There are few things more essential to a thriving community than high-quality public transit. A good transit system increases equity by ensuring that all members of the community can access jobs, schools, parks, shops and services, conveniently and with dignity, regardless of income or physical ability. It improves public health by increasing access to medical care and healthy food, and because most transit riders walk or bike to and from the transit stop. It improves safety, because transit is about 10 times safer than traveling by car. It improves the economy, with every $1 invested in transit yielding $4 in economic benefits. It provides precious free time for reading, daydreaming, or watching the scenery - but also a social space where people from different walks of life can interact in those serendipitous exchanges that are the heart of any community. Not least, riding transit generates a fraction of the climate pollution of driving a car, so every new rider helps protect the community from the storms, floods, and fires of the climate crisis.

If you’ve never ridden the bus in Humboldt County, I highly recommend that you give it a try. If you have, then you know the many joys of getting where you want to go without having to get behind the wheel of a car. But you also know the difficulties and frustrations that can be involved in getting to the nearest bus stop, waiting for the next bus to come, and planning carefully to ensure you don’t get stranded by missing the last bus of the day.

The Humboldt Transit Authority and other local transit operators do an admirable job of providing service under challenging conditions. For example, much of the region is developed at low densities that can’t provide the demand for frequent bus service, and much of our housing is separated from jobs and services by relatively long distances. These are things we need to work on, and are some of the many reasons to support affordable infill housing development.

But if we want better public transit any time soon, there’s another factor that can’t be ignored: funding. The majority of funding for our local transit system comes from state and federal government sources, and almost all of the rest comes from riders’ fares. Our local governments provide almost none of their own discretionary funds to support public transit. We’ll never have truly high-quality transit, with all of the benefits, if we don’t invest some of our local dollars.

The good news is that Humboldt County is already considering putting a transportation sales tax on the 2024 ballot. It’s crucially important that, if it passes, some of the money goes to supporting public transit improvements - things like more frequent buses, late-night and weekend service, and even on-demand service for lower-density areas. Recognizing the need for local transit investment, organizations including the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities (CRTP), Redwood Coalition for Climate and Environmental Responsibility (RCCER), Northcoast Environmental Center, Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC), and 350 Humboldt all support including transit funding in any transportation ballot measure, and will oppose any measure that doesn’t include that commitment.

Another good option for transit funding is parking meters. Parking meters may not be very popular with drivers, but a modern smart meter system in a downtown area can actually make it easier to find a parking space and even stimulate business by increasing turnover, all while generating money to support better alternatives to driving.

Humboldt County deserves a high-quality public transit system, with all the economic, social, environmental, health and safety benefits that come from having one. We’ve got a pretty good system already, but with strong local support it could be truly great. Let’s invest in the future of our communities. Let’s invest in public transit.

###

Colin Fiske is executive director of the Coalition for Responsible Transportation Priorities.

Do you have a tiny baby somewhere around your house? Well, guess what — that thing is gonna be toddling soon! That’s going to cause huge problems! It’s going to be almost as much of an alteration to your habits as bringing the baby into your household in the first place!

The time to start preparing is now. And to that end, we welcome Rodney Oien of Northcoast Children’s Services to a Humboldt Conversation. Oien is here to tell us about all the help that his organization can provide to you in the very next crisis that you, the young parent, are just about to experience any day now. Believe me, you’re going to need it!

Video above, rough transcript below.

###

JOHN KENNEDY O’CONNOR:

And welcome to another Humboldt Conversation. I’m really pleased to say I’m here today with Rodney Oien, who is the Executive Director of Northcoast Children’s Services. Rodney, nice to see you again and thank you for joining us for a Humboldt Conversation. Now, tell us what North Coast Services actually do.

RODNEY OIEN:

Yeah, so we provide Head Start, Early Head Start and state preschool programs as well as year-round child care programs for families of children 0-5 with income-based program. So Head Start and Early Head Start are federally funded. Primarily we provide preschool services, but we also work with families in acquiring community services, social services, health, dental, medical and mental health services to support them and their children at the beginning of their life.

