Kenneth Ray Wittenberg passed away suddenly on April 22, 2024. He left behind his wife and high school sweetheart of almost 55 years, Ronda Wittenberg, and two daughters, Jenna Wittenberg and Emily Wittenberg (David Shiriwastaw). Ken was a devoted family man, nothing surpassing his love of family. Often described as a man with nine lives, his life’s adventures were not without risk — he capsized in the ocean, was lost in the woods, stalked by a bear, stranded in snowy mountains and experienced numerous construction near misses. He was a man known to never give up — in life, work or play. However, he was ultimately taken by natural causes from a well-worn body.
Ken was born on June 5, 1949, to Arnold and Evelyn Wittenberg in Bakersfield, CA, the oldest son of a family of five children. Being raised on a chicken and poultry ranch, he learned to be a hard worker from a very early age. He often shared his ranch stories with anyone who was interested — baby chicks at Easter, being the most popular kid in school at Halloween for his easy access to eggs for mischievous activities, how he accidentally burned down the family’s barn at the tender age of four, and the consequences he faced. The ranch taught him how to work long hard hours seven days a week.
Once in high school he developed a love of sports. In order to play football, he made an agreement with his dad that he would continue with his daily ranch chores if allowed to play. Begrudgingly, his dad agreed believing it would not be possible, and he couldn’t afford to lose his best ranch hand. Ken held to his promise and his dad became his most ardent supporter, never missing a game to cheer on his son. Ken was awarded for his efforts by being named as football’s MVP his senior year at Shafter High School in 1966-67. Not satisfied by participating in a single sport, Ken also competed in wrestling and shot put, lettering every year in all his participating sports. Ken was voted most athletic by his senior class. He went on to play football at Bakersfield Junior College (1967-1968) and Humboldt State University, now Cal Poly Humboldt, (1969-1972). As an alumnus, he was frequently in the stands cheering for many of the Cal Poly Humboldt men’s and women’s games over the years. Many seasons were spent in the stands watching his own girls cheer during Pop Warner, junior high and high school sports games, with the bonus of a football or basketball game in the background. He would never leave a game until the final whistle was blown, ever.
Ken enjoyed an equally rich professional life in Humboldt County where he lived his entire adult life, bringing with him the many life skills he learned during his youth while working on his family’s ranch in Shafter, Calif. While attending HSU full-time, majoring in kinesiology with a minor in biology, intending to teach/coach, he also worked full-time in the local lumber mills pulling green chain and cleaning the bleachers on Sundays after the Saturday football games. It was a tough, busy life but nothing he wasn’t used to. After graduating from HSU in 1972, during his year of student teaching, he realized this wasn’t the profession for him. So he accepted a job hauling logs out of the woods to the mills. It paid well and kept him outdoors, which he loved, and later he added commercial fishing to his repertoire, another love. As the mills began closing, he switched to what became a short six-month real estate career, but one which led him to his final career choice as a general building contractor. He quickly realized he would rather build homes than sell them. He was happy being outdoors, working with his hands and having something to show for his efforts after a long day. He worked in the building trade for over 35 years before retiring in 2011, having spent a couple of years learning the trade, other years as part of a partnership and eventually building solo. He valued all the relationships he developed along the way. He treated everyone as a friend, not a competitor or a business associate; he was a man of integrity and fierce loyalty to all those he valued.
At 62, he was ready to embrace retirement life. He always enjoyed trips with family and friends, and the hunting and fishing trips with the guys, but retirement afforded him a new level of travel. After seeing much of the US, he found he thoroughly enjoyed traveling out of the country to faraway places, highlights being family trips to Prague and Ireland. During his free time, he kept busy tending and harvesting his vegetable garden, tinkering in his shop, and visiting with neighbors and friends, always offering to lend a hand with their projects when needed. He even joined a gym for a water aerobics class and became one of the ‘pool boys’ as referenced at home. His only requirement in taking an earlier retirement than his wife was to prepare her dinner each night, which he totally embraced. Ken had very few regrets in life.
