HUMBOLDT TODAY: We have a full rundown of the wild police chase and subsequent shootout in Eureka yesterday; the City of Arcata is struggling to find officers; plus, a local 8th grader scores a fun science award!  Those stories and more in today’s online newscast with John Kennedy O’Connor.

FURTHER READING: 

• Sheriff’s Office Issues Statement on Harris Street Incident, With Clear Photos of the Suspects and Weapons Recovered
• (LIVE) Sheriff’s Office Press Conference About Yesterday’s Police Shooting on Harris Avenue
• Arcata City Council to Consider $50K Bonus for Police Department Transfers to Address APD Staffing Shortage
• California Attorney General Bonta to Host Event Promoting Awareness of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People in Blue Lake on Saturday
• Freshwater School Eighth-Grader Brings Home Big Award for Her Redwood Science Research
• CONVERSATIONS: Old Town Restaurateur Charity Desbrow on Moving Into the Old, Historic Oberon Location (And Acquiring a Full Bar)

HUMBOLDT TODAY can be viewed on LoCO’s homepage each night starting at 6 p.m.

Want to LISTEN to HUMBOLDT TODAY? Subscribe to the podcast version here.

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PREVIOUSLY:

• “Going Down,” April 18.
• (LIVE) Sheriff’s Office Press Conference About Yesterday’s Police Shooting on Harris Avenue

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Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On April 18, 2023, at about 2:49 p.m. officers with the Eureka Police Department (EPD) responded to a report of an armed robbery in the area of the north parking lot at the Bayshore Mall. There, officers located a 33-year-old male victim who told officers that he had been robbed at gunpoint and assaulted. The victim sustained minor head injuries from the physical assault.  The victim was able to provide a description of the suspects and suspect vehicle to law enforcement. EPD issued a Be On the Lookout (BOLO) to all local agencies describing a red ford pick-up and indicating that a firearm had been used in the robbery.  

Approximately 10 minutes later, EPD received a report of a pedestrian hit and run in the area of West Washington and Summer Streets. The victim, a 34-year-old male, sustained major injuries. The suspects of the hit and run were later confirmed to be the same suspects involved in the earlier armed robbery.

At about 3:14 p.m., a Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputy in a marked Sheriff’s Office pick-up truck observed the suspect vehicle, a red 2004 Ford F250, in the Cutten area near the intersection of Redwood Street and Walnut Drive. The deputy attempted a felony traffic stop on the vehicle. The vehicle failed to yield, and a pursuit ensued.

Approximately two minutes later, the fleeing suspect vehicle was involved in a traffic collision with a civilian vehicle at the intersection of Dolbeer and Harris Streets. Following this collision, the suspects in the Ford are believed to have fired at the marked Sheriff’s vehicle, striking it at least once. At about this time, an unmarked Sheriff’s Office pick-up truck occupied by an HCSO Sergeant and one deputy arrived. Both of these officers fired their service weapons at the suspects. An additional HCSO marked vehicle arrived and pulled alongside the HCSO marked truck. This deputy also fired his service weapon at the suspects. Both suspects sustained multiple gunshot wounds. The suspects were taken into custody on scene and deputies rendered first aid while waiting for Emergency Medical Services. No deputies were injured.

During this incident, there were two additional individuals inside the suspect vehicle, a 37-year-old female and a 2-year-old male. Both sustained minor collision-related injuries and were transported to a local hospital for treatment.

The civilian vehicle involved in the traffic collision contained three occupants. The driver, a 42-year-old male, sustained moderate collision-related injuries. The passenger, a 27-year-old female, sustained major collision-related injuries. A 2-year-old passenger of the vehicle was not injured. The three were transported to a local hospital for medical evaluation and treatment.

The suspects have been identified as brothers, 18-year-old Jesse Widmark and 27-year-old Brandon Widmark. Both suspects were transported to a local hospital and remain in critical condition. The Widmarks were last known to be residing in Northern Mendocino County but have family ties to Humboldt County. At the time of this incident, the brothers were wanted by the Arcata Police Department in connection to a robbery occurring April 14 in the Valley West area.

