Gemma Jerene Martensen, 77, passed away peacefully on October 23,
2024. Born in Eureka on September 1, 1947, Gemma was a
lifelong resident of Eureka and a devoted homemaker.
She graduated from Eureka Senior High in 1965 and, two years later,
married her high school sweetheart and the love of her life, Stanley
L. Martensen, in 1967. Together they built a life filled with love
and family until Stanley’s passing in 2008.
Gemma was known for her incredible cooking, always preparing enough
food to feed an army. She took great joy in canning, but her favorite
pastime was spending time at the casino, where she enjoyed the
excitement and fun.
Preceded in death by her beloved husband, Stanley L. Martensen
(2008); her father, Daniel Marcelli (1987); her mother, Twyla
Marcelli (2006); and her brother, Danny Marcelli (2006).
Gemma is survived by her siblings Kim Marcelli-Cunha (Calvin), Robert
Marcelli (Shirley), and Lance Marcelli (Valerie). She leaves behind
her loving children Janeen Baker (Paul), Stanley W. Martensen
(Jessica), and Tracy Martensen (Jessica), as well as her
grandchildren Kelley (Jimmy), Jamie, Jessica (Aj), Tashia, Keisha
(Kent), Katina, Javonee (Marly), Tee’Ana, Trinity, Tanner, Elijah, Trinity,
and Zyaire, and her 16 great-grandchildren. Gemma also had numerous
nieces and nephews, all of whom she loved and adored.
Additionally, Gemma is survived by her brother-in-laws Robert B.
Martensen, John Martensen (Andrea), and sister-in-law Jacque
Hostler-Carmesin.
Gemma had a huge heart and was known for her generosity. She would
give her last to anyone in need, and her kindness touched the lives
of many. Her presence, warmth, and loving spirit will be deeply
missed by all who knew her.
A
viewing will be held on November 2, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. at Sanders
Funeral Home (1835 E St. Eureka), followed by a graveside service at
Ocean View Cemetery (3975 Broadway St., Eureka). A reception will be
held afterwards at Lost Coast Brewery Taproom 1600 Sunset, Eureka, where family and friends are invited to gather and celebrate Gemma’s
life.
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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Gemma Martensen’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.
In response to a state lawsuit accusing St. Joseph Hospital of refusing to provide emergency abortion care, Providence Northern California is denying the allegations while promising to follow state law as the case proceeds.
Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office had filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to require St. Joseph Hospital to comply with California’s Emergency Services Law (ESL) with regard to pregnant patients experiencing medical emergencies. Today was the deadline for Providence to file its response.
A stipulated agreement and proposed order, received today by Humboldt County Superior Court, says both parties in this lawsuit seek to ensure “that pregnant patients receive adequate treatment for emergency medical conditions, based on the professional judgment of the treating physician.”
Furthermore, it says the two sides have “initiated discussions regarding a settlement of the case,” though Bonta’s office isn’t waiving any of its allegations and Providence isn’t admitting any liability at this stage.
The document, linked below, must be signed by a judge to take effect.
The state’s complaint, filed on Sept. 30, alleges that Providence violated California’s Emergency Services Law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act and the Unfair Competition Law. In one specific case, it accuses St. Joseph Hospital of denying emergency abortion care to Dr. Anna Nusslock, a Eureka chiropractor who was just 15 weeks pregnant with twins when she arrived to the hospital bleeding heavily and in severe pain.
“Despite the immediate threat to her life and health, and despite the fact her pregnancy was no longer viable, Providence refused to treat her,” Bonta’s office said in a press release. Care providers instead sent Nusslock up to Mad River Community Hospital. “On the way out the door, Providence handed Nusslock a bucket and towels ‘in case something happens in the car,’” the suit alleges.
The labor and delivery unit of Mad River Community Hospital is scheduled to permanently close on Thursday, leaving St. Joseph Hospital as the only labor and delivery unit in Humboldt County.
