The crowd at Reggae on the River in 2017 | File photo from the Mateel’s Facebook page.
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Get ready, all you reggae fans! Humboldt’s long-running music festival Reggae on the River is returning from its dormancy to once again bring three days of camping, dancing and other festival things to SoHum for the first time since 2018.
On Wednesday, the Mateel Community Center announced this year’s return of the festival, which will take place, as is tradition, on the first weekend in August.
“It’s back! @reggaeontheriver 2024 Will be held on August 2, 3, & 4!!,” the Mateel posted to its Facebook page. “There have been some obstacles along the way but we, the volunteers, staff, and Board of Directors of the Mateel Community Center, in conjunction with Hot Milk Entertainment, are so excited to announce that Reggae on the River will be returning again this year. So please come join us in celebrating this gift of music and togetherness!”
From the Mateel’s Facebook page
Reached by the Outpost on Thursday afternoon, Elena Worley, office manager for the Mateel Community Center, said this is the first time the Mateel is working with Hot Milk Entertainment, a production company based out of Mendocino County.
“We’re keeping it local this year,” Worley said, adding that she is very excited to work with a smaller, local partner, rather than some of the bigger, non-local companies the Mateel has tried to work with in the past.
Folks might remember the huge conflicts between the Mateel and previous event partner People’s Productions in the early 2000s – often referred to as “the Reggae Wars” – that eventually led to People’s Productions taking over the event under the name “Reggae Rising.”
The most recent partnership was penned in 2018 between the Mateel and High Times Magazine’s production company, which had agreed to assume all responsibility for the festival’s artist lineup, marketing and monetization efforts. But High Times canceled the event in 2019, due to “the extraordinary expenses of trying to put on an event in such a remote location.” The company said it would focus on bringing back the festival in 2020, but we all know what happened that year, and Reggae has not happened since.
Now, after the county approved a five-year permit extension for the festival earlier this year, the 2024 event will take place on Dimmick Ranch (also known as County Line Ranch) near Garberville.
As far as details of the festival, Worley couldn’t provide much (she suggested we reach out to the Mateel’s media manager, who didn’t get back to us before publication). As far as we can tell, no entertainers have been announced yet, but the poster promises multiple stages at the event. Tickets go on sale on Jan. 17, with “rude boy special pricing” starting at $249.
There is also an opportunity to win two free VIP tickets on the festival’s website and it looks like all you have to do to enter is send in your own “dream lineup for Reggae on the River.” Fun!
On Wednesday the Outpost started receiving messages from employees of both Redwood Memorial Hospital in Fortuna and St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka saying that Providence Health & Services, the not-for-profit Catholic health care outfit that merged with St. Joseph Health in 2016, planned to close down all of its outpatient lab facilities across California.
“Ever since Providence took over, they have outsourced and/or centralized services that used to be local,” wrote one employee, who asked to remain anonymous. “Microbiology is now sent to Napa, pathology and cytology are sent to Santa Rosa. Now, all [Providence-owned] outpatient labs in California (where people have their blood drawn for testing requested by doctors) are closing. Where will patients go to have their blood drawn? This is an outrage!”
This afternoon, Providence issued a press statement confirming its plans to close its outpatient lab service line throughout the state.
“They decided this 2 weeks ago and just let the phlebotomists know today that they will be closing March 15th,” the anonymous source told the Outpost via email.
As of the time of publication, Providence’s own website still boasts, “Providence is committed to providing efficient and convenient laboratory services. Throughout our system of medical centers, phlebotomists and clinical laboratory scientists provide prompt and comprehensive laboratory and radiology services to patients of all ages.”
According to the press release, below, all local employees at the outpatient lab will be retained by Providence and won’t lose any wages or benefits, though the statement doesn’t say what jobs those employees will have after the labs close.
Here’s the press release from Providence:
Following a thorough assessment, Providence has announced that it will close the outpatient lab service line, which supports community outreach at several hospitals throughout California. This change will help us focus on our strengths of delivering care and partnering with other organizations whose primary business is lab services.
