Donald L. Comstock, 88, died on September 25, 2023 at St. Joseph’s Hospital with his children by his side. Donald was born November 1, 1934 in Crescent City to Albert “Don” Comstock and Mary Lou (Gunst) Comstock and was the oldest of three children.

Donald was raised in Greenville, Calif. and spent summers at his grandparents’ ranch in Orick. After graduating from Greenville High School in 1952, he went on to earn a degree in Civil Engineering from Santa Clara University. He attended SCU on a football scholarship and belonged to ROTC; graduating as a 2nd Lt in the Army.  He completed Basic Training in Texas and fulfilled his military service at Ft. Lewis, Wash. Never wanting to be far from his family’s ranch, he moved back home to Orick where he became a part time dairy farmer with friend Bob Kring until the ’64 Flood. He would milk the cows in the early morning then drive to his job at CalTrans in Eureka. He met his wife, Karen Vanderpoel, in Orick when a CalTrans coworker set him up with her cousin who was visiting for the summer. They were married for 25 years and although their marriage ended, their friendship remained until her death in 2019. They raised their family in Eureka.

Donald had a 30-year career with California Division of Highways in Eureka, beginning as a surveyor and later retiring in 1992 as Senior Transportation Engineer for District 1. Over the span of his career at CalTrans, he surveyed the Oregon Mountain Tunnel and was part of the design team on the Elk River Overpass and Redwood Park Bypass among many other transportation projects in Humboldt and Mendocino counties. After retirement, Donald would hook up his fifth wheel and spend weeks in Arizona for Spring Training. He often took his fifth wheel on long road trips to Wymoning, Colorado, Nevada, Arizona and Washington to visit family and friends. He cherished lifelong friendships with many of his high school classmates, never missing a chance to see them at class reunions. He loved the trips to Hawaii with his daughter and her family. He was very active in his grandkids lives, attending soccer games, swim meets and most Holiday celebrations. However, his favorite place to be was on the ranch in Orick. He could often be found tinkering in the shop, cutting wood or atop his Kubota mowing the lower fields to golf course standards.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Albert “Don” and Mary Lou Comstock, and former wife, Karen Comstock. Donald is survived by his son, Doug Comstock (Orick); daughter, Kim and husband, Matt Smith (Loomis); grandkids Luke and Brooke Smith; sister, Betty Sailors (Covington, Wash.); brother, Robert Comstock (Mollala, Wash.); cousin Donna Sinclair (Prescott, Ariz.); sisters-in-law Linda Vanderpoel (Roseville), Lorainne Heck and Sandra Vanderpoel (McKinleyville); and brother-in-law Kenny Heck (Blue Lake); as well as his beloved nieces and nephews.

We will be having a private celebration of life at a later date. We will hold you in our hearts until we can hold you in our arms in Heaven, Dad.

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Joe passed away gently September 5, 2023 succumbing to Parkinson’s. He was born to Minyard Barnett and Lottie Cason Barnett October 7, 1943 in Nevada, Missouri.

His father was an evangelical Baptist preacher. They moved to Eureka when Joe was eight years old.

He was a hard worker. As a young kid, he started with a paper route and then advanced to obtain a commercial fishing license working on The Dory. At 16 he also started as a food clerk at Purity market. He worked 44 years in the grocery industry, mainly for Safeway, where he retired as the manager of the McKinleyville store. He spent most of his vacation time hunting, camping and commercial fishing, having purchased a vessel himself, the TJ, named after his kids.

Joe married Waletta Haywood in 1961 and had two children, Tina Marie Barnett (Anaya) and Joseph James Barnett Jr.

Later in life he married Margie Carol and they retired together in 2003, allowing them to spend more time with family and friends hunting, fishing and cutting lots of firewood.

Joe truly enjoyed spending time with his co-workers and friends. They were very dear to him. They and his family will miss him very much.

He has left behind his wife, Margie Carol and Tina Anaya, Joseph Barnett Jr., Tosha Martins-Bowling, Amber Guerrero, Carolyn Barnett, Cassandra Barnett, Jesse Bowling. His great-grandkids are Kaylee, Carson, Taven, AJ, Scarlett, Aaron.

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Have you seen the giant whale in the middle of the street in Old Town? Don’t worry, we’re not talking about a real whale. It’s a large, colorful mural on Second Street, between F and G Streets. And if you haven’t seen it yet, you might want to check it out soon, because it won’t be there for very much longer. 

