With Gav and Eleni out of town on *cough* business, who stays home and holds down the fort?
Once again, our own state senator — Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire — is not gonna abandon the world’s fifth-largest economy just for some fun and games and speeches and deep-dish pizza. No, sir! He’s gonna stay right here and sit in the big seat, to make sure that you will survive the next wildfire and your children will be fed.
Statement from McGuire, sent by McGuire’s people:
“It’s an honor to serve as Acting Governor of our great state, and a privilege to serve more than 39 million Californians. This week, countless families are sending their kids back to school, an exciting rite of passage for all and let’s be candid, a week of nerves for some. Here in California, we have worked hard to ensure that every student is given the same opportunities to learn and thrive in the classroom by being the first state in the country to offer universal free breakfast and lunch to every student – because we know you can’t have a good day at school on an empty stomach. We’ve also funded K-12 public schools and California community colleges at record levels, which is a big boost for student success.”
“And as summer winds to a close, we know fire season continues to ramp up in the hot fall months – stay safe, remain vigilant and make sure you have an evacuation plan. We’ll remain in constant contact with CAL FIRE and the state Office of Emergency Services in the coming days, ensuring communities have the resources they need during these hot, dry days.”
Cal Poly Humboldt presents… “Cal Poly Humboldt Presents”
It is once again brain update time, people! FYI: The next time you see Chinese acrobats, or Pink Martini, or Paula Poundstone up at ye olde Van Duzer Theatre, it will not be a CenterArts show you are attending. CenterArts is dead, but don’t you fret. In its place will rise the equally mighty Cal Poly Humboldt Presents, which you can learn more about in the Cal Poly Humboldt release below:
CenterArts is being renamed Cal Poly Humboldt Presents to more directly connect the University with a cultural institution of the North Coast. Since its founding in 1980, CenterArts has been a leading presenter of diverse performances in Humboldt County. Cal Poly Humboldt Presents will build on this legacy while showcasing contemporary artists and performers.
The program will continue to offer a wide variety of live music, dance, theater, family-friendly shows, and comedy to North Coast audiences. Cal Poly Humboldt Presents will expand offerings for University students and coordinate major events like the annual Lumberjack Weekend Block Party, held on the third Saturday in October. Additionally, the Artists & Schools program will keep providing thousands of local children with access to cultural events.
Cal Poly Humboldt Presents offers student employees valuable real-world experience in the arts. Alumni have gone to work in professional theaters or toured around the world with acts like The National. Cal Poly Humboldt Presents collaborates with faculty to provide opportunities for students to work with and perform alongside musical masters. For example, students will have the chance to perform with Jason Marsalis when he leads the Cal Poly Humboldt Jazz Orchestra in a special end-of-year event.
The Cal Poly Humboldt Presents’ 2024-25 season has been announced and tickets are now on sale. The lineup features the legendary Peking Acrobats; Emmy Award-winning comedian David Cross, Grammy-nominated country music star Elle King, local favorites Pink Martini, the Broadway hit “A Year With Frog and Toad,” and the comedic ballet troupe Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo.
“The new name makes clearer the connection to the campus while still honoring the legacy of performing arts on the North Coast,” says Michael Moore, Jr., associate director of the Gutswurrak Student Activities Center who also directs programming for Cal Poly Humboldt Presents.
See the full Cal Poly Humboldt Presents’ 2024-2025 season here.
Photo: Carol Highsmith, Library of Congress. Public domain.
If you’ve spent any time on local social media channels in the last couple of weeks, you’ve probably come across the San Francisco Standard article about San Francisco Mayor London Breed’s latest effort to alleviate the city’s homeless crisis by bussing people out of the area. The article has drawn local attention because it claims Humboldt County is among the “top three destinations” for homeless people being sent out of the city.
According to the article, since August 2022, San Francisco “has sent at least 857 homeless people to other states and California counties” through one of the city’s three relocation assistance programs.
“While the city is unable to say where hundreds have gone through its longstanding Homeward Bound program, newly obtained data from the Journey Home program — which launched in September 2023 — show 27% of 92 clients were sent to other California counties,” the article states. “After California, Oregon is the second-most-popular destination, making up roughly 10% of the 92 clients in the program, according to data collected from the time of its launch to Aug. 2.”
That means in the last year approximately 25 homeless people were sent to live elsewhere in California, with Humboldt, Los Angeles and Sacramento counties being the “top destinations.” Unfortunately, the article does not link to the data it’s referring to, nor does it include any specifics on exactly how many people were sent to Humboldt.
The Outpost contacted the San Francisco Human Services Agency (SFHSA) for more detailed statistics but was told that the information was confidential.
