Ralph was born in Wilmar, California. In his life time he watched our country grow and change. While growing up he lived on a horse ranch until he graduated from El Monte High School.

Shortly thereafter, tailing-ending World War II, he joined the Army Air Corps as a a high-speed radio operator. The GI Bill helped pay his Woodbury College tuition. He majored in advertising. As a print production manager in advertising in the Los Angeles offices for 33 years he worked for several national and international advertising agencies before he retired and moved to Eureka.

He met the love of his life, Emma, in Pasadena, married in 1955. On Mothers Day this past May 2023, Ralph joined his love in Heaven. He was survived by two children, six grandchildren and nine great grandchildren.

Ralph was a hiker, gardener and writer.

He was actively involved in Eureka during his retirement years. He enjoyed musical theater. He was in six productions and attended many of Humboldt Light Operas performances. He was also a part of Rotary with memories of the Festival on the Bay.

Writing, he was part of the Silver Quills, where he has a few published short stories. He took many long walks in the local area. He was a longtime member of First United Methodist Church Eureka. Retirement kept him busy. Living in Eureka provided a great back drop for his hobbies. Landscaping his yard was his joy as countless hours of love went into each plant planted and each weed pulled (blackberries tried to take over).

Sports can’t be ignored, as we rooted for the Dodgers for many years until retirement. Moving to Eureka he gave up his love for the Dodgers and started routing for the Giants. Well, guess if you can’t beat them, you join them.

Ralph had a long, wonderful life full of memories that are shared with many family and friends. His sense a humor that would have you in laughter often. Ralph’s strongest trait was the graciousness in which he treated everyone with respect and kindness.

A special public thank you to his special lady friend Minerva, who joined him on many actives at the Senior Center, long walks and daily evening talks since the passing of his wife Emma.

His celebration of life will be held at First United Methodist Church in Eureka, CA 520 Del Norte, Eureka, CA on June 24, 2023 at 2 p.m.

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Rev. Charles Edward Winfrey passed away in his home on June 10, 2023, with his son by his side.

Charles was born on August 24, 1943 in Lebanon Missouri to Rev James Winfrey and Oma Winfrey Sommerhause. His father died before his fourth birthday. A few years later his mother moved her family to California where she remarried in 1950. In 1955 the family moved from San Diego to Eureka. He graduated from Eureka High in 1962 then worked for Purity Grocery Store, where he would meet his future wife, Kathy, whom he married at then First Congregation Church in Eureka in September of 1965. The following month the army sent him to Okinawa. In 1967 after being discharged from the army he returned back to Eureka to his wife and then began working for Humboldt Bay Pacific Gas & Electric Company until he retired in 2009 after 42 years.

Charles was devoted to his wife of 40 years until her death in 2005 and continued to miss her to the end. Family and his faith were the most important aspects of his life. He pursued all activities that his children were involved in, being seen at various sporting games, music concerts and fund raising events, to becoming involved as a little league umpire to being involved when his son got involved with racing cars. Anything his children were involved in he gave his full support and encouragement. He enjoyed a passion for history, with his main focus on the American Civil War. He got pleasure from his rose garden, ship models and his involvement with the Humboldt County Volunteer Sheriff Posse in the 1970s. He also enjoyed his trips to England to visit his daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter.

Charles enjoyed eating out at restaurants around area. He was even known to travel to Sepastapol to have a meal. He was well known around the local establishments and most people knew him by name when he walked in. One of the things he liked and enjoyed doing while eating out was picking up the bill of an unexpected diner. Sometimes they would know that he paid for their meal and sometimes they never knew who the act of kindness was from. This gave him great joy as he was able to give something back to others.

Charles was very active within the local Baptist church community, serving as a deacon and associate pastor at Myrtle Avenue Baptist Church (Harvest Church), Sunny Brae Baptist Church, Trinity Baptist Church and Calvary Baptist Church. He filled in as interim pastor at various churches and traveled to Bridgeville, Rio Dell, Klamath and Hoopa preaching and ministering to others and sharing the word of God to others, which gave him great pleasure. He had a great ability to talk to people and put them at ease. He had a genuine interest and a caring nature for those around him. He was always trusting in people and was willing to give everyone a chance. His faith remained strong right up to the end. He has entered eternal rest and has been reunited with his beloved wife and family that have gone before him.

Charles is preceded in death by his wife, Kathy Winfrey; parents; James Winfrey, Oma Winfrey Sommerhause; stepfather, Ralph Sommerhause; father-in-law, Richard Tausch; mother-in-law, Barbara Tauschl; sister, Ruth Street; brother-in-law Dan Street; brother, James Winfrey; sister, Diane Bent; brother-in-law Patrick Bent; and nephew Dan Street.

