Press release from the City of Arcata:

The City of Arcata Transportation Division is excited to announce that the Arcata and Mad River Transit System (A&MRTS) is offering free bus rides during the month of June.

The City encourages Arcata residents and visitors to take the bus to run errands and to explore Arcata’s neighborhoods, businesses, parks and recreational spaces. The goal of this program is to increase ridership for A&MRTS by showing how easy it is to use the transit system.

A summer month was selected for this program as historically the ridership is low in summer months because schools, including Cal Poly Humboldt, are not in session. Last year, there was an approximately 10% increase in ridership during the implementation of this program in June and July of financial year (FY) 21-22 compared to FY 20-21. The division is excited about increasing that percentage in FY 22-23. Funding to support this program comes from the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP).

Free bus rides in Arcata will be in effect starting Thursday, June 1 through Friday, June 30 with A&MRTS offering transit routes that run Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the summer months.

For more information regarding bus routes and schedules, visit hta.org/agencies/arcata-and-mad-river/ or call (707) 822-3775.

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If you like helping out your community, or you just really like soup (who doesn’t, right?) you might want to check out Empty Bowls, a fundraising event happening June 1 to help raise money for local nonprofits St. Vincent de Paul and the Jefferson Community Center. 

Started in 1990 by two ceramics teachers in Michigan, Empty Bowls is now a worldwide grassroots effort to use art and crafts to help raise money for food-related charities. The local event coordinator Mark Campbell, a longtime potter and St. Vincent de Paul board member, told the Outpost that SVdP held an Empty Bowls event for several years at the Arcata Endeavor, back when it was still open. But this will be the first time the event is being held locally in more than 20 years. 

The exact way the fundraiser is done varies in different places, but the idea is that people can purchase empty bowls and fill them with soup to eat, and all the money raised will go toward feeding those in need. Though in the past, Campbell said, the bowls and soup were purchased as a package deal, this year participants can purchase their ceramic bowls separately and/ or buy a dinner of unlimited soup, salad and bread. The cost for dinner is $20 for one person, $40 per couple or $45 for families, no matter the family size. The proceeds will go toward funding SVdP’s continued efforts to feed the homeless, and toward the Jefferson Community Center’s efforts to build a new kitchen and start offering community cooking classes. 

To get this year’s event going Campbell has been busy working with ceramics artists, who are donating the bowls, and local restaurants and chefs, who are donating the food. The meal will feature soups from more than 20 local restaurants, including Humboldt Bay Bistro, Brett’s Pizzeria, Bayfront Restaurant, Nou Nou’s food truck, the Curry Leaf, the Greene Lily, Vista del Mar, Restaurant 511, Mazottis, Plaza Grill , Jack’s Seafood, Blue Lake Casino, Manzanilla Kitchen, Humboldt Soup Company, Ramones, Opera Alley Bistro, the Eagle House, Big Blue Cafe, Murphys Market, and Caps Food Shack. Plus local bakeries, including Brio and the North Coast Co-op, will be contributing the bread. 

“It’s the only time I can think of where you have 20 restaurants in one building,” Campbell said. 

Bowl donated by ceramic artist George Lea

For the pottery sale, bowls (and a few other ceramics) were donated by Fire Arts, as well as  ceramics students and instructors from both Cal Poly Humboldt and College of the Redwoods. Campbell also got a few donations through his Facebook group “Clay Buddies,” which he said is the largest pottery club on Facebook (5.2K members.) Of course, being a potter himself, Campbell also made 30 bowls for the event. 

In addition to his love for pottery, Campbell also has a deep love for food and spent 28 years cooking at various restaurants throughout Humboldt. Throughout much of that time Campbell also volunteered at the SVdP free meal, helping prepare and serve food for the hungry. About seven years ago Campbell retired from the food service industry to become a full time potter, but has continued dedicating much of his free time to cooking for SVdP. Campbell said he loves doing the work and wanted to add that SVdP is nearing its 4 millionth free meal served.  

For the event, Campbell will be representing SVdP with his own mulligatawny – an Indian curry that usually features chicken, cream and apples. But Campbell said he is changing it up by subbing out the apples for mandarin oranges. “It used to be really popular in the day, when I cooked professionally,” he said. 

As far as the rest of the menu, Campbell said a few restaurants have shared what they’re making (Blue Lake Casino is doing a clam chowder and Brett’s Pizzeria is contributing a ham and navy bean soup) but mostly, it will be a surprise. Campbell does know that there will be lots of variety (both in pottery and food) and has been thrilled to have so many people want to help contribute to the event. 

