PREVIOUSLY

• ‘A Crushing Blow’: USDA Cancels Local Food Purchasing Programs That Serve Humboldt’s Schools, Tribes, Seniors and Food Bank While Supporting Ranchers and Farmers

###

The state of California recently agreed to set aside $15 million in funding for local food assistance, aiming to replace one purchasing program that was cut by the federal government last year.

North Coast food advocates are hoping this will mean the partial return of a system that funneled locally produced grub to food pantries.

Still, the funds aren’t expected to replace the full volume of cash previously pumped in by the federal government, and it’s only guaranteed for a year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program (LFPA) provided Food for People, Humboldt County’s food bank, $360,000 per year in funding they’d use to buy local food and distribute it across pantries. Multiple local tribes received additional funds to purchase locally produced food.

The contract ended in Humboldt County following a federal announcement it would eliminate the program, as other initiatives targeting food insecurity were similarly cut.

The elimination of the program was a blow for organizations that relied on the food and farmers who grew crops and livestock for the purchasing agreement.

“We are, across the board, seeing lower orders because of the cuts to those programs,” said Megan Kenney, Harvest Hub director for the North Coast Growers’ Association, which sourced the food for the LFPA.

She said the funds provided people with nutrient-dense food. Plus, the purchases had a high economic multiplier because the funds were re-circulated inside the region.

Another program, the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program, was cut at the same time. It meant an end to fresh food for a dozen Humboldt County school districts. In total, over a million dollars used to provide people with fresh food and support farmers locally was eliminated.

California received $88 million in federal funding for the program since it began.

In a budget bill last month, Governor Gavin Newsom included $15 million to keep the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program afloat. It’s too soon to say when or how the state funds will roll out. However, Kenney feels confident they will get a contract again.

“We will probably receive less funding than we did before, but any money’s good money,” she noted.

According to the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, among organizations that lobbied for the funding in the state budget, the amount is about a third of what advocates were pushing for. The funds will only be able to sustain the program for about one year, according to Policy Director Jamie Fanous.

Carly Robbins, executive director of Food for People, said the organization is currently waiting on more word on the program.

“We haven’t yet received details on how this program might differ from the federal one. We don’t know how it will be administered and what allocation we might get,” she said in an email.

Cuts to food programs under the Trump Administration have been wide ranging.

The largest food and nutrition assistance program in the country was slashed in H.R. 1, enacted July 2025. Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is down by more than 4 million people nationwide, according to think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Cuts to food programs intended to support low-income people are particularly impactful in Humboldt County. About a fifth of adults in Humboldt County are enrolled in SNAP, while about 15% of the population uses Food for People each month.

Kenney said programs to beef up local food production is particularly meaningful locally, with the relative isolation of the North Coast. As the organization was creating the Harvest Hub, disasters had stricken multiple key points of entry to the region, while COVID-19 supply chain issues plagued grocery stores.

“We want to make sure we have enough food in our community when these disasters happen,” she said.

###

After nearly 16 years of failed enforcement efforts at a McKinleyville-area ranch, state water regulators are turning to the California Attorney General’s Office to resolve a laundry list of alleged environmental violations impacting Little River near Moonstone Beach. 

The 226-acre property, owned by the Vern C. McGaughey Trust, has been the subject of dozens of warning letters and violation notices from the California Coastal Commission and the North Coast Water Quality Control Board over unpermitted solid waste disposal, unauthorized grading, inadequately controlled grazing “resulting in widespread fecal waste” and bacterial pollution in Little River, as stated in numerous documents shared with the Outpost.

While the state’s concerns largely focus on unpermitted activities within the channel of Little River, local environmental groups worry that bacterial runoff from the property could pose a threat to people recreating downstream on Moonstone Beach.

Ken Bareilles, a local attorney representing 88-year-old Vern McGaughey, largely disputes the allegations, though he does admit that his client failed to secure the permits necessary to work in Little River’s channel. Bareilles called concerns of fecal bacteria in Little River “bullshit,” adding, “It’s an ag zone; cows and horses poop everywhere out there.”

“Vern is one of the best guys on the face of the earth, and he lives for that property,” Bareilles told the Outpost in a recent phone interview. “He’s not polluting any damned thing; he’s acted without permits, and the nature of his fines are all for failing to get a damn permit. … Vern has never, in my opinion, discharged anything into that stream. He’s prevented illegal discharges by what he did, but he did it without a permit.”

As Bareilles tells it, the whole ordeal began nearly two decades ago when a section of Little River became clogged with fallen trees, causing a dike along the channel to crack and flood the property.

