Our one-of-a-kind father, grandfather, and great grandfather Dr. John “Jack” Lee Yarnall III died December 6th in Eureka at the age of 91. His lifelong independent spirit remained throughout his last days.

Jack was born January 27, 1932 to John and Daisy Yarnall in White Plains, New York. He was their first son, followed by his brother James. His childhood was filled with a mix of urban living and outdoor adventures. He spent time with his mom’s family in Washington, D.C. and recalled special trips into Manhattan to visit his dad’s office in Midtown. His dad frequently took his boys on fly fishing trips, including a pivotal one to Poe Valley, Pennsylvania, which led his parents to purchase property in the valley that remains in the family today. Until his final years, Jack felt closest to his parents and brother at the cabin in Poe Valley.

Seeking independence and more outdoor adventures, Jack headed west after high school enrolling at the University of Montana in 1949. There he met fellow student and the love of his life, Maureen Fulmor, who he married in 1953. He graduated with a degree in Forestry and followed his ROTC Air Force commitment to flight training in Bryan, Texas. While in Bryan, he and Maureen welcomed their first son Jeffrey in 1954. Twin boys James and John, were born in 1956 while he was stationed at Malmstrom AFB in Great Falls, Montana. His Air Force career included helicopter training which led to an assignment in Labrador, Canada where was stationed at Goose Bay as a helicopter pilot.

After leaving the Air Force, Jack re-enrolled at the University of Montana in a masters program. When not studying, Jack worked for Johnson Flying Service as a pilot. He dropped smokejumpers and fire retardant on wildfires throughout the Western US. His duties included aerial spraying of forest lands in the Spring. He continued working fire seasons until the 1970s as his side job - partially for the money but also because it gave him lots of time in the air. He remained proud of his “smokejumper days” which perfectly combined his forestry degree and love of flying.

In 1962 Jack enrolled in the Marine Biology PhD program at Stanford University and moved his family to Palo Alto. He described the program as “the government’s answer to SPUTNIK, which was to get as many of us into science as possible.” He seized the opportunity and developed a love for science and the ocean that remained through his life. A move to Pacific Grove in 1964, led him to discover diving and he spent hours underwater. His studies took him on a research vessel through Latin America, as the Head Dive Officer where he learned the helpful phrase, “donde estan las cervezas?” He took his family to Hawaii for a summer in 1968 where he conducted octopus research. He ultimately completed his thesis on the functional anatomy and feeding behavior of nudibranchs. While he received an outstanding education focused on invertebrate marine biology, he was a renaissance man. All fields of study were worthy and all scholarship was appreciated. That intense curiosity, near photographic memory and love of learning were present his entire life. Being an older graduate student led Jack to “adopt” many fellow students. He and Maureen held parties and their home became the hub for many in themarine biology program. He spoke more of the friends they made during this period of his life than he did his formal education.

In 1969, Jack accepted a tenure-track position in the Biology Department at Humboldt State University. He and his family moved to Freshwater, and Jack remained in the department until he retired in 1993. While at Humboldt, Jack taught many courses, his favorite being invertebrate zoology, and had a genuine love for teaching, especially if it meant getting undergraduate students into the field. He held annual mussel feeds in his yard for his students and loved getting them wet, whether it was at the marine lab in Trinidad, in the pond in his backyard, or “warming up in the nuclear plant runoff” in Humboldt Bay after digging specimens in the bay mud. He was a teacher at heart and said that the favorite thing about his time at Humboldt was, “the memories of seeing students—the light go on in their eyes when they finally grasped something or made something work.” Jack served as the department chair for Biology and was also active on the California State University Academic Senate for many years. He was most proud of his time as an Executive Committee member of the Senate and his time as a “campus politician.”

While not teaching, Jack continued to fly. He had a glider which he launched with the help of his boys and a homemade winch. Later, his red-and-white-striped hot air balloon, the “Candy Striper,” became a fixture in Humboldt County skies. He formed fast friendships - or at least understandings - with many Ferndale dairy farmers who owned the fields he used to land his balloon. His tethered balloon visits to his grandkids’ elementary schools made a lasting impression on hundreds of kids. His love for flying machines never wavered and even when he stopped piloting them himself he visited flight museums, and peppered family with questions about their commercial flights and routes.

