faculty members at UC San Diego condemned Khosla’s decision to involve law enforcement and are demanding the university reverse suspensions of arrested students.

“We are outraged at what our administration has done here,” said Gary Fields, a communications professor at UC San Diego for 22 years. “I’ve seen a lot of protests, but I’ve never seen anything like what Chancellor Khosla did.”

A University of California campus police officer pushes a pro-Palestinian protester away from a moving San Diego Sheriff’s bus with arrested protesters onboard at UC San Diego on May 6, 2024. Photo by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters

Students suspended, banned from campus

The encampment sweeps were not the first crackdown of pro-Palestinian demonstrators on California campuses. As far back as Jan. 23, a group of protesters gathered outside Cal Poly San Luis Obispo’s Recreation Center as the university hosted a career fair inside that included military-defense company Lockheed Martin. Eight people were arrested, including three students and one faculty member.

One of the students arrested, who asked to remain anonymous due to the ongoing case, said they were also suspended for two academic quarters due to their participation. The student was supposed to graduate this spring. However, the suspension includes a ban from campus events.

“I thought they were rooting for us but I was really proved wrong there and they’re not looking out for our well-being at all,” the student said.

Other universities have also opted to enforce strict academic consequences. They have handed out suspensions, academic probations and event bans, though most schools will not disclose how many students have been disciplined.

After Stanford students established a second encampment on April 25 following a previous 120-day sit-in that ended in a deal with campus administrators, the university is taking a punitive approach to overnight protests. Stanford President Richard Saller and Provost Jenny Martinez sent a letter to about 60 students at the encampment saying they would be referred for disciplinary action for violating university policy, and that they could be arrested. They also announced that any student groups helping to maintain the encampment would also face disciplinary actions.

The university has already put an unknown number of students on academic probation, mandated community service hours and taken away university-funded fellowships for violating policies. The protesters risk losing campus jobs and university-sponsored internships.

“I get a lot of fellowship money from Stanford. I get a lot of medical support from Stanford. Being on academic probation is something I’m really, really scared of, just because I know those things would probably be in jeopardy,” said a student at the encampment, who requested anonymity due to fear of academic and professional retaliation.

USC suspended at least 29 students who participated in the protest, according to the student group Divest from Death Coalition, which has been collecting suspension letters.

“They were suspended for bringing items onto campus with the intent to use those items for the construction of the encampment,” said Jess, a doctoral candidate and member of the coalition who asked to be identified by her first name only for fear of repercussions.

Additionally, USC canceled its mainstage commencement ceremony due to the lack of security provisions for the expected 65,000 attendees.

In response to a growing encampment at Cal Poly Humboldt, the university shut down completely at the end of April and shifted classes online for the remainder of the semester.

According to Humboldt’s Communication Specialist Iridian Casarez, the university suspended 77 students related to protest activities. The suspension notice cited the alleged destruction of property, trespassing, resisting arrest, and obstruction of pedestrian traffic. Environmental studies major Stella Baumstone was among those, and said her initial concern was whether she’d be receiving her diploma. She knows of one student who lost a campus job due to the suspension and has been struggling to pay rent.

“It’s hard to see what they’re doing is having real material harm for people,” Baumstone said.

On April 30, 40 protesters were arrested when they refused law enforcement’s request to disperse and instead barricaded a building. Charges ranged from unlawful assembly and vandalism to conspiracy.

First: Pro-Palestinian protesters demand police officers leave campus during a protest outside of Siemens Hall at Cal Poly Humboldt in Arcata on April 22, 2024. Last: A pro-Palestinian supporter leads a chant during a protest at Cal Poly Humboldt on April 22, 2024. Photos by Mark McKenna for CalMatters

People gather after demonstrators took over Siemens Hall at Cal Poly Humboldt during a pro-Palestinian protest in Arcata on April 22, 2024. Photo by Mark McKenna for CalMatters

Rouhollah Aghasaleh, an assistant education professor, was the only faculty member arrested that day. The professor received a two-month suspension from the university and is barred from going to campus, attending university events including online, and contacting students.

