Clare Francis Marie Alder (Petersen) was born at St. Mary’s Hospital on July 15, 1983 in Reno, Nevada and passed from this world on February 8, 2024 in Arcata.

She is survived by her husband, Zachary Ronald Alder, her son, Gabriel “Bo” David Johnson, her uncles, Randall D. Petersen and David A. Petersen (wife June Petersen), and aunt Dawn Petersen Ellingson (husband Gordon Ellingson) and great-aunt Doris Gertsch, cousins Amy (Petersen) Messer and Jennifer Petersen. She was preceded in death by her mother, Diane D. Petersen, her grandmother, Laura Victoria Petersen and grandfather Donald Dale Petersen. She is lovingly remembered by her extended family, numerous friends, close community and fans.

Clare was born into a strong catholic faith, having been blessed by His Holiness Pope John Paul II, when she was still in her mother’s womb. Her faith remained an important part of her life.

As a child, Clare grew up in the dressing rooms where her mom performed at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. She met people like Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, and the Temptations. Once she was old enough, Clare took to the stage herself in keeping with the family legacy. She had a love for music of all kinds but loved to sing opera most.

Clare brought her own finesse to her art, delivering operatic scores in Latin, German, French, and Italian, (and of course English). In 2011, Clare bravely took the stage on the TV show America’s Got Talent and completely floored the audience. The camera loved her, and she made it to the top three under the stage name Lys Agnes. Clare emanated beauty in this world and showed incredible strength even though parts of this life were unkind to her.

Clare and Zach met as neighbors and fell passionately in love. They were the light of each other’s lives and were married on July 13, 2023 on a tiny beach near Homer, Alaska. They shared in their love of music and love for performing and found great joy in coming together to perform often. They shared a love for art and culture, often spending entire evenings looking up favorite songs and making each other laugh.

Clare lit up every room she walked into, smiled with her soul, was incredibly kind, gave the best hugs, and cared about people with her whole being. She is and will be missed forever and always.

A closed casket visitation with a Rosary will be held at Goble Funeral Home, 560 12th St, Fortuna  at 5 p.m. on Friday, February 16. A Funeral Mass (in Latin) will be held on February 17 at The Church of the Assumption, 546 Berding St, Ferndale at 4 p.m. A Celebration of Life will be held on Sunday, February 18 at The Eagle House, 139 2nd St, Eureka at 12 p.m.

###

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

Marlene Culver
October 4, 1949 - December 27, 2023

Marlene was one of ten children. Her siblings were Linda, Colleen, Marilyn, Durla, Sharon, Sandy, Billy, Shawn, Jimmy, and Chuck. At the age of twelve, she and three of her sisters and one brother moved from Rockford, Illinois to Eureka, which is where she called home for the rest of her life. While living in Eureka, Marlene started her family who still have ties to Eureka, most of which remain locally to this day. 

Marlene had many different jobs throughout her life including working as a waitress at Volpes, Stanton’s, and the Benbow Inn. In addition to waitressing she worked at Montgomery Wards and Kmart. In one of her more notable jobs, she tended the bar at Bus’s Place in Willow Creek, where she could control the pool table for hours on end. Anywhere Marlene went she helped others and made the most out of her many talents. 

She was huge on family and is survived by her children Jason & Kevin Foster, and Damon Culver. Marlene took a lot of pride in her grandchildren, Jaymee Foster, Brandin Foster, Cierra & Killian Culver, and Madyson LaChapelle. She took the greatest joy in helping raise her grandchildren and was very proud of all of their accomplishments.

Marlene was proud of her photography collection, especially the ones of her family! In her free time she loved to create colleagues out of anything she could find, and every year you could bet that you were going to receive something crafty with your face on it. No matter how many photos she had, every one of them had a story behind it, and she would love to tell you all about it. 

In about 1967, Marlene married Jack Foster. During their marriage Jack and Marlene found themselves in many places throughout Humboldt County, traveling for work. This led to them having many stories to tell, and their children will cherish these memories for many years. Years later, Marlene met Mike Kowtko and enjoyed being in the family and helping with the raising of his and Robin’s children; Jennifer, Rosanne and Mike Jr. 

No matter where Marlene called home she would put her touch into it, finding crafty ways to decorate and tailor it to her style. She was proud to call herself a lover of hunting and fishing and was quite a great shot in her younger years. She also enjoyed everything from painting to sewing and was a great seamstress, and enjoyed making blankets, and pillows, and fixing up old clothes. Anytime someone needed something to be sewed, Marlene would be more than happy to help. In her later years, Marlene enjoyed spending time with family and watching everything on television from old westerns to Law and Order. 

