Evelyn Angelina Leonardo was born October 19, 1929 at her parents’ home in Table Bluff. She passed away the way she always said she wanted to go, at her house peacefully in her sleep, and with family playing cards at the dining room table.

Her parents, Joseph G. Leonardo and Mary August Borges, were both immigrants from the Azores. Her Portuguese heritage was something she was proud of. She was the Holy Ghost Festa’s big Queen in 1948, and spoke of how her mother had mailed the dress back to the Azores to be used by family members. She was a member of the UPCC and SPRIS Lodges and had bought life insurance policies for many of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren in the SES, now P.F.S.A., so they could be members as well. She volunteered on the festas committee many times. Even this past year she assisted her sister Ione and sister-in-law Silvia in selling sweetbread and linguica at the celebration.

She grew up in Ferndale and was a lifelong member of the Assumption Catholic Church, where she was married to the love of her life, Allen Rae “Timer” Paine, on February 12, 1949. They were active in the church, with grandma even having her”pew” where she sat every week prior to COVID. Grandma was a member of the ladies’ guild and altar society for many years.

In 1950, Evelyn gave birth to her daughter Linda, soon to be followed on her birthday in 1951 with son David, and in 1953 her family was complete with the birth of Patricia. In 1955 they bought their first home on Madison Street. When the lot next door became available they bought the lot and began building her forever home. It was a family affair, with her brother-in-law Eddie Christensen as their contractor. Timer and the kids worked on the house until it was completed in 1964. Many family gatherings were held at that home from wedding receptions, Christmas Eves, baby showers and so much more.

Evelyn was known as a hard worker, she started working as a teenager doing bookkeeping at a local grocery store. She spent many years working at the Valley Grocery. She was bored with being retired, so she went to work for Larry Martin at his ice cream shop, she then moved across the street to work at Rings Pharmacy. She also volunteered with the Ferndale Senior luncheon for many years.

Even though Timer was the musician in the family, grandma loved music. They were active dancers, being members of the Jolly Time Dance Club for many years. She would turn on the radio in the mornings while she ate her breakfast. In her final days she was caught tapping her feet and waving her hands to the music we played for her.

Holidays were big family affairs, and once they outgrew the houses the Leonardo side of the family began renting halls to hold Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. Evelyn was big on family and loved them so much. She made every child, grandchild and great-grandchild feel like they were her favorite. She loved when family would come over and if there were enough card players Pedro was being played. Sometimes the card table had to be set-up in the living room due to there needing to be a second game. Grandma would make everyone laugh when her team was close to winning and she would say “we’ll just slide right out.” She and Timer had played cards for years with friends and family alike.

Grandma enjoyed traveling and her and grandpa enjoyed many vacations both with friends like the Alexandres to places like Hawaii and Portugal, and to see family. Grandma even once took a train to Hanford, Calif. so she could visit her great grandchildren Brittani and Jasen.

In the early 1960s Evelyn and Timer started attending the Bear River picnics at Earl Ambrosini’s cabin. The Sweets, the Bryants, the Lorenzos all had generations of family attending those picnics.

Grandma turning 85 was hard on all of us, as that is when she decided to retire from baking. She will be forever missed for the cookie can that was always full. For many of the grandkids, the first thing that they did when walked in the house was to stop by the cookie can. It was so missed that a baking day was planned at her house by her granddaughters. That day Evelyn got to sit and play cards while overseeing her granddaughters and great-granddaughters bake cookies using her recipes. Her freezer was stocked for months.

She was preceded in death by her parents Joseph G and Mary (Borges) Leonardo, her beloved husband of 48 years Allen “Timer” Paine, her in-laws Leslie Rae and Zella “Claire” (Benjamin) Paine; her siblings Joseph Leonardo, Frank Leonardo, Mary (Leonardo) Manzi, Ione (Leonardo) Franz and her infant brother Frank Leonardo; her sisters-in-law Janice (Paine) Christensen, Helen (Paine) Baldwin, Alice Gaye (Paine) Lorenzo and brothers-in-law Clifford Paine, Earl Paine and Garth “Newt” Paine; her son-in law David Galbraith and step-granddaughter Evangela “Angie” (Torgerson) Hopkins.