Jack loved college athletics, particularly Humboldt State Athletics. He was the faculty athletics representative for the NCAA and to HSU’s conference. He appreciated student athletes who “succeeded academically and also performed.” He and Maureen endowed a scholarship to support outstanding athlete-scholars. He had a fondness for womens’ sports and attended crew races, volleyball games, cross-country meets, and softball games in addition to basketball and football. For many years he was the official scorekeeper for basketball games at HSU. While he kept meticulous score, he was also beloved for the bags of “monster cookies” that he baked and brought to the home team.

His love of athletics transitioned into supporting his granddaughters in their endeavors. He ran the morning swimming carpool, picking up teenage girls from their houses, waiting while they swam from 5:30 to 7 a.m., then dropping them off at school - with an occasional stop for ice cream pints. He brought a homemade megaphone to high school cross-country meets and hosted spur of the moment team sleepovers at his house. He was a fervent cheerleader and the gift of his memory extended past his scholarship and into personal best times and heat and lane assignments.In his retirement Jack volunteered and donated his resources generously. He loved the Humboldt County Jazz Festival and volunteered to drive the bands. He was a volunteer for Big Brothers Big Sisters. He drove seniors to medical appointments well into his own senior years. He served on the Humboldt County Grand Jury. The HSU athletics auction was a marked event on his calendar and his family always wondered what he would come home with each year.

He spent every summer of his retired life at his second home, in Poe Valley, Pennsylvania, where he developed another community of friends. He rode motorcycles on trails, spent time with tractors and chainsaws, attended auctions, made strawberry jam, invested in a brewery, and loved the connection that the place provided him with his parents and an earlier time in his life.

Those who knew Jack knew his smile, his booming voice, and the mischievous twinkle in his eye. “It’s easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission,” was one of his favored mantras as was, “there’s always room for dessert.” Jack loved beautiful things - nautilus, literature, sea shells, sunrises, blown-glass, well-scooped ice cream, theater, jewelry, trees, and especially Maureen. He marveled at the perfection found in nature - not just the obviously beautiful, but the wonders of coevolution and anatomy. Bivalve dissections were a frequent event for children at family dinners and he appreciated the art of a well-cooked meal paired with good wine. Jack loved a party and he loved a show. For years he harvested and shoved the largest possible Christmas tree into his living room, held upright with a block and tackle. The tree was always surrounded by his model trains, which were passed to him from his father. It was a right of passage for kids and grandkids when they were allowed to drive them. He hosted epic neighborhood Halloween parties with cauldrons of cider, bon fires, and flaming balls thrown by trebuchet. New Year’s Eve was marked with a huge fireworks display to which all were welcome. Throughout his life he and Maureen loved to host. Their home was home to any who needed one. His log house and the Freshwater property were a source of pride, the heart of family celebrations, and a comfort to him through his last days.

Jack lived a large life full of conviction and he loved in the same way. Friends were held close and he knew few boundaries in sharing, asking for help, and giving advice. He was predeceased by his brother James as well as his wife Maureen, who died just 7 weeks before him. He is survived by his sons Jeffrey (Dona) of Tualatin, Oregon, John (Kris) of Silverton, Oregon, and James (Brenda) of Eureka. His grandchildren Jason, Julie, Kaitlin (Shikhin), Megan (Will), Michael (Linsday), and Luke, as well as his great-grandchildren Joshua, Jacob, Ava, James, Madeline, and Samira. Also by “adopted” family, the Rummels, the VanderMolens and Bob Sanderson.

The family wishes to thank Hospice of Humboldt for the exceptional care Jack received in his final week. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Freshwater Grange #499 or to the Jack and Maureen Yarnall scholarship for athletes in the Biology department at Cal Poly Humboldt. A celebration of life is planned for the spring and will be announced at a later date.

###

Herman “Shack” Duane Sherman Jr.
February 6, 1935 to December 23, 2023

Our beloved Father, Herman “Shack” Sherman Jr., passed in the morning of Saturday December 23, 2023 at his home in Hoopa surrounded by his children and grandchildren. He was 88 years young. He was born in Arcata and spent his early years in Hoopa, Arcata, Blue Lake and Leggett. He followed his father in falling giant redwoods, but Hoopa was always home.

