Ryan Phillip Abbot
October 21, 1982 - February 28, 2024

Ryan Phillip Abbott was born in San Diego. He enjoyed a happy and active Southern California childhood, bodyboarding in the Ocean Beach surf with his brother, and playing baseball and soccer. He graduated from Point Loma High School.

He relocated to Northern California, living and working in Eureka until he joined the United States Air Force in 2006 and trained as a Civil Engineer.

Ryan’s first station was Malstrom Air Force Base in Montana. He was later deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan. His last base was Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany, from where his team was also assigned duty at Aviano Air Force Base in Italy.

His military honors include, among several others, the Air Force Achievement Medal,  medals with stars for both the Iraq and Afghanistan Campaigns, medals for National Defense Service, Global War on Terrorism Service, and a NATO medal. Among his awards are also ribbons for Air Force Longevity Service, Air Force Expeditionary Service, and Overseas Service. Ryan was honorably discharged as a Senior Airman after serving seven years.

Ryan continued his education while working first in San Diego and later in Eureka before making Elko, Nevada his home for several years. He returned to Eureka in 2023.

After months of failing health, Ryan passed away at home in Eureka, in his mother’s loving care. 

He is survived by his mother Pamela Longacre, his father Jeffrey Abbott (Heidi), brothers Clark (Amanda), and Kent. He was predeceased by his stepfather, Donald Longacre.

Ryan’s ashes will be interred at Miramar National Cemetery in San Diego on April 16, 2024 at 12:30 p.m.

Donations may be made in Ryan’s memory to Canine Companions Northwest Training Center in Santa Rosa. 

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Ryan Abbott’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.

James Darrell Bilderback passed peacefully from this world the afternoon of March 20, 2024. He was born in Eureka, the son of Dora Mozettti Bilderback and William James Bilderback. He lived 93 (almost 94) years filled with love, purpose, travel, and service to his community as a teacher.

He was known as Jim, Dad, Grandpa, Uncle Sam, Uncle Donny and Mr. Bilderback. He was a favorite uncle who, in his younger years, took his nephews on trips to discover different places throughout the country. He loved to travel internationally. He met his wife Marilyn when a local couple invited them both to view travel slides, hoping they would hit it off. Apparently he squirted her in the face with whipped cream while serving her dessert that evening, a memory which was often repeated. They were married in 1968, and rumor has it they traveled to over 100 countries (on every continent.) His favorite was Bhutan, whose people he described as incredibly peaceful and content, but he had good things to say about each place and people everywhere, including Kenya, where he met a hippopotamus face to face.

He spent most of his life in Eureka, with the exception of a year in San Francisco working in a Christian book store and his time in the air force. He was stationed at Travis Air Force Base in California, and then in Okinawa during the Korean War. He was impressed by the resourcefulness of people he met there, and he always maintained a perspective of gratitude for his blessings. He served the end of his enlistment at the Pentagon, and was grateful for the educational and home ownership benefits provided by his country in exchange for his service.

An alumnus of Humboldt State University, he was a true bibliophile with a library of books on world cultures, natural wonders and the pursuit of truth. He genuinely loved talking about the weather and held a soft spot in his heart for all creatures great and small, especially dogs. He would get seemingly perturbed at the family dog for messing up the house and garden, but end up spoiling him with a towel on the couch and football throws. He got a tremendous kick out of training him to sit for his dinner and treats, and always made sure that the home was well stocked for his visits. He took pride and joy in making sure that everyone and everything was attended to.

He taught social studies at three junior high schools in Eureka: Jacobs, Zane and Winship. He was known for sharing his travel slides with his students, and being a strict but good teacher that really wanted his students to learn and become caring and engaged citizens of the world. He was a devoted husband to the love of his life, and a loving father and grandfather, celebrated for his pillow fighting and waffle making skills. He kept his yard looking spectacular and was dedicated to using gardening methods that caused minimal harm to all its inhabitants. He maintained beautiful rose bushes and a wide variety of ornamentals, working outdoors regularly until a year before his passing.

He was preceded in death by his mother and father, his sister Helen Lampella, and brothers Vernon and Eugene (Mick) Bilderback. He is survived by his wife Marilyn, daughter Marcia, grandson Kaiteo, niece Jo, nephews Jim, Gene, David, Michael, Rick, and Gary, as well as many of their children and grandchildren. He will be deeply missed, but will live on in the lives of those he touched and in the wonders of the world which he held in such reverence.

An intimate celebration of his life was held with family following his passing. Donations are welcome and can be made in his name to the Humboldt Library Foundation or the American Cancer Society.

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It’s been nearly a year since Cal Poly Humboldt broke ground on the new student housing project at Arcata’s old Craftsman Mall sitee. Many of you have likely seen the giant tower crane or the top of the in-progress building poking above nearby trees.

