Are you hyped up for
the return of the political season in Humboldt County? Maybe
you’re not. But whether or no, we’re doing this thing and
that means it’s time for the relaunch of LoCO Elections, your Lost
Coast Outpost sub-site in which
you may put questions to the candidates for office and read all about
their latest accomplishments and such.
LoCO Elections has been really popular almost every year we’ve done it, especially during and after the pandemic, and candidates who have availed themselves of it have generally found it worth their while. If
this is your first time around or you need a refresher, the how-to’s
of LoCO Elections can be found at
this link. Basically, candidates – or some of them, anyway –
are standing by waiting for questions from you, the Lost
Coast Outpost readership.
Are
you curious about what a judge does, or what makes one person more
qualified to be a judge than another person? Both candidates for the
District One chair – incumbent Gregory
Kreis and challenger April
Van Dyke – are signed
up and would love to hear
from you. You more interested
in the Board of Supervisors races? All the candidates for the Fortuna/SoHum Second
District are registered – Michelle Bushnell, Jeana McClendon and Brian Roberts — as is First District Challenger Gordon Clatworthy. (If you’re a candidate who is not signed up yet, shoot me an email — hank@lostcoastoutpost.com — and I’ll set you up with an account.)
What’s next for LoCO Elections, apart from those candidates’ press releases and their answers to your questions? We’re going to try to sign up people to take the pro- and anti- positions on Measure A, the Cannabis Reform Initiative, so that you can put your questions about that as well. We’ll also stick debate schedules and such on the LoCO Elections main page when those are finalized. And once candidates start providing answers to questions, we’ll stick a selection of them on the Outpost home page every morning to help you keep track.
OK! Get going! Ask your questions of the candidates … on LoCO Elections!
Should one of Humboldt County’s most scenic trails be renamed after the late California Senator Dianne Feinstein?
That’s what would happen with the passage of new bill introduced today by Rep. Jared Huffman and Rep. Mike Thompson.
The Senator Dianne Feinstein Memorial Trail Act aims to rechristen the Elk River Trail in the Headwaters Forest Reserve after Feinstein, the state’s first female U.S. Senator, who served nearly six terms in Congress before her death in September at the age of 90.
Feinstein was among the key brokers of the 1999 deal in which the U.S. government purchased 7,472 acres of pristine redwood forest from the Pacific Lumber Co., then owned by the rapacious Maxxam Corp.
“Dianne Feinstein leaves a profound and enduring legacy – from gun violence prevention to reproductive and human rights, to protecting treasured lands,” Huffman said in a press release issued by Thompson’s office. “The breadth of her contributions to our state is unmatched, and among them is Northern California’s Headwaters Forest Reserve. Our bill will commemorate her through a memorial trail in the headwaters, which thanks to her will be preserved for future generations.”
Thompson added, “Senator Feinstein was directly responsible for the agreement that led to the United States purchasing the land from Pacific Lumber that became the Headwaters Forest Reserve. Throughout her time in public office, she was a steadfast advocate for protecting our beautiful state, and this bill is a testament to her outstanding efforts to ensure that future Californians will be able to share in the beauty.”
The City of Eureka’s contractor is continuing street paving work down I street. Beginning Thursday, December
14th, I Street will be paved through the intersection of 6th and 7th streets. These two intersections will be
closed with detour routes around. This work will be performed between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
I street is a heavily-traveled route within the City and the safety of construction workers is important. Please
use alternate routes if possible, slow down, and be careful. The patience and cooperation of motorists,
bicyclists and pedestrians in the vicinity of the work zone is greatly appreciated. Due to the high level of noise
and vibration from equipment, night paving was not an option for this area.
Volunteers Terry Scovil, center, and Shendi Klopfer load the car of a community member with food from the Trinity County Food Bank at the Trinity County Fairgrounds on Feb. 8, 2023. Photo by Martin do Nascimento, CalMatters
Food insecurity in California ticked upward over the past year, bringing the share of hardship back up to levels early in the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data released by the California Association of Food Banks on Tuesday.