“All the work these people put in – these really skilled potters and chefs putting in work for this  common cause – it’s incredible,” Campbell said. 

Empty Bowls will take place on Thursday June 1 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Jefferson Community Center – 1000 B St, Eureka. You can purchase tickets at this link.

May is Trauma Awareness Month, that time of the year when the American Trauma Society and the Society of Trauma Nurses team up to try to keep you out of the emergency room with acute injuries. This year’s theme: “Distracted to Death,” a.k.a. keep your goddamn phone in your pocket when you’re behind the wheel.

What better time for the Outpost’s John Kennedy O’Connor to check in with the people at the region’s only level-three trauma care center, which is housed within St. Joe’s? Here we meet with the center’s program manager, Brandon Klith, and improvement nurse Pam Collver to talk about their work, and to reiterate the message: Be present and aware when driving. Hopefully this is the last you’ll see of Brandon and Pam for a while. (Unless you are friends or family, of course.)

Video above, rough transcript below.

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JOHN KENNEDY O’CONNOR:

Well, welcome to another Humboldt Conversation. I’m delighted to say actually today we’re back at Providence St Joseph Hospital and we’re meeting with two people from the Trauma Center. I’m going to introduce myself, it’s Brandon and Pam. Brandon, what is your role?

BRANDON KLITH:

So my name is Brandon. I’m the trauma program manager here at St. Joseph’s. I’ve been in this role since December of last year, so not very long.

O’CONNOR:

And Pam.

PAM COLLVER:

I’m Pamela Collver and I’m the trauma performance improvement nurse and I’ve been in this role just a little over a year.

O’CONNOR:

Now, this is actually Trauma Awareness Month, and we’re here to talk about the trauma-informed care that’s being provided to people who are in a very, very difficult situation at the hospital, because we had an incident downtown in Eureka, where everybody arrived here. How do you deal with situations like that when you’re suddenly faced with these situations?

KLITH:

That’s the great thing about being a trauma center is that we’re ready for situations like that. We train for situations like that. Our staff is ready at hand to deal with situations like that. That’s the benefit of having a trauma center. So from that incident, we got a total of nine patients that were brought to our emergency room in a very short amount of time. Six of those were critical enough to meet our trauma activation criteria. So six very critical patients. And we were able to manage all those patients simultaneously at once and care for them throughout the care of their stay through the ER. So it was very great.

O’CONNOR:

And what’s very important also to really reiterate is that this is the only trauma centre for many, many miles. This is really the epicenter where people will come.

KLITH:

So this is the largest trauma center in our county. There is a level four trauma center, which is Mad River Community Hospital. And there’s a level four center in Sutter Coast, Sutter Coast Hospital. But we’re a level three trauma center, so our capabilities are a little higher. So we have 24-7 emergency room services on hand, of course, all the time. We have 24-7 trauma surgery available. We have 24-7 orthopedic surgery available. And then we have about two to three weeks out of each month, we have neurosurgery capability available, which is phenomenal. Here this summer, we’ll be bringing on another neurosurgeon so that will increase our neurosurgery coverage. But if you look at California at large, the next largest trauma center is a ways away. North is gonna be, oh, why can’t I remember the name? Medford. Medford. East is gonna be Reading, and South is gonna be Santa Rosa. So we encompass a large amount of area that we bring patients into. So us being a level three trauma center cares for a lot of patients throughout Humboldt County. of pre-emergency.

O’CONNOR:

You referenced, obviously, the recent incident that happened in Eureka but presumably also you are bringing in people from way outside the Eureka area to deal with them in traumatic situations.

COLLVER:

Yes, so I work with EMS closely and there is a algorithm they follow when to bypass to a trauma center. So we do catch people out Highway 36, really far south. And it is to come here because we have a lot of services and we are able to keep people locally more now having a level three trauma center.

O’CONNOR:

Now, just so, for my own interest, I’m kind of curious, what is the difference between a level three and a level four? What difference will people expect through that difference? Maybe nothing.

KLITH:

It’s actually quite a bit. So it’s all about capability. So like I said, we have those services, orthopedic, trauma, neurosurgery. It’s not required for a level four trauma center to have those standards. So you could go to a level four and they may not have an orthopedic surgeon on. They may not have neurosurgery on. So level four is really meant to transfer to a higher level of care. So as you grow in level of trauma center, you’re going to have a greater amount of services.

