Last we checked in with the Senate Judiciary Committee, Eureka kazillionaire Rob Arkley was declining to provide information to that body’s investigation into Supreme Court ethics and standards. 

That investigation was sparked by the huge ProPublica series on the long history of some Supreme Court justices accepting lucrative gifts from the super-wealthy, and sometimes from people with direct business before the court. One of those stories covered how Justice Samuel Alito, and the late Justice Antonin Scalia before him, were apparently comped a free vacation to Arkley’s Alaska fishing lodge.

The Democrat-controlled Judiciary Committee appears not in a mood to let lie Arkley’s disinclination to participate in their probe. In a statement issued yesterday, committee chair Dick Durbin said he would seek a subpoena to compel Arkley’s testimony, along with that of a couple of other people — Harlan Crow, Justice Clarence Thomas’s benefactor, and Leonard Leo, leader of the conservative Federalist Society.

Press release from the Senate Judiciary Committee:

U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights, today announced that the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to authorize issuing subpoenas to Harlan Crow, Leonard Leo, and Robin Arkley II as it relates to the Committee’s Supreme Court ethics investigation.

“The Supreme Court is in an ethical crisis of its own making. Thanks to investigative reporting, we now know that for decades, some justices have been joining billionaires with business before the Court on their private planes and yachts or receiving gifts such as private school tuition for a family member. And it is through this reporting that we learned the justices have not been disclosing these gifts as required by federal laws that expressly apply to them. By accepting these lavish, undisclosed gifts, the justices have enabled their wealthy benefactors and other individuals with business before the Court to gain private access to the justices while preventing public scrutiny of this conduct.

“But this is just what we know from investigative reporting. In order to adequately address this crisis, it is imperative that we understand the full extent of how people with interests before the Court are able to use undisclosed gifts to gain private access to the justices. The inquiries the Committee has sent to Harlan Crow, Leonard Leo, and Robin Arkley are critical to this work. However, they have either refused to comply or offered to produce certain limited information that fell well short of what the Committee needs and to which it is entitled.

“Due to Crow, Leo, and Arkley’s intransigence, the Committee is now forced to seek compulsory process to obtain the information they hold. Therefore, Chair Durbin will be asking the Committee to grant him authorization to issue subpoenas to these individuals.

“The Chief Justice could fix this problem today and adopt a binding code of conduct. As long as he refuses to act, the Judiciary Committee will.”

In July, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act to the full Senate. The bill would require Supreme Court Justices to adopt a code of conduct, create a mechanism to investigate alleged violations of the code of conduct and other laws, improve disclosure and transparency when a Justice has a connection to a party or amicus before the Court, and require Justices to explain their recusal decisions to the public.

Durbin and Whitehouse have been calling on the Supreme Court to adopt an enforceable code of conduct for more than a decade. They first sent a letter to the Chief Justice on this issue more than 11 years ago.

Leo and Arkley Intransigence

The need to subpoena Leonard Leo and Robin Arkley is clear. There are no other steps for the Committee to consider other than compulsory process when presented with outright defiance of legitimate oversight requests.

Leo’s and Arkley’s responses to the Committee’s initial July 11, 2023, requests were blanket refusals to comply. Neither individual engaged in any private discussions with the Committee. The Committee reiterated its requests to both Leonard Leo and Robin Arkley on October 5, noting that they had identified no proper basis to withhold information from Congress. Both repeated their refusals to cooperate.

Neither has identified a proper basis to withhold information from Congress. Both claim that the Committee’s inquiry lacks a valid legislative purpose, despite decades of legislation passed by Congress regulating the ethical conduct of the judiciary, including Supreme Court justices.

Crow’s Insufficient Proposal

The need to subpoena Harlan Crow is also clear, although the route to this decision differs slightly. The Committee sent separate inquiries to Crow and the three holding companies that own his private jet, yacht, and Topridge Camp, respectively. Crow’s counsel purports to speak for Crow and all three holding companies. While Crow’s public responses to the Committee’s requests included arguments similar to those of Leo and Arkley, Crow had initially claimed a willingness to engage with the Committee privately, through his counsel.