“They are using a similar template for faculty suspension as if for a faculty member under investigation for a Title IX case,” Aghasaleh said. “I don’t think I’m dangerous for my students. My students also don’t think I’m dangerous for them.”

Faculty consequences are muddled on some campuses. John Branstetter, a political science lecturer at UCLA, was arrested after standing between students and police during the raid, trying to quell violence. He said the university has not promised to review “everybody who was caught up in it and apply the rules of the (employment manual) to us, although it’s not clear to me what those are.” He added he is particularly vulnerable as a non-tenured faculty member.

Students and faculty at UCLA have yet to face academic consequences for their participation in the encampment. Both Doyle and Branstetter believe the university will likely not follow through with suspensions or punishment. However, UCLA did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

On May 20, a rolling strike began at UC Santa Cruz when graduate students and other academic workers represented by United Auto Workers 4811 were the first to walk off the job. Strikes at UCLA and UC Davis are planned to begin May 28, adding to the work stoppage. That would mean roughly a third of the UC system’s graduate workers – who teach and grade a large portion of the undergraduates – will be withholding their labor.

The union demands that the UC drop disciplinary charges against some graduate workers who were arrested at pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the past month. The UC calls the strike illegal, which the union disputes, and argues that it cannot change disciplinary rules just for graduate workers. The union argues these disciplinary rules are new and unilaterally change their working conditions, which they say is a violation of labor law.

Faculty and students at several universities have also held additional protests calling for district attorney offices to drop charges and for campus officials to offer academic amnesty for those they say expressed their right to speech and assembly.

And protesters continue to block public spaces and buildings, leading to further law enforcement action. On May 23 at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, a group blocked a main entrance to campus while chanting for a “free Palestine.” Eight people were arrested, including four students and one faculty member, for “unlawful assembly, willfully obstructing a street or sidewalk and resisting arrest,” according to university spokesperson Matt Lazier. The Cal Poly Police Department has temporarily banned those arrested from campus.

Meanwhile, also in the morning of May 23, at UCLA, a group of a few dozen pro-Palestinian protesters erected a short-lived encampment that cleared out once officers arrived. In the afternoon, a larger group of about 200 occupied Dodd Hall, a classroom space, using their bodies to block doorways and stopped students of at least one class from entering.

Fourth-year student Ricky Ramirez, who was trying to attend his 5 p.m. sociology class, said he was sympathetic to the protesters and had joined previous pro-Palestinian rallies at campus. “I understand why it’s happening,” he said. “I wish the school would inform us more and keep us up-to-date.”

After witnessing several campus security guards grab and then push a student who was standing outside a back door of Dodd Hall, Ramirez said, “It’s really scary, honestly. I feel like it could just happen to me and I’m just trying to get into class.”

University police officers cleared out the students by about 5:30 p.m. It did not appear that any arrests were made.

Kenza K., a third-year UCLA undergraduate student who identified herself as a spokesperson for the student protesters, said the day’s actions were a test to see if students were just as mobilized as they were three weeks ago. And, according to her, they were. Their goal was not to get arrested, she added, “though students are willing to take a lot of risk because they believe that they’re not doing anything wrong.”

Some campuses turn to peacemaking

Some universities have been able to avoid police intervention and come to agreements with pro-Palestinian protesters. Most of these deals include provisions that would make investments by universities more transparent and bring recognition to Palestinian losses. Encampments have cleared following negotiations at San Francisco State, Sacramento State, Sonoma State, UC Riverside, UC Berkeley and Chapman University.