In Humboldt County, St. Joseph Hospital and Redwood Memorial Hospital will close our outpatient service line. We will maintain outpatient testing services that support care in the hospitals. We will also continue to provide inpatient and emergency department testing, as well as lab testing associated with our hospital outpatient departments’ patient care.
All employees who support the outpatient lab service line at affected locations will be retained by Providence and continue working as Providence employees with no changes to their wages or benefits.
Providence recognizes the importance of laboratory services for members of our community. We did not enter into this decision lightly and are confident that other providers of these services will be able to support our community’s future needs.
Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:
On the afternoon of 01/09/2024, as part of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office’s on-going investigation into the missing persons case of Myers Flat resident Zoe Penrod, a deputy was able to positively identify video of Zoe in surveillance footage obtained from a Myers Flat business. This footage showed Zoe, wearing a light-colored housecoat (bath robe), walking northbound, along the edge of Hwy. 254 (Avenue of the Giants) just before 8:30 a.m. on 12/31/23, consistent with the time frame she was reported last seen in the area of her residence by the reporting party.
After initial searching of that area on the evening and night hours of 01/09/24, on 01/10/2024 a thorough ground search of this area, continuing north along Hwy. 254 was conducted. This effort did not result in locating Zoe or any clues that may help direct the search. A ground search is continuing in that area again today. Additionally, a request made through the California Office of Emergency Services for overflight of the area by an aircraft specially equipped to assist in the search and locating of lost persons was granted and that aircraft was on scene over the search area as of mid-morning today.
A team prepares to make a ground search on Wednesday, Jan. 10
Continued search efforts will be based on efforts that are completed today along with the consideration of any new or developing information that may help guide the search and/or investigation.
A still image from the surveillance footage has been included below in the hopes that the updated image with the clothing Zoe was last seen wearing may assist with help from the public in reporting any possible sightings of Zoe since the date she went missing. Additionally, the HCSO would like to thank the volunteers from multiple volunteer fire departments within the county, members of the California State Parks, and the volunteer members of the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue for their assistance with the search efforts. The HCSO would also like to thank the Miranda Market for their donation of bottled water for the search personnel.
Anyone with information for the Sheriff’s Office regarding Zoe’s possible whereabouts should call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251.
Image adapted from the Harbor District’s preliminary overview of Humboldt Bay, including general project site, federal navigation channel, candidate sites for wet Storage, and coastal dependent lands.
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At tonight’s meeting of the (deep breath) Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District’s Board of Commissioners (exhale), members of that body will consider adopting a resolution that would commit the district to adopting an environmentally friendly “Green Terminal Strategy” in its planned development of a new heavy lift marine terminal to support the offshore wind industry.
Local environmental advocates have been pressuring the Harbor District to make such a commitment, which would involve using zero-carbon energy sources whenever possible for the ships and heavy machinery operating in and around the port facility.
“When the wind turbines are constructed and start generating electricity, the green port could become doubly effective by storing energy during peak production,” a coalition of local environmental group leaders wrote in a recent opinion piece. “By relying heavily on these evolving technologies, Humboldt Bay could be uniquely positioned to become a trailblazer and a worldwide leader in green port development.”
There’s not a lot of information on the agenda for tonight’s meeting, but staff is recommending that the board sign the resolution, which would commit the district to developing and adopting the Green Terminal Strategy by March of 2025.
The meeting is scheduled for tonight at 6 p.m. at the district’s headquarters on Woodley Island, 601 Startare Drive. Members of the public can attend in person or participate via Zoom by clicking this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/6917934402.
King Tide at the Boardwalk this morning. Photo: Andrew Goff.
How high’s the water, mama? Eight feet high and rising.
There was a hellacious King Tide this morning. The biggest one of the year, we are informed. At the North Spit station the tide was a full eight and a half feet above the height of the average low tide, which is how weather people measure that sort of thing.
Did you miss it? Well, we’ll get just about as good tomorrow — 8.43 feet, as opposed to today’s 8.44 — and that’ll happen at about 11:30 a.m.
Taking your camera to view the high high-water spots? The California Coastal Commission would sure like you to cc: them on those things. Instructions here. As we know, the big Kings are a premonition of what we’ll be seeing in the future, as mean highs continue to rise and rise over at least the next few decades. The Coastal Commission wants to track that.