O’CONNOR:

And what is the requirement to actually participate in this?

OIEN:

Yeah, so depending there’s we have both state and federal programs. So for the federal programs, it’s based primarily on the federal income guidelines.

O’CONNOR:

So families have to be below that…

OIEN:

We are allowed to have a certain percentage of families who are above that So we do have some over income slots and then the state programs have to qualify for our traditional preschool programs They have to meet the state income eligibility guidelines and for the full day, full year child care program. They have to also meet a work requirement or something. They have to have a need for care. So that could be their work. They’re going to school. They’re incapacitated. Those kinds of things

O’CONNOR:

Okay, and so how do people actually become part of the program? What do they need to do?

OIEN:

Yeah, so they start by applying and you can do that online at ncsheadstart.org. You can come into our offices. We’ve started now putting QR codes on our applications so that people can do that and apply online. It makes the process easier. Then there’s an eligibility determination. You know, and some things are categorically eligible. So if someone’s receiving CalFresh, they’re categorically eligible for the Head Start program now. There’s a little bit of an interview process that happens. So someone from our enrollment and recruitment team would connect with you and kind of, you know, make sure we have all the paperwork and documentation to show you’re eligible. And then you’d be put on our wait list. And you know, then we select families from that and we have some ranking priorities like homeless and foster youth first. There’s different criteria that we use to determine who gets into open slots.

O’CONNOR:

And so there is a limit on how many children you can have at any one time? 

OIEN:

Yeah. So our center base, our three year old programs, our class sizes, those three to four year old, they’re 16 children in a classroom. And so sometimes we can go a little over that depending on the need and the community and the families that we’re working with. But yeah, we serve 344 children in Head Start, 198 in Early Head Start, and another 80 in state standalone programs. 

O’CONNOR:

Now we are here today actually at the Arcata office, but there are actually multiple offices around.

OIEN:

Yeah, we go from the southern end of Humboldt County and Redway is our furthest south location. We go all the way up to Crescent City and Del Norte County as well as east out to Willow Creek and Orleans.

O’CONNOR:

And I think you’ve just opened a new facility in McKinleyville?

OIEN:

No, we’re working on a new facility in Eureka, but we do have a few facilities in McKinleyville, one on Hiller Road and one at the Morris Elementary School campus.

O’CONNOR:

And how can people, do you need any sort of volunteer help? Do you need fundraising, et cetera? How can people become involved with the service? 

OIEN:

Yes, absolutely, we’re always looking for volunteers and fundraising. We’re working on some ways for people to be able to donate more easily. Currently, donations are by check, but we’re working on doing PayPal and credit cards so that people can do that more easily online.

O’CONNOR:

We were talking to your colleague, Christy, for a Humboldt Conversation. You’ve got the Rock Search coming up. But any other fundraising events coming up in the future?

OIEN:

Yeah, so every year in the fall, at the beginning of the first Saturday in October, we do our Pastels on the Plaza, where we come here to Arcata. You know, businesses sponsor a square and they either have an artist that they pair with it or that we have artists who are looking for businesses to pair with and we pair them up that way. It’s a great community event. You know, farmers markets going on.

O’CONNOR:

It’s wonderful, and in fact that’s when you and I first met last year and I came along to see it. I mean it was, because that was my first year here, and it was beautiful. But it seems such a shame that they all get one.

OIEN:

Yeah, I know it is, but we do you know we do keep we take pictures of them with a professional photographer.

O’CONNOR:

And so the businesses get that so that they can use it for advertising.

OIEN:

Yeah, it’s a great event we do.

O’CONNOR:

Well, we’ll talk to you further, closer to the time I hope, and we’ll certainly be there for that. Rodney, it’s great to see you again, thank you so much for joining us for a Humboldt Conversation.

OIEN:

Well, thank you, it’s a pleasure to be here. I appreciate it.

