Mary Rosa passed away on Oct. 2, 2023 at home peacefully and was called home to her father, sister, and brothers in heaven.

Mary was born May 21, 1967, to Jose (Joe) Furtado Rosa and Maria Albertina Rosa on the Island of Faial, Aźores - Portugal. At the age of 3, she migrated to the United States with her parents and her two brothers. All that they had with them was four suitcases. After staying with family for a short amount of time, they relocated to Ferndale, where they lived with a local family and Mary’s father worked on a dairy farm milking cows. Her mother also helped on the farm but later began working with many local families cleaning their homes, as well as cleaning the Ferndale Police Station, City Hall, and Ferndale Library for 30-plus years. They dedicated themselves to the Portuguese Community in Ferndale and volunteered at the Ferndale Portuguese Holy Ghost Festa for many years. Mary was Little Queen in 1972 and Big Queen in 1984.

Mary attended Ferndale Elementary School and Ferndale High School where she made so many lifelong friends. She graduated from Ferndale High School in 1986, and even after she graduated from school and well into her adult life, she always reached out to her schoolmates to say hello and to keep in contact. At the age of 25, she gave birth to her first child, Ashley, and three years later gave birth to her son Andrew. Mary was a single mother to both Ashley and Andrew and raised them in Ferndale with the help of her parents Joe and Maria. Mary moved to Fortuna in 2008 and moved back to Ferndale to live with her mother in 2020.

Mary loved being a grandmother more than anything, her grandbabies were the light of her life. She enjoyed the small things in life. She loved the beach and watching the king tide waves as they hit the jetty. She had an impressive penguin collection as they were her favorite animal. She loved to go on daily walks with her mother around town in Ferndale. Most of all she loved to talk to everyone, she was great at memorizing every one’s phone number. If we needed someone’s number all we had to do was ask her.

The Rosa family has experienced many losses over the years. Before moving to the United States, Mary lost a sister who was 9 months old due to health complications. In 1977, she lost her brother to a heart attack when he was 11 years old from a hereditary heart condition. In 1987, her second brother passed away at the age of 16 from the same heart condition during a Ferndale High School football game, and in 2009 she lost her father Joe at the age of 72. We know that her sister, brothers, and father were waiting for her with open arms and we are at peace knowing she is now with them.

Throughout her life, Mary struggled with her health. In 2020 she moved back to Ferndale to live with her mother Maria. During that time, she suffered from diabetic cirrhosis of the liver. In September 2023, it progressed to liver failure, and she also suffered from other health complications. After three weeks at the hospital, she came home on Hospice and in the care of her daughter Ashley. Four days after coming home, she passed away peacefully surrounded by her loved ones.

“My mom was resilient, she was always happy and greeted everyone with a smile. Even when her body started to fail her, she would never let it show on her face. Her kindness to others is what people will remember the most. Not only am I heartbroken to lose my mom at such a young age, but I am deeply saddened for my four children. They loved her so much, and she loved being their grandma. I know that she is with my Papa and her three siblings now watching over us. Until we meet again my beautiful Mama.” - Ashley

We’d like to give a thank you to Dr. Douglas at Ferndale Community Health Center, Ferndale Fire Department, and all of her friends who cared for her so much. Another special thank you to those who have helped donate to her funeral and memorial fund.

Mary is survived by her mother Maria Rosa, her two children Ashley Rosa-Shute and Andrew Rosa, and four grandchildren: Greydon, Delilah, Jackson, and Braylon Shute.

Mary was preceded in death by her father Jose Furtado Rosa, her baby sister Fatima Lucia Rosa, her brothers Jose Silva Rosa and Jose Maria Rosa, her uncle Jose Felisberto Vargas and her cousin Carlos Felisberto Vargas.

A memorial service and mass will be held at the Ferndale Church of Assumption - 546 Berding Street, Ferndale, CA 95536. November 18th, 2023, at 1 p.m. Any donations to help with putting Mary to rest can be made through GoFundMe — https://gofund.me/6f573867 — or mailed to Ashley Rosa, P.O Box 61, Ferndale, CA 95536.

###

###

The Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District Board of Commissioners will receive a status update on the Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind Heavy Lift Marine Terminal Project during tonight’s regular meeting. Tonight’s report will largely focus on the project timeline and budget.

“Basically, we’re going to go over the entire project schedule,” Harbor District Executive Director Larry Oetker told the Outpost in a phone interview this afternoon. “That includes, you know, grant funding applications, when we think we’re going to have environmental documents ready for the public to review and when we plan to submit permit applications.”