While processing the scene, investigators located three weapons associated with the suspects: one Winchester Model 70 Bolt Action 270 Rifle, one Marlin Model 60 .22 Caliber Long Rifle and one Sigsauer M17 Airsoft Handgun.

A total of four HCSO deputies were involved in this incident, three are believed to have fired their service weapons: a Sergeant, with 14 years of service, and two deputies with six and 10 years of service, respectively. The fourth involved deputy, who was fired upon during this incident, has five years of service with the HCSO. All involved deputies have been placed on routine paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal administrative investigation. Involved deputies will be identified within the timeframe as required by law in a future information update.

This is still an active, multi-faceted investigation, being led by the Eureka Police Department and Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office as part of the Humboldt County Critical Incident Response Team. Additional information will be released when available and appropriate.

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the following agencies for their assistance with this investigation: Eureka Police Department, California Highway Patrol, Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office, Arcata Police Department, Fortuna Police Department, Rio Dell Police Department and the CA Department of Justice.

Anyone with information about this case or additional criminal activity associated with the suspects should contact Eureka Police Department Detective Raymond Nunez at (707) 441-4109.

PREVIOUSLY:

• “Going Down,” April 18.

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Humboldt County Sheriff Billy Honsal is holding a press conference on the police shooting of two reportedly armed suspects on Harris Street yesterday.

Live video above, via the Sheriff’s Facebook page; notable updates below.

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UPDATE, 2:36 p.m.: Eureka Police Chief Todd Jarvis confirms that the incident began at the Bayshore Mall, with the assault and robbery of one victim. Also, he connects the suspects to a hit-and-run on Eureka’s West Side yesterday in between the assault and the shooting.

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UPDATE, 2:40 p.m.: Honsal, speaking now, says that the suspects’ drove their red pickup into Harris Street from Dolbeer at a high rate of speed, crashing into a Toyota that was carrying three people. After the crash, two people emerged from the red pickup carrying rifles and fired at least once at deputies, striking a patrol vehicle.

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UPDATE, 2:41 p.m.: The two suspects are Jesse and Brandon Widmark, who are currently hospitalized in serious condition. They had previously been wanted by the Arcata Police Department in connection with an armed robbery.

UPDATE, 2:43 p.m.: Three Sheriff’s Office personnel fired their weapons at the scene, all of them with fairly long tenure at the office.

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UPDATE: 2:47 p.m.: Three civilians in the other pickup suffered injuries. One of them — a 27-year-old female — suffered major injuries.

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UPDATE, 2:55 p.m.: Body cameras worn by Sheriff’s Office personnel were not on at the time of the incident. When asked by the Outpost’s Isabella Vanderheiden why that was, Honsal said, “This is definitely something we will be looking at.” “That’s going to be a question that we do ask.”

As usual with officer-involved shootings, the county’s interagency Critical Incident Response Team will conduct an investigation into the police response to the case. 

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Like many other police departments around the state and country, the Arcata Police Department (APD) has seen a severe staffing shortage over the last few years. And recently it has gotten so bad that the department is asking the Arcata City Council to approve a $50,000 transfer bonus for trained officers. 

According to a city staff report, the department currently has 19 officers on staff, down from 29 at the beginning of 2020. That means the department is about 34 percent understaffed, and two more officers are expected to depart soon. APD Chief Brian Ahearn told the Outpost that the department has been struggling to keep staff, and that it’s causing issues both within the department and for the community. 

“Because we’ve had to really constrict operations due to our staffing shortage, we’re not able to provide specialty services and haven’t been able to deliver some of those services that we know our community members expect,” Ahearn said in a phone interview Tuesday morning. “And just the sheer volume of work has really created a lot of fatigue within the organization, both mentally and physically.” 

The department already offers a $15,000 lateral transfer bonus, but Ahearn says that it has not been enough and thinks that increasing the amount will incentivize more officers to move to APD. And though $15,000 to $50,000 is a pretty huge bump, Ahearn said that it’s going to take a huge increase to keep Arcata competitive with other agencies. 

