Rosa Ruiz Paredes, 92, of Hydesville, passed away on June 13, 2023 in the presence of her eldest daughter Lalita Brinckhaus, her grandson Dr. Nathan Brinckhaus, her niece Graciela “Chely” Cardenas Lima, and her husband of 67 years, William Paredes. She was born on November 23, 1930, in Contamana, Peru, South America.

Rosita was an accomplished cook, baker and friend. Sharing her food with family and friends was one of her great joys in life. She loved to garden — she and William had one of the loveliest flower and vegetable gardens along Highway 36. Her hobbies included walking, food preservation, listening to classical and religious music, playing the harmonica and volunteering at the local Food Bank. She loved to connect with people, catch up over the phone, and tell stories from her childhood.

Rosie worked as a nurse’s aide at Adventist hospitals both in Denver, Colo., and Glendale, Calif. She received her licensure in board and care and managed two board and care homes for the elderly in Riverside, Calif. For a short time when her grandkids were small, she operated an in-home daycare. She also provided In-Home Support Services for the elderly in Humboldt County.

Rosie’s avocation was to draw others to the love of God and in her 50s worked diligently with William to start a Spanish Seventh-day Adventist Church in Loma Linda, Calif. In her 60s, when she and William moved to Humboldt County for health reasons and to be near their grandchildren, she worked closely with the Fortuna Seventh-Day Adventist church to connect with the Latinx community, offering translation, rides, support, friendship, comfort and whatever was needed to share the love of God. Rosa was a lifetime Seventh-day Adventist christian and a member of the Fortuna Seventh-day Adventist Church for 30 years.

Rosie had a loving and generous personality, a beautiful smile, and infectious laughter. She was fiercely proud of all her children and grandchildren, and always carried high hopes that they would make an impact in this world for good. She greatly encouraged musical studies and higher education for all the young people she knew.

She is survived by her husband William Paredes; daughter Lalita Brinckhaus and son-in-law Ruben Brinckhaus; grand-daughter Emilia Brinckhaus Goodrich and grandson-in-law Cassidy Goodrich, great-grandchildren Ocean, Karianna, Keilani, Oasis, Coralrose, Kaleia; grandson Nathan Brinckhaus and grand daughter-in-law Isabel Lopes, great grand-daughters Aria and Ava; grand-daughter Ariana Rayburn and grandson-in-law Joshua Rayburn, great grandchildren Nathaniel and Ariella; grand-daughter Karina O’Shaughnessy and grandson-in-law Judah O’Shaughnessy; grand-daughter Claudia Velasco; daughter Mia Ruiz and daughter-in-law Barbara J Brown; daughter Adela Yanez and son-in-law Pedro Yanez, grand-daughter Daisy Yanez, grand-daughter Yulisa Olea and grandson-in-law Brian Olea, great grand-daughters Carmen and Rosalia; grand-daughter Adela Lou Lou Yanez.

A graveside service will be held on Saturday, June 24, 2023, at 12 p.m., at the Rohnerville Masonic Cemetery, 5254 Rohnerville Road, Fortuna.

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Frank Joseph Weber III was born to Frank Joseph Weber Jr. and Florence Ruth Weber on Oct. 9, 1951 in Downey, Calif. Frank died and was born to eternal life on June 12, 2023.

In his youth he attained the rank of Eagle Scout, the foundation of his life of service. Frank moved to Humboldt County, to attend College of the Redwoods and graduated as a forestry technician. He spent 35 years in the timber industry.

When that employment ended he discovered his aptitude for hospital work. For 13 years Frank worked as a registration specialist at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Most of those years were spent in the Emergency Dept. The staff became family to him and took loving and excellent care of him in his last days. Given the choice, he chose to be treated in this department, where he told his family he felt safe and with his work family. He loved his job and his co-workers and shed tears on the day he realized he would not return to work.

Frank met his wife, Judy, in 1978. They were married on June 28, 1980, when Frank bravely joined her family with three teenagers. They attended a retreat called Cursillo where Frank began his study of and service to the Catholic Church. He was accepted into the church and called to be a permanent Deacon. Ordained in Oct of 2000, he began his service to the church at St. Bernard Parish in Eureka, and later as spiritual assistant to the Franciscan community of Humboldt County.

In June of 2000 Frank was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer. For 23 years he was treated in Eureka and at U.C.S.F. where he amazed his doctors with many periods of remission. He participated in three studies to honor the men in studies before him, which made his treatment possible and added many happy years to his life.