O’CONNOR:

Now, another very, may-sound-like-a-very-silly question, but I was just curious. How do you how do you work within the ER department, and what is the difference between somebody coming into ER and coming and may need the trauma center?

KLITH:

I can answer that, I guess. So we are simultaneous. So we are one department, we work very close with ER, obviously, it’s all going to be how that patient presents. So as a trauma center, we have different criteria. So it’s called a trauma activation criteria. And if those patients coming in meet that criteria, then they’re deemed as a trauma patient, and we should activate these levels of, you know, mechanism and criteria are all shown to be, you know, related to high injury mechanisms, high injury accidents. And so what our goal is, is to get to that patient as quickly as we can scan them to make sure that we’re not missing any injuries, and you know, treat any critical injuries the soonest that we can. So we’re very, very close with the ER, we’re in the same department.

COLLVER:

I’ll add to that, we do follow the American College of Surgeons, their criteria, they give us what mechanisms we should be looking at and then we have a team response. So we have a tiered system versus alert versus a trauma code and depending on what we call overhead it’s a team response that shows up and it’s dedicated to this patient until they are stable.

O’CONNOR:

And what is happening in National Trauma Awareness Month, as you say, different from your normal routine. What is the purpose and what is the goal of the awareness campaign?

KLITH:

So the awareness campaign changes every year. The Society of Trauma Nurses, or STN, puts on a trauma awareness month every month, which is May. They pick a different topic. This year’s topic is driver safety. So phone safety, not driving under the influence. They’re really hammering hard motor vehicle accidents, which last year, so 2022, we saw roughly 385 trauma patients that we activated on. About 30 to 35% of those patients were motor vehicle accidents. So it is a high incidence in our trauma center that we’re seeing motor vehicle accidents. So this campaign is meant to really make drivers aware of driver safety.

COLLVER:

Seatbelts.

O’CONNOR:

Safety. So really the point is actually to, which makes perfect sense, is to avoid people coming into your care. It’s really taking steps to protect yourself.

KLITH:

Yeah, and that’s the whole goal of really Pam’s job and well both of us really but a big part of being a trauma center is again trying to prevent traumas, right? We want a healthy community. We don’t want patients to come to see us as a trauma patient because we want a healthy community. So we really work with the community to try to have injury prevention. One thing that we’ve been doing here recently is a stop the bleed class. So it teaches the layperson how to hold pressure over a wound, how to apply a tourniquet. In gearing up for any kind of mass shooting or incident like that.

O’CONNOR:

Well, I’m sure that all of us hope that nobody is ever going to be in your care at all. I mean, that would be the ultimate goal, but of course it’s going to happen. I think people feel very reassured to know there is such a strong team here at the hospital. Unfortunately, if they are in need of help, they will get the help that they need. Thank you very much, Brandon and Pam, for joining us today for a Humboldt Conversation. It’s really interesting to learn about your work. And as I say, let’s hope that nobody is ever in need of your help.

KLITH:

Yeah, and happy Trauma Awareness Month.

O’CONNOR:

Thank you both very much. And join us again soon for another Humboldt Conversation. 

Dealing a blow to Gov. Gavin Newsom, Democratic legislators on Thursday shot down his ambitious attempt to reform state environmental law and make it easier to build big infrastructure projects in California.

In a 3-0 vote, a Senate budget committee found Newsom’s package was too complex for last-minute consideration under legislative deadlines. The cutoff for bills to pass out of their house of origin is June 2, just two weeks after the governor rolled out his proposal to adjust the landmark California Environmental Quality Act.

The 10 bills included measures to streamline water, transportation and clean energy projects with an eye toward helping the state meet its climate goals. The proposals also took aim at an environmental law commonly referred to by the acronym CEQA that critics have long decried as a tool to bog down housing and other projects.

But the committee members – two Democrats and one Republican – said no.

“The overwhelming agreement is that we need to build clean faster and cut green tape,” said Committee Chair Sen. Josh Becker, a Democrat from San Mateo. “That’s been a legislative priority for me and will continue to be a legislative priority. Although today we are rejecting the governor’s trailer bill proposals based on process, as seven days is insufficient to vet the hundreds of pages of policy nuance in these proposals, we look forward to working with the administration on all of these critical issues.”

Sen. Mike McGuire, a Democrat from Santa Rosa, and Sen. Brian Dahle, a Republican from Redding, also voted no.

