Rosa Roete
September 6, 1935-February 21, 2023

Rosa, born in Aalst, Belgium to the late Gustaf and Josephine deSchryver, passed away peacefully at her home, surrounded by family on February 21, 2023 at the age of 87. Rosa was a wonderful, kind, humble woman of faith who helped take care of everyone around her. She was strong through all her loss and she was a woman of grace who loved her family fiercely.

Rosa lost her mom at the age of three, and her Father was deported to a work camp in Germany, so Rosa was sent to live with her Grandmother Rosalie and her Aunt Hilde. She emigrated to Canada with her Father, at the age of 15, where she worked as a seamstress. She met her future husband, Hubert, who was also from Belgium. They married in 1953 and their first daughter, Anne, was born in Montreal in 1955. A short time later they went to Detroit where their second daughter, Doris, was born. Then they moved to Laguna Beach, California where they had three more children — Christine, Brigitte, and finally a boy, Mark.

After 13 beautiful years in Southern California they packed up the five kids and moved to Loleta to follow Hubie’s dream of becoming a dairy farmer. Rosa worked for many years at the Loleta Grocery Store where she made many lifelong friends. On the farm she took care of the calves and kept the books. Rosa loved to cook and bake. She was famous for her Belgian Waffles. Their farmhouse was always filled with children, grandchildren, love and laughter, especially during the holidays. Throughout her life she liked to sew, making all the kids clothes, she enjoyed swimming with Hubie at EPT for many years, and she loved to watch her children and grandchildren play basketball.

She is survived by her children; Anne Hornsby, Doris (Robert) Echeveria, Christine (Jeff) Jacobs, Mark (Rebecca) Roete and Son-In-Law David Finkelstein (Brigitte) as well as her grandchildren; Domenic (Heather) Belli, Andrew (Deanna) Belli, Laura (Robert) Hastings, Brittanie Hornsby, Ryan (Jamie) Cox, Jason (Melissa) Cox, Dustin Echeveria, Julie (Jon) Whinnery, Kyle Jacobs, James (Angela) Jacobs, Kelsey (Cody) Beaton, Michael Jacobs, Janay Jacobs, Jennifer Jacobs, Emily Jacobs, Arie Finkelstein, Rachel Finkelstein, Nathan Finkelstein, Coty Schraeder, Lily Wagner, Jackson Wagner and many great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren as well as numerous relatives in Belgium.

She was preceded in death by her Husband, Hubie, her daughter Brigitte and her son-in-law Rick Hornsby. There will be a celebration of life in the summer, date to be announced.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of  Rosa Roete’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.

Press release from the California Highway Patrol:

On February 24, 2023, at approximately 5:59 A.M., a solo vehicle fatal traffic crash occurred on US-101 southbound, south of the West End Road under-crossing in Arcata. A 2001 Toyota Sequoia was traveling southbound on US-101 when it suddenly traveled off the west edge of the road, overturned and came to rest down the embankment. The driver, 21 year old Makayla Bernald of Blue Lake, sustained fatal injuries as a result of the crash.

Alcohol and/or drug impairment are not considered to be a factor in this crash. The #2 southbound lane of US-101 at the scene was closed for several hours as this crash was investigated.

The California Highway Patrol extends its condolences to the family and thanks all responding agencies for their assistance in managing the scene. The CHP Humboldt Area office is continuing its investigation and asks anyone who may have additional information to contact the California Highway Patrol at 707-822-5981.

HUMBOLDT TODAY: Other than the cool tornadic waterspout in Shelter Cove, the weather has been a bit of a pain with multiple highway closures and power outages making life in Humboldt a bear. A roundup of the important bits and more in today’s newscast with John Kennedy O’Connor.

FURTHER READING:

• Waterspout Spotted at Shelter Cove
• Suspect Arrested for Assault in Whitethorn Which Caused ‘Extensive Injuries’ to Acquaintance
• Humboldt County Supervisors Expected to Open Bidding Process for Jail Expansion, New Community Corrections Re-Entry Resource Center
• ATTEMPTED MURDER INVESTIGATION: Sheriff’s Office Seeking Suspect They Say Shot at a Man Exiting His Home
• (UPDATE: OPEN) Highway 101 Closed Again From Garberville to Ukiah Following Heavy Snow

HUMBOLDT TODAY can be viewed on LoCO’s homepage each night starting at 6 p.m. Want to LISTEN to HUMBOLDT TODAY? Subscribe to the podcast version here.

Press release from the Northern California Community Blood Bank:

The Northern California Community Blood Bank today announced that a number of factors, including low collections due to inclement weather, have combined to create a situation considered critical in the care of patients on the North Coast.

Blood Bank CEO Kate Witthaus said that “Rural hospital patients may have to wait many hours or even days for a transfusion. So we are very lucky here in Eureka to have a local blood bank that can deliver blood within minutes. That’s pretty special! But the national blood shortage continues, and our local supply is critically low. If you’ve never given blood before, now is the time to help save patient lives.”

Impacted by recent inclement weather, blood collections have dropped significantly in the month of February, to levels 28% below last year. Stormy weather and snowfall limits where the Blood Bank can send bloodmobiles, resulting in fewer blood drives. Additionally, fewer donors have been visiting the blood center. Blood Bank spokesperson John Gullam described the situation as dire, stating that “this shortage must be addressed immediately.”