Frank was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Frances, niece Cindy and nephew Jay Shafer; also by Judy’s children Laurey and Jay Sullivan. He is survived by his wife Judy, her son Todd Sullivan and his wife Crista, sister and brother in-law Enid and Ken Bell, nephews Kurt Shafer and Richard Carroway, nieces Kim McKinnon and Sonja Beebe, sisters’ in-law Rita Figueira and Kay and brother in-law Ken Stodder.

Frank loved all of God’s creation. He rescued and loved many pets in his lifetime. He was a marathon runner and achieved the rank of black belt in Jujitsu. Frank was grateful for his many physicians here and at U.C.S.F., especially to Dr. Jack Irvine for his many years of friendship and care, to Dr. Tom Ridz for his support and guidance and for the skills and kindness of the many doctors who treated him at U.C.S.F.

In Frank’s youth he struggled with a severe stutter. He overcame this and by God’s grace and wise counsel his voice was restored to the point where he manned the switchboard at St. Joseph’s Hospital and preached at Mass. Frank was a wise young man, a wiser older man and a gift to us all. His gift of joy, humor and his ability with puns and jokes brought smiles and laughter to many. He blessed us all with love, especially his wife Judy.

A Memorial Mass will be held at St. Bernard Church in Eureka, Wednesday, June 21, 2023 at 10 a.m., with reception to follow. Donations may be made in Frank’s memory to: Betty Chin Foundation, Food for People or Miranda Animal Rescue.

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Alice Davenport Gay
November 6, 1930 - June 4, 2023

Alice Davenport Gay, 92, of Eureka passed away on June 4, 2023. She was born on November 6, 1930, to Henry and Estella Davenport.

Alice was preceded in death by her husband, Earl “Bud” Gay. Together, Alice and Earl raised four children: Mike and (wife Beannie) of Sparks, Nevada; Duane (deceased); Keri Swanson (husband, Edwin) of Eureka; and Leslie Cole and (husband Ed) of Anderson, California.

Alice leaves behind a loving legacy of seven grandchildren: Rachel Cole, Sarah C. Abraham and her husband Mark, Hannah Cole Hill and her husband Josh, Jon Swanson, Austin Swanson, Amanda Swanson, Duane Swanson and his wife Aleen, and Melissa Gay Fry and her husband Jeremy. She was also blessed with twelve great-grandchildren: Deanna, Elizabeth, Cassidy and Ayden Swanson; Maverick, Jasper, and Juniper Hill; Cole and Ollie Abraham; Cooper Chard; and Jack and Beau Swanson.

Alice enjoyed cooking alongside Bud and hosting Swedish pancake breakfasts at the Runeburg Lodge. She had a passion for bowling and cherished the adventures she had while traveling with the Match Club traveling team. Camping trips along the Van Duzen River and berry-picking excursions brought her much joy, especially as she crafted her wonderful berry pies.

The family would like to express their heartfelt appreciation to all the caregivers, including the PACE program bus drivers, hospice caregivers, and Agape’s caregivers Ashley, Brenda, Jan, and Karen, for their kindness and support.

Alice will be laid to rest at Ocean View Memorial Park, next to her husband Bud and her son Duane, following her cremation at Humboldt Crematorium. At this time, no services are planned.

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On May 19, 1943, Bob Anderson was born, the oldest of three children. He grew up on a farm in North Dakota before heading off to college, where he studied to become a veterinarian. He then began a journey to western Australia, and he stopped in Humboldt County on the way and never looked back.

Over the years, he worked in many veterinary practices, opening several of his own and finally retiring in 2012. He worked on all sorts of animals over the many years, large and small, garnering quite the reputation as a vet and as a kind-hearted, generous person and friend. Ask anyone that knew him and they’ll have some story to tell fondly about “Dr. Bob.” In 1981, he had a son, Jared, and added “loving and devoted father” to his list of qualifications. And in 1993, he met his long time partner in life and travel, Linda, whose family he took on as his own, adding even more to those who called him family.

Fast forward to the early 2000s and he became a grandpa for the first time, and he took on the role of “Papa Bob” with as much (or more) kindness, generosity and love as he had devoted to all those friends, family and animals over the years.

On June 9, 2023, having recently celebrated his 80th birthday and after a night of fun and joking with family, Bob passed away in his sleep peacefully, leaving behind a host of people who love him and will continue to remember him, his adventures and exploits fondly and wish him well on his next adventures.

For those that wish to attend, a celebration of life is scheduled for July 8 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Scotia Fire Hall. All his friends are welcome to stop by for a minute or stay the whole time.

