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If you’ve driven 101 South through Eureka in recent years, chances are good that at least some part of your brain took note of the big metal crab perched with raised claws behind the cyclone fence, there, at the elbow where Fourth Street becomes Broadway.

That’s the Dungeness in question, pictured above, and it now belongs to the City of Eureka.

The sculpture, which has yet to be named, made its municipal debut in Saturday’s Rhododendron Parade, strapped to a flatbed trailer and hauled along the route by a city-owned utility truck. But expect to see it hauled out for future events, too, such as local concerts, Friday Night Markets and other occasions.

“We saw it as a good opportunity to have something recognizable for the community, a good thing for branding, ” said Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery. He said the sculpture, which will live in the city’s corporation yard and be hauled out for special appearances, is an example of placemaking, an art installation that highlights our local assets while providing a backdrop for selfies and group photos.

The metal-framed critter was created in 2018 by artist Dan McCauley, who sculpted it using sheet metal from an old travel trailer and tubing left over from a Southern Humboldt cannabis grow, according to Eureka Public Works Director Brian Gerving.

McCauley attached the thing – carapace, legs and all – atop the chassis of a modified Ford Ranger so he could take it to the Black Rock Desert of Nevada for the annual Burning Man festival, according to Eureka Assistant City Manager Pam Powell. Afterward, though, he didn’t have much use for it.

”When he wanted to sell it, we were approached about purchasing it for our city mascot, which was kind of cool,” Powell explained.

Slattery was initially skeptical of the idea – that is, until he clapped eyes on El Pulpo Mecanico, the giant, fire-belching robotic octopus created by local artist Duane Flatmo, also for deployment at Burning Man. And so, with the blessing of the city’s marketing firm, Eddy Alexander, and support from staff, the city paid roughly $13,000 to purchase the sculpture and modify it for its own purposes.

As the crab was being set up for a brief display and photo op this afternoon at Madaket Plaza, on the Eureka waterfront, Gerving reached up and extended the small front claws, which swivel around two metal rods.

“I didn’t realize those folded out,” Powell remarked with a smile.

There’s just one problem with the city’s adopted mascot, according to staff: It (he? she? they?) needs a name!

A few ideas have been floated – for example, Crabby Patty, Louie, Crusty Rusty and Silvie the Crab.

But we at the Outpost figured it would be best to turn it over to you, our beloved readers, for your own suggestions.

So! If you have a proposed moniker for the city’s dapper new Dungeness, drop it in the comment section below. Readers can then vote for your favorite nominees. The Outpost may use some of the top suggestions for a future LoCO Pollz entry, and the City of Eureka will naturally agree with our collective wisdom (we assume).

Get to namin’!

Joint press release from Assemblymember Jim Wood and Senate president pro tem Mike McGuire:

This has been an extremely challenging week in Humboldt. Protesting peacefully in America is a fundamental, Constitutional right – it’s what our nation is about and, let’s be candid, protesting is part of the fabric of the North Coast.

That said, there is a clear line and it starts and stops with destruction of school property, vandalism, and antisemitic hate speech.

Last night, law enforcement moved to secure buildings and disperse individuals who remained on campus. No injuries were reported and the situation ended peacefully. With damage to the school estimated to be over $1 million, law enforcement will remain on campus in the coming days to ensure our campus community remains safe for all.

Let’s be clear – it’s going to take time to heal. Trust is earned, and it is going to take all sides coming together to have the difficult conversations needed to move forward. Cal Poly Humboldt must be a campus where all faiths and students of all backgrounds feel safe, respected, and included. This has not been the case for Humboldt’s Jewish students and others over the past week.

As protests continue in other parts of the state and nation, it’s important to remember that reasonable ideas don’t have to be in conflict – we can call for hostages to be immediately released and mourn every single one of the thousands of innocent lives lost; we can condemn violent actions and call for peace in the region. We’re stronger as a community when we learn from our differences and where we’ve been, and move forward together.

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Just hours after police descended on the Cal Poly Humboldt campus to forcibly clear a week-long demonstration and occupation, Gaza protesters have gathered outside the Humboldt County Courthouse to chant, hold signs and wave flags in support of Palestine.

Three counter-protesters set up across the street, waving an American flag and an Israeli flag. 

Many passing motorists offered lightly tapping honks of support while others shouted insults out their window or pumped their fists in support of the counter-protesters on the other curb. 

We’ll update this post if anything noteworthy develops.

Press release from the Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury:

The Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury has released the first report of their 2023-2024 term, entitled: “Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office: Is a Lack of Oversight Due to a Lack of Foresight?” (PDF link here.)

Oversight is constructive, not punitive. Oversight strengthens the professionalism of law enforcement. By creating a secondary public review of alleged misconduct or the handling of critical incidents, the people of Humboldt County can gain a clearer view of important events that affect all of us.

Civilian oversight of elected offices such as the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office promotes good management, fiscal responsibility, transparency, and accountability without interfering with the Sheriff’s Office’s enforcement and investigative functions.

