PREVIOUSLY

• RCEA Employees May Receive Very Large Potential Salary Increases — And Work Fewer Hours

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The Redwood Coast Energy Authority’s board of directors approved at their meeting yesterday a new four-day workweek and salary step schedule for their employees that, years in the future, will allow many of them to earn more than 20% above what their current maximum salary allows for. 

Like many governmental agencies, RCEA’s employees are paid on a salary-step schedule: employees are grouped by their titles and responsibilities, and each of these groups has their own pay ladder they work up, each employee’s salary increasing by 5% annually if their performance warrants it. The board approved new schedules for each of these groups of employees last night; each employee will be placed on the closest step up compared to what they’re currently earning. According to the staff report, a number of unfilled positions at RCEA gives it a $600,000 surplus, some of which they can use by adjusting their salary process. This year, the increased pay will cost roughly an extra $104,000.

The new schedules will be implemented April 5, and because their salaries are being adjusted up a tad, most of them will get a raise of less than 5%. The real gains will come later: the most Executive Director Beth Burks could make on the old schedule was $245,916 every year; in five years, on the new schedule, she stands to earn $271,714. (She currently makes a bit over $212,000). Everybody, all the way down to the lowest-paid position, will make more in the coming years than they would have on the old schedule. One standout, Deputy Executive Director Eileen Verbeck, made $151,309 in 2024, according to most recent publicly available salary data. Assuming she got a 5% raise last year, she’s currently making about $159,000; the most she could earn on the old schedule was about $170,000. Now, in a few years, she could earn over $217,000.

RCEA’s board requested the salary reconfiguration in 2024; RCEA hired consulting firm Gallagher early in 2025 to work it out. RCEA gave them their pay scales and job descriptions for each position, and Gallagher also asked RCEA employees for their own descriptions of their duties and what they thought would be required of a new employee doing their job. Gallagher compared RCEA’s jobs to positions at 10 other agencies similar to RCEA. Some of them, in places such as the Bay Area or Orange County, pay their employees a lot more than RCEA does.

Top executives for some of the comparator agencies make over $300,000 annually (the CEO of the Sonoma Clean Power Authority was paid $496,000 in 2024). Gallagher computed the “cost of labor” differentials for each area based on data from the Economic Research Institute, and adjusted the pay for each equivalent position down from the other, higher-paying markets, some of them by as much as 30%. Gallagher’s report doesn’t dive into detail on how that was calculated. They found that almost all of RCEA’s employees are paid less than the market average, justifying the new step schedule.

For comparison, the median household in Humboldt County makes $58,124 every year. 

The increased pay is necessary, RCEA staff and board members said yesterday, because they’re competing against agencies that offer more money and remote work opportunities. They’re also not enrolled in CalPERS and employees have to spend more on insurance than employees of other local agencies. 

“I’ve heard we’re an incubator for good talent to go to other CCAs,” board member and Arcata city councilmember Sarah Schaefer said, referring to other Community Choice Aggregators like RCEA.  “We want to be able to attract good people and keep them here to do good work in our community as well…It’s hard to — if we can — to not want to pay our employees more to do the work that they do.”

The vote to approve the pay changes was 5-0; Blue Lake City councilmember Elise Scafani and Heidi Moore-Guynup, a representative from the Blue Lake Rancheria, abstained. 

The board also unanimously approved a 34-hour workweek for RCEA. They want to offer their employees “competitive and improved benefits,” said a staff presenter, hoping that a shorter workweek will reduce burnout, decrease absenteeism, and attract more prospective hires. 

Over half of RCEA’s staff said they thought they could work through their loads in less than 40 hours a week, according to an internal poll. 

To offset the lost hours, they’ll focus on efficiency, improving their communication and eliminating meetings when possible. “We’re really focusing on ‘How do we do it better?’” said one staff member, “so that we give people some time back and still have a similar level of productivity.” 

The shorter workweek will also save RCEA money this year; many of their employees are on a bi-weekly salary, and every decade or so, there are 27 pay periods in a year instead of 26. Some employers pay for the extra two weeks, but that would cost RCEA $200,000. Leadership proposed a trade: keep working 40-hour weeks and also perhaps hold on to a Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment, or work 34-hour weeks and sacrifice the COLA. 96% of the staff wanted the deal.

