With more California homeowners just discovering their insurance policies are getting canceled — and hundreds of thousands of others stuck with a pricey option of last resort — state Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara’s efforts to fix the home insurance market can’t come quickly enough.

Lara has introduced two main regulations, with more to come. The first, unveiled last month, aims to streamline rate reviews. State law gives the Insurance Department the power to approve or deny insurers’ requests to raise premiums. Insurance companies complain the process has been holding up the increases they seek as a result of what they say are increased costs due to rising climate-change risks and inflation.

The second regulation will let insurers use catastrophe modeling — which combines historical data with projected risk and losses — along with other factors when setting their premiums. California is the last state to allow for catastrophe modeling.

“We’re undertaking the state’s largest insurance reform,” Lara said during a press conference earlier this month. “We can no longer look solely to the past to guide us to the future.”

He said catastrophe modeling will lead to “more reliable rates,” “greater insurance availability” and “safer communities,” because he said it would further encourage and reward wildfire mitigation by homeowners and communities. Insurance Department spokesperson Michael Soller said success will mean fewer homeowners needing to turn to the FAIR Plan, the state-mandated insurer of last resort.

Insurance trade groups, which stand to benefit most from the new regulations, agree with Lara’s support for catastrophe modeling and support his so-called sustainable insurance strategy. So do fire chiefs, to an extent. But almost everyone else — homeowners, consumer groups and former insurance commissioners — has lingering concerns.

U.S. Rep. John Garamendi, a Democrat representing parts of Solano and Contra Costa counties, had two stints as state insurance commissioner in the mid-1990s and early 2000s. He says the insurance market is “in chaos” — and that Lara should be holding public hearings and demanding insurance company executives testify to explain to Californians why their premiums are rising.

“One of the critical things a commissioner does is to analyze the market and provide the public with information,” Garamendi said in an interview with CalMatters. “(Lara) didn’t use his power to control the industry and second, to inform Californians.”

The criticism drew a retort from Soller: “Commissioner Lara is fixing decades-long neglected issues that have led to this crisis. He is focused on safeguarding the integrity of the state’s insurance market, not second-guessing from predecessors who had their chance and failed to act.”

Dave Winnacker, chief of the East Bay’s Moraga-Orinda Fire District, said the upsides of catastrophe modeling include being able to credit what homeowners, communities and governments do to lessen wildfire risk. That includes being able to account for the numbers and proximity of firefighters in certain areas, Winnacker said.

“Depending on where you are in a state, and that’s tied to population density, the number of firefighters available could affect the outcome (of a wildfire),” he said, adding that catastrophe models should reflect that.

He also said he and other fire chiefs are working to make sure the interests of consumers, fire professionals, insurers and the state are aligned. Insurers may not know what homeowners, communities and local fire departments are doing to reduce wildfire risk. One idea: a database to share that information.

“There is no future in which we can price our way out of this crisis with just premiums,” Winnacker said, adding that everyone needs to work together.

Dave Jones, the state insurance commissioner for eight years before Lara took over in 2019, said he is “trying to avoid looking over the shoulder of my successor.”

Jones is now director of the Climate Risk Initiative Center for Law, Energy & the Environment at UC Berkeley School of Law. He said it is good for consumers that the catastrophe-modeling regulation could take forest management into consideration. But he said he’s not sure Lara’s actions will be sufficient.

State Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara speaks during a press conference with Los Angeles labor leaders and advocates in Commerce on Sept. 26, 2022. Photo by Alisha Jucevic for CalMatters

Before the end of the year, Lara is also expected to issue a regulation that will allow insurers to factor reinsurance costs into their rates. Reinsurance is insurance for insurance companies in the event of large payouts. That plus the other new regulations may “help in the short to mid term,” giving insurance companies the ability to raise premiums, Jones told CalMatters.

But he said those actions may “ultimately be overwhelmed by our failure to stop the fossil-fuel industry, which is contributing to rising temperatures” and therefore insurance losses.

Jones also pointed out that Florida has long allowed insurers to use catastrophe modeling and has let them factor in reinsurance costs in their rates — yet its insurance market is in worse shape than California’s.

