Powerful tribal casinos and their rivals in California’s multi-billion dollar gambling industry are fighting an epic battle in the Legislature this year. Millions of dollars in tax revenues for local cities hang in the balance.

Pending legislation would let California’s tribes sue their competitors, private card clubs, over their claim that card rooms are violating the tribes’ exclusive rights to Las Vegas-style gambling.

Card rooms have responded with an enormous lobbying blitz. The Hawaiian Gardens Casino in Los Angeles County spent a staggering $9.1 million on lobbying last year, the second highest amount reported to state regulators. Only the international oil giant, Chevron Corp., spent more.

“If you’re going to attack us and try to take away what we’ve had for decades, then we’ve got to fight back,” said Keith Sharp, the card room’s general counsel. “And so we’re going to spend the money that we need to spend. I mean it’s about survival at this point.”

Cities also have a lot at stake with the card rooms. San Jose officials told legislators they could hire 80 police officers if they could add 30 more tables to their local card rooms. Nearly two thirds of the budget for the city of Hawaiian Gardens and almost half for the city of Commerce, also in Los Angeles County, come from local card rooms.

“Those games, we’re very dependent on here in the city,” said Commerce Mayor Hugo Argumedo. “They provide many of the programs and services that we offer to the residents in our community.”

The legislation, Senate Bill 549, is backed primarily by a group of Native American tribes that run major casinos. The tribes are among the most influential and biggest spending lobbies in Sacramento. Since 2014, California’s candidates for state office have received about $23.5 million from tribes. That’s more than double what oil companies have given the state’s politicians during the same years.

The state’s card room industry, by comparison, has donated about $3.8 million during the same timeframe.

A group of tribes contend the 80 or so privately-owned gambling halls are illegally offering games such as blackjack, baccarat and pai gow poker, and by doing so, they’ve for years been stealing hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue from historically disenfranchised tribal communities across California.

“It’s not about killing card rooms. It’s not about killing cities. It’s about protecting what’s ours,” Tuari Bigknife, the attorney general for the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, told CalMatters. His tribe operates a large casino in San Diego County.

SB 549 is pending before the Assembly Governmental Organization Committee, which handles gambling legislation. A hearing hasn’t been scheduled, but those following the bill say it will be heard later in April or in May.

Card rooms frame the issue as a David vs. Goliath fight, since their annual earnings are barely 10% of what tribal governments make from gambling at their 70 tribal casinos. The card rooms also have influential allies in local governments officials who say their cities could go bankrupt if their local gambling hall loses this legislative fight.

When the pandemic shut down gaming in Hawaiian Gardens, the city was forced to lay off much of its staff and cut services. Mayor Victor Farfan said it was a sign of what would happen if the card room was no longer able to play the disputed games.

“We’re very, very limited in what we can do,” Farfan said in an interview with CalMatters at Hawaiian Gardens City Hall, the card room visible from the parking lot. “And so we’re fortunate enough to have a revenue source that we do today.”

Mayor Victor Farfan at Hawaiian Gardens City Hall in Hawaiian Gardens on March 14, 2024. Photo by Ted Soqui for CalMatters

Tribes, however, argue there are other ways for cities to raise money without infringing on tribes’ gambling rights that California voters enshrined into the state’s constitution.

“They can tax; they can issue bonds; they can do lots of things,” said Bigknife, the attorney general for the Viejas tribe. “All this does is shut down illegal revenue.”

Gold Rush gambling rules fuel conflict

The gambling dispute has roots in the Gold Rush, a time when unscrupulous gambling halls were fleecing miners. In response, the young Legislature prohibited gambling halls from offering games like the kind in Las Vegas where casinos are the “house” and take bets directly.

That prohibition lasted until 2000, when voters approved an initiative that gave tribes the right to negotiate compacts with the state to host certain house-banked casino games.

No one disputes that the privately owned card rooms can offer poker, since players bet against each other. The dispute behind SB 549 involves traditionally house-banked card games, especially blackjack, the most lucrative of the disputed games.

Under the California constitution, the card rooms can’t accept wagers from customers. The card clubs get around the prohibition by contracting with third-party companies that serve the role as the “house” or the “bank.” These third-party employees typically sit at card tables next to the card room employees who deal cards to players. The third-party employee plays no part of the game except to collect players’ bets and pay out winnings. The dealers must periodically offer the opportunity for the players to act as the bank. Almost every customer declines. The card clubs collect fees from each game.

First: A blackjack training game demonstration at Gardens Casino. Last: The outside of the Gardens Casino. Hawaiian Gardens on March 14, 2024. Photos by Ted Soqui for CalMatters.

The gambling halls say their business model has been approved by state regulators.

“Every game that (the tribes are) saying is illegal right now, every single one of them has been explicitly approved individually in every card room in the state of California,” Ed Manning, a lobbyist for the card room industry, told lawmakers last summer at the bill’s first hearing.

Tribal casinos, however, call the card room business model an illegal sham, and they have been pleading with state regulators, voters and now lawmakers to end it.

The tribes have repeatedly urged the California Justice Department to step in and prohibit the disputed games. The past three attorneys general have discussed various regulations, but so far none have resolved the politically fraught issue.

Current Attorney General Rob Bonta last year proposed a new set of rules that card rooms say could make it difficult to keep playing the disputed games and tribes say don’t go far enough. The proposed regulations are pending at the department’s Bureau of Gambling Control without a schedule for consideration.