“Due to client privacy, we are unfortunately unable to share specific numbers of people who have traveled back to Humboldt County, because in some cases, the number of people traveling back to destination counties are quite small and only one person may have traveled there, which could be identifying,” according to an emailed statement from SFHSA. “However, please note that as with every person served as part of the Journey Home program, these individuals are either from the destination county — in this case Humboldt — or have family and friends who our staff spoke with directly.”
We also contacted the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) for additional information but spokesperson Christine Messinger said the county “do[es] not have information about how many people experiencing homelessness have been sent to Humboldt through other jurisdiction’s transportation assistance programs.”
(Messinger did note that, since 2021, the county has helped relocate “an average of nine people a month” through the county’s Transportation Assistance Program, launched in 2006.)
At this week’s meeting, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors will consider sending a letter to Mayor Breed that asks for more information about the city’s policies and procedures for the Journey Home program, as well as “all program and outcome data collected since September 2023.”
The letter says the county was “dismayed to learn that our small, rural county was among the top three destinations in the state where people experiencing homelessness” are sent through the Journey Home program. The letter acknowledges the “urgency with which San Francisco intends to act to alleviate homelessness” but asks that the city do more to work with the county to “alleviate homelessness across the state.”
“We are concerned that providing bus tickets to other jurisdictions without verifying access to housing, family support or employment does not alleviate homelessness; it simply shifts the person to another county,” the letter states. “We urge you to ensure that Journey Home participants have the support they need to obtain housing and employment before they receive transportation assistance to Humboldt County.”
If this request sounds familiar, that’s because a very similar situation played out between the county and San Francisco officials almost 20 years ago.
Some of our readers will recall back in 2006 when the Board of Supervisors found out San Francisco had sent at least 13 homeless people to Humboldt County through the city’s Homeward Bound program, which provides a one-way bus ticket to folks who want to return to their families or home communities.
Local officials were able to work out an agreement that required San Francisco to alert the county whenever someone was being sent to Humboldt and verify beforehand that the person was actually from the area before sending them up here. It’s not clear what happened to the agreement.
A solar farm near Kettleman City. California has made a lot of progress recently switching to clean energy sources. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local
California has given America a glimpse at what running one of the world’s largest economies on renewable energy might look like.
The state recently hit a milestone: 100 days this year with 100% carbon-free, renewable electricity for at least a part of each day, as tracked by Stanford University engineering Professor Mark Z. Jacobson.
The state notched the milestone while — so far — avoiding blackouts and emergency power reductions this year, even with the hottest July on record.
That progress is largely due to the substantial public and private investments in renewable energy — particularly batteries storing solar power to use when the sun isn’t shining, according to energy experts.
“California has made unprecedented investments in our power grid in recent years — and we’re seeing them pay off in real time,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement to CalMatters. “Not only is our grid more reliable and resilient, it’s also increasingly running on 100% clean electricity.”
The state faces a huge challenge in coming years: A series of mandates will require carbon-free energy while also putting more electric cars on roads and electric appliances in homes. California, under state law, must run on 60% renewable energy by 2030, ramping up to 100% by 2045.
Signs of progress are emerging. From January to mid-July of this year, zero-carbon, renewable energy exceeded demand in California for 945 hours during 146 days — equivalent to a month-and-a-half of 100% fossil-fuel-free electricity, according to the California Energy Commission, the state agency tasked with carrying out the clean energy mandates.
But California still has a long way to go to stop burning fossil fuels for electricity. Natural gas, which emits greenhouse gases and air pollutants, remains its single largest source of electricity.
Reliability of the power grid is a top concern as the state switches to solar and wind energy. Unpredictable events like wildfires and winter storms also cause outages, while hot summer months, with air conditioners whirring, strain the supply.
In August of 2020 California experienced its first non-wildfire blackouts in nearly 20 years, and in late August and September of 2022, a severe heatwave forced regulators to ask consumers to voluntarily reduce power for 10 days.
Since September 2022 — when California teetered on the edge of those blackouts and the governor pleaded for conservation — nearly 11,600 new megawatts of clean energy have been added to the state’s grid, said Elliot Mainzer, chief executive of the California Independent System Operator, which manages the grid. (That’s enough to power around 9 to 12 million homes although it’s not available all at one time.)
California also now has more than 10,000 megawatts of battery capacity, making it the largest supply outside of China. Battery power from large commercial facilities proved its worth during last month’s heat wave, Mainzer said.
Batteries “were a major difference-maker,” Mainzer said. “The batteries charged during the day, when solar energy is abundant, and then they put that energy back onto the grid in the afternoon and evening, when solar production is rolling off the system.”