Hiring and transfer bonuses are nothing new, but have become increasingly common since COVID. Over the last few years many police departments in California and across the country have dramatically increased their transfer incentives, with cities like Redding and Chico offering a $40,000 transfer bonus, and Alameda offering a staggering $75,000 for lateral transfers. 

If approved by the council, the $50,000 bonus would be offered to police officers currently employed in the state of California who have successfully completed law enforcement academy and are “performing satisfactorily” in their current employment, according to the staff report. The payment would be spread out over two and a half years, with the first $10,000 added to the employee’s first paycheck. 

Additionally, Ahearn is suggesting the council approve $60,000 in funding to the police department to improve the department’s workstations, locker rooms, floor surface, lighting and equipment. According to the staff report, in recent exit interviews with officers leaving APD for other cities many shared that the departments they were transferring to had higher quality facilities and equipment. Ahearn believes that making some of these improvements could help APD recruit new officers and also improve conditions for the current employees and hopefully encourage them to stick around. Also to help keep the current staff on, Ahearn is proposing a short-term retention bonus that would offer current employees $7,500 a year for three years. 

Ahearn | Stephanie McGeary

This all might sound like a lot of cash to give to the police department, especially when Arcata’s budget is looking pretty tight this year. But part of the costs would be offset by the salaries and benefits savings the department has accumulated from the unfilled positions. Ahearn also holds that the long term savings from keeping officers and recruiting transfers who would be able to enter the field much more quickly would be worth the investment. The $50,000 transfer bonus is still less than the cost of supporting a candidate through the academy and field training, which is estimated to cost $65,000. 

When asked about why it has been so difficult to keep Arcata’s police department staffed over the last few years, Ahearn said it is not only the competitive market, but also that not as many people are interested in being police officers these days, something Ahearn attributed largely to the increasing scrutiny of police officer and department practices across the country. 

“I just think the profession has seen so much change in the last several years,” Ahearn said. “There’s been so many reforms, and many of those have been the right reforms. We need to continue to evolve as a profession. We have to continue to achieve excellence. But along the way, a lot of people have forgotten that police officers are human beings…and police officers are just being absolutely vilified.” 

Amid the calls for police reform that were largely sparked by the Black Lives Matter movement, many people have urged municipalities to “defund the police” and direct that funding toward alternative forms of emergency response, such as mental health services. Arcata Mayor Sarah Schaefer even said that reallocating funds from the police department budget was one her top priorities, back when she was running for council in 2020. 

And Ahearn feels that the APD and the City of Arcata have done a good job at responding to those cries for change. The department has been working with the county’s Mobile Intervention Services Team (MIST), which provides services for those struggling with mental health issues and/or substance use disorders in the community. Members of MIST are on staff at APD four days a week. 

Ahearn also mentioned Arcata’s Community Ambassador Program, a collaboration between APD and Arcata Main Street that was launched in 2022. The community ambassadors are trained in de-escalation techniques and can respond to issues that aren’t necessarily a crime. City staff is also proposing the council approve a .25 percent sales tax to be placed on the ballot in 2024 to help fund the Community Ambassador Program and additional upgrades for the police department. 

With these alternative programs in place, Ahearn feels that APD is a very progressive police department and hopes to attract officers who want to be a part of an organization that will “redefine and reimagine how policing is going to look moving forward.” He hopes that, if the incentive program is approved, that it will help make Arcata’s department more desirable and that once someone transfers here and sees what the department does for the community that they will want to stay. 

Ahearn does also realize that hiring bonuses only offer a temporary solution and that the department will need to continue to improve and possibly offer other incentives in the future, like housing allowances, covering education or childcare costs. But right now, the bottom line is that APD needs to fill these positions as soon as possible. 

“This is designed to bring these officers to us immediately,” Ahearn said. “We have been slowly bleeding out with our departures out numbering our new hires. So this is not a bandaid, it’s a tourniquet. Because if I don’t stop the bleeding now we’re going to bleed out and potentially we’re going to no longer exist as an organization. And I can’t let that happen.” 

The Arcata City Council will consider the APD’s proposal during its meeting tonight (Wednesday, Apr. 19) at 6 p.m. You can view the full agenda and directions on how to participate here. 