That setback, served to Newsom by two Democratic allies, came just hours after the governor expressed confidence his package would prevail.

“I am proud of the Legislature on what we have achieved. I am confident that they will deliver on this,” he said, speaking during an event in Richmond on Thursday intended to highlight the state’s renewable energy achievements.

That vote doesn’t mean Newsom’s infrastructure proposal is dead. His bills could return to Senate or Assembly budget committees as trailer bills. Or Newsom could instead re-introduce them through the Legislature’s policy committees, where they would go through a lengthier process of public comments, discussion and votes.

“The governor is committed to getting this proposal passed so California can maximize its share of federal infrastructure dollars and fast-track clean energy, transportation and water projects that deliver results for all Californians,” Daniel Villaseñor, deputy press secretary for the governor’s office, said in an emailed statement.

Gavin Newsom’s pitch for building big things

But Newsom spoke plenty about his infrastructure legislation earlier in the day in Richmond, during an event that quickly morphed into an exhortation about the urgency of passing his proposal.

“Enough. We need to build, we need to get things done,” Newsom said. “This is not an ideological exercise. We don’t have time. We gotta go.”

Newsom said that streamlining legal review of clean energy projects is imperative if the state expects to reach its ambitious climate goals. Newsom cited a solar project that has taken 13 years to work its way through agency bureaucracy, a timeframe he called “absurd.”

His legislation proposed a fixed 270-day permitting process for some projects and 270 days for judicial reviews.

“If we don’t build, democracy is crushed,” Newsom said. “They say we can’t get things done anymore. We need to get moving and get ourselves out of the way.”

His package of bills would shorten the amount of time certain projects – namely water, transportation, clean energy and semiconductor or microelectronic projects – could spend in court. It also would have limited the amount of records parties involved in CEQA litigation would have to produce. Typically, preparing the required records for such lawsuits takes between four and 17 months, according to a document published with the bill.

Environmental groups against fast CEQA changes

But Newsom’s ideas to water down the state’s landmark environmental law immediately drew criticism from some environmental groups, including Sierra Club California and Restore the Delta.

Several groups also called into Thursday’s hearing to express their concerns.

“This is moving in the wrong direction for protections for the environment,” said Deirdre Des Jardins, director of California Water Research. “We urge the Senate to completely reject the governor’s proposed trailer bill language. Frankly, there was no reason to spring it on the legislature or the public so suddenly and at the end of the legislative session.”

In voting down Newsom’s infrastructure package, Becker made it clear that he was not against the governor’s goals. But he and the other committee members determined the bills should face additional review instead of speeding through the budget committee.

“I’ve been a long-time supporter of building clean faster, which not only means land siting and other permitting reform, but also supporting supply chains and costs for climate projects,” Becker said. “I agree with some of the proposals that have been outlined in the governor’s infrastructure package.”

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

We are saddened to announce the passing of Richard Dennis McKenna on the 23rd of May. He was born in Youngstown, Ohio on March 19, 1940 to Dennis Francis McKenna III and Vera Lorraine Everstine. He came to California as a young boy, living in San Francisco. Richard met Florence Jean Brodeau in San Francisco and they were married in Visalia, California on December 4, 1958.

Richard and Jean lived in the San Diego Area and the Bay Area before moving to Humboldt County in 1967. In addition to their three boys and a girl, they took care of more than two hundred foster children.

Richard was a Vietnam Navy veteran, serving from 1957 to1963. He served on the USS Jason AR-8 and then on the USS Walton DE-361 during the early years of the war. He earned the National Defense Medal and the Armed Services Expeditionary Service Medal (Vietnam).

After the Navy, Richard went to work for PG&E as an auxiliary operator and stayed with them until he retired as Supervisor of Operations at Humboldt Bay Nuclear Power Plant.

Richard was a Mason, a member of the AAHMES Redwood Shrine Club, and a Shriner Clown.

He loved spending his summers at Trinity Lake.

Richard is survived by his sister Kathy Martin (Donald) Hamilton; sons Dennis and Richard McKenna; daughter Connie McKenna; daughters-in-law Pamela McKenna, Sherri McKenna, and Madeline McKenna; grandsons Ben (Amy) McKenna and Darrel Neilson, granddaughters Heather (Jayme) Gonzales, Marsha Silvey, Caren McKenna, Colleen Carroll, Courtney Carroll, and Melina McKenna; great-grandsons Shane Jensen Jr, Justice Heflin-Woods, Mason Silvey, and Sebastian Carroll; nieces Pam (Oscar) Sarlandt, Tammy Holt, Angela (Danny) Nichols; nephews Jimmy (Corina) McKenna, Scott (Renee) McKenna, Floyd Brodeau Jr, Scott Collins; and their families.