Evelyn is survived by her three children, Linda Brito, and husband George; David Paine and wife Joanne and Patricia “Petie” Galbraith. She also leaves behind her grandchildren Heather (Paine Cook) Peugh and husband Scott; Craig Brito and wife Rosie; Jessica Paine; Melissa (Hackett) Shepherd and husband Dave; Ken Brito and wife Cori; Jennifer (Brito) Hayes and husband Jacob; Kevin Galbraith; Aaron Pain and wife Ashley; and Justin Paine and girlfriend Devon Thompson. Her Step grandchildren Holly (Lucas) Martella and husband Jeff and Jeremy Lucas and wife Patti. She was affectionately called Nammie by her great grandchildren: Ariel, Aurora and Jake Peugh; Owen and Ansley Brito, Braden Paine, Brittani Hackett-Little and fiance David Hall, Jasen Shepherd and wife Zuri; Lauren and Emma Rae Brito; Myra, Olivia, Audrey and Lucy Hayes, Aliese Galbraith, Zeb, Eloise and Atlas Paine and Jayden and Ruka Paine. Her step-great grandchildren: Kobe Martella and wife Brittany, Andrena (Martella) Diven and husband Brayden, Chase Hopkins and girlfriend Korrie Morris, Haylee Hopkins, Madison Hopkins and partner Shantel Fixsen and Denali Hopkins. Her great grandchild Adalyn Evelyn Hall and step-great grandchildren Riven and Brooklyn Hopkins. She is also survived by her sister-in-law Silvia Leonardo and brother-in-law Lee Franz as well as too many nieces and nephews to count between the Leonardo and Paine families.

A visitation will be held on Friday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the Ferndale Assumption Catholic Church with the rosary to follow at 8 p.m. A Catholic Funeral Mass will also be held at the church on Saturday, April 6 at 10 a.m., with burial to follow at St. Bernard’s Cemetery in Eureka. She will be laid to rest with her soulmate Timer. Reception to be held at the Catholic Church hall after the burial.

The family would like to thank Providence Home Health and Hospice of Humboldt for their assistance in allowing grandma to be home as she wanted in her final days. In lieu of flowers please donate to the Ferndale volunteer Fire Department or the Ferndale Holy Ghost Festival in her name.

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

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved sister, Nicol Eileen Roby, who passed away on February 22, 2024 the age of 38.

Nicci, as she was fondly known, was born on July 11, 1985 in Ukiah. She grew up in Eureka alongside her siblings, and attended Eureka High and Zoe Barnum high school, where she graduated.

Nicci was a loving mother, sister and friend, always willing to lend a helping hand and a listening ear. Her warm personality, infectious smile and generous heart made her an instant favorite among all who knew her. She was crazy at times, but she was never fake.

Despite facing many challenges in her life, Nicci remained resilient and persevered through it all. She was a fighter ‘til she couldn’t anymore.

Nicci is survived by her husband, Phelix Roby, her sons Oscar Roby and Justin Roby , her brothers John Urich III and Dustin Whitten, nieces and nephews Faith Thomas, Savannah Hodge, Avi Hodge, Ivy Urich, John Urich IV and a host of other relatives and friends.

We will miss her dearly, but take comfort in the fact that she is now in a better place, free from pain and suffering. May her soul rest in eternal peace.

There will be a celebration of life on May 3, 2024 at 1011 Waterfront Dr. at 1 p.m.

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

Caltrans release: 

Caltrans partnered with several Humboldt County tribes to break ground recently on a project that will improve welcoming amenities for visitors to the popular Berry Summit Vista Point and honor the lives and history of the Yurok, Hoopa Valley, Karuk, Whil’kut, and other tribes that inhabit the area. 

The Berry Summit Vista Point along Route 299 is renowned for breathtaking views and starry nighttime skies, but it has long lacked key services for travelers. The project will add toilet facilities, solar-powered electric vehicle charging stations, a picnic area featuring local drought-resistant vegetation, night-sky-friendly solar lighting, informational kiosks, and decorative garbage cans. 

Expected to be completed by early summer, the $759,000 effort was made possible by Governor Gavin Newsom’s Clean California Initiative – a sweeping, $1.2 billion, multiyear clean-up effort led by Caltrans to remove trash, create thousands of jobs, and join with communities throughout the state to reclaim, transform and beautify public spaces.