Various movements in solidarity with Gaza joined the “Free Palestine Camp” demonstration outside of Sproul Hall at UC Berkeley on April 23, 2024. Photo by Manuel Orbegozo for CalMatters

Sacramento State President Luke Wood said there would be full transparency for the university’s investments following the protests. Sonoma State’s president Mike Lee promised the same but added one caveat. Without prior approval by Cal State Chancellor Mildred Garcia, Lee agreed to cut ties with student and faculty exchange programs in Israel. After Garcia placed him on administrative leave for insubordination, Lee announced he would retire, leaving the deal in limbo and student activists in the Cal State system calling for Garcia’s resignation.

In stark contrast to the other three UC campuses, UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ said she’d be reevaluating whether the university’s investments align with the UN Principles for Responsible Investment — which prohibits investment in companies who are threatening any public safety — and that she’d call for a ceasefire in support of Palestinian and Jewish lives. UC Riverside has agreed to consider investment strategies that direct money away from weapons manufacturers.

“This is a step forward for our community,” said a statement by the group Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Riverside. “However, our work is not done. Innocent people are STILL dying, enduring displacement, and suffering. This is not a victory and, more importantly, this is not defeat.”

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Sergio Olmos contributed to this story. Buchanan, Chkarboul, Iyer, Mendez-Padilla, Munis, Portillo, Rios, Wilson and Wu are fellows with the College Journalism Network, a collaboration between CalMatters and student journalists from across California. CalMatters higher education coverage is supported by a grant from the College Futures Foundation.

The CalMatters Ideas Festival takes place June 5-6! Find out more and get your tickets at this link.

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

While the federal government appears content to sit back and wait, more than 40 U.S. states are considering hundreds of AI regulation bills.

California, with its status as a tech-forward state and huge economy, has a chance to lead the way. So much so, in fact, that the European Union is trying to coordinate with the state on AI laws. The EU opened an office in San Francisco in 2022 and dispatched a tech envoy, Gerard de Graaf, to better communicate about laws and regulations around AI.

We are living through what de Graaf calls “the year of AI.” De Graaf and deputy head of the EU office in San Francisco Joanna Smolinska told CalMatters that if California lawmakers pass AI regulation in the coming months, the state can emerge as a standard bearer for the regulation of AI in the United States. In other words: California’s laws could influence the future of AI as we know it.

Last month, de Graaf traveled to Sacramento to speak with several state lawmakers key to AI regulation:

• Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, a San Ramon Democrat, is author of a bill that requires businesses and state agencies report results of AI model tests in an effort to prohibit automated discrimination
• Democratic State Sen. Scott Wiener from San Francisco is author of a bill to regulate generative AI
• Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks, an East Bay Democrat, is author of a bill that would require online platforms put watermarks on images and videos generated by AI sometimes referred to as deepfakes ahead of elections this fall
• And Sen. Tom Umberg, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who was referred to by Politico as the “California’s chief gatekeeper for AI rules.”

The meeting to discuss the bills was at least the sixth trip de Graaf or other EU officials made to Sacramento in two months. EU officials who helped write the AI Act and EU Commission Vice President Josep Fontelles also made trips to Sacramento and Silicon Valley in recent weeks.

This week, EU leaders ended a years-long process with the passage of the AI Act, which regulates use of artificial intelligence in 27 nations. It bans emotion recognition at school and in the workplace, prohibits social credit scores such as the kind used in China to reward or punish certain kinds of behavior and some instances of predictive policing. The AI Act applies high risk labels for AI in health care, hiring, and issuing government benefits.

There are some notable differences between the EU law and what California lawmakers are considering. The AI Act addresses how law enforcement agencies can use AI, while Bauer-Kahan’s bill does not, and Wicks’ watermarking bill could end up stronger than AI Act requirements. But the California bills and the AI Act both take a risk-based approach to regulation, both advise continued testing and assessment of forms of AI deemed high risk, and both call for watermarking generative AI outputs.

“If you take these three bills together, you’re probably at 70-80% of what we cover in the AI Act,” de Graaf said. “It’s a very solid relationship that we both benefit from.”