Charles is survived by his daughter, Heidi (Luke) Hollingbery; son, Jacob (Jeannie) Winfrey; granddaughter, MaKayla Hollingbery; step-grandson Chris (Gabby) Borges; step-grandson Daniel Kirkpatrick; nieces and nephews Debi (Jim) White, David (Lisbet) Street, James (Dana) Winfrey, Kathy Street, Chelsea Brown, Courtney (Mark) Albritton, Kylie Bent; and many numerous great-nieces and -nephews and great-great-nieces and -nephews.

You are invited to join us on Saturday, June 24, at Calvary Baptist Church 3400 F Street, Eureka.

11 a.m.-1 p.m. viewing at Calvary Baptist Church

2 p.m. Funeral Service at Calvary Baptist Church

Followed by a potluck at Calvary Baptist Church. Please bring a dish for the potluck. We look forward to seeing you as we remember and rejoice in Charles’s life while hearing and sharing any stories or memories that you have of him as we have we can share with you. Like the time he fell off Satan.

The family wishes to thank Dr. Allen S Matthew MD and his team for all the care provided to Charles over the last few years to you we will always be indebted to.

Flowers can be sent to Sanders Funeral Home 1835 E Street Eureka, CA 95501 as funeral arrangements are through them.

The latest contender in the unending lineage of UFO whistleblowers is Air Force veteran and former intelligence officer David Grusch. His credentials are impressive: 14 years as a US intelligence officer, representative to the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force from 2019-2021, and, more recently, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s co-lead for UAP (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena) analysis. He resigned from the government last April “to advance government accountability through public awareness.”

The long line of UFO/UAP promoters arguably goes back to private pilot Kenneth Arnold and his report of nine “flying discs” flying past Mount Rainier in June 1947. (The discs morphed into saucers when newspapers picked up the story.) Since then, we’ve been regaled with tale upon tale of alien spacecraft buzzing/crashing on our planet. Roswell…crop circles…the Phoenix lights…New Jersey Turnpike phenomena…USS Nimitz encounter… David Fravor’s 2004 GOFAST video…Bob Lazar. (Remember him? MIT-educated physicist, Navy technician, worked at Area 51, witness to nine recovered flying saucers and alien cadavers. All lies, of course. He didn’t graduate at MIT, wasn’t a Navy tech, isn’t a physicist, had no connection with Area 51.)

Back to David Grusch. In a recent interview with the tech website The Debrief, he claimed that the government has secretly been collecting partial fragments of UFO “through and up to intact vehicles” for decades. Analysis showed the objects to be “of exotic origin (non-human intelligence, whether extraterrestrial or unknown origin) based on the vehicle morphologies and material science testing and the possession of unique atomic arrangements and radiological signatures.” In a later interview, he clarified, kinda: “…isotopic ratios…strange, heavy—high up in the atomic table—a very strange mix of elements.” Which sounds like the vague gobbledygook we’ve been hearing from the UFO community for years—just enough to sound like “real science” but not sufficiently specific to actually determine if the objects are truly exotic. 

But wait, there’s more: Aliens! For reasons best known to himself, in the original interview, Grusch kept the Real Story to himself. In a later one, he mentioned, as if in passing, “…when you recover something that’s either landed or crashed, sometimes you encounter dead pilots…it’s true.” (Why are we analyzing bits of exotic metal when we’ve got bits of actual aliens?)

This would all sound a tad more convincing if Grusch was claiming first-hand knowledge of the aliens and their crash-prone vehicles. But no, his claims are all based on “extensive interviews with high-level intelligence officials.” This is where my spidey-sense gets into high gear. Here’s a guy with top-secret clearance, 14 years in the US intelligence community, years of analyzing reports of unidentified aerial phenomena…who didn’t bother to check for himself!

What’s with that? Fear of flying? (He served in Afghanistan, so unlikely.) Gullible or incurious to the point of idiocy? Afraid he’d discover that the stories he was told were all confabulated, meaning he’d be out of a job? The better to advance a future career on the lecture circuit? Pardon my cynicism, but you’ve got wonder why he didn’t take a day out of his busy DC life to fly to Nevada and see for himself. Aliens were his life, his career, the reason he went into the office every day…and he couldn’t be bothered to see the evidence for himself, instead of relying on hearsay???

Military intelligence: the best example of an oxymoron.

Robert “Chip” Overholt passed away on March 25, 2023.

Born May 11, 1949 in Scotia to Helen and Orval Overholt, Chip attended Scotia Elementary and graduated from Fortuna High school in 1967.  He earned his AS from College of the Redwoods in 1969, and moved on to study philosophy and watershed management at Humboldt State University.

Early in life, Chip was highly involved with the Boy Scouts of America, achieving Eagle Scout at age 14, continuing on with the Order of the Arrow, Scotia’s troop 6 Scoutmaster, teaching outdoor survival skills, introducing and connecting many to the world of backpacking. He was a recipient of the Silver Beaver award.

