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Hooo-oowl! It’s the sound that the people of Northern California are hearing from their forests again.

The gray wolf is a species that was once native to the entire continent of North America. Its population was decimated from its conflict with human livestock and game management. While we don’t know much about the expiration of wolves in California, we can assume that it runs along the same vein as the California Grizzly. The original wolves of California were persecuted throughout the 17th and 19th centuries, when California had a mass influx of settlers looking to strike it rich during the California Gold Rush. With the influx of people, we needed more food to feed them all. As such the wolves of California were most likely killed to keep numbers of elk and deer high. Alas, because of this killing, for many years we, the State of California, did not have any wolves that called our state home until 2011.

All of our wolves here in California now originate from multiple packs that call eastern Oregon their home. The dispersal of wolves from Oregon started with OR-7, a wolf from the Imnaha pack. It was fitted with a GPS collar in early 2011 and was detected crossing into California in late 2011. OR-7 then traveled around the north-eastern counties of California until he returned to Oregon in April of 2013, where he established his own pack, the Rogue pack. After OR-7 we have had several Oregon collared wolves come to California, some of which stayed and started their own packs. The first pack that got named in California was the Shasta pack in 2015. Two wolves from the Imnaha pack in Oregon dispersed into California and started the Shasta pack. Unfortunately, we have not seen any wolves from the Shasta pack since late 2015, with the last known individual from it being genetically identified in Nevada almost a year after the last known California sighting of his pack.

Lassen Pack cubs gambol in this 2020 video clip.

The second well known pack in California is the Lassen pack. This pack has successfully sired pups from the years 2019 or 2020, to the date of writing. This pack is genetically diverse with the original male wolves being from OR-7 Rogue pack, the original female was also from Oregon. Moreover, a new adult male of unknown origin joined in 2019. He was the sire of the pups born in 2020. As of 2021, the Lassen pack is thought to consist of at least five wolves. We also have two other packs in California: Beckwourth pack of Plumas County, designated in 2021, and the Whaleback pack of east Siskiyou County, also designated in 2021.

The big question is how this may affect us here in Humboldt. The mountains here in Humboldt historically may have housed many populations of wolves. However, with the persecution for threats to humans and game, along with the historical overhunting of elk and deer, we didn’t have the necessary requirements for a suitable wolf habitat. With the reintroduction of elk, which has created a booming elk herd, we may meet the criteria for a habitat of wolves in the eastern parts of the county. We may not see them on the beaches, but with them being habitat generalists, and given the amount of open farmland and large elk populations around the Orick area, we may be able to support a small population of wolves.

Now, what does that mean for the people? Well, there can be some issues with human-wildlife conflict with the wolves, mainly in the areas of livestock. Currently, in the State of California, the gray wolf is designated an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. (Interestingly, this designation was made at a conference here in Fortuna.) But wolves have been known to kill livestock which causes economic harm to farmers. A potential way to deal with this would be through farmer compensation, as the killing of our finite population of California wolves would be a problem for conservation.

If you have any problems or concerns with wildlife, contact the local California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

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PREVIOUSLY:

• STUDENT SCIENCE!: A Survey of Roadkill on Highway 101 Between McK and Arcata, With Thoughts on Possible Courses of Action to Lessen Same

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Evan Vieira is a wildlife student at Cal Poly Humboldt.

Are you a high school or college student who has done research on some little-known aspect of Humboldt County’s people, places, flora, fauna? Write up a precis and share your work with the mighty Outpost audience! Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com, and put the words ‘Student Science’ in the subject line. Professors welcome too, I guess.

Our mother, Lorene W. Edmondson, went to Heaven on March 11, 2023, at age 92. She was an amazing person who taught us about faith, family, friendship, and loyalty. She liked to side with the underdog in almost any situation. She gave love without measure, encouragement, and wisdom. There were times that it seemed as if her spirit was broken, but she would bounce back in Christ’s love, and in the love of her family that she cherished.

She was a gifted artist who painted landscapes, flowers, and her “best” painting (according to her eldest daughter) was a painting of Mary, the mother of Jesus. It depicted her face when an angel spoke to her to tell her she would have a child by the Holy Spirit, and she was to call him Jesus. The awe and surprise was captured perfectly on Mary’s face. To add to the greatness of the painting, our grandmother (mom’s mother) wrote a poem using the scripture that described the event in Luke 1:26-38.

