Jeff Conner (left) receives a special proclamation alongside Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Schaffer (right) from Mayor Debra Garnes (Center) for their work resolving the homicide case of Johnny Renfro.
On Tuesday, May 21, 2024 the Rio Dell City Council confirmed the appointment of Jeff Conner as the Interim Chief of Police. Former Chief of Police Greg Allen has taken the position of Associate Vice President for Safety & Community Wellbeing (Chief of Police) for the Cal Poly Humboldt Police Department. The City wishes him well in his new role.
Conner has a long association with the Rio Dell Police Department going back many years, including serving as Chief of Police from December 2017 to July of 2022. During that time Conner implemented several reforms and improvements to modernize the Department.
Since his tenure as Chief he has remained part-time with the department as a Sergeant, mostly handling investigations. Conner will step down from the Interim role before the close of August this year and anticipates retiring from law enforcement altogether by the end of 2024.
The City of Rio Dell is currently recruiting for a new Chief of Police. Applications are currently open.
Photo caption: 2022. Jeff Conner (left) receives a special proclamation alongside Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Schaffer (right) from Mayor Debra Garnes (Center) for their work resolving the homicide case of Johnny Renfro.
UPDATE, 2:09 p.m.: Donald Trump has been convicted on all counts.
# # #
The verdict is in. A jury made up of twelve New Yorkers are expected to deliver their decision soon in the case against former President Donald J Trump. He faces 34 felony counts o falsifying records pertaining to hush-money payments made ahead of the 2016 election. Watch live coverage above.
Cal Poly Humboldt alumnus Greg Allen (‘94, Social Work), whose professional and personal roots run deep in Humboldt, has been named Associate Vice President for Safety & Community Wellbeing for the University Police Department.
Allen began his tenure Monday, May 20, and brings with him more than two decades of experience in law enforcement, emergency preparedness, and building community policing partnerships. “This is an amazing opportunity to lead the Department while understanding the needs of students, staff, faculty, and members of our local community,” Allen says.
“We are elated to have Greg Allen join the University. He is a strong leader with experience building teams, fostering an environment of inclusion, and strengthening partnerships,” said Sherie Cornish Gordon, Vice President of Administration and Finance. “He has a passion and commitment to 21st-century policing. We look forward to Greg Allen’s ability to evolve our department in alignment with our polytechnic transformation.”
Allen returns to where it all began: Cal Poly Humboldt as a student and, later, the University police department, where he served as Acting Sergeant from 2000-2005. Allen became a parole officer for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and later, the Deputy/Lieutenant for the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.
“I was a teenager when I came here. At Cal Poly Humboldt, I grew up as a student and then later became a police officer. I’ve come full circle and it’s like coming home,” Allen says.
A proud alumnus and graduate of the Social Work program, Allen says faculty and administrators played a significant role in his success as a student. Among his mentors was RW Hicks, who was the director of the Student Academic Services Outreach Program and the federal Talent Search TRIO Program at Humboldt.
“RW is one of the reasons I came up here,” says Allen, who was part of the Educational Opportunity Program. “He modeled leadership and inspired me to be a leader as president of the Black Student Union.” He says the knowledge and skills he learned from the Social Work program and minor in Ethnic Studies are foundational to his approach to law enforcement today.
“I learned to avoid generalizations. Each person should be treated with respect and fairness. It’s important for officers to be sensitive to someone’s background because everyone has a story, which shapes who they are today,” he says.
He passes on this wisdom to officers-in-training at College of the Redwoods Police Academy. “I believe in communicating what we do and why. With those skills, you can de-escalate a situation. Also learning to be adaptive in law enforcement is crucial in a world where everyone’s needs are constantly evolving.”
Allen says his top priority will be building relationships by having conversations with the campus and local community about what policing looks like at a University as opposed to a city. He also plans to understand the strengths of UPD, while providing additional training that may be needed to better serve the campus community.
Humboldt Bay Trail South construction underway in 2023. Photo courtesy of Ghirardelli Associates.
