###

Welcome to Edgewater County, a rural community in picturesque Northern California — a place where outlaws cultivate marijuana in the forested hills, Cal Fire firefighters fight forest fires and justice goes by the name of Sheriff Mickey Fox.

This, as some of our TV-watching readers have no doubt discovered, is the fictional setting of the new CBS police procedural drama Sheriff Country. It’s a spinoff of the popular series Fire Country, which debuted three years ago and also takes place in Edgewater County. As we noted at the time, the trailer for Fire Country featured a brief but unmistakable helicopter/drone shot of Rio Dell. Fun!

Alas, like the late-2000s sci-fi series Eureka and the Netflix soap Virgin River, these fictional versions of our region were filmed almost entirely in Canada. Nonetheless! When it comes to scene-setting, sometimes you need the real deal. Your cinematographer can maybe settle for, say, Milton, Ontario, or Langley, British Columbia, for your building exteriors, but when it comes to majestic aerial views, there’s no substitute for the Eel River Valley.

The trailer for Sheriff Country includes a brief, bird’s eye shot of Rio Dell and Scotia. And some eagle-eyed Ferndale residents recently spotted sky-high footage of their Victorian Village in the show’s fifth and sixth episodes. The images below are all from those two episodes. Blink and you’ll miss ‘em, so we’ve preserved them here for your leisurely enjoyment.

Attention, Eurekans! Would you like to have a meaningful impact on new developments in our fair city? Now is your chance. 

Next week, the City of Eureka will host a community town hall — Designing Density with Neighborhoods in Mind — to gauge public opinion on proposed design standards for infill housing and new developments. The city is seeking public input to ensure that the new design standards protect and maintain what we love about our neighborhoods while also supporting a wider range of new housing options. 

Staff with Eureka’s Planning and Building Department have been hard at work developing both subjective and objective design standards for infill development. The proposed regulations are still in the works, but Eureka City Councilmember Kati Moulton thought it’d be a good time to get the public involved in the process. 

“We spent all of last year talking about larger developments on public land,” Moulton said, referring to the long-blighted Jacobs Campus that was at the heart of a convoluted land swap between the Eureka City Schools District and a mysterious private developer. Long story short, the deal went up in flames, and the school district opted to sell the property to the California Highway Patrol. “Now it’s time to talk about the other side of the picture, which is smaller [developments] that are going into our neighborhoods and what folks want to see there.”

In this context, “design standards” refers to a checklist of sorts that developers and architects can refer to when drawing up plans for a new build. 

“You know, what should a building look like from the road? How far should the top story be set back so there’s as much lighting on the building around them as possible?” Moulton said. “Giving developers a checklist [explaining] this thing has to be this many inches wide, and you have to have this many textures or this number of windows per square feet of wall. That kind of stuff.”

The town hall will take place on Monday, Dec. 8, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Council Chambers at Eureka City Hall – 531 K Street. Want to attend remotely? Sign up here. 

###

PREVIOUSLY:

• Activists Will Attempt to Persuade Eureka City Council to Add Anti-War Resolution to Future Agenda

A well-backed effort by about a dozen public commenters at last night’s Eureka City Council meeting resulted in a resolution calling for an end to military bombings on Venezuelan boats being added to the next city council meeting’s agenda on Dec. 16. 

The council also unanimously decided to send a 2017 resolution affirming its dedication to human rights to California’s elected representatives in Washington, with a letter added for context.

“All this divisiveness and hate is really boring and it’s painful and it’s hurtful and we really it doesn’t help any of us,” Mayor Kim Bergel said, a tad effusive. “It really doesn’t help any of us.”

The new resolution, written by the Humboldt Anti-War Committee, claims that Eureka has a responsibility to hold the government accountable for violating international laws, and should also support the exit of troops and arms from the Caribbean and an end to sanctions on Venezuela. A call asking for advocates to show up to the city council meeting brought in plenty of activists, many of whom said that they had a moral obligation to do anything they could to stop the extralegal killings of Venezuelan civilians. 

“Kids are struggling, classrooms are understaffed, teachers and aides are not paid nearly enough,” said one public commenter. “And our money’s going to bombs being dropped on boats in Venezuela, probably on the mainland soon. I think this is our opportunity to shovel it back in any way we can…It’s a no-brainer. I think it would mean a lot.”

Bergel said she had remembered the 2017 resolution while listening to the commenters, and thought it relevant enough to be worth sending again. She read through the whole resolution aloud. 

“In light of the current climate in our country and the negativity and hate that is being fostered,” the resolution reads. “…We will never back down on human rights, whether in healthcare, the workplace, or any other area threatened by others who treat people as objects to be demeaned or objects to be assaulted.”

Eureka’s city clerk said she wasn’t sure which government officials the resolution was being sent to. 

Besides Bergel’s comments, there was little discussion on the topic from the other councilmembers.

###

Caltrans District One just posted the following to its Facebook page:

THEFT IMPACTING SLIDE RESPONSE ALONG ROUTE 36: Caltrans and our contractor have been dealing with recent theft while responding to the slide along Route 36 near Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park in Humboldt County.