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Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Gregory J. Kreis last week ruled in favor of Sharon and Steve Wolff, owners and publishers of the local news site Rio Dell Times, in a matter that pitted accusations of libel, slander and harassment against the right to free speech enshrined in the First Amendment.

In his ruling, Judge Kreis ordered attorney Chris Hamer, of Arcata firm Stokes, Hamer, Kirk & Eads, and her client, Royce Mendonca, to pay more than $53,000 in attorney’s fees to the Wolffs’ representative, Sacramento-based Paul Nicholas Boylan, who specializes in media and free speech matters. [DISCLOSURE: Boylan has also represented the Lost Coast Outpost in the past.]

The ruling stems from a contentious legal battle over the conservatorship of Sharon Wolff’s elderly mother and father-in-law, Barbara and Ronald Keller. In 2021, the probate court appointed Mendonca as conservator of the Kellers, much to the frustration of the Wolffs, who characterized the situation as a “court-sanctioned kidnapping.” (They had filed a competing conservatorship request.)

In a press release sent out Thursday, Sharon Wolff alleged that Hamer helped Mendonca, a “distant relative” of her stepfather, remove the elderly couple from the Wolffs’ Fortuna home shortly before a conservatorship hearing “with no explanation.”

“And then they had mom and Ron declared mentally incompetent, which meant they could control mom and Ron completely. That’s what it felt like and looked like, and I said so in the Rio Dell Times,” Sharon Wolff said, adding, “This is a cautionary tale for all adult children of Alzheimer’s and dementia victims.” 

Reached by phone this morning, Hamer said that after losing the conservatorship decision, Sharon Wolff lashed out with wild allegations online and in a series of letters.

“She was a sore loser, and she has been libeling and slandering us, me and my client, since the order saying that she lost and we won,” Hamer said.

As described in Kreis’s decision, the Wolffs chronicled their grievances in the conservatorship case on riodelltimes.com, accusing Hamer of lying and fraud, among other allegations, while accusing Mendonca of being a virtual stranger to the Kellers who kidnapped them and pursued conservatorship so he could steal their money. (Hamer says that’s false and that, in fact, the Kellers personally nominated Mendonca as their preferred conservator.)

Last summer, Hamer filed two petitions on behalf of Mendonca, seeking injunctions to prevent the Wolffs from libel, slander and harassment of both Mendonca and herself. They also asked the judge to order the Wolffs “to immediately remove all existing false and derogatory posting, audio files, articles, statements, letters and pictures” about Mendonca and Hamer from their website.

The petitions also complained about a series of letters that accused Mendonca of elder financial fraud and abuse, letters that the Wolffs sent to Humboldt County Superior Court judges, federal state and local officials and various media outlets, including the Times-Standard, Lost Coast Outpost, Redheaded Blackbelt and North Coast Journal.

Hamer described these writings as “a campaign of daily disparagement.”

“This imposed a considerable burden and distraction on administration of the conservatorships,” Hamer said in an emailed statement. “Instead of filing independent civil lawsuits for damages for defamation, Royce Mendonca, as the conservator of both Ronald and Barbara Keller, filed petitions requesting that the court simply instruct Sharon and Steve Wolff to cease libeling Royce Mendonca, the conservator, and his attorney.”

In response to that filing, the Wolffs retained Boylan, and last September, Boylan filed what’s known as an “anti-SLAPP” motion, accusing Hamer and Mendonca of trying to stifle the Wolffs’ free speech rights through a “strategic lawsuit against public participation.”

“The Wollfs were the victims of the legal system to a degree I’ve never encountered before,” Boylan said in an email to the Outpost. “Sharon’s mother was legally removed from her life, and then the attorney who helped do that used the inequities in the legal system (i.e., the often crushing costs of defense) to censor free speech and the right to petition.”

Hamer and Mendonca wound up dismissing their petitions after being told that they should have been filed them as independent civil actions, rather than petitions in the context of the conservatorship proceedings. Boylan then sought to recoup his legal fees from Hamer and Mendonca, citing a rate of $750 per hour.

Hamer said it was unfair of Boylan to seek reimbursement from herself and her client, saying “there is no legal authority whatsoever supporting such a request.”

In his ruling, filed on June 8, Kries says that while not all of the Wolffs’ statements have concerned matters of public interest, “the ones concerning Chris Hamer and her activities as a lawyer in connection with the case are of public interest in that they seek to inform the public about alleged abuses of public court processes designed to protect vulnerable members of the public.”

Kries also ruled that Boylan and the Wolffs would have prevailed on their anti-SLAPP motion and are thus entitled to attorney’s fees and costs. (He wound up using an hourly rate of $500 to calculate the amount due to Boylan: $53,445.34.)

