Students seeking state financial aid have just two weeks remaining to beat a California deadline, even as thousands have been locked out of completing the federal application necessary to get that state aid — a problem that particularly affects students who are citizens but whose parents are not.

Now a prominent state lawmaker, Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes, a Democrat from Corona and chair of the California Latino Legislative Caucus, is fast-tracking a bill to give affected California students additional time to complete the federal application and access more than $3 billion in state aid. If passed, Assembly Bill 1887 would move the current deadline from April 2 to May 2 and would go into effect immediately.

Its first hearing is scheduled for Monday at 3 p.m. Lawmakers realistically must approve the measure before next Thursday, when the Legislature goes on break and reconvenes April 1 — one day before the current state financial aid deadline.

Cervantes’ bill follows a technology crisis at the federal level that has prevented U.S. citizens from completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, because their parents don’t have a Social Security number. It’s a new problem that only emerged this year and has generated a high degree of worry among the higher education community in California and nationally.

The tech glitch is basically this: The federal online application wouldn’t allow those parents to enter their financial information. Without those details, a student can’t finalize their federal aid application — and therefore cannot apply for state financial aid.

“The Legislature can highlight, double down on how unacceptable it is that certain U.S. citizens cannot submit a FAFSA,” said Gina Browne, a senior official with the California Community Colleges system, at a Senate hearing last week, “and I’m personally offended by it.”

The scale of the problem is hard to gauge. More than 100,000 California students last year submitted a federal aid application without their parents’ Social Security numbers. It’s not clear how many of those had parents who lacked a number or whether they chose to not share one with the government. Nationally, about 2% of applicants faced this issue in 2024, U.S. Department of Education officials said.

Remaining federal issues

The department said it fixed some of the problems this week but cautioned there are other errors blocking some students from finishing their applications. Those include instances in which a parent’s — or spouse’s — name doesn’t totally match the forms both the parent and student must complete.

The state Senate is also planning to push for an extension as part of its early-action package that debuted Thursday. California’s public colleges and universities urged a Senate subcommittee last week to support an extension of the state financial aid deadline. Key advisors for the Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom backed the idea then.

“We think that extending the state financial aid deadline is worth considering because it allows the U.S. Department of Education more time to resolve these technical difficulties,” said Lisa Qing, an official with the Legislative Analyst’s Office.

“The Legislature can highlight, double down on how unacceptable it is that certain U.S. citizens cannot submit a FAFSA.”
— Gina Browne, senior official with the California Community Colleges system

Chris Ferguson, of the California Department of Finance, said, “the administration is likely in a position to support such an extension.”

But a delay this year may not address other issues with the federal application that could emerge in 2025, said Jake Brymner, a senior official with the California Student Aid Commission.

Parents without Social Security numbers now have to confirm their identity to complete FAFSA, such as by uploading identifying documents. “Depending on the national political environment,” students “may have some additional concern about sharing family members’ information with a federal agency as they try to seek financial aid,” Brymner said.Brymner’s implication is that families may worry if Donald Trump wins the presidential election this year. The Republican nominee reportedly plans a mass deportation of undocumented immigrants, replete with large camps, if he returns to the White House.

The commission has explored using another application for state financial aid — currently reserved for undocumented students — to bypass the federal technical glitches this year affecting U.S. citizens. The state doesn’t share information on that application with the federal government.

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

Anthony (Tones) Eugene Peters Jr. was born on January 6, 1987 to Anthony Peters Sr. and Rose Martin. He passed away at the young age of 37 on March 10, 2024 in Santa Rosa, with those closest to him (dad, mom, brother, sister, children and niece) by his side.

Anthony grew up on the Hoopa Valley Reservation with his brother right beside him. He grew up alongside his closest cousins, Eve, Aaron Jr., Jack, Maureen, Winona, Adam, Danielle, Lil Dion, Brandon and sissy. He loved camping, swimming, playing sports and barbecuing at grandmas with them! He battled with cancer and chemo from the age of six months to six years old. He was dedicated and determined.

Tones loved helping! If he started a project, he finished it! He donated to his grandmas church and would step in when nobody else would. He helped his uncle Aaron with church whether it was building fires, doing yard work or simply doing whatever was needed. He’d come to church asking for prayers to see his children, the next day prayers would be answered and he would be with his mom along with his kids.

Anthony loved his brother dearly, always trying to spend time with him. Even if it was just in group chat, he had to see his brother from the same mother. Tones often ran away to his sister’s house to spend time with her, his nephew, his nieces and Tina (his ninja). He loved his sister dearly and always looked forward to time with her and her babies. He knew he could depend on her to help him and protect him always.