However, his proposal to provide the Committee with responses to only a small subset of its requests, and only for the past five years, is wholly inadequate. Additionally, tying this insufficient response to an agreement that the Committee would pursue no further inquiries regarding Crow’s relationship with Justice Thomas would inappropriately and prospectively undermine the Committee’s constitutional oversight authority.

Throughout the negotiations, a steady drip of new reporting on Crow’s relationship with Justice Thomas highlighted the untenable limitations of Crow’s offer to the Committee.

• In September, ProPublica revealed that not only has Crow been hosting Justice Thomas at the private, all-male club Bohemian Grove over the last 25 years, but the Koch brothers—architects of one of the largest, most influential political apparatuses in recent history—also stayed in this camp with Justice Thomas.
  • Justice Thomas has since participated in fundraising events for the Koch political network, and that network is bankrolling lawyers representing the petitioners in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, a case that is currently before the Court.
• Politico has revealed that in 2009, Crow provided an initial $500,000 in funding to Ginni Thomas’s non-profit group, which Leonard Leo directed, that advocated on issues before the Court.

It would be irresponsible for the Committee to accept a response that merely covers the past five years, given that (1) Crow’s extravagant gifts to Justice Thomas go back more than two decades; (2) these previously undisclosed gifts have played a role in connecting Justice Thomas to special interest networks such as those led by Leonard Leo and the Koch brothers; and (3) Crow has engaged in other efforts to influence the Court through Justice Thomas’s wife.

In light of all this, all Committee Democrats rejected Harlan Crow’s proposal on October 5 and invited him to engage in further negotiations. He has instead refused to engage further or comply, and as a result the next step for the Committee is to pursue compulsory process.

On the shelf of an office in Coalinga sits a time capsule of sorts, transporting readers to the old days of community college. The book commemorates the 75th anniversary of the founding of West Hills College in Coalinga, featuring black and white photos from the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s. Young men and women, most of them white, hold books as they walk across campus. They pose together at the college dance or smile during football practice.

“It’s like ‘Friday Night Lights’,” said West Hills Community College District Chancellor Kristin Clark, comparing the images to the popular TV show and movie about small-town America as she leafs through the book.

The town of Coalinga, located at the western border of the Central Valley, is still small and rural, but today, the college is more than three-quarters Hispanic and roughly 40% of classes are online. Many classes are offered through prisons, at a satellite campus in Firebaugh, or at nearby high schools.

That evolution is now at the center of a growing debate over a state law enacted in 1961. Known as the 50% law, it requires community colleges to spend at least half of their general fund each year on classroom instructors. That general fund represents most of Clark’s annual budget for the college. While faculty say the law ensures that colleges focus on teaching, college administrators say it’s outdated and that they need more flexibility in budgeting to meet the needs of students.

“Our mission has changed drastically,” Clark said. “Just sending them into a classroom isn’t enough these days.”

Nearly one-quarter of the state’s community college students experienced homelessness in the past year, and many more struggled to afford food, according to a recent survey. The Central Valley had the highest rate of food and housing insecurity among students, the survey found. Yet many of the services that colleges offer, such as technology and library materials, food pantries on campus and support programs for Hispanic and disabled students, do not count as instructional costs.

Walking into the library at West Hills College in Coalinga, Erick Morales and Raul Sevilla, both 18, are searching for Wi-Fi, not books. Even at the Starbucks in town, where Sevilla works part time, the internet is slow, he said. When the library closes, both students rely on Wi-Fi hotspots on loan from the library to complete their coursework. Those hotspots are not considered instructional costs either.

‘Where is the money going?’

The intent of the 50% spending law was to keep class sizes small and to limit the growth of administrative positions, according to a paper by the Community College League of California. On average, community colleges across the state spent 51% of their general fund on instructors in the 2021-22 academic year, according to the most recent data from the Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. Many schools were just tenths of a percentage point above the 50% threshold.