These enhancements to the popular scenic overlook destination will improve safety, increase convenience, and make for a more enjoyable recreational experience for travelers from across the state.

“A major element of Clean California is to inspire local pride and stewardship,” said Caltrans Director Tony Taveras. “This project reflects that spirit through the involvement of many exceptional local development partners, including local tribes, Humboldt County, the Humboldt County Association of Governments, CHP-Humboldt, and CAL-ORE Life Flight.”

Yolanda Latham of the Whil’kut tribe added, “This project will surely help those traveling through our region and ancestral territory, and I hope that many families will feel a bit safer when traveling with the elderly and little ones.”

Humboldt County Supervisor Steve Madrone added, “The efforts by Caltrans and the Clean California team have been commendable. The project at Berry Summit Vista Point was developed by reaching out to tribes and the community to make meaningful improvements.”

Clean California has funded 319 projects statewide to revitalize and beautify underserved communities, some of which are already complete and now sources of community pride. Projects are improving public spaces, tribal lands, parks, neighborhoods, transit centers, walking paths, streets, roadsides, recreation fields, community gathering spots, and places of cultural importance or historical interest in underserved communities.

Since launching Clean California in July 2021, Caltrans has removed nearly 2.3 million cubic yards of litter from state highways – or enough to fill about 700 Olympic-size swimming pools. 

The program has also created more than 15,000 jobs that have helped Californians overcome barriers to employment and drawn more than 10,000 volunteers to events ranging from community cleanups to large debris collections for appliances, tires, and mattresses.

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If you’ve driven down Giuntoli Lane in Arcata’s Valley West neighborhood recently, you may have noticed a big, red and blue circus tent peeking over the top of a fence on Carlson Park Drive. If you thought that the circus was coming to Valley West, sorry to say, that is not the case. The tent – which was set up a couple of weeks ago by the Arcata Playhouse/ Playhouse Arts – will actually be used as a space for unhoused people to make art out of the garbage from abandoned camps. 

Jacqueline Dandeneau, executive artistic director for the Playhouse, told the Outpost that the project is an extension of Playhouse Art’s Our Space program, which offers free art classes to unhoused or housing insecure folks in our community. This specific project, which is collaboration between Playhouse Arts and the Northcoast Environmental Center (NEC), was funded by an Upstate California Creative Corps grant and aims to provide a creative outlet for  houseless and housing insecure artists, while diverting trash from the wastestream into the artstream.

“The purpose of the grant is using artists to help address community issues,” Dandeneau said in a phone interview Thursday. “So we’re addressing homelessness and the environment, because the camps are environmental degradation.” 

NEC has been helping with cleanups of homeless camps for about two years, and started working with the Our Space program about a year ago. Caroline Griffith, executive director of NEC, said that the partnership came about because NEC wanted to figure out a way to reuse some of the items being left behind at abandoned camps. 

Griffith said that NEC was seeing a “troubling trend” of campers being shuffled around from place to place, which causes the litter to be more spread out. Also when people are forced to leave their camps, they often don’t have the resources – such as dumpsters, recycling cans or transportation to the dump – to adequately clean up their camps. 

When Griffith went to check out Our Space – then located in a storefront on Ninth Street – she found a very welcoming environment, where people were having conversations, sharing food and making cool art. NEC thought that providing the artists with reusable items recovered during the cleanups would be a great way to support the program, while also diverting waste from the landfill. The two agencies started working together and have since collaborated on art/ environmental projects like the Craft for the Coast Trash Art Contest. 

For the project in Valley West, Griffith said that it is still in the very early stages and NEC is currently setting up the system for bringing in and sorting materials and will soon start holding building sessions with unhoused people from the community that they have been working with through the Our Space program and through helping with the camp cleanups. 

And the circus tent for art-building is not the only cool thing that’s happening on this little patch of property in Valley West. The site has been occupied for some time by Isaac Lyons and his business Humbuildt Homes – which has a warehouse on the north side of the site. After another tenant that was sharing the property left, Lyons decided to lease the entire parcel. But since he didn’t really need the entire space for his company, he decided to sublease to various nonprofit organizations.