Meanwhile, card rooms and tribal governments have been donating heavily to Bonta since he took office in 2021. Since then the card room industry has donated at least $287,000. Tribes have given at least $222,000, according to OpenSecrets. Bonta said he is considering a campaign for governor in 2026.

Tribes seek standing to sue competitors

Getting no satisfaction from regulators, the tribes tried to sue card rooms for unfair business practices. But California’s courts have ruled that because the tribes are sovereign governments, they don’t have standing to sue under that particular statute.

The tribes next turned to voters. In 2022, the tribes put Proposition 26 on the ballot. The initiative, mainly about sports betting, contained a provision that would have allowed anyone, including tribal members, to file a lawsuit if they believed state gambling laws were being violated and the Department of Justice declined to act.

Voters overwhelmingly rejected the measure after more than $170 million was spent trying to sway them.

Now, the tribes want lawmakers to give them a brief window to sue card rooms to settle their dispute. SB 549 explicitly prohibits the tribes from seeking monetary damages, penalties or attorney’s fees from card rooms. It would only let a court decide whether the gambling halls’ business model is legal.

The tribes contend that if the card rooms are operating legally, they have nothing to fear.

“The card rooms should relish the opportunity to defeat the tribes on this issue and to prove up the legality of what they’re doing,” Bigknife, the Viejas attorney general, told lawmakers at the hearing last summer.

Sharp, the general counsel for the Hawaiian Gardens Casino, said the bigger worry is that if SB 549 passes, the courts would become the de facto gambling regulator. It could force card room operators to seek a court’s permission for any new game they’d like to play or any time they’d want to modify the hundreds of games they already play, he said.

“We’ll be tied up in court forever, so the lawyers will make money,” Sharp said. “That may be the (tribes’) other strategy: … Grind the card rooms down ultimately with legal fees.”

Plus, the card rooms argue that if the tribes are given standing to sue them, it wouldn’t cut both ways. As sovereign governments, the tribes couldn’t be sued by the card rooms.

Bipartisan support for California gambling bill

SB 549 is authored by Fullerton Democratic Sen. Josh Newman, and it has nine co-authors including prominent Democrats, Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, the Assembly’s majority leader, and former Senate President Toni Atkins. The bill’s Republican co-authors include Senator Scott Wilk and Assemblymember Marie Waldron, both former minority leaders in their chambers.

Despite the support for the tribes from some of the Legislature’s most influential members, it’s anyone’s guess whether the bill ends up making it to the governor’s desk. This gambling dispute doesn’t break down along partisan, regional or ideological lines. How lawmakers vote will most likely depend on whether they have a major card room or a tribal casino in their district.

Meanwhile, both sides have been spending millions of dollars to influence lawmakers.

Atkins’ campaign, for instance, has received at least $215,000 from tribes since 2014.

“SB 549 allows tribes to bring their concerns about possible infringement of their constitutional rights to the courts, where this issue can be addressed by an impartial judicial system,” Atkins told CalMatters in an emailed statement. “After a history fraught with injustice, allowing tribes access to the courts to get an answer is a step worth taking.”

The tribes also have been major backers of causes important to prominent Democrats, including Gov. Gavin Newsom. For instance, the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria contributed $1.5 million to the campaign for the Newsom-championed Proposition 1 mental health bond, which barely passed in the March primary election. That tribe also donated $750,000 to help Newsom defeat the 2021 campaign to recall him.

By comparison, card rooms and their affiliated businesses have only donated at least $229,250 to Newsom since 2014.

But money isn’t the only way the gambling interests are trying to sway legislators.

Card rooms and unions pressure Newman

It was a sunny day in December when a bus stopped at Sen. Newman’s Fullerton district office. Dozens of protestors stepped off, wearing small red and white stickers on their chests, made to look like nametags.

“Hi. My name is Newman,” they read. “I support wealthy tribal casinos over my constituents’ jobs.”

Shavon Moore-Cage, a member of AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees), a municipal employee union, was among the more than 100 people who attended the rally that day.

She said the protesters wanted to send a message to Newman about his “job-killing” bill that would harm the local gambling hall whose tax revenues bankroll her employer, the city of Hawaiian Gardens.“We ruined his day, hopefully,” she said as she grinned in a recent interview. Newman didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment from CalMatters.

Shavon Moore-Cage, a member of AFSCME Local 36, at Hawaiian Gardens City Hall in Hawaiian Gardens on March 14, 2024. Photo by Ted Soqui for CalMatters

Newman is one of the state’s most vulnerable Democrats. He was successfully recalled in 2018 before regaining his seat two years later. Newman just spent months fending off a primary challenge from four novice Democratic candidates with possible ties to the gambling dispute.

A local chapter of AFSCME gave more than $700,000 to the four challengers. The statewide union is an opponent of Newman’s casino bill. Janice O’Malley, a lobbyist representing AFSCME’s statewide political efforts in Sacramento, didn’t respond to requests for comment.

But Moore-Cage said her union, AFSCME Local 36, didn’t back the four candidates. Newman told Politico he believes the election challenge was payback over a separate fight about University of California workers.

Newman’s colleagues have noticed the pressure he’s been under, regardless of whether the card room dispute played a role in AFSCME’s decision to back Newman’s primary challengers.