Thieves have targeted an excavator, a skip loader, and changeable message signs, stealing fuel and batteries worth thousands of dollars. When crews arrive at disabled equipment, it slows our efforts to keep the highway open and drives up project costs.

We’ve also seen other vandalism in this corridor, including equipment at postmile 25 that was broken into with ignition systems destroyed, and a changeable message sign on another Route 36 project that was shot with a shotgun last year.

If you see suspicious activity around construction equipment or message signs in this area, please call 911 to report it.

Also,Photo: Caltrans District 1Photo: Caltrans District 1 a reminder that a full closure of Route 36 at this location is scheduled for this weekend, December 6 and 7, to support slide-response work. The roadway is expected to close at 8 a.m. on Saturday, December 6, and reopen at 6 p.m. on Sunday, December 7. During this time, crews are planning helicopter operations to remove hazards from the slide area, which are weather- and fog-dependent. The long detour uses Routes 299 and 3. Emergency vehicles will be accommodated through the closure if necessary.

Outside of the planned closure, one-way traffic control will continue with delays of up to 15 minutes. Please travel cautiously through the construction zone.

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office needs the public’s help to locate a runaway juvenile, Shayde Evan Kelley, 16-years-old, of Salyer.  Kelley was reported missing on Sept.15, 2025 after he failed to return home from Hoopa High School.

Kelley is described as a Native American male, brown hair, brown eyes, approximately 5-foot-11 inches tall and weighing approximately 165 pounds.

Anyone who has seen or knows the whereabouts of Shayde Kelley is asked to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at 707-445-7251 and refer to case number 202504160. 

###

Situated at the gateway to Redwood National and State Parks, the long-overlooked community of Orick has struggled for years to realize its potential as a tourist destination. Now, a group of Cal Poly Humboldt students is trying to change that. 

The student-led project, “Orick Rising,” aims to draw more visitors to the economically depressed town by revamping and beautifying its main street. The hope is that increasing curb appeal will encourage Highway 101 travelers to stop, explore and spend money in town.

While the project’s primary focus is increasing tourism in Orick, the students are working with locals to ensure their vision honors the unincorporated community’s “cultural identity” and improves the “overall quality of life for residents.” 

“We want them to be involved,” said Nancy Nazario, one of four recreation administration majors working on the project. “Some people are averse to change, but, hopefully, any improvements that are made are in the hands of the community. … We’re working on a time constraint — this is just a one-semester project — but, in the future, I’m hoping to come back, even to just work on small improvements.”

“We started off with the idea of just bringing some basic ideas to the community to find out what they really want,” said Mike Sanchez, another recreation administration major at Cal Poly Humboldt. “We really wanted them to identify with the ideas we came up with, so it’s more reflective of [Orick] and doesn’t feel like we’re just coming in to improve the economy.”

Last semester, the group of students put together a report, “Orick Rising: Assessing the Tourism Potential of Orick, California,” that looked into the region’s tumultuous history and current challenges, analyzing how “natural, built, cultural and economic systems shape a community’s identity, functionality and appeal for residents and visitors.”

The report outlined several short-term strategies to attract travelers, including the development of a trail along the levee and the construction of a new visitor’s kiosk and/or self-guided tour system that would share the town’s history via QR codes.

The students also floated the idea of putting together a festival-type event that would complement the Orick Rodeo but occur during the off-season. However, that idea seemed a little too ambitious for a single-semester project, Sanchez said.

The group of students presented the report at a community meeting in September, where Orick residents were encouraged to provide feedback and share their own ideas.

“Meeting participants showed support for projects by applying stickers to project boards,” said Ara Pachmayer, associate professor of tourism management at Cal Poly Humboldt. “Of the meeting attendees, many residents expressed interest in moving forward with the main street beautification proposal, and that is what the class is pursuing with the community.”

Now that they’ve got a plan in place, the students are meeting with the Orick Main Street Beautification Planning Group, a collection of local stakeholders. 

Humboldt County’s Economic Development Program Manager Peggy Murphy attended the September community meeting and said she was impressed by the students’ proposal, noting that she was “truly inspired by the professionalism, openness and grace each of them has shown throughout the process.” While the beautification project may seem like a small step in improving Orick’s economic future, “real change often begins with a catalyst.”

“Downtown and tourism-oriented investments help create a stronger sense of place,” Murphy said. “Orick sits at the gateway to the redwoods, one of the most iconic destinations in the world, yet it has historically captured only a fraction of the tourism economy passing through. Strengthening the town center and adding amenities that reflect local culture, and landscape could help Orick tap into that opportunity.”

“Also, these kinds of projects often spark broader economic development,” Murphy added. “This momentum has the potential to attract small businesses, hospitality services, eateries and recreation-based enterprises that diversify the local economy.”

Sociology major Steven Ochoa hopes the beautification project will provide the morale boost needed to encourage property owners to improve the façades of buildings along Highway 101 and, eventually, bolster infrastructure all throughout town.

