In politically progressive circles, a strange phenomenon can occur. Supply skepticism, the belief that housing prices are divorced from impacts to housing supply, abounds.

On this week’s EcoNews Report, Professor Vicki Been from the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, joins to discuss her metaanalysis of research into the relationship between housing supply and cost. (Hint: More housing moderates housing costs, generally.)

REQUIRED READING:

• Supply Skepticism (2018)
• Supply Skepticism Revisited (2023)

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The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a Flood Advisory for communities all along the North Coast as a “moderate atmospheric river” makes landfall this morning. 

“The current Flood Watch includes northern Humboldt and Del Norte Counties,” according to a recent post from the NWS office in Eureka. “Moderate to heavy periods of rainfall are expected late tonight through Saturday. The heaviest rain will bring the risk of small stream and urban areas flooding.”

The strongest rain will be focused a little further south in Mendocino and Lake Counties, especially along slopes and ridges with southern exposure, according to NWS. Between two and four inches of rain can be expected today, with rain rates “as high as 0.5 inches per hour along the coast.” 

Minor flooding can be expected in the following areas: Arcata, Bayview, Blue Lake, Carlotta, Cutten, Eureka, Ferndale, Fieldbrook, Fortuna, Freshwater, McKinleyville, Myrtletown, Orick, Pine Hills, Rio Dell, Samoa, Scotia, Trinidad and Westhaven-Moonstone.

The rain is expected to let up in the late afternoon or early evening. Take extra caution if you’re out and about today and be sure to watch out for flooding and debris on roads. We’ll update here if we hear about any road closures.

Stay safe out there, Humboldt!

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… as told to Gayle Karshner.

Introduction by Gayle Karshner:

During a discussion of clam chowder at a party not long ago, I remarked that the best I ever tasted was at Clam Beach Inn in 1941!

A voice from the crowd announced, “My mother made that chowder!” Charles “George” Taylor stepped forth and introduced himself. So I had to have the story of Clam Beach Inn, that wonderful, familiar destination for Sunday drives. The azalea-lined old highway cut through the green fields of what is now McKinleyville and Dows Prairie and then down to Clam Beach Inn.

Here is George Taylor’s story.

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My parents, Gertrude and Charles Taylor, Sr., bought the Clam Beach Inn in 1941 from Elmer “Akie” Acorn, and they sold it in 1947. Those were especially exciting years for a young boy like me, living right by the ocean, amidst all the activity of our business and the community during World War Two. My aunt and uncle, Mildred and Sidney “Sid” Webster, were business partners with my parents, and we all lived together at the Inn. Dad ran the bar, which was the closest one to Crannell, and a favorite rendezvous place for Crannell’s loggers. Uncle Sid was in charge of the Inn’s grounds and cabins, and he also helped with the store and the gas pumps; in fact, everyone helped in the store if business was brisk. Mother and Mildred were sisters: Mother was the chief cook; Aunt Mildred was in charge of the dining room, decorating, and serving the customers.

Many customers asked for the chowder recipe. The only ingredient I know of besides the clams, potatoes, bacon and onions, is evaporated canned milk.

There were numerous summer cabins across the highway on the hills above Clam Beach Inn that we rented from the county for $1.00 a year. Most of them were summer homes, but some were permanent residences. My grandmother, Ada Small, lived in one. We rented the cabins just across the road and behind the inn on a nightly basis. But three of these cabins were permanent residences and housed families with children my age. The children were great playmates. There were also tents with wooden floors. They were never rented, but we kids played in them. In addition to the Inn itself, there were outbuildings, a laundry house on the south side, and a “dance hall” that belonged to my folks. On weekends the loggers from Crannell shot dice in the laundry room. Dances took place in the dance hall for a while — some pretty wild. Trains loaded with huge redwood logs from the Big Lagoon area, bound for Hammond’s Mill in Samoa, passed regularly over the tracks and trestle across Strawberry Creek between the Inn and the beach. To get to the beach, you had to go under the trestle.

