Eureka City Schools (ECS) is aware of the arrest of Thomas Harlan Gowing. Gowing was a former coach and volunteer for wrestling at Eureka High School (EHS). Gowing has not worked in a paid or volunteer capacity in ECS since June 2022.
ECS supports the investigation with the Arcata Police Department, as student safety is the District’s top priority.
“The safety and wellbeing of our students is paramount,” said Rob Standish, EHS Principal. “Any EHS student who may be directly or indirectly impacted by this incident is encouraged to contact the EHS Counseling Office at 707-441-0262 for support.”
Inappropriate relationships between minors and adults will not be tolerated. ECS supports the efforts of law enforcement to prosecute this individual to the fullest extent of the law.
Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Arcata Police Department at 707-822-2428. All further inquiries should be directed to the Arcata Police Department.
Judge John Feeney has dismissed four felony child-molestation charges against Gary Frankland Landergen, a former Fortuna High School math teacher and track coach accused by three teenage girls.
After hearing hours of preliminary-hearing testimony from Fortuna police Detective Ryan Richardson, who interviewed the three Jane Does, Feeney ruled there was not enough evidence to hold Landergen to answer for lewd or lascivious behavior with a child aged 14 or 15.
Landergen.
Landergen, 57, was held to answer on two misdemeanor counts of sexual battery and two misdemeanor counts of annoying or molesting a child.
“The court does not condone the alleged actions of Mr. Landergen,” Feeney said, noting that Landergen was in a position of trust at the high school.
“However, (his behavior) does not constitute felonious conduct.”
One of the girls told Detective Richardson that Landergen put his arm around her shoulders, pulled her close, said “I love you” and then slid his hand down to grab her butt.
When Richardson spoke with Landergen after his arrest, he adamantly denied the butt-grabbing. The detective then told him, falsely, that the act was caught on video. Landergen insisted he didn’t recall it, “but if it’s on camera it must have happened.”
Another girl said that at a track meet in Redding, Landergen hugged her and then patted her butt twice as she was leaving. She described it as a “good-bye pat” or “a little smack on my ass.” There were no witnesses to that alleged incident.
And a third girl reported that, while the track team was practicing stretches in the high school gym, Landergen touched the back of her thigh and the side of her butt. She said “Hey! Hey! Stop!”
But the student who had been her stretching partner said Landergen was just walking around the gym, making sure the girls were stretching properly.
Feeney, when making his ruling Tuesday afternoon, noted none of the allegations involved “skin-to-skin contact.”
In addition to the complaints about inappropriate touching, there were many reports about Landergen’s behavior in the math classroom. Students said he was fine during the first semester, but in the second semester he frequently told off-color jokes and made sexual comments.
“He began making inappropriate jokes of a sexual nature,” Richardson testified under questioning by Deputy District Attorney Whitney Timm.
Once, one of the girls reported, Landergen overheard a male student say the word “fucking.” He allegedly responded “I don’t know why you all look so sad. I’m always happy when I’m fucking.”
Other alleged comments:
Wrestlers are good in bed “because they know all the moves.”
“I would fuck anyone as long as I had someone to do it with.”
When a boy in class mentioned “wet dreams,” Landergen reportedly said “Oh yeah, I have wet dreams all the time.”
If the subject of “length” came up during math class, “He would turn it into a comment about penis size.”
Landergen’s defense attorney, Conflict Counsel Meagan O’Connell, noted that the three alleged victims talked to each other before any of them spoke to police.
Richardson testified that when he asked Landergen why the girls would make false accusations, “He told me that because he had made them run barefoot around the field.”
During cross-examination, O’Connell pointed out there were no adult witnesses to any of the alleged incidents.
“Correct,” Richardson said.
Asked if any of the girls believed Landergen was touching them for a sexual purpose, the detective said “None of them indicated that.”
Landergen must still deal with the misdemeanor charges. His trial is scheduled for May 1.
Landergen remains out of custody on bail. He posted bond when arrested in April 2022, and again a few months later when his bail was raised and he was re-arrested. The first bond was exonerated; the second was not.
Landergen was accompanied to court by three male supporters.