For about a year Zero Waste Humboldt has been renting a shipping container on the site for its Reuse Center – a thrift store for craft and construction materials, such as doors, windows, scrap metal, hardware and more. The store is open every fourth Saturday of the month between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and by appointment.

Cooperation Humboldt also plans to use the site to open a tool library – a place where folks who don’t have the money or space for their own tools can borrow them to work on a project – and Julia Finkelstein, a local artist and owner of Epitome Gallery in Eureka, has also been using the space to showcase street art and helped paint colorful murals along the outside fence and on the shipping containers inside. 

Lyons said that his dream is to turn the site into a hub for sustainable development that houses multiple business and nonprofit organizations, offering classes and other community resources. Lyons said that his business is currently working on a line of modular, prefabricated homes that he hopes to be able to showcase on the site. Lyons said his team is also setting up classrooms in the warehouse so that they can offer classes on general carpentry and construction techniques, plumbing, solar installation and more. Eventually Lyons would like to create a pathway for community members to become a general contractor, something that he feels could address the shortage of licensed contractors, while also helping people who maybe can’t afford to hire contractors for their projects.  

“Currently, with the number of tradesmen out there and general contractors – that’s part of the issue and challenge — there’s not enough of them to ever create enough housing for all the people who need it,” Lyons said in a recent phone interview. “And people who need [a home] often can’t afford to have it built for them. We need to teach people essentially how to fish.” 

As far as when all of these services will be up and running and accessible to the public, it’s hard for Lyons to say. All of the various groups are still figuring out how everything can come together. But there are plans in the works to hold a couple of outdoor events on the site in the summer. 

“We’re hoping there’ll be some synergy there between all of us and that we can create something that is fun and can be offered to the public,” Lyons said. 

As for the Our Space program under the big tent, things are already underway and Griffith said that the volunteers are planning to build several sculptural pieces out of objects that they find a lot of at camp cleanups, such as bicycle parts and tent parts. Griffith didn’t want to give too much away about the sculptures, but said that they will likely be mobile in some way and that the group plans to bring them to some public events in the late summer/ fall. 

The Playhouse and NEC are only committed to keep the tent at the site until November 15, at which point the tent will be coming down to protect it from the elements. That’s also when the grant funding for the project dries up. But if the project is successful, Dandeneau and Griffith said it is likely that they’ll pursue additional funding to keep the space running and help transform the property into a thriving community center for Valley West an area that has been historically underserved. 

When asked why the Our Space project was important for our community – particularly the unhoused or low income folks in Valley West – Dandeneau and Griffith said that programs like this are not only a great way to help keep waste out of the landfill, but also help those contributing to the project to feel productive and even empowered. 

Though they understand that helping unhoused people make art is not going to solve the issue of homelessness, they feel that it can be a part of a multifaceted approach to improving the lives of those who are struggling to survive. 

“I’m a big believer in creative placemaking and that the arts are a vibrant part of mental health, community health, individual health, social health, and that the arts really are a place where people can express themselves and people can feel pride of place,” Dandeneau said. “We’ve kind of gone on this linear wellness train, thinking that if we give someone a job and a roof over their head, that they’re fine. And we all know that that’s not the truth.”

Press release from the City of Arcata:

Starting April 20, in celebration of Earth Day, the Arcata Plaza will be fully closed to vehicles during the Farmers’ Market every Saturday!

The Arcata Plaza Farmers’ Market is a popular destination for many community members on Saturdays, and the market has continued to grow over the last several years. The street closures will support public safety and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. ADA access and parking will be maintained or expanded.

Plaza Closures during Saturday Farmers’ Market has been a long-awaited goal of the City. It was a recommendation of the Plaza Improvement Task Force in 2020 and has been included as a Council Priority Project for 2023/2024.

Implementation of Plaza vehicular closures will be made possible through a collaborative partnership between the City of Arcata, the North Coast Growers’ Association (NCGA) and the Arcata Chamber of Commerce.

When asked about the upcoming street closures, NCGA Executive Director Portia Bramble said, “I’m truly excited to see safety improved for families with young children and accessibility improved for people who are walking and biking, reduced congestion and improved flow to local downtown businesses. I’m also super excited to meet what the community asked for in our Plaza Improvement Task Force process. This came out of multiple years of planning and development. Walkability and reducing traffic and congestion in the downtown area is one of the highest priorities in the City’s general planning process.”