Herman “Shack,” and his wife, Patricia Bussell Sherman, of 60 years, raised their three children, Jill, Duane and Lesley, on the Hoopa Indian Reservation. Herman proudly served in the United States Army and was a recognized sharp shooter.

Herman lived by his motto of being of service to his tribe and community. As an elected Tribal Councilmember for many years during the 70s Herman worked on some of the most important legislation in Hoopa’s history. Herman also served as an elected School Board Member of the Klamath Trinity Joint Unified School District. The Sherman home was a scene of “Politics and Coffee” with tribal chairmen, councilmembers and local community leaders coming and going after discussing issues of the day. Herman’s father, Herman Sr. came to live with the family. Herman’s children felt privileged to learn tribal history and politics at the knee of their father and grandfather.

Herman’s love for the lord and savior is well known and respected by many. He served on the North Coast Baptist Association and a proud member of the Eureka Lions Club as well as a member of the American Legion Post. Herman was also proud to have met and spoken with Govenor Ronald Regan (later President) on tribal affairs for the State of California. Herman was also the first Indian Child Welfare Response Coordinator and served as the first Indian Child Welfare Commission.

Herman is preceded in death by his wife, Patricia and granddaughter Cashkoa; his parents Herman Sr. and Libby Abe Sherman, brothers Reginald Davis Sr. and Arnold (Jim) Davis, sister Phyllis Orcutt and her baby boy; sisters-in-law Wilma Mattingly, Deanna Whitehurst brothers-in-laws Clem “Mush” Bussell, and infant Donald Dean; brother-in-laws George Mattingly; sister-in-law Theresa Bussell; nephews Michael Rowe, Raymond Davis, Reginald Davis Jr., Ronnie Dean Davis, Jr., Rick Davis and niece Karen Taylor; Herman first cousins who were like siblings preceded him: Wilma Bell Scott, Elsie Gardner Ricklefs, Lula Gardner Hostler, Wilma Harding, Dorothy Smith, Mildred Nixon, Tug Davis, Jug Davis, Jack Scott, Frank Scott and Lula Gardner-Hostler.

Herman is survived his children, Jill Sherman-Warne and her husband Jim; Duane Sherman Sr and his wife, Kayla and Lesley Sherman-Hunt and her husband Tim and his youngest GG Sherman and adopted sister Meme; and sister-in-law Darlene Mesunas and husband Jim and sister-in law Ethel Davis Allen. Herman is also survived by his grandchildren; Troy Fletcher Jr., Cody Fletcher, Josh Sherman, Phylecia Sherman, Duane Sherman Jr., Tashone Rice, Briaunna Sherman, Tyler Hunt, John Yu and Jerry Yu; His great grandchildren: Cody Fletcher Jr., Hazel Fletcher, Raayoy Fletcher, Dane Sherman, Reagan and Celeste Sherman, and Vienna Coscoe . His nieces and nephews, Arnold Davis and Connie, Stevie Jarnaghan and husband Joe, Elizabeth Davis, Robyn Reed and husband Ron, Raylene Davis, Beverly Cole, Theita and husband Wayne Callagan, Vicki Mattingly, George Mattingly, Fred Mattingly, Timothy Bussell Sr, Gordon Bussell, and Anita Bussell, Eliane Jones and husband Alan, John Gutierrez, Yvonne Jackson and husband Roger, Walter Whitehurst Jr and Leonard “Spam” Ferris. Shack was especially close to several of his great nieces and nephews; Farrah and Louie Gamino, Nicole Ferris, Melissa and Curtis Kane, Joe Davis and Kayla. He has numerous great-nieces and nephews when was pleased to know and love. Grandpa Shack will be dearly missed by family and friends.

At 18, Herman joined the U.S. Army with boot camp in Fort Campbell Kentucky and was stationed at Fort Hood Texas, interestingly serving with Elvis Presley. Growing up hunting Shack easily earned recognition as a sharp shooter. While in the service he became the lead cook. Anyone who served with him would tell you he was up for a good bar fight or two. Once he left the service he came home and married his wife Patricia, the love of his life. Shack and Patricia loved family and maybe this was because they were both the youngest (babies) of their families, so they took in their niece Yvonne Rowe and nephew, Fred Mattingly, during their high school years. The home was always filled with nieces and nephews coming and going.