“I feel sorry for Newman,” said Assembly member Aguiar-Curry, the principal coauthor of SB 549. “For God sakes.”

She said Newman’s gambling bill has some of her colleagues “worried about their campaigns.”

Still, she said it’s time to pass SB 549 and move the dispute between the tribal casinos and the gambling halls to the courts. “Let’s just get this done,” Aguiar-Curry said, “and, as they say, have a brass backbone, legislators.”

Aguiar-Curry’s district, which stretches west of Sacramento to Napa and north to Lake County, is home to Cache Creek Casino Resort, run by the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, one of the anti-card room tribes.

“Illegal activities at card rooms in our region have led to annual losses of $13 million to our gaming operation, Cache Creek Casino Resort,” Anthony Roberts, chairman of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, told CalMatters in a statement. “These activities violate our rights and impact our ability to serve our people, employees and local governmental partners.”

The Yocha Dehe tribe is a prominent political spender, having donated at least $2.6 million to statewide political campaigns since 2014. Aguiar-Curry’s reelection campaign has received $37,700 from the tribe.

The tribe recently attacked Democratic Sen. Bill Dodd of Napa, whose district overlaps Aguiar-Curry’s, over his role in the card room dispute.

Tribe attacks Sen. Dodd

In 2022, Dodd cast a deciding “no” vote that killed a bill the Yocha Dehe and other tribes wanted that would have temporarily extended an expiring moratorium that kept new card rooms from opening.

Dodd told his colleagues at the time that a longer-term card room moratorium was needed. He jokingly called the never-ending moratorium debates “the Continuing Employment Act for Lobbyists.”

“I’m sorry to say that, but you know what? We shouldn’t have to hear this every two or three years and be subject to these fights,” he told the committee.

The Yocha Dehe tribe was furious at Dodd, since without the moratorium in place, new competing card rooms could potentially enter the market. Plus, the tribe was still smarting over a failed constitutional amendment Dodd introduced in 2019, which would have legalized sports betting via computers and cell phones. The amendment also would have clarified that card rooms had a right to offer their disputed games.Early last year, the tribe sent out mailers to Dodd’s constituents, accusing him of being too friendly to card rooms. They also put up a billboard on J Street not far from the Capitol in Sacramento.

“After $94,000 in political contributions from card rooms, Bill Dodd made it easier for card rooms to expand and open in Napa,” the billboard read.

In response, Dodd sent a video to his colleagues in the Legislature. Standing in front of the billboard, he said the tribe “impugned my character and misled the public on my positions.”“This was put forward by special interests and sleazy lobbyists,” he said in the video. “You know, I’ve never liked bullies, and I never let bullies win. Cache Creek Casino and their lobbyist, Kevin Sloat, don’t respect legislators. They don’t respect the facts or the rules.”

State Sen. Bill Dodd speaks during the first day of session at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Jan. 3, 2024. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMatters

Sloat declined to comment, referring to the tribe’s emailed statement to CalMatters. It didn’t address the tribe’s dispute with Dodd.

In the end, Dodd co-authored legislation last year that prohibits new card rooms from opening in California for another 20 years. It had support from most card rooms and tribes. The warring gambling factions may not agree on which games card rooms should be allowed to offer, but both sides can agree that they don’t want any new gambling halls cutting into their revenues.

The Yocha Dehe tribe was a notable exception. The tribe testified that it opposed the bill because it allowed some smaller existing card rooms to expand the number of what it contends are illegal gaming tables. (Aguiar-Curry, the tribe’s close ally, cast the lone “no” vote in the Assembly.)

Dodd’s fight with the tribe could play a critical role in deciding the fate of the pending bill that would give tribes standing to sue card rooms, should SB 549 pass the Assembly.He chairs the Senate’s Governmental Organization Committee, and he can decide whether to grant the bill a hearing. Dodd declined to comment for this story.

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

Doris Jean “Gramma DoDo” Sandin, Stout, Hamilton, DeLong passed away peacefully on March 17, 2024, at her home in Fortuna, at the age of 93, with daughter Bonnie and granddaughter Sara by her side.

Doris was born on August 12, 1930, in Santa Paula, joining sister Mary Lucille as the two daughters of George and Mary Sandin. At an early age, her family moved north to Sebastopol. In 1940, the family moved to Fortuna where her father had built a house on Drake Hill Road. She attended the Rohnerville Elementary School graduating in 1944, then graduated from Fortuna Union High School in 1948. During this time she was nicknamed “DoDo” by her friends and classmates as a substitute for “Doris”. She enjoyed her pets, whether bottle-feeding the lamb or riding “Ferdinand” the family’s very gentle bull. As a teen, she worked during summers at the Weymouth Inn, located then across the summer bridge from the base of Drake Hill Road where it meets the Eel River.

Upon graduation, Doris had the opportunity to move to Los Angeles, when she was invited to live with and work for her Uncle Matthew McCurdy, a well-known and respected dentist in the Los Angeles area. As fate would have it, one of his dental patients was a handsome young man named Clifford. As she often said, her mother had told her to look for a man that was tall (as she was not, to give her kids a chance), had good teeth, and didn’t smoke or drink. Well, he scored so well on the first two and was so handsome she thought she could overlook the last. Here in Los Angeles, she continued her vocal lessons at the Hollywood School of Music, singing with the Hollywood Methodist Church Choir as a soloist.

