Phyllis S Warnow, a talented artist and loving mother, passed away on April 26, 2023, at the age of 84. She was born on December 3, 1938, in San Francisco and moved to Eureka when she was young. She was one of eight children born to Patrick and Doris Mandel. 

She married Charles Grover Warnow, with whom she had four children, and the two of them owned and operated Warnow Construction.

Phyllis was kind, soft-spoken, smart, and fiercely loved her family. She had a passion for riding quads and small motorbikes with her friends, and she enjoyed gardening in her backyard, growing fruit trees from seeds. She was a talented painter and created the most beautiful oil paintings. She baked the best water biscuits and cinnamon rolls.

Her children grew up surrounded by animals at their little farm in Elk River. They had had a pony named Tina. The pony would come to the front door and put her mouth on the doorknob and wiggle it. My mom would open the door and give the pony carrots or a piece of Big Loaf bread. The children even rode that pony into the house, because it was so tiny. Phyllis really loved that pony.

Phyllis’ love for dogs was immense, and she had a special bond with her Rottweiler, Charlie, who was her protector, and her little Flossy.

Phyllis was preceded in death by her son Chuck Warnow. She is survived by her son Steve Warnow and his wife, Sherrie; her daughters Linda Warnow and Brenda Nelson; and her grandchildren Brian, Brittney, Andrew, Aren, Alisha, Joey, Vincent and Charleese.

A service to celebrate Phyllis’s life will be held on Saturday, May 6 at 12:00 p.m. at the Eureka Pentecostal Church, located at the end of Hoover Street — 1060 Hoover Street, Eureka. All friends and family are invited to attend and pay their respects.

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The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed an anti-hate resolution denouncing “bigoted and racist hate speech” during today’s meeting. 

The resolution, and an attached letter signed by over 60 elected officials and local leaders, call out a “vicious” message that was recently sent to county supervisors containing “hate speech that threatened the lives of [LGBTQ+] and Black communities in Humboldt County.” The letter underscores the county’s commitment to “foster a safe, equitable environment for all community members to live and thrive.”

The hate-filled message originally appeared on an online petition calling to “End Drag Events for Kids in Humboldt County, CA” that was created by local website Lost Coast Populist. The message was written by one of the petition’s signatories – someone using the name “William” – and subsequently sent to each of the county supervisors, among others. 

“[There] was very repulsive language that was being used [in the message],” County Administrative Officer Elishia Hayes said during today’s discussion. “Accordingly, staff has been working very diligently over the last week to determine what the best approach and response was to that language, recognizing that it’s been circulating through our community and that it is hurtful, not only to our community members but also to our staff.”

But it turns out the message was a false flag.

As detailed in a recent post by the Outpost’s Ryan Burns, “William” offered an apology to the community in a follow-up message posted to the petition. The internet troll admitted to writing the vile message as a way to “get both sides to start a conversation about avoiding violence,” adding that he assumed it would be deleted right away.

Fourth District Supervisor Natalie Arroyo acknowledged that “the statement itself was maybe a nothing burger,” but emphasized the need to take threatening comments seriously.

“I mean, any time there’s any kind of threat of violence at a school they lock down the whole school,” Arroyo said. “We have to take these things pretty darn seriously. … I don’t think the point is whether or not this was a real threat; the point is that there are many people in our community who experience hate speech, who are vulnerable and being targeted. Frankly, all of us here on the board live with a lot of relative privilege and there are a lot of folks in our community who don’t. I see this as the very least we can do to stand up for our values and to make them explicit and clear.”

Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson asked for staff’s perspective on responding to threats made by potential trolls and whether it is appropriate to “giv[e] air to something that maybe doesn’t deserve it.”

Dr. Jeremy Clark, the diversity, equity, and inclusion manager for the Department of Human Resources, said staff had considered the possibility of ignoring the message but ultimately felt it was an opportunity to “double down” on the county’s stance against hate speech.

“I think that we came to the conclusion that these words hurt,” he explained. “Whether they were written with the intent to troll or whether they were written to elicit some sort of reaction. … When really faced with that dichotomy [of] sort of erring on the side of caution and condemning such repugnant language or …  not giving it any air, [we decided] that we would err on the side of staff any day of the week.”

Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell emphasized that the message in question had “instilled fear” in the community. “It’s not right to have to live in fear no matter what you choose in your life,” she said.

First District Supervisor Rex Bohn made a motion to accept the resolution, which was seconded by Bushnell. 

A few members of the public called in to defend the Lost Coast Populist’s petition, including the website’s creator Donnie Creekmore, who condemned the “revolting, threatening and hateful” message that was sent to the board. He added that he has “provided all of the data that we have” to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.

“That being said, your resolution no longer has a real threat to point towards,” he said. 

Reverend Tyrell Bramwell, the contentious leader of St. Mark’s Church in Ferndale, called the resolution “dangerous” and said the county’s actions “are stirring up hate.”

“You encourage people in our county to disdain the church and you’re driving a wedge between people,” he said. “I know you’re not intending to do that, but that is what’s happening. … Please be aware that your motions and your vote can have consequences for the city leaders in Ferndale and for the Christians in Ferndale who are being hated by LGBTQ activists and using your actions as precedent for affirmation of their actions.”

Jim Glover, chair of the Humboldt County Human Rights Commission, spoke in favor of the resolution and said it “speaks to what kind of county we want to have.”

Glover | Screenshot

“I’m also here as an individual who’s part of … one of those vulnerable groups in our community and it’s important to me to make sure that people younger than myself don’t have to be raised in a community where they are fearful, no matter what their persuasions are, or whatever their physical situation or mental situation,” Glover said. “I want to compliment the board for considering this motion and this resolution. I thought the wording was excellent and I would support it any day of the week.”

Following public comment, Bushnell addressed Bramwell’s assertion that the resolution excluded religious communities. “In part of this resolution, it says there has been an increase in discrimination, hateful, derogatory language and acts of hate towards … lots of things, including religious communities,” she said. “I think it’s very inclusive of all; it’s not just inclusive of one.”

Bohn agreed with Bushnell, noting that the “statement is general; it’s common sense.”

“We need to address this and … this isn’t about going after anybody’s petition [or] anybody’s feelings,” he said. “There are going to be contrasting opinions. … So, I appreciate this resolution because it moves what everybody should feel in a roundabout way. … And I think as we move forward we can all do better.”

The board approved the item in a unanimous 5-0 vote.

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Shortly after the board’s decision, California Senate Majority Leader Mike McGuire and Assemblymember Jim Wood released the following joint statement support of the resolution:

At a time when hate speech and hate crimes have hit historic highs across the nation, here at home on the North Coast we must stop it in its tracks and take a unified no tolerance approach. We applaud the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, Tribal and community leaders for standing up and condemning the horrific rhetoric and extremism that’s become all too common in our polarized society. We stand ready to assist the county with any and all state resources to keep those neighbors who may be targeted safe and ensure we can stop future incidents of this type of devastating and vile hate.

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Check back at the Outpost tomorrow for more coverage of today’s Board of Supervisors meeting.

HUMBOLDT TODAY: The Humboldt County Supervisors discussed a resolution condemning hate speech; State Senator Mike McGuire is set to host a town hall discussing wildfire preparedness; plus, it’s Humboldt Bike Month! Those stories and more in today’s online newscast with John Kennedy O’Connor.

FURTHER READING: 

• NEED GROCERIES? With Emergency CalFresh Benefits Coming to an End, Arcata House Partnership is Opening Additional Free Food Pantry in Valley West
• CONVERSATIONS: The Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners of Providence St. Joseph Tell Us How They Support Victims

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.

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Whether you’re homeless, low-income or just struggling to cover the high price of groceries, Arcata House Partnership invites you to help feed yourself and your family by using the free food pantry in Valley West, which is opening this week. 

Florence Carroll, administrative specialist for Arcata House, told the Outpost that the local nonprofit is concerned that more people will struggle to cover food costs in the coming months, as emergency food assistance programs made available during the pandemic come to an end. 

“With the cost of groceries going up, we’ve seen a lot of food insecurity in the area,” Carroll said in a phone interview Tuesday morning. “Now that emergency allotments are all ending, we’re going to see a lot more food insecurity.”