Herman became a strong man of faith and determined he would rather hold the hands of his children than that of beer cans. This changed him drastically and his focus became his church. This didn’t mean that his hunting days were over. Trips to Oregon to stay at Clare’s Camp with the family enjoying days of hunting. Sometimes his children had to share the back of the truck with a hitchhiking buck. It was always amazing how many bucks would be hitchhiking late at night. Shack was also known to pick up any hitchhiker, much to his kid’s dismay, as they had to share the backseat. During the Hoopa Fish Wars Shack remained calm during the arrest of his son Duane and his father Herman Sr as they were arrested not once but twice for simply engaging in their traditional subsistence practice. Those were hard times that pitted tribal members who were law enforcement agents against their own people.

Having survived serving on the tribal council, the Fish Wars, Herman became the proud owner of “Sherman’s” restaurant, which meant long nights for him and his kids. Following his time as a restaurant owner he became the first Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) program officer for the State of California. This work formed the foundation of ICWA in California. Herman and his nephew Johnny G. were always good to be building one thing or another. When not building something for his wife, he could be counted on to be hunting with Johnny G. Later he enjoyed the fresh crab delivered to him by Johnny G. Family friend Andy Sadis was always a regular to watch football games on Sundays. Herman always enjoyed pancake Sunday and was a staunch 49er fan! Herman was always full of fun! When visiting San Diego he won the big shrimp-eating contest between him and his son-in-law Jimmy. He loved joking with family and friends. He also loved scary movies on Friday nights he, Lesley, Tim, Tashone, Tyler and Kaylee would watch two or three scary movies in an evening. As Herman had more difficulties, Tim, his son-in-law held a special place. Never failed — when Tim would help Shack in the shower he would make sure Tim got sprayed a few times.

Herman loved to eat. The first time Duane’s wife Kayla cooked up homemade dumplings he ate 24! This was almost as much as his 13 homemade tamales made by family friend Helen. Coffee is a family staple and he counted on every morning (afternoon) Lesley would have his hot coffee and raisin toast ready.

Herman and his wife believed that anytime the church doors were open the family should be inside on the pews. Shack led the family spent many a night cleaning the church. Herman loved preparing an occasional sermon as Deacon of the First Baptist Church it was responsibility he enjoyed and studied hard to provide. He could be counted on to pray with church members and visit those who were sick or in need. When Herman was struck down at 49 with a massive stroke and heart attack doctors said he would not make it through the night and if he lived he would be a vegetable. His wife knew this was not his end and God also had other plans. His wife and children moved to Menlo Park to be near his rehabilitation center living in a tent and then camper. Herman struggled to learn to walk and feed himself. He rejoiced that God ensured he still lived even though he was paralyzed on his right side and was left with aphasia.

Even without his powerful voice, Herman could make his point and let you know what was on his mind. To the very end Herman made his wishes known to his children. He continued to be concerned for the tribe and tribal budget asking that work continue to honor him and not to stop for his funeral.

Pallbearers

• Troy Fletcher Jr
• Cody Fletcher Jr
• Duane Sherman Jr.
• Tashone Rice
• Tyler Hunt
• John Yu
• Jerry Yu
• Joe Davis
• Lonnie Ferris
• Louie Gamino
• Junior Davis
• Curtis Kane
• Allen Kane
• Mike Peters
• Valin Davis Sr
• Arnie Davis
• William Davis
• Joe Jarnaghan Jr.
• Aaron Williams
• Talon Williams
• Joseph Lewis
• Jason Reed
• Jerome Reed
• Ronnie Reed
• Charlie Reed
• Ryan Reed
• Jonah Davis
• Timothy Bussell Jr.
• Clarence Bussell
• Scooter Bussell
• Isaac Bussell
• Bruce Bussell
• William Lee
• Joshua Sherman
• Sebastian Ferris
• Lorenzo Ferris
• Damon Scott
• Billy Maloney
• Roger Surber
• Demetrius Villegas