In the meeting, de Graaf said they discussed draft AI bills, AI bias and risk assessments, advanced AI models, the state of watermarking images and videos made by AI, and which issues to prioritize. The San Francisco office works under the authority of the EU delegation in Washington D.C. to promote EU tech policy and strengthen cooperation with influential tech and policy figures in the United States.

Artificial intelligence can make predictions about people including what movies they want to watch on Netflix or the next words in a sentence, but without high standards and continuous testing, AI that makes critical decisions about people’s lives can automate discrimination. AI has a history of harming people of color, such as police use of face recognition, deciding whether to grant an apartment or home mortgage application. The technology has a demonstrated ability to adversely affect the lives of most people, including women, people with disabilities, the young, the old, and people who apply for government benefits.

In a recent interview with KQED, Umberg talked about the importance of striking a balance, insisting “We could get this wrong.” Too little regulation could lead to catastrophic consequences for society, and too much could “strangle the AI industry” that calls California home.

Coordination between California and EU officials attempts to combine regulatory initiatives in two uniquely influential markets.

The majority of the top AI companies are based in California, and according to startup tracker Crunchbase, for the past eight months, companies in the San Francisco Bay Area raised more AI investment money than the rest of the world combined.

The General Data Protection Regulation, better known as GDPR, is the European Union’s best known legislation for privacy protection. It also led to coinage of the term “the Brussels effect,” when enforcement of a single law leads to outsized influence in other countries. In this case, the EU law forced tech companies to adopt stricter user protections if they wanted access to the region’s 450 million residents. That law went into effect in 2018, the same year that California passed a similar law. More than a dozen U.S. states followed suit.

Defining AI

Coordination is necessary, de Graaf said, because technology is a global industry and it’s important to avoid policy that makes it complicated for businesses to comply with rules around the world.

One of the first steps to working together is a shared definition of how to define artificial intelligence so you agree on what technology is covered under a law. De Graaf said his office worked with Bauer-Kahan and Umberg on how to define AI “because if you have very different definitions to start with then convergence or harmonization is almost impossible.”

Given the recent passage of the AI Act, the absence of federal action, and the complexity of regulating AI, the Senate Judiciary staff lawyers held numerous meetings with EU officials and staff, Umberg told CalMatters in a statement. The definition of AI used by the California Senate Judiciary committee is informed by a number of voices including federal agencies, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the EU.

“I strongly believe that we can learn from each other’s work and responsibly regulate AI without harming innovation in this dynamic and quickly-changing environment” Umberg told CalMatters in a written statement.

The trio of bills discussed with de Graaf in April passed their respective houses this week. He suspects questions from California lawmakers will get more specific as bills move closer to adoption.

California lawmakers proposed more than 100 bills to regulate AI in the current legislative session.

“I think what is now the imperative for the Legislature is to whittle the bills down to a more manageable number,” he said. “I mean, there’s over 50 so that we focused particularly on the bills to these assembly members or senators themselves.”

State agency also seeks to protect Californians’ privacy

Elected officials and their staff aren’t the only ones speaking with EU officials. The California Privacy Protection Agency — a state agency made to protect people’s privacy and require businesses comply with data deletion requests — also speaks regularly with EU officials, including de Graaf.

Most states with privacy protection laws rely on state attorneys general for enforcement. California is the only state with an independent agency with enforcement authority to audit businesses, levy fines, or bring businesses to court, said agency executive director Ashkan Soltanti, because key elements of the EU’s privacy protection law influenced the formation of California’s privacy law. De Graaf and Soltani testified about similarities between definitions of AI in California and the EU in an assembly privacy committee hearing in February.

“The roots of the agency were inspired at great length by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR),” Soltani said. “There’s an interest and a goal, and in fact, our statute directs us to where possible, make sure that our approach is harmonious with frameworks in other jurisdictions, not just states but internationally as well.”

Soltani was hired when the agency was created in 2021. He told CalMatters international coordination is a big part of the job. After hiring staff and attorneys, one of his first orders of business was joining the Global Privacy Assembly, a group of 140 data privacy authorities from around the world. California is the only U.S. state that is a member of the group.