The Harbor District has spent the last year working with Crowley Wind Services, a private marine and logistics company, to design a state-of-the-art marine terminal, to be located at the old pulp mill Redwood Marine Terminal 1 on the Samoa Peninsula, that would support offshore wind development up and down the West Coast. Once it’s fully built out, the facility will have the potential to produce and ship the gigantic components needed for floating offshore wind turbines, everything from the blades and nacelles (the generator house) to mooring lines, towers and transmission cables.

The project will be completed in several phases over the next decade. If everything goes according to plan, construction will begin in 2028.

Each phase of the project will rely heavily on grant funding. To date, the Harbor District has secured $60,000 from the Headwaters Fund, $576,191 from the State Lands Commission and $10.45 million from the California Energy Commission (CEC) to support the project.

The Harbor District has applied for numerous state and federal grants, including a $8,672,986 grant and a massive $426,719,810 Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant, or “MEGA grant,” through the Maritime Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Port Infrastructure Development Program. 

“We’re expecting to hear back about the MEGA grant in February or March of next year,” Oetker said. 

The port development project has sparked controversy among some local stakeholders and tribal leaders who have asked the Harbor District to reconsider its partnership agreement with Crowley following allegations of sexual misconduct among some company higher-ups. Others, including the Humboldt Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, have questioned the legality of signing a lease agreement prior to environmental review.

When asked whether the Harbor District planned to execute a lease agreement by the end of the year as previously planned, Oetker said the district and Crowley had agreed to wait.

“The Harbor District and Crowley continue to work on the lease agreement and we’re committed to drafting a lease agreement but … we agree that there’s still a lot more work that has to be done to overcome the serious allegations that were presented by the community and just general issues of trust,” he said. “That can’t be resolved in just a meeting or two. We’ll prepare a draft lease agreement, but we’re likely not going to request that the board adopt or approve the agreement until Crowley has had time to do additional outreach and the Harbor District has had a chance to go through its process as well.”

The Board of Commissioners will not make any important decisions on the port development project during tonight’s meeting. The report is purely information.

“This is a big project and we’re going to have these updates every couple of months moving forward,” Oetker said. “This is going to be a long process.”

###

The Harbor District Board of Commissioners will meet tonight at 6 p.m. in the Woodley Island Marina Meeting Room – 601 Startare Drive, Eureka. Remote viewing instructions and the agenda can be found here.

###

PREVIOUSLY:

• Harbor District Announces Massive Offshore Wind Partnership; Project Would Lead to an 86-Acre Redevelopment of Old Pulp Mill Site
• ‘Together We Can Shape Offshore Wind for the West Coast’: Local Officials, Huffman and Others Join Harbor District Officials in Celebrating Partnership Agreement With Crowley Wind Services
• Crowley – the Company That Wants to Build a Big Wind Energy Facility on the Penninsula – Will Be Opening Offices in Eureka
• Harbor District Officials Talk Port Development as Offshore Wind Efforts Ramp Up
• Harbor District Officials Extend Comment Period for Environmental Review of Humboldt Bay Port Development Project
• LoCO Interview: The Outpost Talks to Crowley Executives About Recent Allegations of Misconduct, Port Development on the Samoa Peninsula and the Company’s Future in Humboldt

Press release from the Humboldt County Office of Elections:

The Humboldt County Office of Elections is gearing up for the quickly approaching Presidential Primary Election on Tuesday, March 5, 2024 and is recruiting community members to help run the election.

Poll worker positions are a great way to earn experience and extra money by helping ensure the election runs smoothly. Individuals as young as 16 can apply.

Election workers must be able to read and write in fluent English, and either be registered to vote, or a high school student 16 to 17 years of age with a grade point average of 2.5 or greater, or a permanent resident of the United States. Students aged 16 to 17 are not eligible for Vote Center Manager or Ballot Transporter positions.

All election worker positions are paid. The Election Worker Overview provides additional information about each position, including specific duties, time commitment, and compensation.

Complete an election worker application today by visiting the Elections Worker webpage. Completed applications can be submitted to the Office of Elections via email at humboldt_elections@co.humboldt.ca.us or applicants may drop off or mail completed applications to 2426 Sixth St., Eureka, CA 95501.

For more information on the upcoming Presidential Primary Election, please visit the Presidential Primary Election webpage. To register to vote or check your voter registration status online, please visit the county’s Voter Registration web page.