One thing is for sure, he loved spending time with his Aunt Edna and loved her much, he loved spending time with her at his mom’s. He also loved playing crib with his uncle Bob (he got skunked, as he told mom).

Anthony was the youngest of five siblings, a dad to his six beautiful children and his two stepchildren, as well as a loving grandpa to four baby girls. He loved his family unconditionally and loved being with them no matter what they were doing. He loved being with them whether it be fishing, eeling, smoking ot just blasting music and “chillin.” He really loved playing games with his mama (especially when he won)! Anthony’s heart was for his kids. He worked effortlessly fighting for his children and in doing so he was becoming the head of TCCC clean and sober living.

Anthony fought until the bitter end and he’s going to be forever missed, he was the heart of our family.

Anthony is preceded in death by his paternal grandmother Kathleen Sherman, maternal grandparents Laverne Sr. and Winona Martin, uncle Seeley (Junior) Spott Jr., sister Pook-A-Yamch Spin-off, baby brother William, as well as numerous other cousins, aunts and uncles.

He is survived by his dad Anthony Peters Sr.; mom Rose Martin; his six children Lillian, Nathaniel, Victoria, Christopher, Georgina, and Mavis; his two step children and children; his brother Chet (wife Ivalenna); sister Dawnetta; nieces Teschè, LeiLani, Alexianna, Candace (two babies) and Adamay (baby girl); and nephews Emanuel and Chester Jr.; his other sister and her six kids; uncles Bob, Bull, and Aaron; and aunties Udbie, Wuzzy, Lizzy, Mary and Annie. As well as numerous other cousins.

Pall bearers are Burr Rogers, Eugene Masten, Shane Anderson, Carlisle Colegrove, Suigiy Colegrove, Francis Colegrove, Dustin Elmore, Dion Jr., Dennis Sherman lll, Melvin Farmer Jr., Lil John Thompson, Gi-nuh Lincoln, Owen Lincoln, Gage Marshall, Ernest Lincoln, Redcloud Lincoln and William Lincoln.

Honorary pall bearers are Anthony Peters Sr., Chet McCloud, Nathaniel Peters, Emanuel (manny) Gonzalez, Adam Martin, Clinton Charles, Aaron Smith Jr., Jack Smith, Laverne Martin Jr., Ervin Martin, Cotc Lincoln, David Frank, Dion Sr., Seeley Spott lll, James Doolittle, Zack Potts and Elijah Martin.

We would like to thank the Bear River Band of Rohnerville Rancheria for all of your help, love and support thruout this time, it’s beyond much appreciated. Thank you to the Hoopa Tribe for their assistance.

Friday Wake Service Friday at 5pm at Hoopa Full Gospel Church

Saturday Funeral Service At 11am at N.F Building. Reception after service is at Hoopa Fire Hall

ALSO FRIDAY DOING CARAVAN W.C TO HOOPA

Saturday WE’LL BE PACKING HIM N.F TO HOOPA CEMETERY

Don’t forget wear Niners gear or red.

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

On Saturday, February 25, 2024, Mae Gertrude Tibbett, 79, passed away peacefully at home in‬ ‭Baker City, Oregon, with her husband of 62 years by her side. Mae was born and raised in‬ ‭Eureka. She was the youngest of seven children born to Rudolph G. Santsche and‬ ‭May Matilda Ford Santsche. Both Mae’s parents passed before she was an adult so she was‬ ‭then raised by her oldest brother Rudolph (Rudy) Santsche and his wife Arte.‬ ‭

Mae received her high school diploma in 1962. While in high school, Mae worked at the‬ ‭McCullens Motel making beds for extra money and continued working there for several years.‬ ‭Mae met the love of her life when she was just 9 years old. She always knew that she would‬ ‭marry Delbert “Ray” Tibbett. After Ray was discharged from the United States Army at the end‬ ‭of the Vietnam War, he rekindled his friendship with Mae. They dated for six months. During‬ ‭this time, Ray drove back and forth every weekend from San Jose to Eureka to see Mae.‬ ‭Shortly thereafter, in 1963, they were married in Campbell, California.‬

‭After getting married they moved into their first apartment on Hilfiker Lane in Eureka, ‭where they settled down to begin their new lives together. Mae had her first born daughter,‬ ‭Angie Mae Tibbett, on December 8,1966. Two years later, they welcomed their second daughter‬ ‭Ageana Rae Tibbett Brett on December 9, 1968.‬

Mae attended Fredrick & Charles Beauty College in Eureka, and received her‬ ‭cosmetology license. She then went to work at Wildwood Beauty Boutique in Rio Dell as a‬ ‭hairdresser. Later, she bought the business from her dear lifelong friend Shirley Freitas. Mae‬ ‭sold the Boutique in the late 90’s, but continued to work for many years from her home providing‬ ‭services to many clients she had made over the years.‬