Doris and Cliff Stout married Sept. 4, 1949, and lived in Culver City. Nine months later they delivered to this world their first bundle of joy, Bonnie Lynne, in June 1950. Two years later came Sandra Lee in June 1952, followed by Jan Franklin in 1955. In August of 1955, Doris and Cliff loaded up a car, trailer and 3 little ones and drove the arduous journey to Fortuna, to start anew in Doris’s hometown. Cliff and George built a studio apartment above George’s garage and they set up housekeeping. In this 750 s.f. “cottage” the five slept on sleeper sofas and a Murphy-style wall bed, while having the occasional square dance party with their Methodist Adult Fellowship friends.

Doris’s parents gifted them an acre of property next to theirs and Cliff set about saving money to build a house, while first working on the mill pond at the local veneer plant where George maintained the steam plant, and then getting a job at the Fernbridge Creamery as a route driver. Five years after arriving in Fortuna, Doris and Cliff moved into their new red custom home with the gambrel styled roof at 2508 Drake Hill Road, in 1960.

Those years were punctuated with:

• all the kids walking ¾ mile (uphill both ways, thru the snow) to Toddy Thomas School

• Doris, Cliff and three kiddos on stage while singing folk songs for the seemingly random Methodist Church or Grange Hall function.

• The Dec. 1964 flood, with boats being launched into the floodwaters from the bottom of Drake Hill Road.

• Celebrating George and Mary’s 40th anniversary.

• Grieving the loss of her mother Mary.

• Doris becoming the choir director for the Methodist Church.

• Yearly FUMC campouts at Pamplin Grove.

• The yearly family vacations to LA to visit Cliff’s mother Viva and his siblings, and the visit to see Uncle Matt and Aunt Mill McCurdy.

• Doris developing her wedding cake decorating business, which then grew into a full catering business.

Doris and Cliff divorced in 1971, so to supplement the catering business she found a job working for Bartow’s Jewelers. This was followed by a job with Al and Jan Gray at their carpet store.

Doris also joined a “Parents without Partners” group, which is where she met the retired Lt. Colonel Wallace (Wally) Hamilton, her soon-to-be next husband. They married in Feb 1973 and enjoyed 20 years together, when Wally showed her the world with trips to China, Europe, Great Britain, and multiple trips to Hawaii. Wally built a successful real estate business, and they purchased their home on Cypress Loop with expansive views of Fortuna and the Eel River Valley, where Doris continued to live until her passing.

After Wally’s sudden passing in 1993, Doris was alone again, until her dear friends the Drakes conspired to connect her with their widower neighbor, Phil DeLong. Doris and Phil hit it off and married in 1997, enjoying 16 years together with Doris falling in love with Phil’s adult children, Martha, Ruth and Phillip.

Doris’s legacy of love, laughter, kindness, generosity and creativity will be forever remembered by her family and friends, as well as the many thrift stores in Fortuna that she could not pass by without stopping to see “what’s new.” And she dearly loved her jokes, both telling and hearing them, preferably G-rated.

Doris was truly a dynamo known for her drive, gumption, creativity, and joy, earning her the nickname “the Energizer Bunny.” Her secret? Black tea, every day, all day, for most of her life. For her 91st birthday, Doris chose to jump out of a perfectly functioning airplane, earning the nickname “Skydancer” and taking 6 family and friends along with her. For her 92nd she zip-lined Fremont Street in Las Vegas (later saying “boring”). For her 93rd birthday, she was blessed with a motorcycle ride by friend Matt Coleman… and you couldn’t have wiped the smile off her face.

Doris had a fulfilling career as a dental assistant, wife, mother, Ultimate Cake Baker and Decorator, Caterer, and Choir Director. She was a dedicated member of the Fortuna United Methodist Church for over 75 years where she sang in the choir, then directed the choir for 35 years after her mother’s passing. Doris was a proud member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and was very proud of her Scottish heritage, participating in many local Scottish functions.

In her free time, Doris enjoyed entertaining and hosting gatherings, participating in DAR activities, and playing the piano for Senior Care facilities. Doris was well known for hosting her FUHS classmates’ yearly gatherings, even as the class dwindled in size.

She is survived by her daughter Bonnie Ankiewicz, grandchildren Amber Ankiewicz & husband Phillip Hastings, Adam and wife Jessica Ankiewicz, Lori Wellborn; daughter Sandra Lee, grandchildren Traci Carillo, Taryn & husband Damon Smith, Zane and wife Jessica VanZelf; son Jan & wife Cindy Stout, grandchildren Sara, Laurel & husband Kurt Stitser, Andrew & wife Jamie Stout; niece Rosalyn Ratto; as well as stepchildren Wallace Hamilton Jr., Martha DeLong and daughters Eleanore and Ruth, and Philip & wife Cheryl DeLong and children Philip, Tanya and Anna. Doris has 17 great-grandchildren: Axle and Adalynn Ankiewicz; Stephanie & Joshua Carrillo; Daniel & Hailey Hastings; Lemac Lewis-Robinson, Gisele & Leola Smith; Addyson and Emilia Stout; Bodhi and Isla Stitser; Madison Kreger, Alexis, Vaida & Declan VanZelf; and one great-great-grandson, Oliver Kreger.