Please note that there is no service scheduled at this time, if you would like to share stories about Marlene’s life with her family, please reach out to any member of the family that you know.

###

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

###

While the recent visit from Hollywood royalty including director Paul Thomas Anderson and mega-star Leonardo DiCaprio caused quite a stir here in Humboldt, a feature film production from about a year ago came and went with hardly anyone noticing – though the staff at Annie’s Cambodian in Eureka enjoyed a visit from Oscar-nominated actor Jesse Eisenberg.

Expect the buzz to increase now that the movie trailer for “Sasquatch Sunset” has arrived. 

The film, from indie directors David and Nathan Zellner, has been described as a “gross, hilarious and dementedly poignant” movie that follows a family of Sasquatches (played in full-body costumes and makeup by Eisenberg, Riley Keough, Nathan Zellner and Christophe Zacaj-Denek).

The first trailer, above, gives LoCO some “Swiss Army Man” vibes, the misty redwood forests providing a backdrop for ample whimsy and crude body humor. 

The movie covers a year in the reclusive life of one Bigfoot family. It premiered last month at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival to largely positive reviews, with IndieWire‘s Kate Erbland writing:

For audiences willing to vibe with a film that feature big stars (unrecognizable), a slowly unfolding plot (with much to discover in its quieter moments), and a truly devastating sequence we will not spoil here, “Sasquatch Sunset” offers many rewards.

“Sasquatch Sunset” is scheduled for a limited theatrical release on April 12 before going wide the following week – which probably means we’ll get it in local theaters sometime in May or June, if past precedent holds. 

For now, enjoy the trailer!

###

Local developer Kurt Kramer still doesn’t know how much of his proposed McKay Ranch Subdivision in Cutten will ever be built, given the frustrating regulatory hurdles and high costs of housing development here in California and Humboldt County. But he hopes to clear one big obstacle in the coming months by getting the project site annexed into the boundaries of the Humboldt Community Services District (HCSD). Annexation would allow the development to receive water, wastewater and street lighting services.

Nearly a year after the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors conditionally approved the project – a planned 81-acre mixed-use development that could (eventually, theoretically) include up to 320 residential units and 22,000 square feet of commercial space in Cutten – a pair of Kramer-owned companies, Kramer Properties, Inc. and Fairhaven Cottages, LLC, have applied for the annexation, which will be considered at tonight’s meeting of the HCSD board of directors. 

Reached by phone earlier today, Kramer said that even under the best-case scenario, the only part of the project likely to be built in the next five years or so is Phase One (shown in green on the map above), which includes three single-family homes on Manzanita Avenue, at the north end of the project site.

One of those homes is already built, and Kramer said it needs to be connected to public services before it can be sold.

Noting that the full mixed-use project has been in development for nearly two decades, Kramer said he’s skeptical about the state’s commitment to addressing its well-documented housing crisis.

“It’s just crazy,” he said. “They can’t mean what they say,” he added, regarding political promises to address the problem. “[Development] couldn’t be more difficult if they tried.”

Many of Kramer’s concerns pertain to local challenges. For example, he said that the HCSD last fall increased residential connection fees (aka “capacity charges”) by as much as $10,000 per unit, a price hike that could add another $3.2 million to the total cost of the McKay Ranch Subdivision. Plus, he said, the district is scheduled to increase water and sewer service charges in the next five years.

“All we can do is get [the project] as far as we can get it within our control,” Kramer said. “After that we have to let the service agencies and other [government bodies] provide the infrastructure the project needs. If they do that, we probably have a fighting chance.”

While tonight’s agenda includes a resolution to approve a draft application for annexation, ultimately the request must be approved by the Humboldt Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) before being sent back to the HCSD for adoption. The district also needs to notify interested agencies and neighboring property owners before adopting the annexation request.

Terrence “TK” Williams, HCSD’s general manager, said tonight’s agenda marks the first time the board of directors has seen or considered this draft plan for service expansion. He added that much of the draft’s language was originally written by Kramer’s staff and included statements indicating that the district would pay for certain elements along the bureaucratic path.

“I rewrote it” to remove those promises, Williams said, adding that the district has not taken a position on the annexation request or the development project.

“Kramer is putting a lot of pressure on the district to make this happen, but we’re neutral on this,” Williams said. “He’s put a lot of effort into trying to get this subsidized … and he’s really irritated that our capacity charges went up in September.”