Also: Along with the highest high tides, of course, come the gnarliest lows. There’s a -1.6 tide forecast for about 6 p.m. tonight, and again tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. It’s not the ideal time to tidepool, of course, being dark and all, but if you must go bring flashlights and friends. And bundle up! It’s cold out there.
Health giant Kaiser Permanente agreed to pay its California workers at least $25 an hour by 2027 in contracts it negotiated with unions in October 2023. That same month, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law setting the health care industry on a path to a $25 minimum wage.
California health care workers banking on a state-ordered minimum wage increase later this year might have to wait a little longer.
Because of the state’s $38 billion projected budget deficit, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday said he is seeking changes to a law he signed just three months ago that set the health care industry on a path to a $25 minimum wage.
The first pay increases were expected to take effect in June. It’s unclear how long the proposed changes could push back that schedule. Newsom wants the wage increases to take place when the state’s fiscal outlook is healthy.
He said he signed the law, Senate Bill 525, in October because he “had a commitment on that trigger” from proponents of the law, meaning that the bill’s backers had agreed to tie the wage increase to the state’s budget outlook. His administration did not disclose that agreement when he signed the law.
Erin Mellon, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, said the administration publicly discussed the possibility of clean-up legislation soon after Newsom signed the law. She pointed to a Los Angeles Times article that published three weeks after Newsom signed the law in which another spokesperson said the administration was working on “accompanying legislation to account for state budget conditions and revenues.”
Newsom included his request for a delay in the state budget proposal he released Wednesday. He said he is working with legislators and the law’s proponents to craft changes that will be presented in the form of a new bill later this month. His budget proposal said he also wants the Legislature to clarify whether state health workers are exempt from the law.
Close to 500,000 California health care workers are expected to see pay increases under the minimum wage law for their industry once it goes into effect.
The bill came together late in the legislative year after SEIU, the law sponsor, and a group of health care employers, including the California Hospital Association, brokered a deal under which both sides supported the wage increase. Newsom signed it without a clear cost estimate.
Newsom’s Department of Finance released a price estimate in November, projecting it would cost the state approximately $4 billion in 2024-25, with $2 billion coming out of the state general fund.
SEIU declined an interview after Newsom’s budget remarks. It released a statement that said it would continue working with the administration and the Legislature.
Lawmakers anticipated budget deficit
Newsom’s signature on the bill surprised some lawmakers because they anticipated a steep deficit.
“While we didn’t know what the deficit was at the time, I, at least, was assuming that the news was going to be not good and I couldn’t understand why we would be so deliberately adding to our own overhead,” said Sen. Roger Niello, a Fair Oaks Republican who sits as vice chair of the Senate budget and fiscal review committee
The health worker pay law aims to create more sustainable incomes as a way to retain and attract workers in a field that for years now has been dealing with serious staff shortages. The law would cost the state because it applies to workers at state-owned facilities and because the state would likely have to raise Medi-Cal rates paid to providers to offset some of their increased costs associated with the wage hikes.
Before securing a statewide boost in pay, SEIU California and its affiliate chapters pushed to increase wages for health workers at the local level through city ordinances and ballot measures. In 2022, the union secured its first local win in the city of Inglewood, where health workers at private health facilities qualified for a new floor wage of $25 that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2023.
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Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure thatpeople have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.
CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.
A flooded road just east of Highway 43 on March 20, 2023. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local
Three years ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom sensed an opportunity as California emerged from the pandemic with record budget surpluses after a series of calamitous wildfires and drought years.
The governor set aside a bigger chunk of the surplus billions for two consecutive years to combat climate change — an issue close to the heart of many Democratic voters — and then, facing deficits, had to cut it back last year, to $52.3 billion.
But Newsom has proposed scaling climate funding back by 7% compared to last year’s budget, to $48.3 billion, while spreading that money out over seven years, up from six last year. The cuts unveiled in the first draft of his new budget follow last year’s 3% cut to climate programs, and triggered criticism from environmental groups.