On October 22, 2022, at approximately 1:40am, a felony assault and battery resulting in great bodily injury occurred in the 600 block of 10th Street in Downtown Arcata. One 28-year-old male and one 30-year-old male, both Arcata residents, were physically confronted by members of a larger group of males, as both parties left a downtown music venue. A physical altercation ensued and both victims were punched and kicked by members of the opposite group after the victims went down during the fight. One victim sustained a traumatic brain injury and underwent emergency surgery. The second victim suffered loss of consciousness as well as bruising and swelling of the body, face, and head. Both victims survived the attack.
APD identified the individuals involved and developed two primary suspects as 21-year-old Fortuna resident Aldair Ramirez-Vera and 21–year-old Fortuna resident Emmanuel Herrera-Cortes.
On January 25, 2023, APD took Herrera-Cortes and Ramirez-Vera into custody without incident. Both suspects were booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on the following charges:
Emanuel Herrera-Cortes:
· PC 245(a)(4)-Felony Assault
Aldair Ramirez-Vera:
· PC 245(a)(4)-Felony Assault
· PC 243(d)-Aggravated Battery Causing Serious Bodily Injury
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Arcata Police Department’s Investigations Unit, at 707-822-2424.
Low water in Lake Mead in 2010. Photo: Cmpxchg8b, via Wikimedia. Public domain.
California and six other states that import water from the parched Colorado River failed to reach an agreement today on how to cut their use despite a deadline from federal officials.
Six states presented the federal government with a proposal to slash the lower basin’s use by 2.9 million acre-feet — including more than 1 million acre-feet from California, or 25% of its historic entitlements. But California, the largest user of Colorado River water, refused to sign onto the proposal and, instead, hours later issued its own — which mirrors its offer last fall to cut imports by 9%, or 400,000 acre feet.
The impasse is over water delivered to Imperial Valley farmers and cities in six Southern California counties.
A severe mega-drought — the driest conditions in 1,200 years — has forced the states to find ways to reduce their imports since they are now consuming far more water than the river contains: Allocations to the United States and Mexico based on historic rights total 16.5 million acre-feet a year, and in most years, they are using around 13 million acre-feet — significantly more than the river’s 11 million acre-feet. Its reservoirs are at record low levels and are expected to keep dropping.
U.S. Interior Department officials, who enforce the river’s allocations, did not weigh in on the proposals today or even mention the deadline. Spokesperson Tyler Cherry said in a statement that Interior “remains committed to pursuing a collaborative and consensus-based approach.” He called it the “strongest immediate tool” to reach an agreement to sustainably manage the river’s water supply.
The dispute pits the Imperial Irrigation District, the Metropolitan Water District, the Coachella Valley Water District, the Palo Verde Irrigation and the Quechan Tribal Council against Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico and Utah. The Imperial Irrigation District is by far the largest user in California, with senior rights to 3.1 million acre-feet per year.
Imperial Valley growers have resisted fallowing their fields, saying they have rights to the water and already have cut their usage.
In a statement, JB Hamby, chairman of the Colorado River Board of California, said the proposal from the other states “is inconsistent with the Law of the River and does not form a seven-state consensus approach.” Hamby also serves as vice-president of the Imperial Irrigation District’s Board of Directors.
The Law of the River refers to the system of allocating water to each state based on decades-old agreements and court rulings. That process favors California, since its users have senior rights.
By importing Colorado River water, Imperial County has become the ninth largest agricultural producer in California, reporting $2.3 billion in sales in 2021, led by cattle and lettuce.
Alfalfa and other forage grasses — water-intensive crops used to feed dairy cows and cattle — dominate the acreage, carpeting more than half of the farmland. Imperial also produces two-thirds of the vegetables consumed in the U.S. during winter months.
Instead of signing the proposal from the other states, the Imperial Irrigation District and the other Southern California water agencies presented their own plan today. It closely resembles a similar offer they made in October to cut annual withdrawals by 400,000 acre-feet per year at least through 2026. That 9% reduction is much less than the 15% to 30% cuts that federal water managers are waiting for.
Hamby said California’s proposal is “based on what is practical, voluntary, and achievable through 2026 in a way that works within the existing body of laws, compacts, decrees, and … the Law of the River.”