Ken was preceded in death by his parents Arnold and Eveyln Wittenberg and his two older sisters Ruth McGraw (Gene) and Dora Bradford; survived by his two younger brothers Charles Wittenberg (Karen) and Arnold Dean Wittenberg (Terri).
Ken’s Celebration of Life is being planned for Sunday, July 14, 2 p.m., Redd Family Shop (4455 Union Street, Eureka, CA) by family and friends to give him a final, worthy send off. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to Ocean Conservancy at oceanconservancy.org or a charity of your choice.
###
The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Ken Wittenberg’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.
Transition
to life on March 30, 1951 Transition to death April 18, 2024
On
a beautiful March day in 1951, Joannie became the blessing of John and Jean
Walker in the city of Eureka. Joannie was the middle sibling
of three children born to John and Jean Walker.
Joannie loved
adventure. She enjoyed many ski trips and vacations with family and
her host of friends. Each of her friends can tell stories about the
many fun adventures they had with Joannie.
Joannie was a proud
enrolled member of the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the
Trinidad Rancheria.
Joannie met and married Frank Berger. They were
married for many years and out of that union she had two wonderful
children, Jay and Mike Berger. When her first marriage ended Joannie
was blesssed to find love again with Ken Bomar, who was the love of her
life — they shared many wonderful moments together until his death.
Joannie had a long battle with her health. She fought bravely until
she was ready to be at peace with her Creator. Joannie transitioned
to be with the Creator on April 18, 2024 at 5:30 a.m.
She was surrounded by family and friends who all
came to help send her off. Joannie is survived by her loving mother
Jean Walker, first husband Frank Berger, her grandchildren Hailey and
Hunter Ervin, Damien, Kyle, and Tyren Berger. Her great-granddaughter
Charlee Jo and a host of Tribal family and friends.
Joannie was
proceeded in death by her husband Ken Bomar, both of her children,
daughter Jay and son Michael Berger, her father John Walker, her
sisters Vicki and Terri Walker, her bothers Johnny and Larry Walker.
Joannie loved to be on the Klamath River at her family cabin. She had
such wonderful family memories that were made there. Joannie
requested that wonderful place to be where she would be laid to rest
with her husband, her children and her brother.
The family would
like to thank Ayres Family Cremation for handling all arrangements.
Special thanks to all her nurses and doctors that gave her such
compassionate care over the years, and thank you to Broadway medical
for your assistance so she could spend her last day at home
surrounded by those that loved her most.
A
limb has fallen from the family tree Grieve
not for me Remember the best times The
laughter, the song The
good life I lived While
I was strong Keep
smiling and surely The
sun will shine through So
keep up your chin Until
the day comes We’re
together again….
We
will be celebrating Joannie’s life on June 2, 2024 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Sunset Bar and Grill 27 Scenic Dr,
Trinidad, CA 95570. Please RSVP with Mimi Aubrey if you are attending
by calling 707-572-9402. In remeberence of Joannie and in lieu of
flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Joannie’s name
to the National Kidney Foundation or the American Kidney Fund. Thank
you
###
The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Joannie Bomar’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.
Michael Joseph Allison passed away suddenly after a long illness at his home in Trinidad, surrounded by his loving wife, and two beloved dogs Puffin and Elliot, on April 23, 2024.
He was born September 19, 1948 to Dorothy and Lewis Allison of Long Beach, California. Growing up close to the ocean in Long Beach, Mike spent summers and after school time sailing on Alamitos Bay and surfing at Huntington Beach. He learned how to sail at a very young age, and sailing became one of his greatest passions. As an adult, he loved offshore sailboat racing and later, racing on the Great Salt Lake. His love of the sea endured throughout his life.
Mike attended UC Irvine and UCLA, with a major in English literature. He was a technology entrepreneur and also led many sales and marketing organizations. Early in his career, he organized and was CEO of the first U. S. subsidiary of a large Japanese technology company. Later, he went on to lead technology company sales and marketing organizations, including one that pioneered the first speech recognition software.
Mike met his wife, Susan, in Salt Lake City and they were married in 1999 on Orcas Island, Wash. Over the span of their 25 year marriage, they lived all across the western US. They shared a love of sailing and the ocean and sailed as often as possible. No matter where they lived, dogs and sailing were part of the fabric of their life. Their love for each other knew no bounds.