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On Oct. 11, 2023, at about 10:13 p.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies on patrol in the Hoopa area conducted a traffic stop for a vehicle code violation near the Tish Tang Campground.

Deputies contacted the driver and sole occupant, 44-year-old Gloria Lorraine Inong, who was found to have multiple misdemeanor warrants for her arrest. During this contact, deputies observed a firearm and drug paraphernalia inside the vehicle in plain view. Inong was taken into custody without incident. During a search of the vehicle, deputies located four loaded firearms, four loaded high-capacity magazines, ammunition and drug paraphernalia.

Inong was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of carrying a loaded firearm in a public place (PC 25850(a)), possession of a loaded, stolen firearm (PC 25850(c)(2)), carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle (PC 25400(a)(1)), possession of a high-capacity magazine (PC 32310), possession of a controlled substance paraphernalia (HS 11364(a)), felon in possession of a firearm (PC 29800(a)(1)), speeding (VC 22350) and driving without registration (VC 4000(a)), in addition to warrant charges of possession of a controlled substance (HS 11377(a)), false identification to a peace officer (PC 148.9(a)), possession of a controlled substance paraphernalia (HS 11364(a)) and driving with a suspended license (VC 14601.1(a)).

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.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has made lowering the cost of prescription drugs a signature health care issue, but over the weekend, he rejected a bill that would have provided some relief for diabetics by capping what they pay for insulin.

His reasoning: California is already working on a separate effort to manufacture and distribute insulin at a cheaper price.

The trouble is, that program has not yet begun producing the medication.

Senate Bill 90 by Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, would have prohibited state-regulated health insurance plans from imposing a deductible on insulin prescriptions and would have capped copays at $35 for a 30-day supply. California’s current copay limit for most prescription drugs is $250.

The bill’s opponents, mainly the health insurance industry, argued that the approach would result in higher costs for Californians in the form of higher insurance premiums.

The underlying issue, according to insurers, is the price set by pharmaceutical companies. Currently, what people pay out of pocket is based on their insurance coverage. People without insurance would not benefit from a copay cap and would still be on the hook for the full price. Newsom echoed this reasoning in his veto message.

“Bringing down the costs of prescription drugs, and particularly insulin, has long been a priority of mine,” Newsom said in his veto message. “With CalRx (the state’s prescription drug initiative), we are getting at the underlying cost, which is the true sustainable solution to high-cost pharmaceuticals. With copay caps however, the long-term costs are still passed down to consumers through higher premiums from health plans.”

An independent analysis of the bill by a state health office estimated that spending for consumers would have increased by 0.02% because of higher annual insurance premiums. Meanwhile, the average insured beneficiary could have seen their prescription drop 67% from $61 to $20.

California’s insulin initiative

Via the CalRx Biosimilar Insulin Initiative, Newsom has promised insulin will cost no more than $30 per 10 ml vial or $55 for five 3 ml cartridges, which currently can run up to $300 and $500, respectively. The governor has said that the reduced price will be available to patients across the country, insured and uninsured.

In March, the governor announced a $50 million partnership with Civica Rx, a nonprofit created by health systems and philanthropy, that will initially make California’s insulin out of its manufacturing plant in Virginia. The plan is to eventually stand up an insulin manufacturing facility in California.

Civica Rx is set to produce three insulins – glargine, lispro and aspart — generics that are interchangeable with the brands Lantus, Humalog and Novolog.

So when will California’s more affordable insulin become available? That’s yet to be determined.

“At this time, we do not have a specific timeframe for approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,” said Andrew DiLuccia, a spokesperson for the state’s Department of Health Care Access and Information, which is overseeing the insulin project. He noted that developing insulin products requires clinical studies focused on safety, effectiveness and quality.

In an interview published last December in Annals of Internal Medicine, Dr. Mark Ghaly, the state’s health secretary, said the goal is for California to have insulin on the shelves within two to three years.

Among the initiative’s potential challenges: sufficient funding to continue forward. The initiative launched last year when the state had a budget surplus. As California builds up its program, it will need ongoing dollars to sustain it and counter any potential backlash from other insulin makers, according to an analysis published earlier this year in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Insulin copay caps

The American Diabetes Association has pushed for insulin copay caps across the country as a way to get some quick relief to diabetics. At least twenty-five states and the District of Columbia have enacted caps on insulin copays, ranging from $25 to $100 a month.