NCGA Board President Melanie Cunningham also commented, “I’m really looking forward to the change. It’s long overdue and will only improve the market for shoppers and farmers alike.”

NCGA is the operator of ten Certified Farmers’ Markets in Humboldt County. A number of independent markets and farm stands continue to operate in various communities. For a list of community markets, farm stands and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms as well as a directory of our farmers’ market vendors please visit this link.

Membership in the North Coast Growers’ Association is open to residents of Humboldt County who grow or raise what they sell within Humboldt County. Working collaboratively, NCGA staff and members represent agricultural interests in Humboldt County through community partnerships that promote local and healthy foods, programs that increase access to local food, participation in local and statewide policy-making, and coordination of ten Certified Farmers’ Markets.

NCGA is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization with the primary mission to operate certified farmers’ markets for the benefit of both producers and consumers, to promote awareness of and support for farmers’ markets, to work with other direct marketing associations to share resources and improve market management, to educate consumers, and to promote and improve access to local agricultural products for the community.

If Plaza businesses have thoughts/suggestions for how to better integrate the Farmers’ Market with the Plaza-facing businesses, please reach out to the North Coast Growers’ Association or the Chamber of Commerce.

For more information, please visit cityofarcata.org or call (707) 822-8184.

The recent announcement that the planet was warmer in 2023 than any other year in history — with records broken for ocean temperatures, sea level rise, Antarctic sea ice loss and glacier retreat — was sobering. Also last year, 21 species went extinct in the U.S. alone, including birds, mussels, fish and one mammal. Because greenhouse gases released from burning fossil fuels are driving our planet’s warming and the related climate impacts, the actions necessary to slow this concerning trend are clear: we need to stop using fossil fuels as quickly as possible. Transitioning to clean, renewable energy is central to that goal. Because offshore wind naturally complements other renewable power, like solar, we need to take offshore wind seriously as a promising way to provide people with electricity while transitioning away from fossil fuels.

Every day, the amount of power being consumed across California changes minute to minute. Every time you flip a light on or off, plug in an electric tea kettle, run your dishwasher or charge a device, you change the total amount of electricity being consumed at that moment. Multiply those changes by 40 million Californians and you get the dynamic power demand for that day. Our electric grid operator, the California Independent Systems Operator (CAISO), is tasked with matching the right amount of electricity supply to ever-changing electricity demand. Too little supply and the lights go out, too much supply and you waste a lot of electricity. This process is called “balancing the grid.”

Back in the bad old days when all of our electricity came from fossil fuels, balancing the grid was relatively simple. As power demand increased, we would simply burn more coal or gas to generate electricity, and vice versa when it decreased — but renewable energy doesn’t work like that. Unlike more predictable, controllable (but environmentally destructive) fossil fuels, most renewables are intermittent, since solar panels require sun and wind turbines require wind in order to generate electricity. Today, grid operators have to balance the State’s ever-changing power demand with ever-changing renewable energy supplies, which is a lot harder! The grid operator for the United Kingdom made a fun little game you can play to learn just how hard their job is.

California has installed approximately 46,874 megawatts worth of solar panels. Rooftop solar makes up about 10% of our state’s electric supply, and another 14% comes from utility-scale solar fields. The result is that on a sunny day, California generates a lot of solar electricity.

The graph below represents electricity demand in the State of California on March 17, 2024. The teal curve is total demand for electricity throughout the day. You can see it goes up a bit when people wake up in the morning, dips when folks are at work or school and aren’t using their appliances at home, and then jumps back up pretty quickly when people start to come home and turn all of their appliances back on. The purple curve represents net demand — the amount of electricity we need, minus the amount of electricity generated by renewables like wind and solar. As you can see, net demand drops precipitously when the sun rises and solar panels begin generating electricity, and then rises very steeply when the sun sets as solar panels stop working.

First, let’s just pause and congratulate ourselves! By installing all that solar, we’ve reduced California’s average daily carbon emissions from electricity generation by thousands of metric tons of carbon dioxide. The graph below depicts the carbon dioxide (or its equivalent in other greenhouse gasses) emissions during that same day for the entire California electric grid. As you can see, emissions drop considerably as the sun rises and then rise steeply as the sun sets.