They’ll work Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. starting May 4.

Staff are, apparently, eagerly awaiting the change. They asked their staff to share one word that summed up how they felt about a shorter workweek and turned it into a word cloud. Right in the middle, in size 70-something font: “YAAAAS!”

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At just 16 years old, Ferndale musician Luke Powell has caught the attention of several prominent figures in Nashville’s music scene, including country singer Shaboozey.

After seeing a video of Powell warming up before his performance at the Humboldt County Fair last summer, a group of record producers invited Powell out to Nashville to record a few tracks. During his trip to Music City last month, Powell seized an opportunity to perform at the Bluebird Café and Fox & Locke, two of Tennessee’s most iconic music venues. That’s where he met Shaboozey, a Nigerian-American country hip-hop artist who skyrocketed to stardom in 2024 with his breakout ballad “A Bar Song (Tipsy).”

“I had just finished my set at the Fox & Locke, and I was talking to one of the producers I’m working with outside when [Shaboozey] just randomly showed up to go watch the last performers,” Powell told the Outpost in a recent phone interview. “My grandma went up to him and asked if he would listen to one of my songs, and he came up to me and introduced himself and asked me to play him a song.”

Powell chose one of his originals, “Out Here,” a dreamy, almost angsty song about leaving your hometown behind and high-tailing it up Highway 101 with the windows down on a sun-drenched summer day. “It’s about freedom and just getting out of a place you’re stuck in,” Powell explained, noting that he’s drawn inspiration from country singer-songwriters Tyler Childers and Zach Bryan.

Shaboozey loved it.

Video: Stephanie Powell.

“He said it was a really great song, and told me to send it to his manager and producers at his label, Empire Records,” Powell said. “We did, and I’m waiting to hear back from them.”

In true proud mama fashion, Stephanie Powell interjected to emphasize that Shaboozey had actually asked her son “four times” to submit the song to his agent. “He pulled Luke aside and asked him if he was signed yet, and said that he was pretty incredible for a 16-year-old,” she said. “It was just pretty cool to see because he really took the time to listen, and he was just super supportive.”

“I’m just so proud of Luke and his dedication to music,” his mom continued. “He’s a really good kid with a huge heart, and he works so hard at everything he does.”

Powell is currently working out a record deal with Father Figures, a Nashville-based “songwriting and production dream team” with connections to Sony Music Publishing. Once the legal paperwork is wrapped up, he’ll start working on an EP and, eventually, a full-length album.

“I think it’s hinged on how the deal pans out, but if I sign, the first one will probably be a six-song EP, and then I’d release the record the following year,” he said.

In the meantime, Powell has a few shows lined up here in Humboldt. As a matter of fact, he’s playing a set tonight at Tuya’s Cantina in Ferndale. He’s also performing at the Stampede Country Music Wine & Beer Festival at the Humboldt County Fairgrounds at the end of May and Country on the Coast during the Fortuna Rodeo in July. You can find him on Instagram.

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

Between March 19 and March 26, 2026, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office Problem Oriented Policing (POP) Team, with assistance from the Humboldt County Drug Task Force (HCDTF) and officers from the Rio Dell Police Department, conducted a series of search warrants and probation compliance checks throughout Humboldt County. These operations resulted in multiple arrests and the seizure of controlled substances. 

On March 19, 2026, the HCSO POP Team, in coordination with HCDTF agents along with a K9, served a search warrant at the Clarion Hotel in Eureka following a several-month-long investigation. During the search, over 39 grams of fentanyl were located. They also found a smoke detector in the room had been covered in plastic to prevent it from alerting to the presence of smoke. Deputies arrested 63-year-old Chris Wilson of Eureka and transported him to the Humboldt County Correctional Facility, where he was booked on the following charges: PC 978.5-Bench Warrant/Failure to appear on felony charges, HS 11366-Operating or maintaining a drug house, HS 11351-Possession of controlled substance for sale, and PC 148.4(a)(1)-Tamper with fire alarm. 