“Pretty soon, water started flowing through there on McGaughey’s property, and started washing out and eroding his doggone meadow there — it was not his fault at all,” Bareilles said. To prevent further erosion, McGaughey installed some plastic netting and used a backhoe to move concrete blocks into the channel. “He was losing property every year, and that basically took care of things, basically, but they still had the problem with Little River.”

That’s when the issue caught the state’s attention. 

Nearly 16 Years of Failed Enforcement Measures

The California Department of Fish and Game, now known as the Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), became aware of an “unpermitted development” on McGaughey’s property on a tributary of Little River in December 2010, according to a draft resolution detailing the history of enforcement actions at the site. The agency opened an investigation and forwarded the matter to the California Coastal Commission for review.

During a property inspection in January 2011, North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board staff found “unauthorized discharges of construction debris” along the channel of Little River, prompting the Coastal Commission to issue a Notice of Violation (NOV) for “unpermitted placement of soil/fill, construction debris, broken concrete, and plastic erosion control fabric into watercourses on the property,” according to a letter dated Jan. 24, 2011. The Coastal Commission asked McGaughey to apply for a coastal development permit to resolve the issue, but he did not respond.

The Coastal Commission would issue another five NOVs between 2014 and 2022 urging McGaughey to “remove the unpermitted development and restore the damaged resources” in the channel or face fines exceeding $6,000 per day. Bareilles claims he and McGaughey offered to rent an excavator to “pull the stuff out without going into the channel,” but said they couldn’t get permission to do it.

The case sat idle for a few years, then resurfaced on Sept. 14, 2022, when the Coastal Commission sent “a final attempt to resolve [the] matter” on Sept. 14, 2022.

“As of the date of this letter, you have not obtained, or even applied for, such a CDP [Coastal Development Permit], nor have you even responded to the many letters that we have sent you and the unpermitted development remains a continuing violation of the Coastal Act and Humboldt County LCP [Local Coastal Plan], and damage to coastal resources is ongoing,” the letter states. “Please be advised that if we cannot come to an agreement quickly regarding resolution of this matter through the CDP process, as we have repeatedly requested, we will consider initiating formal enforcement procedures.”

“Same identical charges, [which] we denied,” Bareilles said. He and McGaughey hired an engineer to look at the property, who allegedly referred to the state’s request for corrective action as a “bloodless surgery,” apparently describing a virtually impossible task.

During a follow-up visit on Nov. 10, 2022, state and county staff found more issues at McGaughey’s property, including “additional dumping in wetlands … as well as several unpermitted stream crossings.” All told, CDFW staff documented 40 violations of Fish and Game Code on the property, according to an environmental impact assessment shared with the water board.

Screenshot of the stop work order. Click to enlarge.

One month later, in December 2022, Humboldt County Chief Building Official Keith Ingersoll issued a stop work order, citing the following violations of county code:

• H.C.C. 312-3 Development in the Coastal Zone without permits.
• H.C.C. 331-28 Construction of Building/Structure in Violation of Building, Plumbing and/or Electrical Codes.
• H.С.С. 354-1 Junk and/or Inoperable Vehicles.
• H.C.C. 521-4 Improper Storage and Removal of Solid Waste.

The county’s Division of Environmental Health issued another notice in January 2024, ordering McGaughey to “immediately cease and desist the deposition of solid waste to land, waterways, and environment, and to take certain corrective actions to remove solid waste from the property.” In February 2024, state and county officials met with McGaughey and his attorney to discuss a path forward to no avail. 

“My staff, and other agency staff, have tried repeatedly, for over a decade, to work with you to resolve this matter,” Coastal Commission Executive Director Kate Huckelbridge wrote in a Feb. 5, 2024, letter to McGaughey. “You have either been unresponsive or you have failed to take the actions necessary to resolve these violations. I intend to record a Notice of Violation so that any potential future owners of these properties will be made aware of the violations and the obligation to resolve the same.”

In October 2024, the water board issued a cleanup order with a schedule of tasks (stream and wetland impact assessments, waste disposal plans, etc.) to be completed over the following year. The order also points out “bacterial impairment” and “fecal waste” in Little River caused by “uncontrolled livestock grazing and unauthorized construction of a pit privy” on the property. Again, McGaughey failed to comply with the order.

In March 2025, the water board made a last-ditch effort to resolve the list of violations on the property through a settlement offer. If McGaughey agreed to pay $39,737 and complete the list of tasks outlined in the cleanup order over an extended timeline, the matter would be put to bed. McGaughey received the offer, the resolution states, but “failed to respond and engage with staff by the April 23, 2025, due date.” 