Alignment is important for setting the rules of the road for businesses but also for consumers to protect themselves and their communities in a digital world where borders blur.

“They don’t think whether they’re doing business with a California company or a European company or an Asian company, particularly if it’s all in English, they just think they’re interacting online, so having consistent frameworks for protection ultimately benefits consumers,” Soltani said.

Like California lawmakers, the California Privacy Protection Agency is in the process of writing rules for how businesses use AI and protections for consumers, students, and workers. And like the AI Act, draft rules call for impact assessments. Its five-member board will consider passing rules into law in July.

The last day of the legislative calendar year for California lawmakers to pass a bill into law is Aug. 31.

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The CalMatters Ideas Festival takes place June 5-6! Find out more and get your tickets at this link.

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

Ray was born in Fortuna on May 22, 1964 to James and Bessie Elliott, and passed at his home in Rio Dell on April 29, 2024.

Those are the basic facts, but in between is the life of an amazing man. On paper, it was average, he went to grade school at Rio Dell, graduated Fortuna High, worked at a couple of jobs until getting a job at Pacific Lumber in 1984 at Mill A in Scotia. In between are stories that some friends don’t even tell because it sounds made up. Unless you knew Ray. Ask any law enforcement officer that worked in the area after Ray got a license and I promise you, they know him. Even the ones that Ray had a brush with liked him, it was hard not to.

In Eureka one Saturday night, a few people were standing around Rays ‘68 Cougar, including a Eureka officer. One of the young guys told Ray his car wasn’t that fast and the officer told him, “I chased this car up “I” street one night, I can promise you, it’s fast!” Ray always made a point to be nice to people, even those trying to add to his growing pile of tickets.

Ray also loved racing, more than most anyone, and he possessed more God-given talent and coordination at the controls of anything than virtually anyone. He started racing ATVs in 1985, and loved to travel out of the area with one of his best friends, Billy Dillard, to race. There was a winter series in Central Point and Ray made friends with a nationally ranked pro who had a fast bike, talent and plenty of money. Ray had a stock bike, very nearly zero money but also had endless determination and drive. He rode daily, worked out tirelessly and watched his diet. Each week he got closer to winning until he finally did it. He won against one of the best in the nation — straight up, no excuses.

That’s how Ray lived, one goal to the next, but not financial goals, or status goals, Ray loved to live, meet new friends, race and party, never a dull moment. At one race in Crescent City, he’d had so much fun the night before, he had only enough money to either enter the Pro race, or buy gas to make it home. The pro race was winner-take-all; second place paid nothing. With everything on the line, he put in his money and won, beating a class of guys that trained, got a full night’s sleep and did all the things athletes are supposed to do. The racing stories could go on forever, and not one doesn’t include Ray making a new friend. He truly loved making new friends.

Most people slow down a bit in their later 20s and Ray did too, sort of. He married Brenda Standifer, quit racing as much, but always enjoyed riding and the family’s annual trip to the dunes.

On July 3, 1992, Ray was involved in a bad accident riding through a sand bowl that left him a paraplegic, unable to use anything below his armpits. At this point, a person has two choices, up or down. Ray chose to take the hand he was dealt and live. His hospital room became a popular spot at the rehab facility in Redding, always a nurse or friends visiting, watching a race on TV and being amazed by Ray’s unbelievable resilience. His doctor suggested Ray become a therapist because of his personality and attitude. He visited the hospital on the doctor’s request a few times to talk with young guys who had been injured.

Ray went back to work at Pacific Lumber for several years, working at the weigh station in Fortuna. It fit Ray well, where again, he made plenty of new friends with nearly everyone that came through the door. The next few years brought a huge change — children. Ray loved his sons Brett, Billy and Deavon more than anything and they were a huge part of his life.