The painting and poem were used to create a family Christmas card, and the following year mom painted a picture of Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John the Baptist - another miracle birth. (Luke 1:36-41) Grandma wrote another poem to accompany the painting and that birthed Christmas card #2. They were making plans for a third one when Grandma went to Heaven. Faith has always been a part of our family, and music runs it a close second! Our family uses song lyrics for everything!

Mom did everything to the best of her ability, and she was a perfectionist. For example, if we needed research done on a medical condition, she would gather as much information as she could and then present it to us. She just didn’t give up - so that could lead to some hearty disagreements with her daughters, but she would back down if we presented a good argument - and truth had to prevail. She insisted on “knowing the truth.” She was incredibly intelligent and lived a life full of integrity.

She had perseverance and tenacity. One time, her eldest daughter asked her if she thought she could glue an angel’s face back together. It was a beautiful tree topper who’s face had been shattered. Mom was ready to give it a try, and she stayed up all night, gluing the face back together! Some pieces were quite tiny and she had to use tweezers to hold them in place. Incredibly, only one piece was missing! That angel will remain in our family forever!

Mom received an AA Degree from College of the Redwoods in 1972, a BA from Humboldt State University in 1974, and a Masters Degree in Marriage and Family Counseling from the University of San Francisco in 1976.

Mom was a cancer survivor and later took cancer patients to their appointments. She faithfully went to the Senior Resource Center exercise class for about 15 years - often taking a 90 year old friend with her! Mom was always “up” for adventures with us - whether going to the beach, or just taking a ride. She loved to collect pine cones and sticks that could be used to start fires, and we had a lot of laughs pulling over along the road to do just that. She and our father (her ex-husband) would go out to eat together - with or without us. As long as she was with any of us, she was happy.

She grew beautiful roses and was known for her flower arrangements - even preparing them for our trips to Sacramento to share with family, packed carefully in a cooler. For a few years, she worked as a receptionist for I. Leonard Agnew DDS, and she would bring arrangements into the office that took her all day Sunday to create! The staff and patients loved them!

She worked at Fairhurst Lumber Company, in Eureka, (corner of 7th & J), as a receptionist, and later in life as a receptionist at the old General Hospital. She was a volunteer at Humboldt Women for Shelter, and lastly, she retired from the County of Humboldt, Medi-Cal Dept. Her favorite position was at Dr. Agnew’s office where it felt more like being with her second family!

She is survived by her two daughters, Andrea Ekker and Sharon Edmondson (Steve Littlefield), grandsons Brian Ekker (wife Chelsea, great-grandson Hondo) of Willow Creek, and Michael Moehnke, of Eureka. She is also survived by her sister and brother-in-law, Linda and Mike Hargan of Elk Grove, sister-in-law Madeline (Lynn) Gray of Sacramento, and numerous nieces and nephews - all of which were greatly loved!

She was predeceased by her ex-husband and lifelong friend, William (Bill) Edmondson, infant daughter, Karen Edmondson, brother Joe Gray, sister Zula Blum, and parents Sidney and Maggie Gray.

We would like to thank Dr. Donald Iverson, and the staff at Renaissance/Timber Ridge Eureka for the wonderful care they gave to mom. A special thank you to Tiffany, Cynthia, Mariah, Ella, Ariel, Colleen, Thomas, Brian, Tammy, Elizabeth - all of you! (I’m sorry if I forgot any names here, for you each contributed so much!) Thank you! No services were held and we are confident that we’ll see her in Heaven!

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HUMBOLDT TODAY: Schneider’s dream house is coming down; a Humboldt man arrested for murder earlier this week has his charge reduced to manslaughter; plus, your weekend events and weather. Those stories and more in today’s newscast with John Kennedy O’Connor.

FURTHER READING: 

• Fairhaven’s Fast and Cheap Internet Service Could Go Away Soon, After State Contest Decides Not to Award Any Money to Anyone
• Convicted Felon Arrested With Meth and Loaded Gun Following Late-Night Highway 36 Traffic Stop, Sheriff’s Office Says
• Cal State Undergraduate Workers Seek Union Representation
• Drug Tasks Force Arrests One, Uncovers Three Ounces of Fentanyl During Search of Eureka Residence

HUMBOLDT TODAY can be viewed on LoCO’s homepage each night starting at 6 p.m.