Water board staff met with McGaughey and his attorney for in-person settlement negotiations in July 2025, but the parties weren’t able to reach an agreement. They met in February 2026 to discuss a “global settlement,” but, again, couldn’t agree on the terms.

Despite nearly 16 years of inaction by McGaughey and dozens of warnings, “no fines have been imposed to date,” a water board spokesperson told the Outpost via email.

Bringing in the California Attorney General

Having exhausted all civil enforcement options, the water board is now turning to the Attorney General’s Office for legal help. At its Aug. 6 meeting, the board will consider sending a formal referral to Attorney General Rob Bonta seeking “judicial enforcement of the alleged violations.”

“The referral could result in the filing of a judicial complaint in superior court where different remedies are available to the North Coast Water Board,” water board spokesperson Blair Robertson told the Outpost. “In addition to civil liabilities, judicial enforcement allows for injunctive relief and/or a consent judgment to place Mr. McGaughey under a judicially enforceable timeline to comply with the required actions in the Cleanup Order. The [board’s] administrative enforcement authority is limited to the imposition of administrative civil liability.”

The Humboldt Waterkeeper and the Surfrider Foundation are among the environmental advocates calling for the Attorney General’s Office to get involved in the case. In a joint letter to the water board, the groups highlight water quality concerns in Little River, as well as potential impacts to endangered salmonid species and people who recreate at Moonstone Beach.

“Little River was designated as impaired by pathogens in 2015,” the letter states. “Numerous studies have confirmed high levels of pathogenic bacteria in the river. Since then, numerous violations of local and state regulations designed to protect water quality and aquatic health have been issued to the property owners. It appears that no actions to remedy the violations has been taken, despite the ongoing impacts to public health and safety.”

“We have received complaints from members of the public regarding children experiencing vomiting and diarrhea after playing in Little River; horse and cattle carcasses in the Little River channel; and plastic erosion control fabric covering streambanks and pieces floating downstream,” the letter continues. “We have also fielded numerous calls and emails over the years from people wondering if it’s safe to recreate in Little River and in the surf near the mouth.”

Something important to note about Little River is that its condition changes on a week-by-week basis, as detailed in the Little River State Beach Report Card at this link. At the beginning of July, for instance, the beach scored an A+, but this week it’s at a B.

Jen Kalt, executive director of the Humboldt Waterkeeper, said conditions on Little River tend to be affected by rainfall.

“Every time it rains a significant amount, stormwater pollution carries fecal matter into the river, and the county advises that people stay out of the water for 72 hours after major rain incidents,” Kalt said during a recent phone interview. “Once the fecal bacteria and viruses aren’t in the guts of warm-blooded animals anymore, they start to die off.”

“People, a lot of times, freak out when they find out that Little River has this kind of pollution, but it’s a good rule of thumb no matter where you are to be really cautious [after a rainstorm], especially with children, because they are so likely to swallow water,” Kalt continued. “If you have any kind of open wounds on your body, that can be really dangerous for infections, especially for people who are immunocompromised.”

Kalt wants to see a true resolution to the issue, not just more threats of punitive action. If the water board decides to forward the case to the Attorney General’s Office, she hopes the state will order the property owner to “fix the damage and stop the continuing abuse” of Little River.

The North Coast Water Quality Control Board will discuss McGaughey’s case at its next meeting on Thursday, Aug. 6. The board will meet at the Elk Valley Rancheria (2332 Howland Hill Road) in Crescent City at 9 a.m. Read the full agenda and find instructions for remote attendance at this link. Those who wish to speak during the meeting should register ahead of time here.

###

DOCUMENTS:

• Cleanup and Abatement and Investigative Order
• Joint letter from the Humboldt Waterkeeper and Surfrider Foundation

###

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

###

Federal agencies that terminated more than a thousand research grants at the University of California last year admitted that they used keywords related to diversity, gender, vaccine hesitancy and COVID-19 to screen for projects that ran afoul of the Trump administration’s priorities.

It’s an admission that lawyers for the research professors say is proof that the agencies illegally cancelled nearly $2 billion in grants. And that’s a major development in a lawsuit filed by UC researchers against the Trump administration to permanently get their grants back. The researchers’ legal team is now asking the judge in the case to skip a trial and formally declare that the White House repeatedly violated the constitution, including the First Amendment. A court hearing on whether that’ll happen is scheduled for Oct. 20.

The federal agencies made the admission about the keywords in signed stipulations filed in federal court last week in a case called Thakur v. Trump that’s been ongoing since last spring.