But this success has also created an extra challenge for grid operators. Every single day, grid operators have to be ready for the sun to set and solar panels to stop working just around the same time that folks are getting home from work and turning on all of their appliances — a sharp decrease in renewable energy paired with a sharp increase in demand for electricity. Currently, operators handle that by importing a lot of fossil fuel energy from other states and quickly turning on a lot of natural gas power plants. Such natural gas power plants that can be quickly ramped up are known as “peaker plants,” and are unfortunately far dirtier than natural gas plants that operate at a constant pace. California has close to 80 peaker plants, about half of which are located in disadvantaged communities. Therefore, by over relying on solar renewable energy, we’re both failing to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions at night and spewing a lot of air pollution onto vulnerable Californians.

Batteries can help a bit with storing energy, but are not without their own problems. Lithium mining has serious environmental consequences. We’re already seeing the negative impacts of lithium mining with the amount of batteries we need now, and there would be even more destruction if we try to rely on lithium batteries for all of our energy needs every night. Beyond the environmental cost, there is also a considerable financial cost, as well as a considerable loss of power when storing electricity in a battery and then using it later. Unlike a battery, wind turbines can create new electricity at night and ensure that the lights stay on without polluting vulnerable communities or the atmosphere. Other strategies, like increasing our energy efficiency and reducing our consumption by designing communities that don’t require a car, are also necessary to reduce total energy demand but don’t solve the problem of what to do at night.

Wind energy is necessary to solve this problem. Because the wind keeps blowing even when the sun sets, we can use it to avoid turning on dirty gas power plants. Offshore wind is particularly helpful at solving this problem because it tends to blow more consistently than onshore wind, and the winds off the coast of Northern California and Southern Oregon are some of the strongest and most consistent winds in the entire United States. By linking that offshore wind energy to the California electric grid, we can ensure that the state doesn’t have to turn on a bunch of dirty peaker plants every night when the sun sets. Similarly, if we ever want to shut down our local natural gas power plant, the Humboldt Bay Generating Station, we will need to replace it with a consistent source of electricity that works at night.

If we want to stop burning fossil fuels to generate electricity, slow the climate catastrophe, and avoid using some of the other proposed non-fossil fuel energy sources like nuclear and hydro, we are going to need wind power. And one of the best places in the country to implement offshore wind is off our coast. This is Humboldt’s opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the global fight to end climate change and directly benefit disadvantaged communities that live next to dirty natural gas power plants. For an organization that is very good at saying “no” to things, EPIC isn’t willing to rule out the proposed Humboldt offshore wind project without taking a hard look at all of the impacts, both positive and negative. We will continue to watch and engage with the planning process closely, read every study that comes out regarding the impacts of offshore wind, and advocate for the project to follow strict environmental rules, processes, and governance. But at the end of the day, I’m open to offshore wind because the climate crisis terrifies me and offshore wind has the potential to make a meaningful difference.

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Matt Simmons is the Climate Attorney at the Environmental Protection Information Center

They’re called “Pell runners” — after enrolling at a community college they apply for a federal Pell grant, collect as much as $7,400, then vanish.

Since fall 2021, California’s community colleges have given more than $5 million to Pell runners, according to monthly reports they sent to the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. Colleges also report they’ve given nearly $1.5 million in state and local aid to these scammers.

The chancellor’s office began requiring the state’s 116 community colleges to submit these reports three years ago, after fraud cases surged.

At the time, the office said it suspected 20% of college applicants were fraudulent. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government loosened some restrictions around financial aid, making it easier for students to prove they were eligible, and provided special one-time grants to help keep them enrolled. Once these pandemic-era exceptions ended in 2023 and some classes returned to in-person instruction, college officials said they expected fraud to subside.

It hasn’t. In January, the chancellor’s office suspected 25% of college applicants were fraudulent, said Paul Feist, a spokesperson for the office.

“This is getting significantly worse,” said Todd Coston, an associate vice chancellor with the Kern Community College District. He said that last year, “something changed and all of a sudden everything spiked like crazy.”

Online classes that historically don’t fill up were suddenly overwhelmed with students — a sign that many of them might be fake — Coston said. Administrators at other large districts, including the Los Rios Community College District in Sacramento, the Mt. San Antonio Community College District in Walnut, California and the Los Angeles Community College District, told CalMatters that fraudsters are evading each new cybersecurity strategy.