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Press release from the California Attorney General’s Office:

California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued an alert to Californians to promote awareness of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) through an event sponsored by the California Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Native American Affairs (ONAA), in partnership with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, the Yurok Tribal Police Department and the Hoopa Valley Tribal Police Department, called Missing in California Indian Country. This first-of-its-kind event will occur in the Northern Region at the Blue Lake Rancheria, on Saturday, April 22, 2023 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Blue Lake Rancheria in Blue Lake, California. The event is free and open to the public to bring awareness and provide the opportunity for tribal families to come together and uplift ongoing tribally-led efforts to confront this crisis.

“Tribal communities form the foundation of our state’s rich cultural tapestry, but have long been overlooked and undervalued,” said Attorney General Bonta. “We cannot erase our dark history, but we can — and must — recognize it, apologize for it, and vow to break the cycle. That’s why this event is so important: Our tribal communities have and continue to contribute to our society in immeasurable ways. And yet, the struggles they have endured have been nothing short of brutal. Loved ones, especially women and girls, have gone missing or been murdered and their cases lay unresolved — as do generations of historical trauma. The California Department of Justice is committed to listening and learning. We will continue to follow the lead of tribal communities to partner in justice and create the change we need to see.”

This is part of an ongoing series of events taking place throughout the four regions of California. They, in part, serve as critical public safety events for tribal communities and aim to elevate the state’s response to the MMIP crisis. These events will allow for loved ones to report an individual missing, receive an update on an active missing person’s case, and/or provide a DNA sample for inclusion in the DOJ’s Unidentified Persons Database. The event has been developed and planned in collaboration with the tribal governments within Northern California to be most responsive to the needs of the region’s tribal communities. Local, state, tribal, and federal justice partners will come together for this event to share critical information, resource availability, and partnership in addressing the MMIP crisis in California.

This event is part of an ongoing effort of ONAA, an office established in DOJ in 2000 to support the rights of tribal citizens and governments and help protect the public safety of tribal communities. ONAA provides three main functions within the DOJ and those functions are as follows:

• ONAA advises the Attorney General on matters of importance to California tribal governments and tribal citizens that promote the health, safety and, welfare for California’s tribal citizens.
• ONAA serves as tribal liaison between the DOJ and federal, tribal, state, and local justice systems.
• ONAA facilitates and promotes a statewide framework for state and tribal partnerships that encourage the cooperation and collaboration between tribal, state, federal and local justice agencies through coordination of intergovernmental services, programs and technical assistance for justice-related issues.

These efforts continue the ongoing work of Attorney General Bonta to protect the rights of the Indigenous People of California and is committed to attend the Candlelight Vigil for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People at the State Capitol on May 3, 2023. Recently, the Attorney General fought for a $5 million investment in the state budget aimed at supporting public safety on tribal lands in California. The funds are for the implementation of California Assembly Bill 3099 (AB 3099), which calls for the California Department of Justice to provide training and guidance to law enforcement agencies and tribal governments to help reduce uncertainty regarding criminal jurisdiction and improve public safety on tribal lands.

To find out more information about the upcoming event and to register for Missing in California Indian Country: Northern California Region event, please click here.

Supervisor Natalie Arroyo’s presentation to the Board of Supervisors.

We’ve heard a lot about Nordic Aqafarms’ plans to build a state-of-the-art onshore fish farm on the Samoa Peninsula but the question remains: What would the facility’s day-to-day operations entail once it’s up and running? 

Seeking answers, Fourth District Supervisor Natalie Arroyo – a self-proclaimed “vacation nerd” – took it upon herself to visit Sashimi Royal, the Norway-based seafood company’s onshore fish farm in Hanstholm, Denmark, on a recent trip to Europe.

“I was able to make it work [with my schedule] and I thought it would be really informative,” Arroyo noted during this morning’s Humboldt County Board of Supervisors meeting. “It was not a proposal by the company that I come and visit. … They didn’t sponsor my trip. I asked for it and [paid for it] on my own dime.”

Nordic staff walked her through the various operations of the facility, from the hatchery, where yellowtail kingfish naturally spawned eggs grow into fingerlings, to the juvenile-rearing area and, finally, to the grow-out facility, where they stay until they reach market size. 