The stipulations in the court filing show the agencies “did not terminate any grants based on alleged noncompliance with the terms of the grant” and instead used “general criteria, rather than grant-specific assessment of each award’s compliance, or performance,” the lawyers for the plaintiffs wrote. Lawyers for the UC professors now contend that the admission proves three wide-ranging constitutional violations:

• By using keyword searches to review hundreds of grants and terminate them en masse rather than reviewing them individually on their merits, the Trump administration targeted research it found politically disfavorable, which is a First Amendment violation.
• In terminating 283 Department of Energy grants from states where a majority voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, and leaving untouched hundreds of grants that went to “red” states, the Trump administration wrongly punished researchers for merely living in states the White House politically opposed.
• And by terminating billions of dollars in grants, and never rerouting that money to other grant opportunities, the Trump administration violated the constitution by not spending money in ways Congress specifically required through laws it passed on how research funds should be used.

CalMatters emailed the U.S. Department of Justice, which acts as the legal defense for the federal agencies, on July 16 to ask whether it agrees that the federal grant-making agency stipulations mean the Trump administration violated the constitutional rights of researchers. A spokesperson for the Justice Department didn’t respond by publication time.

History of lawsuit

The judge in this case, Rita F. Lin, has repeatedly sided with the UC professors and issued several preliminary injunctions forcing the federal agencies to restore the grants while she reviews the full merits of the case. This includes the restoration of hundreds of grants at UCLA that the Trump administration sought to suspend over its allegations that the university tolerated antisemitism and permitted transgender women to compete on women’s sports teams.

Those allegations were also the subject of a demand from the White House for UCLA to pay $1.2 billion or experience an additional cascade of research freezes. However, months before Trump sought that settlement UCLA took steps to address antisemitism on campus, including commissioning a task force to recommend ways to create a more welcoming environment for Jewish students.

Lin, a Biden appointee, faulted the administration for disregarding those efforts by UCLA in a preliminary injunction for a different but related lawsuit. The Trump administration’s justification for terminating the grants did not “mention the remedial steps UCLA had already taken to address the issues described,” Lin wrote.

Lawyers for professors in the Thakur case now want Lin to make a final ruling ordering the grants to be restored, rather than a preliminary one. Even if that were to happen, the federal agencies could decide to appeal Lin’s ruling to a higher court.The stakes “are huge,” lawyers for the professors in the Thakur case wrote. If the White House is “allowed to terminate this funding, the researchers, graduate students, and program staff that relied on the grants to pursue their lives’ work will all suffer significant damage to their reputations and careers.”

The lawyers warn of lifesaving cures that will never be developed, new understandings of diseases that will go unexplored, and the decline in the country’s global standing as an international juggernaut in publicly funded research.

Using keywords to target disfavored grants

The agencies admitted to using keywords in various ways, according to a CalMatters review of the new court filings.

The Department of Transportation identified six grants for projects worth about $42 million to terminate because they sought “transportation equity,” prioritized “disadvantaged communities,” or focused on “diversifying the transportation workforce” and “equity.”

The termination of three of those grants led by a UC Davis professor resulted in 77 researchers abandoning 79 in-progress projects. Lawyers for the plaintiffs wrote that the project leaders were also forced to lay off or scramble to replace funding for more than 40 graduate and undergraduate research assistants.

The National Institutes of Health admitted to using an internal search tool to flag UC grants that mentioned “health equity,” “work force diversity,” “structural racism,” and “sexual orientation.” The NIH alone suspended or cancelled more than 1,000 UC grants, including nearly 700 at UCLA, related to vaccines, cancer research and disparities in health outcomes. That figure is newly disclosed in a court filing — last year, UCLA indicated that closer to 500 NIH grants were terminated. The health research agency also declared that it’s possible that DOGE, the short-lived federal office that billionaire Elon Musk led in 2025, used AI to target grants for termination.Lawyers for the plaintiffs wrote to the judge that these admissions show the agencies “identified the viewpoints they wanted to suppress, searched the grants they funded for those that expressed those viewpoints, and terminated those grants on that basis.” That violates the researchers’ First Amendment rights, the lawyers wrote.The Environmental Protection Agency, one of the named agencies in the suit, is in the process of settling with lawyers for the UC professors to avoid further litigation.

A separate federal district judge in Massachusetts last week dealt the Trump administration a blow in its ability to terminate grants and withhold federal funding. The White House relied on a legal phrase in many of its funding cancellations — “no longer effectuates … agency priorities.” California and 22 other states sued, arguing that there’s no law or right for the federal government to cancel funding based on new program goals and White House desires after the grants were already awarded. The judge agreed.

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

###

In one big way, Gov. Gavin Newsom is tougher on public employee unions than his Republican counterpart in Texas: Making state workers show up in the office.