Williams said the district is also facing pressure from the County of Humboldt to help facilitate this development in order to meet the county’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA), a state mandate for local government agencies to plan for adequate housing development.

Williams said he can’t verify the accuracy of Kramer’s stated figure of $10,000 per unit in increased capacity charges, but typically it can’t be stated as a flat rate. Capacity charges, which include the cost of sewer and water hookups, vary depending on several factors, including the size of fixture units and whether the connection is for single-family homes or apartments.

“We’re not trying to stop the project, but we’re not proponents either; we’re neutral,” Williams reiterated.

Meanwhile, the project has also faced scrutiny from local environmental groups. Before the project was approved by the county last year, six organizations — EPIC, Humboldt Baykeeper, the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities, Northcoast Environmental Center, 350 Humboldt and Earthjustice — called for the development to be fully electrified, with no gas hookups or wood stoves, as a means of lowering its greenhouse gas emissions.

Kramer initially balked at the increased cost and expressed skepticism about PG&E’s ability to supply that much electricity, given the utility’s capacity limitations elsewhere in the county. But he ultimately agreed to go all-electric, and today he said PG&E officials have assured him that they’ll be able to supply power to the development. 

Environmental groups also pressured county supervisors into giving the McKay Ranch Subdivision only a provisional green light by including a condition whereby the developer can choose to make improvements to pedestrian and bicycle connectivity rather than installing a pair of new traffic signals.

Those details have yet to be hashed out, and Kramer said that aspect falls pretty low on his current list of concerns.

“By the time this gets built, their dreams and wishes will probably be funded through grants,” Kramer said. He added that Humboldt County Planning and Building Director John Ford has expressed optimism about finding funding to assist HCSD in building the infrastructure needed to support development in the Cutten corridor, which is a key area for meeting the county’s RHNA numbers.

But at the current rate of development — roughly 20 single-family residences being built per year in the county’s unincorporated areas, by Kramer’s estimate — it will take a long time to meet those needs, he said.

The HCSD board meeting is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. at the district office, 5055 Walnut Drive in Eureka.

Below is an interactive map of the project site (outlined in red):

###

PREVIOUSLY:

• MCKAY RANCH SUBDIVISION: Big Community Meeting in Cutten Tonight to Discuss Proposed 320-Unit Development Around Redwood Fields
• McKAY RANCH SUBDIVISION: Environmental Groups Voice Concerns About 81-Acre, 320-Unit Development Planned in Cutten
• McKAY RANCH SUBDIVISION: Board of Supes Set to Decide Fate of Proposed 320-Unit Development in Cutten
• Supervisors Approve 320-Unit McKay Ranch Subdivision in Cutten Despite Developer’s Refusal to Make Any Project Modifications
• Environmental Groups Hint at Lawsuit, Demand More Mitigation Measures for North McKay Ranch Subdivision
• Supervisors Approve Revised Agreement for North McKay Ranch Subdivision, a Major Mixed-Use Development in Cutten, Though Developer Says Project’s Future Remains Unclear

###

Dozens of tribal leaders and state legislators gathered on the steps of the State Capitol in Sacramento this morning to demand justice and legislative action to address California’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) crisis as a part of the second annual MMIP Day of Action. 

Yurok Chairman Joe James and Vice Chair Frankie Myers were among today’s speakers, along with Wilmut Rancheria Chairman Jesus Tarango, Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire, Assemblymember Jim Wood, Assemblymember James Ramos, Yurok Tribal Police Chief Greg O’Rourke, Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal, and family members of MMIP victims and survivors.

Yurok Chairman Joe James | Screenshot

“MMIP is nothing new to indigenous people,” James said. “It’s been going on for decades – all the way back to boarding schools, and then some. … We’re here today for a call of action with our brothers and sisters … because it’s going to take a family to move the needle. It’s going to take all of us here in attendance, all of us watching. We have made great strides but we still [have] a lot of work to do. We have a responsibility as people to keep providing change and move the needle for indigenous people.”

California has the fifth highest number of MMIP cases in the United States, the vast majority of which involve young women and girls. In recent years, tribal leaders have pushed for legislation to reduce risks to indigenous children through bills such as AB 273, introduced by Ramos, which was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year.

“We have tribal leaders, tribal members and advocates speaking out on the MMIP crisis … and now we call on the state of California to follow suit and declare a state of emergency,” Ramos said. “When you’re number five of all states in the nation … there has to be a cry for action, a cry for help and a cry to start to set the boundaries to make sure that these things are being taken from the highest level down. … Today is about reaching out to legislators to increase their awareness about this issue and about proposed legislation that builds upon previous success.”

