Turn your volume up, if you can, and behold the spectacle of a tunnel getting blasted at the base of the 101-year-old Copco 1 dam on the Klamath River.
The detonation happened yesterday, sending water and sediment down the river canyon to the sea at an estimated rate of 4,000 cubic feet per second.
Here’s footage of the blast, via Swiftwater Films, which is producing a feature-length documentary on the dam-removal project and the 20-year campaign to get there.
And below is footage of the newly freed river flowing through Wards Canyon. The clip was shot by Frankie Myers, vice chairman of the Yurok Tribe and candidate for California Assembly’s District 2 seat.
“Our community is overwhelmed with joy and hope for the future generations,” Myers said when reached by the Outpost this morning. “Truly thankful for for all those who put in a day or a lifetime to make this possible.”
According to Swiftwater Films’ description of the blast, 800 pounds of dynamite was used to blow a concrete plug out of a 90-foot tunnel that crews blasted into the base of the dam last summer.
“[A] surge of water barreled several miles past the former Copco 2 dam and the majestic Wards Canyon that had been mainly dewatered for a century and into newly formed river channels in the former Iron Gate Reservoir,” the company said.
Drawdown of the reservoir at J.C. Boyle is now under way. In total, four dams are slated to be destroyed by fall of this year.
Here’s another view of yesterday’s footage of the January 16 blast of J.C. Boyle Dam:
On January 24, 2024 at approximately 03:00 Humboldt Bay Fire responded to a reported
two-story house on fire in the 1300 Block of Henderson Street in Eureka. HBF responded
with 1 Chief Officer, 3 Fire Engines and 1 Fire Truck for a total of 13 professional fire
service personnel, and 1 Fire Support volunteer who assisted with traffic control.
The first unit arrived on scene and reported a fire burning in the attic. Other arriving units
quickly started work to simultaneously ensure everyone was safely out of the home,
cover and protect the belongings in the home, and extinguish the fire. The fire was
contained to the attic and extinguished in about 15 minutes. Units remained on scene for
approximately 2 hours to stabilize the entire incident.
After the fire was extinguished HBF investigators investigated the cause of the fire,
which is still to be determined at this time. PG&E responded and mitigated the utility
hazards, while the Red Cross provided accommodation assistance to the displaced
family. Total estimated property value saved is $300,000. Damage is estimated at
$75,000, and there was no civilian or firefighter injuries.
Humboldt Bay Fire would like to remind everyone that smoke detectors save lives! A
working smoke detector should be in every bedroom, in the hallway and on each floor of
a residence.
Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, shown here on Sept. 10, 2019, has championed legislation that expanded Medi-Cal health insurance to more undocumented immigrants. Photo by Anne Wernikoff for CalMatters
Two California lawmakers publicly blew up at each other earlier this month, hitting a nerve on an issue that has long-divided the state’s elected leaders: Whether and how much to offer government-subsidized health benefits to undocumented residents.
In one corner, Corona Assemblymember Bill Essayli declared that he wanted to unravel a new law that offers subsidized health coverage to undocumented immigrants.
In the other, Visalia Assemblymember Devon Mathis stood up for the health care expansion, arguing this helps the state reduce health costs in the long-term and helps working families who are critical to the state’s economy.
That both are Republicans — members of the party that in 1994 pushed to deny any non-emergency health care services to undocumented immigrants through Proposition 187 — underscores how far the state’s political debate has moved to the left over the course of five gubernatorial administrations.
Just 20 years ago, “in the early 2000s, the idea of offering this benefit was considered political suicide for both Democrats and Republicans,” said Arturo Vargas Bustamante, faculty research director at the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute.
The shift unfolded gradually, as a generation of Latino leaders motivated by Prop. 187 rose in power in the Capitol. Former Gov. Jerry Brown in 2015 signed the law that made undocumented children eligible for Medi-Cal.
Then, state budget surpluses and Democratic dominance in the Capitol opened a lane for Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign the law that provided Medi-Cal to income-eligible undocumented residents of any age. That law took effect Jan. 1, making California the largest state to offer government-subsidized health insurance to low-income undocumented residents of all ages.