Ray had an incredible ability to make life work while never using his disability as an excuse (well, except in the Taco Bell drive through that one time to get out of a ticket) and successfully juggled life and being a single parent and more recently, a grandparent while dealing with all the medical challenges that go with his injuries.

Racing never left his mind, and when his good friend Mark Baldwin told Ray about a new series, Ray couldn’t resist and put a deposit on a brand new, open-wheeled race car. From the beginning, Ray was fast and smooth, using hand controls fabricated by Mark to operate steering, clutch and brakes, all with hands only. Not happy to just be on the track, Ray raced hard, improved weekly and won two main events in his career.

Ray had an impressive ability to meet racing heroes and be accepted immediately. At a vintage race in Sears Point, he saw pro racer Tomi Drissi driving a ‘68 Camaro racer. Ray noticed the car had opening doors and a passenger seat and the next thing he knew, Tomi asked if Ray could get in by himself, then took him out for a few fast laps.

Through the years, health problems slowed Ray down a bit, but he was still Ray. After getting most of his health problems resolved, you’d think Ray would be happy to take it easy, but you’d be wrong. He bought a high performance side by side that he and his Dad spent hours enjoying off-roading together, just like they did when Ray was young. Ray loved his family very, very much and after his mother’s passing a couple years ago, he made sure his Dad wasn’t bored, planning another lifetime full of adventures for them.

Ray took a great deal of pleasure from watching others succeed. Watching friends and family members give something their best shot was the one thing that Ray got the most satisfaction from.

There’s so much more to say about Ray’s life, like working in the garage with his dad and brother to build the bright red Model A sedan that won many awards including a Best Engineered award at the Portland Roadster show, going to the races with his friends, trips to anywhere and everywhere he was invited at a moment’s notice. Family trips to the dunes, or Utah, as long as family and friends were going, he’d find a way.

One of a kind is the term that gets used most often to describe Ray Elliott. And it ain’t wrong. Love you, Ray.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Ray Elliott’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.

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• I Street Closed in Downtown Eureka Following Huge, Multivehicle Crash; Pedestrian Struck

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Press release from the Eureka Police Department:

On Wednesday, May 22 at approximately 1:45 pm, Eureka Police Department (EPD) and Humboldt Bay Fire (HBF) responded to a vehicle versus pedestrian collision on the 900 block of I Street. While responding, additional reporting parties called advising multiple vehicles had also collided on I Street near 7th Street, and one of the involved vehicles collided into a building. Extrication was needed for occupant of one of the vehicles.

Upon arrival, EPD and HBF personnel took over lifesaving efforts from bystanders. However, the 66-year-old male pedestrian succumbed to his injuries. Several occupants from the involved vehicles were transported to the hospital for injuries.

A member of EPD’s Major Injury/Fatal Traffic Investigation Team responded to the scene to conduct the investigation. Additionally, EPD Detectives and Evidence Technicians responded to assist with collecting witness statements and evidence.

Based on preliminary findings, it appeared a vehicle was traveling north on I Street, collided with the pedestrian in the roadway near 9th Street, continued traveling north, collided with additional vehicle(s) near 7th Street, and then collided into a building. The decedent has been identified and the Humboldt County Coroner’s office is working to notify next of kin.

This is an active investigation and EPD is asking if anyone witnessed the collision to please contact the Criminal Investigations Unit (CIU) at 707-441-4300.

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Starting next Tuesday, Cal Poly Humboldt will roll out its “Campus Locking Plan,” a new policy that limits access to academic buildings to address alleged safety concerns on campus. The restrictive policy has drawn criticism from university staff and faculty who worry that it creates unnecessary barriers for students. 

Under the new policy most buildings on campus “will remain locked at all times” with exceptions for “open buildings,” including the library, Gutswurrack Student Activities Center, Student Health & Wellbeing Services, Student and Business Services, Student Recreations Center, College Creek Marketplace, the J and the Depot, which will remain open during normal business hours. All other buildings will require a key card or a PIN code for entrance.