The turn of this century brought renewed attention to law enforcement. Community groups have advocated for police accountability, and incidents captured on video have widely circulated on social media, leading local governments to seek reforms in law enforcement. The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing has recommended that local jurisdictions establish civilian oversight for law enforcement. A civilian oversight board enhances transparency and accountability and gives the community a voice.

The Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury recommends that the Board of Supervisors establish a civilian oversight board to review, report on, and make recommendations in support of law enforcement, and an office of inspector general to provide an independent professional assessment of critical incidents and advice regarding law enforcement policies and practices.

If you want to serve your community in a unique way that could improve local government this is your opportunity. Applications to serve on the Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury can be found at this link. Additional information provided by the Civil Grand Jurors Association of California can be found at this link.

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Press release from the Cal Poly Humboldt Chapter of the California Faculty Association:

CFA Humboldt Condemns the arrest of students and faculty in response to Solidarity with Palestine protest on Cal Poly Humboldt Campus

The Cal Poly Humboldt Chapter of the California Faculty Association (CFA), a labor union that represents teaching, counseling, library, and coaching faculty of the California State University System, condemn last night’s actions of Cal Poly Humboldt (CPH) Administration as yet another dangerous escalation of their response to a peaceful campus demonstration.

Just after 9:30pm, Monday, April 29th, a multi-agency force of law enforcement descended on campus. For over 5 hours law enforcement threatened the use of chemical agents and kinetic projectiles via loudspeaker to disperse the crowd gathered on the quad. At approximately 3:30am law enforcement began to arrest peaceful student and faculty protesters sitting in a circle. At least one member of the press was arrested. 

CFA Humboldt strongly condemns the use of law enforcement to clear the quad. Over the course of the last week, student protesters have continued to ask for negotiations with CPH administration, in order to have a peaceful resolution to the protest. These are the actions of conscientious individuals working to end a genocide, not the actions of criminals as President Jackson and Sherriff Honsal repeatedly called the student-protestors.

University communications describe this morning’s law enforcement action as “necessary to restore order and to address the lawlessness and dangerous conditions that had developed,” though, the only danger was that imposed by the threat of police action. The statement further minimized the students’ brave actions to bring light to ongoing genocide by calling the sit-in a criminal activity and not free-expression or protest.

As these protests grow in number across the United States and across the world, underscoring the collective will and power of student organizing, one truth included in the statement is that administration feared this protest would encourage more students to think of the university as their own. Even now, there is a hard closure in place and residents on campus are directed to “NOT walk across campus.”

The environment of fear that the threat of police violence created has reverberated across campus and continues even now. All students were afraid to move freely about the campus, not because of protestors, but because of the threat of police action, including arrest. The alert to shelter in place that went out at 3:00 and 4:06am stressed that due to a level of increased criminal activity, it was dangerous to be on campus. But the protesters did the same thing they had been doing for a week: making signs, sharing music, praying, chanting in support of Palestine. The only difference this time was the impending police action – that is what made campus dangerous in the early hours of this morning. 

CFA Humboldt demand the following:

• Immediate release of all students and faculty arrested last night.
• Immediately reinstate any students suspended due to participation in the protests
• No academic sanctions for participants of the protest over the last week. 
• Barriers to Campus need to be immediately removed and campus needs to be reopened.  All members of the university community need access to campus.
• President Jackson must release a statement calling for a immediate ceasefire, taking note of College of the Redwoods President Keith Flamer’s statement to President Joe Biden
• Accountability from administration whose negotiations with students led students to believe there would be meaningful action on their conscientious demands 

The actions over the last week by CPH administration have eroded the trust of faculty, staff, students, and the larger Humboldt community. The campus community cannot begin to heal until our demands are met. 

In union, 

CFA Humboldt Executive Board

Here’s what the Outpost saw in Tuesday morning’s wee hours.

Just after 2:30 a.m., a column of law enforcement vehicles, including vans and buses, arrived on Cal Poly Humboldt campus carrying over 100 officers in full riot gear. With drones providing surveillance overhead, the officers immediately converged on the UC quad, dismantling protester-constructed barriers along the way.

With officers closing in, a group of between 20 to 30 protesters plopped down in a circle in front of The Depot. With other protesters and members of the media looking on, they chanted pro-Palestinian slogans and shared messages of love with each other one by one officers informed them they were being arrested, stood them up, zip-tied their hands, and led them off the quad. A few protesters lightly resisted by refusing to stand. Some were forced onto their stomachs so their hands could be bound.

With the arrests of the core group of protesters ongoing, law-enforcement set about moving back the rest of the crowd. Wielding poles and batons, the officers loudly repeated the phrase “clear the area” as they advanced on the remaining onlookers, pushing them from the quad toward the library circle driveway. Along the way, they checked the numerous tents between Siemens and Nelson halls for occupants, aggressively clearing them when they confirmed they were vacant.