Doris was preceded in death by her parents George and Mary E. Sandin, sister Mary Lucille Jones (and husband Clifton Jones), nephew Kent Jones, husbands Wallace L. Hamilton and Philip J. DeLong, stepson Donald Hamilton, stepdaughter Ruth Delong Black, and son-in-law John Campbell. She is now joining many very close friends: Evelyn McCombs Deike, Earline Hurd Ferris, Molly Cunningham, Virginia Anderson, Joy Shepard, Peggy Lau, Roy Curless, and so many more friends and classmates that she loved so dearly.

Doris will be missed by her family, but her long life will live on in the memories we have and share, comforted by the knowledge that she is no longer in pain and enjoying herself in Heaven. The family would like to thank Dr. Greg Barkdull for his excellent care, and the Providence Radiation Oncology team and Hospice of Humboldt, especially Bridget, Itzel, Steve and Terry for their compassion and support during her last few months.

We all want to give a special thanks to dear friends Karen Parlato, Carol Foley, Carol Kinser, Launie McCombs and Dr. George & Sylvia Jutila for their constant support, visitation and care for Doris, especially during her difficult last days. And the ability of daughter Bonnie to stay with Doris as her primary caregiver during the last nine months has been a true blessing.

A Celebration of Doris’s life will be held at the Fortuna United Methodist Church, 922 N Street, Fortuna, on May 4, 2024 @ 1 p.m. Inurnment will follow on a later date at Ocean View Cemetery in Eureka.

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

George Nathan King
September 23, 1937 – January 30, 2024

George Nathan King was born in Gilroy on September 23, 1937. His parents were Harold O. King and Amy Ellen VanAuken. When George was five years of age his family moved to San Juan Bautista. He helped his father and grandfather in the Santa Cruz Mountains sawing logs by hand and split the timber into posts and 3x5 fence boards. When George was about seven years of age he fell out of a tree, crushing his elbow. The doctor wanted to amputate. His mother then found an army surgeon who repaired his arm with titanium bicycle parts. His mother was a nurse and passed away from cancer on May 10, 1952 when George was 14 years of age. George went to live with the King grandparents in the Santa Cruz Mountains. George’s sister LaBerta stayed with their father in Chula Vista, California. George gathered and picked fruits like pears, apricots, and prunes as a child. He attended Laurel Elementary School, then graduated from Los Gatos High School in 1955. George then went to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo when it was a male only college. The freshman dorms were army barracks from Camp Cook.

In February of 1956 George travelled to Modoc County with his friend Bill Joiner. Years 1959 to 1964 George worked at Aiden Lumber Mill in Modoc County pulling chain, loading the carrier, and loading the train cars for 12 to 16 hours a day. In 1959 George married Gloria Gould of Lookout. Their daughters Debra K. and Denise Joy were born in 1960 and 1962. When they separated George received total custody of his daughters. George and Bill Joiner operated a beef ranch feeding cattle, moving irrigation, and making hay.

On Thanksgiving day in 1965 George met Karin Wrigley at Albert and Lillian Joiners in Lookout. They married on June 12, 1966 in Eureka, but lived in Lookout in Modoc County for one year learning everything about beef cattle. After the year passed George and Karin got the opportunity to move to Ferndale to raise their children. In 1968 George and Karin bought a fixer upper farm house that was built around 1890 on the corner of Rose Avenue and Schley. The barn on one acre was built with square nails and was perfect for the 4-H project animals, sheep, and pony “Sparky”. Nathan was born in 1971 and Ted in 1977, both in Humboldt County.

George milked cows, made fence posts, then bid on forest service brush piling jobs. He also built logging roads. While using a caterpillar, George built fire lines along the Mad River District. He also did salvage logging for Schmidbaur Lumber Company. George then managed his own logging crew and equipment doing contract logging for forest and private industries. He worked in every watershed in Humboldt County. A typical day was ten to twelve hours long plus driving time for six days a week. It was usually hot and dusty. When his business first began he used Cats to skid the logs. Now, rubber tire skidders are used. Also, boom and line were used to load logs, nowadays, front end loaders are used and helicopters. There were once 100 lumber mills around Humboldt County. After fifty years in the business, the industry had changed with more mechanized and specialized equipment for various aspects of logging. Each tree is more utilized ad there is no waste. During the summer months Karin would bring their children to camp near the logging operation as there was usually a nice river for swimming nearby. During the winters the equipment was overhauled to be ready for the upcoming season. George was passionate about logging and had many stories to share once he retired.

George always had a positive attitude and tried to do anything he was able to do. In addition to wood working and mechanic work on small and large engines George was a gardener growing vegetables, berries, and fruit trees. Apples were shared with the community from trees that George and Karin grafted.

George and Karin had an adventurous life meeting people and travelling to many different places. They spent their winters like “snowbirds” at the Salton Sea in the Mojave Desert. They met many great friends and participated in activities they both enjoyed. They played bocceball, horseshoes, racquetball, did square dancing, and played cribbage card games. Over the years George enjoyed fellowships in various churches ending with Our Saviors Lutheran Church in Ferndale.

A succession of “Barney’s” were George’s loyal pickup dogs. In addition, to George’s hard work ethic, some fun was mixed in like hot spicy food competitions with his sons. Special memories were made with grandchildren, especially cribbage card games.