Just to the north of the Inn was Herb Herrin’s Museum, which attracted a great many tourists, and where I had a part-time job. Out front, giant clamshells and whale bones from the South Seas sparked great interest, as did the outside walls covered with abalone shells. Herb was a fascinating man. He had spent several years in the South Seas collecting opals, rocks and shells. I learned much about the world during the considerable time I spent talking and working for Herb. My job was to feed the seal in the tank outside the museum, and to collect starfish from the rocks at Moonstone Beach to be made into “starfish elephants” a tourist novelty. Herb also crafted redwood burl souvenirs for the tourists.

Other curiosities abounded inside Herb’s museum, including the heavy turquoise-blue blown-glass balls, used as net floats by Japanese fishermen. Local people and tourists liked to collect them. Many gardens and homes displayed these balls. They varied in size from that of a baseball to a volleyball, and in those days they were common on the beaches. For a while Herb rented the dance hall from my parents to use as his workshop and storage for his redwood, and it was a mess then, filled with machinery and sawdust. Between the Inn and the highway we had a fishpond, which had been created by damming Strawberry Creek. My friends and cousins and I had a great time fishing, swimming and playing in that pond in the summertime. Then in the fall I attended school at Dows Prairie. All year around, though, there was entertainment at Clam Beach.

There was a pervading atmosphere of excitement, especially during those wartime years, because the beaches were considered vulnerable to attack or even invasion from Japanese submarines. This was the kind of real-life adventure young boys thrived on. We hid in the bushes, we spied, we played many imaginary war games, but sometimes it was all too close to reality. The Coast Guard, in charge of patrolling the beaches at night on horseback, had to recruit special men familiar with horses for the job.

Their headquarters and horses were located on Patrick’s Creek, one quarter mile north of Clam Beach Inn on the west side of old Highway 101. Rumors were rife during the war.

One late night a rumor that “the Japs are landing at Clam Beach” had spread to a bar, inciting some local guys with guns and full of liquor to come roaring out to the beach to take on the enemy. In the ruckus, one of them tripped over a log and his gun went off with a shattering explosion. I was really frightened, as was everyone in our already nervous community. We thought the real thing had finally arrived. Charley Rabb, county sheriff at the time, soon arrived and quickly rounded up the men and took their guns away.

The halcyon days at Clam Beach eventually came to an end. The county decided there was not enough water to supply all the cabins on the hill, and they were all bulldozed. My parents sold the Inn in 1947 to “Slim” Bathhurst, and my entire family moved to Eureka. My grandmother lived with us there. Bathhurst ran the Inn for a few years, but he moved the bar to another location. He did use the dance hall for dances, though, until the late 1950s.

Then during 1963 and 1964 the entire community of Clam Beach was bulldozed to make way for the new highway. The Inn, the chowder, the pond, Herrin’s Museum, the cabins and all the rest of it lives now only in the memories of those who loved it.

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The story above was originally printed in the Winter 2008 issue of the Humboldt Historian, a journal of the Humboldt County Historical Society. It is reprinted here with permission. The Humboldt County Historical Society is a nonprofit organization devoted to archiving, preserving and sharing Humboldt County’s rich history. You can become a member and receive a year’s worth of new issues of The Humboldt Historian at this link.

Kathleen Janell Pearl was known as Kathy, Mom, Mother Pearl, Gram, LaLa, Graces Gram, beautiful sister Kathy, Aunt Kathy, Kat, friend … the list can go on. Our beautiful Kathy went to be with the Lord on January 8, 2024, holding her daughter Teresa’s hand.

Born Kathleen Janell Timm in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 15, 1943. For the first three years of her life, Kathleen was raised by her mother and her grandparents, Grandma and Grandpa Holmes, whom she loved very dearly. Kathleen’s father was stationed in India as a drill sergeant for one of the last remaining calvaries in the army during WW2 during the first few years of her life. While he was away, her mom worked part-time with the war effort while her parents helped raise Kathleen. After Kathleen’s father returned from India in 1946, Kathleen‘s family moved to Southern California. This is where they eventually bought their first home in West Covina in 1950, on Vine Street. Kathleen grew up helping her father tirelessly tend to the orange trees on this property. She also often helped take care of her younger siblings, Patty, Bill, and Susan. While in West Covina, Kathleen met her lifelong best friend, Donna Gaynos. And to her last day, Kathy and Donna referred to themselves as sisters. As kids, the two used to walk back and forth on Vine Street where they lived across from one another, enjoying each others company.