California relies heavily on four-hour duration lithium-ion batteries, which come in large, centralized facilities and hybrid facilities paired with solar energy projects. More homes also are installing batteries with their rooftop solar installations, but they supply a small amount of power.
Planning and practicing various emergency scenarios has also helped immensely, Mainzer said.
“Our grid operators are now increasingly experienced at managing these extreme heat events,” Mainzer said. “Our forecasters also did an excellent job of reviewing the next day’s conditions so that the market could respond effectively.”
‘The table is set’ for clean energy
California may need to more than double its energy generation capacity by 2045 to meet the 100% clean energy target while adding electric cars, appliances and other technologies, said Siva Gunda, who sits on the California Energy Commission.
To do that, California aims to build about 6,000 to 8,000 megawatts of new energy resources each year. The state hit a record last year, adding more than 6,000 megawatts, Gunda said. Each megawatt is enough to serve between 750 and 1,000 homes.
“The table is set,” Gunda said. “The pieces are there for success, and it’s about executing it, together with a common vision and collaboration.”
The commission is closely monitoring a new concern: Artificial intelligence technology, which uses large data centers that consume power. “We’re carefully watching where the loads are going to grow,” Gunda said.
Stanford’s Jacobson said running on 100% renewable energy is becoming more common.
Over the July 28 weekend, California marked the 100th nonconsecutive day within a 144-day stretch in which 100% of electricity came from renewable sources for periods ranging from five minutes to more than 10 hours, he said.
On April 8, a solar eclipse reduced solar power generation and increased demand on the grid, which was met by batteries. On May 5, wind, hydroelectric and solar energy reached more than 160% of demand for a significant portion of the day.
California continues to waffle about ending its reliance on natural gas and nuclear power.
“There’s no miracle technology that was developed. It’s just subtle improvements in existing technologies and deployment, deployment, deployment.” — Mark Z. Jacobson, Stanford university Engineering Professor
Fearing emergency rolling blackouts like the one in 2020, Newsom and the Legislature in 2022 allowed some natural gas plants that were supposed to go offline to keep operating.
And the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant will continue operating while Pacific Gas & Electric pursues federal permission to stay open past 2025. Nuclear power is considered renewable and carbon-free but it creates radioactive waste.
State officials and private investors aim to create an entirely new industry — giant floating ocean wind platforms — to produce 13% of California’s power, enough to power 25 million homes, by 2045. The massive projects will cost billions of dollars.
Some Democratic legislators are hoping to make it easier to build wind and solar projects, since sometimes local obstacles and permitting take years. They are negotiating an end-of-session package of proposed laws that could streamline construction, CalMatters reported earlier this month. California’s legislative session ends Aug. 31.
Jacobson said the cost of large-scale solar power projects has “dropped substantially” in recent decades largely because of “economies of scale — just the huge growth of solar on a worldwide scale.”
“There’s no miracle technology that was developed,” he said. “It’s just subtle improvements in existing technologies and deployment, deployment, deployment.”
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CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.
People walk along the bluffs in Del Mar on July 25, 2023. Photo by Adriana Heldiz, CalMatters
Housing advocates thought that this was going to be the year when they finally cracked the California Coast.
In early spring, Democratic lawmakers, and the Yes In My Backyard activists backing them, rolled out a series of bills aimed at making it easier to build apartments and accessory dwelling units along California’s highly regulated coast and to make it more difficult for the independent and influential California Coastal Commission to slow or block housing projects. The 15-member group oversees almost all of the state’s 840 miles of coastline, a stretch of land that just under a million Californians call home.
The pro-construction push built off last year’s success for the coalition when the Legislature passed a major housing law and — breaking from long-standing legislative tradition — did not include a carveout for the coast. This year’s pack of bills was meant to cement and build off a new political reality in which the 48-year-old Coastal Commission no longer has quite so much say over housing policy.
Fast forward to mid-August and those new bills are either dead or so severely watered down that they no longer carry the promise of a more built-out coastline. Whatever happened last year, the California Coastal Commission is still a force to be reckoned with.
“Californians really treasure their coast and they feel very strongly about protecting it and bills that seek to weaken coastal protections are going to run into some strong headwinds,” said Sarah Christie, the commission’s legislative affairs director.
Since the 1970s, the California Coastal Commission has closely regulated any construction or demolition within the California coastal zone — a narrow band of land that varies from 1,000 feet to 5-miles inland from high tide. While many recent state housing laws have required predictable, by-the-book approval of proposed developments, the commission has remained a redoubt of discretion. The commission’s defenders say that that is as it should be, since the coast’s enormous value to the public, its fragile ecosystems and its vulnerability to searise require holistic and individualized protection.