“Families are buying less food,” said May Lynn Tan, the association’s director of research and strategic initiatives, who conducted a survey of food aid recipients this summer. “They’re running out of food, not being able to afford nutritious meals, and worrying more about food.”
Advocates credited a pandemic-era federal aid program that gave food assistance recipients more money for groceries for pulling food insecurity below 20% of California households between 2021 and 2022. The additional aid, Tan said, helped recipients buy healthier food and become more financially stable.
As prices soared last year, food insecurity spiked. Then, the boost in federal aid ended in April. By October, more than 1 in 5 California families — more than 3.1 million households, including 1.1 million with children — were steadily reporting uncertain access to food, according to Census data analyzed by the association.
While hunger overall is disproportionately borne by people of color, Black families in particular reported sharp increases this year. In April, 30% of Black households in California were food insecure. Six months later, the figure was 40% — and nearly half of Black families with children.
Anti-poverty advocates had feared a rise in hunger after the end of the aid boost this year, which affected the nearly 3 million California households that receive CalFresh, the federally-funded food stamps program. For three years the program had given all families receiving CalFresh the highest possible amount of food assistance for their family size each month, with $95 on top for those already receiving the maximum.
When the program reverted to ordinary aid levels, the decrease was anywhere from 32% to 40%, depending on the recipient, according to the food banks association. In a survey the association conducted over the summer, more than two-thirds of the state’s food banks reported increases in the number of clients seeking meals and groceries.
The uptick in food insecurity also follows an increase in poverty last year, triggered by the end of a different pandemic-era policy. A one-time, yearlong expansion of a tax credit program in 2021 sent thousands of dollars to most families with children and pulled child poverty levels down to historic lows; after it ended, poverty spiked again.
Both trends are likely to be the basis of advocates’ calls next year for California to expand safety net spending, even as the state faces a projected $68 billion deficit in the 2024-25 fiscal year. That’s double the budget hole California plugged this year.
Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano volunteers and staff load groceries into cars in Vallejo on June 7, 2023. Photo by Shelby Knowles for CalMatters.
The food insecurity data was outlined by the food banks association Tuesday as it gears up to lobby for the expansion of assistance programs next year, including increasing funding for food banks to buy California produce to distribute to clients and supplementing the federally-funded CalFresh (food stamps) program with state dollars.
“It does look like a tough budget year next year but I don’t think that changes our strategy,” said Becky Silva, the association’s director of government relations.
It’ll be a tough sell.
California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom avoided major program cuts when they closed the deficit this year, but it did bring to a halt several years of social services expansions.
Still, at a separate Tuesday web conference for anti-poverty advocates and lobbyists hosted by the liberal California Budget and Policy Center, Jessica Bartholow, chief of staff to state Senate Budget chairperson Nancy Skinner, an Oakland Democrat, urged advocates to continue seeking funding or program expansions.
“Don’t ask for less,” she said.
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CalMatters politics reporter Yue Stella Yu contributed to this story.
CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.
Press release from the Bridgeville Community Center:
The Bridgeville Community Center is pleased to announce that we now have 1,000
young readers who are signed up for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library in Humboldt County. It is a program
that mails books each month to children from ages 0-5 (they graduate when they turn 5). There is no cost to the
family. If somebody is interested in signing their child up, please go to www.ImaginationLibrary.com
The Dolly Parton Imagination Library is a great gift to the community. Inspired by her father’s inability to read and
write, Dolly started the Imagination Library in 1995 to serve the children of her hometown in Sevier County,
Tennessee. Today, her program gifts over 2.4 million free, high-quality, age-appropriate books each month to
children around the world. There is never a charge to families who participate in the program, and it is open to
all children under the age of five in geographic areas with operating programs. The funding is shared by Dolly
Parton and thousands of local community partners in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, and
Republic of Ireland.