Growing up and in school, some of the activities that Kathy enjoyed the most were speech and debate, singing and acting in the theater, swimming, and playing dress-up. When she was in high school, she met Willie Ray Clifton who soon became her sweetheart, and proceeded to get engaged to him the day before graduating high school. She graduated from West Covina High in the class of 1961. She was lucky enough to not only have one love of her life but two. Willie Ray Clifton and Charles James Pearl whom she met after being set up by a friend. From these romances, she had numerous beautiful children that she raised. She was a loving mother to Cindy, Scott, Katherine, James, Kimberly, Charles, Suzanna, and her youngest daughter Teresa. And from there, a multitude of beautiful grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren, continued to carry on Kathleen’s family legacy.

Kathy permanently moved up to Eureka in 1983. For numerous years she ran an in-home board and care home along with raising and taking care of her family. But as Kathy grew older, she resided with her daughter, Teresa, and granddaughter Grace, for the remaining decades of her life in Humboldt County.

Kathleen had several careers during her life. She worked as a car hop waitress, go-go dancer, bartender, office manager for plumbing and Roto-Rooter company, worked at the senior resource center, Sears Roebuck, volunteered for the American Cancer Society, was an in-home caregiving manager and caregiver, worked in a candy shoppe, sold Avon, provided respite care, did board and care services, volunteered in her granddaughters classroom, was an ordained minister, and was known to be psychic and extremely clairvoyant. But her most important job of all was being a mother and a homemaker. She always loved kids, especially babies, and had so much love in her heart while helping take care of young ones and watching them grow.

Kathy’s door was always open, to both her friends and family. She never met a stranger, talking to people as if she had known them for years while wearing a huge smile on her face. Kathy loved to garden and share conspiracy theories and her thoughts about alien intelligence. Cooking was one of her passions, having the ability to whip something out of nothing and still make it taste delicious. The bearer of the most amazing hugs you would ever receive, she used to always say on phone calls to loved ones, “Take your right hand and put it over your left shoulder, your left hand and put it over your right shoulder, and give a big squeeze! That’s a big bear hug from me to you!” She also had what we called a “Timm” sense of humor. And don’t you dare forget about her prominent Facebook account, where she would communicate with people daily, sharing love and kindness with all who would listen, especially those who she considered her “prayer warriors.”

She is preceded in death by her loving grandparents, Pete and Clara Holmes, her parents Harold and Eleanor Timm, her daughters Cindy and Kimberly, her daughter-in-law Veronica Jo, her grandson Buddy Fife, Marti Fletcher, and numerous others, all greeting her on the other side as she made her transition. Heaven truly gained another angel when Kathy stepped through its doors. Donations in place of flowers may be made to the American Cancer Society in Eureka or the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Humboldt County.

A celebration of life will be held Saturday, February 3, 2024, 1-3 p.m. It will be a potluck, so bring your favorite dish. The Wharfinger Building. 1 Marina Way Eureka CA 95501.

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Representatives of the City of Arcata and Citizens in Support of Measure M appeared in Humboldt County Superior Court this morning to present arguments on the legality of Measure M, a voter-approved initiative that requires the Earth flag to be flown atop all city-owned flag poles in Arcata. 

Image contributed by Dave Meserve.

The unprecedented ballot initiative was narrowly approved by Arcata voters in November 2022, with a final vote of 3,051 to 2,781, or around 52 percent in favor. 

A few days after the election results were finalized in December 2022, the Arcata City Council voted unanimously in closed session to uphold the voter-approved initiative to honor the will of the voters, with the caveat that the city “concurrently seek judicial resolution to determine if the measure violates state or federal law.” 