On March 24, 2026, the HCSO POP Team, assisted by officers from the Rio Dell Police Department, conducted a probation compliance check in the 600 block of 2nd Street in Scotia. Deputies contacted 34-year-old Sierra Marshall, who was on active probation. Per the terms and conditions of her probation, she was subject to search and seizure at any time and was prohibited from possessing, using, or associating with drug traffickers. During their search of the residence, deputies located drug paraphernalia throughout the residence. Deputies arrested Marshall and transported her to the Humboldt County Correctional Facility, where she was booked on the following charges: HS 11366—Operating or maintaining a drug house, and PC 1203.2(a)—Violation of probation.

On March 25, 2026, the HCSO POP Team, again assisted by the Rio Dell Police Department, conducted a probation compliance check in the 300 block of 1st Avenue in Rio Dell. Deputies contacted 40-year-old Nicole Foyster, a convicted felon, who was on active probation and subject to search and seizure at any time.  During their search of the residence, deputies located over 8 grams of fentanyl, drug paraphernalia, and ammunition. Per the terms and conditions of her probation, Foyster was prohibited from using, possessing, associating with drug traffickers and prohibited from possessing ammunition.  She was arrested and transported to the Humboldt County Correctional Facility, where she was booked on the following charges: HS 11366—Operating or maintaining a drug house, PC 30305(a)(1)-Felon in possession of ammunition, and PC 1203.2(a)—Violation of probation. 

On March 26, 2026, the HCSO POP Team and HCDTF agents served a search warrant in the 2200 block of Parkwood Drive in Eureka following a parcel interdiction investigation. During the search of the residence, approximately 10 grams of Ketamine were seized. No one was home at the time the warrant was served. Charges have been submitted to the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office for review.

These investigations are part of the Sheriff’s Office’s ongoing proactive efforts to combat illegal narcotics activity and enhance public safety throughout Humboldt County.

Anyone with information related to illegal drug activity is encouraged to contact the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Humboldt County Drug Task Force at (707) 267-9976.

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

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A Sacramento judge on Thursday rejected a Green Party candidate’s lawsuit against California Secretary of State Shirley Weber’s office seeking to get on the June primary ballot for governor, concluding that he did not file the correct tax returns in time to qualify.

Rudolph “Butch” Ware, an associate professor of history at UC Santa Barbara who wants to be governor, argued that Weber’s office inappropriately disqualified him even after he filed the necessary tax documents. He also claimed the 2019 state law requiring gubernatorial candidates to submit five years of tax returns to qualify for the ballot is unconstitutional.

Ware said that while he tried to meet the March 6 filing deadline, he received “contradictory and confusing messages” from Weber’s office asking him repeatedly to correct “deficiencies,” such as mismatched returns and inappropriately redacted names. That, he said, led him to believe that Weber was “arbitrarily establishing thresholds … to meet and hurdles to jump” to disqualify him.

His attorneys argued in court Thursday that he fixed those errors, and there was a complete set of correct, matching tax returns for all five years among the various filings he submitted.

Weber’s office refuted his claims, arguing Ware’s paperwork contained multiple inconsistencies, including a missing business name, a partial date and missing values in certain fields. Sacramento Superior Court Judge James Arguelles denied Ware’s claim Thursday, saying the secretary of state clearly demonstrated its attempt to work with Ware to correct his filings.

California gubernatorial candidate Butch Ware. Photo courtesy of Butch Ware for Governor Campaign

Ware deemed the ruling a conspiracy by the “Democratic establishment” to keep him off the ballot. He said he would appeal the ruling and file a separate federal suit against Weber.

“We will be on that ballot,” he said. “If they continue the fraudulent, dirty tricks running cover and carrying water for a Democrat administration that is running scared, then we will beat them in a write-in vote.”

Ware is one of at least two candidates for governor this year challenging the tax requirement law. He argued in his court filing that the Legislature “does not have authority to add additional qualification requirements” as it did in 2019.

Weber’s office argues that state lawmakers have the power to apply “reasonable” requirements for candidates to safeguard the electoral process. While Arguelles did not rule on the constitutionality of the law, he echoed the secretary of state’s argument and said the law is presumed to be constitutional unless unconstitutionality is “clearly” and “unmistakenly” present.