“This is a true David and Goliath story, —  the largest law firm in Humboldt County against the smallest local newspaper, suing them for the exercise of constitutionally protected rights,” Boylan is quoted as saying in a press release from the Wolffs. (He confirmed to the Outpost that the quote is accurate.) “It is rare to encounter people this deserving of assistance,” he added.

Sharon Wolff described the ruling as “a wonderful outcome to a very bad chapter in my life” and said, “Hamer and Mendonca were using my mom and Ron’s money to finance two lawsuits for [their own] benefit. I am grateful that the Court put a stop to it.”

Hamer reiterated that she considers the imposition of fees on Mendonca and herself to be unprecedented, saying, “[T]here is not a single decided case where a judge has ever done this.”

She vowed to appeal the ruling.

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DOCUMENT: Order re: Motion for Attorney’s Fees

After years of moving to various different locations due to a devastating sewage spill that destroyed its building and ruined thousands of dollars worth of food, local non-profit Food for People is finally back in its old location … but with a brand new building. 

Food for People officially moved back into its Eureka Choice Pantry location 307 West 14th Street just earlier this week, Executive Director Anne Holcomb told the Outpost during a tour of the new digs on Friday afternoon, and is again open and offering its services at the old location. 

Holcomb in front of the new building

“We’re back to the mothership,” Holcomb said, “This has been an enormous thing, because we were in four different locations. So we’ve been bringing everything back in stages.” 

The site’s sewage spill disaster happened in February 2020 and was almost immediately followed by the pandemic, leaving the non-profit to scurry to find a new location and replace the lost food inventory so that it could help serve the community during the COVID-19 emergency. After discovering that the sewage spill had caused much more damage than initially anticipated, the building had to be completely demolished. 

Because Food for People owns the property, the nonprofit decided it would be easier to build a new building on the site, since it is very difficult to find a space that could accommodate its needs in the long run. Thanks to a $1.5 million grant from the Smullin Foundation, other various grants and many donations from members of the community, Food for People was able to fund construction of the new building, which Holcomb said cost about $6.2 million. After many delays due to supply chain issues, construction was finally able to begin on the site about a year and a half ago. 

The new building is substantially bigger than the old one and has several new features, including a food pantry that is about three times the size of the old pantry, huge walk-in refrigeration systems for perishable foods, a bigger storage warehouse and three new intake rooms for people looking to receive services. Upstairs the building also has new offices and a large conference room. 

the much bigger Choice Pantry space, with new refrigeration

Holcomb said that the building is also much more “emergency prepared” than the previous one (for obvious reasons) and is fit with a big backup generator in case of power outages and solar panels. The silver lining to all the difficulties of the last few years, is that Food for People now has a building that will be able to fully meet their needs for the next many years. 

“The past three years have been some of the most challenging I’ve ever been through,” Holcomb said. “I’ve been with Food for People for 22 years and am actually getting ready to retire. So this was kind of my finish line.” 

Press release from the Eureka Police Department:

On June 15, 2023 at approximately 6:20 p.m., officers with the Eureka Police Department (EPD) were dispatched to 20/30 Park, 2500 block of California Street, on a report of gunshots fired at that location. Officers learned while in route to the call that the suspect, described as a black male adult, late teens, thin build, last seen wearing a green and yellow hooded sweatshirt with a white t-shirt underneath, blue “skinny” jeans, and a black ski mask with only the eye holes cut out, left the vicinity traveling south on California Street in a red Toyota Tundra. Officers checked the vicinity for the suspect vehicle while other officers responded to the park. The vehicle and suspect have not been located at the time of this press release.

The investigation, at this point, has revealed the suspect parked on California Street at the entrance to the park and exited the vehicle. The suspect entered the park and fired three (3) rounds from a handgun and then fled back to the truck. The truck was occupied by an unknown number of additional subjects. No one was injured during the shooting and it appears this was not a random act, but a targeted attack against other individual(s) who were already at the park. These individuals left prior to officers arriving on scene and have not contacted EPD to make a report.

The suspect vehicle is believed to be a 2012, Red, Toyota Tundra, double cab (4-door truck), with black door handles. The truck appears to be primarily stock and has large, chrome, 5-spoke rims. A photo of the suspect’s truck obtained during the investigation is attached to this release.

If anyone has any information about this incident or the vehicle, please contact Commander Wayne Rabang at 707-441-4216 or the Eureka Police Department at 707-441-4044. If you spot or locate the vehicle, notify your local law enforcement jurisdiction immediately. The occupants are considered armed and dangerous.