“The goal is to rear healthy fish that are bred in captivity,” she said. “These are really fish that are being bred to be grown out for food. They’re not impacting wild stocks of this species. … They’re selecting the healthiest fish to gather fertilized eggs from and rear them in the hatchery.”

Arroyo added that the facility was remarkably odor-free with only “a little bit of notable funk” near the settling tanks in the hatchery.

“But they’re quite far from any neighborhoods,” she said. “It was only really [when I was] standing that close to the tank that I could smell it, so the smell was really minimal. … Where the adult kingfish are grown to scale it smelled like a freshwater aquarium. You could kind of smell that fish food smell, but it was so faint. Even inside the facility.”

Unfortunately, Arroyo said she didn’t have time to chat with locals about how they felt about the fish farm, but she did carve out some time to visit a local restaurant and sample some raw kingfish. “The fish was very tasty,” she said.

Following the presentation, Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson said he also appreciates “nerdy side trips” on his vacations abroad. “It’s good for us to get some perspective about where the rest of the world is on some of these issues,” he said. “It’s interesting to see how much effort goes into these facilities, in the energy it requires and the treatment that it requires to meet those effluent standards and the challenges around that.”

First District Supervisor Rex Bohn asked Arroyo if she had learned anything about the status of the proposed fish farm on the Samoa Peninsula and whether that facility would be built ahead of another proposed facility in Belfast, Maine.

Arroyo said the CEO of Sashimi Royal, Søren Mattesen, is clued into company-wide projects to an extent but isn’t fully aware of what’s happening at other project sites. He has tentative plans to visit Humboldt Bay at some point in the future “to help advise or make recommendations about the [Samoa] facility and incorporate lessons learned,” she said, but he didn’t specify when that visit would occur. 

“I don’t know what the timing is going to be, whether they’re going to put our project before the Maine project or not,” Arroyo added.

The Board of Supervisors approved development permits and certified the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the project last September. One month later, a group of local residents dubbed Citizens Protecting Humboldt Bay filed a lawsuit against the county and the Board of Supervisors alleging that, as the lead agency, it had violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) by approving the project. 

Planning and Building Director John Ford did not comment on the status of the lawsuit but said Nordic is “very actively pursuing permits” with the California Coastal Commission, the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The board unanimously agreed to accept the report but did not take any further action on the item.

Evergreen Exotics Zoning Amendment

The board also reviewed and approved a zoning code amendment petition, brought forth by Evergreen Exotics, LLC, to allow for indoor cultivation in the Evergreen Business Park between Redway and Garberville. 

The site is currently zoned as a major business (MB) zone. Indoor cannabis cultivation was previously authorized in MB zones under the Commercial Medical Marijuana Land Use Ordinance (Ordinance 1.0) but it is not authorized under Commercial Cannabis Land Use Ordinance (Ordinance 2.0).

“There was some anecdotal evidence that there was concern that if indoor cultivation was allowed in MB  zones, there might be odor in passing in buildings that had multiple tenants or suites,” Senior Planner Steven Santos explained. “If the board does move forward with this process, one of the things the board may want to consider is looking at specific performance standards related to odor if indoor cultivation is allowed.”

Santos added that the zoning amendment “wouldn’t change any of the eligibility criteria for housing development currently allowed in MB zones,” including caretaker units allowed on upper floors and transitional housing.

Wilson asked if the project would exacerbate ongoing issues with the county’s electrical capacity or interfere with PG&E’s ability to provide power to the business park.

Ford | Screenshot

“At this point, we have to be aware of power [with] everything that we do in Southern Humboldt, whether it be land use and zoning or a project-specific impact,” Ford said. “The property owner believes that they would be able to have adequate power to support this [project] at that location. That’s something we can look into more, but at this time, it’s our understanding that it would not affect other properties or the ability of other users on this property.” 

Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell emphasized that “PG&E isn’t going to hook anybody up until there is a solution to the power issues in Southern Humboldt” and urged Ford to continue conversations with the property owner and with PG&E to address capacity issues.