Think of this: By the end of the year, and apart from a few miles of backroads in the Arcata Bottoms, you’ll be able to walk or bike from just north of King Salmon to Clam Beach on a dedicated pedestrian bike/trail. Amazing.
Press release from the County of Humboldt:
Construction of the Humboldt Bay Trail South project along the Humboldt Bay shoreline has made significant progress since its official kick-off in July 2023. The project is scheduled for completion at the end of 2024 and will expand the Humboldt Bay Trail by 4.25 miles, completing the multi-use trail connection between Eureka and Arcata. The project will also include several area improvements and repairs and will provide breathtaking views and up-close experiences of Humboldt Bay for residents and visitors of all ages and abilities.
The Humboldt Bay Trail is a network of multi-use trails, also known as shared-use paths, providing non-motorized access for transportation and recreational use throughout the Humboldt Bay region. Filling the gap in the Humboldt Bay Trail between Eureka and Arcata will transform the transportation corridor by separating pedestrians, cyclists, and other forms of non-motorized devices from motorists on Highway 101 and eliminate a major barrier to active transportation between the two largest population centers in Humboldt County.
“Our vision is to restore access to and protect the shoreline, provide a place for people to connect with each other and the natural world, and ensure a multi-use trail option for those traveling between Eureka and Arcata,” said Humboldt County Public Works Director Thomas K. Mattson. “This expansion will provide a paved, stand-alone path for community members who travel, commute, or recreate by bicycle, roller skates, skateboard, stroller, wheelchair or other mobility devices.”
Most of the new trail segment will run along the Humboldt Bay shoreline, adjacent to the railroad and Highway 101, with a one-mile portion situated on top of the levee around the Brainard Mill site. The project includes necessary repairs to stabilize portions of the shoreline along the railroad corridor, as well as raising the elevation of a one-mile segment of the railroad corridor for improved protection from flooding and sea level rise.
Project construction began in July 2023 and work completed to-date has included vegetation clearing, partial rail removal, Eucalyptus tree removal, earthwork and grading and rock placement for shoreline repair. Construction activities planned for 2024 include bridge retrofitting, rock and soil importation, construction of three new bridges, trail surface paving and placement of benches and signs. The planned schedule may be affected by a number of unexpected factors, including weather conditions and the supply chain for construction materials.
In addition to serving the region’s transportation needs and enhancing coastal access, the Humboldt Bay Trail will achieve a critical link in the California Coastal Trail and advance the Great Redwood Trail.
The overall Humboldt Bay Trail is being developed as a collaborative effort between the County of Humboldt, Humboldt County Association of Governments, City of Arcata, City of Eureka, California Department of Transportation, California State Coastal Conservancy, Great Redwood Trail Agency, Humboldt Trails Council, Redwood Community Action Agency, Timber Heritage Association and other partners. Additional information is available at humboldtbaytrail.info.
2024 Cal Poly Humboldt women’s rowing roster. | Image via Humboldt Athletics.
###
Press release from Humboldt Athletics:
Three-time national champion Cal Poly Humboldt women’s rowing is set to defend their 2023 title this weekend from Lake Harsha at East Fork State Park in Bethel, Ohio. After arriving Tuesday night, the Lumberjacks have now concluded two days of practice in the new waters of Lake Harsha.
“The travel for us went easy, we tried to get out here the past couple of days and make the place as familiar as possible since this is a new course for everyone,” stated head coach Matt Weise. “There is nothing new once you are out there, the coxswains are the external eyes and have to know where everything is. They spend the first day of practice really focusing on the external pieces surrounding the race and today hopefully they were able to be more internal with their boats to get them up and running again.”
When asked about being in a similar situation as last year, earning second place at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championships and being the “underdog” at nationals, Weise said, “The team is highly motivated after GNAC’s, they have really attacked and stepped on the gas these past couple weeks. The boats have made some good changes technically and physically the training is ready, so I think they are ready to be top notch.”
Former GNAC Rower of the Year and First-Team All-GNAC selection for this season, Dana Foley, spoke with media after Wednesday’s practice.