Wiener’s SB 90 would have mirrored the federal government’s $35 cap on insulin prescriptions for people on Medicare, the health program for seniors and people with disabilities.

“The American Diabetes Association is disappointed in the governor’s decision to veto Senate Bill 90, legislation that had broad bipartisan support and which moved through the legislature without a single no vote,” said Lisa Murdock, chief advocacy officer at the association, a sponsor of the bill. Her organization will look for ways to continue working with the governor’s office on this affordability issue, she added.

The diabetes association estimates there are about 3 million diabetics in California.

The burden of insulin costs has a long history — stories about people rationing their medication and relying on the emergency room for their uncontrolled diabetes are common throughout the country.

A national survey from last year found that approximately 16.5% of insulin users ration their medication, usually by delaying the purchase of it. Rationing insulin leads to poor control of diabetes and is linked to increased instances of strokes, heart failure and kidney failure.

###

Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit www.chcf.org to learn more.

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

Cathy Jean Richards
Jan. 16, 1953 – Oct. 5, 2023

Cathy Jean Richards passed away peacefully on October 5, 2023 surrounded by her family. She was born in Ft. Lewis, Washington to Gerald Ray Christenson and Corrine Cecelia Petrusha on January 16, 1953. Most of Cathy’s younger years, you could find her in McKinleyville with her mom and dad, brother Jerry and Heidi, her sister. Cathy’s favorite activities were riding her horse, BigEnough, and sewing. They usually were attending weekend activities with the Arcata Fire Department, Bill and JoAnn McKenzie family, or going to Trinity Lake to stay on the houseboat. And if they were traveling, they would be heading back to Libby, Montana where their parents were or to Seattle, Washington to visit cousins.

Cathy attended St. Mary’s Elementary School in Arcata for several years until they moved to McKinleyville, where she attended McKinleyville Elementary Schools. In high school Cathy was an excellent student, along with being a cheerleader and song queen. She graduated from McKinleyville High School in 1971 and then attended College of the Redwoods.

At Christ the King Parish, Cathy met her soul mate, Kenny Richards, in catechism. They went together in elementary school, high school and junior college. They were married at St. Mary’s Church in Arcata on February 17, 1973 in a Nuptial Mass Ceremony. They were together in marriage for 50 and one half years. They had three boys: Her first son, Bill and his wife Amy, with four children Kalyn, Travis, Chloe, and Gunner with one grandchild, Hudson; her second son, John, and his wife Madeline and two children Talin and Wyatt; Thomas, her third son, and his wife Kellie and son Jaxon.

While in high school she worked at Ron’s Villa Pharmacy in McKinleyville, and moved on to Hooven and Turner Excavation in the 1970s. Later she was hired at the Northern Humboldt Union High School District for 27 years as an account technician and back up payroll technician, and then she retired.

Over the last 50 years, Cathy spent time in Willow Creek or at Trinity Lake on the houseboat, snow skiing, or riding her horse, Dani, with Nancy Bettendorf and JoAnn Ricci. Cathy absolutely loved riding and being with her horse. Cathy was known by her many friends. Her friend Rachel Barnett has been a cornerstone for her through the years. Cathy was a great role model as a parent and her love that she had for her grandchildren, great-grandchild, sons, husband, brother, sister, cousins, and friends was second to none.

Cathy would be known most as being a great mother. She treated everyone with love. Cathy was always there for her kids and grandkids as well as transporting other neighborhood children to baseball, football and golf matches. She loved spending time with her family and never passed up an opportunity to do so. Cathy and Kenny were Grand Marshall’s of the Pony Express Days Parade and received the McKinleyville Community Service Award in 2018.

Lastly, Cathy wanted to thank her nephew, Doctor Sean Grammy, for saving her life and advising her every step of the way through difficult medical times.

Services for Cathy Richards will be held at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Arcata on Saturday, Oct. 14. Rosary will be at 10:30 a.m., Mass at 11 a.m., and Reception at 12 p.m.

###

The Humboldt County Growers Alliance (HCGA) and seven cannabis farmers filed suit against the proponents of the Humboldt Cannabis Reform Initiative (HCRI) and the Humboldt County Elections Office in Humboldt County Superior Court today. The lawsuit alleges that the proponents of the initiative, Mark Thurmond and Elizabeth Watson, “intentionally misled” and “deceived” members of the public while gathering signatures to place the initiative on the March 2024 ballot. 