While Clark and other college presidents see those numbers as evidence of the evolving role of community college, faculty leaders see evidence of administrative bloat. “Our primary function is instruction,” said Wendy Brill-Wynkoop, president of the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges. “Where is the money going? Are we using this money to support students or to support an administration that’s larger than is necessary?”

She said many of the expanded services that colleges provide today are funded from sources excluded from the 1961 law. That’s because the law only applies to money spent from a college’s general fund and not to money received through restricted state grants or through philanthropy.

“Where is the money going? Are we using this money to support students or to support an administration that’s larger than is necessary?”
— Wendy Brill-Wynkoop, president of the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges

In recent years, state legislators have earmarked a growing number of restricted grants to address historically underserved populations, such as former foster youth, undocumented, Black, Native and LGBTQ+ students, as well as for student needs, such as homelessness and hunger. However, college presidents say the state and federal money doesn’t cover all of the costs for these programs.

In June, Assemblymember Freddie Rodriguez, a Chino Democrat, asked the state to audit community college finances to evaluate compliance with the 50% law. Representatives from all of the state’s 116 community college faculty unions expressed support for the audit.

In his letter, Rodriguez referenced an audit from 2000 that found that multiple community college districts didn’t comply with the law. He pointed out that the salaries of community college presidents and superintendents now average $284,504 per year, with the highest annual salary at $386,003. He wrote that the number of administrators has grown by 45% in the past 10 years, even while enrollment at community colleges has declined in the same time period.

He also cited an audit from February that found the Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office lacked oversight of money the Legislature earmarked to hire full-time faculty. In some cases, college districts didn’t fully spend or misspent the money, the audit found. Rodriguez did not respond to requests for comment.

“Districts want flexibility, they want to get rid of reports, and they don’t want to be accountable,” said David Hawkins, legislative advocate for the independent faculty unions at 13 of the state’s community college districts.

Legislators approved the audit request and it is currently ongoing. They haven’t set a publication date.

The 0.1% that makes all the difference

Clark’s district represents two independent colleges, both called West Hills. One campus is in Coalinga; the other is 40 miles east in Lemoore. Both towns rely in part on agriculture, even as drought and flooding have created billion-dollar losses in recent years. Last fall, Coalinga almost ran out of water, only to suffer flooding months later.

Many students qualify for the colleges’ support services — and the numbers are growing.

“We’re serving the most students we’ve ever had since I came here five years ago,” said Maria Gonzalez, an associate dean who oversees five programs at the Lemoore campus. Her office, which doubles as a storage unit, holds a stack of more than 20 instant pots, still in their packaging, that her team will distribute as part of a program to help low-income students with children.

One of her programs that focuses on disabled students is serving more than 550 people this fall, roughly 12% of the student body, she said. To assist these students, the college has dedicated counselors and specialists, as well as an office space where students who need extra time can take their exams.

Student Theresa Steele stands in the walkway on campus at the West Hills College in Lemoore on Oct. 9, 2023. Steele uses the free services provided by West Hills to help her get by in her classes. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

“Without DSPS (disabled student program and services), I don’t think I’d be able to finish what I finished,” said Theresa Steele, 58, who has limited mobility and learning disabilities. When she first enrolled in 2015 at the Lemoore campus, she said she didn’t know about the college’s support services and felt she “didn’t fit in.” She dropped out after two semesters.

Now, she’s back at school and uses accommodations set up by the college, such as a special chair for classroom seating and software that helps her take better notes in class. She’s become a fixture on campus, serving as the commissioner of finance for the student government. Some students call her “grandma,” she said.

Last year, West Hills College in Lemoore spent about $1.4 million on the disabled services program, half of which is covered by a restricted state grant. The rest came from the general fund and does not count as instructional costs under state law.