Foley stated, “The venue in Ohio is really great. We have nice lanes and flat water. We’ve just been doing some light rows to get used to the water and today went particularly strong. We seem to be more locked in after a couple days of travel and feel ready for our heats tomorrow. I think our technique has also improved over the past two weeks that have helped make some big jumps in our speed.”
Racing begins on Friday (May 31) with the Division II eights heats at 9 AM ET/6 AM PT followed by the fours at 9:24 AM ET/6:24 AM PT. Humboldt will be racing in the second heat of both the eight and four races. …
Assemblymember Ash Kalra at the state Capitol in Sacramento on June 13, 2023. Photo by Semantha Norris, CalMatters.
Assemblymember Ash Kalra did something exceptional last week.
He was the only legislator to vote “no” on a controversial piece of legislation while nearly half of the 80 members in the state Assembly – and a majority of the Democrats – did not vote.
The bill, which would make it easier to arrest shoplifters, is a recent example of a pattern CalMatters revealed in April with legislators dodging votes to avoid offending the bill’s supporters or to eliminate a record of their opposition on controversial topics.
Assembly Bill 1990 passed the Assembly 44-1 last week with 35 lawmakers not casting a vote including 32 of the 62 Democrats and the Assembly speaker, Robert Rivas. Some of those not voting had excused absences, but the Legislature’s online record does not distinguish between an absence, an abstention or not voting.
But progressive Democrats, leery of increasing incarceration rates for minor offenses, were uncomfortable with the bill.
“Let’s be clear: AB 1990 will not stop retail theft,” Assemblymember Tina McKinnor, a Democrat from Inglewood, told her colleagues. “AB 1990 will increase the unnecessary harassment, detention, arrest and mass incarceration of Black and brown Californians.”
Her office did not respond to CalMatters’ request for an explanation about why she did not vote despite her clear opposition.
Kalra, of San Jose, also did not respond to a request from CalMatters to explain why he cast the lone “no” vote.
But Kalra has been a longtime champion of progressive causes. He’s a former deputy public defender and the former chair of the Legislature’s Progressive Caucus. He has advocated for legislation that seeks to end systematic racism in the justice system.
For a time, it seemed that Kalra wasn’t going to be the lone Democrat “no” vote on AB 1990.
But Zbur, who chairs the Assembly Democratic Caucus, changed his vote after the bill passed so that he would be formally listed as not voting. In the Assembly, members can change their vote on a bill after a hearing has concluded, as long as it doesn’t change the final outcome.
Asked to explain why he changed his vote, his spokesperson, Vienna Montague, said in an email that Zbur “does not have a comment at this time.”
While AB 1990 survived to advance to the Senate, despite so many lawmakers not voting, other bills haven’t fared as well.
Last year, at least 15 bills died due to lack of votes instead of lawmakers voting “no” on them. So far this year, the Digital Democracy database indicates at least 17 bills have died because lawmakers declined to vote.
Meanwhile, Senate and Assembly leaders have repeatedly refused to answer CalMatters’ questions about whether the Legislature’s voting rules should change.
Politicians may think not voting helps their political career in the long-run since they believe it’ll be more difficult for someone to use a controversial “no” vote against them in a campaign ad, said Thad Kousser, a former California legislative staffer who’s now a political science professor at UC San Diego. But he says that’s shortsighted. He said any savvy political operative can just as easily say they “failed to support this bill” in an ad.
Kousser said if lawmakers really do have strong feelings against a bill, they’re better off voting “no.”
“Politicians’ political interests are probably best served by taking a stand that best fits their values and explaining that to voters,” Kousser said.
Not voting, he said, is “just another way of saying, ‘I didn’t represent you on this bill.’ ”
In the aftermath of the Camp Fire. Photo: Crystal Housman, California National Guard, via Flickr. Creative Commons license.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed legislation to speed up insurance premium rate reviews as he and the Insurance Department try to fix the state’s battered insurance market.