Citing public health data, Republican Mathis now is making the case that providing Medi-Cal to undocumented residents is the “fiscally conservative” move for the state.
The new law is practically the opposite policy of Prop. 187, the so-called “Save Our State” ballot initiative that denied public services to Californians without legal status. It passed with support from then-Gov. Pete Wilson, a Republican, but did not take effect because of legal challenges.
The topic still carries some political risk for lawmakers of both parties. California is facing a projected $38 billion deficit that could worsen and compel lawmakers to look for budget cuts. Former President Donald Trump has been critical of left-leaning states offering services to immigrants without legal status, and he could return to office.
Polls also show some concern among California voters in how they view immigrants. Four in 10 California voters think that unauthorized immigrants are a “major burden” to the country, according to a poll published by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies published earlier this month. Another 30% considered them a “minor burden.”
But for now, Newsom and the lawmakers who advocated for the Medi-Cal expansion insist they won’t go back.
“I’m committed to it,” Newsom said at a press conference earlier this month.
Trump, COVID-19 and money
A potential second Trump administration would seem to jeopardize California’s expansion of health benefits to undocumented groups, but the former president may have actually influenced some of the benefits currently available, Bustamante of UCLA said.
Trump’s rhetoric disparaging immigrants and his unsuccessful attempt to undo Obamacare fired up California Democrats, Bustamante said. For example, when the Trump administration sought to repeal the Affordable Care Act and eliminate the federal subsidies that help millions afford coverage, California filed a lawsuit.
The COVID-19 pandemic also played a role in persuading California Democrats to continue expanding health coverage to undocumented immigrants, Bustamante said. It reinforced the importance of medical coverage and highlighted health inequities, especially among Latinos, Blacks and low-income people.
The rollout of these benefits came slowly. During the Brown administration, memories of the Great Recession tempered expectations for pricey government programs. Brown, nonetheless, signed a law by former state Sen. Ricardo Lara that opened Medi-Cal to undocumented children.
By contrast, money wasn’t a problem for Newsom until recently. During the pandemic, the state received increased federal funding for its Medi-Cal program and it took in historic budget surpluses. Newsom backed Medi-Cal expansions for adults that Democratic Sen. María Elena Durazo of Los Angeles and others championed.
Garry South’s career as a Democratic consultant dates to the time when liberals faced serious political risks if they supported services for undocumented immigrants. He managed former Gov. Gray Davis’ campaigns.
“Not too long ago, California was pretty politically competitive, but it isn’t now,” South said. “Yes there are some districts in which Republicans win Congressional seats, Senate seats, Assembly seats, but they’re marginalized to the point of being irrelevant, and so most Democrats running in most places in California don’t have to worry about being beat by a Republican. They’re more concerned about being in a run-off with another Democrat.”
He likened expanding Medi-Cal to undocumented immigrants to when the state allowed them to obtain driver’s licenses. It took years and various failed attempts, but legislators and most Californians ultimately determined that it was safer for everyone to get these drivers licensed and insured, he said.
Assemblymember Devon Mathis, a Visalia Republican, recently endorsed California’s expansion of Medi-Cal health insurance to lower-income undocumented immigrants. His stance put him in opposition to some members of his party. Photo by Rahul Lal for CalMatters.
Central Valley Republicans supported Medi-Cal expansion
Aside from Essayli, most elected California Republicans have been fairly quiet on the state’s new benefits for undocumented residents. Tim Rosales, a Republican political consultant, said supporting the expansion would not necessarily damage a GOP candidate’s chances in a future election, but the lawmaker would have to defend their reasoning to right-leaning voters.
He said many Californians have come to accept the role that undocumented people play in the state’s workforce and economy.
“In the Central Valley and other parts of the state that are heavily agricultural, people who live, work and exist in that economy…have understood that the undocumented population is such a huge part of the California fabric,” Rosales said. “People feel like they can talk about it more, and politically, reality is setting in, and that goes for both Democrats and Republicans.”