The California Supreme Court in 2019 struck down a previous part of the law that would have compelled presidential candidates — including President Donald Trump — to release tax returns, which Democrats contended would help inform voters.

But judges ruled that requirement unconstitutional due to concerns that it could allow state lawmakers to mandate other disclosures the California Constitution doesn’t explicitly require.

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

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Riverside County Sheriff and Republican gubernatorial candidate Chad Bianco denied any wrongdoing after his office gained permission to seize and recount hundreds of thousands of ballots from a judge who has publicly praised him, calling it purely coincidental.

“It’s impossible to know who the duty judge is on that day,” he said in an interview Thursday, in which he defended his controversial investigation into alleged “irregularities” in the 2025 Proposition 50 election as akin to any other criminal probe. “It happened to be a particular judge.”

Bianco.

Bianco’s investigation and seizure of more than 600,000 ballots from the Riverside County registrar of voters last month has alarmed elections experts. Since Feb. 9, Bianco’s office has obtained three court-approved warrants allowing him to seize and count 1,000 boxes of ballots cast last November.

Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a court filing that Bianco seized 426 additional boxes of election materials this week.

A sheriff has never seized ballots en masse for a criminal investigation in state history, Bonta said in filings.

Bonta on Thursday filed his second lawsuit seeking to stop his effort; the UCLA Voter Rights Project and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra also filed a lawsuit in the state Supreme Court on behalf of four Riverside County voters, arguing that Bianco’s moves violate state laws governing who is allowed to handle and count votes.

Secretary of State Shirley Weber has also condemned the ballot seizures, particularly Bianco’s plan to have sheriff’s deputies who are not trained in elections administration re-count the ballots.

Bianco said Thursday he expects a judge to appoint a special monitor to oversee the count, which he hopes will take about a week to conduct.

Bianco’s move comes as the Trump administration continues pushing baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election and mirrors the February FBI seizure of 2020 ballots cast in Fulton County, Georgia.

Bianco, a Trump supporter, is neck-and-neck with fellow Republican Steve Hilton for the lead in the governor’s race. Bonta and Weber, both Democrats, are also running for re-election.

Bianco has insisted his efforts are unrelated to his campaign and are not meant to re-litigate the outcome of the statewide special election, in which 56% of Riverside County voters approved Prop. 50, the Democratic ballot measure to gerrymander the state’s congressional districts.

Voter fraud remains rare

Voter fraud is rare in California and nationally, repeated studies have found. In Riverside County, Bianco has been probing the elections system since late 2022 and said he has “not found any mass fraud in Riverside County in elections.”

But earlier this year a local elections-related activist group called the Riverside Election Integrity Team claimed to Bianco’s office that elections officials had inflated the number of ballots counted.

Registrar of Voters Art Tinoco told county supervisors last month the group was relying on incomplete data about how many ballots were cast that did not include confidential, provisional and other ballots. Bianco on Thursday called the explanation “some excuse.”

Bonta’s first attempt to stop the recount failed on Tuesday when an appeals court rejected the case. That case revealed that the warrants allowing the ballot seizure were signed by Riverside Superior Court Judge Jay Kiel, whom Bianco endorsed when Kiel ran for the bench in 2022.

Kiel is a former Riverside County deputy district attorney who ran for judge on a slate with three other prosecutors. They were jointly endorsed by the local Republican Party, Bianco, law enforcement groups and Our Watch, a conservative group run by local pastor Tim Thompson aiming to “increase the influence of Judeo-Christian values” in government.

Bianco, who has also appeared in Our Watch videos and headlined a fundraiser for Thompson’s political spending committee, wrote on social media in 2022 that Kiel and his fellow prosecutors should be elected judges “to help rein in political activism destroying the justice system.”

In an interview with Thompson on Our Watch’s social media pages in 2022, Kiel praised his then-boss, District Attorney Mike Hestrin, and Bianco.

“The people of Riverside County, I don’t think sometimes they realize how fortunate they are,” Kiel said. “These two are unbelievable when it comes to enforcing the law. … We’re so fortunate to have Chad Bianco.”