“We’re serving the most students we’ve ever had since I came here five years ago.”
— Maria Gonzalez, associate dean who oversees five programs at West Hills College in lemoore

In total, the district spent 50.1% of its general fund on classroom instructors last year. Had the district spent 0.1% less, the equivalent of $23,000, it could have faced punitive measures that include the loss of state funding, Clark said. “We’re making decisions every day based on this law.”

The college has instituted a freeze on hiring new positions that aren’t defined as “instructional,” and Clark said she has rejected requests for more academic counselors, librarians, and custodians in the past two years. Only the Coalinga campus has a security guard at night. She said the Lemoore campus can’t afford one.

Other state grants have created similar dilemmas for college leaders. In 2021, for instance, community colleges received $10 million dollars to spend over five years in order to establish LGBTQ+ centers or expand LGBTQ+ services. The money amounted to about $17,000 a year, on average, for each of the state’s 115 brick-and-mortar campuses (Calbright College, the state’s online community college, was exempt). College leaders told CalMatters it was not enough to hire staff.

Trying — and failing — to reach an agreement

Administrators and faculty say they are open to reforming the 50% law so that it more accurately reflects the cost of running a college today, but they can’t agree on how.

In 2014, a task force composed of college administrators and faculty proposed a broader definition of instruction that included counselors, librarians, curriculum development and tutoring, but it also called on the state to raise the required percent above 50%. The proposal made its way through the state’s bureaucracy, but by 2019, it had lost support among administrators before making it to the Legislature, said Willy Duncan, president of Sierra College and a member of the task force.

During a hearing on Rodriguez’s audit, legislators and a representative from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office proposed expanding the audit. Instead of just looking at compliance with the 50% law, they asked if the state could also gather information on how much money colleges spend on “safety net” programs, such as food pantries or services for disabled students.

“We have expanded the expectations of what schools at all levels do,” said state Sen. Catherine Blakespear, a Democrat from Encinitas.” We just need the dispassionate analysis of what is happening so that we can evaluate it.”

Students walking out of their classes through the hallways at West Hills College Coalinga on Oct. 9, 2023. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

Brill-Wynkoop said one of the solutions she wants to see is to keep the 50% law but for lawmakers to provide more money in their grants for specific student services. “We’re the least-funded per student of any public education system in California,” she said. “We don’t have enough money.”

Last year, Contra Costa Community College District failed to meet the 50% spending requirement. The district received a one-year waiver instead of a financial penalty, district spokesperson Timothy Leong wrote to CalMatters in an email.

Though they’ve made “tremendous progress,” he said the district will continue to struggle with the law as long as counseling, mental health and library services fall outside the definition of instruction. “We need to help our legislators and governor to understand and address this conflict,” he wrote.

###

Adam Echelman covers California’s community colleges in partnership with Open Campus, a nonprofit newsroom focused on higher education.

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

California’s unemployment insurance fund is $20 billion in debt, putting the state in a terrible position in case of a recession.

The deep debt — incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic as millions of people lost their jobs and the state borrowed money from the federal government for unemployment benefits — is on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mind.

He cited it as a factor in his recent veto of a bill that would have allowed striking workers to be eligible for unemployment benefits, mentioning that the state is paying hundreds of millions of dollars of interest on the debt.

It’s also top of mind for businesses, which face an increase in required contributions toward the state’s unemployment insurance fund as a result. And it’s on the minds of those who are concerned about whether the state’s unemployment system can handle another crisis such as a pandemic or a recession.

The unemployment insurance fund had regular solvency issues even before the pandemic. Now the situation is more dire, with the Employment Development Department issuing a spring forecast that the debt — which the Legislative Analyst’s Office has said does not include the infamous unemployment fraud that mostly involved temporary federal benefits that the state doesn’t have to pay back — would grow to $19.7 billion at the end of the year. In addition, the state Legislative Analyst’s Office said this summer that for the first time during a period of job growth, it expects California’s unemployment insurance fund to have fewer contributions coming in than benefits being paid out.