Want to LISTEN to HUMBOLDT TODAY? Subscribe to the podcast version here.

PREVIOUSLY:

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Readers might remember last summer, when the entire community of Fairhaven was provided with free high-speed internet as a part of the California Digital Divide Innovation Challenge, a contest that promised a winning prize of $1 million to a company that could find a way to provide accessible internet throughout the state. 

The service was installed by Bay Area company Dalet Access Labs, which worked with help from Humboldt County Department of Education (HCOE) and the Samoa Peninsula Fire District, to install the Fairhaven service. At the time, Odion Edohomon, president and CEO Dalet Access Labs, was so happy with the outcome of the project that he seemed almost certain his company would win the contest. 

Unfortunately, Edohomon did not win. In fact, a recent report in the San Francisco Chronicle found that none of the entries won the $1 million and the contest turned out to be a bust. 

“I don’t think there was any chance [of winning],” Edohomon said in a recent interview with the Outpost. “We met all the requirements. But [people running the challenge] were sloppy. They didn’t do a follow up.”

The contest was launched in 2021 by the California Department of Education and funded by the Michelson Foundation, General Motors, Genentech and PG&E, as a way to help bridge the digital divide, especially for students who were unable to participate in digital learning during COVID. Searching for an innovative and speedy solution to the issue, CDE put the call out for entries, with the requirements that service cost no more than $15/month per household, include 100 megabits synchronous upload and download speed with no data caps, and have fully deployable implementation within a year.

The challenge also stipulated that the competitors must test their innovation with students experiencing a lack of connectivity either due to barriers of affordability or infrastructure. The tiny community of Fairhaven, which has not consistently had internet service available and had many children unable to access virtual learning, seemed like the perfect fit. 

Assigned to Fairhaven, Dalet Access Labs went to work installing free service for the 78 homes in the community. The company worked with Cogent Communications and AT&T to launch a live fiber optic line to the Fairhaven fire station. From there the signal is sent out to five antenna nodes, which the company installed on the roofs of houses scattered throughout the community. The network also operates completely on solar power, which charges batteries that can keep the power running 24/7. Fairhaven’s internet went live on July 1, 2022 and the residents have been enjoying the service ever since. 

One of the antenna nodes installed on a house in Fairhaven

After the system was deployed, the Humboldt County Office of Education praised the project, saying in a press release that the service with low latency speeds of 700 to 900 megabits, surpassed the requirements for the Innovation Challenge. “It’s an amazing example of what public-private partnership can do to help address and solve a real problem,” Colby Smart, HCOE assistant superintendent, educational service, said in the press release sent in August. 

Dalet Labs’ entry was also celebrated by the Department of Education, and representatives from the department, including Chief Deputy Superintendent Mary Nicely, attended the project’s ribbon cutting ceremony in October. A press release sent about the event also stated that the project “surpassed the minimum requirements.” Edohomon said that this response gave him some encouragement. But, he did think it was strange that no one from the corporations that were judging the contest was present. 

Nicely sent him one follow-up email following the ceremony, asking what the cost of infrastructure was and what the monthly cost per household would be. Edohomon replied that the sustainable monthly cost would be $80 per household, but that for low-income households with students, the monthly fee would be $15, which could be achieved with government subsidies to cover the other $65. But the positive response seemed to end there and shortly after the ribbon cutting, Edohomon said, the state officials involved fell silent, not returning any of his emails or calls about the contest for months.

When Edohomon did finally receive a response, Nicely said that the judges — which included members of the Michelson Foundation, General Motors, Genentech and PG&E — determined that none of the entries met all of the required criteria to win. 

“We know this was an ambitious challenge,” Nicely wrote in an email to Edohomon. “The main concern was the lack of sustainability shown by any challenger.  In light of this, we encourage you to work with one of our partners, The Michelson 20MM Foundation as they support up and coming entrepreneurs and community organizations in developing innovative and sustainable solutions to the major problems facing our communities today.” 

In other emails between Nicely and Chronicle reporter Jill Tucker, Nicely said that the main issue with Edohomon’s entry was that it failed to meet the requirement that monthly service cost $15 per household, something that apparently the judges wanted for every household, not just for students. 

