Earnest Garland Gray, Jr went to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on December 29, 2022, in Fortuna at the age of 90. At the end of his life he put his trust in Jesus.

Earnie was born September 10, 1932, in Omaha, Nebraska. His family moved west to California when he was a young boy. Earnie grew up at Richardson Grove State Park, where his father was a Park Ranger. Earnie would often tell the story of how he collected soda bottles along Highway 101 and earned enough money to purchase a trumpet. He could occasionally be found playing his trumpet in the bars of Garberville, when live music was all the rage.

He graduated high school from Leggett Valley High School and went on to Santa Rosa Junior College. While at Santa Rosa Junior College he met his first wife, Ruth Hague. After the JC, he attended San Jose State and graduated with a degree in Business. Ruth and Earnie now had four children and in 1964 moved to Eureka where Earnie began a long career providing insurance services, mainly to loggers and truckers. In 1973, he was chairman of the committee to build the stadium at College of the Redwoods.

Earnie was a member of Kiwanis Club, Ingomar Club, Baywood Golf and Country Club, and was a founding member of Humboldt Bank. He had a pilot’s license and owned several small planes throughout the years. Earnie took great joy in buying and trading vehicles, from Jaguar Roadsters to De Loreans, every vehicle was kept washed and polished. Earnie enjoyed time at Trinity Lake, racing motocross, water skiing, snow skiing, and hunting with the family. In 1985 he married his second wife Judy. Modeling an excellent work ethic, he eventually retired from the insurance world.

In 1995 he and Judy set off in their RV to discover all that America had to show them. They would winter in Arizona, summer in Wyoming, and went everywhere else in spring and fall. They had a great group of friends with whom they traveled. At the age of 86, Earnie and Judy came back to Humboldt County and settled in Fortuna, to be closer to his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. He could often be found on the sidelines of soccer, baseball, basketball, or whatever the kids were playing. He loved his family dearly and was always there for them. He instilled a love of motorcycles and boating in all of his family. He will be remembered for his love, wisdom, humor, and generosity.

Earnie was preceded in death by his father and mother, Earnest Garland Gray, Sr and Irene Gray, his sister Beverly, and by his beloved son Gerald Gray.

Earnie is survived by his wife Judy; daughter Laura (Mark) Butler, son James (Melody) Gray, son Andrew (Darcy) Gray and their children and grandchildren: Ben (Emily) Mark and David Butler, Mary (Caleb) Rosemary, Heather, Gunnar and Garrison, Samuel Butler, Luke Butler, Susanna (Kenan) Jacob and Ascher O’Hanen; Josh(Magen), Jaxon and Travis Gray, Sarah (Sydny), Ellouise and Everleigh Williams, Hannah (Kyle) Sheehy; Jesse (Leah) Gray, Cody (Jamie) Gray, Chelsea (Brandon) and Andrew Lende, and Jimmy Gray.

Earnie was interred at Ocean View Cemetery in Eureka. A memorial service will be held at Grace Baptist Church in Eureka on March 4, at 2 p.m.

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

Della May Williams died on February 9 at Sequoia Springs in Fortuna. She was 96.

Della was born in Centralia, Washington but spent most of her early life in Morton, Washington. She married Dale Cooper in 1946. In 1947 they moved to Fortuna with their daughter Kay. Della and Dale had three more children, Jerry, Jean and Tom. After 17 years of marriage they divorced. Della was later married to Woody McDaniel. After his death she married Edward Barff, who died in 1997. Della spent many of her later years with her companion and traveling partner, Blake Armstrong. They enjoyed seeing the country in their fifth wheel.

Della worked as a telephone operator, in newspaper advertising, and as a bookkeeper for local saw mills, before beginning her career in real estate. She spent many years at Town and Country Real Estate. She often said that she enjoyed all of her various jobs but had a special love for real estate.

She enjoyed many hobbies, including softball, bowling, painting and travel. Della loved to sing, and music was a big part of family life. She also loved big family gatherings.

Della will be missed by her many friends and family. She is survived by four children, many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A private graveside service will be held for the family.

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

HUMBOLDT TODAY: California’s strategy to combat homelessness has been largely unsuccessful despite billions invested, the Arcata City Council gets a li’l raise, plus self-driving Teslas are being recalled. Those stories and more in today’s newscast with John Kennedy O’Connor.