O’CONNOR:

And thank you for joining us for a Humboldt Conversation, and join us for the next one very soon.

Donell McCanless passed away at age 96 on April 17, 2023, at her home on the family dairy surrounded by her family. She is survived by her three sons and their wives/partners, Jack McCanless (Nina), Kurt and Judy McCanless and David and Debbie McCanless, seven grandchildren Randy McCanless (Ashley), Tami McCanless (Theresa), Jason McCanless, Beckie McCanless, Kenny McCanless, Lucas McCanless (Nichole), and Katie Chisam (Matt), and eight great grandchildren Korbin McCanless, Tatum McCanless (and her mother Dana McDonald), Tanner & Tinnley Pidgeon, Grady & Miles Chisam, and Hunter & Wiley McCanless.

She is also survived by her very special friends: Jackie Amos, Lucille Scilacci, Mary Enos, and Karin King.

She is preceded in death by her husband Jack McCanless, parents Claude and Ruth Hunter, twin brothers Elias Don Hunter, and William Austin Hunter, brother Dean Hunter, grandson James McCanless and daughter-in-law Marian Qualls

Donell was born September 22, 1926. Her mother instilled in her the importance of education from a very young age. She spent her life pursuing her own education and building the knowledge of others. She attended Petrolia High School until her senior year where she attended and graduated from Mountain View High School while living with a cousin in Mountain View. She married Jack McCanless on July 15, 1946, in Oakland, CA while attending the University of California at Berkeley. She graduated from U.C. Berkeley in 1948 before she, Jack and their first son, Jack Jr. moved back to Ferndale. A few years later, once all her sons were in school, she continued her education at Humboldt State and got her teaching credential. Her first teaching job was at Price Creek Elementary (Grades 1 through 8). Donell was a substitute teacher at many local elementary schools and established her own preschool in her home. Lastly, she taught Special Education for many years at Ferndale Elementary, retiring after 40+ years teaching in 1994.

During WWII, she wrote to many service men she grew up with in Petrolia who were overseas, knitted scarves for the Red Cross and worked on a drydock as a welder in 1944. Donell was a life member of the Ladies’ Auxillary of the Veterans of Foreign Wars for over 75 years, a volunteer/historian for the Ferndale Museum for 45 years, and a member of the Ferndale Garden Club for 49 years, just recently making a trip to Petrolia (along with her good friends, Mary and Karin) to help start a new Garden Club. But, this amazing lady was perhaps most well known in Ferndale for her talents in spinning wool and her many knitted creations, from hats, sweaters and slippers to stuffed kittens and chickens, items most adored by her own great grandchildren. One of her proudest projects was the spinning of llama wool from an entire pack of llamas. Donell came by the art of spinning naturally, at a young age, and was taught by her grandmother, Lucy Hunter. Donell never met her great grandmother, but she learned that she had spun wool from a spinning wheel to make yarn many years before. Being the lifelong student that she was, she enrolled in a class to learn how to do just that. She was a much loved and proud member of the Humboldt Handweavers and Spinners Guild. She was one of the founding members of the well known and loved “The Folks” Craft Fair, where she met customers from all over the world, many who later became friends. This craft fair has continued for over 50 years.

Donell was a regular participant and blue ribbon winner for her baking, gardening and knitted creations at the Humboldt County Fair, and on one or two occasions won the prize for most blue ribbons overall. One year, she and her mother both entered apple pies, and when Donell came out the winner she joked that her mother likely wasn’t too pleased about it. She was also quite the historian, she loved the Ferndale Museum, and took pride in her many contributions of stories and historical artifacts.

Donell loved having her family close by, and was proud of the growth and success of her family members. She enjoyed supporting the many sporting events which her grandchildren and great grandchildren played, including soccer, basketball, football, baseball, softball and rodeo. When asked what she was most proud of, Donell mentioned her own graduation from U.C. Berkeley as well as seeing several of her grandchildren graduate from college, and one graduate from the California Highway Patrol Academy.