Mike is survived by his loving wife, Susan; two sons from a previous marriage: Lee Allison (Wendy) of San Diego, William Allison (Natalie) of Long Beach. From a later marriage, he is survived by two sons Matthew Allison (Svitlana) of Greensboro, NC, and Christopher Allison of Salt Lake City; and daughter Jennifer Villasenor (Joe) of Salt Lake City and step daughter Nicole (Marco) Leon of Dana Point. He is also survived by his dear siblings Lewis (Beverly) of New York City, Brian (Eva) of Denver, and Helene Arrieta of Brentwood, Calif. Mike is preceded in death by brothers Larry Allison Sr of Laguna Beach, Jack Allison of Laguna Niguel, and nephew Larry Allison Jr of Laguna Beach.
Mike lived a rich and beautiful life, he was deeply loved and his loss is incalculable. Home is the sailor, home from the sea.
A memorial will be held June 16 in Southern California.
###
The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Mike Allison’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.
At the scene of the April 25 shooting | Photo: Andrew Goff
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has released more info on the officer-involved shooting that took place in Cutten on April 25, revealing Lieutenant Conan Moore to be the deputy who fired the shot that would result in the death of 32-year-old Kevin Burks in a hospital two days later.
The sheriff’s office notes in the release below that Lt. Moore, a 15-year law enforcement veteran, is currently on paid leave.
The Humboldt County Sheriff Deputy involved in the April 25, 2024 officer involved shooting is
Lieutenant Conan Moore. Lieutenant Moore has over fifteen years of law enforcement service
with the Sheriff’s Office. Lieutenant Moore remains on paid leave.
On April 27, 2024, suspect Kevin Jeffrey Burks (DOB 06/30/1991) succumbed to the injuries he
sustained during the critical incident. A forensic autopsy has been performed and Burk’s
immediate cause of death was due to a gunshot wound to the chest.
Immediately after the incident occurred, the involved 75-year-old female victim was transported to
an out of the area hospital for treatment. She has since been released to the care of a
rehabilitation facility where she is undergoing continued treatment.
This case is still under investigation by the Humboldt County Critical Incident Response Team
(CIRT).
Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the
Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707)
268-2539.
Assemblymember Tri Ta was one of several California lawmakers of Vietnamese descent who protested Los Angeles County’s designation of Jane Fonda Day. Photo by Rahul Lal for CalMatters
As Saigon was falling, Janet Nguyen’s uncle – an officer in the South Vietnamese Army – was taken before his village and executed. After the city fell on April 30, 1975, the communists put Nguyen’s father and mother in jail. Their “crime?” They got caught trying to escape the country.
After Saigon fell, Tri Ta’s father spent years in a re-education camp prison. His “crime?” He wrote books critical of communism.
Both Nguyen and Ta eventually made it to California with their families. She became a California state senator and he became a member of the Assembly. The Republicans represent Orange County districts home to the largest Vietnamese population outside of Vietnam.Forty-nine years after the Fall of Saigon, April 30 remains a solemn day for Nguyen and Ta as it is for many of 2.3 million Vietnamese-Americans in the U.S. They call it Black April.
“It’s a day that we mourn,” Nguyen said.
Which is why Ta and Nguyen were outraged when leaders of neighboring Los Angeles County declared April 30 “Jane Fonda Day” to honor the celebrity for her environmental activism. The lawmakers immediately began pressuring officials to rescind the recognition.
To many Vietnam veterans and refugees, Fonda more than earned her pejorative nickname “Hanoi Jane” when she traveled to North Vietnam during the war, was interviewed for communist radio broadcasts and had photos taken with North Vietnamese Army soldiers and their anti-aircraft guns.
On Thursday, the Los Angeles County Supervisors announced they would change the date to another in April during Earth Month “out of respect for the community voices who have spoken up.”