After facing strong opposition from workers, it took Texas Gov. Greg Abbott three months to reverse his 2025 ban on remote work for state employees. But Newsom, whose return-to-office mandate has been in effect since July 1, shows no signs of backing down.

It’s a stance that has upset — and at times befuddled — some state workers who are calling for the governor to scrap the four-day-a-week in-office policy as they hammer out new labor agreements.

Typically, they’re allies to the Democratic governor. They helped him fight off a recall in 2021, and they encouraged their members to vote for him against his Republican opponents.

More importantly to them, they maintain they’re just as effective at home, which they say they proved when Newsom ordered them to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s confusing to people when they think that they’ve done a great job to be told, ‘Well we don’t think it’s good enough and you should incur going back into the office,’” said D’Arcy McLeod, chairperson of the Professional Engineers in California Government’s bargaining team.

Roughly 108,000 of California’s more than 245,900 state employees are affected by the mandate, according to the state human resources department. The others generally already are required to work at a specific location five days a week, including prison, firefighting, law enforcement, and custodial employees.

Service Employees International Union Local 1000, California’s largest state worker union, represents 96,000 employees and is in contract negotiations. It argues that remote work saves taxpayers and employees money, reduces traffic and lowers emissions — all without affecting productivity.

Newsom’s mandate allows exemptions on a case-by-case basis, including for those who live 50 miles or farther from their worksite, or who conduct work outside the office, such as telehealth providers and inspectors. Public transportation costs for commuting are also reimbursable.

But that isn’t enough for SEIU, which in May filed an unfair labor practices complaint with the California Public Employment Relations Board. It also threw its support behind a bill that would give state agencies more authority to shape their hybrid work policies.

“A blanket mandate does not work for all the jobs that our workers do,” said Anica Walls, the union’s president. “Let the departments decide.”

California exceptionalism?

States have taken different approaches to calling workers back to the office since the pandemic. Republican-led Nevada and Democratic-led New Mexico require state employees to be in the office five days a week, for example. Utah with a Republican governor wants them at the office twice a week.

But Newsom’s blanket policy appears to be an outlier among other blue states with robust public employee unions: Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon and Washington state still embrace remote work in some capacity. It also differs from Texas, a Republican-led state that Newsom has contrasted with California.

A few months after President Donald Trump began his second term and called for federal employees to return to the office, Abbott banned remote work for Texas state employees. But following a multi-agency survey that found that telework did not curb productivity and helped reduce turnover, Abbott walked back the move.

Newsom “is a man who has talked about the importance of innovation, wrote an entire book about government adapting to technology and providing services in a more cost-effective way,” said Ted Toppin, the executive director of the engineers union.

“It strikes me as interesting and ironic that Texas would have a more modern, flexible and efficient take on state employee telework.”

Despite a state audit that concluded that telework could save California as much as $225 million a year, Newsom moved forward with his March 2025 executive order directing workers back into the office at least four days a week.

In May during a state budget presentation, Newsom told reporters that he is “empathetic to change,” but that returning to the office helps build a sense of community The governor has also contended that in-person work fosters collaboration, accountability and helps boost small businesses.

McLeod said he’s surprised Newsom remains resolute to the mandate even after the audit found that remote work proved successful during and after the pandemic.

“Every single Newsom appointed official that testified for the state auditor indicated that … the work that was being delivered during telework was substantially of higher quality and more efficient,” said McLeod of the engineers union.

The CalPERS Sacramento Regional Office in downtown Sacramento on July 15, 2026. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters

What unions wanted from Newsom

In some ways the rift echoes labor disputes from California’s last two governors.

Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger came out swinging against public employees with unsuccessful ballot measures that were designed to cut their influence. He later imposed unpaid furloughs on public employees during the Great Recession.

Then Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown battled with unions over pensions, passing a law that curbed retirement benefits and required workers to chip in more for their benefits. He had a reputation for being stingy with raises, too.

Public employee unions were optimistic about Newsom. He offered concessions when he asked workers for temporary pay reductions during the pandemic, gave one-time bonuses to many employees and negotiated contracts that often included goodies for workers in hard-to-fill positions even if the deals didn’t please everyone.

Then came the fight over returning to the office.

Besides union leaders, Newsom’s steadfast commitment to in-person work has baffled Steve Maviglio, a Democratic political consultant who has worked with public employee unions on pension issues. For Newsom, a Democratic politician who is likely eyeing a bid for the presidency, “it’s political malpractice to come across as anti-labor,” said Maviglio.