In 2020, as many people struggled from financial issues compounded by COVID, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act authorized emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funding, increasing the amount of state benefits available. For all Calfresh recipients, benefits were boosted to the maximum allowable amount for their household size, or $95 was added to those already receiving the maximum benefits amount. California also introduced the Pandemic-EBT program, which provides benefits for school-age children who would have been receiving free or reduced price meals at school, but didn’t have access during school closures.

Now, with the Federal Public Health Emergency ending on May 11, the Pandemic-EBT program will close out at the end of this school year and CalFresh emergency allotments will end on May 26, leaving around 5 million Californians  to see a dramatic drop in their benefit amounts at a time when food price inflation and the cost of living in California are extremely high. 

This sudden and dramatic loss of benefits has many food banks worried about the impacts, Carroll said, and the California Association of Food Banks warns that “California is facing a catastrophic hunger crisis in 2023.” 

This is why Arcata House Partnership, which already operates a food pantry on Wednesdays, is adding a second food pantry to help those who might be struggling to cover food costs in the coming months. The second food pantry will be in the Arcata House administrative building on Valley West Boulevard. 

Arcata House opened this temporary food pantry for the first time last summer, and Carroll said that it was very useful to the people in the Valley West neighborhood. This year, the nonprofit is expanding the number of weeks the pantry will be open, so that more people can be served. Carroll said it is important to have a food bank location in Valley West, where there are many unhoused people and low income families, who may have a difficult time making it over to the food pantry at the Arcata House Annex in downtown Arcata. 

But Carroll wanted to be clear that this service is not only for homeless or low income folks. Anyone, regardless of their income or housing status, is welcome to come get groceries. All of the food is donated by local grocery stores, which is also helping our area reach its zero-waste goals and come into alignment with California’s organic waste bill, SB 1383. 

“I think it’s good to point out that the food is from overstock from grocery stores,” Carroll said. “So this service also reduces waste.” 

The Valley West Food Pantry will be open at 4677 Valley West Blvd. every Friday from 4 to 6 p.m., starting this Friday, May 5 and ending on Sept. 29. Arcata House’s regular food pantry is open on Wednesdays from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Annex, 501 9th Street, Arcata. 

Arcata House is also looking for volunteers to help run the pantry. If you are interested in helping out, call 707-826-4528 ext 104, or email volunteer@arcatahouse.org

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Today, two nurses from the Providence St. Joseph Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners Team tell about the free service they provide to the community, assisting victims of rape or other forms of sexual assault. It’s a fairly powerful conversation and you might want to avoid it if those topics disturb you. But these women are amazing professionals.

If you’ve been sexually assaulted, call law enforcement and/or the North Coast Rape Crisis Team. The Rape Crisis hotlines are open 24/7. Here are the numbers to call:

• In Humboldt: (707) 445-2881
• In Del Norte: (707) 465-2851

Above: The Outpost’s John Kennedy O’Connor speaks with nurses Jennifer Hovie and Kristen Hansen of the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners team. A transcript can be found below.

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JOHN KENNEDY O’CONNOR:

Well, welcome to another Humboldt Conversation. I’m here today in Providence St. Joseph Hospital with Jennifer and Kristen, who are practice nurses. Thank you so much for joining us today. And here at the hospital, there is an incredible group of practice nurses, of which these two ladies are part of the team, who make up the SANE team, and that’s the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners. And you work, actually, in the wider community as well with the SART team. But tell us a little bit about the role that you have within this particular practice group.

JENNIFER HOVIE:

So our role is to provide medical care to people that have been sexually assaulted. So what we’re doing is just providing trauma-informed care to people that have experienced a sexual assault, and then as part of that medical care we’re also collecting evidence that we then pass on to law enforcement so that it can be analyzed for DNA.

O’CONNOR:

And you do in fact work very closely with law enforcement because this is part of the wider Humboldt SART effort, but this is something very much hospital-specific, isn’t it, that within here we are within your particular practice group.