Staff and faculty will have 24/7 access to their own offices, according to a notice posted to the university’s website on May 21. Staff’s access to all other academic buildings will be limited to business hours: Monday-Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on weekends.

According to the notice, “Students will have key access to buildings where their classes are held.” Some staff and students interviewed by the Outpost took that to mean that students will only have access to specific buildings. However, University spokesperson Aileen Yoo clarified: “Students will be given access to all buildings during open building hours and they are not restricted to the buildings that their classes are being held in.”

Academic buildings will remain unlocked during public conferences and campus events “as long as entrances are staffed or monitored by event personnel,” according to the announcement. “Primary key holders” will be responsible for letting event participants into campus buildings and ensuring doors are not propped open and remain fully locked. The notice does not specify who is considered a “primary key holder.”

The university says the new policy is “a significant step toward improving safety for the campus community and addresses concerns raised by faculty and staff in recent years.” However, some university faculty interviewed by the Outpost contend that the alleged safety concerns are unfounded.

“We have never heard of this,” said Aaron Donaldson, a lecturer with the Department of Communications and secretary of the Humboldt chapter of the California Faculty Association (CFA). “If this has been something that [the administration] has been working on for several years, then it’s been years that they have neglected to tell us. What are the specific concerns? They don’t have to put names to it, but they should be able to say, ‘These are the specific requests.’”

The timing of the new policy is difficult to ignore, Donaldson said. Just a few weeks ago, Cal Poly Humboldt made national international headlines after pro-Palestine protestors took over Siemens Hall, one of the university’s administrative buildings. The weeklong occupation prompted administrators to impose a “hard closure” of campus and, eventually, call in law enforcement from all across Northern California, culminating in over 30 arrests on April 30. 

Yoo said the plan was initiated four years ago in response to “concerns related to incidents such as vandalism, theft, harassment of faculty, destruction of our gender-inclusive restrooms and individuals attempting to live in our buildings.”

“Given those factors and the University’s commitment to bolster campus safety, we began the process of updating building access protocols and evolved systems to better manage facility access in 2020, which enhanced our ability to secure facilities,” Yoo wrote in an emailed response to the Outpost’s request for additional information. “There’s a misconception the plan stems from the protest. The protests are one of several factors behind the timing of the locking plan, but … this plan has been in the works for some time.”

Administrators thought it made sense to move forward with the pilot plan this summer since there are fewer people on campus, she added. 

“I don’t doubt that this has been in the works for years – I don’t doubt that at all – but I do think it’s dodgy, and I think it would have seemed fairly extreme and unnecessary if it were done before the protest,” Donaldson said.

Erin Kelly, chair of the Department of Forestry, Fire and Rangeland Management, didn’t give administrators that much credit, noting that the policy seemed “half-baked.”

“I am concerned that it was communicated poorly and dishonestly, and that leaves a bad taste in my mouth after the events of the last month,” Kelly told the Outpost. “This policy just reflects a general disregard for the day-to-day functioning of our university. … This is not clearly increasing anyone’s security, it is creating work for people who do not have time to do the work. I do not see safety benefits, only a kind of paranoia. … This kind of overreaction is typical of what we have seen recently.”

Cindy Moyer, chair of the Department of Dance, Music and Theatre, had a similar perspective, noting, “If [this policy] truly was in the works for years and no one thought to consult stakeholders, the university leadership is even more dysfunctional than I had realized.”

All of the faculty members interviewed by the Outpost said the unprecedented announcement failed to provide much-needed information about the policy’s rollout, leaving staff with more questions than answers. 

What happens if students lose their key cards? Will staff and faculty have to pause their lecture to let a student into the building? If that’s the case, Kelly said staff will be “constantly running around” to help their students, and will likely find themselves in difficult situations – “sometimes with ADA implications, like people need an elevator in a specific building to access another part of campus” – in that process. 