George is survived by his loving wife of 58 years, Karin King, daughters Debra K. Stottlemyer (Dale), and Denise Joy Warren (Matt), Sons George “Nathan” King (Jennifer) and Theodore Irving King (Kim), and eight grandchildren in which he adored. They are Gregory Stottlemyer (Valarie), Kaley Wennerholm (Lucas), Hobie Warren (Jamie), Victoria Warren, Alexis Warren, Nathan “Lane” King, Zachary King, and Danny King. George is also survived by his only sibling, his sister LaBerta Forys (David), and his nephew Tully. He is also survived by several cousins and many friends he made throughout his life.

George’s burial will take place at Lookout Cemetery in Lookout, Ca on June 1, 2024. A celebration of George’s life will take place on Sunday April 14, 2024 at Our Saviors Lutheran Church at 2 p.m. in Ferndale. You are welcome to join the family for the celebration. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to your favorite charity.

California’s stockpile of abortion pills is totally depleted. But after today’s U.S. Supreme Court hearing over whether to restrict medication abortion, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office says he’s still deciding whether a resupply is necessary.

Last year Newsom announced the state had purchased 250,000 abortion pills after a ruling by a federal judge out of Texas temporarily halted the availability of some medications used for abortions. The state has since distributed its entire stockpile to abortion providers, but conversations about buying more “remain ongoing,” Brandon Richards, a spokesperson for the Newsom administration, said.

“California remains ready to purchase up to another 1.75 million pills given the ongoing attacks to abortion care access happening across the country – not just at the Supreme Court,” Richards said.

Newsom and other Democratic lawmakers have previously pledged to make California a “safe haven” for abortion, signing dozens of laws strengthening abortion protections, but drug regulation is one thing they can’t touch.

Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical of arguments brought by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal group, that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had inappropriately expanded access to the medication mifepristone. The FDA approved mifepristone in 2000 and it is now used in nearly all medication abortions. Justices, including some in the conservative majority, questioned whether the group suing had legal standing to make their claim.

“This case seems a prime example of turning what could be a small lawsuit into a nationwide legislative assembly on an FDA rule or any other federal government action,” Justice Neil Gorsuch, an appointee of President Donald Trump, said.

If the justices were to rule in favor of the anti-abortion group, that could severely restrict the availability of mifepristone, preventing providers from prescribing it via telehealth appointments or sending the medication by mail. It could also limit the medication’s use from 10 weeks of pregnancy to seven weeks. A ruling from the high court is not expected until June.

Mifepristone is part of a two-drug regimen. It halts pregnancy by blocking the hormone progesterone before the second drug, misoprostol, empties the uterus by causing it to contract. Misoprostol, the drug that California stockpiled in case mifepristone use was limited, can be safely used alone for abortions but is more likely to have side effects, studies show. Both drugs are also commonly used to manage miscarriages.

State officials have previously said that California stockpiled misoprostol because its legality was not in question and they wanted medication abortions to remain widely available if there is an increased demand resulting from looming federal restrictions.

Medication abortion is the most commonly used abortion method, accounting for nearly two-thirds of all U.S. abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute. In the largest study of telehealth abortions, researchers from UCSF’s Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health found that medication abortions obtained via telehealth appointments are just as safe as in-person medical care, with 98% of patients completing the abortion without the need of additional medical care.

“Telehealth is now a central pillar in the abortion care landscape and a Supreme Court decision that reverses the ability to offer telehealth to patients would be devastating,” lead study author Ushma Upadhyay said during a recent press conference.

Medication abortion accessed through telehealth providers has gained popularity since the Supreme Court eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion in 2022 and many conservative states implemented total or near total abortion bans. Research shows that patients seeking abortions like telehealth options because they offer privacy, allow them to stay home, and cost less, Upadhyay said.

“This is especially true for those who face the most health inequities — including younger people, those living on lower incomes, people living in rural areas and those who live far from abortion clinics,” Upadhyay said.

In 2022, California lawmakers enacted some of the nation’s strongest abortion protections, including increased privacy protections and prohibitions on sharing patient medical information with out-of-state law enforcement. Voters also overwhelmingly approved a state constitutional amendment protecting the right to abortion.

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

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PREVIOUSLY: Honsal Pleads for Hiring Freeze Exception; Board Punts Decision on Short-Term Rental Ordinance to March

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Despite ongoing budgetary concerns, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday granted an exception to the countywide hiring freeze and approved Sheriff William Honsal’s request to hire three full-time administrative employees to alleviate staffing woes within the department.

The three positions – one Administrative Analyst and two Community Service Officers (CSOs)– are already funded under the current budget for Fiscal Year 2023-24. The department’s previous Administrative Analyst left the position after being promoted to Administrative Services Officer (ASO). Similarly, one of the CSOs recently took over the department’s Public Information Specialist position, leaving behind five CSO vacancies in total. 

The item had been placed under the consent portion of the board’s agenda, meaning it would have been approved along with various other matters without deliberation, but it was pulled for further discussion by Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone.

“I recognize that these are actually funded positions in our existing budget, but that budget is $17 million in the hole,” Madrone said. “I am concerned that if we keep doing these exceptions, we’re hiring people that within a year or two we’re going to [have] to let go because we know the budget is still very dire for the next several years. Sales taxes are not going up, and I assume that’s [due to] increased costs of PG&E bills, food, gas and everything else. People simply aren’t buying things, and that doesn’t look any prettier for the next couple of years.”