Three months later in March 2023, the City of Arcata filed a “Complaint for Declaratory Relief” against Citizens in Support of Measure M regarding the validity of the ballot initiative. The complaint asserts that “Measure M does not comply with state and federal law, which provides that the American flag fly at the top of all flagpoles.”

“A present and actual controversy exists between [the City of Arcata] and [the Citizens in Support of Measure M] regarding the city’s obligation under Elections Code to comply with Measure M and fly the Earth flag at the top of its three flag poles or to comply with state and federal law, ignore the elections results and not fly the Earth flag at the top of its flag poles,” according to the complaint.

Speaking in court today, Angela Schrimp de la Vergne, a Sacramento-based attorney representing the City of Arcata, said it is well within voters’ rights to place such an initiative on the ballot, but once it is passed and ratified by the city council, it becomes “government speech” and is no longer protected.

Schrimp asserted that the voter-approved measure violates California Military and Veterans Code Section 617, which states: “No other flag or pennant shall be placed above, or if on the same level, to the right of the Flag of the United States of America, except during church services, when the church flag may be flown.” 

The measure is also in conflict with a section of California Government Code that directs all municipalities to fly the U.S. flag and California’s state flag outside of all city government buildings. “At all times the National Flag shall be placed in the position of first honor,” according to Section 436.

Eric Kirk, a local attorney representing Citizens in Support of Measure M, had a different interpretation of the law. He agreed that the U.S. flag should be placed above the state flag, per Section 436, but said state law “doesn’t say anything about any other flags.”

“We don’t know what ‘first honor’ means in this case,” he said. “They’re using the word ‘honor’ rather than ‘altitude’ or ‘position’ [in relation to] the flag. Maybe it means something other than the physical position of the flag, and basically [refers to] how the flag is being treated.”

Kirk emphasized that Measure M “was not intended to dishonor the American flag in any way” but rather was brought forward “simply as a matter of the philosophy and values” of Arcata. As such, “the American flag has not been removed from its honor,” he said.

[UPDATE: In a follow-up email, Kirk said this point is ancillary to his primary argument, which concerns the power of the voter initiative. Kirk added:

Our defense of Measure M is in the fact that it was passed as an initiative. The City’s position is that a local initiative is no more powerful than a resolution passed by the city council and is thus just as limited when it comes to state law, especially as Arcata is a “general law” city rather than a charter.

The voter referendum in California, unlike other states, is considered a power “reserved by the people” not granted by the state. The California Constitution makes this clear and the case law establishes that in most cases the voters have the power to override the legislature. A passed initiative is given the presumption of validity and all doubts are to be resolved in its favor, with the reserved power of the people being “jealously guarded” by the courts.

The question presented in the case is whether the voters of a local jurisdiction can pass into law something that contradicts state law, Kirk said.]

Judge Timothy Canning did not take any action during this morning’s court proceedings. He will issue a decision on the matter sometime in the next 90 days.

Reached for additional comment on the matter, Dave Meserve, former Arcata City Council member and the author of Measure M, argued that it is “only logical” to have to Earth flag on top of the flagpole.

“From an environmental point of view, we can only have a healthy country if we have a healthy Earth, so we have to make the Earth our first priority. Putting the Earth flag on top is just a reminder of that,” Meserve said. “The people of Arcata have spoken; the Earth is a priority for them. … There’s no rational reason why we shouldn’t be able to do that, as far as the law is going to be interpreted.”

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DOCUMENT: Complaint for Declaratory Relief

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On 1/18/2024, at about 6:31 pm, Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the 3600 block of Heindon Road near Arcata for the report of an altercation with a firearm.

Deputies arrived on scene and spoke with the victim of the altercation. Deputies learned the suspect, identified as 38-year-old Disiree George, and the victim were in a dispute over a vehicle. The victim told deputies that George pointed a handgun at him, threatened to shoot him and burn his house down.  George left the area shortly before deputies arrived on scene.  Deputies took a report and also began looking for the suspect.

Deputies later located the suspect vehicle, unoccupied and parked at a residence on Cedar Street in Arcata. Upon closer examination, a semi-automatic handgun was observed in plain view inside the vehicle.  