Mathis, who will be leaving office after this legislative year to do consulting work in the southern San Joaquin Valley, said his community was part of why he wrote in The Sacramento Bee explaining his support for the Medi-Cal expansion.
“I grew up in one of the poorest areas of the state, in a highly Latino area; these are common things that we see and that we know,” he said.
“I did the Op-Ed because I’m sick and tired of one, people on the hard right trying to make everyone sound like them,” Mathis said, “And two, to just say stop the rhetoric for five minutes and look at the actual issue.”
Mathis’ declaration echoes votes by two former San Joaquin Valley Republicans who supported the law Brown signed providing Medi-Cal to undocumented children. They were former Sens. Anthony Cannella of Ceres and Andy Vidak of Hanford.
What’s next for undocumented health care?
Earlier this month, Essayli introduced Assembly Bill 1783, which proposes to pull funding from health coverage expansions for undocumented residents. Although that may be a long shot given the Legislature’s Democratic majority.
“As the son of immigrant parents who came to this country by legal means, I was outraged our state government would earmark billions in funding for the healthcare of foreign nationals when our own citizens cannot afford their healthcare,” Essayli wrote in the Orange County Register.
The Medi-Cal expansions allow Newsom to get closer to his goal of providing universal health coverage, where everyone in the state would have access to medical insurance. Because California is home to the nation’s largest population of unauthorized immigrants — about 2 million people — it would be impossible to achieve universal coverage without covering this population, experts say.
The Affordable Care Act provided health coverage to millions of Americans and expanded the public’s understanding on the need for coverage, but barred anyone without legal status from accessing federally subsidized insurance. That means immigrants who don’t qualify for Medi-Cal have no option but to buy insurance on the private market at full-price.
Researchers at the UC Berkeley’s Labor Center have estimated that more than 1 million undocumented people will gain coverage because of the sweeping Medi-Cal expansion, but another half million will still be without because they earn too much to qualify for Medi-Cal but can’t afford coverage on their own.
Democratic Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula of Fresno is carrying Assembly Bill 4 that aims to allow undocumented people who don’t qualify for the Medi-Cal program to buy subsidized coverage. Arambula said the goal is to establish a program specifically for undocumented immigrants that mirrors the insurance options offered on Covered California, the state’s insurance marketplace. Setting up the program will take some time. Asking the state for funding to provide subsidies will come later, he said.
Arambula pointed to Colorado, which is experimenting with OmniSalud, a program that offers undocumented people the similar insurance options offered in its marketplace and at a subsidized price.
Originally, Arambula wanted to ask the federal government for permission to allow undocumented people into the existing marketplace, but Arambula said this alternative model means California’s program won’t hinge on the feds’ approval.
“We want to insulate ourselves from whomever will be in the federal government at the end of the year,” Arambula said.
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Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure thatpeople have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.
CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors (from left): Natalie Arroyo, Mike Wilson, Rex Bohn, Steve Madrone and Michelle Bushnell.. | Screenshot.
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The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors held a relatively brief meeting today, wrapping up their open session items before hitting the lunch break shortly after 12:30 p.m.
Partly that was due to a clerical error that forced the board to postpone an appeal hearing for a contentious McKinleyville subdivision and housing development project. (More on that below.) But the board still found time to take on some big-ticket issues.
Our summary of the day’s proceedings can be found below.
Mental health programs
Early in the day, Humboldt County Behavioral Health Director Emi Botzler-Rodgers discussed some major potential changes to the ways in which both the state and the county respond to people suffering from homelessness, mental illness and/or substance use disorder.
In particular, she talked about some potential impacts from two major pieces of state legislation:
Senate Bill 43, which broadens the definition of “gravely disabled,” a change that will make a lot more people eligible for involuntary conservatorship.
The MHSA bill, which is a cornerstone of Governor Gavin Newsom’s agenda for behavioral health and homelessness, would dedicate billions of dollars to new behavioral health housing while expanding services to people with substance use disorders, among other provisions. On the local level, however, it “has the potential to substantially impact the work that we do and the funding that we have available,” Botzler-Rodgers said.