“The only thing you’ll be able to say is that ‘I stood up to state workers,’ which isn’t particularly helpful in a Democratic primary where labor is the key constituency nationwide for Democrats.”

But for Will Swaim, chief executive of the libertarian think tank California Policy Center, Newsom’s fight with the unions signals something larger than remote work. Rather, it is a “policy disagreement that has turned into a foundational challenge to democracy,” said Swaim.

SEIU 1000 has donated at least $2 million to current members of the Legislature, according to the CalMatters Digital Democracy database. In addition to its contract, the union is pushing for more flexible telework policies through a legislative proposal currently in the state Senate.

Through its campaign donations and labor talks, SEIU is attempting to wrest control from Newsom, a publicly elected official, over who gets to shape policies over government work, according to Swaim.

“That’s simply undemocratic,” said Swaim. “I don’t know anybody out there who believes that in their jobs they could tell their boss, ‘I’m not coming to the office, no matter what you want.’ It just doesn’t fly.”

But bosses should work to accommodate current employees, according to SEIU president Walls — especially if they have presumably bigger ambitions to oversee even more workers.

“As a state employee I would have trouble voting for someone who would be the boss of federal employees when I know he hasn’t shown to be a stellar employer to state employees,” said Walls.

Stephen Charles Jones was born on a Tuesday, June 18, 1957, and returned to the stars on Friday, May 29, 2026, with his three girls, his oldest grandson and his wife by his side. Dad, I know you said you didn’t want an obituary, but like I told you, many times, your life and story deserve to be honored and remembered, and you knew very well I would be writing this (don’t worry, I had Kelli and Erin help too). How do you sum someone’s life up in just a few hundred words? Simple: you don’t. There’s so much I’d like to say, but there probably isn’t time, and no one would want to read it all anyway — and Dad, you’d be pissed if I went on and on, so I promise to just hit the highlights. One thing’s for certain: I wish you could have seen yourself through the eyes of others. Because even though you were simply human, flawed for certain, you were a beautiful soul who truly impacted so many lives around you. The imprint you made on this earth will long out live you in the lives of your children, grandchildren and so on.

Steve was born in Mountain View, Calif., to Joyce and Eugene Jones, the middle child between his two siblings, David and Michelle. He was born into a family of creators, and he was no different. Everything Steve touched turned to magic. With his green thumb he could make anything grow, and his art wasn’t limited to his drawings and doodles. He wrote beautiful poetry, told wild stories and could make anything with his hands. He had a truly brilliant mind, and his mother’s kindness, and the empathy she fostered in him, was felt by anyone who knew him.

Steve and his siblings grew up chasing their imaginations, creating games and art together. They came of age in a time when kids had the unstructured freedom of the outdoors, and when civil rights, women’s liberation and the environmental movement were reshaping the world around them. Steve carried all of it with him, he was always an advocate for protecting the earth’s natural resources, believing every form of life was worth protecting.

Steve worked at Safeway as a young man, through his early college years, until he graduated from San Jose State University with a Bachelor’s Degree. It was also at Safeway where he met his first wife, Kathi Borges. They married in 1980 and soon welcomed three baby girls: Kelli, born in 1981, followed by Erin in 1983 and Haley in 1985. Steve simply fell in love with being a father, and he loved being a dad to each of them. Their childhood was filled with art, dancing, music and creative inspiration. He taught them how to love, how to find the magic in the world around them and he shaped who they became as they grew into adulthood. He made sure their childhood was full of camping trips, days at the ocean building sandcastles and chasing the tide, searching for agates and fossils, making sand candles, playing in the local rivers and crafting were some of his girls’ fondest memories to this day.

After graduating from San Jose State, Steve worked for Lockheed Martin until he moved his family to Humboldt in 1990, following in his mother’s footsteps to raise his girls behind the Redwood Curtain — away from the city, surrounded by the redwoods, the ocean and the rivers that define the Humboldt lifestyle. His mother had been a rare woman of her time, earning her Master’s degree and teaching at College of the Redwoods, and she instilled in Steve a deep love of education. He stepped easily into the role of teacher, beginning his teaching career at College of the Redwoods teaching AutoCAD. He often brought his girls to class with him, where they’d sit by his feet drawing on the chalkboard during his lectures, munching on giant chocolate chip cookies from the cafeteria, and in the process, he passed that same love of learning on to them. Around the same time, he worked as a drafter at Winzler and Kelly in Eureka.