The whale mural was done as a collaboration between three local artists, Blake Reagan, Kyle Sanders and Chris Dmise, who painted the piece on Second Street as a part of the Eureka Friday Night Market last week. The process was relatively quick for this particular mural, with the artists starting on Friday, Oct. 20 at about 3 p.m. and finishing up the piece at 7 p.m. that night, all while blasting whale songs while they worked.  

Blake Reagan told the Outpost today that the whale is a humpback and is about 75 feet in length, larger than an actual humpback whale, which generally grow to be somewhere between 45 and 60 feet long. 

But this beautiful, majestic creature will not be gracing our Old Town street for very long, as the City of Eureka is planning to repave the street. Brian Gerving, director of the public works department, said that he was not entirely sure when that portion of street would be torn up, but that work on the Old Town streets is expected to resume this Thursday, so the whale could be gone as early as this weekend. 

Raelina Krikston, coordinator for the Friday Night Market, told the Outpost that she asked the artists to paint that section of the street to provide some “vibrancy” on that block, which is closed off for the market, but didn’t have any vendor booths set up there. Because the street was slated to be repaved, it was incredibly easy to get approval from the City to paint a mural there. The artists were also well aware of repaving plans, and were happy to paint the piece, even knowing that it would be temporary. 

Krikston said that the project was a great success — many people stopped to watch the artists paint on Friday night. She’s hoping that this project will help encourage the community and the City to think about adding murals to surfaces other than walls. She also hopes to have more opportunities for live, public art at future Friday Night Markets. 

“It was a good opportunity to bring it all together and we were lucky enough to have support with the market,” Krikston said. “People really enjoyed it…We could maybe do it every week.”

Eureka police currently have a block of B Street closed off between Cedar and B 14th streets as they figure out what to do with a person who fled from a bail agent, apparently into a house on the block.

Sgt. Jonanthan Eckert tells the Outpost’s Ryan Burns, at the scene, that at the moment police are simply making sure that the suspect can’t escape the scene while they figure out what to do next.

Avoid the area. It might get more active soon.

Press release from Coast Central Credit Union:

Coast Central Credit Union President/CEO James T. Sessa announced that its Board of Directors has approved $150,000 in grants to 20 local organizations through its Community Investment Program’s fall round. A total of 112 non-profits had requested $1.5 million, a new record for the 15-year-old program. Coast Central also supports its communities through sponsorships and college scholarships for a total of $650,000 this year throughout Humboldt, Del Norte, and Trinity counties. Additionally, Coast Central employees contribute 5,000 hours annually in volunteerism.

Fall 2023 recipients include:

Humboldt County

• $25,000: Food for People; emergency response vehicle
• $15,000: Affordable Homeless Housing Alternatives; hygiene products & showers
• $15,000: Alderpoint Volunteer Fire; new PPE equipment
• $8,500: Willow Creek Volunteer Fire; new rescue rope system
• $6,880: Cumbre Humboldt; swim lessons for Latinx children
• $5,220: North Coast Rape Crisis Team; cell phones for survivors
• $5,000: Pacout Green Team; hygiene items, socks, and services
• $5,000: Ferndale Police; new radios for emergency response team
• $5,000: Humboldt Domestic Violence Services; food gift cards for survivors
• $4,000: Blue Lake Fire; new CPR equipment
• $3,000: Humboldt County CERT; first aid supplies for emergency response
• $2,600: HCAR; yard equipment for developmentally disabled work crew
• $2,500: Providence St. Joseph Hospital; gas cards for cancer patients
• $2,000: Friends of the Dunes; environmental education gear for children

Del Norte County

• $12,000: Del Norte Junior Livestock; new animal pens for children showing
• $5,000: Del Norte High Soccer; new goal posts and nets for boys and girls teams
• $4,800: Fort Dick Fire Protection; new emergency lights for fire trucks

Trinity County

• $15,000: Coffee Creek Elementary School; new generator
• $6,500: Trinity Jr. Wolves Youth Football & Cheer; uniforms
• $2,000: Hayfork Community Center; warm weather clothing for youth

“The tremendous increase in requests this round clearly demonstrates the challenging times our community organizations are experiencing,” stated Sessa. “We are grateful to our volunteer Board of Directors for approving our current level of giving and to our members who directly support these organizations through their loyalty.” The spring round of grants opens February 1 at coastccu.org/community/community-giving.