“Also, you know, with the decline of things that are going on around Southern Humboldt, this area is largely empty,” Bushnell continued. “There are a lot of empty buildings up there. … We could use some additional stuff going on in Southern Humboldt and I think this [zoning] change could open up something that doesn’t have to be cannabis … even something for heavier industrial. … I, frankly, would welcome any kind of growth.”

Bushnell made a motion to move ahead with staff’s recommendation and approve the zoning amendment. Bohn seconded.

Before voting, Wilson brought up the possibility of changing the zoning designation to accommodate mixed-use development in the business park to allow housing in the future.

“If the point is to allow more flexibility and thus more economic opportunity within that space, this potential change would only do one thing,” he said. “Maybe this is an opportunity to take a look at how we might expand opportunity through other changes within that space, in terms of flexibility. … The trend these days is to make zonings more flexible and around creativity and mixed-use and maybe this is an opportunity to take a look at that because this is only looking at one opportunity.”

Ford expressed interest in Wilson’s proposal, noting that it is “always opportune to take a look at doing things like allowing mixed use” when considering a zoning amendment. “That’s typically not something that’s in the business park vocabulary just because some of the uses aren’t necessarily always compatible with residential uses, but I have no objection to take a look at that if that’s the will of the board.”

Bushnell was hesitant. 

“The [business park] was built to keep away from the residential and [allow for] the loud noises, the industrial type activities that people in residential areas don’t really care for,” she said. “I don’t want issues to come forward with people that have bought properties up there for the intent of commercial activities to have to deal with. … Mixing it with housing for a residential person to say, ‘I don’t like that noise. I don’t like that logging truck starting at three in the morning.’ How would you see that play out?”

Ford acknowledged her concern and said the mixed-use designation would “create opportunity and not a requirement” for properties in the business park.

“If it’s not conducive to developing a mixed-use common environment, typically people won’t do that,” he said. “We could create a process or even performance standards by which the mixed-use would be deemed acceptable, and if it’s acceptable under those circumstances, then it could be a by-right use or it could be a discretionary use. There are several different ways to look at it.”

After quite a bit of back and forth among board members, Ford suggested they “split the baby” and create two separate motions to appease everyone. 

The first would approve the petition to modify Ordinance 2.0 to allow for indoor cannabis cultivation in the MB zoning district. The second action would direct staff to evaluate the MB zone to determine whether or not there are other economic development opportunities through an additional modification that would give flexibility for mixed-use and other related uses.

The amended motion passed 5-0.

Abbey Road Farming, LLC, Appeal

The board also considered an appeal to the Zoning Administrator’s recent denial of a conditional use permit for an existing 15,236 square-foot outdoor cannabis farm in the Bridgeville area. The conditional use permit, brought forth by Abbey Road Farming, LLC, was denied by the Zoning Administrator earlier this year due to the applicant’s unresponsiveness throughout the application process. 

“I scheduled this item for denial in front of the Zoning Administrator because [staff has] made nine requests for information since February of 2017,” Santos explained. “We’ve had no contact with anyone since day one and there was insufficient evidence in the objective record to approve the project. … We try and put things in referrals as close to when we receive the application, but if an application is so incomplete that we don’t have an adequate project to describe, it’s just a waste of time for the county and for referral agencies to receive a project because they don’t have enough to actually review.”

The Planning and Building Department received an appeal to the Zoning Administrator’s decision on March 15. The appeal was signed by Kathy Moley, environmental division manager of Pacific Watershed Associates, on behalf of the applicant. 

Moley | Screenshot

Speaking to the board on Tuesday, Moley described her tumultuous relationship with the previous property owner, who apparently fled the country after being made aware of numerous violations on the property.

“When Pacific Watershed [Associates] was first on the property in 2017 – and for the series of years afterward – I just want to say that the applicant at that time was what I would deem a bad player,” she said. “There was not a lot of forward motion. There was not a lot of progress. There were large amounts of refuse on the property – things that were completely unacceptable to Pacific Watershed Associates.”