FURTHER READING: 

• Here’s Why KHSU Has Been Off the Air for the Past Week
• Cal Poly Humboldt is Bringing Back LUMBERJACK DAYS, but it Won’t Be Like the Old Lumberjack Days
• Local Woman Says Her Sister Forged Her Signature and Stole the Pet Store They Opened Together
• California Homelessness: Where Are the State’s Billions Going? Here’s the New, Best Answer

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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When you think about an Irish pub, you might think of corned beef and cabbage, fish and chips, whiskey and Guinness. But do you think of drag shows?! Probably not.

Though you might not typically expect a drag show along with your fried food and beer, on the second Saturday of every month Gallagher’s Irish Pub on Highway 101 in Eureka transforms into a drag club where some of Humboldt’s most talented performers lip sync, death drop and vogue the house down in an impressive use of the tiny pub space.

Skyler Celeste, better known by his stage name Ultra Payne, has helped organize a monthly drag revue at Gallagher’s called Omega Drag, which features a regular cast of performers that he considers the “best of the best here in Humboldt County.” Local drag artists Komboujia, Gliterous Cliterous, Thrash and Recycling, Cocky Muffington, Felix Flex and, of course, Ultra Payne herself, hold regular spots at the show. Each month also features one special guest performer, which at the most recent show — Valentine’s GAY, on Feb. 11 — was drag and burlesque artist Baby Fontaine.

Felix Flex shows the crowd some V-day love

“I’m doing it this way because ever since COVID kind of slowed down and restrictions started lifting, drag exploded in popularity,” Celeste told the Outpost in a recent interview. “We’re getting all kinds of new shows here in Humboldt. So I feel like there’s enough space now for drag that people who are just starting out can get their start at other shows, and then we can still have shows with a set list of performers without anybody feeling excluded.”

And Celeste is definitely right. If you’ve been paying much attention to local drag, you may have noticed that Humboldt is experiencing an outpouring of drag, especially over the last year. If you grew up here, like Celeste did, you know that Humboldt used to have virtually no drag shows. Now, in addition to Omega Drag at Gallagher’s, regular drag shows take place at Septentrio Winery, Outer Space, Kiki Planet Clothing Store, Synapsis, and more are being added all the time. This month Greene Lily will host its first drag brunch and Ferndale Repertory Theatre is hosting a drag revue at the end of February.

Unlike in a big city where there are lots of gay bars and nightclubs, rural Humboldt doesn’t have a lot of venues that traditionally hold drag shows. So, the performers here have to be creative, working with local business owners to find spaces to showcase their art.

“It’s really funny,” Celeste told the Outpost. “Whenever I go elsewhere and perform, [the performers] ask, ‘where do you perform in Humboldt?’ And I’m like, ‘a winery, an Irish pub, a boutique shop, an aerial silks studio.”

Celeste and the other drag performers started working with Gallagher’s about four months ago, when the manager (who is very queer, Celeste said) expressed an interest in hosting a drag show at the pub. Celeste said that the Gallagher’s owner was totally on board and has been very supportive of the performers using the space.

This recent swell in local drag enthusiasm differs greatly from how things were when Celeste was first started doing drag. Celeste, who is 22 years old, grew up in Eureka and was often bullied in school for being queer. “It was rough,” Celeste said. “I never really had the space or opportunity within my community to be doing what I was doing. But also at the same time, I didn’t care. And I kind of paved my own path.”

Seeing the increase in queer representation in Humboldt is elating, Celeste said, not only because it means more people come to his shows, but also because it means that local folks, especially young people, feel more comfortable expressing their sexual orientation and gender identities.

In addition to the use of unconventional venues for shows, something special about Humboldt drag is the multitude of gender identities represented within the performances. Though drag has existed in many forms for many years, the biggest spotlight has traditionally been given to drag queens – most often gay men adopting exaggerated female styles and personas. In recent years there has been growing representation of female or non-binary performers adopting male personas, known as drag kings. Today’s drag, both locally and around the world, is embracing the full spectrum of gender identities, with trans, non-binary, gender fluid, genderqueer and non-gender conforming performers stepping into the limelight. For these folks, drag is not always about expressing a male or female persona. Sometimes they do both. Sometimes they do neither.

“Gender fuckery” is one term for it, said local performance artist Roux Kratt, who does drag under the stage name Cocky Muffington. On stage, Kratt often leans toward a masculine character, but as a non-binary person, they also sometimes perform highly feminine characters.

Kratt moved to Humboldt from Southern California about six years ago and started doing drag in late 2019, not long before COVID hit. When venues shut down because of the pandemic, Kratt moved their drag to an online platform, hosting virtual shows for Club Triangle. Now that restrictions have been lifted and venues are again open, Kratt is thrilled to see drag shows on the rise in Humboldt.

Like many other drag performers, Kratt utilizes their drag experience to help other budding performers get their start. Kratt has adopted many “drag kids” – young and/or inexperienced folks who Kratt teaches the art form, helping them learn how to do stage makeup, create costumes and develop their on-stage persona. Oftentimes youth who are not accepted by their biological families, will also look to their “drag parent” for support and encouragement in expressing themselves.

“It’s really important to me because it’s something that I wish I had when I was a kid,” Kratt told the Outpost, with tears welling up in their eyes. “Because I wasn’t allowed to be who I am.”

Of course, with the rise in drag performance in Humboldt there has also been a rise in pushback, with some groups and individuals publicly condemning local drag shows, especially all-ages shows. One Ferndale pastor’s attack on local drag, and subsequent threatening speech posted on social media, led to the cancellation of an all-ages fundraiser drag show that was scheduled at the Old Steeple. And another all-ages drag event at the Jefferson Community Center was disrupted by protesters who harassed and threatened the performers.

Hatred and violence directed at drag shows has become increasingly common across the country, and conservative media outlets and politicians have been making unfounded claims that these shows serve as an opportunity for sexual predators to “groom” children. Especially after last year’s shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colo. – which left five people dead and at least 17 injured – there is definitely an undercurrent of fear in the drag community.

“From seeing everything that’s happened elsewhere, I’m terrified of doing drag,” Celeste told the Outpost. “I still love it. I’m still going to do it. But to know that what I love could possibly be the end of me at any time – it is terrifying. It’s the darkest feeling in the world. Because drag has saved me from so much emotionally.”

Both Kratt and Celeste said that it shocks and saddens them to hear people accuse drag performers of “grooming” children, especially when the goal of holding all-ages drag shows is to provide LGBTQ+ youth with a safe space, and they view themselves as mentors of many of the young performers.

“When [protesters] disturb our shows, they are disturbing our family time,” Kratt told the Outpost. “Because that’s what it is when we’re having these all ages drag shows. It is our queer family. It is a safe space for trans kids.”

Celeste and Kratt also wanted to be clear that at the all ages drag shows, the performances are kept pretty tame. They are very different from the 21 and up shows, like the one at Gallagher’s, where the content might be more raunchy. Sometimes drag, like many types of entertainment, is sexual. “But there isn’t anything inherently sexual about drag,” Kratt said. “Drag is the exploration of gender.”

But despite the threats they face, these drag performers say they will never stop doing what they do.

“Nothing besides death will stop me from doing drag,” Kratt said. “These shows are really important and a lot of performers depend on it for their well being and for their livelihood. I’m thankful to all the other performers – kings, queens and things – that come out and put out this art. Because it really is for all of us, whether you’re in the audience or on the stage.”

The Omega Drag show takes place at Gallagher’s Irish Pub – 1604 4th St, Eureka – on the second Saturday of every month at 9 p.m. This show is 21+. So it might get wild. Get into it.

Short answer? “Technical problems.”

We called up Phil Wilke, general manager of both KHSU and North State Public Radio, both of which are now operated by Sacramento-based Capital Public Radio. He explained in a bit more detail.

“We think it is a failure of a piece of equipment at the main transmitter site,” he said, referring to one of the big radio towers atop Barry Ridge near Kneeland.

This failure took down KHSU’s over-the-air network last Thursday, though the online stream remains up and running. 

“We have ordered the parts and I believe we have those in our possession,” Wilke said in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon. “We have an engineer that should be arriving in Arcata tomorrow. His job is to go to the transmitter site and an additional site in McKinleyville for the Radio Bilingüe tower, which is also out.”

In another statement posted to social media Wilke said, “Unfortunately, we have two issues simultaneously. A clock issue that is firing local files 5-15 seconds before they are supposed to, talking over the top of national shows, and now an equipment failure that has taken the signal completely off air.”

When can listeners expect the station to return to the airwaves?

“I’ve learned when it comes to engineering not to put too optimistic a timeline on it,” Wilke said, adding, “We have what we think we need to fix it.”

He said that whenever he speaks with listeners about the matter he makes a point to thank them for their patience and “ask them to stick with us.”

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PREVIOUSLY: KHSU Exploring Partnership With Capital Public Radio

How can you have Lumberjack Days without chainsaws, 100 kegs of Henry Weinhard’s and mass vomiting? We’re going to find out!

This morning Cal Poly Humboldt’s Gutswurrak Student Activities Center announced that the legendary Humboldt State bacchanalia is returning to campus this April in a slightly different form. It’ll be two weeks of stuff going on in the quad, including – on most days – rockin’ bands.

What else we got going on besides those rockin’ bands, the schedule for which you can find below? Well, Gutswurrak associate director Michael Moore tells the Outpost that the timbersports are out for this year – no log-rolling, no axes, no buck saws, certainly no chainsaws – but there will be several “make and take” activities for students to participate in. He mentioned, particularly: clay, paint, “slime” and “plant-a-plant.” Fun fun fun!

The general public is welcome to come up to campus and enjoy the bands, but the make-and-take activities are for students only, please. You are an adult; you can play with clay at home whenever you like.

In future years, Moore said, they’re looking to evolve New Lumberjack Days into something more like – though not exactly like, of course — the Lumberjack Days of antiquity. He mentioned that they’re thinking of a more concentrated event, over a weekend or something, and they’ve reached out to the university’s Logging Club to bring back some of that timber-feller flavor. He even mentioned that “adult beverages” could be back on the table!

Until then, check out that band schedule below! Maybe you want to wander up and reflect on time’s passage.

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GA-20
Chicago blues
Monday April 17, 2023
Noon

Gabe Lee
Nashville heartache
Tuesday April 18, 2023
Noon

La Doña
Mission District nuevo chicanismo
Wednesday April 19, 2023
Noon

The Original Wailers
No introduction required
Friday April 21, 2023
Noon

L.A. Witch
Lipstick City garage rock
Tuesday April 25, 2023
Noon

Guapdad 4000
The future of hip hop
 Friday April 28, 2023
Noon

Leah Jimenez always dreamed of working with animals.

“I’ve grown up with dogs, cats, horses — I have always been an animal lover,” she said in a recent phone interview. A decade ago, Jimenez endeavored to make her dream come true, opening a pet store in McKinleyville with her younger sister, Jennifer Wrask, and two others: Jimenez’s then-husband and Wrask’s then-boyfriend. 

Tucked behind a CVS Pharmacy, Northern California Pet Supply and Grooming, or NorCal Pet for short, occupies two storefronts in a nondescript commercial development that sits a block and a half off the main drag of Central Avenue. 

“We kind of felt like there was a big need out in McKinleyville,” Jimenez said. “There was nothing like it out there.” 

The new proprietors catered to smaller animals in particular and stocked high-quality food. They also founded an animal rescue operation, saving dogs from high-kill shelters in Southern California and working with other rescuers to transport them up to Humboldt County. Local shelters tend to see a lot of larger dogs — pitbulls, shepherds, lanky mutts — so NorCal Pet focused on the smaller breeds.

“We had a lot of success rescuing the littles,” Jimenez said. “And then a few years later [the adopters] come back to visit you in the store. It’s a great experience.”

But after a few years, things started going sideways. Jimenez said her sister’s boyfriend was a bad business partner who eventually skipped town, but not before allegedly taking “what he felt he deserved,” including computers, supplies and about 75 percent of the store’s inventory. In 2016, Jimenez’s husband, former College of the Redwoods football star and Green Bay Packer James Lee, died of complications from diabetes. Jimenez and Wrask formed a business partnership the following November, becoming the sole owners of NorCal Pet. 

The partnership didn’t last. Last year, Jimenez filed a lawsuit against Wrask in Humboldt County Superior Court, accusing her sister of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the pet store and of forging Jimenez’s signature in order to dissolve their partnership and cut her out of the business entirely. She’s seeking $950,000 in damages, plus interest and attorney fees. She’s also seeking to have Wrask removed from any role in the operation or management of NorCal Pet.  

Jimenez also filed a criminal complaint, and the Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office has charged Wrask with two felonies: filing a forged document and grand theft embezzlement. 

She wishes the partnership hadn’t come to this. “It’s a really crappy thing to have to take your sister to court,” Jimenez said. “It’s definitely not where I thought things would be, but at the same time I worked really hard for that store. I need to get back what’s mine or get back what I deserve out of it.”

Each of the two storefronts has its own sign affixed to the roof out front, one reading “Nor Cal Pet” and the other “Northern California Pet Supply & Grooming.” The storefront windows display advertisements for various brands of pet food — Nulo, PureVita, Acana. 

During a recent visit, a pair of dry-erase boards were propped up outside one of the two entrance doors. On one, photos of adoptable cats and kittens had been taped above nametags with day-glow ink on black construction paper. The other advertised feeder mice, crickets and cockroaches (42 cents apiece for small ones, 52 cents for big ones). 

Inside the shelves were well stocked with chew toys, bags of food, supplements and more. There were three young women working behind the counter. When asked if Jennifer Wrask was around one said that she “barely comes in.” 

“It’s kind of random,” she explained. “She’ll pop in for like half an hour or an hour.”

Reached later by phone, Wrask said she can’t tell her side of the story.  “I’ve been advised by my attorney not to,” she told the Outpost.

The sisters were close growing up, according to Jimenez. Both attended Arcata High School, and Wrask was the maid of honor at Jimenez’s wedding. Shortly before her husband’s unexpected death, Jimenez was hired at North Coast Mercantile, a local beer distributor, though she continued to work at the pet store on weekends. 

According to the lawsuit, NorCal Pet was left in a dire position after Wrask’s ex absconded with money and merchandise, leaving the business with unpaid bills including $14,000 in tax liability. But Jimenez loaned the store enough money to get out of debt.

This bailout “also gave Jennifer [Wrask] the opportunity to gain some experience since her only real experience had been in dog grooming, not in running an actual pet supply store,” says the civil complaint, filed by Eureka attorney William Bertain. 

“I was letting her basically have a job and work there and run it,” Jimenez said. The sisters agreed as partners that they would each draw $1,000 per month from the business and that Wrask would get an additional $4,000 per month as compensation, a salary for her full-time supervision duties.

In 2020, Jimenez began to suspect that her sister was taking more than they’d agreed to, using the business bank account like her personal piggy bank and pulling money out for such things as home-improvement projects and a down payment on a truck. Wrask was showing up to work less and less, according to Jimenez. How much was she taking?

“It wouldn’t be a strange month for her to take eight or nine thousand dollars,” Jimenez said.

She confronted her sister multiple times, culminating with a serious talk in March of 2021.

“We had about a two-hour discussion, but it didn’t go anywhere because she didn’t want to hear it,” Jimenez recounted. “She said, ‘I don’t want to have a partner’ and I said, ‘You do. I’m the managing partner.’” 

The sisters didn’t talk much over the next few months, but Jimenez was still doing online banking for the business. On September 13 of 2021 she went to log into the account only to discover that it had disappeared.

“It was gone,” she said. 

Suspecting fraud — though not necessarily by her sister — Jimenez went into the bank the following day and talked to the manager, who informed her that Wrask had closed the business’s checking and savings accounts, which had been listed in both of their names, and opened new ones under only her own name.

“At that point I realized there was an issue,” Jimenez remarked.

The savings account had a balance of just over $17,000 while the checking account had nearly $11,000 more, according to the lawsuit. Wrask had also taken control of a Small Business Administration loan with proceeds of more than $150,000, the suit alleges.

In June of 2021 Wrask had filed a document at the county clerk/recorder’s office: a Statement of Withdrawal from Partnership, upon which she had allegedly forged her sister’s signature. 

She had also filed a Fictitious Business Name Statement — a legal requirement for establishing a new business — though instead of having it published in the Times-Standard or the North Coast Journal, where Jimenez might have come across it, Wrask published it in the Two Rivers Tribune, a tribe-owned newspaper whose distribution is mostly limited to the Hoopa Valley and surrounding communities. On the accompanying paperwork Wrask had listed an incorrect address for her sister, according to the suit.

The suit also alleges that Wrask sent letters to other area business owners informing them that she was now the sole proprietor of NorCal Pet. She sent one of these letters to the store’s landlord, Linda Sundberg, but Sundberg compared Jimenez’s signature to the one on the original lease agreement, saw that they didn’t match and declined to make any changes to the lease, the complaint says. Wrask also allegedly changed the locks and alarm code for the business office.

The sisters had arranged to pay their father’s monthly mortgage bill from the business’s account, with their dad, Tom Wrask, giving them $2,000 in cash each month to even things out. 

“Contrary to the agreement between Plaintiff [Jimenez] and Defendant [Wrask], Defendant took the cash from their father and deposited it to her personal account and then paid Mr. Wrask’s house payment from the business account,” the suit alleges.

“It’s been a long process getting it all figured out,” Jimenez said.

Wrask has pleaded “not guilty” to the two felony charges against her. The next court hearing, regarding setting, is scheduled for March 8. Both sisters have hired their own forensic accountant, Jimenez said.

The civil suit is effectively on hold pending the outcome of the criminal case.

“She’s taking the 5th Amendment on the civil side,” Jimenez said.

After dissolving the sisters’ business partnership, Wrask established a 501(c)(3) noprofit dedicated to the animal rescue portion of NorCal Pet’s operations, and Jimenez said her sister is now doing “remarkably more rescuing.” For all the distress caused by the dissolution of their business partnership and the damage to their personal relationship, Jimenez said that’s one bright spot.

“At the end of the day I’m glad to see the animals are doing well,” she said.