On top of that, key cards will inevitably be lost and misplaced, Moyer said. “If we have 6,000-plus keycards issued to students and faculty, it will probably take about a week before a good number of them are lost and picked up by people that we would prefer not to have in the buildings,” she said. “At that point, all the value of the external locking system is lost.”

Yoo said the university will issue PIN codes to students to provide “greater flexibility for those who prefer to use a code or forget their key card.” Both the PIN code and the key card will be connected to the student’s name and ID number, she said.

Kelly also expressed concern about public access to the university. “We are a public institution, and we just created a massive barrier for public entry and participation on our campus,” she said.

“Every thesis presentation for graduate students is public. Do we have people stationed by the doors for every event?” Kelly continued. “We have frequent visitors, including alumni, who come to discuss career opportunities with students or who are on advisory committees or other on-campus groups and now we need to arrange for every single member of the public to get into buildings. Who is going to do this work?”

The notice sent to staff also notes that the new policy will “increase energy efficiency on campus going forward.” Kelly and Moyer were both puzzled by the claim.

“It is obviously not going to be energy efficient because locks don’t provide energy efficiency,” Kelly said. “People will likely start propping doors open.”

Moyer added that keeping external doors open is essential for some buildings, including Music B, where temperatures can spike up to 100 degrees in the summer months due to the big glass windows on the west side of the building.

“As a result, the air conditioning works very hard, and all the classrooms get very cold,” she said. “The best solution is to prop open as many doors as possible, which can lower the lobby temperature by 10 or 15 degrees, and thus save considerable energy. The restriction against propping open doors will both make the building uninhabitable and cost us more energy.”

Students interviewed by the Outpost raised similar concerns. Rae McGrath, an ecological restoration major, said the locking system poses “another inconvenience to students” who are just trying to get through school.

“It seems to me that the university is sending out a lot of mixed messages [about] whether or not it’s a community space,” he said. “There are a number of community resources on campus, like the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology (CCAT) and the Women’s Resource Center [in Nelson Hall] that I was under the impression was, like, open to the community. Under this new policy, the buildings there would be closed unless you have a key card.”

Art Education major Janie Mendosa said the new policy “seems like a logistical nightmare” for staff and faculty who will be tasked with enforcing the rules. 

“We pay so much in tuition, so that’s a concern as well,” she said. “It seems like [the university] is not giving what they promise.”

All of the people interviewed for this story said they had never heard of a university imposing such restrictive security measures on a university campus. Donaldson noted that some high schools keep their exterior doors locked during school hours but said those security measures didn’t come about “until the shootings started.”

“I think there are very vague ways that [administrators] contextualize threat and risk, and this was incredibly true during the protest in very counterproductive ways,” he said. “[T]here’s no direct proof of these conversations around safety concerns. And if they are happening, they’re not happening with the union.”

Asked if similar security procedures have been implemented at other California State University campuses, Yoo said such policies “are not uncommon.”

“[CSU] Dominguez Hills, CSU East Bay, and San Jose State have locking guidelines like ours, and several other CSU campuses are moving in this direction as well,” she said.

Moyer said some staff in the Music Department have had safety concerns with homeless people sleeping in the music buildings, but said that issue was “mostly” addressed by giving students keycards to classrooms and practice rooms. When Moyer initially raised the issue to university higher ups, she asked if music students could have key card access to exterior doors to accommodate people practicing late at night. 

“We were told that we couldn’t have that because the exterior door cards cost $5 each,” she said. “Perhaps that cost has been reduced? If not, this locking plan is going to be very expensive.”

Yoo did not directly respond to the Outpost’s question about the cost of the new infrastructure, though she did say “most campus buildings are already equipped with card readers.” 

“While all classrooms have a locking system, the University secured in March a contractor who will be installing new locks that give people the ability to secure doors from inside classrooms,” she added. “We anticipate that work will be completed sometime this summer.”

The “Campus Locking Plan” will take effect at the start of the summer term on Tuesday, May 28. More information can be found at this link.