If passed, the measure would result in reduced funding for counties and less control over those funds, she explained.
As for SB 43, Botzler-Rodgers said it will significantly change the definition of who’s eligible for what’s called LPS conservatorship, a legal process that allows a court to appoint a conservator to make legal decisions for a seriously mentally ill person.
The bill would expand eligibility to include any person who has a severe substance use disorder, which would dramatically increase the percentage of the population that’s potentially subject to detention and conservatorship — from roughly one percent to about 10 percent.
“That’s a huge, huge increase,” Botzler-Rodgers said. “Not only is it a huge number of individuals who would then qualify to be conserved and treated, [but] there is a substantial lack of facilities to provide the services and virtually none for the [substance use disorder] population.” That’s a problem throughout the state, she added.
With no state funding set aside to support these expanded obligations, almost all counties in the state have requested a delay in implementing SB 43 until January 1, 2026, at the latest. At staff’s request, the Board of Supervisors today agreed to make that same request.
Later in the presentation, Jack Breazeal, deputy director of behavioral health, gave an update on the county’s pilot program for implementation of Laura’s Law, aka Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT). During the 2022-23 fiscal year, the county’s Behavioral Health Branch received 33 referrals for that program, 22 of which met the criteria to receive services. One person met the criteria for involuntary for involuntary treatment, Breazeal said.
“Most of the other individuals we were able to engage at some level” with varying degrees of success, he explained, adding that housing is a major challenge for implementation since many of the people the program engages are unhoused.
Also seated at the presentation table was Paul Bugnacki, deputy director of mental health, who discussed the inpatient side of AOT implementation.
Sempervirens, the county’s acute psychiatric hospital, had 254 admissions during the last fiscal year at a cost of $10.8 million, with the county’s general fund covering a larger portion of that price tag than in recent years due to decreased revenues collected via Medicare and private insurance.
Bugnacki said there’s limited funding available to implement the AOT program.
“This is going to be a big lift for counties, especially our county, and it’s going to impact multiple departments throughout our system,” he said.
When these issues were being discussed by the board, Fourth District Supervisor Natalie Arroyo spoke with evident emotion.
“There’s just something very moving about how hard you all work,” she said. “I think it’s a very under-appreciated field of work in behavioral health.”
Changes to Measure Z
Later in the meeting, the board considered changing how it allocates funds from Measure Z, the county’s half-percent sales tax measure dedicated to public safety and essential services.
The Measure Z Citizen Advisory Committee, which makes funding recommendations to the board, asked for a change to the revenue award process so that it would occur only once per year, concurrent with the budget adoption. This would eliminate the contentious mid-year allocations that have been standard up to now.
The committee also asked the board to reserve $5.4 million in savings from the last fiscal year to be allocated in the 2024-25 funding round. And, lastly, they asked the board to establish a reserve account, in which money could be set aside and used when there’s not enough to finance projects in the board’s previously approved three-year spending plan.
Deputy County Administrative Officer Sean Quincey explained that there’s currently some funding available for “high priority projects” thanks to a decision last year to de-allocate previously approved staff positions, and the board spent a good amount of time discussing whether and how that money should be spent.
Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell made a push to award more money to the fire prevention efforts of the county’s assorted fire departments while First District Supervisor and Board Chair Rex Bohn advocated giving at least $1 million to the Public Works Department for much-needed road repair work.
Public Works Director Tom Mattson made the same appeal, urging the board to award Measure Z funds for roadwork and equipment replacement now before conditions get worse and costs go up.
Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone said he’d planned to make a motion to adopt all of the advisory committee’s requests, which were also staff’s recommendations, “but given what’s happened the last couple of weeks [with storm damage] and given the deferred maintenance on our roads, I would very much like to see some funding go to roads sooner than later.”
Bushnell said that since both roads and fire prevention were shorted on their most Measure Z funding requests last year, she’d like to give them some funding now, at the mid-year point. She made a motion to award $1 million to each of those efforts, but none of the other supervisors offered a second.
Arroyo and Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson said they were inclined to go with staff recommendations, though Wilson said he’d consider allocating $500,000 to roads.