KRISTEN HANSEN:

So we coordinate with law enforcement and North Coast Rape Crisis to perform evidentiary exams for victims of sexual assault in Humboldt and Del Norte counties and occasionally outside of that scope too. And we are the only group locally that does this. And so victims are not required to interact with law enforcement. When they are interacting with law enforcement, law enforcement will contact the team and schedule an exam for evidence collection. And for people who don’t feel safe reporting to law enforcement or interacting with law enforcement, Rape Crisis will coordinate with us to do an exam to collect evidence in the event that the survivor later feels comfortable pursuing the case.

O’CONNOR:

I suppose in my head I always think of sexual assault against women, but of course you do actually have experienced sexual assault against men as well, don’t you, in your line of work?

HOVIE:

So our team and our services encompass everything from birth to death. And so we have children that come in for exams, we have adolescents, adults, we have elderly people that have been assaulted — anyone who needs the services. 

HANSEN:

Regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

O’CONNOR:

When we arrived at the hospital today, you took us on a little bit of a tour, but there’s a very good reason for that, isn’t there? Privacy is obviously very important for anybody who is coming to the hospital in these circumstances.

HOVIE:

Absolutely. So one of the things that we emphasize to the survivors that come forward is that this encounter is very private, that we do take photos during our exam. These photos aren’t available to every medical provider, that they are closely guarded and they actually just go to law enforcement. That the details of their exam are not available to every person who ever accesses their chart. That it’s it’s a very private thing that we’re doing and we guard it closely.

HANSEN:

Even though it’s at the hospital, it’s not part of their medical record. None of this information is shared with anybody here. If they go to their doctor next week, their doctor wouldn’t know that they were here, couldn’t access any of that. And the other thing that we like to really emphasize with this is that this is all about choice and respecting survivors needs and their need to report. So of course, we wanna help people and empower them. But everything they do here is with respect to their choice, what they wanna do. If they can refuse any part of the exam, they can stop the exam at any time. They’re not forced to interact with us. They’re not forced to do anything that they’re not comfortable with. They’ve already had their choices taken from them. So it’s very important to us as nurses to respect that and support them in any way that we can — through privacy, through making sure nobody has to know, no one has to be involved. And they don’t have to tell us or participate in any part of the exam that they’re not comfortable with.

O’CONNOR:

And that, I think, as you were saying earlier, is one of the reasons why this particular space is very private, etc., because obviously if it took place in say the A&E area you run the risk of people being recognized.

HOVIE:

Absolutely. And then we’re doing an interview — they’re telling us what happened — and so we don’t want them to be overheard, either.

O’CONNOR:

You did say earlier that sometimes children are accompanying the victim, but you do make sure there is a policy for that as well.

HOVIE:

Right, and if the victim is a child, or the survivor is a child, then we make sure that we’ve separated the parent and the child for the interview portion, because there is a concern that if the child hears the parent’s concerns over and over, that they will incorporate that into their own memories, essentially, and kind of believe that that was true and correct, and it just kind of influences them. So we try and make sure that we’re separating them for that interview portion.

O’CONNOR:

Now, you were saying earlier that this is … obviously, you’re taking evidence, you’re gathering evidence, but you’re also providing medical care and medical support for somebody who may be seriously injured through an assault.

HOVIE:

So if we have someone who does require medical care, then obviously that takes precedence over evidence collection. So a lot of what we’re doing is just ensuring that if someone … and sometimes because of a trauma response, people’s recollection of what happened exactly and what events took place is a little spotty and it comes back in little bits and pieces. And so sometimes during my interview, I’ll find out that they were indeed strangled and that they had X, Y, and Z symptoms. And so that will just alert me that they need to be screened by a medical provider and we’ll take care of that. Sometimes we find injuries that would actually require, like, sutures or if there’s a foreign object that has been left behind and needs removal from someone other than me, then I would definitely enlist a higher level of medical care for those concerns.

O’CONNOR:

One thing I think to stress is you are not, although you obviously work hand in hand with law enforcement, you’re not law enforcement, you really are looking at the patient and the patient care and whatever happens in the next stage is really the next stage.