On Thursday, San Diego Democratic Assemblymember David Alvarez pulled his bill, AB 2560, written to ensure that California’s density bonus law, a policy that allows developers to build taller, denser or meeting fewer local requirements in exchange for setting aside some units for lower income tenants or owners, applies in the coastal zone. As he explained in a press release, recent amendments tacked onto the bill would have made it “ineffective at building more housing.”
That tweak came out of the Senate Natural Resources Committee, which heard the bill in late June, just prior to the Legislative summer recess. The amendment would have subjected any density bonus project to the added protections of the California Coastal Act. The committee is helmed by Sen. Dave Min, an Irivine Democrat.
The amendment “undid the point of the bill,” said Will Moore, policy director at Circulate San Diego, a nonprofit that co-sponsored the bill. The only point in continuing to move forward after such changes would have been “if we were just in love with the number 2560 or something,” he added.
Min’s Natural Resources Committee emerged as a vital defender of the Coastal Commission this year.
In April, the committee also substantially revised two coastal housing bills by Sen. Catherine Blakespear, a Democrat from Encinitas. One would have exempted backyard cottages, otherwise known as accessory dwelling units, from Coastal Commission review. Amendments out of the Min’s committee revised it to simply require the commission to offer guidance to local governments on how to permit ADUs.
“Californians really treasure their coast and they feel very strongly about protecting it and bills that seek to weaken coastal protections are going to run into some strong headwinds.” — Sarah Christie, legislative affairs director, California Coastal Commission
A second Blakespear bill would have sped up the appeal deadline for apartment projects in the coastal zone. Min’s amendments changed it to simply require that the commission submit a report to the Legislature by 2026. (The bill died in a subsequent fiscal committee last week.)
Blakespear accepted those changes at the time, but not happily, which led to a testy exchange at the April hearing.
“To clarify, you were not forced to take any amendments, you agreed to take them,” Min said.
“I am absolutely forced to take these amendments,” Blakespear responded. “I am doing that willingly, but I do not want to.”
Over the last half decade, a majority of state lawmakers have come to embrace the idea that bringing down the cost of housing in California requires a significant increase in the supply of homes. California housing regulators are pushing local governments across the state to permit 315,000 new units every year until the end of the decade — a pace of construction without precedent in California.
Housing advocates note that the coastal zone passes through many urbanized centers and that its population is disproportionately wealthy and white. That, they argue, has made the coastal commission a tool of elitist exclusion.
But Coastal Act defenders argue that the goals of making the state’s beachfront property more accessible and protecting the coast are not mutually exclusive.
“There’s a variety of ways we could increase workforce housing in the coastal zone without undercutting the Coastal Act,” said Christie. That might include requiring local governments, which are in many cases tasked with enforcing the act, to approve housing projects that don’t jeopardize coastal resources. The Commission has also long called for the state to give it the power to require developers to set aside units for low-income residents, authority that was taken away from the agency in the early 1980s.
That debate is dead in the Legislature for now, but it’s likely to resurface again in some form next year.
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CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.
MCKINLEYVILLE, CA – This morning at 8:49 A.M., Arcata Fire District was alerted to a
travel trailer on fire in the 2000 block of Daffodil Ave.
Assistant Chief McDonald was the first to arrive on scene to find flames visible behind a
single-story home.
Engine 8219 was the first to arrive on scene and was assigned fire attack. Shortly after,
the remaining Arcata Fire engines arrived and assisted with fire attack and overhaul.
After the fire’s initial knock-down, Arcata Fire personnel were alerted to the trailer
resident that had burns and smoke inhalation. Chief McDonald then tended to the
patient and requested an ambulance.
The cause of the fire is suspected to be a gas appliance that had an explosive reaction
when the resident went to light the pilot.
Arcata Fire would like to remind residents to be cautious when igniting gas appliances,
and to be sure to have the proper ventilation in small living spaces.
We would like to thank Arcata-Mad River Ambulance for a quick response time, and to
PG&E for their assessment of the power lines overhead for safety.
Should we borrow money to pay for urgent environmental priorities? That’s the question before voters this fall. Proposition 4 asks for the state to issue $10 billion in new bonds to pay for drinking water improvements, forest restoration work, land conservation, kelp forest reestablishment and climate action. The bond measure would direct that 40% of funding be explicitly directed towards under-resourced communities or are impacted by natural disasters.
Josefina Barrantes and Kim Delfino join the show to discuss the bond measure and how the North Coast stands to benefit from an investment in environmental protection.