The steep decline in the river’s supply has induced an escalating panic during the past five years. Last summer, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton asked the states in the Colorado River basin for a plan to reduce use of the river’s water by 2 to 4 million acre-feet each year within 60 days. The soft deadline passed quietly. In December, Touton repeated the order at a water users conference in Las Vegas, calling on the seven states for a plan to cut their use of Colorado River water “before the end of January.”
Some water policy experts consider it fair for California to give up more water that it has agreed to since it uses the most. John Fleck, water policy expert at the University of New Mexico School of Law’s Utton Center, said the six-state proposal “broadly shares shortages across all the water users. California would prefer to stick with their interpretation of old legal agreements, because they come out on top.”
The six-state proposal suggests that lower basin states – California, Arizona and Nevada – plus Mexico cut their usage by 1.5 million acre-feet when the elevation of Lake Mead drops below 1,145 feet, to account for water lost to evaporation, which current allocation systems do not consider. Mead currently stands at 1,046 feet and by volume is three-fourths empty.
The proposal suggests further water cuts as the lake declines past specific trigger points. At a level below 1,020 feet, California would retain 3 million of its full 4.4 million acre-foot entitlement.
Fleck said past Colorado River water management has been hasty and haphazard.
“We’ve avoided legal conflict by just allowing California and Arizona to take a whole lot of water, and now Lake Mead is at these low levels,” he said.
Cuts have occurred in the past, he said, though usually with little impact on California. “They were the best we could do without triggering this sort of conflict,” Fleck said.
Now unrelenting drought, combined with overuse of the river, have taken things to the next level.
“What we’re seeing is a real manifestation of the urgent need to solve this problem, one way or another,” Fleck said.
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CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.
Steven Kyle Buckingham passed away on January 16, 2023 at St.
Joseph’s Hospital at the age of 38. Steven was born in 1984 to Ronald
and Debra Buckingham. Steven quickly became a big brother to Laura
when he was 18 months old. He was a dedicated big brother and
truly looked after his little sister. Unfortunately the parents
divorced and Steven and his sister moved to many new homes.
Steven
was fortunate enough to move to Eureka from Florida in 1999, when he
started into Eureka High school. He graduated from Eureka High in
2003. Steven was always very active outside and looked forward to
hiking, camping and fishing. Sometimes mischievous, his thinking
outside the box landed him in trouble a couple times but definitely
earned him life long friends. It was during his high school years
that Steven began dating Julianna Breen. She would become his first
wife later. Steve was always into his cars and proudly had a Mustang
that he enjoyed driving his friends in.
Steven
joined the Navy out of the Eureka recruiter office and became a Navy
Corps Corpsman in 2003, spending his time attached to Marine Corps
units in Iraq, Afghanistan and across various waters and continents.
His natural leadership and likability has left many of his friends
and family in tremendous grief as his death was too very soon and
unexpected. Steven finished his tours in 2011 and returned home to
Eureka. Steven was employed at the local VA office and very involved
with veteran affairs, like placing flags on the vets headstones on
Memorial days. Steve was also involved in many other groups and
organizations. He met many friends while he was active in his fitness
journey between CrossFit classes, Spartan races, and boxing. He
enthusiastically joined the local Masonic lodge #79 in 2019. He was
dedicated to their weekly meetings and community outreach programs.
Steve was well known for his friendly, energetic conversations and
being a trustworthy network amongst friends. Steve was the “Hey,
I know a guy” person and would actually get you connected!
Steven
leaves behind his 9 month old daughter Stephanie, 9 year old step-son
Jayden, and 13 year old daughter Alexis. Steven was an excellent
father, very dedicated to his children. He would beam with pride when
telling of his daughter Alexis’ cheer competitions, volleyball games
and track tournaments. His very active/ involved baby could finally
rest her eyes on daddy’s chest and let herself have some sleep.
Steven leaves behind his new bride Danielle Buckingham, 33, of
Eureka. They met training for Spartan races and their enjoyment of
being outside hiking, attending church services, and planning a life
together was the cement of their too short relationship. They had
just married in December of 2021.
