I bet you do like one or more of them. Humboldt is a place that loves nature. Whenever you ask anyone why
they live here, or the benefits of living here, it’s just about
guaranteed that the beauty of our natural surroundings will be the
first thing out of their mouth.
A few months ago,
when we ran that great old Humboldt
Historian article about native lilies, it occurred to me that we,
the Lost Coast Outpost, Humboldt County’s home page, haven’t adequately reflected the county’s fierce love for the wilderness
and wild things. You rarely ever see a sea urchin busted for fentanyl
trafficking.
But that changes
today! Because today we are proud to launch HUMBOLDT
LIFE, a little interactive database of the animals and plants and
fungi and kelps and such that are known to inhabit our borders. (I’d
say that it’s we that
inhabit their borders,
but they don’t have borders.) We’re
pretty excited about this!
Humboldt
Life gives you pictures, maps, a short description and a taxonomy of
around 4,600 species of beings known to live in Humboldt County, along with links to find out more about them. This
data comes from the great iNaturalist
website, a worldwide hub for scientists both amateur and
professional. Most people who record their observations on that site
license their data under a Creative Commons license, so we’re able
to share a Humboldt-specific peek into the data they collect.
How does it work? I can walk you through it. Go to the top of the taxonomic tree, there — Life. If you’re looking for a specific creature, you can use the search feature at the top of the page, there. Start typing and the system will start looking through the common and scientific names of creatures we know to exist here. Click on the one you’re interested it, and it takes you to that page.
For example:
Now, you can also browse, if you like. Scroll down a bit and you’ll see the immediate taxonomic subcategories of “Life”, and below that illustrations of each of those subtaxa.
Click on any of them that catches your fancy. You may continue to browse up and down the tree from each of the pages you land on.
Each day at 5 a.m. the Outpost will pick a species to celebrate, based in part on what’s “in season” — flowering plants in the spring, say, or a migratory bird when it shows up on our shores. Fall is coming up, so expect a lot of fungus. Today’s animal of the day, as you’ve probably seen, is the Western Spotted Skunk. Go there, learn about this lesser-seen cousin of the stripey skunk, and share your thoughts!
It is our sincere hope that this new feature brings some of the natural world closer to you, on the days when you cannot be closer to it. And if you’re ever tempted to get more serious with your botanizing, you definitely want to install iNaturalist on your phone to join a pretty amazing community of citizen naturalists. If you’re a total newbie like me, you also want iNaturalist’s Seek app, which does a pretty good job of identifying what you’re pointing your phone at.
Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office has recently received the report of a computer scam leading to the theft of thousands of dollars from a local victim.
According to the victim, an anti-virus pop-up notification appeared on their home computer informing the victim that the computer had been hacked and sensitive information was at risk. The notification directed the victim to contact “Windows Defender” at 833-492-2407 in order to secure the computer. The victim contacted the number and allowed remote access to the computer after being told that the scammer needed to “run a diagnostic”. The scammer then went on to tell the victim that several bank accounts had been opened and charged under the victim’s name and even reportedly transferred the victim to another scammer pretending to be the bank.
The victim was instructed to send nearly $70,000 in cash wrapped in magazines in the mail to various locations on the East Coast to settle the accounts. After sending the money to the scammers, the victim then reportedly received a phone call claiming to be from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, spoofing the Sheriff’s Office phone number on caller ID, and later another claiming to be from the FBI Fortuna Field Office, also spoofing the agency’s phone number. Both callers again demanded more money, at which time the victim hung up and notified law enforcement.
This appears to be a sophisticated, large-scale online scam with many suspects involved. Scammers prey on fear and will pressure their victims to act immediately rather than stopping and evaluating the situation. If you receive unsolicited contact from someone or an organization you do not recognize, whether it be online, on the phone or even by mail, take pause and talk it through with someone you trust. Even a quick Google search of the situation can often be helpful to determine if it is a scam.
No government agency or banking institution will ask you to mail large sums of cash or pay fines with gift cards or pre-paid money cards. Additionally, while law enforcement may contact you regarding a warrant or investigation, we will never demand payment in exchange for dropping a warrant or stopping an investigation.
Remember these tips to help protect yourself from fraud:
Spot imposters Scammers often pretend to be someone you trust, like a government official, a family member, a charity or a company with which you do business. Don’t send money or give out personal information in response to an unexpected request – whether it comes as a text, a phone call or an email.
Do online searches Type a company or product name into your favorite search engine with words like “review,” “complaint” or “scam.” Or search for a phrase that describes your situation, like “IRS call.” You can even search for phone numbers to see if other people have reported them as scams.
Don’t believe your caller ID Technology makes it easy for scammers to fake caller ID information, so the name and number you see aren’t always real. If someone calls asking for money or personal information, hang up. If you think the caller might be telling the truth, call back to a number you know is genuine.
Talk to someone Before you give up your money or personal information, talk to someone you trust. Con artists want you to make decisions in a hurry. They might even threaten you. Slow down, check out the story, do an online search, consult an expert — or just tell a friend.
Don’t rely on personal information Living in the digital age, access to information is easier than ever. Scammers are often able to get their hands on very personal information, providing it to their victims to make their scam look more legitimate. Don’t trust a scammer who is able to provide your personal information. If you followed the above tips and still aren’t sure, call back at a publicly listed number for the organization from which the scammer claims to be or contact your loved one directly.