The warrant requests were assigned to Kiel because he was the “duty judge” that day, said Kareem Gongora, a spokesperson for Riverside County Superior Court. Gongora declined to comment on Kiel’s ties to the sheriff. Kiel could not be reached for comment.

Typically California courts assign duty judges on a rotating schedule to consider warrant requests from police on any given day, and it’s common for prosecutors and law enforcement to know who is on duty, prosecutors in several other counties told CalMatters. Gongora would not say whether that schedule is circulated to law enforcement in Riverside County.

Bianco bristled when asked whether he knew Kiel was on duty on Feb. 9, the day his office obtained its first warrant, and when asked whether their endorsements of each other posed a conflict of interest. He said sheriff’s deputies never know which judge is on duty.

“This notion that I am corrupt because Democrats are corrupt, and they expect everyone is corrupt just like them, is absolutely false,” he said.

Warrants remain under seal

Jerry Fineman, a former Riverside County prosecutor who retired in 2021 and who now lives out of state, said prosecutors typically knew who the judge on duty was but deputies commonly walk into court without knowing. Fineman has worked with both Kiel and Bianco and said Kiel’s prior assignments as a prosecutor in narcotics cases indicate that he would be “very familiar with the legal requirements of a warrant.”

Bianco also refused to release the warrants. Under state statute, search warrants and the sworn statements police make with evidence supporting their investigation must be executed within 10 days of being issued, after which they become public records. But Kiel has ordered the warrants sealed, which judges can do in limited circumstances to protect confidential informants. Fineman said warrants are typically sealed so as not to alert a suspect of an investigation.

Bonta’s office has reviewed the statements and warrants and, in his lawsuits, argues they fail to establish enough evidence of any crimes to justify seizing the ballots.

“That’s all the more compelling reason that these warrant packages should be made public, that people should be able to see them themselves,” said David Loy, legal director of the First Amendment Coalition. “It should very much be the rule, not the exception, that warrant packages are open to the public.”

Bianco refused, despite the already public nature of the investigation, and said 90% of the warrants he’s obtained in his three-decade law enforcement career have been sealed. He chastised reporters for treating the investigation differently from “a domestic violence case, a murder case, a robbery case.”

“Don’t you act like this is out of the ordinary,” he said. “You all are making it political. We are doing the same thing we do every single day, and I’m not going to justify it to people that have no idea or who are making things up to make it look like we are doing something out of the ordinary, or illegal or hidden or anything else. This is normal law enforcement.”

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Anat Rubin and Cayla Mihalovich contributed reporting.

Johanna Marguerite Hamel passed away peacefully in Arcata on March 20, 2026, from pancreatic cancer. She will be remembered for her wit, her friendship, her integrity and her parties. Her many friends and loved ones deeply appreciated her positivity and that she truly lived life on her own terms.

“JoMama” Hamel was born in Wingdale, N.Y., on June 5, 1962, to Hanora Ita Hamel (Dore) of Limerick, Ireland and Armand Anthony Hamel of Wingdale, NY. A high school valedictorian and three-sport all-county athlete, Johanna went on to play field hockey at Brown University. Upon graduating, she bought a one-way ticket to California and never looked back. She had a blast bartending at the comedy club The Other Cafe in San Francisco where the likes of Robin Williams and Ellen DeGeneres were regulars, and then moved to remote southern Humboldt County, started a family and built a homestead on 40 acres with a panoramic view of nothing but nature.

Johanna’s values drove her lifestyle – she worked in solar energy to learn how to build her house off-grid, and in sustainable building materials so her home could give more than it took from the land she loved. An expert landscaper, her vast gardens remain stunning. She contributed constantly to her community, coaching any team that needed it and teaching countless kids how to dribble a basketball – memories that made her smile until her last day. In 2016, she drove a truckload of medical supplies to Standing Rock to support those protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline and worked in the base camp providing childcare, sports and games for the kids whose parents were on the front line. Much of her renown in Humboldt County and beyond was as a radio DJ, most notably on KMUD where she hosted “JoMama’s Blues” for 35 years, making it the longest-running blues show west of Chicago.