“The administration’s forecast of a UI trust fund deficit adds urgency that may not have existed last year, making this one of the key issues facing the Legislature in the near future,” said Chas Alamo, principal fiscal and policy analyst for the Legislative Analyst’s Office.

But this is just one example of the ongoing battle among workers, labor and business in California, and how politicians have to navigate that tension.

Debt could cost California billions just in interest

It is difficult to gauge the urgency the governor and state legislators feel about the debt.

Southern California Democrats Sen. Anthony Portantino and Assemblymember Chris Holden, co-authors of the bill Newsom vetoed citing concerns over the size of the debt, declined to comment on the debt.

Alex Stack, a spokesperson for the governor, referred to Newsom’s veto of the bill as one way the governor is avoiding increasing costs for businesses. Another way, he said, is that “the state has been covering interest payments instead of pushing that cost to employers.”

“The administration’s forecast of a UI trust fund deficit adds urgency that may not have existed last year, making this one of the key issues facing the Legislature in the near future.”
— Chas Alamo, principal fiscal and policy analyst, Legislative Analyst’s Office

The required repayment of the debt has triggered automatic tax increases on employers, which under federal law are responsible for paying down the principal, while the state typically pays the interest. The governor last year proposed using $3 billion from a projected budget surplus to pay off some of the debt, but ended up paying only $250 million toward the principal. The state has since swung to a budget deficit, and this year paid $306 million in interest by borrowing from the disability insurance fund.

Alamo has forecast that depending on interest rates, the debt could cost the state anywhere from a total of $3 billion to $7 billion in interest payments for the next several years, possibly through 2033. The state also borrowed from the federal government for unemployment benefits during the Great Recession; that debt cost the state $1.4 billion in interest payments from 2011 until 2018, when it was paid off.

Longstanding fund problems

The California unemployment insurance fund’s solvency problems go way back.

The fund was solvent as recently as 2018 and 2019, but still below the recommended standard of having enough funds to distribute benefits for a year, according to Department of Labor data analyzed by the Century Foundation, a progressive think tank that advocates for equity in domestic and foreign policy. In 2017, and each year before that going back to 2009, the fund had been insolvent. The last time the state’s unemployment insurance fund met the standard was 1990.

The current debt has triggered a $21 increase per employee that employers must pay in payroll taxes starting this year. Employers’ rate will keep rising an additional $21 per employee each year until the state pays off the debt to the federal government, for a total of $945 per employee through 2031, according to projections by the Legislative Analyst’s Office based on the average state unemployment insurance tax rate.

“California’s business community is terribly concerned about our state’s unemployment insurance fund debt and the increased taxes it is bringing to businesses and will continue to bring for the next decade,” said Rob Moutrie, a policy advocate for the California Chamber of Commerce. “We believe all the factors affecting California’s unemployment insurance fund, including eligibility issues and EDD’s failures, must be considered when looking at the unprecedented debt.”

But others say the state’s system to fund unemployment has for years been structured to favor businesses in the first place.

“Big businesses haven’t been paying the true cost of unemployment for decades,” said Alissa Anderson, a senior policy fellow at the California Budget & Policy Center, who said she plans to speak with Portantino’s office about the issue. Anderson added that shifting unemployment insurance debt to the state, as businesses have called for, is “a backdoor tax break for businesses.”

The state’s unemployment fund is funded by a variable percentage tax, currently 3.46%, on employers based on the first $7,000 each employee earns, the minimum taxable wage base required by federal law — a base California has not raised since 1983. That same wage base also applies to employers of both high-wage earners and low-wage earners, even though high-wage earners are eligible for higher unemployment benefits when they lose their jobs. Other states have raised their taxable wage bases as high as 100% of average weekly wages; in states like Washington, the taxable wage base this year is $67,600.