The decision to honor Fonda on such a solemn day for Vietnamese Americans wasn’t intentional, said Constance Farrell, a spokesperson for Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who chairs the Los Angeles County board. Rather, Farrell said that date was chosen because it fell on a scheduled meeting where board members routinely issue proclamations honoring people and organizations.
Why Vietnamese-American lawmakers were upset
Ta and his Democratic colleague, Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen of Elk Grove, wrote a letter last week signed by nearly every Republican Assemblymember urging the L.A. County supervisors to rescind the proclamation.“This honor for Ms. Fonda is an affront to the service and sacrifice of American and South Vietnamese soldiers who gave everything in the cause of freedom,” their letter said.
Stephanie Nguyen, a daughter of Vietnamese refugees who grew up in Sacramento’s Little Saigon neighborhood, didn’t respond to CalMatters’ interview requests.
Fonda didn’t return CalMatters’ request for comment sent to her publicists, but Fonda has since apologized for the photos with the anti-aircraft guns that may have been used to shoot down American pilots, saying she never intended to appear to be against American troops, merely against the war.
Ta and Janet Nguyen said they were relieved the board chose to change the date honoring Fonda, but they said it was nonetheless frustrating how easily the leaders of the state’s most populated county forgot the shared experience of Vietnamese-Americans families that escaped an oppressive communist regime. There are 521,100 Vietnamese Americans in California.
“I was really, really upset because (Black April) is a really sad day for almost every Vietnamese American here,” said Ta, who recently appeared on the Assembly floor in a dark blue traditional Vietnamese outfit.
Janet Nguyen was dressed in black when she attended Black April services in her district. When she learned of the Los Angeles County supervisors’ decision, she said she quickly began calling and urging them to reconsider.“I pleaded to them that, you know, if you’re not going to rescind that, you at least change the date,” Nguyen said. “April 30 is not the day.” She said she’d prefer the supervisors pick a day that wasn’t in April.
Janet Nguyen opposes communism
It’s not the first time California’s Vietnamese-American community has pressured politicians to rescind measures that Vietnamese Americans found offensive.
In 2017, then-Assemblymember Rob Bonta authored legislation that would have repealed a 1953 law that allows California governments to fire communists.
At the time, Janet Nguyen called Bonta’s bill “an incredible insult to Californians who have escaped communism.”
State Sen. Janet Nguyen, a Huntington Beach Republican, votes during session at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Aug. 30, 2022. Photo by Rahul Lal, CalMatters
Bonta, now California’s attorney general, apologized and rescinded his bill.
“Through my conversations with veterans and members of the Vietnamese American community, I heard compelling stories of how AB 22 caused real distress and hurt for proud and honorable people,” Bonta said at the time. “For that, I am sorry.”
Janet Nguyen is running for Orange County supervisor. But before she leaves the Senate at the end of the year, she’s made it a point to introduce anti-communism measures in a state known for its leftist politics.
She introduced a resolution declaring Nov. 7 “Victims of Communism Day, in memory of the 100 million people who have fallen victim to communist regimes across the world.” The resolution passed the state Senate last year. She also has a bill pending that would allow a nonprofit organization to construct a memorial to the victims of communism on the state Capitol grounds. It passed the Senate in April. Neither measure had any opposition.
“Vietnamese refugees coming here, we treasure democracy and freedom,” she told CalMatters. “And we treasure our voice. And so we don’t want anybody to have to live through what we’ve lived through.”
Desperate for a way to help the tens of thousands of people living in tents, cars and RVs on California’s streets, lawmakers are attempting to upend a key tenet of the state’s homelessness policy.
Two new bills would allow state funding to support sober housing — a significant departure from current law, which requires providers to accept people regardless of their drug and alcohol use.
“If people want to get off of drugs and away from drugs, we should give them that option,” said Assemblymember Matt Haney, a Democrat from San Francisco who wrote Assembly Bill 2479. “They shouldn’t be forced to live next to people who are using drugs.”
There are at least 12,000 sober living beds in the state, but more than twice that many Californians who would qualify for those services, according to data from the California Research Bureau quoted in the Assembly Health Committee’s analysis of the second bill, AB 2893.
As state law prohibits spending housing funding on sobriety-focused programs, many are funded by private donations.