McGuire called for state legislators to “invest in native communities in every corner of the Golden State,” through education, housing, economic development and greater access to health care. 

“We’re going to keep pushing forward to get these [MMIP] cases solved [to] ensure that no one is forgotten,” he added.

Press release from the Contractors State License Board:

The Contractors State License Board (CSLB) joined forces with the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office in a recent undercover operation targeting unlicensed contractors.

The sting operation was conducted in the Eureka area during severe storms in early February. It resulted in four individuals receiving a Notice to Appear in criminal court for allegedly conducting contracting activities without the required license. They now face fines and possible jail time.

CSLB and law enforcement officials cited the four individuals for submitting bids that exceeded the legal limit of $500. The bids ranged from $1,400 for an interior paint project to $12,000 for deck work.
According to California law, if unlicensed individuals advertise for construction contracting services, they must clearly state they are unlicensed and cannot bid on a contract for work valued at more than $500, including labor and materials.

“It’s important to hire licensed contractors for any home improvement project, especially after a storm when unlicensed contractors may take advantage of consumers looking to repair their homes,” said David Fogt, CSLB Registrar. “That’s why CSLB educates consumers on how to protect themselves by hiring a licensed contractor – it takes just a few minutes to find a licensed contractor in California.”

After this sting operation, one individual faces an additional recommended obstruction of justice charge. Investigators say this person posted information about the sting operation on social media right after leaving the sting site despite being told not to do so.
For further information or to report suspected unlicensed contractor activities, please visit the CSLB website at www.cslb.ca.gov or contact CSLB toll-free at 1-800-321-CSLB (2752).

For ongoing information and updates from CSLB, connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

###

Press release from Friends of the Dunes:

​​Love takes flight along the North Coast beaches as western snowy plovers prepare for the breeding season. As Valentine’s Day approaches, these avian companions embark on their unique journey of courtship.

The plover breeding season, spanning from March 1 to September 15, is drawing near along the picturesque North Coast beaches. Migratory western snowy plovers, some of whom ventured away for the winter, are making their way back as the breeding season approaches. While some plovers choose to migrate, others have chosen to spend the winter at or near their local breeding areas.

Male plovers invest considerable effort in charming their female counterparts during this critical period. To win over their potential mates, these males meticulously create multiple nests called “scrapes” – small, shallow cup-shaped depressions in the sand. They use their legs to kick out sand and their breasts to smooth out the shape. The males often adorn these scrapes with pebbles, small pieces of driftwood, and shells to help the scrape camouflage into its surroundings. The females play an active role in this romantic dance, testing out these scrapes before deciding on the ideal nesting spot.

Between migration, pair establishment, and daily survival (which is especially challenging during the winter storms), this is a big time of year for these little birds! To minimize additional stress that would negatively impact their success in any of these activities, please follow these guidelines:

• Know beach-specific dog rules before you go. If dogs are permitted, follow the leash rules. Prevent your dog(s) from chasing birds.
• Admire birds from afar. Do your best at giving birds distance.
• Leave no trace. Garbage attracts predators such as gulls, crows, ravens, and skunks. Please dispose of all trash properly and avoid inadvertently (or intentionally) feeding wildlife. Human food can make wildlife very sick.
• If you’re on a beach that allows vehicles, drive ‘low and slow’, staying on the hard-packed sand. Drive below the high tide line where plovers and other shorebirds forage. Avoid driving in other vehicle tracks; plovers often like to sit in vehicle track depressions.
• Walk on the wet, hard-packed sand below the wrack line (the line at the beach where the seaweed and marine debris gathers).
• Check and follow beach-specific camping and campfire regulations.

To balance recreational opportunities and wildlife protection along the North Coast, beach activities may be restricted to certain areas during the breeding season, March 1- September 15. You can do your part in protecting adults, chicks, and eggs by knowing and adhering to location-specific rules and regulations. For more information on the snowy plover and YOU, beach rules and regulations, beach access, and a user-friendly dog guide, explore the following links: 

• “The Snowy Plover and You” Video
• California Department of Parks and Recreation
• “Enjoying Humboldt’s Wild Places with Your Dog” Map 
  
• 29 Awesome Dog-Friendly Redwood Parks Guide
  
• South Humboldt Bay and Ocean Beach Access Information