“Big businesses haven’t been paying the true cost of unemployment for decades.”
— Alissa Anderson, senior policy fellow, California Budget & Policy Center

Economists say the fact that California’s taxable wage base has been the same for so long is one of the main reasons its unemployment fund is consistently underfunded or insolvent. Another reason is that the state has added benefits and eligibility over the years without adjusting how the system is funded.

“California never has sufficient funding,” said Stephen Wandner, senior fellow at the National Academy of Social Insurance and author of the book “Transforming Unemployment Insurance for the Twenty-First Century: A Comprehensive Guide to Reform.” Wandner called it “unreasonable… to have fairly generous benefits and extremely weak financing. It’s not sustainable.”

“The last time I checked, 1983 was about 40 years ago,” Wandner added. “What’s happened since then? Wages and prices have gone up every year.” In his book, Wandner recommends that states such as California should index their taxable wage base by setting it at 50% or more of the Social Security taxable wage base, or by indexing it to wage growth.

But Alamo, of the state Legislative Analyst’s Office, said that while the state’s wage base is lower than others, the percentage employers pay on that wage base is actually greater than the percentage employers in many other states pay on higher wage bases. “The amount contributed on behalf of workers is pretty middle of the pack,” he said.

Businesses want a working group

The state should take action to address the problems with the fund, said Jenna Gerry, senior staff attorney for the National Employment Law Project who covers unemployment insurance issues in California.

“People need to understand the historic nature of this, and that something needs to be done now,” Gerry said, adding that fixing the system is also an equity issue in a high-cost state. The state’s unemployment benefit has been at a maximum $450 a week since 2005. “Who can live on that in California?” Gerry asked. Gerry added that the state needs to fix the unemployment fund’s solvency issues before it can raise the benefit limit.

Bill Sokol, who teaches labor law at San Francisco State University, said the system to fund unemployment insurance hasn’t changed all these years because the business lobby is strong. Sokol also said labor is fighting for more pressing issues that affect employed workers, not unemployed ones.

“What companies pay for UI is never going to be a top priority for unions, but it’s a top priority for business,” Sokol said. “This leaves it to the politicians to decide it’s for the greater good” to fix the unemployment insurance system, he said.

“People need to understand the historic nature of this, and that something needs to be done now.”
— Jenna Gerry, senior staff attorney, National Employment Law Project

Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, head of the California Labor Federation, agreed. She said that the governor has used the unemployment insurance debt “as an excuse” not to sign Portantino’s bill — which was cosponsored by the federation — but that she hasn’t “heard anything else” about how Newsom plans to address the debt.

There are different ways to “sculpt” a solution, Gonzales Fletcher said, including lowering the percentage all employers pay into the fund but bumping up what employers of higher-wage workers are required to pay.

That gets into the fact that employers of different sizes have differing concerns.

Small Business Majority, a national nonprofit organization that advocates especially for under-resourced entrepreneurs and small businesses, wants to address equity issues including the disproportionate effect the funding system has on smaller businesses.

Bianca Bloomquist, the organization’s California policy director, called the system “regressive” and said it will be important to gather data about its impact on small businesses. Bloomquist added that a well-funded unemployment insurance fund is vital because small businesses understand that “when a community is suffering (from unemployment), small businesses suffer.”

Meanwhile, CalChamber and other business groups in 2021 asked the governor to form a working group to address the fund’s debt and solvency issues.

Moutrie of CalChamber said there has been no meeting about the matter so far, but that he expects meetings to happen next year.

Stack, the governor’s spokesperson, said a working group has not been created, and that Newsom’s office had no comment on a possible push by business groups to discuss the issue.

###

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

William Kenneth Prater passed away at the age of 73 in Eureka on Sept. 17, 2023 after a brief illness. Bill was born in Los Alamos, N.M. on Oct. 12, 1949 to Harry and Phyllis Prater. He later moved with his family to Las Vegas, Nev. where he graduated from Clark High School in 1968. He was drafted into the United States Army in 1970 and served in the Panama Canal Zone and Ft. Lewis Washington until 1973. Bill remained in the Army Reserve until 1976.