Steven leaves behind his father
Ronald Buckingham of Pleasanton Iowa. Steve was fortunate enough to
spend some summers with his Dad in Iowa where he held a job as a corn
picker and learned to drive on a farm. Steven leaves behind his
sister Laura Buckingham, 36 of Tennessee. They had served together
and Laura is a USMC veteran. Many friends in Eureka are now left
without their passionate, selfless, energetic and fun loving buddy
who always wanted to help a friend in need.
Services
are open: Thursday, February 16, 10:30 at Oceanview Cemetery (3975
Broadway, Eureka) including an Honor Guard presentation. We will then proceed
to Faith Center Foursquare Church (1032 Bay St., Myrtletown) at noon.
Some of Steven’s artwork and memorabilia will be on display at the
Church. A potluck luncheon will follow as the Memorial service will
blossom into a Celebration of Life and friends wishing to tell tales
of Steve are encouraged to join. This location will be announced at
the Foursquare Church.
Steven’s
tragic death will not be forgotten. His relentless dedication to the
government and community will be honored. The family request all his
friends to attend as a remembrance that Steven was in fact not alone.
In lieu of flowers, plants that can be re planted or small fruit tree
that can be planted in the backyard that Steve spent hours pruning,
hedging and mowing. For a more unique dedication or gift in Steven’s
honor anyone with time to help promote suicide prevention and
awareness would be most appreciated.
A
special thank you to Ming Tree, Masonic Lodge and local friends for
their awesome support to Steven’s widow and their children.
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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Steven Buckingham’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.
Nellie Marie Tucker passed to her rest on January 5, 2023 in Eureka, at the
age of 95. She was a long-time resident of Arcata, where she had lived with her
late husband, Joseph Henry Tucker, Sr., with whom she raised a family of six
children for 56 years of marriage.
Nellie was born on October 11, 1927, in Laverne, Oklahoma, but had been raised
in Ontario, California, where her family moved when she was four years old. Early on, she learned to contribute to the family of eight children and developed a strong work ethic that carried her throughout life. Right up to within three weeks of her death, Nellie could be found indulging in her passions of quilting, sewing, embroidering, doing word searches, and caring for her plants and herself in her own home.
Nellie lived a busy, full life: raising her children as a stay-at-home mom in the suburbs of the 1950s and 1960s; keeping up with the extended family, both hers
and Joe’s; moving the family to Redwood Country and eventually working as a
nursing home aide and CNA. She was a caring friend, compassionate caregiver,
and loving mother.
For the last 20 years of her life she terribly missed her husband, Joe, a lifelong truck driver whom she had loyally supported. Together they had loved to go on road trips seeing the country and visiting family and friends. Being a part of the “Talk to America” Truckers Convoy of 1977 was one of many highlights in their lives.
Nellie was a long-time member of the Arcata-McKinleyville Seventh-day
Adventist Church, where she was involved with many activities and greatly
loved by the members. She had also given much time and energy to the Arcata
Senior Center, where she was proud to be a member of Katie’s Krafters, making
quilts for local resident care homes.
Nellie will be remembered for her fun-loving spirit, her generosity, her genuine
love for people, her ability to laugh at herself, and her love and loyalty for
family.
Nellie is survived by her son Joe Tucker Jr. and Ann of Hartselle, AL; four
daughters: Susan Hansen and Alan of Madera, CA; Mary Earhart and Blake of
Eureka, CA; Connie Reynolds and Edwin of Collegedale, TN; and Barbara Marinand Gary of Arcata, CA. She adored her grandchildren Michelle (Greg), Michael
(Jana), Jeana, Donald (Brooke), Beth (Jeremy) , David (Tiffany), and Brandon;
and enjoyed the great-grandchildren Wesley (Taylor), Luke, Case, Austin, David,
Dennis, Joseph, Jocelyn, Emily, Amber, and Joey. Nellie will also be missed by
her surviving sisters Pauline Righetti of St. George, UT, and Elsie Remke of
Fresno, CA, and numerous nieces and nephews spread throughout the States.
Nellie’s husband Joe Tucker, son Richard Tucker, and grandson Michael Alan
Hansen have predeceased her.
Nellie now rests at the Oceanview Cemetery in Eureka with her husband,
Joe, both of them waiting to arise on the resurrection morning.
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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Nellie Tucker’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.