He was preceded in death by his wife Jean, by his son Norman McKenna, by his brothers Donald (Waltraud) McKenna and Paul (Joanne) McKenna; by his parents Dennis and Vera; and by his grandparents Dennis Francis McKenna II, Ellen Shaffer McKenna, Olive McKenna, John Everstine, and Florence Schisler Everstine Stombaugh.

The Funeral will be at Goble’s Fortuna Mortuary, 560 12th Street, Fortuna on June 10 at 11 a.m. A reception follows at the Eel River Empire Lodge, 922 Main Street, Fortuna. A family-only internment will take place at 12:30 p.m. at Sunrise Cemetery and then the family will join fellow mourners at the Eel River Empire Lodge to celebrate Richard’s life.

In lieu of flowers, the family would prefer a donation to Hospice of Humboldt in gratitude for their care of Richard during his transition. Donations can be made online at hospiceofhumboldt.org or mailed to Hospice of Humboldt, 3327 Timber Fall Court, Eureka, CA 95503. Their phone number is 707-445-8443.

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Ray Smith passed away May 4, 2023 in Fortuna at age 70. He is survived by three older sisters and one younger brother. Ray was respected by his friends, coworkers, and neighbors.

He was the guardian of a succession of dogs throughout his life, the last few being Spunk, Yoda and Finn. His last dog, Finn, was adopted by a good friend after Ray’s death.

Ray had a fondness for cooking, riding motorcycles and playing the guitar. He had a passion for finding treasures at thrift stores, often giving the items to family and friends.

He worked for Humboldt County Environmental Health as a restaurant inspector for 16 years, retiring in 2018. Ray’s guiding principle in this job was educating restaurant owners in best practices, only suspending a restaurant’s operating permit to protect public health. He was respected and cherished by these restaurant owners.

Rest in peace, brother and friend.

A celebration of life and scattering of Ray’s ashes by family and friends is planned for June 2023.

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Raymond Dean Miller was born October 22, 1945 to Paul and Adeline Miller in Lansing, Illinois. His family meant everything to him, so when he left them behind to move to California, he called them every Sunday and holiday. His oldest daughter Shelly was born in Eureka in 1968.

In 1970, he met Gaylene and her son Lorne. He and Gaylene married March 26, 1971. She was the love of his life. They soon had a daughter of their own, Kathy, born in 1972.

Growing up with his four siblings — Deb, Rose, Judy and brother Paul — mischief was sought on a regular basis, especially between the two brothers, and they always enjoyed the company of some very colorful characters they called friends. He also loved his nieces and nephews and their families very dearly, Richie, Dawn, Brian, Richie, Melissa, Lennie, Lisa Laura and Angie. Once his family in California was grown, he took the opportunity, with Gaylene, to move back east to Indiana to spend time with and care for his parents and Uncle Harry in their later years.

He thoroughly enjoyed connecting with others and was a man of monumental integrity, strength, love, humor and loyalty within every community he was a part of. He never said no to a person in need or avoided a job that need to be done, whether it entailed rebuilding an engine, working long hours at the Simpson Arcata Bottoms mill, or being an epic father and a more epic grandfather, which he always said he wished he had done first!! His adoring Grandchildren include Sophia, Sean, Raylene, Jeremy, Kayli, Branden, Caitlin, Kristin and Mike. He also cared endlessly for Gaylene as she was taken by cancer, passing in 2016.

He raised his family to believe that they were capable of anything and broke his body daily to make their dream reality. He never lied unless it was about his own discomfort but he did tell wild stores with giggles in his eyes. He rarely yelled, unless he was cheering someone on and hurting another living creature was beyond his capacity. His giggle brought people and parties to life and even led his lost children back to him in Great America and his love changed the world for everyone who knew him.

He passed away on October 7, 2022, in the loving care of one of his truest friends, Jeff Shidler, who never left his side even through the hardest moments. His family will be holding a graveside service at Oceanview Cemetary in Eureka on June 16 at 2:30 p.m. to celebrate the life and passing of a hero and his granddaughters favorite man. Please join us.