“Florida has done what insurers are asking for,” Jones said. Yet “Florida’s rates are three or four times the national average.”

Mark Friedlander, spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute, an industry group, confirmed that the group estimates that Florida’s average home insurance premium was $6,000, or three-and-a-half times the national average, in 2023.

In addition, Jones said Florida’s version of California’s last-resort FAIR Plan — called the Citizens Property Insurance Corp. because it’s funded with a surcharge on policyholders — has more than 1 million policies. California’s growing FAIR Plan, run by a pool of insurers, has 373,000 policies, its president told state lawmakers recently.

“That raises the question,” Jones said. “Giving insurers (higher rates) and shifting the burden to all Californians… whether that’s going to be enough in the face of growing background risk associated with climate change.”

“There is no future in which we can price our way out of this crisis with just premiums.”
— Dave Winnacker, chief of the East Bay’s Moraga-Orinda Fire District

Meanwhile, last week State Farm said that it is not renewing policies for 30,000 California homeowners, as well as refusing to cover all commercial apartments by not renewing 42,000 of those policies.

This is happening despite California approving State Farm’s requests to levy double-digit premium increases last year.

“One of our roles as the insurance regulator is to hold insurance companies accountable for their words and deeds,” said Soller, the Insurance Department spokesperson. “State Farm General’s decision… raises serious questions about its financial situation — questions the company must answer to regulators.”

State Farm spokesperson Sevag Sarkissian would not comment beyond the statement the company put on its website last week, which read in part: “This decision was not made lightly and only after careful analysis of State Farm General’s financial health, which continues to be impacted by inflation, catastrophe exposure, reinsurance costs, and the limitations of working within decades-old insurance regulations.”

Sarkissian also referred CalMatters to the Personal Insurance Federation of California, which counts State Farm as a member. The industry group’s spokesperson, Rex Frazier, said in an email last week that allowing insurers to use catastrophe modeling would help with insurance availability. Yet in its statement, State Farm acknowledged the actions Lara is taking to try to fix the insurance availability and affordability crisis in California, even as it announced its decision not to renew tens of thousands of homeowners.

“If a big chunk of your insurance rate is behind a ‘black box,’ then that’s not what the voters passed.”
— Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog

Joyce Kaufman, a retiree in June Lake in Mono County, recently got a notice of non-renewal for her homeowners insurance with Farmers, which she said she and her husband were dreading but expecting.

“I’m not really sure what the state’s trying to do, both at the commissioner and legislative level,” Kaufman said. And losing the ability to renew her policy is affecting her other insurance needs, she said. As her broker helps look for an alternative, her auto premium is now going up about $300 a year because it will no longer be bundled with home insurance.

As the new regulations give insurance companies what they had asked for, one part of Lara’s strategy — which he first laid out last year after an executive order by the governor — is conspicuously missing. Lara had said insurance companies would be required “to commit to writing at least 85 percent of their statewide market share in wildfire-distressed underserved areas.”

That provision is nowhere in the text of Lara’s unveiled regulations so far — an omission not lost on consumer groups or former commissioner Jones.

“Where is that 85 percent?” asked Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog. Soller, the Insurance Department’s spokesperson, said that part of the commissioner’s strategy is coming.

Balber also said she is concerned that the catastrophe-modeling regulation “appears to not comply with the transparency requirements of Prop. 103,” the voter-approved law that regulates the insurance industry.

According to the text of the regulation on catastrophe modeling, the public will be able to take part in reviewing catastrophe models before they’re deemed acceptable. But anyone who helps review the models will be required to sign a nondisclosure agreement.

“If a big chunk of your insurance rate is behind a ‘black box,’ then that’s not what the voters passed,” when they passed Proposition 103 in 1988, Balber said. “At the end of the day, if the commissioner passes something that hides something behind closed doors, we’ll have to consider challenging it.”

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

Donald Eugene Cloney was born December 11, 1921 in Eureka and died March 10, 2024 at the age of 102 in Eureka. He was the son of Eugene Showers and Matilda (Johnson) Cloney of Eureka. He was the second of four sons.