The Bridgeville Community Center partnered with the Dolly Program in April 2023 to bring books to children in
Humboldt County (plus Mad River and Ruth, in Trinity County). Now we have the first 1,000 children enrolled.
Our expectation is that the number of children enrolled will increase each year. Our yearly cost per child is $13,
which comes to $1.10 a book delivered to their home. Our goal is to enroll every eligible child who wishes to get
Imagination Library books. And your donations will help make this dream possible.
This program is valuable to our county. There is now a fundraising committee to help cover the costs. Please
contact us if you are interested in joining. All donations collected go directly to cover Imagination Library costs.
And if you are interested in donating to help cover the cost of books to a child, you
can either mail us a check, or make a donation via paypal -
We thank you for your support. Your donation helps a child enroll in this remarkable
program. Your donation is a gift to the child, as well as the community.
The Eureka Police Department is actively investigating several crimes that occurred from
multiple businesses and organizations located in the 5100 block of N. Highway 101
between December 7, 2023 and December 9, 2023.
On December 8, 2023, a business owner reported sometime during the night an
unknown suspect(s) entered one of his work trucks and stole approximately $2300
worth of various tools.
On December 9, 2023, EPD received a phone call from the Regional Coordinator for
Toys for Tots, reporting sometime between the evening of December 8, 2023 and the
morning of December 9, 2023, an unknown suspect(s) gained entry to their storage shed
and stole approximately $7000 worth of donated toys. The surveillance system that was
in place at this location was also stolen by the suspect(s). In addition to the theft, the
suspect(s) caused approximately $2000 worth of damage to the gate that secures the
property.
Also, on December 9, 2023, EPD responded to the 4100 block of Jacobs Avenue for a
report of a “jack knifed” semi-truck and trailer. The truck belonged to a business
located in the same complex at 5100 N. Highway 101. The owner stated that no one
had permission to drive the vehicle and a stolen vehicle report was taken. It was also
discovered the vehicle had suffered approximately $5000 worth of damage as a result of
this theft.
While all three of these incidents occurred in the same business complex it is unknown
at this time if or how they may be connected.
On December 11, 2023, a Detective with the Eureka Police Department authored
warrants for three (3) locations in the greater Eureka area, 2000 block of Greenwood
Heights, 2700 Union Street and 3200 block of High Street, in relationship to this
investigation. Assisted by additional Detectives, Officers, an Evidence Technician, and
Agents from the Humboldt County Drug Task Force, the search warrants were executed
on the locations.
During the search of the locations, involved personnel recovered a portion of the toys
stolen from Toys for Tots as well as some of the tools reported stolen the day prior from the business complex. Agents also found the primary suspect in possession of a short-
barreled shotgun, a stolen motorcycle as well as a stolen generator.
Brandon Roy Haselip, 35 years of age from Eureka, was located and arrested at the
Greenwood Heights location. Haselip was booked at the Humboldt County Correctional
Facility for possession of an illegal firearm, felon in possession of a firearm, possession
of a stolen vehicle and possession of stolen property. Additional charges are also being
submitted to the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office for review.
This is an on-going and active investigation. We are requesting any community members
who recently donated a unique item to Toys for Toys please contact Detective Bailey
immediately at 707-441-4215.
Soon Outpost reporter Isabella Vanderheiden will have her usual wrap-up of this week’s Board of Supervisors meeting, which is underway at the courthouse now.
But there is some breaking news, and that is that Supervisor Mike Wilson just pledged to stop using the odd phrase “with relationship to” quite as much as he currently does.
The announcement, which was accompanied by general laughter in the Board of Supervisor’s chambers, came after Wilson caught himself using the barely grammatical locution three times in the space of about a minute.
The supervisor, in his apology, acknowledged that this particular verbal crutch had somehow become his version of “um,” and asked staff if it might be possible to rig some sort of buzzer when he erred in the future.
Please see the edited video below, which includes a selection of some of the “with relationship to”s Wilson dropped in last week’s meeting alone. This is the sort of thing that will never happen again.