Based on the totality of circumstances, sheriff’s deputies authored a search warrant for the residence. A search warrant was approved by a Humboldt County Superior Court Judge and a search of the residence was conducted. During the search, deputies contacted and arrested the suspect, Disiree George. The firearm and other evidence were seized at the scene.   

George was subsequently transported and booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility. George was charged with assault with a firearm (PC245(B)), criminal threats, (PC 422(A), brandishing (PC 417(A)(2), and felon in possession of a firearm (PC 29800(A)(1)).

This case is still under investigation. 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.y

Voters won’t weigh in for more than two years — the primary election is not until June 2026 — but the race to be California’s next governor is already growing crowded with major contenders.

Outgoing state Senate leader Toni Atkins today became the latest high-ranking Democrat to declare their candidacy, holding a kickoff rally packed with union members in her hometown of San Diego.

Three other prominent hopefuls — all current or former statewide elected officials looking for a promotion — have announced their intentions to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, who terms out in 2027, and there are likely to be even more who jump in. It’s a reflection of the scramble to gain an upper hand in what is likely to be a fierce contest, as well as the tremendous resources required to mount a serious campaign in California’s first open race for governor in eight years.

“They’re letting their intentions be known so they can wave the flag,” said Andrew Acosta, a Democratic political consultant who is not affiliated with any of the campaigns. “You need to consolidate, you need to get in the game, you need to go talk to donors.”

Atkins follows Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, who was the first out of the gate last April, touting the opportunities that California gave her immigrant father. Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond joined the race in September with a video tracking his rise from poverty. And former Controller Betty Yee said she will run for governor, though she has yet to formally launch her campaign.

Attorney General Rob Bonta, who acknowledged last year that he is “seriously considering” seeking the governorship, is still expected to make a bid. Then there’s the question of who might carry the banner for the Republican Party, which has lost the last three gubernatorial elections by nearly 20 percentage points or more and has not won a statewide office in California since 2006.

Nevertheless, the race is already far more formed than it was at the same point in the 2018 election. Newsom, at that time the lieutenant governor, probably set a speed record when he announced his candidacy in February 2015, just three months after then-Gov. Jerry Brown won a second term — but then his rivals hesitated. Some waited almost another two years before launching their campaigns.

“Look what happened to them,” Acosta said. “By the time people got in the race, Newsom’s team had done a good job of framing that the race was already over. And it kind of was.”

Racking up endorsements and fundraising is key in a state like California where, because of the sheer size, advertising trumps retail politics and millions of dollars are needed to get on the air in multiple expensive media markets. Though most voters are not yet paying attention to an election that is years away, jumping in early allows candidates to start pulling those important levers behind the scenes.

It’s especially critical for someone like Atkins, who has never run for statewide office and will need to work even harder to build familiarity with voters. She hands over the office of Senate president pro tem on Feb. 5 and terms out of the Legislature at the end of the year, losing a powerful post from which to solicit donations and support.

“You’d rather be in a position where you are dictating it on your own terms,” Acosta said. “So it’s kind of game on.”

As Atkins’ rally ended, Thurmond rolled out a new union endorsement, while earlier this week, Kounalakis announced that she had received the backing of another 16 of Atkins’ legislative colleagues. The daughter of a wealthy real estate developer, Kounalakis has a substantial financial advantage in the race and reported raising more than $3.7 million by the end of last year.

Atkins seemed to nod to that in her remarks today, which laid out her journey from a poor upbringing in rural West Virginia to become the first woman who has led both houses of the California Legislature, where she has carried bills making it easier to build housing and protecting abortion rights.

“You shouldn’t have to be a millionaire to make it in California,” she said. “You should only have to have a dream and people who care enough to help you reach it. Let’s achieve that dream together.”

Expect to hear a lot more about the history that could be made by this slate of candidates. Atkins, Kounalakis or Yee would be the first woman governor in California history. Atkins would also be the first openly LGBTQ+ person to lead the state, while Thurmond would be the first Black person and Bonta or Yee would be the first Asian American.

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