Donell was always curious. She delighted in meeting new people and learning their stories. She had many penpals around the world over the years, and loved to share stories of the people she met and corresponded with. Donell was always game for adventure, and took so much joy from trips she got to take with her sons, their families, and her grandchildren.

Donell was the cornerstone and matriarch of her family, and a pillar of the Ferndale community. She will be remembered as a fiercely independent woman, who lived a story of her own willful creation. To quote her dear friend Buck Miner, “If all the world could be like Donell, well it sure would be a wonderful spot to enjoy.”

A heartfelt thank you goes out to Beckie (granddaughter) and Mary Enos for their special TLC they provided to our Mom, Grandma, Great Grandma and friend, especially in her final days. We will remember this always. This grand lady was so loved and will be remembered by too many to count. Donell left her mark on this world, and gave each of us many stories to share and countless memories to treasure. Hers was a storybook life, with a storybook ending. She lived it her way.

Donell will be laid to rest at a private family burial service at the Ferndale Cemetery. There will be a celebration to honor her remarkable life on May 13, 2023 from 1 to 4 p.m. at The Ferndale Community Center. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Ferndale Museum or to your favorite charity.

###

Art Ramsey — beloved husband, proud father, and super-proud grandpa (Papa Art) — passed away April 17, 2023 of complications of diabetes.

Art was born February 13, 1947 to Arthur and Alice Ramsey growing up in Blue Lake. He attended Blue Lake Elementary School and then Arcata High School. After Graduation, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Although his tour of duty was during the Vietnam Conflict era, Art was lucky enough to have been stationed in Hawaii for his entire four-year tour on the Admiral’s Gig.

After which, happy to be home for a short while, Art traveled to Alaska for about a year where he worked in a logging camp. Winter set in, logging-stopped, Art returned home. With influence and help from his father. He was hired as a logger for Simpson Timber Co. in Korbel where he worked for 30 years. Semi-retired, Art was able to work for the Blue Lake Casino for about five years.

As a member of the Blue Lake Rancheria, Art served as a councilmember for 30 years. He loved camping, hunting, fishing, gambling at various casinos, watching his grandsons participate in sports, and reading a good book.

His wife of 48 years, Lynette (Costa), his son Zac Ramsey, daughter-in-law Rachel, and grandchildren Lukas, Easton, and little Gracie (Gracelynn) mourn his loss but are relieved that his pain and distress is over. He will be missed every day.

Art is also survived by his sisters, Dona Mueller in Hawaii, Arla Ramsey in Blue Lake and brother David Ramsey in McKinleyville as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

Art is preceded in death by his parents, Arthur and Alice Ramsey as well as sister June Ramsey. His beautiful young nieces Kindred Lewis, Savannah Kindred and Kira Norton.

A celebration of Art’s life is planned for June 3, 2023 at Blue Lake Casino’s Sapphire Palace, 12 p.m.-4 p.m.

###

Wendell Lee Bott III, born on April 29, 1951 to Catherine Arlene Waldron and Wendell A. Bott in Enterprise, Oregon, passed away peacefully of COPD just shy of his 72 birthday on Saturday, April 22, 2023, in his home, surrounded by his family, in Fortuna.

Wendell served his country in the Army during the Vietnam War. He had many occupations in his lifetime but is most remembered for his many years working as a lumber and mill worker, most recently Palco Lumber Company, CM Rentals and Bott Family Lawn Care. Wendell was a family man; a loving father and grandfather, he deeply loved and cared for all of his children and grandchildren.

Wendell enjoyed cars and was very knowledgeable and mechanical. Wendell will be remembered for his sense of humor and his strength. Wendell will be remembered for his affection and his “love taps.” Taking care of things and people was Wendell’s gift to the world. He will be loved and missed by all of his family and friends. Wendell gave many memories to each of us that made us feel special.

He was preceded in death by his mother and father, his brother Jay Baker, and one bonus daughter, Jessica D’Vorak.

