Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:
On 3/31/2024, at about 04:30 a.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the 500 block of Pacific Ct. in Trinidad for the report of interrupted burglary with the suspect being detained by a homeowner.
Upon arrival, HCSO deputies found one of the homeowners to be detaining the suspect in the front yard of the residence. The suspect was detained by deputies and later identified as 65-year-old James Kelly. The homeowners reported to deputies that they had been awoken just prior to their 911 call by their dogs barking and the sound of their sliding glass door being opened. Upon investigating the noise, one of the homeowners located Kelly as he appeared to be attempting to exit their property. 911 was called to report the incident and Kelly was detained until law enforcement arrival.
After obtaining statements and conducting their investigation, Kelly was placed under arrest by deputies and transported to the Humboldt County Correctional Facility where he was booked on the charge of attempted burglary (PC664/460(a)).
Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.
UPDATE, Wednesday Morning: The Sheriff’s Office says:
Dellena Wyatt has been located safe.
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Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:
Dellena Wyatt, Age 36
In December of 2023 the family of 36-year-old Dellena Wyatt reported her as a missing person. They had not seen or heard from her since the summer of 2022. She was last seen in the Alderpoint area. Wyatt is described as 5’ 4” tall, 150 lbs., blond/strawberry colored hair, and hazel eyes. She may be suffering from undiagnosed mental health issues and is possibly living a transient lifestyle. The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office is asking for the public’s help locating Wyatt. If you have information on Wyatt’s whereabouts, please call Investigator Mike Fridley at 707-441-3024.
Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.
On Tuesday, April 2, 2024 at approximately 8:55 am, the Eureka Police Department received
notification from Zane Middle School that they had received a Bomb Threat and were going
into lockdown. Officers and Detectives responded to the school to secure the campus and
conduct the investigation. School officials and Law Enforcement quickly identified three (3)
juveniles believed to have been involved in the threat and sequestered them in the office.
The investigation revealed two (2) of the juveniles, males ages 12 and 13, phoned in the threat
to the school. School officials and Law Enforcement determined that there were no actual
threats to the campus or students and the lockdown was released at approximately 9:28 am.
The two juveniles were arrested for Terrorist Threats and Conspiracy and booked at Juvenile
Hall.
This type of behavior will not be tolerated and is detrimental to the school environment and to
our students’ wellbeing. The Eureka Police Department takes the safety of our schools,
students and staff seriously and will address these matters quickly and with all our available
resources.
The Eureka Police Department would like to thank the staff and students at Zane for their
great work and patience during this lockdown. We would also like to thank the community
and parents for their cooperation and allowing us to quickly resolve this issue without
disruptions at the campus.
This is an ongoing investigation and anyone with any additional information is asked to contact
EPD School Resource Officer Don Arminio at 707-497-8756.
Zane is now off lockdown. Two involved juveniles are in custody for criminal threats.
A press release will be released later today.
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Original Post: The Eureka Police Department took to social media Tuesday morning to announce that Zane Middle School is on lockdown.
“There is no active threat to any students or staff. Please do not come on campus until advised, as Eureka Police Dept is investigating,” the department said on Facebook. “Again, there is no immediate danger.”
On March 31, 2024 at approximately 4:48 P.M., CHP Humboldt Communications Center received a report of an overturned vehicle on Northbound US-101, north of Fernbridge. Emergency personnel responded to the scene and located a 2017 Ford F150 off the east roadside, down an embankment, and actively burning. The passenger, 19-year-old Jozef Borges of Tracy, CA, was able to self-extricate from the vehicle. He was subsequently transported to St. Joseph Hospital with major injuries. The driver, 59-year-old John Borges, also of Tracy, unfortunately sustained fatal injuries as a result of the crash. It is unknown what caused the Ford to travel off the roadway, however, impairment is not considered to have been a factor at this time.
The California Highway Patrol extends its sincere condolences to the family and thanks all responding agencies for their assistance in managing the scene. The CHP Humboldt Area office is continuing its investigation and asks anyone who may have additional information to contact the California Highway Patrol at 707-822-5981.
Foster kids often miss out on Little League or music lessons. That’s one of the consequences of changing homes, or living with a family on a tight budget.
Now California has a new plan to give them opportunities for the kinds of extracurricular activities that can build character and community.
It’s included in a proposed revision to how the state pays for foster care that’s intended to make more money available to high-needs kids. Youth advocates are especially enthusiastic about the funding for extracurricular activities, which would come in the form of a monthly stipend of at least $500.
“These kids are always underfunded,” said Brian Blalock, senior directing attorney at the Youth Law Center. “And especially when the kids are with grandma and the kids are with relatives, often on fixed income. It’s where we most want these young people as a system, and as a consequence, grandma’s maxing out credit cards to keep the grandbaby in basketball and dance and tutoring.”
The California Department of Social Services put forward the proposal last month, as part of a restructuring to the state’s foster care payment system that was prompted by a 2015 law. Lawmakers are expected to consider it in budget deliberations this spring. By law, the state must adopt updated foster care pay rates by Jan. 1, although the changes would not roll out until 2026.