Honorary Pallbearers

• Tim Hunt Jr
• Jim Warne
• Andy Sadis
• Arnold Davis
• Joe Jarnaghan Sr.
• Johnny Guiterrez
• George Mattingly
• Fred Mattingly
• Tim Bussell Sr.
• Gordon Bussell
• David Masten
• Jim Mesunas

VIEWING:

December 28, 2023 at 4 p.m.
Paul’s Chapel
1070 H Street
Arcata, California

SERVICES:
December 29, 2023 at 1 p.m.
Hoopa Neighborhood Facilities
Highway 96
Hoopa, California

GRAVESIDE:
December 29, 2023 at 2:30 p.m.
Hoopa Cemetery
Highway 96
Hoopa, California

Officiant: Duane Sherman Sr.
Prayer: Gordon Bussell & Carlson “Jamie” Kane
Program by: Farrah Ferris-Gamino
Music: Josh Stevens
Remembrance: Open

###

For nearly two decades, Judith “Judy” Surber has witnessed the devastating impact of the opioid crisis on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation. 

As the manager of the Ki’ma:w Medical Center’s medication-assisted treatment (MAT) program, Surber has seen her community grapple with the insidious grip of opioid addiction, an affliction that began with the introduction of OxyContin in the mid-2000s and has since progressed to rampant use of fentanyl. Members of her own family were no exception, with her husband, two of her children and even her teenage grandaughter falling victim to opioids. 

Earlier this year, Surber collaborated with Justin Maxon, an internationally recognized local photographer and lecturer at Cal Poly Humboldt, to tell her story in a New York Times opinion piece, “Addiction Ravaged My Family and Tribe. I’m Fighting to Get Them Back.” That story was recently selected as one of the best stories of the year by the Pulitzer Center, which provided a chunk of grant funding for the project.

“It was actually a big surprise,” Surber told the Outpost in a recent phone interview. “I don’t know why, but I looked online for something and [an email] popped up. I kind of breezed through it, and then I looked again and saw that [my story] was picked as one of the top stories of 2023 that their staff picks every year. … I was ecstatic.”

Surber has written about opioid addiction in the Hoopa Valley for a number of years. Her first book, Reservation High, a work of realistic fiction, tells the story of a young woman’s journey through addiction and, eventually, recovery.

“I wanted a character that people would like so much that they could feel empathy for her, despite her addiction,” Surber said. “I think I did a good job at it because anybody who read it at that time would say, ‘Wow, I didn’t know that that’s what my sister or my brother was going through and now I see what they’re dealing with every day.’ So in that sense, it did its job.”

When she wrote Reservation High “things were really bad,” Surber said. Her husband, who died in 2019, and her two sons, Roger and Cory, were struggling with opioid addiction. During that time, she “lost jewelry, cameras and anything else that could be traded or hocked” for OxyContin or heroin. “Our lives became a series of crises that quickly became our norm,” she wrote. “We lived in survival mode.” 

Years later in 2022, her teenage granddaughter overdosed three times on fentanyl. “I fought hard to get her into a treatment center with a Native program but was turned away by two Indian Health Service youth residential treatment centers, which said that she needed a higher level of care,” Surber wrote. In my heart, I knew that the next overdose might be her last.”

Despite her family’s ongoing struggle, Surber said she “never bought into the idea of tough love” as a means of helping another person – let alone her own children – overcome addiction. Instead, she is a proponent of unconditional love. 

“I tried tough love – it didn’t work,” she said. “I’ve had better success by just loving my kids unconditionally. There are ways that you can love them and still support them without supporting the addiction. I want them – I want everyone – to know that recovery is there, but also that relapse can happen. We need to normalize that and take the shame out of it because it is a part of the growth process. If someone relapses, we need to help them get right back on the wagon and on their way to recovery.”

One of Surber’s main objectives in her work with the Ki’ma:w Medical Center and as a storyteller is to reduce the stigma that surrounds addiction. 

“I look at it as a medical issue, not as a moral failing, not as a character flaw,” she said. “We want to blame people and not look at it as a disease. I’ve never used drugs in my life, yet I get beat up by a lot of people over my grown son’s addiction as though I’ve done something wrong that has caused his addiction. If my child developed cancer or diabetes, they wouldn’t look at me and say ‘Oh, the mother or father caused [it].’ We always want to blame somebody else when it comes to addiction.”