Honsal noted that the newly created ASO position is going to focus on grant opportunities that would provide additional funding for much-needed county positions and projects that are currently supported by the General Fund. The Administrative Analyst position is needed to adequately staff the office and support the ASO, he said.

Honsal | Screenshot

“At this point in time, the Sheriff’s Office has millions of dollars’ worth of grants,” he said. “There’s money left on the table because we don’t have the bandwidth to go after more grants because of all of the time it takes to manage these grants. As you know, Supervisor Madrone, you’ve applied for and supervised grants in the past, [and] they are very, very time-intensive.”

The CSO positions provide “vital” support to sheriff’s deputies, Honsal continued, by responding to and investigating lower-priority calls for service where there is not a suspect on-scene, including thefts, vandalisms and burglaries. 

“They also are there to provide Neighborhood Watch-type information [on] how to better secure your home and crime prevention techniques,” he said. “Again, they take the place of a deputy sheriff because our [deputies] are running from one part of the county to the other, and oftentimes we don’t have time to give to some of these vital cases.”

Madrone said he could recognize that the three positions are important to the department but said, “We’re in a tough position and it’s not going to end anytime soon.”

Fourth District Supervisor Natalie Arroyo said she appreciated the focus on grant funding and the need to reduce sworn officers’ workload but, like Madrone, expressed concern for the county budget.

“We’re also having conversations about reorganization and efficiency,” she said. “We’re going to dramatically change the way we do work, particularly in the General Fund-funded departments, and that is no reflection [of] the value of the work that those departments do or the importance of it. … It is a painful process and it’s gonna get a little worse before it gets better.”

Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson echoed Arroyo’s comments, adding that he would like to see all county departments apply for more grant funding opportunities. However, Wilson questioned the “performance value” of having positions that are focused on grant writing.

“I just want to be careful about that … and how this impacts our PERS in the future,” he said, referring to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System. “Every time we hire someone – even for a little while – we have a long-term financial impact that we need to consider.”

First District Supervisor and Board Chair Rex Bohn noted that the upcoming budget discussion will force the board to determine “what is nice and what is needed.”

“We have a lot of programs that feel really good and do good work, but do they continue what the county is going to need during these tough times?” he asked. “We need public safety, health, things like that. … That’s going to be the tough call that we’re all going to have to make.”

Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell also acknowledged the difficult situation at hand, noting that the Sheriff’s Office “is looking at the biggest budget cuts” in the county. 

Bushnell made a motion to approve the item, which was seconded by Arroyo. The motion passed 4-1, with Madrone dissenting.

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Emergency Proclamation for Centerville Landslide

The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a Local Emergency Proclamation in response to ongoing slide activity at Centerville Beach, located just west of Ferndale. The proclamation, issued by Sheriff Honsal at the end of last week, opens up the opportunity for the county to apply for state and federal funding to assist in recovery efforts.

Ryan Derby, Emergency Services Manager for the local Office of Emergency Services, said the landslide has “expanded pretty rapidly” since it initially occurred in the early morning hours of Feb. 24.

“If – or I should say when – Centerville Road becomes impacted by this slide, it’s going to dramatically increase the response times for local fire and local law enforcement,” he said. “This is becoming a public safety threat.”

The landslide took out the Fleener Creek Trailhead, which overlooked the beach and creek below. Public Works Director Tom Mattson said the cliff’s edge has moved about 30 feet closer to the county road – from 62 to 32 feet – since the slide initially occurred. “This is not acting like a regular landslide,” he said. “It acts kind of like a glacier where it just flakes off in chunks. So we are very concerned that the road will flake off.”

Screenshot

While it may be tempting to drive over and check out the jaw-dropping destruction, Mattson asked residents to curb their curiosity and avoid the area if possible.

“We do not want people to go there,” he emphasized. “This is undercut – it’s not straight off the edge, it’s actually concaved in.”

Derby said county staff is meeting regularly with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to figure out short- and long-term solutions. They’ve also consulted with a local engineering geologist who recommended that the road be moved as far inland as possible.

“This has been active at least since 1992, and with the seismic activity that we have in our region it is going to continue falling off the side of the cliff,” Derby continued. With the short-term actions, we need to have some long-term goals in mind.”

After a bit of discussion among board members, Arroyo made a motion to approve the item, which was seconded by Wilson. The motion was unanimously approved.

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Other notable bits:

• The board approved an $800,000 purchase agreement for a 13,200-square-foot property on the corner of Fourth and H Streets, across from the Humboldt County Courthouse. The site is currently occupied by Courthouse Union auto repair. Sean Meehan, deputy director of facilities management at the Department of Public Works, said the county doesn’t have any specific plans for the property, but said the existing structures will be demolished to accommodate four- to five-story office facilities. During public comment, one woman reminded the board of its budgetary woes and asked if buying the property was something the county would “like to have” or “need[s] to have.” The purchase agreement was unanimously approved.
• The board granted a request from Planning and Building Director John Ford to continue the scheduled public hearing for the revocation of a cannabis cultivation permit for Hwy 36 Farms, LLC, which has been out of compliance with county regulations since 2023. Ford said he was concerned that the applicant wasn’t properly noticed of the public hearing, and asked the board to continue the discussion to Tuesday, April 23. The request was unanimously approved.
• Reporting out from closed session, County Administrative Officer Elishia Hayes announced that the county had reached a “global settlement” with former Deputy County Counsel Cathie Childs, who sued the county last year for wrongful termination, among other claims. “The terms of the settlement are that the county agrees to waive all sanctions awarded against Ms. Childs in the superior court case and to dismiss that case,” Hayes stated. “In exchange, Ms. Childs agrees to dismiss the District Court case. The county will not pay any money to Ms. Childs for the settlement agreement.”
• The board also received an update on “Workplace 2030!” formerly known as the Great Culture Change program.