The current applicant took over the property in September 2020. Moley said she was previously unaware that there was an incomplete application transfer packet associated with the property. Without it, the project application cannot move forward. “That’s something that I can then go back to my client and pretty much enforce that this needs to happen,” she said.

But her main question was whether the application would stay open despite the Zoning Administrator’s denial of the permit. 

After a bit of back and forth between planning staff and Moley, Bohn suggested the board extend the Zoning Administrator’s ruling and revisit the subject in six months to give the applicant time to complete the application.

Ford said that would be acceptable but suggested Bohn also include in his motion that the applicant must “provide a minimum of $3,000 [to] the Planning and Building Department to continue processing the application.”

Bohn went ahead with the motion, which was seconded by Arroyo.

Wilson questioned whether there were “capacity issues” within the Planning and Building Department, noting “when that happens it really puts a strain on everybody.” He also asked if $3,000 would be sufficient to cover the remainder of staff’s time on the project application.

“It probably will not finish the permit,” Ford said. “Normally a permit like this would run in the neighborhood of $9,000 to $12,000. I think they’ve probably put down about $3,500. So another $8,000 to $9,000 is likely water will cost to finish this.”

After a bit more discussion, the board voted 3-2, with Wilson and Fifth District Supervisor and Board Chair Steve Madrone dissenting, to extend the Zoning Administrator’s ruling and return to the matter in six months.

Press release from the Humboldt County Office of Education:

Amalia Baugh, with Freshwater science teacher David Haller.

Amalia Baugh, an 8th-grade student from Freshwater Charter Middle School, has made waves in the science community by winning several awards for her outstanding project in Earth and Environmental Science. She not only won 1st place in the state qualifier at the California Science and Engineering Fair (CSEF), but she also received the Science Achievement Award from the California Association of Professional Scientists (CAPS).

Si Talty, Superintendent of Freshwater School District, praised Amalia’s accomplishment, saying, “We are incredibly proud of Amalia’s hard work and dedication to science. Her project is the only one eligible in our region to compete in CAPS Outstanding Young Scientist program, and she will receive recognition, a certificate, and a check for $100. This is also a testament to the infusion of NGSS strategies and inquiry-based learning opportunities that her Science Teacher, Mr. Haller, and Freshwater School are so dedicated to.”

Her project also was given 1st place honors by the Northern Group of the Sierra Club and was recognized by the California Association of Professional Scientists, North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District, and the California Native Plants Society.

As a result of her 1st place win as the state qualifier, Amalia is eligible to submit her project application for consideration to move on to the National Competition. She has been named as one of CSEF’s nominees to the Thermo-Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge (JIC), a national competition involving students in grades 6-8 from hundreds of fairs spread throughout the nation.

The project sought to determine the impact of reduced fog and climate change on the Northern California Redwood Forest ecosystem. Amalia’s question involved looking at how transpiration and foliar uptake in redwood forest species are affected by the amount of fog. Baseline data was collected to determine which redwood plants have the greatest ability to take in fog through their leaves. Transpiration data was collected spraying sword ferns, redwood sorrel, evergreen huckleberry and coast redwood in 5 different fog treatments. The change in mass was taken daily to determine overall transpiration rate. Foliar uptake was then measured for all plants in the transpiration/fog treatments.

The Top 300 finalists will be announced on September 6, with each receiving a cash award of $125 and other prizes. From this set, 30 finalists will be announced on September 20, with each being invited to an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to showcase their research.

Finals week will be held on October 28 - November 2, where the finalists will engage in a variety of scientific and engineering activities, in addition to presenting their own research. The week will end with more prizes and awards, including the top prize of $25,000 for the Thermo-Fisher Scientific ASCEND Award.

“We congratulate Amalia on her impressive achievements and wish her the best of luck as she moves on to the national competition,” said David Haller, Amalia’s science teacher. “Her passion for science and dedication to her project is truly inspiring.”

Other Freshwater students who received recognition for their science projects included Sankara Momo Carnahan, Sadie Barrett, Kaya Scofield, Eliot Block, Dylan Scofield, Sylvia Celli, Wren Hall, Ellie White, Meghan Reiske, Noah O’Neill, Layla Rasmussen and Naomi Rush Copple.