Mae was a great cook and loved to make homemade cinnamon candied popcorn balls and‬ ‭homemade rolls for Christmas. She was also known for her legendary deep fried Schnitz‬ ‭breakfast pastry. Mae loved all horror and sci-fi movies and went all out decorating for‬ ‭Halloween every year. She loved camping and swimming at all the local rivers and lakes. Mae‬ ‭and Ray bought a summer property in Ruth, Ca and Mae could be found there any chance she‬ ‭got. Mae also loved camping every 4th of July at the Orick beach with her family, brother,‬ ‭cousins, nieces and nephews. Many years of good times were had there catching surf fish and‬ ‭playing pranks on one another. Mae was a wonderful mother, sister, grandmother,‬ ‭great-grandmother and friend. Mae was very independent and loved reading romance novels,‬ ‭playing card games and Yahtzee.‬ ‭

Over the years she attended countless softball, basketball, volleyball events to show support.‬ ‭Mae enjoyed traveling with Ray in their big motorhome all around the states and especially liked‬ ‭stopping in Reno for a night or two on their way home. She loved to play her accordion for her‬ ‭children and family. She was a big collector of antique dolls, cookie jars and watches.‬‭

Mae is preceded in death by her parents Rudolph and May Santsche, brothers Rudolph‬ ‭Santsche, Ed Santsche, and sisters Margaret Rogers, Marjory Kellerer, and Evelyn James. She‬ ‭is survived by her husband Delbert Ray Tibbett, daughters Ageana Rae Brett and Angie Mae‬ ‭Tibbett, sister Eva Rainbolt, grandchildren Trent (Breaunna) Prigmore, Dillon J.R. Cope, Logan‬ ‭Basteyns, great-grandchildren Blake and Bryleigh Prigmore, as well as nieces, Loreen Farrell,‬ ‭Shelley Moore, and grand nieces Dr. Kelsea Breese, Kira Cosio, Katie Wells, Amanda Maciel,‬ ‭numerous other nieces, nephews, cousins and family members. Mae’s private service was held‬ ‭at Gray’s West & Pioneer Company Chapel.

Mae will be laid to rest at Ocean View Cemetery in‬ ‭Eureka with her parents, siblings and numerous family members. Please join us for a‬ ‭Celebration of Life that will be held at the Fortuna Veterans Hall on Saturday, March 30, 2024, at‬ ‭1 p.m. located at the Veterans Hall in the Canteen, 1426 Main St, Fortuna.

PREVIOUSLY: North Coast Officials Blast AT&T’s ‘Dangerous’ Proposal to Disconnect Landline Services in Communities Across California

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If you have landline telephone services through AT&T you’ll want to attend next week’s virtual meeting.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) will host a public forum on Tuesday, March 19, to discuss AT&T’s proposal to remove its designation as a Carrier of Last Resort (COLR), which requires the telecommunications giant to provide traditional, analog telephone service via copper wires to residential and business customers throughout its service territory. 

Blue shaded sections represent the territory AT&T seeks to withdraw from as a COLR. Screenshot.

If the application is approved, AT&T will no longer be required to provide basic landline services in certain areas. The proposal would affect a large swath of Humboldt County, including much of Arcata, Eureka, Fortuna, McKinleyville, Rio Dell, Trinidad, and smaller communities along Highway 101 and State Route 299. (You can look up your address here to see if you’ll be affected.)

Why would AT&T want to remove the COLR obligation? In short: it’s outdated and expensive.

“In effect, this obligation requires AT&T, but not its major competitors, to wastefully operate and maintain two duplicative networks: one, an antiquated, narrowband network with an ever-dwindling base of subscribers, and the other, a forward-looking, fiber and wireless broadband network,” according to the executive summary of the application. “This proposal … would reduce economic and environmental waste and propel greater investment and innovation while protecting the relatively few customers whose only current option for voice service is a legacy telephone line.”

The proposal has drawn criticism from local residents, North Coast lawmakers and service organizations like the Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) who worry that the loss of landline service would hinder access to critical 9-1-1 services and emergency alerts, especially for rural residents. 

If you’d like to share your thoughts with the CPUC, you can submit an online comment here. You can also provide comments during one of the virtual forums at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Tuesday, March 19.

More information on the proposal can be found here.

The Humboldt County Elections Office just released a new post-election tally update (see it here) and in every single race of local interest, there is nothing new to report. Measure A still loses big. Supervisors Mike Wilson, Michelle Bushnell and Rex Bohn each still retains their seats, easily, and avoid a fall runoff. April Van Dyke will still be the next judge to serve on the Humboldt County Superior Court. The percentages haven’t even changed that much.