Eventually Steve followed his heart and moved into teaching full time as a shop teacher at the high school level. He earned his single subject teaching credential in Computer Concepts and Applications and Industrial and Technology in 1994. He started teaching at Fortuna High School, where he taught woodshop and metal shop. He was always the coolest teacher, kids were drawn to his easy nature, his humor and his gift for helping them discover what they could build with wood and metal. He addressed every student by their last name and had a way of drawing out even the shyest kid’s inner creativity, shaping futures while having fun. From Fortuna, Steve made his way to Southern Humboldt to teach at Triple Junction High School, then later to South Fork High School, reaching even more students across the county. He had a real love for small, rural communities. Eventually he landed in Bandon, Oregon, teaching shop at Bandon High School until he got fired… I mean, until he retired in 2019. He taught high school for 25 years, and it was something he was proud of.

Steve loved kids. He found joy in using his imagination to bring happiness and magic into the lives of every child he encountered, and he was lucky enough to have three daughters who gave him nine grandchildren to share that magic with. He was also an uncle to Joe, Althea and Lexi, who all carry fond memories of him from childhood into young adulthood, playing in the redwood forest out on Redmond Road. He was, by far, the favorite uncle.

He loved watching scary movies with his girls when they were little, telling them exactly when to close their eyes and reminding them the gore was just ‘ketchup and pea soup.’ He made crafts with them, even learning to use a sewing machine so he could sew alongside them (producing some genuinely ugly scrunchies). Every childhood home had a custom built wooden multilevel tree house he built for his daughters. He taught them to weld, welding bedframes for their dolls, and showed them how to build with wood and metal using his tools. He loved getting to know all of his girls’ friends as they grew up, teasing them and handing out nicknames, always playful. He also taught his girls the meaning of forgiveness. Things weren’t always easy, but love and forgiveness kept his girls a constant in his life, and him in theirs.

Steve was the absolute best grandpa. He was there when every single one of his grandchildren was born, and he spent as much time as he could with all nine of them, forming a special connection with each one and getting to watch many of them grow into young adults. Every one of them carries their own unique memories with him, and every one of them truly believes they were his favorite. He took them fishing, his favorite spot to take them was Laird Lake, a treasure he found in Oregon. He built mystical worlds like Tent City and Box City, filling the entire living room with boxes and sheets for them to crawl through. He took them on “midnight adventures” to the parks near his house, crafted swords and shields so they could battle each other, and taught them to play (and love) chess. He was always genuinely interested in their lives, listening to their stories, always their biggest fan.

Even when life wasn’t easy, Steve remained one of the most empathetic, kindhearted people you could know. He taught his daughters, his grandchildren and his students to look past people’s mistakes, to lead with compassion and to remember that everyone is fighting a battle you may never see or understand. He knew that love shows up in the little things, that time together matters, that laughter heals and that imagination makes life richer. Kindness, he believed, is one of the greatest gifts we can give each other. He always advocated for his three girls to stay close, because he understood how much their bond would matter through life. Steve had the soul of a free spirit, a wanderer and a dreamer who loved deeply and made easy connections with people throughout his life. He loved the open road, and every summer he took real joy in traveling across the states, just him, his Jeep and his camping gear, seeking out all the beautiful places the earth had to offer.

In 2017, he married Laura Laudate. He often talked about how much he simply liked her, how special that felt to him. He grew close to Laura’s daughter Brittany during that time, coming to think of her as a bonus daughter, and considered her daughter as his tenth grandchild. After retiring in 2019, Steve and Laura moved into his Fortuna house, a home he made entirely his own, filled with his trinkets, gadgets, creations and houseplants. He always told Kale it was their house too, and he was devastated to say goodbye to Kale earlier this year. He grew a garden he took deep pride in, fed his hummingbirds, named giant pumpkin spiders and talked to his crows. Steve had a deep love of animals: he cherished his German Shepherd, Gretchen, who is buried in the garden alongside Kale’s dog Cici, and he owned countless cats and kittens over the years — bathtubs full of kittens!

Steve is continued to be held in love by his three daughters, Kelli Jones, Erin Jones and Haley Jones; his 9 grandchildren, Jaren, Kason, Rylen, & Rowen (Kelli Jones), Brannan, Addison, Jake (Erin Jones), Grayson (Haley Jones) and Karlee (Brittany Bristow); his wife Laura Laudate Jones, his step-daughter Brittany Bristow, his nephew Joe Jones, and nieces Althea Jones and Lexi Her; his son-in-laws John Jones and Dave Jackson, and bonus granddaughters, Chayslin Johnson and Gabby Pratt.

His light now shines with those who went before him, including his mom Mary Joyce Rogers, brother, David Jones, and his sweet baby granddaughter, Kale Starshine Jones-Rios. Give KK a hug from us, daddy.