He graduated from Nazareth Academy (St Bernard School), Eureka High School, and UC Berkeley. He was a veteran of WWII, serving as a medic in the 89th Infantry, Third Army in Europe. He started working after school as a boy of 14 in the family drug store, The Red Cross Pharmacy, and after WWII came back and became a business partner with his father, then brother, and then son.

He was an active member of St. Bernard Catholic Parish, an original sponsor and promoter of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, a 4th degree Knights of Columbus, member of the Native Sons of the Golden West, and a member of the Elks Lodge.

He was preceded in death by his brother Gerald R. Cloney, parents Eugene S. and Matilda J. Cloney, Patricia Mary (Brogan) Cloney: his wife of 56 years, son Joseph T. Cloney, and his brother William J. Cloney. He is survived by his sister-in-law Adella Cloney, brother Stanley E. Cloney (wife Carlotta), son Patrick E. Cloney (wife Renee), daughter Janice M. Johns (husband Bruce), 3 grandchildren: Rhiannon Johns, Gavin Johns, and Aeryn Johns, and so very many cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Rosary will be held 5 p.m. Friday, April 26 at Sanders Funeral Home with the Funeral Mass 11 a.m. on Saturday April 27 at St. Bernard Church. Reception following the Funeral Mass at the Parish Hall. Interment will be at a later date.

Memorial remembrances can be sent to St. Vincent de Paul Society, St. Bernard Church, or the charity of your choice.

John Credico, a Veteran of WWII, passed away on March 21, 2024 at age 97. John was born April 29, 1926 in Cleveland, Ohio to Anthony and Virginia Credico. At a young age, he worked with his father delivering 25-pound blocks of ice, keeping the iceboxes filled for homes and businesses. He attended Collinwood High School before enlisting in the U.S. Navy at the age of 17. John was on the Landing Ship Tank LST 137 and participated in the Amphibious forces on D-Day. He was a gunner on the Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel LCVP, carrying troops to Gold Beach on Normandy. And carried wounded soldiers off the beaches to Navy hospital ships. While serving in the Navy, John sent incredible letters home to his future wife, Josephine Apruzzese, expressing his feelings for her and shared entertaining stories of his shipmates.

After the war, John returned home and married Josephine on August 23, 1947 and together they raised four children. They remained married for 69 years until Josephine passed away in 2016. John was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather and uncle and a friend to everyone he met. He was generous, kind, thoughtful and positive. He truly was a glass-half-full person. He checked in on everyone and was sincere in his interest in what others had to say. He was the best listener. He loved his family and he loved people.

John and Josephine enjoyed traveling outside of the country. His favorite pastime was camping and together they traveled in their camper throughout the states. John was an avid runner and ran in races through his 60s and into his 70s. He was self educated, loved to read, and for years he read a book a week. He became an executive in sales until retiring in 1998. After retirement John and Josephine relocated to Humboldt County to live near their daughters. John enjoyed golfing and loved the ocean, enjoying walks on the beach with Josephine. They loved watching their grandchildren and great-grandchildren play sports and they were always seen holding hands.

In retirement John volunteered at Pacific Union Elementary School, helping in the classrooms and lunchroom. He eventually accepted a position as the school crossing guard, a job he cherished for several years. He loved the children and became good friends with many of the parents. At Halloween he was known for handing out large-size candy bars, and it was obvious that their home was the most popular home on the block. John eventually left Pacific Union School and began working at Sunny Brae Animal Clinic, welcoming and assisting clients at the door. He officially retired from employment at the age of 93.

Our hearts are broken, but we are comforted in our belief that our dad and mom are once again holding hands. Dad’s words, a few days before he passed, “I was lucky. I had a good life.”

John was preceded in death by his wife Josephine and his siblings. He is survived by his children: daughter and son–in-law, Diana and Jay Hight, son John Credico, son and daughter–in-law, Tony and Robyn Credico, daughter Vincetta Borges; grandchildren, Jason and Ally Hight, Jocelyn and Adam Figas, Stacie and Pedro Valdez, Taylor Borges, Justin Credico, Jason and Sharon Credico, Jeena and Scott Koenig and Drew Credico; his many great grandchildren, Luci, Jaron, Cadence, Calahan, Hayden, Taya, Sophie, Sophia, Cameron and Beckham and his loving nieces and nephews.

Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, March 30 at 4 p.m. at Baywood Country Club in Bayside, Ca. Donations can be made to the following Veteran’s organizations, Fisher House Foundation and Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund or a veteran organization of your choice.

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

Our dearest Teresa died Feb. 29 after a brave fight against cancer. Her battle ended with pulmonary embolism, a blood clot in her lungs. She was born in Cebu, Philippines on May 5, 1960 to Catalino and Sarah Mabatid. She was the fifth of six children. Teresa was raised by her grandparents and a loving aunt, enjoying a happy healthy childhood. Poverty forced Teresa to leave high school early to seek work. She found employment at Benedict Brothers, sewing handbags, backpacks and accessories.

In 2012 Teresa was introduced to a recently widowed man named Terry. Their mutual friend, Carmelita, was a former workmate of Teresa who married a man in Fortuna. She thought Teresa and Terry would be a good match. She was right! Terry first visited Teresa in 2012. He later returned to marry her in February 2014. The couple continued to communicate. Finally, Teresa arrived in San Francisco and on to Fortuna at the end of May 2015.

Teresa loved her new home and the people of Humboldt. She exclaimed, “everyone is so nice and friendly!” Terry always believed it was a natural response to her radiant smile.

Teresa enjoyed fishing at Centerville and Table Bluff beaches, walks in Rohner Park and the Gene Lucan recreation center. She was a familiar face at the local thrift shops, usually in the company of two or three other pinay.

She worked at College of the Redwoods cafeteria. She loved Anthony and the cafeteria staff and students. Teresa loved people. She liked to hear their stories. She had special fondness of Millie, Lou, Linda and Paul and Mary from Rohner Park.

Teresa was a woman of faith, a devout Catholic constantly in prayer. She truly believes in Jesus’ resurrection.

Teresa was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Catalino, Jr. and her sister Edith.

She is survived by her siblings Dina, Allen and Ging, and her devoted and loving husband Terry. Teresa is also survived by Jocelyn and David, Lyn and Chris, Bebeth and Doug, Carmelita, Perlita, Armella and many nieces, nephews and cousins in Philippines.

Thank you to the staff at Redwood Memorial and St. Joseph hospitals. A special thanks to the staff in the oncology/chemo center. Teresa loved you all.

Arrangements by Gobles Fortuna Mortuary, including shipment of cremains to Cebu, Philippines where services will be held at a later time.

Always remember, sweetheart, “Our love has no expiration.”

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

We thrilled last week to a rousing medley of numbers from West Side Story played by a professional brass band, bringing back, for me, memories of my first year as an engineering student in London. I’d taken the tube down to the West End, where the musical had been playing for the previous two years to sell-out crowds. For four shillings, I snagged a standing-room-only spot at the back of the stalls where, for nearly three glorious hours, I was transported to Manhattan’s Upper West Side of the mid-1950s.

I think I wore out this LP: Cover of original cast recording, via Wikimedia.

The magic came about via: Leonard Bernstein’s music, blending “jazz, Latin rhythms, symphonic sweep and musical-comedy conventions in groundbreaking ways for Broadway,” according to Misha Berson in the Seattle Times; Jerome Robbin’s fast-paced choreography (with probably the most dancing ever seen at the time in a musical); and Stephen Sondheim’s brilliant lyrics—astonishingly sophisticated from someone in his mid-20s. It didn’t hurt that he’d been mentored by Oscar Hammerstein II.

The basic plot was hardly original, based on Shakespeare’s tragic love story Romeo and Juliet, which itself goes back—through several iterations—at least 2000 years, to Ovid’s Pyramus and Thisbe, the story of two young Babylonian lovers whose parents, motivated by family rivalry, forbid them to wed. Thisbe arrives for their tryst, but flees on seeing a lioness. She loses her cloak as she leaves, so when Pyramus arrives a little later, he finds it, now torn and bloodied by the lioness. Thinking Thisbe’s dead, he falls on his sword—only to be found by Thisbe, who stabs herself. Sound familiar? Shakespeare ran with a later version of this: Romeo and Juliet came from warring families, the Montagues and the Capulets, and you know the rest.