Similarly, Maxon uses his camera to portray “people as full human beings” rather than reducing their lived experience to their addiction. He intentionally photographed Surber, a dear friend of his, and her family with the “hope that people can relate and connect more with their story.”

“The way that mainstream media has covered the opioid crisis … is usually very hyperbolic and it often blames the victim,” he said. “When you photograph people in these very difficult positions without showing the full range of their human experience it’s like almost saying, ‘Look at these people! Look what they’ve done to their lives!’ … A huge percentage of [the coverage] is either a needle in the arm or an overdose or a drug arrest. There’s no nuance to the conversation.”

Maxon grew up here in Humboldt, splitting his time between his father’s home in Hoopa and his mother’s in Eureka. When he became addicted to opioids as a teenager, his stepfather “tried the tough love approach” and wanted to kick him out of the house if he didn’t stay clean, but his mother opted for a different strategy.

“My mom said, ‘No, we have to embrace him and we need to find some solutions that will work for him.’ And that worked,” Maxon said. “If you kick your child out of the house, you no longer have any influence over what happens to them. You know they won’t be coming home at night to a safe place.”

Maxon first connected with Surber in 2018 while working on a story about her husband and brother-in-law for the Washington Post. “I felt an instant kinship with Judy,” he said. “When we first met, there was so much stigma swirling around both of our lived experiences and we had no judgment toward each other. I honestly felt like I could be myself around her, and that’s a rare thing to have with a person. She’s like family to me.”

Since her story was published in November, Surber has received messages of praise and support from all around the world.

“I’ve gotten messages from all over the United States, as well as France, Greece, and a lot of indigenous sisters in Canada have been offering the support,” she said. “Some [of the messages] are from people who are working in the field who’ve said, ‘I never looked at addiction like that. This has made me rethink all my negativity towards it.’ Nobody has written to me about anything except extremely positive stuff.”

When asked how her sons are doing, Surber said her son Roger has been clean for four months, but he and his wife are struggling to find housing in the area. Her son Cory continues to struggle with addiction. 

“My other son lives between Santa Rosa and the Tenderloin [in San Francisco]. He’s living on the street,” she said, her voice wavering with emotion. “He just doesn’t see himself being able to get clean – he thinks it’s beyond him. He thinks he is too far gone even though he has seen his brother doing it. … I just keep praying and offering help and ways to support him. It’s really hard to watch. I have a lot of sleepless nights, truthfully.”

As described in her story, Surber is still fighting to regain custody of her grandchildren, who were taken out of her home and put into foster care in Crescent City after their parents lost custody of them earlier this year. 

“I haven’t done anything wrong and the kids have always been very safe and protected with me,” she said. “I drive up to see them every two weeks. It’ll be one year since they were taken and I never thought it would go to this extreme.”

Surber is going to sign a contract with a New York City-based publishing company in the coming weeks in anticipation of her next book, The Broken Ones. She and Maxon are hoping to collaborate on a similar project in the near future.

You can find the full text of Surber’s opinion piece and more of Maxon’s photos at this link.

Everything local forest man John “Griff” Griffith touches turns to social media gold. We first learned this lesson more than 10 years ago, when, as boss of a California Conservation Corps crew, he went international with a funky dance move video that left his coworkers in stitches.

Now, after a couple of career stops and many more videos with mass appeal, Griff seems to have scored his first smash hit with his new outfit, Redwoods Rising — a joint project of the Save the Redwoods League, Redwood State and National Parks and the Yurok Tribe.

In the video below — 9.7 million plays, 1.8 million likes and more than 11,000 comments to date — Griff makes the world’s flesh creep at the thought of giant redwood trees falling down upon one’s head. Don’t plant them in your yard!

Check it out!

PREVIOUSLY:

Press release from the California Highway Patrol:

As we head into the new year, the California Highway Patrol (CHP) is educating the public on traffic safety laws that were passed during this year’s legislative session and signed by Governor Gavin Newsom. The laws referenced below take effect on Jan. 1, 2024, unless otherwise noted.