Arroyo said that Measure Z fundamentally over-promised, with sweeping ballot language about funding emergency services when the reality has been declining discretionary revenues each year. And she argued that the board should go with the advisory committee’s recommendations as a show of support.
“If we want to have meaningful engagement in the Measure Z process in the future – and, really, meaningful engagement in all of our committees and commissions and boards … – I do think we need to strongly consider and adopt the recommendations whenever possible,” she said.
Bohn held firm in his advocacy for $1 million to roads, and after a good deal of discussion the board voted on a motion to do just that, while adopting the rest of staff recommendations, including the elimination of mid-year awards going forward.
The motion passed 3-2 with Arroyo and Bushnell voting no.
Other stuff
One of several photos of road damage shown during a presentation from Public Works Director Tom Mattson. | Screenshot.
The board ratified Sheriff Billy Honsal’s declaration of a local emergency caused by widespread flooding from the record-breaking downpour of January 13. Ryan Derby, director of the county’s Office of Emergency Services, reported that the county suffered $4.7 million in damages, mostly to county roads and bridges. Supervisor Wilson noted that climate change is making storms stronger and said future land use planning should focus on avoiding development in dangerous areas. Damage reports will be submitted to the state and federal governments for possible financial assistance.
For the second week in a row, an appeal of the Planning Commission’s November 16 approval of a McKinleyville subdivision and housing development project was postponed. This time the delay was necessary due to an error in the agenda packet, with the appellants’ information mistakenly not included. Planning and Building Director John Ford apologized for the omission. The project would see a 2.47-acre property subdivided into 19 parcels for development of a multi-family housing project just east of the McKinleyville Town Center. The Planning Commission approved the subdivision over opposition from neighbors, quite a few of whom offered public comment today, criticizing the project’s density, design and parking accommodations. They’ll get “another bite at the apple” (a favorite Bohn phrase) when the rescheduled appeal hearing is heard on Friday starting at 11 a.m.
This morning, the nominations for the 96th annual Academy Awards were announced and, since Humboldt is currently the world capital of filmmaking, we thought LoCO readers should get the first say on this year’s winners. The results will be sent to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with a nice-but-firm note explaining why the LoCO Pollz results should be binding and final.
On January 22, 2024 at approximately 05:46 a.m., the Eureka Police Department responded to
a report of a male juvenile that had suffered a significant laceration to his neck needing
immediate medical attention. The juvenile reported he had been assaulted by an adult male
family member. Officers located the juvenile and he was transported to a local medical facility
for treatment of severe but not life-threatening wounds. The juvenile told officers the assault
occurred at a residence in the 1400 block of Union Street in Eureka, and that there were
additional occupants and juveniles in the home who had been threatened and were in danger.
Officers entered the residence and began checking for additional occupants and victims. While
in the residence, officers learned the male suspect had moved the rest of the occupants into a
second-story bedroom where he had barricaded himself and was holding them hostage. The
officers on scene began requesting additional resources and attempted to negotiate with the
suspect.
At approximately 7:41 a.m., the Eureka Police Department issued a shelter in place notification
that was sent out to local residences and businesses immediately adjacent to the incident
location.
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team as well as
the Crisis Negotiation Team (CNT) were requested and responded to the scene. Throughout
the day negotiations continued until all four hostages were safely released at approximately 1:00
p.m. There was one adult female and three male juveniles, ranging in ages from 4-12 years old,
removed from the residence. One of the juveniles had a large laceration to the side of his neck
caused by the male suspect. All the juveniles were transported to a local medical facility and
evaluated. The male juvenile with the significant laceration to his neck received treatment for
his injury which was non-life threatening. The juveniles were then released into the custody of
Child Welfare Services.
CNT continued to negotiate with the male suspect, who was non-compliant and refused to
surrender and exit the room, for four more hours. Detectives with EPD had obtained a Ramey
Warrant for the suspect’s arrest for the felony assault on the first male juvenile. At
approximately 4:58 p.m., contact with the suspect was made, and an officer involved shooting
(OIS) occurred. The male suspect was struck by gunfire. City Ambulance and Humboldt Bay
Fire, who had been staged on scene, responded directly to the residence. Immediate life-saving
measures were employed by members of the SWAT team and medical personnel. The suspect
was transported to a local medical facility where he succumbed to his injuries.