Thank you for being our dad, in all your challenging moments, in all your loving moments, we would not have changed anything, because we wouldn’t be who we are today if it weren’t for who you were in life.You recently told me “Live each moment like it is your last, remember, nothing is permanent, we are all stardust. I love you to the moon and beyond. Your memories will last a lifetime, and I am grateful to have known you.”

In lieu of flowers you can send cards of remembrance (for the address, please email hjoneshumboldt@gmail.com), donate to an organization that supports youth creativity — support our local high school trades courses and spend time in nature. Our family plans to have a small private celebration of life in the near future to honor our dad.

###

The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Stephen Jones’s family. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.

Emily Ann Barnes was a daughter of the American Heartland.

She was born on August 12, 1951, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Emily attended All Saints School, the same 80-year-old elementary school her mother had once walked through as a girl. Her parents stressed the importance of reading and writing to Emily and her older brother, Jack, and she made good use of those gifts throughout her life — including editing the newspaper at Santa Barbara City College.

Eureka was home for Emily’s last 25 years. She worked as a Psych Eval nurse for Humboldt County, a job that suited her steady, caring nature. She made friends easily and came to love her adopted home of Eureka.

Into each life some rain must fall, and Emily was slowly robbed of her memory, suffering from dementia. Many thanks to Alder Bay, Especially You,  Safe Planners, and to Hospice of Humboldt for the friendship, love, and support they have given her over the last six years.

Emily died on July 3, 2026. She is survived by her brother, Jack Barnes, and her sister, Beth Canfield.

Rest in peace, dear sister.

###

The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Emily Barnes’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.

Helen was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 13, 1932, the only daughter of Hanna and Earl Russell. She was a child of the Great Depression. In spite of this her father always considered Friday the 13th his lucky day. Her only sibling, a brother, was born three years later.

Her early schooling paved the way for a lifetime of learning and sharing her passion for education with all. She attended schools in Philadelphia and graduated as valedictorian from Rome High School in 1949. College followed with graduation, with honors, from Mansfield University. Her first teaching position was junior high school science at Mary Muldoon Junior High School in Waverly, New York.

Two years later she was asked to return to her college alma mater to join the staff as a supervisor in the campus training school. Here she met her future husband, Bill Taylor. She often said she gave up a master for a missus. They were married on July 7, 1956 at St. James Episcopal Church in Mansfield, Pennsylvania. Three children followed — Reenie in 1957, William in 1959 and Tom in 1961.

The five Taylors left Pennsylvania for California and UCLA, where Bill had been awarded a National Institute of Health Scholarship in Pediatric Immunology. They were now official California residents.

The family moved to Montreal, Canada in 1973/74. Here they learned French and learned to love hockey. Helen volunteered in a French immersion kindergarten.

Helen resumed teaching in California from 1974 until her retirement in 1982. She became the district’s top mentor, consultant, presenter and facilitator. She held lifetime certification in both elementary and secondary education in California and secondary education in both Pennsylvania and New York.

At retirement Helen was one of ten teachers selected to be mentors for the State of California. Her area was elementary science. She continued her career at Chapman University as a lecturer in methods in general science.

Helen and Bill retired and moved to a farm home they had designed and had built near Fallbrook. In 2002 they sold the farm and moved to Arcata, where they lived until her death on July 16, with her family at her bedside.

In Arcata, Helen volunteered each week with a “Hands On” science lesson for elementary students. Almost everyone knew her as Grandma Taylor.

Helen was the recipient of many awards and acknowledgments during her career, including being nominated for the President’s Award for Excellence in the Classroom. But her greatest award was instilling into young adults a love of nature and learning, and a desire and willingness to aim high.

Helen and Bill traveled extensively, bicycling six times in Europe, and also in China and Russia. They visited every state in the U.S. almost all National Parks in the U.S. and Canada. They canoed, sailed, and skied whenever possible. She was a member of P.E.O. (Philanthropic Educational Organization) since 1970, serving in all offices.

She was preceded in death by her parents, only brother, and husband. She is survived by children and grandchildren: Reenie Taylor Boyer and husband Greg Boyer of Honolulu; William Taylor, M.D. and wife Carolyn Taylor of Del Mar, California; Thomas Taylor, M.D. and wife Erin Taylor of Arcata; grandchildren Natalie Taylor, Sarah Taylor, Andrea Taylor, and Sandy Taylor of Del Mar and Will Taylor, Russ Taylor, Jack Taylor of Arcata; and two great-grandchildren, Taylor and Ellie Simon.

Helen was a member of Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka. In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to Christ Church Scholarship fund or to the charity of your choice.

###

The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Helen Taylor’s family. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.