“We can see that as being a little bit outside of tourism, but that infrastructure is still really important when you’re trying to invite potentially thousands of people that are going to the redwoods and aren’t stopping in Orick to now stop there,” Ochoa continued. “We don’t want to overwhelm what is there already, right?”

The students’ current focus is tracking down the grant funding needed to bring the project to life. Until then, the group will keep meeting with the planning group to set priorities and finalize beautification plans.

###

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

###

California is fighting back after President Donald Trump’s administration instigated homeless housing cuts that local service providers said would be “devastating.”

Two recently filed lawsuits accuse the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development of illegally going over Congress’ head to make massive changes to the way federal homelessness funds are distributed.

“HUD’s new grant rules would effectively defund permanent supportive housing and rapid rehousing programs across the nation, eliminating proven tools that help residents exit homelessness sustainably,” Santa Clara County Counsel Tony LoPresti said in a statement. “This is another instance of the Trump administration prioritizing its political agenda above the needs of our most vulnerable community members.”

Santa Clara County and San Francisco sued the Trump administration this week, in conjunction with the National Alliance to End Homelessness and the National Low Income Housing Coalition. A separate lawsuit was filed last week by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration and a handful of other states. It marked the 47th time California sued the Trump administration in 44 weeks.

Now, homeless service providers are waiting anxiously to see how the litigation plays out and wondering if the impending legal battle will further delay the money they desperately need.

“It’s just the matter of how long it’s going to take that concerns me,” said Robert Ratner, director of Santa Cruz County’s Housing for Health, which coordinates the county’s homelessness response. “Because while we’re waiting for these issues to get resolved, we have programs that are going to run out of money to support people.”

The Department of Housing and Urban Development did not respond to a request for comment.

In a statement last month, HUD Secretary Scott Turner said the changes are aimed at “stopping the Biden-era slush fund that fueled the homelessness crisis, shut out faith-based providers simply because of their values, and incentivized never-ending government dependency.”

At issue are changes the Trump administration made to its funding policy last month. Jurisdictions applying for a piece of about $4 billion in federal homelessness funds now can’t spend more than 30% of that money on permanent housing — a significant decrease. Los Angeles County, for example, currently spends more than 80% on permanent housing. Instead, the federal government wants localities to prioritize emergency shelter and temporary housing programs that require participants to be sober or participate in treatment.

While shelters offer a temporary respite from the streets, permanent housing can end someone’s homelessness. For years, the federal government has prioritized funding permanent housing using the “housing first” method — a strategy that moves people into housing as quickly as possible, without requiring them to first get sober or agree to addiction treatment. Veering away from both of those principles marks a major policy shift.

Last year, California communities won more than $683 million in federal homelessness funds through what is called the Continuum of Care program. About 90% of that went to permanent housing projects, which currently house tens of thousands of Californians, according to Newsom. The new rule threatens to put those people back out onto the street, he said in a news release.

“While we’re waiting for these issues to get resolved, we have programs that are going to run out of money to support people.”
— Robert Ratner, director, Housing for Health

The new policy also prohibits the use of federal funds for diversity and inclusion efforts, support of transgender clients, and use of “harm reduction” strategies that seek to reduce overdose deaths by helping people in active addiction use drugs more safely. And it gives preference for projects in cities, counties and states that ban homeless encampments.

Both lawsuits allege that the Trump administration’s funding changes violate the Administrative Procedure Act and the Constitution by defying the rules Congress set out for distributing the funds. Congress authorized a two-year grant cycle in 2024, meaning local jurisdictions wouldn’t have to reapply for funds in 2025. The Trump administration flouted that decision when it suddenly forced jurisdictions to reapply, the lawsuits allege.

The lawsuits also claim the administration didn’t go through proper protocol before enacting the changes to its funding strategy, which would have included giving cities and counties more time to comply with the new rules, and allowing stakeholders to comment on the changes.

In Santa Cruz County, Ratner is of two minds about the lawsuits. On one hand, he believes the abrupt way the Trump administration rolled out the funding changes was “very inappropriate.” But he worries a lengthy court battle could tie up funds his county needs to pay people’s rents.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness sued the Trump administration over similar allegations tied to a smaller, $75 million pot of homelessness funding in September. A judge sided with the Alliance, and temporarily barred the federal government from distributing those funds. But now that money is frozen, unable to help unhoused residents as the case moves forward.

Ratner worries that could happen again in this case. Santa Cruz County is set to start hitting serious financial problems as soon as February, Ratner said. That’s when a $1.2 million supportive housing grant, which currently houses about 50 people in different apartments around the county, is set to expire.

The Trump administration doesn’t expect to start awarding Continuum of Care money until May. It’s unclear how the lawsuits will affect that timeline.

In the meantime, Ratner and other homeless service providers are trying to remain optimistic.

“At this point, we don’t know how long the litigation process will take, but we’re hopeful it leads to a more workable path forward,” Sacramento Steps Forward CEO Lisa Bates said in a statement. “Of course, any delay in federal funding would have real impacts on communities across the country, including ours, to operate shelters, rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, and essential system coordination.”