The suspect has been identified as Daniel Martinez, 43 years old of Eureka.
Two members of the Humboldt County SWAT team have been identified as having fired their
firearms during the OIS. Both are deputies with the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and have
been placed on paid special leave, as is protocol for their agency.
The Humboldt County Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT), led by the Eureka Police
Department and the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office, was activated to investigate
this incident. This investigation is ongoing and additional information will be released as it
becomes available.
The Eureka Police Department appreciates the partnerships with the agencies that assisted with
this incident: Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, Fortuna Police Department, California
Highway Patrol, City Ambulance, Humboldt Bay Fire, Yurok Tribal Police, Humboldt County
Child Welfare Services, Yurok Social Services, Humboldt County Behavioral Health and Crisis
Alternative Response of Eureka (CARE).
Anyone with information regarding the incident is encouraged to contact Detective Donald
Bailey with the Eureka Police Department Criminal Investigations Unit at 707-441-4215.
After a nationwide search, the Friends of the Dunes Board of Directors is excited to announce that it has selected Suzie Fortner as the organization’s new Executive Director.
Suzie Fortner. Image via Friends of the Dunes.
Fortner’s background working as a dynamic environmental educator, an innovative Program Manager, and a highly successful Program & Operations Director for Friends of the Dunes for more than 15 years makes her the most highly qualified Executive Director that Friends of the Dunes has ever hired.
“We are thrilled to welcome Suzie as our new Executive Director,” said Desiree Davenport, President of the Friends of the Dunes Board of Directors. “She brings a deep knowledge of our community and environment, and a passion for collaborating with people from all backgrounds to advance coastal conservation. We are very lucky Suzie has stepped forward to lead Friends of the Dunes.”
When Fortner assumes the role on February 1, she will lead an organization that is currently working on the largest and most ambitious coastal land conservation and native dune ecosystem restoration projects in its 42-year history, as well as a true-to-its-roots nonprofit that brings thousands of Humboldt County kids to explore the coastal environments of Humboldt Bay each year on free field trips.
“I’m extremely honored and excited to take on this new role with Friends of the Dunes,” said Suzie Fortner. “The mission of the organization is very close to my heart. The work we do connects thousands of people with nature each year and engages our community in the conservation of coastal environments. The dedication of our volunteers, members, and supporters to the protection of Humboldt’s unique and diverse coastal dunes is truly inspiring and I’m grateful to be a part of this community-supported organization.”
Fortner has a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Biology from UC Santa Cruz, and a Masters Degree from Cal Poly Humboldt’s Environment & Community Program, with a focus on nature education. She combines this strong academic background with years of practical, proven experience bringing thousands of students to the dunes for life-changing experiences, while successfully managing complex, multi-partner grants totaling more than $5 million.
“I was thrilled to hear the news of Suzie becoming Executive Director,” said Leisyka Parrott, California Coastal National Monument Manager for the Bureau of Land Management. “I have worked with Suzie for over 13 years on many successful, collaborative projects with Friends of the Dunes. Her leadership and commitment to the mission and vision of Friends of the Dunes is an asset to all who work with and support coastal conservation.”
“Suzie brings a wealth of knowledge to the Executive Director position,” said Andrea Pickart, Coastal Ecologist for the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. “Her friendly demeanor and strong work ethic promise to continue the excellent record of the Friends of the Dunes in coastal conservation.”
Fortner succeeds Mike Cipra, who leaves Friends of the Dunes after serving five years as Executive Director.
“Suzie is a thoughtful communicator, a natural collaborator, and an inspiring leader,” said Mike Cipra. “It has been an amazing experience to work alongside Suzie the last five years and to partner with her to grow our nonprofit’s positive impact. With Suzie as our new Executive Director, Friends of the Dunes’ future is bright.