John
Gary Agajanian passed away unexpectedly on January 21, 2023, in
Eureka at the age of 58 to be with his Creator.
Born
to Lynn and Gary Agajanian on July 21, 1964, in Arcadia, California,
John spent the first seven years of his life in Southern California.
During this time, he attended St. John’s Elementary School in
Baldwin Park, California. In 1971, John and his parents, along with
his maternal grandparents and other family members, moved to Humboldt
County. Later, his paternal grandparents, as well as two of his
paternal aunts, uncle and cousins relocated from southern California
to Humboldt County as well.
He attended Fortuna elementary schools
and after moving to Eureka, attended St. Bernard’s Academy High
School from which he graduated in 1982. He played football at St.
Bernard’s during his tenure and became a dedicated booster and
supporter of the academy during his adult life. He was a Crusader
to the end.
After
graduating high school, John enjoyed careers in the local business
community. He was the original owner of Eureka’s Donut Mill, worked
for Nabisco, Frito Lay and, for the last eleven years until his
passing, managed the family business, Albee & Buck, owned by his
parents Lynn and Gary and his aunt Patty.
John
enjoyed backpacking, camping, fishing, hunting and golf—not
necessarily in that order! However, his greatest joy in life came
from his relationships with his son Seth and daughter Emily. They
were an incredibly tight and supportive family unit. There was
absolutely nothing that John would not do for his children. Although
an only child, John never lacked for “siblings” as he had
nineteen first cousins! Maternal cousins include: David, Mike,
Glenn, Gary, Billy, Dan, Reuben, Diego, Matt, Amanda, and Kathryn.
Paternal cousins include: Robin, Karen, Sam, Chrissy, Tiffany,
Jennifer, Layni, and Danny. John was always supportive of family and
friends. He sometimes had a gruff exterior, but when it came to
someone in need, he was very caring and compassionate, and his gruff
manner would fold “like a house of cards” to assist. He
had a soft spot for animals as well. John was known for his keen,
and sometimes wicked, sense of humor. His “sibling”
cousins particularly enjoyed his humor as it was often directed
towards the “interfering” parents, aunts and uncles. John
was a master griller and made the BEST guacamole in the state.
John
is preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, William and
Georgiana Darnall; his paternal grandparents, Agase and Lucille
Agajanian; his uncle Sam and aunt Roberta Agajanian; his uncle Aggie
Agajanian; and his cousins Glenn Thompson and William “Billy”
Thompson.
John
is survived by his parents Lynn and Gary Agajanian; his son Seth and
daughter-in-law Kate Agajanian; his daughter Emily Agajanian and her
fiancée Mike Sanchez; his aunts and uncles: Liz Agajanian, Patricia
Thompson, Rodney and Ginger Agajanian, Penny Agajanian, Cindy Darnall
Stevens and Scott Stevens, Randi Darnall Burke and Raymond “Bud”
Burke, and Steve and Karla Darnall.
John
is also survived by his remaining seventeen first cousins and their
partners: Robin and Paul Neal, David Thompson, Karen and Dennis
Mansfield, Sam and Marilee Agajanian, Michael Thompson and Janice
Barron, Chrissy and Steve Ambrosini, Gary Thompson and Kay Lee
Thompson, Lara Thompson, Tiffany and Clint Walker, Jennifer and Jason
Ramos, Layni Agajanian, Dan and Carrie Thompson, Danny and Cher
Agajanian, Reuben and Nikki Rael, Diego Rael, Matt Darnall and
Kathleen Kiernan, Amanda Stevens and John Guzman, and Kathryn Darnall
Helms and Oliver Helms. John is also survived by numerous second,
third, fourth, etc., cousins. He had quite the extended family, and
as John would say, “it’s for both better and worse, but mostly
better. “
We
will always love and miss you, “Sonner”! You live in our
hearts forever.
A
memorial mass for John will be held at Sacred Heart Church, Myrtle
Ave., Eureka, on February 18, 2023, at 11 a.m. A reception will
follow at Lifehouse, 2734 Hubbard Lane, Eureka. In lieu of flowers,
please consider donating to the St. Bernard’s scholarship fund or a
charity of your choice. Arrangements provided by Sanders Funeral
Home.
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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of John Agajanian’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.