HANSEN:

Part of the clarification of our role is we are not … Sometimes people come and they want to know did something happen to me or did something happen to my child. And that’s not our determination or that’s not what we’re here for. We’re not here to do, like, a well child check and let you know if something happened. In most cases there is no physical evidence of sexual assault. Particularly in children. It’s very hard to do a physical exam and definitively prove sexual abuse or sexual assault. and particularly.

In adults, we can report our findings, but we can’t tell you yes, you someone was raped or yes, someone was sexually assaulted, except an extremely limited child cases. So we perform an exam, we look for medical conditions that need to be treated, we collect DNA evidence, but we we don’t make a determination. We can’t tell you, “Yes, something definitely happened.” If someone has had a complete blackout of events and they don’t remember anything or perhaps they’re too traumatized remember exactly what happened. We collect evidence. We take pictures of injuries we report that to law enforcement. And then what happens from there is up to the law enforcement investigation and so on and so forth.

O’CONNOR:

And you are a team of five, I believe, practice nurses, and this is a service that’s 24-7. People can just walk in, they don’t need to make any sort of appointment or anything.

HOVIE:

Well, saying that they can just walk in as a little … they do need to contact us ahead of time via law enforcement or through North Coast Rape Crisis. And if they’re not interested in participating with either of those entities, then we can certainly still do an exam for them.

HANSEN:

So our team is comprised of five nurses. We all have full-time jobs that we do as well. So we cover 24 seven call, but in that time we also have to work. Jen works three 12-hour shifts. I work five eight-hour shifts. So we do have to schedule, pre-schedule exams around our regular. And luckily we don’t do enough exams to need people here 24 hours a day, but that does mean that they have to be scheduled.

And because there’s only five of us, we keep our personal contact information private. There’s a single line that people call to schedule an exam and only Rape Crisis and law enforcement have that contact information. And they should be the only people really contacting us.

O’CONNOR:

That is the first protocol always, law enforcement or the Rape Crisis line.

HOVIE:

If someone presents to the emergency department reporting a sexual assault and says that they’d like an exam but that they don’t want to participate with law enforcement or rape crisis, and we can certainly accommodate that as well. We really do encourage them to participate with rape crisis because the level of support, emotional support and follow up with legal if that’s what they’re doing, counseling…

I mean, Rape Crisis, is an invaluable resource within our community and just having the exam done is probably not going to actually encompass or satisfy all of the needs of a survivor. I mean there’s a huge emotional component that isn’t going to be addressed entirely by doing this exam.

O’CONNOR:

Well Jennifer, Kristen, this has been very interesting. It’s very traumatic to listen to but certainly I think this is an incredible service and I think people really do need to know that this is available at the hospital. So thank you very much indeed for joining us today. Very much appreciate it.

Thank you for joining us for another Humboldt Conversation and join us for another one very soon.

The California Reparations Task Force published documents Monday indicating it plans to recommend the state apologize for racism and slavery and consider “down payments” of varying amounts to eligible African American residents.

The documents, numbering more than 500 pages, do not contain an overall price tag for reparations, but they do include ways the state could calculate how much money African Americans in California have lost since 1850, when the state was established, through today due to certain government practices.

The loss calculations would vary depending on type of racial harm and how long a person has lived in California. The loss estimates range from $2,300 per person per year of residence for the over-policing of Black communities, to $77,000 total per person for Black-owned business losses and devaluations over the years.

The state-appointed task force faces a July 1 deadline to make reparations recommendations to the Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom. Task force leaders have said they expect the Legislature to come up with actual reparations amounts.

The task force also is recommending a variety of policy changes to counteract discrimination.

“It is critical that we compensate, but not just compensate. We also need to evaluate policy that continues to hold us back,” said Monica Montgomery Steppe, a San Diego city council member who is on the task force. She spoke at a “listening session” in San Diego Saturday.

Who would get reparations?

The task force documents discuss two kinds of reparations: those arising from particular instances of discrimination or harm that require an individual to file a claim, and those that involve distributing money or benefits to all eligible Black Californians for racial harm the entire community experienced.