The Outpost wanted to take a closer look, so last week we joined Mike Fisher, associate vice president of facilities management at CPH, and Fred Saldana, construction manager for FS3, for a tour to learn more about the largest development Arcata has seen in a long time. Once finished, the project will house up to 964 students at a time.  

With construction still underway, it’s difficult to imagine the completed project, but Fisher and Saldana did their best to paint a picture as we toured the site. 

The development includes two large buildings at staggered heights. The larger one, on the east side, will reach seven stories while the smaller will reach six. The taller building should be completed by the end of summer 2025, followed a few months later by the smaller one. Together they’ll hold 241 housing units, including two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments, each with its own kitchen and common room. 

In addition to housing, the project will include a gym, lounge areas, conference rooms and private study rooms. Between the two buildings will be an open walkway, which Saldana said will have the feel of a European “mews” – small, alley-like streets that aren’t open to vehicular traffic.

The site will have 320 parking spaces in multiple lots — not enough for every student to have their own space, but Fisher said alternative forms of transportation will be encouraged, and a shuttle service will run between the housing site and campus.

As part of the project, the university agreed to provide funding for the City of Arcata to complete a segment of the Annie and Mary Trail along the east side of the complex, and provide a shortcut for biking or walking to campus. Fisher said Arcata is trying to open the trail around the same time as the housing development. 

The project will include covered bike storage in a one-story building just south of the main buildings. This building will also have a café, which will be open to the public, as will the project’s outdoor areas, though dorm rooms and certain other facilities will be accessible only to students. 

Since many construction projects have been delayed due to the wet winter and supply chain issues compounded by COVID, we were pretty surprised when Saldana said the housing project is on schedule. He said the team planned for contingencies and while certain tasks, like pouring concrete, can’t be done in the rain, other work can be done in inclement weather, and planners obtained materials far in advance. 

Still, the project had its unique challenges. Saldana and Shawn Marty, the project manager for Sundt Construction who joined the tour for a bit, explained that the long-unused property needed a lot of work before construction could begin. Temporary asphalt roads were added for trucks and machines access.

“The key was getting the roads in so we wouldn’t be destroying the grounds,” Marty said. “And we got in the big stuff before the rains started.” 

While laying down those roads, the team was surprised to unearth about 300 feet of buried railroad. Apparently, back when the site housed a sawmill, an industrial railroad spur was built to help load and unload materials from railcars. 

The other big pre-construction step was getting the giant tower crane in place. Saldana said the crane was delivered in sections on 18 different trucks and assembled onsite. 

With the development happening in quiet li’l Arcata, noise has been a public concern. However, the giant crane is not the culprit; it’s actually incredibly quiet when in use. But trucks’ backup beepers and other construction noise have led to complaints, Fisher said. 

Project managers set a noise threshold with the City, Fisher said, and someone conducts “noise sampling” every two weeks to ensure the noise output is below that threshold. Of course, this doesn’t completely stop the complaints. 

“It gives us a reference point, but people’s perception and experience is not just about numbers,” Fisher said. “If someone complains, we try to position [machines] in a different way or ask workers to limit use of their backup beepers or something like that. We try to be as flexible as we possibly can while still delivering the building on time.” 

What about noise from partying students? Fisher said that, like the dorms on campus, each floor will have two to three resident advisors (RAs) in charge of monitoring and reporting issues to management, and the property will be patrolled by the University Police Department. 

And for any neighbors worried about parties and general dorm-room debauchery, it might ease your concerns to know that the new buildings will be reserved for upperclassmen, while freshmen and sophomores will mostly be housed on campus. 

With the project on schedule, Fisher said the housing should be ready for occupancy by fall 2025. The university will start marketing it this summer and assigning students to it next summer. 

But with Cal Poly Humboldt’s enrollment numbers not nearly as high as expected after the transformation to a polytechnic, is this nearly 1,000-bed facility necessary?

Fisher believes it is, and he stressed that, although the growth has not been as rapid as the university anticipated, enrollment will continue to grow, even with total college enrollment decreasing over the past decade. 

“Last year was about a 2.5 percent enrollment increase from the previous year,” Fisher said. “But we had lofty expectations, so the difference between those expectations versus what we’re experiencing is significant. But the story is we’re still growing amidst a higher education non-growth or even contraction.” 

Fisher added that the new facility should help increase enrollment because once potential students see this impressive new development, they’ll really want to live there and will simply be unable to resist attending Cal Poly Humboldt. 

“The better amenities we put out there, the more attractive we’ll be,” Fisher said. “And higher education is not just about the quality of the educational program; it’s also the quality of where you live.”

Video submitted by Cora Lee.

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Arcata resident Cora Lee sends along this video she recently captured of a great blue heron stalking and killing an unsuspecting little rodent (a mole?)  from a lawn in Arcata. 

We may tend to think of these elegant birds more as fish eaters, but they’re not picky. A great blue heron will eat pretty much any species big enough for a meal, including amphibians, reptiles, invertebrates, small mammals and even other birds.