Aside from the money for activities, the proposal includes a new scale for payments to foster families and money earmarked for support services like therapy and mentoring. Children with greater needs would receive more money.
If the Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom sign off on the plan, the department estimates California will spend about $1 billion a year by 2028-29 on foster care payments.
Some money will come from the federal government, but the vast majority will be put up by the state’s general fund. For comparison, California spent a total of $459 million in foster care pay in 2023-24.
State officials say the proposal is meant to create room for positive experiences in foster care.
“Most importantly it is attuning to the fact that all of these children have strengths, and focusing on those strengths and building those strengths is really key to addressing that trauma and improving the well-being of all of our children,” said Angie Schwartz, deputy director of the Children and Family Services Division at the California Department of Social Services, during a webinar in March.
Assessing children’s needs in foster care
Under the state’s proposal, compensation for caregivers would be based on a tiered system of kids’ assessed needs. This would range from $1,788 a month for most kids to $6,296 for kids with the greatest needs for support.
That would replace the current model which bases a caregiver’s pay on where a child is placed. Right now group homes are paid a higher rate than grandparents or foster families, for example.
The acuity of a child’s needs will be evaluated with a tool known as the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths assessment. While this assessment is used today, it doesn’t determine funding. Kids are usually assessed every six months.
This assessment takes into account a number of things, including kids’ behavioral and emotional needs, risk behaviors and how the child is doing in school, socially and physically.
Foster care services providers and the Legislative Analyst’s Office have raised questions about the reliability of the assessment tool and whether it will be done consistently.
“There’s real worry about children potentially being scored at a lower tier or at a lower level, and then that determining the tier of services that they would get,” said Christine Stoner-Mertz, CEO of the California Alliance of Child and Family Services, which represents organizations that work in child welfare.
Stoner-Mertz said the state needs to figure out a process for when children switch tiers, especially if their level of need begins to decline and they are bumped down to a lower funding level.
“How are we working with families to prepare them for what could often be perceived as losing those supports that are, in fact, making the child more stable in their home?”
For the first time, children and their caregivers may also be eligible for “immediate needs” dollars, which would fund support services like therapy and mentoring. This would come in amounts between $1,000 and $4,100 a month and would be reserved for the 25% of children with the greatest needs.
Organizations that support foster families are watching the state’s proposal closely, and some are worried it does not provide enough money for the nonprofits that do the work to place kids in homes.
The nonprofits, known as foster family agencies, play an important role in this process by recruiting foster parents and training them, as well as providing social work support.
The California Alliance of Child and Family Services notes that the rate paid to foster family agencies has remained mostly flat for almost 20 years.
A recent survey by the alliance showed foster family agencies have high turnover rates of social workers because they cannot compete with the salaries offered by other employers. The survey also showed 68% of foster family agencies are at risk of downsizing because of insufficient funding.
As proposed, the state would pay the nonprofits $1,610 a month for most children and up to $7,213 for kids with the greatest needs. The alliance representing the nonprofits says the monthly rates need to be between $2,245 and up to $10,650 to be sustainable.
“We want to have more home-based care, and this is what (foster family agencies) do and support,” said Adrienne Shilton, vice president of public policy at the California Alliance of Child and Family Services. “So we’re perplexed by that, in terms of stated goals and then (the rates) we see here.”
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CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.
Evelyn Angelina Leonardo was
born October 19, 1929 at her parents’ home in Table Bluff. She
passed away the way she always said she wanted to go, at her house
peacefully in her sleep, and with family playing cards at the dining
room table.
Her parents, Joseph G. Leonardo
and Mary August Borges, were both immigrants from the Azores. Her Portuguese heritage was something she was proud of. She was the Holy
Ghost Festa’s big Queen in 1948, and spoke of how her mother had
mailed the dress back to the Azores to be used by family members. She
was a member of the UPCC and SPRIS Lodges and had bought life
insurance policies for many of her grandchildren and
great-grandchildren in the SES, now P.F.S.A., so they could be
members as well. She volunteered on the festas committee many times.
Even this past year she assisted her sister Ione and sister-in-law
Silvia in selling sweetbread and linguica at the celebration.
She grew up in Ferndale and
was a lifelong member of the Assumption Catholic Church, where she was
married to the love of her life, Allen Rae “Timer” Paine, on
February 12, 1949. They were active in the church, with grandma even
having her”pew” where she sat every week prior to COVID. Grandma
was a member of the ladies’ guild and altar society for many years.
In 1950, Evelyn gave birth to
her daughter Linda, soon to be followed on her birthday in 1951 with
son David, and in 1953 her family was complete with the birth of
Patricia. In 1955 they bought their first home on Madison Street.
When the lot next door became available they bought the lot and began
building her forever home. It was a family affair, with her
brother-in-law Eddie Christensen as their contractor. Timer and the
kids worked on the house until it was completed in 1964. Many family
gatherings were held at that home from wedding receptions, Christmas
Eves, baby showers and so much more.