California programs to tackle and adapt to the changing climate include a vast array of programs, including subsidies for electric cars, funds for making the coast more resilient, programs to prepare for wildfires and secure water supplies, and efforts to build solar and wind projects.
Newsom’s proposal offers a look at how viable the state’s commitments to tackling climate change will be as the state’s historic surpluses turn to deficits. Newsom, in a budget presentation in Sacramento, detailed a preliminary budget meant to fill what his administration said was a huge, $37.9 billion projected statewide budget hole.
“We can’t backslide or slow down while the climate crisis speeds up. We need our state leadership to do more, not less.” — Mary Creasman, California Environmental Voters
Newsom said some of the climate cuts would be buttressed by more than $10 billion in federal money from the Biden administration. He said his budget still included “unprecedented commitments on climate that actually will grow because of the support of the federal government.”
The governor’s proposal delayed $600 million in spending on zero emission cars and trucks by three years, including to the electric car rebate program, the Clean Cars 4 All program aimed at getting more lower-income Californians to purchase zero emissions cars. Also delayed by three years is money to build charging stations. An ambitious transition to electric cars is considered critical to meeting the state’s zero-carbon mandate to slash climate-warming greenhouse gases.
“These delays suggest a bumpy road ahead for an equitable ZEV transition amid a deficit,” Jamie Pew, climate policy advisor with the nonprofit group NextGen, wrote in an email to CalMatters.
The governor’s proposal is the first step in a months-long negotiation with the Legislature that will include his revised plan in May and a June 15 legislative deadline.
Climate groups criticized Newsom’s proposal, saying cutting back on state spending now would cost the state more down the line.
“We can’t backslide or slow down while the climate crisis speeds up. We need our state leadership to do more, not less,” said Mary Creasman, chief executive of California Environmental Voters in a statement.“We look forward to working with the governor and Legislature to make 2024 a year of innovative and courageous climate leadership.”
Newsom’s proposal included $2.9 billion in climate program cuts, $1.9 billion in spending delays and $1.8 billion shifts in funding from spending general fund dollars to other sources of revenue.
Most of the shift will be made to the state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, which is paid for by the controversial cap-and-trade carbon market, in which oil refineries, power plants and manufacturers pay for their excess carbon dioxide emissions. Last quarter’s auction brought in $1.4 billion.
The plan pauses spending on staff costs to implement two climate laws signed last year that required large corporations to disclose greenhouse gas emissions and financial risks from climate change. Newsom, when he signed the bills last year, said he might seek delays in their implementation.
Out of a $10 billion package to encourage adoption of zero emission cars and trucks, the governor proposed $38.1 million in cuts and replaced $475.3 million in general fund dollars with money from the greenhouse gas fund.
Last year, Newsom left funds for the transition to electric vehicles largely in place, though he made $910 million meant for zero emissions transit available to support public transit agencies.
This year’s proposal also would make some cuts and delays in clean energy, as well as drought, wildfire and forest resilience, water recycling and other programs. The 2021 and 2022 budgets included $2.8 billion for forest and wildfire resilience; the new proposal maintains $2.7 billion that over five years.
The state also secured another source of funding last year. The Legislature extended registration and other fees on state drivers last year to fund the state’s Clean Transportation Program, which is expected to provide about $1.2 billion for zero-emission infrastructure through 2035, including a controversial set aside for building fueling stations for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
Rachel Ehlers, a deputy legislative analyst covering environment and transportation, said one critical question will be how quickly programs are using the money they have received.
“How are we doing on getting that money out the door? On getting it in the hands of consumers looking to buy vehicles? To entities who are building the charging infrastructure?” she said. “And how quickly are we spending that money? … That’s going to be a key question.”
Many activists were bracing for what Newsom’s announcement might mean for the state’s ability to finance California’s clean energy transition.
“We’re disappointed in the proposed cuts to the state’s clean car, truck and bus programs and to rooftop solar power and storage incentives, especially as rooftop solar installations stall,” Environment California State Director Laura Deehan said in a statement. “Clean energy and climate programs are investments we make for our kids and grandkids. If we cut now, they pay more later in health, and in their environment as well as money.
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CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.