The Cornell Lab’s All About Birds website describes their methods of stealthy hunting:

Hunting Great Blue Herons wade slowly or stand statue-like, stalking fish and other prey in shallow water or open fields. Watch for the lightning-fast thrust of the neck and head as they stab with their strong bills.

Ah, the circle of life.

City of Eureka release: 

Beginning this month, contractors will be striping the new lane configuration on “H” and “I” Streets from Harris to 6th Streets. The new setup will include two through lanes for motorized vehicles, with a buffered bike lane for safer and more comfortable non-motorized use of the roadway.

The City of Eureka has received a Caltrans Sustainable Communities Grant (SCG) for multimodal transportation design, planning, and technical assistance for the completion of a multimodal plan. The project area is located between J and E Streets from 6th Street to Harris Street with a focus on H and I Streets. The multimodal plan will look at these north-south transportation corridors within the City for enhancing safety and mobility for all modes of transportation.

The City of Eureka Development Services and Public Works Departments are collaborating with Redwood Community Action Agency to engage residents, youth, and local businesses in re-envisioning H and I Streets and potentially adjacent north-south routes to improve safety for all users and foster vibrant neighborhoods and business districts.

Resident, youth, and local business participation will be integral to the success of this project. The City and Redwood Community Action Agency (RCAA) will conduct public outreach efforts to engage the community, and receive input to understand the diverse needs of the community, and also to solicit input on the development of the alternatives. Click here to provide feedback in our online survey.

Included in the objectives and goals for the project is the identification of at least three conceptual design alternatives for improved mobility, safety, and user experience for all modes within the project area with the focus on H and I Streets in the City of Eureka. In addition will be the completion of a Multimodal Plan for the project area with the focus on H and I Streets and the north-south transportation corridors within the city for enhanced safety and mobility for walking, biking, accessing transit, and motor vehicles.

City of Eureka release:

The City of Eureka Mayor’s Initiative in partnership with the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the Department of Health & Human Services invite the community to “Embracing Humanity” a town hall event to kick-off and celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month on Saturday, May 4, 2024 from 10AM-4PM at City Hall in Eureka.

The morning will include two panels comprised of local professionals and individuals with lived experience in the mental health realm. The afternoon will include an inspiring keynote speech by Joe Roberts aka the “Skidrow CEO” who will share his personal story of perseverance: Roberts overcame homelessness and eventually succeeded in business before devoting his life to advocacy.

This event is a continuation of the City of Eureka Town Hall events held throughout 2023 focused on mental health, homelessness, and substance use related issues in our community. The aim of the day is to encourage community members to reflect on mental health, highlight key leaders in the community, discuss local resources and needs, and to brainstorm connections and solutions going forward. Community based problems require community based solutions. We look forward to you joining us!

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After more than two years of planning, Arcata High’s Black Student Union (BSU) is ready to unveil the club’s new mural in honor of David Josiah Lawson. The big reveal will take place on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

“To me the mural represents power. It shows that we’re here,” sophomore Aliyah Aaron told the Outpost. “The powerful fists, bright colors, and portrait all symbolize power. We’ve all taken so much time and energy into this project, and this reveal really feels like the ending reward. We couldn’t have pulled this off without our amazing community at [Arcata High School] and throughout Humboldt.”

The mural, designed and painted by Cal Poly Humboldt alum Malachi Arthur, was funded by Art Representation Culture (ARC), a Dream Maker project of the Ink People Center for the Arts that promotes diverse cultural representation and community through murals in local public schools. Naomi Doherty, a project facilitator with ARC, worked with the students and local non-profit Youth Art Will Succeed (YAWS) to bring their vision to life.

“The students already knew that they wanted a mural, and in choosing to honor Josiah Lawson, the themes of social justice, Black Joy and Love came to fruition through this mural,” Doherty said. “We think it is important for the students to have a space and to be able to talk about issues that directly impact them. Mural projects such as these center the voices of the youth and through this empowerment they make the changes they wish to see.”

BSU Advisor Shannon Kresge underscored the importance of students feeling represented in their communities, especially at school. “[T]hey need to feel seen, heard and a part of the larger community,” she said. “Artistic expression is important because it allows individuals to express themselves creatively and it promotes self-discovery and empathy. … Spreading a message of love and community were important to the students.”

Sophomores Mae and Tae Wolford are hoping the mural will convey that “the Black community is evolving” in Humboldt County. 

“What encouraged me to get involved was seeing the impact this mural could [have] on people,” Tae said. “The message it gives is to show love [and] give justice to the people who deserve it.” 

The mural reveal will take place at the Fine Arts Building on the Arcata High School campus at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10. The celebration will feature performances by All Love Aundrea, Ra and Bamidele Hotep. The event is sponsored by the Ink People Center for the Arts, Humboldt Area Foundation, Eureka NAACP, Black Humboldt, Building Black Community, HC Black Music & Arts Association, and Queer Humboldt.