The lawmakers behind the two bills say they aren’t trying to alter the key idea that everyone deserves immediate housing, even people struggling with addictions. Instead, they’re attempting to give more choices to people who want to be sober. But some experts worry that, because California has a shortage of homeless housing, people who relapse in sober housing or who don’t want to stay sober would have nowhere to go but back to the street.
The bills come as California’s homelessness population is skyrocketing, having increased from about 118,000 in 2016 to more than 181,000 last year. Some critics blame and want to overturn the state’s inclusive housing policy. At the same time, as public fears about crime soar, voters in some liberal cities are putting limits on who can receive public assistance.
San Francisco voters this year passed an initiative mandating drug screenings for welfare recipients. In San Diego County, Vista Mayor John Franklin recently introduced a measure pledging not to support “any program that enables continued drug use” and criticizing housing first for precluding sober housing.
“I think we are seeing a cultural shift,” said Christopher Calton, a research fellow who studies housing and homelessness for libertarian think-tank the Independent Institute. “People are starting to say these permissive policies aren’t working.”
California’s ‘housing first’ homelessness policy
At issue is the state’s adherence to “housing first,” a framework where homeless residents are offered housing immediately and with minimal caveats or requirements, regardless of sobriety. The housing should be “low-barrier,” meaning residents are not required to participate in recovery or other programs. After someone is housed, providers are then supposed to offer voluntary substance use and mental health treatment, job training, or other services. The idea is that if people don’t have to focus all their energy on simply surviving on the streets, they’re better equipped to work on their other issues.
Some Republicans and conservative-leaning groups now are pushing to overturn California’s housing first framework, saying it hasn’t successfully reduced homelessness. Assemblymember Josh Hoover, from Folsom, is trying to completely repeal housing first with AB 2417. That bill has yet to be heard by a committee, and likely won’t advance this year.
But with more than 180,000 Californians lacking a home, even Democrats want to see changes. The bills by Haney and Assemblymember Chris Ward of San Diego would allow up to 25% of state funds in each county to go toward sober housing.
Neither Democrat wants to upend housing first. Instead, they want sober housing facilities to operate under a housing first framework. Haney’s bill would require counties to make sure sober facilities kept people housed at rates similar to facilities without sobriety requirements.
Both bills specify that tenants should not be kicked out of their sober housing just because they relapse, and instead they should get support to help them recover. If a resident is no longer interested in being sober, the program should help them move into another housing program.
Having a sober living option for people who want it would be a good thing — but it would have to be their choice, said Sharon Rapport, director of California state policy for The Corporation for Supportive Housing. But homeless housing is so scarce in California, that it’s unlikely participants would be given a true choice, she said. And, these bills would divert already limited state money away from low-barrier housing.
“My worry is that we have one pie of funding for housing,” she said. “So it’s not like we’re saying, ‘Let’s add extra money and try this other approach.’ We’d be saying, ‘Let’s spend less money on harm-reduction housing.’”
Her organization has not taken an official position on the bills.
To make sure people don’t end up back on the street after a relapse, counties would have to keep spaces in low-barrier housing free, in case someone needs to move out of sober housing, Haney said. But that’s not explicitly mandated in the bill.
One key motivation for Haney to draft his sober housing bill is the surge of deaths caused by the opioid fentanyl.
“Our housing first policies in California do not reflect the realities of fentanyl and the need to provide pathways to get off of and away from such a deadly drug,” he said.
Overdose deaths are rampant inside San Francisco’s homeless housing, a 2022 San Francisco Chronicle investigation found. But the state doesn’t track those deaths in public housing, meaning if Haney’s sober housing bill passes, it will be all but impossible to tell whether it saves lives.
The state should track those deaths, Haney said, adding, “maybe I’ll do that bill next year.”
Does housing first work?
The argument against housing first is simple: Since California adopted the policy, the state’s homeless population has grown by more than half.
But experts say that’s because high housing costs are pushing people onto the streets faster than the state’s overburdened supportive housing system can pull them back inside.