Last fall, Newsom issued an executive order tasking Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara with fixing home and fire insurance availability and affordability as insurers — citing rising wildfire risk and pandemic-induced inflation, and complaining about having to wait too long to get their requests for rate increases approved by the state — were canceling homeowner policies and halting the writing of new ones in California.
Homeowners continue to have trouble obtaining or hanging onto affordable insurance. From September through March, more than 45,000 of them have had to turn to the FAIR Plan, which is supposed to be an insurer of last resort for fire insurance. The plan provides limited coverage at high prices, so some homeowners have chosen to forgo fire insurance because they can’t afford their premiums, which in some cases have tripled or more.
Lara has been rolling out a plan to address the insurance market problems, which is expected to take effect by the end of the year. But Newsom said at a press conference earlier this month that “We’ve got to move it. We’ve just got to do more.”
Hence the bill he released Tuesday night, which is tied to the state budget and may not get as much scrutiny as other bills this late in the legislative session, needs only a simple majority vote in the state Legislature and would take effect immediately after the governor signs it.
It builds on the part of Lara’s plan that makes changes to the process of approving insurance rate increases. The bill would add language to the insurance code that tightens the timeline of the review process, giving the Insurance Department up to 120 days — an initial 60 days, with options for two 30-day extensions — to respond to insurer rate-review requests with a newly required estimated rate. At that point, unless there is an objection by a consumer or consumer representative, the insurance companies can accept the estimated rate and apply it.
Currently the law says the Insurance Department must act on rate filings within 60 days without a hearing or 180 days with a hearing. But Michael Soller, spokesperson for the department, said that as of February, the average time for homeowner filings was 196 days.
“By enacting this important part of our strategy in statute, the Legislature can help us meet the urgency of the moment,” Lara said in a statement after the governor released the text of the bill.
“This proposal requires the Department of Insurance to modernize and streamline its rate application process to get back to the expedited timelines outlined in Prop. 103,” said Alex Stack, a spokesperson for the governor.
Carmen Balber, executive director of the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, said the tightened timeline for the state to respond with a rate estimate “seriously hamstrings oversight by the (insurance) department overall” as well as the role of intervenors such as her group. She said because the bill requires the Insurance Department to provide an estimated rate within 120 days, insurance companies could essentially be guaranteed rate increases three times a year — of less than 7% each time without triggering the risk of a hearing under Proposition 103, California’s insurance law that requires the state to approve rates — regardless of whether they can justify them.
The strict timeline “severely limits the information the department and intervenors can obtain” from insurers, Balber said, adding that she hopes lawmakers will “fix it.”
The chair of the Senate’s insurance committee, Sen. Susan Rubio, on Wednesday said she supports the bill. “I could not be more pleased with (the governor’s) proposal to help reduce unnecessary red tape,” the Los Angeles Democrat wrote in an emailed statement.
State lawmakers have been under pressure from their constituents to do something about the insurance market, with some of them proposing legislation to try to ensure individual and community efforts to help prevent wildfires count toward insurance affordability. The office of Assemblymember Lisa Calderon, chair of the Assembly’s insurance committee and another Los Angeles Democrat, did not respond to a request for comment on the governor’s proposal in time for publication.
The insurance industry is optimistic that the bill will speed things up.
Rex Frazier, president of the Personal Insurance Federation of California, said insurance companies that submit rate increase requests typically don’t hear back from the Insurance Department for four or five months. “At least now, they have to show their work by 60 days,” Frazier said. “The proposal provides more clarity and accountability to all parties involved in the process.”
Denni Ritter, vice president for state government relations for another industry group, the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, said the group was still evaluating the text of the bill. “Streamlining the rate review process will help increase consumer access to coverage by ensuring rates adequately reflect risk and consumer claims,” she said.
Lara’s overall plan, which he has dubbed the Sustainable Insurance Strategy, also includes allowing insurance companies to use catastrophe modeling; letting insurers incorporate reinsurance costs in their rates; and improving the FAIR Plan, including by requiring increased insurance coverage.