“Our greatest need is for those people who have never donated,” states Gullam. “Now is also a great time to come back if you have donated in the past but have gotten out of the habit.”

Recent changes to donor eligibility requirements may allow people to donate who were previously deferred. If you have any questions about your eligibility to donate, call the Northern California Community Blood Bank at (707) 443-8004.

The Blood Bank asks that type O donors and anyone who doesn’t know their blood type make an appointment to donate as soon as possible at the Blood Center at 2524 Harrison Ave. in Eureka by going to nccbb.org or by calling (707) 443-8004.

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

Joseph Allan Edison Grenz Booking Photo | Humboldt County Correctional Facility

On Feb. 25, 2023, at about 8:30 p.m., Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the area of Highway 101 and Palmer Boulevard, near Fortuna, for the report of a carjacking.

Deputies contacted a 38-year-old female victim, who had sustained minor injuries as a result of this incident. The victim told deputies that she and a friend were parked in a dirt lot near the Highway 101 off-ramp when a suspect vehicle occupied by two people pulled alongside of her. The passenger of the suspect vehicle, identified by the victim as 24-year-old Joseph Allan Edison Grenz, reportedly exited the vehicle, forcibly removed the victim and then fled with her vehicle. During their investigation, deputies learned that Grenz also had outstanding warrants from the state of Missouri.

The following day, February 26, just after 6 a.m., Sheriff’s deputies located the stolen vehicle unoccupied in the area of Palmer Boulevard and Page Way. Continuing their investigation, deputies responded to a residence associated with Grenz on the 500 block of Summer Street in Fortuna. The Fortuna Police Department responded to assist. After commands for Grenz to exit the residence, Grenz peacefully surrendered and was taken into custody.

Grenz was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of fugitive from justice (PC 1551(a)) and carjacking (PC215(a)).

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the Fortuna Police Department for their assistance with the apprehension of Grenz.

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.

A waterspout can be seen looking south from near Mario’s Motel in Shelter Cove. Photo: Micah Crumbaugh

Unusual weather has been all the rage here in Humboldt as of late. They’re keeping that trend going down in Shelter Cove where a tornadic water spout was seen a ways down the beach from town.

Check out the following video, captured by local Micah Crumbaugh.

Cool, no? If you’re unfamiliar with this rarer weather phenomenon, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provides the following explanation:

Tornadic waterspouts are tornadoes that form over water, or move from land to water. They have the same characteristics as a land tornado. They are associated with severe thunderstorms, and are often accompanied by high winds and seas, large hail, and frequent dangerous lightning.

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My name is Juan Giovanni Guerrero, and I am the Associated Students President of Cal Poly Humboldt. My role is to serve as the official voice of the student body and to ensure that institutional and community changes are impactful and reflective of student’s needs. 

Cal Poly Humboldt (CPH) will experience substantial enrollment growth in the coming decade, and our current housing supply, both on and off campus, just isn’t going to cut it. Lower vacancy rates will lead to larger rent increases, more discrimination by landlords and more folks becoming unhoused.

We are in the midst of a housing crisis. Without swift action the situation will only worsen and impacts will be felt by both students and non-student residents, starting with the most marginalized. 

CPH enrollment currently sits at around 5,800 students and is expected to grow to 11,000 by 2027. By next year, enrollment is projected to reach 7,400. In previous years our enrollment numbers reached as high as 8,500 students, and during those times one in five students were estimated to be homeless.

To accommodate enrollment growth, CPH recently announced that most of the 2,000 beds on campus will be unavailable to returning students, leaving lots of students frantic as the prospect of obtaining off-campus housing is dim.

Finding affordable off-campus housing has always been difficult — particularly for BIPOC, non-binary and non-traditional students, such as students with children — and now competition for the limited supply will be compounded. 

There are plans to develop additional dorm housing, but the relief for returning students will not be felt in time. Nor will it be enough. The 1,000-bed Craftsman Mall Project is set to be completed by 2025 and the bridge housing will provide some temporary relief. But a substantial number of students now and in the future will need to find housing in the community. 

While the University’s decision to prioritize incoming freshmen is understandable, this situation could have been avoided if previous efforts to increase housing had been successful.

The Village, a proposed housing development introduced in 2015, was similar to the planned Craftsman Mall project but died amid fierce opposition from neighbors. The plans were downsized multiple times to appease public concerns, but after years of delays the developers withdrew interest.

CPH purchased the land to develop housing on the Craftsman Mall property, but the resultant project has been delayed by half a decade. Now we are well into 2023 with an insufficient supply of new homes built since then. Had that project been approved, we would not be facing the same extent of housing insecurity that we are today. 

I highlight these concerns because housing scarcity affects young and low-income people the most. As it stands, our housing supply is limited and if inaction on housing development continues demand will be exacerbated and rents across Arcata and surrounding communities will increasingly become unaffordable. I know this because my rent went up $100 a month just last year and I’m sure that’s true for many other renters. 

Despite these challenges, there is a bright future for our community. Arcata is working towards groundbreaking new zoning in the Gateway Area Plan, which would allow for a more straightforward permitting process, allowing housing be built according to standards outlined in the code.

This new zoning may spur much needed development. Unfortunately, the development of the Gateway Area Plan has run into the same buzzsaw of concerned neighbors. Often missing from this conversation is the collective student voice. Students support the construction of new homes.