Under immense pressure to do something about the crisis, politicians are pointing to housing first as a scapegoat, said Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. But that’s like blaming the emergency room for the number of COVID patients coming in during the pandemic, she said.
People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), which operates housing first programs in Southern California and the Bay Area, reported 94% of people who moved in were still housed a year later. Destination: Home in Santa Clara County, which spearheads the county’s housing first efforts, reported similar results.
“That is as much evidence as I think would be necessary to show that this model works really well,” said CEO Jennifer Loving, “and the problem is we haven’t been able to do enough of it.”
“The idea that William Shakespeare’s authorship of his plays and poems is a matter of conjecture…Should claims that the Holocaust did not occur also be made part of the standard curriculum?”
— Stephen Greenblatt
###
Have you been following LoCO comments lately — especially following stories about the protests and subsequent “hard closure” at CPH? While many are sensitive and reasoned, the majority seem to be purely kneejerk, insults empty of content. Reminding me, oddly enough, of why I spent several weeks earlier this year researching and writing about the Shakespeare authorship question.
When I was asked why I was bothering with it, if memory serves, I first became intrigued by the question of “Who wrote Shakespeare?” about 20 years ago, on reading the letter excerpted above, published in The New York Times, from Shakespeare scholar Stephen Greenblatt. Until then, I suppose I’d been vaguely aware there was some controversy whether a wool-merchant William Shakspere (as his name appears multiple times in contemporary records in England’s Stratford-on-Avon) could have written the plays and sonnets attributed to someone using the name William Shakespeare or Shake-speare (hyphened, as the name appears on many title pages).
I got to wondering why a Pulitzer Prize-winning author would stoop to comparing people who question the authorship of centuries-old poems and plays with — get this! — Holocaust deniers. I could only suppose Greenblatt — a really good author, most recently of The Swerve (which I highly recommend) — was slinging abuse around because his arguments were too feeble to cite. (As Hamlet’s Mom put it, commenting on a ham actress, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”)
So his intemperate letter was the inspiration to do my own research, back then and more recently. I soon learned that this sort of vitriol was regularly heaped on those who doubted that the man from Stratford (who could barely write his own name—see his signatures) could have authored some of the finest writing in the English language. For instance, a recent book by Elizabeth Winkler (Shakespeare Was a Woman and Other Heresies) — which questions the authorship while trying to understand the stubbornness of most university English departments (which won’t even allow discussion of the matter!) — garnered such reviews as “wrong-headed,” “widespread disinformation” (The Spectator); “pernicious,” “trutherism” (Slate); and “a farrago of wounded pride” (The Times). That paper’s lead writer, Oliver Kamm, later wrote that to question Shakespeare’s authorship is also to promote ”a spurious antisemitic conspiracy theory.” (Antisemetic???) Meanwhile, Britain’s leading Shakespeare scholar, Sir Stanley Wells, is on record as saying it’s immoral to question the authorship, declaring that the world’s two leading Shakespearean actors, Sirs Derek Jacobi and Mark Rylance, were “bonkers” for entertaining such heresy! (Immoral???)
The only signatures we have of William Shakspere of Stratford-on-Avon. (Public domain via Wikipedia)
Such invective only strengthens the counter argument: That it’s inconceivable (shades of Wallace Shawn) that a businessman from an English provincial town could, in the late 1500s, have amassed sufficient knowledge of the law, astronomy, philosophy, falconry, warfare, the geography of northern Italy, fluency in French, Italian and Latin (some of the writer’s sources hadn’t been translated into English at the time) as to write such immortal works as Hamlet, Lear, Romeo and Juliet, and all the rest. Not to mention the sonnets. Nearly a million words in all. In response, “Stratfordians,” hewing to orthodoxy, say that he was just a genius, before responding with mud-slinging. (Perhaps one can be born a genius, like Christopher Marlowe, but knowledge has to be acquired.)
As I say, I think about this “reversion to insults” when reading uncouth and/or fatuous comments on LoCO. So often, in the ten years I’ve been writing GOU, I see commentators reverting to abusive language, cheap shots, snarkiness and empty insults in lieu of actually debating, turning what could be opportunities to learn from each other in our small coastal community by engaging.