The reason for the reported increase in fraud is because the chancellor’s office and college administrators are getting better at detecting it, he said. Since 2022, the state has allocated more than $125 million for fraud detection, cybersecurity and other changes in the online application process at community colleges.

The reports the colleges submitted don’t include how much fraud they prevented.

The rise in suspected fraud coincides with years of efforts, both at the state and local level, to increase access to community college. Schools are reducing fees — or making college free — while legislators have worked to simplify and expand financial aid. Those efforts accelerated during the pandemic, when community colleges saw record declines in enrollment.

It’s not surprising, then, that “bad actors” would take advantage of the system’s good intentions, Feist said.

Financial aid fraud is not new

College officials suspect most of the fake students are bots and often, they display tell-tale signs. In Sacramento, community colleges started seeing an influx of applications from Russia, China, and India during the start of the pandemic. Around the same time, administrators at Mt. San Antonio College saw students using Social Security numbers of retirees. Others had home addresses that were abandoned lots. Uncommon email domains, such as AOL.com, were another red flag.

These scams aren’t new. The federal government has long required colleges to report instances of financial aid fraud. Every year, the federal government closes around 40 to 80 cases, including a recent conviction of three California women who stole nearly a million dollars by collecting fraudulent student loans. California community colleges also say they’ve spotted fraudulent applications from people trying to get an .edu email address in order to receive student discounts.

“If I saw, for example, that a college that only gets 1,000 applications in some time frame gets 5,000, you kind of know something is probably up.”
— Valerie Lundy-Wagner, vice chancellor for the community college system

When the chancellor’s office began requiring community colleges to file monthly reports, it asked for the number of fake applications and the amount of money they gave to fraudsters.

CalMatters submitted a public records request for the data, broken down by campus. After the request was initially rejected, CalMatters appealed and received an anonymized copy of all of the monthly reports, lacking individual campus details.

The reports show that between September 2021 and January 2024, the colleges received roughly 900,000 fraudulent applications and gave fraudsters more than $5 million in federal aid, as well as nearly $1.5 million in state and local aid.

The numbers show that fraud represents less than 1% of the total amount of financial aid awarded to community college students in the same time period. It’s hard to tell how accurate the data is because compliance is spotty, with some months missing reports from as many as half the colleges.

More fraud, in more places

To understand how fraud is evolving, the chancellor’s office uses several sources of information and data, Feist said. One indicator is an atypical bump in applications.

“If I saw, for example, that a college that only gets 1,000 applications in some time frame gets 5,000, you kind of know something is probably up,” said Valerie Lundy-Wagner, a vice chancellor for the community college system.

The chancellor’s office provided CalMatters with anonymous application data for each month from September 2021 to January 2024. CalMatters analyzed the data using two different techniques to identify statistical outliers in the application data and asked the office to verify the methodology. The office repeatedly declined.

East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park on March 14, 2024. Photo by Jules Hotz for CalMatters

According to the analysis, more than 50 of the state’s 116 community colleges saw at least one unusual spike in the number of applications they received during that time frame. In the last year, colleges have seen more unusual spikes than at any point since 2021. Along with fraud, however, outliers could also reflect normal fluctuations in applications or the overall increase in college enrollment last year.

“What we’re hearing is that (fraud) is happening more widespread than people are letting on, but people just have their heads in the sand because it looks good to have your enrollment going up,” said Coston with the Kern Community College District. Many college administrators say improvements in artificial intelligence have made it easier for people to attempt fraud on a larger scale.

Yet clamping down too hard on fraud can have unintended consequences. More than 20% of community college students in California don’t receive Pell grants they’re eligible for. Administrative hurdles — including the verification process — are one reason why, according to a 2018 study by researchers at UC Davis. To help, the federal government is trying to simplify its financial aid application, but in some cases, it’s created more barriers for students during the rollout this year.

“We’ve overcorrected at times, even in policy, and in how stringently we’re verifying students relative to the amount of fraud in the system,” said Jake Brymer, a deputy director with the California Student Aid Commission. As a result, he said, real low-income students get pushed out.

Kicking real students out of class

Sometimes, the fraud detection backfires on actual students, ousting people like Martin Romero.