Evelyn was known as a hard
worker, she started working as a teenager doing bookkeeping at a
local grocery store. She spent many years working at the Valley
Grocery. She was bored with being retired, so she went to work for
Larry Martin at his ice cream shop, she then moved across the street
to work at Rings Pharmacy. She also volunteered with the Ferndale
Senior luncheon for many years.
Even though Timer was the
musician in the family, grandma loved music. They were active
dancers, being members of the Jolly Time Dance Club for many years.
She would turn on the radio in the mornings while she ate her
breakfast. In her final days she was caught tapping her feet and
waving her hands to the music we played for her.
Holidays were big family
affairs, and once they outgrew the houses the Leonardo side of the
family began renting halls to hold Thanksgiving, Christmas and
Easter. Evelyn was big on family and loved them so much. She made
every child, grandchild and great-grandchild feel like they were her
favorite. She loved when family would come over and if there were
enough card players Pedro was being played. Sometimes the card table
had to be set-up in the living room due to there needing to be a
second game. Grandma would make everyone laugh when her team was
close to winning and she would say “we’ll just slide right out.” She and Timer had played cards for years with friends and family
alike.
Grandma enjoyed traveling and
her and grandpa enjoyed many vacations both with friends like the
Alexandres to places like Hawaii and Portugal, and to see family.
Grandma even once took a train to Hanford, Calif. so she could visit her
great grandchildren Brittani and Jasen.
In the early 1960s Evelyn
and Timer started attending the Bear River picnics at Earl
Ambrosini’s cabin. The Sweets, the Bryants, the Lorenzos all had
generations of family attending those picnics.
Grandma turning 85 was hard on
all of us, as that is when she decided to retire from baking. She will
be forever missed for the cookie can that was always full. For many
of the grandkids, the first thing that they did when walked in the
house was to stop by the cookie can. It was so missed that a baking
day was planned at her house by her granddaughters. That day Evelyn
got to sit and play cards while overseeing her granddaughters and
great-granddaughters bake cookies using her recipes. Her freezer was
stocked for months.
She was preceded in death by
her parents Joseph G and Mary (Borges) Leonardo, her beloved husband
of 48 years Allen “Timer” Paine, her in-laws Leslie Rae and Zella
“Claire” (Benjamin) Paine; her siblings Joseph Leonardo, Frank
Leonardo, Mary (Leonardo) Manzi, Ione (Leonardo) Franz and her infant
brother Frank Leonardo; her sisters-in-law Janice (Paine)
Christensen, Helen (Paine) Baldwin, Alice Gaye (Paine) Lorenzo and
brothers-in-law Clifford Paine, Earl Paine and Garth “Newt”
Paine; her son-in law David Galbraith and step-granddaughter Evangela
“Angie” (Torgerson) Hopkins.
Evelyn is survived by her
three children, Linda Brito, and husband George; David Paine and wife
Joanne and Patricia “Petie” Galbraith. She also leaves behind her
grandchildren Heather (Paine Cook) Peugh and husband Scott; Craig
Brito and wife Rosie; Jessica Paine; Melissa (Hackett) Shepherd and
husband Dave; Ken Brito and wife Cori; Jennifer (Brito) Hayes and
husband Jacob; Kevin Galbraith; Aaron Pain and wife Ashley; and
Justin Paine and girlfriend Devon Thompson. Her Step grandchildren
Holly (Lucas) Martella and husband Jeff and Jeremy Lucas and wife
Patti. She was affectionately called Nammie by her great
grandchildren: Ariel, Aurora and Jake Peugh; Owen and Ansley Brito,
Braden Paine, Brittani Hackett-Little and fiance David Hall, Jasen
Shepherd and wife Zuri; Lauren and Emma Rae Brito; Myra, Olivia,
Audrey and Lucy Hayes, Aliese Galbraith, Zeb, Eloise and Atlas Paine
and Jayden and Ruka Paine. Her step-great grandchildren: Kobe
Martella and wife Brittany, Andrena (Martella) Diven and husband
Brayden, Chase Hopkins and girlfriend Korrie Morris, Haylee Hopkins,
Madison Hopkins and partner Shantel Fixsen and Denali Hopkins. Her
great grandchild Adalyn Evelyn Hall and step-great grandchildren
Riven and Brooklyn Hopkins. She is also survived by her sister-in-law
Silvia Leonardo and brother-in-law Lee Franz as well as too many
nieces and nephews to count between the Leonardo and Paine families.
A visitation will be held on
Friday, April 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the Ferndale Assumption Catholic
Church with the rosary to follow at 8 p.m. A Catholic Funeral Mass
will also be held at the church on Saturday, April 6 at 10 a.m., with burial to
follow at St. Bernard’s Cemetery in Eureka. She will be laid to rest
with her soulmate Timer. Reception to be held at the Catholic Church
hall after the burial.
The family would like to thank
Providence Home Health and Hospice of Humboldt for their assistance
in allowing grandma to be home as she wanted in her final days. In
lieu of flowers please donate to the Ferndale volunteer Fire
Department or the Ferndale Holy Ghost Festival in her name.
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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Evelyn Leonardo’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.