Wendell was survived by his sister, Terri Hagen, his wife Angela Jean Bott, his oldest daughter Jackie Lynn Carrillo, his daughter Deedee Arlene Bott, his son Wendell Lee Bott lV, his stepson Gary Thurston, his stepdaughter Christi Warren, his twin daughters Kimberly Zachary and Tiffany Garcia, his bonus daughter Samantha Perez, his son Eduardo Hernandez, his daughter Angel Warren, his daughter Treesa D’Nae Bott, his adopted daughter Geraldine Dawn Bott-Thurston, and his youngest son MichaelCharles Bott-Thurston who was also adopted. He was also survived by nine grandchildren: Trisha Burris, Kayla Hansen, Wendell Bott V, Antonio Hernandez, Kimberlynn Carrillo, Juno Garcia, Ezra Zachary, Sawyer Garcia, and Evelynn Zachary. Wendell had one great-grandchild, Addison Burris.

HUMBOLDT TODAY: The Humboldt Navigational Center, a hub for homeless services planned for Eureka, continues to move toward realization; Old Town Eureka now boasts some new traffic-controlling infrastructure; plus, a whale is dead. Those stories and more in today’s online newscast with John Kennedy O’Connor.

FURTHER READING: 

• [PHOTOS, VIDEO] The Carcass of Juvenile Gray Whale Washed Ashore and Is Now Rotting on the North Spit
• The Humboldt Navigational Center Will Begin Providing Services to Humboldt’s Homeless in the Next Two Years; County Staff Says, ‘I Wish It Was Tomorrow’

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.

###

A gray whale carcass was found earlier this week on the beach at Bunkers, a popular surf spot in the Samoa Dunes Recreation Area.

Researchers from Cal Poly Humboldt Marine Mammal Stranding Program responded to the scene Tuesday to collect samples, and according to Director Dawn Goley, this particular Eschrichtius robustus was a male juvenile measuring 27 feet long.

“It was emaciated but showed no additional signs consistent with a ship strike or fatal killer whale attack,” Goley said in an email to the Outpost.

Yes, orcas, aka killer whales, are known to attack gray whales. In fact, just last week, a 28-foot gray whale carcass — with fresh orca tooth marks in its flesh — was found stranded near Point St. George in Del Norte County. Days earlier, passengers on a charter boat watched and filmed as a pod of orcas attacked gray whales near Castle Rock National Wildlife Refuge. (Click on over to our sister site, Wild Rivers Outpost, for video of that encounter.)

Gray whales on the West Coast have had a rough few years. Since the start of 2019 they’ve experienced an elevated number of deaths and strandings, a trend that NOAA Fisheries has designated an Unusual Mortality Event. Between January 1, 2019 and February 8 of this year, 613 stranded gray whales were found between Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and the Chukchi Sea in northern Alaska, according to Humboldt Baykeeper.

In the past three years, no less than 10 gray whale carcasses have been found between South Humboldt Bay and the Oregon border, according to Baykeeper Executive Director Jennifer Kalt.

Independent scientists coordinated by NOAA Fisheries have yet to determine the cause of this Unusual Mortality Event. They’re using data and samples to study a possible causal link between the deaths and recent changes in the ocean and ecosystem.

In the spring, gray whales swim north on their annual migration from breeding grounds in Mexico to summer feeding grounds off the coast of Alaska, and Goley said that, even before the current Unusual Mortality Event, it’s not unusual for strandings to occur this time of year in northern California. Nor is the emaciated state of their carcasses necessarily reason for concern.

Gray whales fast during their spring migration, “and some simply don’t have the stored resources necessary to return to their summer feeding grounds,” Goley said. She and her fellow researchers performed a necropsy on the whale stranded at Bunkers, sampling the tissues to help determine the cause of death.

Video of the rotting, post-necropsy carcass can be viewed below.

If you should happen upon a stranded marine mammal, you can report it via Cal Poly Humboldt’s Marine Mammal Stranding Program hotline, 707-826-3650, or email them at marinemammals@humboldt.edu.