Johanna maintained friendships with folks of all ages and from all walks of life. She could always be relied on to show up, work hard and find humor in any situation. She had much to be thankful for and reflected in her final days on some of her proudest moments, including her children’s university graduations from Brown, Stanford, UC San Diego and Columbia, seeing her son purchase his first home and watching her daughter represent the United States in the 2022 Rugby World Cup. Above all, she felt at peace knowing her family is safe, happy and loved.

Johanna is survived by her son Connor (Anna Kashtanova) of Oakland and her daughter Evelyn (Daniel Leyva) of San Diego; grandchildren Jade Ashenbrucker, Kieran Leyva and Baby Leyva (on the way!); sisters Clare Santora of Massachusetts and Yvonne Miller of Kansas; nieces Alexandra, Amanda and Elizabeth; and great-nephew Hudson.

She is also survived by her life partner Katy Stern of Arcata, with whom she shared decades of love and laughter; Zack Stern (Eden Golub) of McKinleyville and granddaughter Eleanora Stern.

She is preceded in death by her mother Ita, her father Armand and her brother Cornelius. In lieu of flowers, her wish is that donations be made to the Betty Kwan Chinn Homeless Foundation toward their youth summer camps.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Johanna Hamel’s family. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.

Thousands are expected to show up Saturday at the third “No Kings” protest in Eureka. Demonstrations are planned in a handful of communities across Humboldt County as part of a massive nation-wide protest against President Donald Trump.

“We want people to just come and protest anything and everything that Trump is doing that makes him a king, that makes him a tyrant, that makes him a dictator, that makes him a fascist,” said AJ, a 50501 organizer who provided a nickname to avoid getting doxxed.

AJ expects two to four thousand people to show up beside the Humboldt County Courthouse.

“I think it’s just going to be absolutely huge,” she said.

The protest, scheduled for 12-2 p.m. outside the Humboldt County Superior Court, is part of a nationwide push.

National No Kings organizers, which include people from activist groups Indivisible and the 50501 Movement, say over 3,000 events are planned across the country. They predict the day will be the largest protest in U.S. history.

The first No Kings protest was in response to Donald Trump ordering a military parade on his birthday.

AJ said the movement is still pushing back against a spread of the Trump Administration’s actions — like the war in Iran and the deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in airports.

Demonstrators can expect poetry, speakers and musical acts. Activists will be collecting food for Food Not Bombs and raising funds for Rick Toledo, who was arrested recently by Cal Poly Humboldt police.

Previous No Kings protests have drawn thousands in Eureka, including a June 2025 event where protesters walked past marshals and blocked U.S. 101.

AJ said Saturday’s protest doesn’t include plans to shut any streets, and organizers have trained safety marshals to smooth over interactions with possible counter protesters and to keep people off the road.

At Eureka protests in January, one man was arrested after allegedly brandishing a chemical agent at protesters and another was arrested after pulling his car onto the sidewalk.

Eureka police spokesperson Rachel Sollom said in an email that commanders and Chief Brian Stephens will be on scene Saturday.

In Humboldt County, similar protests are planned in Trinidad, Ferndale, Shelter Cove and Garberville, according to AJ and the No Kings map. 

Ted Pease, a spokesperson for Indivisible Trinidad, said he wouldn’t be surprised if 100 people showed up Saturday.

“Every day is a new atrocity in this administration,” he said, pointing to “disregard for constitutional liberties.”

Weekly protests are held along Main Street in Trinidad. Some of Indivisible Trinidad’s members were part of marches in the 1960s opposing the Vietnam war, Pease noted.

“They’re deeply, deeply concerned about the future of this country. There’s nothing happy about that. But these are optimists, and they don’t turn out to say what they think at a protest if they weren’t hopeful they could make a difference,” he said.

Trinidad protesters will meet at the whale sculpture on Main Street near the Chevron station, march a 0.5 mile loop through town at 12:15 p.m., down Main and Trinity streets to the harbor, and then back to the start using Ocean and View streets.

A rally will follow the march on both sides of Main Street. Organizers ask attendees to park in the field behind Murphy’s Market.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Massive ‘No Kings’ Protest Draws Thousands to Eureka Today; Fifth Street Temporarily Closed at the Courthouse But is Now Open Again
• ‘No Kings’ Protest in Eureka Draws Thousands