Still, after the Department of Education attended the ribbon cutting and sent out a press release saying that the Fairhaven project met all the requirements, Edohomon is left feeling a little burned, especially since he spent more than $400,000 on the project. And according to the Chronicle’s reporting, other contestants felt the same way, some saying that the whole thing just seemed like a publicity stunt. 

Meanwhile, Fairhaven residents will have the high-speed internet service disconnected on April 17. But Edohomon hopes that there can be a way to keep the service going for Fairhaven and said he will continue working  with local stakeholders – including the HCOE, the Peninsula Union School District and the County of Humboldt Economic Development – to find options for providing all of the Samoa Peninsula with access to affordable, high-speed internet 

“It’s still our plan to extend to Samoa, to the peninsula schools and to serve all those homes, including the affordable housing that DANCO built there,” Edehomon said. 

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On April 14, 2023, at about 1:03 a.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies on patrol in the Carlotta area conducted a traffic stop for a vehicle code violation near the 5400 block of Highway 36.

Deputies contacted one occupant of the vehicle, 48-year-old Leo Josh Rosecrans. Rosecrans was found to have an outstanding misdemeanor warrant for his arrest. During a search of Rosecrans and his vehicle incident to arrest, deputies located a loaded firearm, over 7 grams of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia.

Rosecrans was arrested and booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of possession of a controlled substance while armed (HS 11370.1(a)), felon in possession of a firearm (PC 29800(a)(1)), felon in possession of a firearm in violation of a restraining order (PC 29825(a)), possession of a controlled substance (HS 11377(a)) and possession of a controlled substance paraphernalia (HS 11364(a)), in addition to warrant charges of violation of a court order (PC 273.6(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.

California State University is the largest public university system in the country, so when sophomore Delilah Mays-Triplett decided working on the San Diego State University campus as a library assistant would be the best thing for her education, she didn’t expect to be paid less than the local minimum wage.

But when Mays-Triplett’s check came, she saw she was paid $15.50 per hour, nearly a dollar lower than the San Diego minimum wage of $16.30.

That reason, paired with others, is why Mays-Triplett decided to sign a union authorization card when organizers approached her. Undergraduate student assistants at the university are mounting a union organizing campaign, calling for more work hours, paid sick time and higher wages. The campaign could potentially affect thousands of library assistants, clerical workers and other non-academic student employees and comes at a time of heightened labor activism on university campuses.

“There’s a lot of things that are kind of unfair about our job,” said Mays-Triplett. “So just being able to organize and address some of those issues would be really helpful,” she said, adding that she finds power in “just being able to have a voice.”

The California State University Employees Union, which represents non-student workers in similar roles, filed petitions with the state’s Public Employment Relations Board in 2021 to add student assistants into its existing bargaining units, and has been working with student organizers to collect union authorization cards since last fall.

“Thousands of student assistants signed union cards. You’re almost ready to file for an election!” organizers texted student supporters April 8. Union spokesperson Khanh Weinberg declined to make leaders available for an interview.

Cal State has disputed the union’s claim that student workers have enough in common with other university support staff to be folded into existing bargaining units. “The Student Assistants’ primary role is that of a student and not a traditional employee,” Timothy Yeung, a lawyer for the university, wrote in December to the administrative law judge handling the case.

“We don’t have anything else to add on the matter,” Cal State spokesperson Mike Uhlenkamp wrote in response to an interview request.

But Grace Dearborn, another San Diego State student, said she deserves the same benefits as any other employee. Dearborn said she caught COVID last semester. While her supervisor allowed her to make up the hours she missed, she felt she should have gotten the paid COVID-related leave that California at the time required businesses to give full-time workers.

“This is a real job for a lot of students,” Dearborn said. “We get paid and we use that pay for bills and our personal expenses, and so if you’re expecting for it to be a real job but not receive sick pay, I think that that’s really weird.”

Several cited the discrepancy between Cal State’s minimum wage and local minimum wages as part of their motivation. University attorney Marc Mootchnik told San Diego State’s student newspaper, the Daily Aztec, in 2016 that because Cal State is a state agency, it is not required to comply with local minimum wage laws.