Coast Central Credit Union is the largest member-owned financial institution in the area, with $2 billion in assets, over 77,000 members, and operating 11 Member Services Branches throughout Humboldt, Del Norte and Trinity counties, including McKinleyville, open six days a week and Bayshore Mall, open seven days a week. Additionally, members have access to a network of 30,000 free CO-OP ATMs nationwide. Individuals who live or work in any of these counties may be eligible to bank at CCCU by applying at coastccu.org/join. More information is available at coastccu.org and on Facebook and Instagram.

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Press release from Cal Poly Humboldt:

While universities across the nation look at California’s higher education system for insight on increasing diversity after the recent affirmative action decision, Cal Poly Humboldt and nonprofit Improve Your Tomorrow (IYT) have put an innovative twist on a tested tool the University of California (UC) system has long used: Guaranteed Admissions.

The partnership between IYT and Cal Poly Humboldt establishes a guaranteed admissions pathway to the newly designated polytechnic institution, as well as the opportunity to increase diversity and innovation in STEM.

IYT supports thousands of young men of color across Northern California with a 12-year mentorship program that begins in 7th grade and continues through high school and college. The partnership also offers admissions to IYT students who are in community college, addressing a critical achievement gap currently experienced most prominently by students of color in California.

“Up until joining IYT, college seemed unclear to me, but traveling across the state to visit campuses helped me internalize the goal of not only becoming the first generation in my family to go to college but also pursuing a degree in Sociology with the hopes of making an impact on the next generation and helping them get to college,” says Oscar Chavez, an IYT member and third-year Cal Poly Humboldt transfer student. “I chose Humboldt because, along with the natural beauty of the area, the outreach I received from the Sociology students embodied the community building I felt I needed to thrive during this time in my life.”

On Thursday, Oct. 19, IYT and Cal Poly Humboldt held a signing ceremony to celebrate the partnership launch and the investment in the college-bound dreams of California’s young men of color. The ceremony included CEO and co-founder of IYT and Humboldt alum Michael Lynch (‘11, Business Administration), Cal Poly Humboldt President Tom Jackson Jr., and Humboldt students who are current members of IYT and participated in a pilot program.

“My time at Cal Poly Humboldt, helping to run after-school sports programming, set the stage for a future I couldn’t have anticipated, co-founding Improve Your Tomorrow,” Lynch says. “Today, we’re building a bridge that will provide this next generation of young men of color the same kind of life-changing opportunities and experiences that were available to me. Who knows what innovations or social impact will be made through the coming years thanks to this partnership.”

IYT provides support and academic advising to help its students complete California State University and UC eligibility requirements, such as the A-G courses. Students also have the opportunity to visit Cal Poly Humboldt and experience “college life” on the North Coast long before application season begins. “Cal Poly Humboldt is dedicated to providing every possible support to students who aspire to pursue a four-year degree program,” says Chrissy Holliday, Vice President for Enrollment Management & Student Success for Cal Poly Humboldt.

“We understand that visiting campus can be a challenge for many students and their families, which is why we have made it a key component of our commitment to help them make informed decisions about pursuing their education at Humboldt. Our priority is to get these students to our campus so they can see it for themselves and assess whether it is the right place for them.”

With nearly 2,000 high school students currently enrolled in IYT and more than 12 college trips planned for this year, the IYT and Cal Poly Humboldt partnership is a shining example of how collective efforts can bridge the gap and create opportunities that were once out of reach. It’s a reminder that through collaboration, innovation, and unwavering commitment, institutions and community organizations can build a brighter and more inclusive future for all.

“We believe that providing a positive, meaningful educational experience at Cal Poly Humboldt begins before students get to Humboldt. We’re excited about the collaboration with IYT and look forward to continuing to help students of color in the program achieve their college dreams at Cal Poly Humboldt,” Jackson, Jr. says.

Press release from the Arcata Fire District:

On October 22, 2023, at 1:30 P.M. firefighters from the Arcata Fire Protection District responded to a report of smoke coming out of the windows of a maintenance room of the Redwood Sciences Laboratory on the Cal Poly Humboldt campus on the 1700 Block of Bayview Ct.

Firefighters arrived on scene within minutes to find the building full of smoke. Upon further investigation, the source of smoke was found to be a small fire on the exterior wall. The fire had been reported and controlled by an occupant, but the smoke entered the building through the exterior wall and had risen to the second floor where a smoke detector sounded.

Two engines from Arcata Fire District, a chief officer and University Police were on scene for thirty minutes for smoke removal, overhaul and investigation. The cause of the fire appeared to be a newspaper that had been intentionally set ablaze near a pile of debris, and the cause continues to be under investigation by the Arcata Police.