What has changed is that there are still scads more ballots left to be counted — many more than Clerk-Recorder/Registrar of Voters Juan Pablo Cervantes had thought there would be at this time last week. At that time, Cervantes estimated that there were about 13,000 ballots left to be processed, and even though almost 7,000 of those are done, the number of ballots left unprocessed is still about the same.

Cervantes explains:

We’ve counted 27,297 ballots and estimate there are about 12,750 left to process. This includes 355 conditional or provisional ballots, and around 360 ballots with signature issues we’re working to fix by contacting the voters.

On election night, we received a surprising total of 17,434 vote-by-mail ballots, mostly from drop boxes. Approximately 11,000 were ballots dropped off in drop boxes on Election Day alone. Which is why our numbers of unprocessed ballots reported on 3/7 didn’t change much even though we added 6,801 ballots to our count.

Our reports on unprocessed ballots give us a rough idea of what’s left, but these numbers will keep getting clearer as we get closer to certifying. Given that the deadline for vote-by-mail ballots received by March 12th, but postmarked by March 5th, has passed, 12,750 ballots is a very accurate representation of what’s left to process.

That 17,434 vote-by-mail ballots received election day is one part of why it takes us as long as it does to certify an election. All those still need to go through the full process of signature verification by two verifiers, opening, and scanning. All with checksums, logs, and other chain of custody protocols along the way.

So if Cervantes’ figure of 12,750 ballots still to be tallied holds, it turns out turnout wasn’t so terrible after all. That adds up to around 40,000 voters out of 82,926 registered, for a turnout rate of around 48.2 percent — maybe a miserable figure elsewhere, but not so bad for a March election in the United States of America.

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After 15 years with the Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA), including more than 13 as its executive director, Matthew Marshall has submitted his notice of resignation and plans to leave the organization at the end of the month.

Reached by phone, Marshall said that while recently helping to care for a sick relative out of town, he had time to reflect and decided that it’s time to move on to a position that’s “a little less all-consuming.”

“Things are pretty stable [at RCEA], humming along right now, so it seemed like a good time to let someone else take reins,” he said.

RCEA is a local government joint powers authority whose mission is to develop and implement sustainable energy initiatives. It’s members include all seven of the county’s incorporated cities (Eureka, Arcata, Fortuna, Ferndale, Rio Dell, Trinidad and Blue Lake), plus Humboldt County itself, the Yurok Tribe, the Blue Lake Rancheria and the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District.

It also serves as our region’s community choice aggregator, providing local residents and businesses with electricity that’s higher in renewables than PG&E’s, with an option to purchase power that’s 100 percent renewable and carbon free.

Marshall said he’s not sure what he’ll do next, though he plans to take some time off to help his wife Stacie, who operates a private event venue at the Moonstone Beach House. The couple purchased that property, which includes the restaurant up the hill (currently Moonstone Grill), from the Merryman family about a year and a half ago. He said his title in that realm is “guy who puts heavy stuff in the truck.”

RCEA’s board of directors will kick off the process of finding Marshall’s replacement at its next meeting, scheduled for March 28.

While his position has often proved time-consuming, Marshall said he’s not particularly worried about RCEA operating in his absence.

“I feel like my job is to smile and wave and get out of the way of the team,” he said. “The board sets policy [and] the staff is outstanding. They make me look good. I’m usually the least smart person in the room.”

Continuing with the humility, Marshall said he expects the next executive director will bring new energy to the role. With offshore wind development on the horizon, RCEA is poised to take an even more active role in local energy.

“It’s been a pleasure and an honor serving community,” Marshall said. “I’d like to think we’ve done a lot of good. I’m excited that we’ve been able to, I think, benefit the community and make local progress on climate change. And I’m excited to watch as the organization continues to grow.”

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The sun is shining and the rain is gone (for now), so many folks are probably thinking about getting outside and soaking up some rays this weekend. But before you head out to any of our beautiful beaches, you should know that there is an increased risk of sneaker waves over the next couple of days. 

“Series of long period westerly swells will bring an increasing risk for sneaker waves Thursday through Saturday,” the US National Weather Service (NWS) posted on Facebook. “Beachgoers need to remain alert and always exercise caution, especially on Saturday.” 

In case you aren’t familiar, a sneaker wave is a disproportionately large wave that can appear in a wave train without warning. Sneaker waves can be extremely dangerous and can sometimes pull people out to sea. According to the NWS, the risk will be “moderate” on Thursday and Friday, with a “higher risk” of sneaker waves on Saturday. 

As always, the NWS and common sense tell you to stay further back from the water than usual, avoid steep beaches, don’t crawl on the rocks or jetties and never turn your back on the ocean! 

Stay safe and go enjoy that sunshine!