Bill worked many jobs in his life, some of which included surveying, manufacturing, repair, and sales in electronics, telecommunications and computers. He completed his AA degree at College of the Redwoods in 1991 with a certificate in Electronics Technology. In 1996, he started working part time for Eureka City Schools as a Computer Lab Technician, helping students as computers were introduced into all of our lives. From 1999-2014 he worked full time for Eureka City Schools in Information Technology.

Bill enjoyed riding and maintaining his Harley Davidson motorcycle, always taking pride in it. He shared his skills in fixing many things for friends and family over the years, always careful in his work, though maybe never the fastest to finish. Bill loved watching all sports, especially car and motorcycle racing. He shared his interest in old movies and TV programs with anyone willing to listen. Anyone who knew Bill heard a joke or two!

Bill is survived by his wife Cindy, daughters Alicia Nguyen (Tony), Janine Adams (Ben), granddaughters Olive and Hazel Nguyen, his brother Larry Prater (Christine), sister Patty Mendes (Nick), sister-in-law Cheryl Hale (Tom). He is also survived by nieces and nephews Candice Woodbury, Nick Prater, Ian Prater, Justin Hale, Emma Barnes, Robin Rice, and Angela Mendes and their families. He was preceded in death by his parents and brother Phillip Prater.

The family would like to thank the staff at Providence St Joseph Hospital, Hospice of Humboldt, and Timber Ridge Assisted Living, and Ayers Family Cremation for Bill’s care throughout this time.

Sue, a longtime resident of McKinleyville, went to be with Jesus on Sept. 24, 2023, after struggling with chronic lung issues. Sue was born on New Year’s Eve, 1961 in Eureka to Arthur and Patricia Lundquist. Sue’s lifelong love of horses begin as a toddler, with riding the ponies at McKinleyville Shopping Center, pleading for her grandpa to pay for one more turn on the pony as it went round it’s chained path. This love of horses transferred over to all animals, with a special place in her heart for cats. Over the years, she took in many strays and wounded cats, nursing them back to health. She leaves behind her kitties — Skittles, Knuckles and Negan — who all have found good homes.

Sue was always spunky. Growing up, Sue was found tagging along with her older siblings, going horseback riding, playing down at the creek or making mud pies at the grandparents’ house in Redwood Creek Valley. Attending schools in Eureka, Sue graduated from Eureka Senior High School in 1980.

Sue’s kind and generous spirit was evident by her years of work as a home care worker. She went above and beyond for those she served. Her hobbies included her loving her fur babies, gardening, carpentry, bead work, crafting and agate hunting.

After several years together, in 2014, she became the devoted wife of Todd Johnston. Sue became Mom to Eric (Jenny), Christopher (Shalico) and Matthew (Heather) and daughter to Pat and Joe Leo. She is survived by brothers Tim DeFazio (Jeanette), Chris DeFazio (Judy); sister Laura Del Ragno; beloved nieces and nephews Scott DeFazio (Heather), Christen DeFazio–Jones (Ed), Evan DeFazio, Justin Dukes (Stephany) and Brooke; brother-in-law Patrick Johnston (Lauren); sister-in-law, Shellie Taylor (Darin); more loved nieces and nephews: Joshua, Savannah, Alexander, Kasidy, Makenzie, and Jeremiah; grandchildren-Caleb, Kadence, Mariah, Lashyla, Jayden, and Braden. Sue is also survived by Aunt Lillian (Pod) Patterson and uncles George and Eric Lundquist (Kimmarie), and numerous cousins and their families.

Sue was preceded in death by her husband, Todd Johnston; brother-in-law, Joel Johnston; mother, Pat Evans; father, Arthur Lundquist; grandmother, Frieda Eklund; grandfather, Ralph Lundquist; grandparents Joseph and Lillian Evans; aunts and uncles Pete and Doris Evans; Robert and Margaret (Peggy) Dudley; cousin Larry Dudley; and loving partner of many years, Art Philbrook.