In the stipulated agreement, St. Joseph Hospital agrees, among other things, to:
Continue to allow its physicians to terminate a patient’s pregnancy … whenever the treating physician(s) determine in their professional judgment that failing to immediately terminate the pregnancy would reasonably be expected to
Place the patient’s health in serious jeopardy;
Result in serious impairment to the patient’s bodily functions; or
Result in serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part of the patient.
The hospital also agrees to provide a written notice of the order to all medical staff and every physician with privileges there within seven days of its issuance. Once the order is signed, the court will have authority to enforce it.
The 2017 McLaren 570s makes 562 horsepower and goes 204 miles an hour and you can buy one RIGHT NOW for a mere $102,000 on govdeals.com, a government auction website. Want a plane? They’ve got a few. Forklifts? Dozens to choose from. Trash compactors! Jewelry! GoPros!
Arcata’s government is putting some stuff on there this Wednesday, Oct. 28, but if you’re hoping to score a locally-sourced supercar, keep looking.
What’s up for grabs? If you need some computer towers, monitors, or channel mixers (plus some office chairs to sit around in while you admire your steals), then Arcata has you covered. The default bid for all items will be $1. Bidding ends Nov. 14. Winners have to pay for their items within five days and collect them within 10. Check the items out here.
Just in time for Halloween, we’ve got scary bat news. Well, it’s scary news for bats … and anyone who cares about their welfare.
A fungus with a creepy name right out of a Harry Potter spell — Pseudogymnoascus destructans — has been confirmed in at least five California counties, including Humboldt. This fungus causes white-nose syndrome, a potentially fatal condition, in a wide variety of bat species.
The Outpost first wrote about the fungus’ arrival in California five years ago, before it had been positively identified here in Humboldt County. While the fungus has spread since then, a local biology professor and bat expert we spoke with at the time, Joe Szewczak, said white-nose syndrome may well prove less destructive here on the North Coast than it has been elsewhere in North America.
Here’s a press release from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife:
The fungus that causes white-nose syndrome in bats has been detected in several counties across California this year, although bats with visible signs of the disease have yet to be observed in the state.
White-nose syndrome has killed millions of bats across North America and decimated entire colonies. Hibernating bats like little brown myotis, Yuma myotis, and cave myotis are especially vulnerable. While white-nose syndrome is often fatal to hibernating bats, it does not infect humans, pets, livestock or other wildlife.
White-nose syndrome develops when the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans invades the skin cells of bats, resulting in damage to delicate wing membranes. The infection typically appears as white fuzz on the faces of infected bats, giving the syndrome its name. Bats with white-nose syndrome often end winter hibernation early, when water and insect prey resources are scarce, causing them to deplete their fat reserves and become dehydrated. As a result, infected bats often perish.
In 2023, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) first confirmed definitive presence of the fungus in a bat roost in Humboldt County. In 2024, the fungus was also confirmed present in Sutter, Placer, Amador, and Inyo counties. Inconclusive laboratory results suggest the fungus may also be present in Trinity, Siskiyou, Shasta, Plumas, Alpine, San Diego, and San Bernardino counties. Additional results are still pending for several other counties around the state.
The fungus has been detected on several bat species in California, including the little brown myotis, Yuma myotis, long-legged myotis, big brown bat, Mexican free-tailed bat, and Western red bat. This is the first time a Western red bat has been reported with presence of the fungus. The positive sample was returned from a female bat captured on May 9, 2024, in Sutter County. Both Western and Eastern red bats occur in California and can be difficult to differentiate, so CDFW used genetic sequencing to confirm this individual as Western red bat (Lasiurus frantzii, previously recognized as L. blossevillii).
While white-nose syndrome has not yet been observed in any bat in California, the presence of the fungal pathogen suggests the disease could manifest in California’s bats within the next few years. Such progression has been observed in other states, as the fungus and disease have been spreading across North America since discovery in 2006. The fungus was first detected on the West Coast in 2016 when it was discovered on a bat in King County, Wash.
While the fungus is primarily spread from contact between bats, humans can unintentionally spread it as well. People can carry fungal spores on clothing, shoes or recreation equipment that has come into contact with the fungus at bat roosts. To learn more about limiting the spread of white-nose syndrome, see the National White-nose Syndrome Decontamination Protocol (updated March 2024).