In order to graduate from East Los Angeles College, Romero, 20, must take American history, so last fall he enrolled in an online class where students can watch pre-recorded lectures on their own time.

He said it’s all he had time for. Romero takes four classes at East Los Angeles College each semester and serves as its student body president. He also helps out at his family’s auto body shop, sometimes as much as 15 hours a week.

On the first day of class last fall, he said the online portal, Canvas, wasn’t working on his computer.

That day, the American history professor did a test through Canvas, asking students to respond to a prompt in order to prove they were not a bot. Romero didn’t answer, so the professor dropped him from the class.

“I was freaking out,” he said, and wrote to the professor as soon as he found out, begging to be reinstated. The professor told him the class was already full again, so letting him in would mean kicking someone else out.

“We’re frustrated with the fact that some of these courses are getting filled really quickly. We see it as an access issue for our students.”
— Leticia Barajas, Academic Senate president at East Los Angeles College

For the college’s Academic Senate, the faculty group that governs academic matters, fake students is one of the top three issues, said its president, Leticia Barajas.

“We’re frustrated with the fact that some of these courses are getting filled really quickly,” she said. “We see it as an access issue for our students.”

She said there’s been an uptick in recent months, especially in certain kinds of online classes, that has forced professors to focus on hunting bots instead of teaching. Professors now are expected to test their students in the first weeks, asking them to submit answers to prompts, sign copies of the syllabus, or send other evidence to prove they are real.

Increasingly, she said, the bots are evading detection, especially with the help of AI. “They’re submitting assignments. It’s gibberish,” she said.

The endless, multi-million dollar game of combating fraud

Campus and state officials described fraud detection as a game of whack-a-mole. “When we get better at addressing one thing, something else pops up,” said Lundy-Wagner. “That’s sort of the nature of fraud.”

To fight fraud, she said, the chancellor’s office, the 73 independently governed districts and their colleges all must work together, including those who oversee information technology, enrollment and financial aid. Part of the challenge is that the system is so “decentralized,” she said.

The largest reform underway is a new version of CCCApply, the state’s community college application portal, which will offer more cybersecurity, Feist said. He also said there are other “promising” short-term projects.

One of them, a software tool known as ID.Me, launched in February. The contract with the software company, costing more than $3.5 million, gives it permission to check college applicants for identification, including video interviews in certain cases. Privacy experts have warned that the company’s video technology could be racially biased and error-prone.

To mitigate these privacy concerns and avoid creating enrollment barriers, applicants need to opt in to the new verification software.

In the first few days after its implementation, 29% of applicants opted in to ID.Me’s new vetting process. Some applicants started the verification process but never finished, said Feist, while others are ineligible because they’re under the age of 18. The rest chose not to verify their identity for other reasons, including many who are suspected bots.

‘We’re just trying to survive’

In Los Angeles, community colleges have already seen a drop in suspicious applications, said Nicole Albo-Lopez, a vice chancellor with the district. But she’s skeptical the problem is solved. “The lull we see, I don’t believe we’ll be able to sustain,” she said. “They’ll find another way to come in.”

Her district is now concerned that bots are trying to steal data or intellectual property, not just financial aid. “Say I have 400 sections of English 101 online. There are 400 variations of readings, assignments, peer-to-peer questions that somebody can go in and scrape,” Albo-Lopez said.

Barajas said faculty at East Los Angeles College are so overwhelmed by bots they haven’t discussed the potential risk to their intellectual property: “We’re at such a level where we’re just trying to survive.”

Meanwhile, students like Romero who are wrongly mistaken for bots must develop their own survival skills. When the professor denied the request to re-enroll, he signed up for the same course in the one format that was still available — in-person. The class met every Monday and Wednesday at 7:10 a.m., and the professor deducted points for anyone who was late.

“It was torture,” he said, noting that he missed two classes and was late to around four. He finished the class with a B but said he would have had an A if he had gotten into the class he wanted.

As student body president, he said he’s been outspoken about the issue. While he was able to fulfill his history requirement, he worries that other students may not be so lucky.

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Data reporter Erica Yee contributed to this reporting.

Adam Echelman covers California’s community colleges in partnership with Open Campus, a nonprofit newsroom focused on higher education.

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