A recent example of an individual claim was Bruce’s Beach, a beachfront property and resort that the city of Manhattan Beach seized from a Black family nearly 100 years ago. Recently, partly because of the task force, government leaders returned the land deed to descendants of the Bruce family, who re-sold it to Los Angeles County for $20 million.

It is one of the few times a Black family was restored property taken by a local government.

“It is critical that we compensate, but not just compensate. We also need to evaluate policy that continues to hold us back.”
— Monica Montgomery Steppe, Reparations Task Force and San Diego city councilmember

Eligibility for reparations continues to be a controversy. The task force in March 2022 voted to limit potential compensation to descendants of free and enslaved Black people who were in the United States in the 19th century. The group narrowly rejected a proposal to include all Black people, including recent immigrants, regardless of lineage.

Everyone in the eligible class should be compensated, the task force report says, even if they can’t prove they suffered a specific harm.

“The State of California created laws and policies discriminating against and subjugating free and enslaved African Americans and their descendants,” the report says. “In doing so, these discriminatory policies made no distinctions between these individuals; the compensatory remedy must do the same.”

The final report, much like the task force’s previous interim report, lays out the history of systemic racism and ongoing injustices in California.

Costs of racial damage

The latest batch of documents also urges that eligible people be compensated in cash, sooner rather than later. The records instruct the Legislature to begin with “down payments” rather than waiting for full loss calculations.

The final report suggests dollar figures for certain categories of racial damage:

• For mass incarceration and the over-policing of Black communities, it estimates a loss per person of $115,260, or $2,352 for each year they lived in California from 1971 to 2020, corresponding to the national War on Drugs.
• For housing discrimination, it offers two methods of loss calculation. One method based on gaps between Black and white “housing wealth” would peg losses at $145,847 per person. The other method, based on governments’ “redlining” history, including discriminatory lending and zoning, would calculate Black residents’ losses at $148,099 per person — or $3,366 for each year they lived in California from 1933 to 1977.
• For injustices and discrimination in health, it estimates $13,619 per person for each year lived in California, or $966,921 total for someone living about 71 years — the average life expectancy of Black residents in California in 2021.

The reparations program would be overseen by a new state agency that would determine eligibility and distribute funds, the report says. The agency also would be responsible for helping individuals document and provide evidence for specific injustices.

Eligible Black residents should not expect cash payments anytime soon. The state Legislature and Newsom will decide whether any reparations are paid, and it’s unclear what they will do with the task force recommendations.

“This is the time where we really need the voice of the public,” said Khansa T. Jones-Muhammad, also known as Friday Jones, a member of Los Angeles’ reparations advisory commission. “This is the time to get your churches together. This is the time to get your school boards together.”

Jones made the comments during the listening session in San Diego.

Non-cash reparations

Some task force members have been dismayed at the amount of attention paid to the dollar figures under discussion. The final report provides dozens of policy recommendations aimed at preventing further discrimination and harm against Black residents.

“The biggest fight is implementation of all these recommendations, “ Montgomery Steppe said. “After the task force issues its final report, those recommendations need strong support in California’s Legislature and the government. It will take all hands on deck to ensure we push for a policy change from our state legislature.”

The task force is scheduled to meet again at 9 a.m. Saturday at Lisser Hall at Northeastern University, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., in Oakland. The meeting will be live streamed.

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

HUMBOLDT TODAY: A local woman has been crowned Miss Indian World 2023!; the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors will consider an anti-hate resolution; plus, your latest weather and our daily poll in today’s online newscast with John Kennedy O’Connor.

FURTHER READING: 

• In its Second Report of the Year, the Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury Tackles the ‘Dysfunctional’ State of Child Welfare Services in the County and the ‘Toxic’ Work Atmosphere Within the Department
• Humboldt Supervisors to Brainstorm Ways to Maintain Roads, Consider an Anti-Hate Resolution in Response to ‘Vicious and Hateful’ Message Aimed at Black, LGBTQ+ Communities
• YÉESHIIP! Local Woman Brings Home Miss Indian World Title
• California’s Next Housing Crackdown Could Force Cities to Plan More Homeless Shelters
• Lawmakers Want More Social Media Regulation. Here Are the Legal Hurdles They Could Face