Those who are arrested were led south, past the Van Duzer Theater, and down several sets of steps to Laurel Drive, where an area had been established in front of Gist Hall to process them. Officers took down their personal information and the medical team checked their vital signs before they were loaded up into one of several vans and carted away.

Officers on scene were unable to provide a count of just how many people have been arrested, but a few dozen seems a safe bet. Among those taken was Adelmi Ruiz, a television news reporter with KRCR’s Eureka bureau. By 4:45 a.m., just over two hours after the raid had begun, officers processed the last of the protesters. Other officers continued to patrol the campus, perhaps searching for stragglers.

Just after 7 a.m., Cal Poly Humboldt sent out the following statement:

On Tuesday, April 30 at about 0230, law enforcement began a series of actions to restore order on the Cal Poly Humboldt campus.

Law enforcement cleared and secured Siemens Hall and Nelson Hall East, as well as the area near those buildings. About 35 25 individuals were arrested, without incident. There were no injuries.

The operation was carried out by Unified Command, which is made up of law enforcement personnel from throughout the State of California under the leadership of Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal and University Police Department Chief Peter Cress.

At the time the operation was initiated, on-campus residents were advised by University text and emails to shelter in place. Others were directed to stay away from campus, which was already under a hard closure.

The operation’s objective was to establish control of the site; protect the rights, safety, and health of students and employees; eliminate the threat of violence and criminal behavior; and reestablish control of buildings and other property.

Those arrested faced a range of different charges depending on individual circumstances including unlawful assembly, vandalism, conspiracy, assault of police officers, and others. In addition, students could face discipline for conduct violations while any University employees arrested could face disciplinary action.

The University had made repeated efforts over the last week to resolve the situation. This morning’s enforcement action was determined to be necessary to restore order and to address the lawlessness and dangerous conditions that had developed.

What was occurring was not free expression or a protest. It was criminal activity, and there were serious concerns it would spread even further on campus.

The hard closure of the campus remains in place through May 10, and law enforcement is continuing to monitor the situation. For employees, your supervisor will contact you if you are authorized to be on campus.

Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal

“The law enforcement action at Cal Poly Humboldt was essential to reestablishing order on campus. When someone commits a crime and infringes on the rights of others, it becomes necessary for law enforcement to step in. I’m grateful to the agencies and officers who contributed to bringing safety back to our campus. I understand the widespread frustration caused by the campus closure, threatening behavior, and lawlessness we’ve witnessed over the past week. By restoring order, we’ve sent a clear message that the criminal and dangerous activities we experienced were not peaceful protests, but outright criminal behavior, which is unacceptable.”

University Police Department Chief Peter Cress

“The University Police Department is deeply grateful to the local and statewide agencies that lent support to our campus during this event. The support was critical in restoring an environment on campus where learning and work occur safely. UPD remains committed to a learning environment where everyone can be heard without breaking the law.”

Tom Jackson Jr., Cal Poly Humboldt President

“This is a difficult day, it breaks my heart to see it, and truly nobody wanted to see things come to this. We’ve all watched this with great concern, and always with the sincere hope that it would be resolved peacefully. Unfortunately, serious criminal activity that crossed the line well beyond the level of a protest had put the campus at ongoing risk. I commend the law enforcement team for their effort in resolving this very dangerous situation, and I’m incredibly grateful for the many agencies who advised us and who came to our aid in our time of need. I’m also very grateful for our many staff members who performed far and above their normal duties to help us protect the campus and maintain operations. Our focus for the entire time has been on doing all we could do to protect the safety of all involved, and we were very patient and very disciplined with that.”

More photos from the night below:

Frances Marie Richardson, born January 19, 1934, passed away on February 25, 2024, at age 90.

Frances was from Santa Cruz, but after becoming a Sister of St. Joseph and nurse upon her graduation from high school, she lived in many cities in California where the Sisters of St. Joseph had hospitals. She lived in the convent at St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka for several years while she worked as a nurse there. While she was a nurse, she was frequently called on to provide nursing care to patients who were having a hard time during their stay at the hospital because she had an innate ability to know how to reach those patients.

Frances left the Order of the Sisters of St. Joseph in her 50s, and moved to Home Health as it began its start in Humboldt County. While she was a Home Health nurse, Frances drove for many years to small towns across Humboldt County to give nursing care to patients in their homes.

After she retired, Frances stayed in Eureka at Seaview Mobile Estates on Humboldt Hill. Her best friend was Ann Boyd of Eureka, our mother and the reason Frances moved back to Humboldt County. Frances loved working in her yard, and every year grew quite a lot of vegetables and fruit. She loved that she had a view of the ocean from her home. She was a creative person. talented both as a painter and in making craft items from wood.

Frances was full of life and personality, and was always interested in, and had strong opinions about, world events. Frances was at Granada Convalescent for the last few years of her life. She remained a devoted Catholic until the end, and has now reunited with her loved ones. We miss her.

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