In 1949, West Side Story was originally conceived by dancer, choreographer and director Jerome Robbins, but as East Side Story, with Romeo a member of an Irish Catholic gang, the Jets; and Juliet a Jewish girl who survived the Holocaust. Years later, after several false starts and changes of personnel, the Bernstein-Robbins-Sondheim team, working from a book by Arthur Laurents, created their groundbreaking Latin-themed musical/dance spectacular/Shakespearean tragedy. Instead of Montagues and the Capulets, it has a Puerto Rican gang, the Sharks, battling the home-turf Irish-Polish gang, the Jets. West Side Story opened to rave reviews on Broadway in 1957. The London version which I saw opened the following year with (heart be still) the late Chita Rivera as Anita.

Have you seen the movie? That is, the movies? The 1961 version was the highest-grossing film of that year, winning ten Oscars. Sixty years later, Steven Spielberg made a second adaptation of the original stage show. The divine Puerto Rican dancer and actress Rita Moreno, who played Anita in the 1961 movie (“Best Supporting Actress”), returned as Doc’s widow to sing (I’m moistening up) Somewhere There’s a Place for Us.

I can’t recommend West Side Story enough, in any of its many, many incarnations. There’s been nothing quite like it, before or since.

Press release from Humboldt Bay Fire:

On Friday March 22, 2024 at approximately 3:30pm, Humboldt Bay Fire responded to a structure fire at 901 C Street for a report of an apartment on fire. Three engines, one truck, two Chief Officers, and two Fire Support Volunteers responded.

The first unit arrived on scene and initially reported nothing showing in a two story, five- unit apartment complex. Following further investigation, the Captain reported light gray smoke coming from a second-floor apartment and the roof eaves. The Battalion Chief assumed Incident Command and declared a working fire. Additional units arrived on scene and initiated actions to extinguish the fire, search the building, and remove smoke from the apartments. All occupants had exited the building and no injuries were reported. The Incident Commander requested a second alarm for two additional units - one to respond to the incident, and one to provide station coverage. Humboldt Bay Fire experiences multiple calls at the same time – known as stacked calls – almost 60% of the time for our annual average of 8,000 calls for service!

The fire was controlled within 10 minutes, with the fire attack company containing the fire to the main living area of the fire apartment. Crews then checked adjoining apartments for any fire or smoke damage, and performed overhaul in the fire apartment to ensure the fire did not extend to any other areas of the building. PG&E was on scene and assisted fire personnel in restoring utilities to the other four apartments, and assisted occupants with re-entering their homes.

Smoke Alarms Save Lives. The incident was stabilized after one hour, with crews remaining on scene for an additional three hours for overhaul, investigation and assisting the property owner with securing the building. HBF investigators assessed the cause and origin of the fire and concluded the origin was in the kitchen. The cause of the fire is undetermined at this time. Damage from the fire and smoke was limited to the apartment involved with fire and is estimated at $25,000 including contents. No civilian or firefighter injuries occurred.

HBF would like to thank Eureka PD who assisted temporarily displaced occupants, and Arcata Fire Protection District for providing station coverage.

Humboldt Bay Fire remind everyone that smoke alarms save lives! A working smoke alarm should be in every bedroom, in the hallway and on each floor of a residence.

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The industrial legacy of the 20th Century left many contaminated sites around Humboldt Bay. Our second special episode on communities at risk from sea level rise features local residents talking about several of the most vulnerable sites, including Tuluwat Island, Butcher Slough in Arcata, and the nuclear waste storage site above King Salmon. Many thanks to Hilanea Wilkinson, Adam Canter, Jerry Rohde, Nate Faith, and to Jessie Eden, who produced this episode with funding provided by the California Coastal Commission Whale Tail Grant Program.   

For more info: