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This past Sunday, an all-ages Halloween event hosted by Redwood Pride — a DreamMaker project of the nonprofit Ink People — drew a vibrant and diverse crowd of revelers, but it also attracted a group of about a dozen protesters who confronted organizers and attendees, aggressively accusing them of “grooming children” and being pedophiles.

The event, which was held at the Jefferson Community Center in Eureka, featured a drag show, in which performers dressed-up, danced and lip-synced to pop songs. This element of the festivities has been the focal point of protesters’ outrage both at the event and in the days since.

Poster for Sunday’s event.

Angry and homophobic posts on Craigslist and social media sites have accused Ink People of being “perverts” and “sickos” who are guilty of child abuse and openly support “homosexual grooming of children.” Other posts have gone even further, listing the address and phone number for Ink People and issuing calls to “run them out of town.”

Monica Topping, administrative director at Ink People, told the Outpost that the organization’s office received roughly 40 phone calls in the first 90 minutes she was there this morning. The one caller she spoke with heard on voicemail used the same verbiage, Topping said, threatening to run the organization out of town. 

Officers from the Eureka Police Department were present at Sunday’s event, and Topping said she has kept the department apprised of the intimidating comments and phone calls since.

“They’re accusing us of being pedophiles and child molesters,” said Topping, who described herself as an unapologetic supporter of LGBTQ rights.

Redwood Pride Director Æpryl Nikolai said the protesters’ rhetoric seemed to rely heavily on a set of false notions, “such as that all drag shows are hyper-sexualized, explicit and profane, that it was sexualizing children, that it was grooming or indoctrinating them into being Queer in some way, and that being Queer in general is wrong.”

The history of drag dates back to ancient Greece and includes everything from Shakespeare plays to Milton Berle, Benny Hill and, of course, RuPaul.

Nikolai said that while the protesters on Sunday were sometimes aggressively confrontational, only a couple of interactions got physical. 

“One was that one woman (protester) tried to kiss an older male attendee,” they said. The other instance involved a protester lunging at an attendee with a camera, which led to a bit of back-and-forth pushing, “but the police put a quick stop to that,” Nikolai said.

In a published statement, Queer Humboldt Executive Director Lark Doolan said the protesters showed up to terrorize attendees and cause a public disturbance.

“These people came within inches of our faces, holding cameras, screaming words like ‘pedophile’ and ‘groomer,’ accusing us of mutilating the genitals of children, and claiming that they were there to protect our children from us,” Doolan wrote.

Unfortunately, this type of incident isn’t unique to Humboldt County. Across the country, right-wing provocateurs like Christopher Rufo and alt-right groups such as Proud Boys have deliberately stoked hysteria about drag shows, targeting pride gatherings, public library readings and private businesses with harassment campaigns.

A bakery owner in Illinois, for example, had her business vandalized, received threatening phone messages and was followed in her car after announcing plans for a family-friendly drag brunch, Vice reported. Up in Eugene, homophobic protesters “doxxed and attacked an 11-year-old for playing dress-up” earlier this week, according to reports from Salon and Eugene Weekly.

Nikolai told the Outpost that a number of folks representing the queer community have scheduled a meeting on Monday with members of the Eureka City Council, Eureka Police Chief Todd Jarvis and Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery. 

Doolan said Queer Humboldt is hosting an all-ages “Heart Circle” tonight via Zoom. He explained that a Heart Circle is “an inclusive space where we share what is in our hearts, and are witnessed in speaking our truths.” Details for the event can be found on the community events calendar at queerhumboldt.org.

Below is Doolan’s statement about Sunday’s events (reprinted with permission).

Dear Community,

Some of you are aware that the beautiful, family-friendly Halloween festival hosted by Redwood Pride this past Sunday was interrupted by a hate group. We, at Queer Humboldt, don’t generally bring attention to this aspect of our community experience, but there are times when posts like these are necessary and now is one of those times.

In the history of LGBTQ Pride events in Humboldt County, we have had protesters before, though not so much in recent years. These people were different. They weren’t holding signs and peacefully expressing that they disagree. They were screaming hateful, bigoted, cruel things while standing next to a playground where our children, wearing their Halloween costumes, were playing.

These people came within inches of our faces, holding cameras, screaming words like “pedophile” and “groomer,” accusing us of mutilating the genitals of children, and claiming that they were there to protect our children from us. All of this, right in front of our youth.

When anyone spoke to them, they escalated matters exponentially. They were not there with love in their hearts. They were not there to peacefully protest. They were there to cause harm. They were there to terrorize us and cause a public disturbance. For approximately two hours their screams of vitriol could be heard from across the park.

One of these people, who was screaming with extra fervor, yelled that for two years, in a previous era of her life, she was partnered with a woman. Another man expressed being gay but having spent the last couple of years trying not to be.

While it is easy to meet hate with hate, especially when people are actively causing us harm, we must also remember that at least some of these haters are deeply wounded members of our own community. Let the suffering of that statement touch your heart.  Hurt people hurt people. This is not a simple story of us vs. them. The enemy is not these people. The enemy is fear and ignorance.

We won’t win by fighting these people back, meeting them head on with our hurt and anger. That will only fan the flames of hate. Instead, let’s move into hope, educating ourselves and each other about how to build a world where diversity is not merely tolerated, it is valued.

In moments like this, we, as a community, have a long, rich queer history to draw from. The Two-Spirit Teachings weekend we just had included many helpful teachings. The video from Friday’s lecture will be posted in the coming weeks. Check it out. We can all learn a lot from Indigenous ways of knowing and being.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were there on Sunday, embodying the teachings of our queer ancestors (thank you, Sisters, for your magnificent service to our community on Sunday and beyond). Your fierce and playful loving support is an inspiration.

And then there is Heart Circle. Heart Circle is a core practice of the Radical Faeries, a spiritual non-movement rooted in the knowledge that we, as queer people, will never experience liberation by trying to fit into heterosexual, cisgender norms. Heart Circle is an inclusive space where we share what is in our hearts, and are witnessed in speaking our truths. This technology is similar to how Indigenous people around the world have gathered in circles in perpetuity.

In light of the events on Sunday, Queer Humboldt is hosting an all-ages Heart Circle [today] (Thursday, Oct. 27th) at 7PM via zoom. 2S/LGBTQIA+ community members and our loved ones (allies, parents, friends, partners, coworkers, etc.) are invited to participate. Given the intimate nature of this space, we ask that cameras be on. … 

We know there is hate, but love is stronger. We look forward to seeing you [tonight]] in heartspace.

Just Peace,

Lark Doolan
Executive Director
Queer Humboldt
Pronouns: he/him

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CORRECTION: This post originally stated that Humboldt County Sheriff Billy Honsal would be in attendance at Monday’s meeting with Eureka staff and council members. He will not. The Outpost regrets the error.

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Press release from Friends of the Eel River:

Friends of the Eel River (FOER) has filed suit in Humboldt County Superior Court to secure protection for the public trust values at risk when groundwater pumping depletes surface flows in the Lower Eel River. First, FOER is asking the court to declare that the County has a duty to protect public trust values in the lower Eel River from the impacts of groundwater pumping. Then, FOER seeks an order requiring the County to create a program to regulate groundwater pumping in the lower Eel River as necessary to protect public trust values. Finally, FOER asks the court to require the County to stop issuing permits for new and expanded well-drilling in the lower Eel until such a program is in place.

Under California law, the Public Trust doctrine establishes that the waters and wildlife of the state belong to the people, and that the state and its subdivisions, including counties, serve as trustees of those resources for the people. Where public trust values may be affected, especially in the planning and allocation of water resources, the State and the County have an affirmative duty to consider those effects, and to avoid or minimize harm to public trust uses wherever feasible.

The Eel River provides habitat for fish and wildlife protected under the public trust, including salmon and steelhead as well as many other important species. Other values included in the public trust include recreation and cultural uses. When Humboldt County allows unlimited groundwater pumping even during extended dry times, exacerbating already low flows and leading to surface flows disconnecting, it fails in its duty to protect the Public Trust.

“As guardians of the public trust, our County leadership has the authority and the responsibility to enact an ordinance to curtail groundwater pumping in the Lower Eel when necessary,” said Alicia Hamann, Friends of the Eel River’s executive director. “Unfortunately what we’ve seen instead, under the guise of a grudging effort to comply with the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, has been continued denial by the County that groundwater use in the Lower Eel ever affects river flows, including efforts to obscure the County’s own data revealing the impacts of pumping on surface flows during dry periods.”

According to data collected for the County’s Groundwater Sustainability Plan, extraction from the lower Eel groundwater basin actually results in a loss of about 14 cfs to surface flows during late summer. This may not sound like much, but it can be nearly everything the river has during critically dry times. The Lower Eel River has repeatedly disconnected below Fortuna in late summer and early fall during the series of recent years that have been drier and hotter than historic averages. (We are avoiding using the word drought here because it implies reversion to a wetter “normal,” which seems increasingly unlikely.) Absent a program to control groundwater pumping, the County is unable to address the impacts of pumping during dry times.

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DOCUMENT: Friends of the Eel River v. County of Humboldt, Board of Supervisors of the County of Humboldt

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Environmentalists and trucking industry groups sparred with clean air regulators today over a contentious proposal to phase out California’s big rigs and other trucks with internal combustion engines and force manufacturers to speed mass-production of electric trucks.

The California Air Resources Board held its first public hearing on rules that would ban manufacturers from selling any new fossil-fueled medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks by 2040. The new rules would also require large trucking companies to convert their fleets to electric models, buying more over time until all are zero-emission by 2042. The move is part of the state’s wider strategy to end its reliance on fossil fuels and cut planet-warming emissions.

“California is leading the transition to wide-scale electrification of trucks and buses,” said board chair Liane Randolph. “These actions can show the world how to simultaneously address the climate crisis, improve air quality and alleviate key concerns identified by communities.”

The proposed regulation received widespread criticism from both sides, as 167 members of the public lined up to speak at today’s hearing. Environmentalists and public health groups called for a tougher rule that would speed up the 100% electric truck sales requirement to 2036 instead of 2040, while trucking companies said the proposal ignores concerns about electric vehicle costs and technology, lack of infrastructure and the loss of good-paying jobs.

The Air Resources Board is expected to hold a second hearing on the proposal and vote in the spring.

Jeff Cox, a truck driver of 24 years and owner of the Madera-based trucking company Best Drayage, worries the rule could drive many family-owned fleet operators out of business – especially those with certain types of trucks that the regulation would affect first.

“Obviously we all want cleaner air, but this would be catastrophic to the industry,” he said. “We’re operating in an already challenging environment. To add something else that is this drastic would be very harmful.”

California often leads the country in passing stringent emission reduction standards. The new rule would lead to a transformation of the trucking industry, affecting about 1.8 million trucks on state roads. It builds on other mandates to reduce emissions in the transportation sector, including the gas-powered car ban adopted earlier this year and clean trucks regulation passed in 2020.

But environmental groups often say that while the air board’s regulations on the transportation industry are well-intentioned, they don’t go far enough to reduce the production or use of fossil fuels.

Andrea Vidaurre, a policy analyst at the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice, said the effects of toxic diesel emissions from big rigs and other heavy-duty trucks in heavily polluted communities underscores the need for California to accelerate the transition. Diesel exhaust can lead to several health problems, including asthma and other respiratory illnesses, and increase the risk of hospitalization and premature death, according to air board staff.

“Families all across California are suffering,” Vidaurre said in a statement. “The California Air Resources Board has a responsibility to maximize and accelerate the benefits identified in this report to those families to ensure that the rule reflects this critical need across the state.”

The gradual conversion of existing fleets would apply only to federal agencies and “high-priority fleets,” which are owned or operated by companies with 50 or more trucks or $50 million or more in annual revenue. Also affected: trucks weighing 10,001 pounds or more and package delivery vehicles of 8,500 lbs or more, including U.S. Postal Service, FedEx, UPS and Amazon fleets.

These companies and federal agencies could comply in one of two ways. They could choose to purchase only zero-emission trucks beginning in 2024 while retiring diesel trucks at the end of their useful life, or decide to phase in zero-emission trucks as an increasing percentage of their total fleet. The second option would require starting with 10% of delivery trucks and other types that are the easiest to electrify in 2025, then ramping up to 100% between 2035 and 2042.

“This is both impractical and impossible to comply with.”
— Jeff Cox, owner of Best Drayage Trucking

The transition to electric trucks for many fleet operators would begin as early as 2024. These trucks have the strictest timeline since they are among the easiest to electrify, including delivery and drayage trucks, which transport cargo at railways and ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach. New models would need to be zero-emission in 2024, while diesel and gas drayage trucks must retire after 18 years.

Drayage trucks are among the most suitable for electrification because they may not need a long range to transport cargo to and from their destinations, and may have more down time for fueling, according to air board staff’s analysis.

But Cox, of Best Dayage, said the rule fails to consider drayage companies with daily haul ranges of 200 to 400 miles that don’t just operate at ports or railyards, such as those that transport goods within the Central Valley. Cox said the high upfront cost of electric trucks and lack of available models also worry drivers, who may not feel confident that the technology can improve before the mandate goes into effect.

“Getting the cart before the horse isn’t going to help matters by forcing the purchase of a vehicle that doesn’t exist today,” he said. “This is both impractical and impossible to comply with.”

Chris Shimoda, a senior vice president at the California Trucking Association, which represents truck drivers, said the heavy weight of electric truck batteries could force trucks to forgo around 8,000 pounds of their load capacity, increasing the need for more trucks and drivers to transport cargo at a time when the industry is already facing a worker shortage.

Just 1,943 zero emission medium and heavy duty vehicles are on the state’s roads, and nearly all of them are buses. About 300 are zero-emission commercial trucks, and less than 90 are electric semi-trucks. The rule would add about 510,000 carbon- free medium and heavy-duty vehicles to roads and highways in 2035, increasing to 1.2 million in 2045 and nearly 1.6 million in 2050.

To meet that demand, Shimoda said the state would need to install as many as 800 chargers per week to power truck fleets, representing anywhere from 64 to158 megawatts of new charging capacity, or enough to power 118,000 households.

“We don’t even know that chargers are going to be in place in the next two years to have somewhere to plug in the trucks,” he added. “We can’t even lose time to charging if there’s nowhere to charge.”

Some board members questioned whether the California Public Utilities Commission was prepared to build out the necessary infrastructure and power grid improvements under the proposed timeline.

“This is really a very large undertaking,” said board vice chair Sandra Berg. “I’m trying to understand where the grid problems are going to be and how they can be resolved. How much time do we really need here?”

Air board member Daniel Sperling, who is also the director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis, echoed many of the concerns raised by the trucking industry about installing charging stations and making rapid grid improvements.

“I’m having the same whiplash experience that so many fleets have been talking about — the challenges they’re having and getting hooked up to the infrastructure,” he said. “Why are we hearing from these fleets — some of them are saying that they’re not even being given a timeline for when the infrastructure will be in place.”

Yulia Shmidt, an analyst for the Office of Ratepayer Advocates at the California Public Utilities Commission, assured the board that the agency was making significant investments in grid upgrades.

“That is certainly a concern that we are deeply thinking about and that is why we’re looking at the forecast to see where the new load may come from so that we can trigger upgrades in those areas if they’re needed,”she said.

Many truck drivers at the hearing called the proposal unfair due to the high costs of purchasing an electric truck compared to that of a traditional diesel truck.

“Families all across California are suffering. The (board) has a responsibility to maximize and accelerate the benefits identified in this report…”
— Andrea Vidaurre, policy analyst at the People’s Collective for Environmental Justice

Air board staff estimate that truck drivers and companies would pay higher upfront vehicle prices now but expect those costs to go down as more models enter the market, eventually bringing the cost down to that of a conventional truck.

When comparing diesel and electric trucks in 2035, staff project that buying and operating an electric semi-truck over its lifespan, for example, could range between $765,000 and $1.1 million compared to a gas or diesel truck, which could cost between $919,000 and $1.2 million. These totals exclude state and federal subsidies that some companies could receive to help them pay for a truck.

Staff also said lower maintenance and operational costs would save fleet operators money over time.

Though trucks represent just 2 million of the 30 million registered vehicles in the state, they are the largest single source of air pollution from vehicles. Heavy-duty trucks spew 70% of the state’s smog-forming gases and 80% of carcinogenic diesel pollutants, according to the air board.

Sam Wilson, a senior vehicles analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists, a science advocacy organization, said the air board needs to tighten the rule to get more emission reductions from the most polluting trucks to avoid the damaging effects of diesel exhaust.

The proposal has different deadlines for phasing in new sales of electric models, varying based on the size and type of truck, until all are electric by 2042. In addition, the requirements for converting fleets would not apply to smaller companies that operate less than 50 trucks, unless they were using a larger company’s trucks.They could keep their trucks as long as they want under the proposal, although their new purchases would have to be zero-emission by 2040.

Wilson said the requirement for fleet operators who manage some of the largest and most polluting trucks — such as long-haulers, big-rigs and semis — should be put on a faster electrification timeline, with a phase-in starting date in 2027 rather than 2030.

He also said the proposal threshold of 50 trucks should be lowered to 10 trucks for these fleet operators, given the outsized role large trucks have in emitting deadly soot pollution. A fleet of 10 tractor trucks emits about three times as much nitrogen oxide – a smog-forming pollutant – and about the same amount of fine particulate pollution as a fleet of 50 delivery vans, according to air board staff’s estimates.

“There’s a difference in the amount of pollution that is emitted between a plumbing company that has 50 vans, for example, and a hauling company that has 50 tractor trucks,” he said. “In order to account for this, a fleet of tractor trucks should have a compliance threshold of 10 rather than 50 just to account for the extremely disproportionate impact that they have.”

A coalition of representatives from several states, including New York, Washington, Wisconsin and Connecticut, urged the board to adopt the rule and said they would move to implement it in their states too.

“The board’s approval of the advanced clean fleet regulations will enable New York and other states to adopt those regulations to support the needed transition to zero emission transportation and cleaner, healthier communities,” said Jared Snyder, the deputy commissioner for Air Resources, Climate Change and Energy at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Although California legislators have no direct say over whether the board adopts the rule, dozens of lawmakers weighed in on the proposal — and vastly disagreed about it.

In a letter to the air board, a group of state legislators, including Democratic Sens. Nancy Skinner of Berkeley and Josh Becker of Menlo Park, and Assemblymember Cristina Garcia of Bell Gardens, agreed with environmentalists. They note that these changes are achievable due to this year’s massive $54 billion climate investment, which includes $10 billion in state funding to rapidly deploy electric vehicles and charging stations.

The climate package allocates billions for electrifying medium- and heavy-duty trucks, including $1.1 billion for zero-emission trucks, buses, off-road equipment and fueling infrastructure and $400 million for charging stations at ports. Truck drivers and companies could receive additional benefits through the federal Inflation Reduction Act, which includes a 30% tax credit for zero-emission commercial vehicles and charging stations.

But in a separate statement, some legislators including Democratic Assemblymembers Blanca Rubio of Baldwin Park, Carlos Villapudua of Stockton and Rudy Salas of Bakersfield — especially those from rural areas or with high concentrations of fleet operators in their districts — sided with the trucking industry, saying the proposal is too “aggressive” and places many financial burdens on fleet operators. They also said the plan fails to address many technical challenges, such as the toll electric trucks will have on the grid as power demand grows, and the fast-charging needs of heavy-duty rental vehicles like water and dump trucks that operate in remote locations.

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

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• Pedestrian Killed in Hit-and-Run Incident in Valley West Area of Arcata

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Press release from the Arcata Police Department:

On 10/26/22 at about 5:53 AM, Arcata Police Department received a 9-1-1 call of a pedestrian down in the roadway on the 5000 block of Valley West Boulevard.  Arcata Police, Arcata Fire District, and Arcata Ambulance responded and found an injured victim in the roadway who appeared to have been struck by a vehicle.

The victim was transported to St Joseph’s Hospital where they later succumbed to their injuries.

Arcata Police Department Detectives identified a potential suspect based upon video surveillance and witness statements. 

On 10/26/22, Jose Luis Miranda-Osorio, 29 of Arcata, was arrested and booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility for a violation of 20001 CVC, felony Hit and Run resulting in death. 

Impairment does not appear to be a factor in the collision. 

The identity of the victim is being withheld pending notification of next of kin. 

As efforts to bring an offshore wind development to the Humboldt County coast ramp up, local stakeholders are vying to get a big ol’ slice of that offshore wind pie.

If you haven’t been following the proposed development, now is a good time to tune in. 

The Humboldt Wind Energy Area (WEA), located approximately 20 miles west of Eureka, will be broken into two “lease areas” that will be auctioned off by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) later this year. The entire development will span more than 200 square miles.

The Schatz Energy Research Center has studied the ins and outs of offshore wind energy for years. Because offshore wind speeds are fairly steady, offshore wind can provide stable, consistent energy year-round. And it just so happens that the wind resource beyond our beloved bay is among the best in the United States, according to Schatz Center Executive Director and Cal Poly Humboldt professor Arne Jacobson.

“Perhaps it’s obvious, but [utilizing] offshore wind is a way of generating renewable energy that can contribute to addressing climate change in a fairly significant way,” Jacobson told the Outpost in a recent interview. “It’s also an energy resource that is complimentary to solar. Wind energy can be generated into the evening hours and it also has quite a strong generation profile in the winter.”

Of course, there are challenges associated with offshore wind as well. Building the infrastructure that will be needed to connect the wind turbines to Humboldt County and, ultimately, into a national grid will be no small feat.

Just yesterday, the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District announced a partnership with Crowley Wind Services to build a full-service terminal out on the Samoa Peninsula to support offshore wind development.

“There are actually very few ports on the West Coast that could be used for deployment but Humboldt Bay is one of them,” Jacobson said. “But the infrastructure is old and there would have to be a significant investment needed to prepare the port for offshore wind. It’s a challenge but it’s also an opportunity to really invest in the future of our region and the job creation that will be associated with offshore wind.”

There will also be localized environmental impacts associated with offshore wind. One of the main criticisms of wind energy is its impact on birds, but Jacobson maintains that the pros outweigh the cons.

“Our group has engaged in research with various environmental partners … to better understand, for example, sea birds and the risk associated with wind farms,” he said. “The National Audubon Society supports offshore wind … because they see climate change as a more significant environmental risk to sea birds than offshore wind. …I’ve heard similar things from people who work with marine mammals.”

While it might feel as though offshore wind is moving full steam ahead, Jacobson emphasized that there will be plenty of opportunities for the public to weigh in on the proposed development in the months and years ahead. 

“This upcoming lease auction is really the first step,” he said. “There are still a lot of steps the developers will have to take to confirm what their plans are, initiate studies, apply for permits [and] environmental reviews. There will be a lot of opportunities to share your perspective along the way because this is really a five or six-year process for them to get everything in line before building anything.”

Community-Centered Benefits and Bid Credits

Before we dive into the details of what’s to come and the upcoming lease auction, let’s talk about what this all means for Humboldt. If this development moves forward, how would it impact our community? And what’s in it for us?

Despite all of the aforementioned benefits of offshore wind energy, there will be inevitable impacts associated with the development, especially for folks living along the Samoa Peninsula where the terminal will be built and wind turbine construction, assembly and staging will take place.

To mitigate potential impacts, BOEM offers a little something called a bid credit package. In this case, to qualify for the credit package the bidder “must commit to mak[ing] a qualifying monetary contribution to programs or initiatives” that benefit the greater Humboldt County community.

“A bidder will be eligible to elect to qualify for one or more of the bidding credits,” according to the Final Sale Notice (FSN). “A bidder may target either workforce training, supply chain development, or a combination thereof for a 20 percent credit. The Lease Area Use Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) bidding credit will be worth 5 percent of the cash bid. The General CBA bidding credit will be worth 5 percent of the cash bid.”

That means – if the bidder qualifies for all three bidding credits – 30 percent of the final cash bid that is accepted during the upcoming auction will be set aside to offset potential impacts associated with offshore wind development. So, hypothetically speaking, if one lease area goes for $50 million, $38.5 million would go to the federal treasury and $11.5 million would be set aside.

Of that hypothetical $11.5 million, $3.8 million would directly benefit Humboldt County. The Lease Area CBA would provide $1.9 million in benefits to communities that use or harvest resources from the geographic space of the lease area, such as fisheries. The General CBA would provide $1.9 million in benefits to a broader set of communities and tribes that will be directly affected by the offshore wind development, including folks living on the Samoa Peninsula.

However, local stakeholders had hoped for a bit more.

In comments submitted to BOEM prior to the release of the FSN, the Redwood Region Climate & Community Resilience (CORE) Hub and the North Coast Offshore Wind Community Benefits Network (the Network) – a coalition of local governments, districts and agencies, tribes, environmental advocacy groups and community-based organizations – requested a 50 percent bid credit package that would be dedicated to local communities, tribes, tribal fisheries, and environmental research and monitoring.

“We are pleased to see a General CBA credit, but the [five percent] doesn’t go far enough in addressing our region’s unique needs,” Katerina Oskarsson, a spokesperson for CORE Hub and the Network, told the Outpost. “We do not want to see the industry repeating the same boom-and-bust cycles that have created a legacy of underinvestment in our region. To be effective, community benefits must be designed by our communities, for our communities.”

The Network’s proposed credit package drew from months of conversations and interviews with community representatives. 

“We heard that our community needs equitable access to quality careers, increased environmental research and monitoring capacity, reliable transportation systems, local electrification, childcare services and housing to facilitate offshore wind development,” Oskarsson explained. “We also heard that in order to change the paradigm and build trust in this new industry, a significant portion of the federal revenue generated from this project should be invested directly in the communities who will support its development, instead of the federal treasury.”

To achieve those goals, strong community governance will be a critical component as the development moves forward, Oskarsson added.

“This governance structure can also act as an effective community-led decision-making body,” she said. “As part of our recommendations, we advocate that funds are managed by community-led steering committees composed of regional constituencies with relevant expertise and close understanding of community contexts.”

Speaking with her Redwood Community Action Agency (RCAA) hat on, Eureka City Council representative and soon-to-be Fourth District Humboldt County Supervisor Natalie Arroyo called for robust engagement with Samoa residents in particular. 

“I can’t speak for RCAA’s entire leadership, but my small team has been involved in this process to have a seat at the table, advocate for a responsible and innovative way forward that benefits locals,” Arroyo told the Outpost in a recent interview. “There will be inevitable impacts from these developments … I think we all expect a lot of benefits to the community and our world from off-shore wind, but we want to ensure there is a responsible approach to addressing any impacts.”

It’s important to remember that we are still in the beginning stages of offshore wind development. The upcoming auction (more on that below) really represents the first step in bringing this ambitious proposal to life. 

Lease Auction Set for Dec. 6

Just last week, the Biden Administration announced that it is ready to auction off leases to potential offshore wind developers. Forty-three separate entities, ranging from regional LLCs all the way up to energy giants like Shell, have qualified as potential bidders for the five lease areas along the West Coast – three off Morro Bay and two off Humboldt Bay.

Here’s how the bidding process works:

On the morning of Dec. 6, all bidders will hop online for the monetary auction. All five lease areas will be offered up in a single auction. Each lease area has its own minimum bid requirement, ranging from $6.3 to $8 million. “There will be no distinction made between Lease Areas in the Humboldt WEA and the Morro Bay WEA within the auction process. Each bidder may only bid for one of the offered Lease Areas at a time and, ultimately, acquire only one of the Lease Areas in the auction,” as noted in the FSN. 

Bidding will go in rounds until there are no new “live bids.” The auction will probably wrap up on the same day but if bids are still coming in at 6 p.m. EST the auction will continue the next day. After bidding ends, BOEM will determine the “provisionally winning bid” for each lease area through a two-step procedure.

In stage one, the highest single bid received for each lease area in the final round will be deemed the provisionally winning bid. In the event of a tie, selection of the winning bid will be deferred to stage two.

In stage two, BOEM will consider bids for lease areas that were not assigned in the first stage. Only bidders who were not assigned a lease area will be up for consideration. “BOEM will select the combination of such bids that maximizes the sum of the bid amounts of the selected bids … If there is a unique combination of bids that solves this maximization problem, then these bids will be deemed to be the remaining provisionally winning bids.”

The provisional winners and the winning bid amounts will be published shortly after the auction. Once the post-auction review is completed, BOEM will send off three unsigned copies of the lease to each provisionally winning bidder who must sign the lease agreement, file financial assurance and pay off any outstanding balance of their bonus bid within 10 days.

As soon as those requirements have been met and BOEM decides all is well and good, the lease will be executed. After that happens the leaseholder will begin the actual planning process.

“After they get the lease, then they go through the vetting process of planning and permitting,” Matthew Marshall, executive director of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA), told the Outpost in a recent interview. “They’re going to have to work with tribes, work with commercial fishermen [and] work with the community. …There’s a lot in [the bid credit package] that requires [the developers] to have a robust community engagement process. There are a lot of stipulations that have really been pushed for by the California Coastal Commission.”

The RCEA appears on the list of bidders but, Marshall says, the local joint powers authority isn’t actually planning on making a bid. 

“Back in 2016, when we were in the process of launching our Community Choice Energy program … we decided to explore offshore wind as a potential energy down the road,” he explained. A couple of years later, RCEA initiated conversations with developers and put together an Unsolicited Lease Request to pursue offshore wind on the North Coast. “That’s why we’re on the list as a proposed bidder. To submit that [request] we had to be a qualified entity.”

Even still, Marshall says RCEA will work closely with the winning bidder to ensure the project’s success.

“We want to see good projects move forward,” he said. “We’re going to continue to want to work with [future developers] to ensure they’re engaging local stakeholders and having a good process that’s transparent and supportive of community concerns. We want to make sure we end up with something that everybody’s excited about and proud of. We can’t put the local community sort of at the expense of broader climate goals and providing renewable resources to California.”

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DOCUMENTS:

• Proposed Sale Notice Comments to BOEM
• BOEM Final Sale Notice

PREVIOUSLY:

• Biden Administration Proposes Offshore Wind Lease Sale, Including Two Spots Off the Humboldt County Coast
• IT’S ON: Humboldt Offshore Wind Leases to Go Up For Auction on Dec. 6
• Harbor District Announces Massive Offshore Wind Partnership; Project Would Lead to an 86-Acre Redevelopment of Old Pulp Mill Site

Despite his full confession to being a gang hitman hired to kill a McKinleyville man, Isreal Soria Jr. testified yesterday that his only intention was to steal Dylan Eubanks’s guns and marijuana.

Under questioning by defense attorney Christina DiEdoardo and cross-examination by Deputy District Attorney Trent Timm, Soria offered a three-word explanation for why he confessed: “I was high.”

Soria.

On June 24, 2021, Soria was packing a semi-automatic pistol with an extended, illegal magazine loaded with 32 bullets. He fired 11 rounds through a window of Eubanks’s home, striking Eubanks once in the arm. He then fled and was arrested in a neighbor’s back yard.

Soria told the arresting officer he had been hired by a Norteño gang member who believed Eubanks stole from him. He received a down payment of $7,500, with $25,000 due if he killed Eubanks.

That day, Soria says, he consumed a half-bottle of Johnny Walker whiskey, numerous shots of Don Julio 1942 tequila and some cognac. He also smoked concentrated marijuana and took his usual six to eight Xanax. This explains why he made a false confession, he says, but the truth is he only wanted “to rip (Eubanks) off.”

Eubanks had posted on Snapchat, bragging about his guns and money. More than 200 pounds of marijuana was found in his garage after the shooting.

In phone conversations while Soria was in jail, he told family members “I took those stupid pills and blacked out and did a bunch of stupid things.”

He also acknowledged to his mother that he had confessed his crimes.

“I ratted myself out,” he said. “I threw myself under the bus.”

But he also confirmed a scenario his mother presented. The gun belonged to Eubanks, not Soria. Soria wrestled the gun away and shot his way out.

“You needed to defend yourself,” the mother said.

“Yes, I did.”

Timm noted that despite Soria’s assertions about being high and blacking out, he now has a detailed memory of the shooting.

“You remember the incident of the shooting in precise detail. Is that true?”

“Yeah, it’s true.”

Soria now recalls that he went to Eubanks’s front door and looked through a window next to the door. He saw Eubanks approaching, empty-handed. He looked again and Eubanks was holding a 2-foot machete.

Soria said he panicked and ran to the back of the house, where he peered through a gap in the draperies and observed Eubanks and two assault rifles. Eubanks was holding one rifle, and when he raised it up Soria opened fire.

Soria was on the witness stand all day yesterday and is expected to continue testifying this morning.

Among the charges against him is premeditated attempted murder, which carries a maximum penalty of 25 years to life in prison. He also is charged with two counts of personal discharge of a firearm. This is California’s “Use a Gun and You’re Done” law, with a conviction adding up to 25 years to life to the sentence.

Soria posted bail and remains out of custody.

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Jose “Joe” Valentine Rocha was born August 10, 1931, in San Bandan, Terciera, Azores in Portugal. Joe passed away September 26, 2022, in Fortuna.

Joe was preceded in death by his son, John Rocha and sisters, Theresa Rocha, Mary Frietas and Edith Rocha.

He is survived by his wife of 46 years Gail Rocha and daughters, Carmen Rocha and Mandy Rocha; sister Elmira LeScog and brother David Rocha; grandchildren Conner Newbry, Dillion Newbry, Savanah Jacobs, Christopher Jacobs, Lowel Archambault; great-grandchildren Zaiden, Carter, King and one on the way; nephews Lionel, Tony, Danny, and Todd; niece Maggie.

As a child in Portugal, he worked in his father’s blacksmith shop until at the age of 12 he started working at an American Air base during WWII. At the age of 17 Joe moved to the United States and worked as a milker on a dairy farm in Gustine, California from 1948 to 1950.

At the age of 19 Joe moved to Humboldt County, where he worked at Pacific Lumber for 16 years, from 1950-1966.

At the age of 35, Joe moved to San Rafael, where he worked in a brickyard until 1969. He then at the age of 38 moved to the Rohnert Park/Cloverdale area to work at the Golden Gate Bridge from 1969 to 1992, when he retired.

After retiring in 1992, Joe moved his family back to Humboldt to the Rio Dell area where Joe spent his remaining years.

Joe was a people person and never met a stranger. If you met Joe, you remembered him. He was not called “Wild Man Joe” for no reason, although most knew him as “Portuguese Joe.” Joe was big, loud and very proud of his Portuguese heritage. He LOVED riding his Harley. He loved cars, motorcycles and airplanes. In reality he just loved going fast.

There will be a celebration of Joe’s life Saturday, October 29, 2022, at 2:00 PM at the Rio Dell Fireman’s Hall.

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