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Following months of fruitless contract negotiations between Providence and Blue Shield of California, the Catholic not-for-profit health care system, which operates 17 hospitals in the state, including St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka and Redwood Memorial Hospital in Fortuna, is appealing to the public for support.

In a press release issued Monday afternoon, Providence says that despite recent revenue gains, Blue Shield “continues to deny or delay coverage for necessary patient care at an alarming rate,” and they encourage affected patients to contact the insurer.

The press release says Blue Shield of California’s denials of coverage are up 11.7 percent so far this year, and over the previous four years the nonprofit insurer’s accounts receivable increased from 24.9 percent almost 37 percent.

“This means many patients are being denied treatment for essential care, including medications, therapies and procedures, and Providence is not being paid for care provided,” the press release says, adding, “Providence continues to finance the cost of the high-quality care we provide while Blue Shield earns high interest rates on the funds sitting in their bank accounts.”

Asked via email to respond to the press release, including the accuracy of the cited figures, a Blue Shield spokesperson sent a statement that didn’t address those specifics but did defend its stance at the negotiating table.

“Blue Shield’s goal is to reach an agreement that sufficiently covers the cost of providing access to quality health care and that enables us to offer competitively priced coverage to our members,” the statement reads. “We are disappointed that Providence has been unable to reach an agreement with Blue Shield to continue our long-standing network relationship.”

This impasse comes at a time when rural hospitals across the state are struggling to survive. Just yesterday, Jefferson Public Radio reported that more than half of rural hospitals in California are losing money. Citing a recent report from health care consulting company Chartis, JPR notes that 10 out 17 rural hospitals across far northern California and southwest Oregon are in the red.

Since 2010, 167 rural hospitals have either stopped offering inpatient care or closed altogether, according to the report, with last year being a record-breaker for such closures.

“America’s rural health safety net has been in crisis mode for nearly 15 years,” the Chartis report says. “Rural hospital closures, decreasing reimbursements, declining operating margins, and staffing shortages have all coalesced to undermine the delivery of care in communities whose populations are older, less healthy, and less affluent.”

In a follow-up email to the Outpost, Providence Northern California Communication Manager Christian Hill said insurance company delays and denials of claims are a national issue.

Providence sent Blue Shield a termination notice in October, and the two sides have been negotiating ever since. Providence says Blue Shield needs to compensate for the increased costs of wages, pharmaceuticals, supplies and “the advanced technology that helps us improve patient outcomes.”

Blue Shield, for its part, says that while they recognize the challenges rising health care costs, “Providence’s position does not allow us to maintain affordability for our members and customers.”

The effective date for termination of the current agreement between the two parties is June 1. What happens if no deal is reached by then?

Blue Shield says, “We will work with our customers, members, and network providers to timely and compliantly notify our members of any changes to their assigned physicians and hospitals.”

Hill, meanwhile, said via email, “In the event an agreement is not reached with Providence by May 31, Blue Shield members who have PPO [preferred provider organization] products, may continue to see Providence providers/hospitals via their out-of-network benefits and are advised to confirm any out-of-pocket costs with Blue Shield.”

If you hear outdoor sirens, have your television or radio feed interrupted, or get alerts on your phone warning of a tsunami on Wednesday morning, don’t worry! It’s just the annual Tsunami Warning Communications Emergency Alert System test. 

According to the folks over at the National Weather Service (NWS) in Eureka, the test will occur between 11 a.m. and noon on Wednesday, March 27, triggering the alert system for Humboldt, Del Norte and Mendocino Counties. 

“The test will simulate the dissemination of a tsunami warning for Del Norte, Humboldt, and Mendocino counties for a large tsunami wave originating from far away, such as in Alaska or Japan,” Ryan Aylward, a warning coordination meteorologist for NWS wrote in a recent press release. “Examples of events like this in the past include 1964 (Alaska) and 2011 (Japan) when tsunami waves hit our coastline from far away and caused damage.” 

The test will include alerts on radio and television broadcasts and activation of outdoor tsunami sirens in some areas. The NWS said that people on the coast might also hear test broadcasts from airplanes. The full wireless alert system for cell phones will not be a part of Wednesday’s test, but areas will also be testing reverse calling, email and texting systems.

Since this is only a test, there is no need to evacuate and no need to call emergency services. There’s no need to do anything, really. But the NWS recommends that you use the test as an opportunity to review what you would do if this were a real tsunami warning, starting with checking this map to determine if you’re in a tsunami hazard zone. 

“We recommend people take advantage of this test to review what you would do if you were provided notice that a tsunami wave will arrive in the range of 4 to 12 hours,” Aylward wrote. “Discuss your plan with family, friends, and coworkers. Confirm that you have multiple ways to receive the warning.”