“[Thurmond and Watson] failed to include the full text of their Initiative in the petition they circulated to County voters in order to qualify the Initiative for the March 2024 ballot … and included materially false and/or misleading information in the Initiative Petition,” the lawsuit states. “In doing so, [their] illegal actions render the Initiative’s qualification invalid, and require that the Initiative be removed from the ballot to protect the integrity of Humboldt County elections.”

The initiative, set to appear on the ballot as Measure A, would impose a host of new rules on commercial cannabis cultivation operations across the county. Proponents of the initiative believe the added restrictions will promote small-scale farming and “environmentally responsible cannabis cultivation practices and support watershed health … by limiting the number, type and acreage of permits for commercial cannabis cultivation,” according to the text of the measure.

Natalyne DeLapp, executive director for the HCGA, argues that the initiative “would be a disaster for public safety and the environment,” and would “fatally undermine” the county’s existing regulatory framework “that was designed to end the harms of prohibition and the social and environmental impacts of the Green Rush.”

“If the signature-gathering efforts for Measure A were truthful, this initiative never would have made it to the ballot,” DeLapp wrote in a prepared statement. “Claiming to protect small cannabis farmers and public participation, while in fact targeting small cannabis farmers with a panoply of new restrictions and locking broken policy in place permanently, is exactly the subversion of the democratic process that elections laws are designed to prevent.” 

Seven small cannabis farmers have also signed onto the lawsuit, including John Casali, Steve Luu, Karen Hessler, Dylan Mattole, Patrick William Andrews, Hannah Whyte and Indicus McGrath Riggs.

The lawsuit seeks to remove the initiative from the March 2024 ballot.

Reached by phone earlier this afternoon, Watson told the Outpost that she was unaware of the lawsuit and declined to comment on the matter for the time being.

A copy of the lawsuit can be found at this link.

###

Press release from the Humboldt County Growers Alliance:

Today, seven small cannabis farmers, along with the Humboldt County Growers Alliance, filed suit in Humboldt County court on the grounds that signature-gathering efforts for the Humboldt Cannabis Reform Initiative - currently slated to appear on the March 5, 2024 ballot - were based on a lie.

“If the signature-gathering efforts for Measure A were truthful, this initiative never would have made it to the ballot,” said Natalyne DeLapp, HCGA’s executive director. “Claiming to protect small cannabis farmers and public participation, while in fact targeting small cannabis farmers with a panoply of new restrictions and locking broken policy in place permanently, is exactly the subversion of the democratic process that elections laws are designed to prevent.” 

Throughout 2022, signature gatherers approached Humboldt voters at farmer’s markets, grocery stores, and fairs, asking voters to sign an initiative petition they said would “ensure greater public participation” and “support small-scale, high-quality cannabis cultivation.” 
The lawsuit documents how Measure A’s backers included materially false and misleading information that deceived voters into believing the initiative was about restricting large-scale cultivation and failed to include the full text of the initiative as required by law. 

“The reality is that Measure A would be a disaster for public safety and the environment, fatally undermining the regulatory framework that was designed to end the harms of prohibition and the social and environmental impacts of the Green Rush,” DeLapp continued. “When the proponents decided to write policy behind closed doors and ignore the input of law enforcement, environmental groups, farmers, and regulators, the result would always be chaos, not a functional program that protects county residents.”

“Measure A would effectively repeal and replace 143 pages of county cannabis ordinances developed over eight years of public deliberation, and yet none of this was disclosed to voters who were told they were simply ‘protecting small farmers,’” said Ross Gordon, HCGA’s Policy Director. “The Planning Department’s recent analysis of Measure A has made it clear how dangerous this policy would be, but we never would have been in this position in the first place if the proponents had simply disclosed the truth about what this initiative does.” 

The full complaint as filed in Humboldt County Superior Court, can be read here.

###

PREVIOUSLY: 

• An Initiative to Reshape Humboldt’s Cannabis Industry Qualified for the Ballot, and It Has Growers Worried
• Supes Agree to Put Controversial Weed Initiative on the 2024 Ballot, Though They Hope to Work With Organizers on Alternatives
• Humboldt Cannabis Farmers Blast ‘Misleading’ Ballot Initiative That Would Impose New Restrictions on Cultivators; Supervisors Form an Ad Hoc Committee to Work on Alternatives
• Proponents of the Humboldt Cannabis Reform Initiative Are Calling Out the Board of Supervisors, County Staff for Allegedly Distorting the Intent of the 2024 Ballot Measure