Sue will be missed by all who knew and loved her. All Sue’s family and friends are invited to her celebration of life on November 4, 2023, at 11am at Ocean View Cemetery, Eureka, CA. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Sue’s name to the Sequoia Humane Society. Online at sequoiahumane.org or at 6073 Loma Ave., Eureka, CA 95503.

###

Gerardo (Jerry) Gomez was born in Valparaizo, Zacatecas, Mexico on February 14, 1977 and passed on October 20, 2023 at the City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte, California.

Jerry fought a courageous and valiant battle against cancer. He did not fight this disease alone — Jerry was lovingly supported by his family and friends.

Jerry is survived by his dedicated and loving brother Juan “Manny” Ramirez, sister-in-law Nancy Nunez, and nephew Adrian Ramirez.

Jerry was preceded in death by his dear mother, Roselia Rodriguez, and is now reunited with her.

Jerry worked his dream job with the Los Angeles Dodgers for 10 years as a lead security guard at the Dodger Stadium’s Left Field Pavilion.

Jerry also worked a driving detail for a private company for 10 years where he drove famous athletes and celebrities and CEO’S around the Los Angeles area.

In 2022, Jerry left his career in the Los Angeles area and moved to Fortuna to be closer to his brother, sister-in-law and beloved nephew.

Before Jerry’s illness, he served as a Community Service Officer for the Eureka Police Department. He cherished his time with the department and made many friends there.

Jerry will be sorely missed by his brother Manny who remarked, “He has been there for me when I needed him. His jokes, outgoing personality, and big smile I will forever hold in my heart. I deeply appreciated the love my brother showed to my son, Adrian.”

The family would like to thank the City of Eureka’s Police Department Command Staff, officers and employees who helped Jerry fight cancer with their support and love. Their unwavering kindness and assistance were appreciated by Jerry and his family more than they will ever know. They were his biggest fans.

Also, thank you to cousin Kimberly for taking Jerry to all his many appointments and for her devotion to him spending time to be there for her cousin during these incredibly hard times.

Jerry’s family would also like to thank the doctors and medical staff at the Saint Helena and City of Hope for their excellent care and compassion during his stay. The Saint Helena and City of Hope gave Manny the gift of extra quality time to spend with his brother before his passing.

“I will remember the special times we spent together in our younger years,” said Manny. “Jerry used to take me to paint ball shooting, golfing, hiking, sports events, and dirt bike riding. I will always treasure these memories and the time that I spent with my brother.”

###

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On 10/28/2023, at about 0652, Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the 1900 block of Golf Course Road near Arcata for the report of shots fired.

Deputies arrived on scene and learned multiple shots were fired at an occupied residence. Deputies inspected the residence and found a window shot out and several bullet holes inside the interior walls and ceiling. No one was injured from the shooting.  During the investigation, deputies were contacted by an additional reporting party who advised Jahria Zion was armed with a firearm and suffering from a possible mental health episode. Based upon information and evidence at the scene, it was determined that Jahria Zion was the person responsible for shooting at the occupied residence.  

At around 1600 hours, deputies learned Zion was in the Rio Dell area armed with a pistol. Rio Dell Police Department located Zion in the 200 block of Sequoia Avenue, and he was taken into custody without incident.

A search warrant was served on Zion’s vehicle and deputies located three loaded semi-automatic rifles with high-capacity magazines and a 12 gauge shotgun. Several additional high-capacity magazines, approximately 45 grams of suspected cocaine, and numerous prepackaged Alprazolam pills were also found in Zion’s possession.

Zion was booked for assault with a semiautomatic firearm (PC 245(B)), shooting at an inhabited dwelling (PC 246), possession of a controlled substance (H&S 11375(B)(1)), possession of a high-capacity magazine (PC 32310), altering firearm serial number (PC 23900), and illegally possessing an assault weapon (PC 30605(A)).   

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.