Biologists with CDFW, the National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been sampling California’s bats for the presence of the fungus and clinical signs of white-nose syndrome since 2016 in support of national surveillance efforts led by the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center. When bats at monitoring sites emerge from hibernation each spring, biologists swab their faces and wings to test for the fungus. Swabs are analyzed by the USGS National Wildlife Health Center and the Pathogen and Microbiome Institute at Northern Arizona University.
Sustained efforts to monitor bat populations will be critical to understanding and managing this devastating disease. CDFW and its partners will continue conducting white-nose syndrome surveillance and bat population monitoring across the state to assess potential impacts of the disease and inform research and management actions. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service leads the collaborative national response effort for white-nose syndrome through which scientists are continuing to develop and test innovative tools to manage the disease.
California is home to 25 species of bats. A single bat can eat thousands of insects each night. California’s bats keep insect populations in check, benefiting rural, suburban and urban communities as well as a wide variety of natural landscapes that range from forests to deserts to grasslands. The pest control services that bats provide also protect crops and benefit California’s agricultural economy – the largest in the nation. Across the country, bats contribute approximately $3.7 billion worth of insect pest control for farmers each year and their guano can be used as fertilizer to improve soil health. Robust bat populations are vital to a healthy environment and economy.
CDFW urges people to not handle wildlife, especially dead wildlife or individuals that appear sick. If you find sick or dead bats, or notice bats acting strangely, please report your sighting. Bats flying or roosting outside during the winter is an example of noteworthy behavior that can sometimes, but not always, be associated with white-nose syndrome.
Sometime over the last few days, dozens and dozens of signs supporting Measure F — the pro-parking “Housing For All” initiative that appears on current Eureka ballots — sprung up on telephone poles throughout the city and surrounding areas.
The problem? Those signs are, uh, illegal.
Eureka Municipal Code Section 155.340 specifically prohibits “[s]igns attached to or placed adjacent to any utility pole, parking meter, traffic signpost, traffic signal or any other traffic-control device, except when installed by a governmental agency.”
Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery, who personally removed many of the “Yes on F” signs over the weekend, says that city government has sent notices to Security National, its attorney and Measure F co-signers Mike Munson and Michelle Costantine, notifying them that the signs were placed illegally and inviting them to come pick them up at City Hall.
The yellow and blue signs were in the news last month, after a local resident altered the “Yes on F” slogan on the sign he had received to make it read “No on F.” This action prompted a citywide mailer from the well-funded, Security National-backed “Yes on F” campaign.
The Fortuna Police Department has made significant progress in the September 4, 2024, burglary and vandalism at the Rohner Park Pavilion, resulting in the arrest of three juveniles. This incident involved forced entry through exterior doors and windows, followed by extensive interior structural vandalism, graffiti, and damage to storage areas, offices, and property within the facility, leading to repair costs estimated at over $28,000. In addition, about $500 worth of property was stolen from the facility.
The Fortuna Police Department conducted a comprehensive investigation, utilizing CCTV footage and other evidence to identify the suspects. The arrests demonstrate the department’s ongoing dedication to protecting public resources and maintaining the integrity of community spaces.
Chief Casey Day expressed appreciation for the patience and support of community members and the assistance provided by local construction professionals who assessed the damage. “We’re grateful to those who helped in the evaluation and documentation process, as well as to the public for standing with us in our efforts to hold those responsible accountable,” Chief Day said. I would also like to thank our partners in the Fortuna Parks Department as well as other city staff members, who worked diligently alongside our investigators to bring this case to a close.
As a matter of department policy, the suspect’s names are being withheld due to their status as juveniles, but each has been booked into the Humboldt County Juvenile Detention Center on charges of felony burglary and felony vandalism. The three arrests were made on October 25, 2024.
The Fortuna Police Department encourages anyone with further information related to this incident or other similar cases to contact us. Community support remains essential in our efforts to protect public spaces and ensure a safe environment for all.