Emma Galloway, a commuter student at Cal State Northridge, said receiving at least the Los Angeles minimum wage of $16.50 for her work as a student assistant in the Journalism Department office would help her save money to move out of her parents’ house.

“I have a very big fear of being homeless, especially with the homeless crisis in Los Angeles,” she said. “I’m really grateful to have my parents and to live under a roof, but that fear kind of lingers a little bit, and I just want to save enough to the point where I can rent a one-bedroom apartment.”

“Student assistants are a backbone” for the campus departments where they work, she added.

Some 11,000 Cal State teaching assistants and other academic workers already have union representation through the United Auto Workers. But the undergraduates involved in the California State University Employees Union organizing effort are doing work that’s arguably less related to their studies – such as filing office paperwork, helping with print jobs and assisting in checking out books at the library.

More students are organizing

They’re part of a recent wave of campus labor activism that includes the largest higher education strike in history, in which 48,000 graduate student workers at the University of California walked off the job in November, eventually winning raises, transit passes and child care benefits.

In February, Dartmouth University agreed to pay its student dining hall workers a base wage of $21 per hour after they voted to authorize a strike — less than a year after being recognized as a union. And last month, undergraduate residential advisors at the University of Pennsylvania filed for representation with the Office and Professional Employees International Union.

“The most fundamental demand that people on college campuses are making right now is honor the principles that you say you are committed to,” said Caroline Luce, a labor historian at the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment and a member of the university’s lecturers’ union. “You say you’re a public-serving institution; it doesn’t make sense to be paying people wages that they can’t live on.”

While Cal State undergraduates have been inspired by the gains made by graduate student organizing, Luce said, they face an uphill battle if the university continues to oppose the effort, because of the high turnover in their ranks. “If (Cal State officials) draw things out, they will win basically because the students who (are organizing) will go on to bigger and better things and it might fall apart.”

Public Employment Relations Board hearings to determine whether the California State University Employees Union can expand its bargaining units to include student assistants began in March and will resume June 12. Either the union or the university could appeal the judge’s decision to the full board and then to a state court of appeal. If the union prevails, it could then submit cards showing majority support and petition to represent the students, said the board’s general counsel, Felix De La Torre. It could also file to create a new bargaining unit composed of student assistants only.

“What makes it more unique than a typical public employee union drive is we’re dealing with individuals who straddle the line between employees and students,” said De La Torre. He cited recent controversies over whether, for example, collegiate athletes should be allowed to organize.

“All these cases begin to develop a body of law around this class of workers,” he said. “To that extent, it could be significant if this petition goes up to the board.”

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Walker is a fellow with the CalMatters College Journalism Network, a collaboration between CalMatters and student journalists from across California. Network editor Felicia Mello contributed reporting. This story and other higher education coverage are supported by the College Futures Foundation.

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

Jeffrey Kevin Brockman
April 26, 1965 – April 7, 2023

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we announce the passing of Jeff Brockman, age 57, in Eureka — son, brother, father, grandfather and special friend to many.

Jeff was born in Eureka at St. Joseph Hospital in 1965, to Richard and Wilma Brockman. He was welcomed into the world by his two older sisters, Wendy and Sherrie. A few years later he would welcome his little sister, Stephanie.

Jeff lived most of his life in Eureka/Fortuna area, with a few years in Florida with his father, stepmother and stepbrother.

He enjoyed baseball, fast cars and making people laugh! You could always count on him to have some off-the-wall comment and then laugh!

Jeff was a free-spirit person who took on many different jobs in his lifetime. One which he cared for and enjoyed the most was being a nanny to Amy and Lucy Rogers. He adored and loved them, as they adored and loved him.

Earlier in his life he was blessed with two of his own great sons, Jeffrey and Steven.

Jeff will be greatly missed and loved not only by his family but his extended family and friends as well.

Jeff is preceded in death by his father, Richard Brockman, grandparents, numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

He is survived by his mother, Wilma Senteney, his sons Jeffrey Brewer Brockman and Steven Thurston, his siblings Wendy Pesce, Sherrie Hurst, Stephanie Gardner and younger brothers Brian and Jason Senteney, many special family friends, Lucy and Amy Rogers, and the Warnows whom he loved all.

Memorial will be held in Jeff’s honor on Sunday, May 21 at the Monday Club in Fortuna.

Rest easy, Jeff.

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