Chip actively participated in athletics and remained a lifetime sports fan. He was a talented baseball and basketball player, including his seasons with FUHS and two years with the Corsairs. Chip led a private life, content with the stoic life he built and the complex mind he shared with his father. Chip admired author’s Robert Pirsig and Richard Bach, embodying  a meticulous stride that could make you wonder if Chip had not read their work, but instead that they may have observed and wrote about someone like Chip. “…with as little effort as possible and without desire…you climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and exhaustion. Then when you’re no longer thinking ahead, each footstep isn’t just a means to an end but a unique event in itself…(Pirsig)” 

His many friendships were broad and diversified, but his lifelong friends were the few who’ve ever found themselves not lost, just temporarily off course, likely backpacking the Scott-Salmon mountains.   

Chip began working for the Pacific Lumber Company at age 14 as an employee with the company owned Scotia Inn, and retired from PALCO after an over 40-year career — though Chip was naturally drawn to and most at home outside among nature, which ultimately led him to a second career as a licensed arborist.

Chip is survived by his wife Glenda Rovai-Overholt, step-daughter Kristi Imperiale (Rhett), step-daughter Karen Wilson, and grandchildren Peyton Long (Cody), Gage Imperiale, Chandler Wilson, and Courtney Wilson. He is also survived by his son Skip Overholt and Skip’s daughter, Sydney Overholt.

Chip was preceded in death by his mother Helen and father Orval, his in-laws Evelyn and Gino Rovai, several wonderful aunts and uncles, and his devoted brother Rich Overholt.

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Mike’s heart gave out at his home in Eureka on June 8, 2023. He was a graduate of Fortuna High School and Phoenix Institute of Technology and was a talented Master Mechanic. Mike (Papa) had two daughters, Brittany and Nicole, and maintained a lasting friendship with their mother, Margot. Mike cherished his relationships with his family and many friends.

Mike’s free spirit found peace around the beaches of Humboldt and at his family’s ranch in Petrolia. His dog Shasta, always at his side as his constant companion. Mike was granted the gift of time to allow him to attend his sister Kris’ wedding on May 20th in Lincoln, Calif. with his entire family.

He is preceded in death by his dogs Zack and Rifle; and his grandparents Harold (Herky) and Vada Lawrence, Clarence Heney, and Pearl and Ada Kesterson. He is survived by his parents Neal and Pat Kesterson; his daughter Brittany Powell (Lyndon) grandchildren Mila and Levi; daughter Nicole Whitmire (Chase) grandchildren River, Grace and Hope; and his sister Kris Kesterson (Tom)

His ashes will be scattered at a family gathering at the Petrolia ranch.

Cherish your loved ones. “No time on earth is long enough to share with those we love or to prepare our hearts for goodbye.”

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Community members gathered at Eureka’s Halvorsen Park this Saturday afternoon to celebrate Black culture and commemorate the emancipation of enslaved African Americans in honor of Juneteenth. 

Juneteenth — otherwise known as “Freedom Day” or “Emancipation Day” — commemorates the day in 1865 when slaves in Galveston, Texas, learned that the Civil War had ended and they were free. Although President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was enacted in 1863, marking the official end of slavery in the United States, it could not be enforced in many places in the South until the Civil War ended in 1865. The day became a federally recognized holiday in 2021.

“We’re celebrating today all the Black and brown folks in our community, Black liberation, Black joy and all the different ways that Blackness shows up in our community [and] all over the world also,” Monique “Mo” Harper-Desir, co-founder of Black Humboldt, said during Saturday’s celebration. “We up in this African diaspora!”

Festivities are expected to continue ‘til 10 p.m. You can find more information on the event at this link. Happy Juneteenth, Humboldt!

Keep scrolling for more pictures of today’s celebration.

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This week on the EcoNews Report hosts Alicia Hamann from Friends of the Eel River and Tom Wheeler from EPIC discuss an experimental installation in the South Fork of the Eel River. Guests Marisa McGrew from the Wiyot Tribe’s Natural Resources Department and Gabe Rossi and Philip Georgakakos, both research scientists with UC Berkeley, tell us all about the collaborative effort to install and manage a weir in the river. The primary purpose of the weir is to remove invasive pikeminnow from the river system and keep them away from prime rearing habitat for salmon and steelhead farther upstream.

Weir technology is ancient — it is a floating fence that allows researchers to monitor and manage fish populations as they migrate upstream into a trap. Native fish are released and invasive pikeminnow are removed from the river. A camera also monitors downstream migration to capture as much data as possible.

This collaborative project includes a large number of partners and community members named in the episode, and researchers are especially thankful to the landowner, Lost Coast Forest Lands, who is providing access to this site.

Click here to watch a video and learn more about this exciting project.