Vehicles: Registration - AB 256 (Dixon)

Existing law requires current month and year tabs to be displayed on the registered vehicle’s rear license plate. Beginning July 1, 2024, and until Jan. 1, 2030, a violation of vehicle registration shall not be the sole basis for any enforcement action before the second month after the month of expiration of a vehicle’s registration. However, if a vehicle is stopped for any other Vehicle Code violation, enforcement action for a violation of vehicle registration may be taken before the second month following the month of expiration. Late registration fees from the Department of Motor Vehicles will still apply.

Vehicle Removal: Expired Registration (AB 925, Ta)

Requires a peace officer or traffic enforcement official to verify the lack of current vehicle registration with the Department of Motor Vehicles before towing a vehicle for expired registration longer than six months and prohibits the vehicle from being towed if the officer or traffic enforcement official does not have immediate access to those records.

Vehicles: Speed Safety System Pilot Program - AB 645 (Friedman)

The cities of Los Angeles, Oakland, San Jose, Glendale, Long Beach, and the City and County of San Francisco may install a limited number of cameras to enforce speed limits for a five-year pilot period in school zones and designated “safety corridors” – locations that have a high occurrence of fatal and injury crashes – and areas known for illegal street racing. Recorded violations will be subject to a civil penalty.

Vehicles: Stopping, Standing, and Parking - AB 413 (Lee)

Designed to increase visibility at crosswalks, this law prohibits parking or stopping a vehicle along a curb at least 20 feet from a marked crosswalk or 15 feet of a crosswalk where a curb extension is present. The regulation only applies to the side of the road of the vehicle’s approach to the crosswalk. Local jurisdictions may establish different distances through local ordinances by marking areas with signs or paint.

Cruising - AB 436 (Alvarez)

The law removes city and county authority to regulate cruising via local ordinances. Additionally, the law legalizes “lowrider” vehicles to cruise California’s streets, by removing the height restriction on lowered vehicles.

Automobile Dismantlers: Catalytic Converters - AB 641 (Fong)

This law redefined an automobile dismantler to include individuals in possession of nine or more catalytic converters. Additionally, the law creates penalties for individuals illegally acting as an automobile dismantler. Individuals and businesses who have a legitimate purpose for having catalytic convertors, such as repair shops, will be excluded from penalty.

Vehicles: Catalytic Converters - AB 1519 (Bains)

This law makes it illegal to remove a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) marking from a catalytic converter. It also makes it illegal to possess three or more catalytic converters that have had their VIN markings removed.

Vehicles: Catalytic Converters - SB 55 (Umberg)

This law requires a motor vehicle dealer or retailer to have the catalytic converter engraved or etched with the VIN before a new or used truck or car is sold. The law does allow for the purchaser to decline having the VIN etched or engraved on the catalytic converter.

Emergency Notification: Ebony Alert: Missing Black Young - SB 673 (Bradford)

This legislation establishes the “Ebony Alert,” which allows law enforcement agencies to request the CHP to activate an alert for Black youth, including young women and girls between 12 to 25 years of age, who are reported missing under unexplained or suspicious circumstances, at risk, developmentally disabled, cognitively impaired, or who have been abducted.

Emergency Services: Endangered Missing Advisory - AB 946 (Nguyen)

This new law will aid in the recovery of missing persons who do not meet the age restrictions associated with the AMBER and Silver Alerts. The new law authorizes law enforcement agencies to request the CHP activate the “Endangered Missing Advisory” for public distribution of missing person information within appropriate geographical areas when specific criteria is met.

Vehicle Safety Regulations - SB 68 (McGuire)

This law authorizes the CHP to establish rules and regulations allowing commercial vehicles capable of carrying more than 500 gallons of fuel to exceed the standard 10 hours-of-service limit during Governor-declared State of Emergencies. The exception only applies for the purpose of vehicles transporting fuel for refueling aircraft used in emergency-related activities, including fire suppression.

Pupil Transportation: Driver Qualifications - SB 88 (Skinner)

This law will require drivers and their vehicles which are used by a local educational agency to provide pupil transportation for compensation, to meet certain safety requirements.

Vehicles: Zero-Emission School Buses: Signage - SB 775 (Padilla)

This law authorizes a school district, county office of education, or charter school using a zero-emission school bus to transport pupils at or below the 12th-grade level to place signage on the rear of the zero-emission school bus that identifies the school bus as a clean air zero-emission bus. It also authorizes the CHP to issue guidelines governing the size and placement of that signage.

The mission of the CHP is to provide the highest level of Safety, Service, and Security.

Two new laws taking effect Jan. 1 could affect safety on California’s roads.

Cameras at intersections across California already flag drivers who run red lights. Under one law, six cities can begin a pilot program to catch and fine speeding drivers with cameras, with hopes to curb the number of traffic deaths.

Los Angeles, San Jose, Oakland, Glendale, Long Beach, and San Francisco have the authority to launch speed camera pilot programs that will last five years or until Jan. 1, 2032 (whichever date is sooner). After a 60-day introductory period of issuing only warnings to violators, fines will start at $50 for drivers who go at least 11 mph over the speed limit — though amounts can be reduced depending on income.

Money from the fines will go toward covering the cost of the programs, as well as “traffic calming measures,” such as raised crosswalks and speed tables that slow down drivers. Cities must also submit reports about their programs, detailing any improvements to street safety and impacts on communities.

Local officials and groups that advocate for traffic safety such as Walk San Francisco have praised the measure, citing research that speed cameras are effective at reducing the number of traffic accidents and fatalities. In a statement, Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao said that data also shows that “traffic violence overwhelmingly impacts Black residents, elders, and youth” and the law “will help us save lives.”

Cameras capture license plate numbers, not faces of drivers, but critics of the law, which include Electronic Frontier Foundation, ACLU California Action and Human Rights Watch, cite concerns about over surveillance, privacy and data security.

Freedom for lowrider cruising

And on Jan. 1, California will end its statewide ban on cruising, when drivers show off classic, typically customized lowrider cars, by leisurely riding on city streets. The new law follows the lifting of cruising limits in cities including San Jose, Sacramento and Modesto.

Cruising bans have long been criticized by enthusiasts, and more recently Democratic lawmakers, as discriminatory against Latino communities. The activity is deeply-rooted in car culture, and is a way of “expressing our love for art,” said Democratic Assemblymember David Alvarez of Chula Vista upon introducing the original bill in February.

By lifting the ban, the state acknowledges the artistic and social merits of cruising. The law will also undo a ban on modifying vehicles to a certain low height. One member of the Sacramento Lowrider Commission said in a statement: “Low and slow, is not a crime.”

But law enforcement groups, the cities of Beverly Hills and Pico Rivera and the California Contract Cities Association argue that cruising is a threat to public safety. In its opposition statement, the association said that cruising can be deadly to pedestrians and lead to “street takeovers that are extremely dangerous.”

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

Businesses that defraud consumers sometimes pay a couple of thousand dollars in civil penalties under current California law. Or they’ll be ordered to pay millions of dollars, but close down or declare bankruptcy, leaving their victims without compensation.

A new law effective Jan. 1 will help change that: It will establish a restitution fund in the state treasury that can be used to try to fully reimburse consumers.

Assembly Bill 1366 will let the state attorney general pursue disgorgement, or repayment of ill-gotten gains, in cases where companies violate unfair competition or false advertising laws. The money recovered would go into the new fund.

“When a predatory business takes advantage of a consumer, it’s only right that the proceeds gained from illegal conduct should go towards compensating victims rather than remaining in the bank accounts of bad actors,” state Assemblymember Brian Maienschein, a Democrat from San Diego who authored the legislation, said after the governor signed it in October.

In his legislation, Maienschein cited huge judgments won by the attorney general’s office in which victims received little to no compensation. They included a $1.1 billion judgment against Corinthian Colleges over predatory marketing and lending tactics, and a $20 million judgment against Paul Blanco’s Good Car Co., a chain of auto dealerships, over violations of false advertising and other consumer protection laws.

In another case, a multistate judgment found that USA Discounters defrauded military servicemembers with high-interest loans and hidden fees, and 4,000 victims in the state should have received $7 million in debt relief.

Attorney General Rob Bonta sponsored the bill, saying after its signing that “AB 1366 is a game changer — it will allow my office to compensate those victims using proceeds that predatory businesses receive from their misconduct.”

Other supporters of the bill included the California Low-Income Consumer Coalition and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Nobody filed opposition to the bill.

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