Today, Friday September 8, 2023 at approximately 9:00 am Fortuna Police Department received a report that a juvenile student would be bringing a handgun to school at Eel River Community School in Fortuna. Officers responded to Eel River Community School coordinated with the school to detain the juvenile upon their arrival.
At approximately 9:22 am the suspected juvenile student arrived in the parking lot of Eel River Community School and was met by officers. The handgun was located, seized and the juvenile is currently in custody.
As a precautionary measure Walker Elementary School due to its close proximity to Eel River School was put into a soft lockdown for a little over ten minutes. It should be noted that there was no information regarding a direct threat to Walker Elementary School. The lockdown was precautionary, as we all take the safety of our students and school staff very seriously.
California won’t join more than 20 other states and the federal government in banning the TikTok app on state phones and devices — at least not this year.
Senate Bill 74 — a bipartisan effort between Sens. Bill Dodd, a Napa Democrat, and Brian Jones, a San Diego Republican — was shelved while it was on the Assembly floor for a vote before the Legislature adjourns next Thursday, even though it had a relatively smooth path.
The Senate passed the bill 40-0 in late May, with an urgency clause to take effect immediately after being signed by the governor,and it breezed through Assembly committees, including a 16-0 vote last Friday to get out of the appropriations suspense file.
But now, it’s a two-year bill and won’t be considered again until 2024.
The bill was moved to the inactive file at the request of the authors to work out amendments, said Nina Krishel, a spokesperson for Jones. “Specifically, we need to ensure that the bill’s language doesn’t impede any law enforcement investigations,” Krishel said in an email to CalMatters.
The bill would ban TikTok and other “high-risk” apps on state-issued devices, but wouldn’t impact state employees or lawmakers from using TikTok on their personal devices.
The measure was amended from its original version to connect the ban to other state standards on security, and to allow state agencies to allow the short-form video app if it was necessary for official purposes — though that wasn’t defined further.
The state is investigating the safety of the app on state devices, and Attorney General Rob Bonta is part of a nationwide probe into Tik Tok’s impact on the mental health of young people.
President Biden signed a law last December banning federal employees from having TIkTok on their government phones, and at least 22 other states have some form of restriction amid fears that the Chinese government, which owns a piece of Tik Tok’s parent company, could use the app to spy on Americans.
Some critics question whether such bans unfairly target a Chinese-owned social media company.
While Tik Tok didn’t officially oppose the bill, it did send a letter describing security settings on the app, and suggesting the bill be amended to include all types of entertainment and social media platforms or applications.
The company has spent nearly $80,000 lobbying on SB 74 and three other bills this session, according to state records.
But TikTok isn’t the only social media company lobbying the state to protect its interests.
And social media companies are often successful. Last week, a bill by Sen. Nancy Skinner, an Oakland Democrat, to hold social media platforms liable for promoting harmful content about eating disorders, self-harm and drugs died in the Assembly’s appropriations committee. The bill had met with heavy opposition from tech companies, which helped stall a similar bill last year.
Robert Herrell, executive director of the Consumer Federation of California, noted that several bills regulating social media platforms have died due to the effectiveness of the industry’s lobbying.
“You could try to single out a few members, but really this is about the outsized power of that industry — because of the largesse they have,” he said.
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CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.
A large portion of Old Arcata Road will be getting a major makeover starting at the end of this month. During its Wednesday night meeting the Arcata City Council approved a nearly $6 million construction contract for the Old Arcata Road Improvement Project with local contracting company GR Sundberg, Inc.
The project — which will make improvements to roughly one mile of Old Arcata Road, between the end of Samoa Boulevard and extending just past Jacoby Creek Road, and will include the construction of a roundabout at the Jacoby Creek Road intersection, repaving the roadway, adding bike lanes and extending the sidewalks — has been in the works for about six years and was finally approved by the council in 2022.
Since then the design was finalized and put out to bid, with GR Sundberg selected as the favored proposal. On Wednesday the council unanimously approved a contract with the company in the amount of $5,996,109 and authorized the amount to be raised by an additional $179,883 to cover any additional work as needed.
City Engineer Netra Khatri explained to the council that the City had planned to only spend $4.5 million for the project, but the bid proposal estimated a higher cost. Since the City does not have enough money left in this year’s budget to cover the entire project cost, the remainder will have to come out of the 2024-25 budget. But, Khatri said, none of that money will be spent until the budget is adopted next July.
Khatri added that it would still be best to move forward with the project now, because if the City were to wait until next year, the costs will only increase even more.
Rendering of the proposed roundabout at Old Arcata Rd and Jacoby Creek Rd intersection
With the contract approved, Khatri said, work will start toward the end of September and the contractors will have 150 working days to complete the project. The company will likely take a winter suspension and return to work on the project in the spring or summer. Khatri said that the project is expected to be complete before the end of 2024.
There was not very much discussion among the councilmembers, who seemed very eager to move forward with the long-planned improvements to Old Arcata Road.
“Thank you to our city engineer and all of the city staff for their hard work on this project and getting it done over many years,” Mayor Sarah Schaefer said after the vote.
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In other business, the council also said a heartfelt farewell to Nancy Diamond, Arcata’s longtime city attorney.
Diamond during the meeting
Diamond informed the City of her plan to retire earlier this year, and city staff put out a request for proposals for city attorney services and received five responses. After the council formed a subcommittee to review the different firms and conducted a series of interviews, the subcommittee recommended White Brenner LLP Law Firm. On Wednesday night the council approved an agreement to obtain legal services from the firm.
Before hiring the new attorneys, the council thanked Diamond for more than 20 years of service and councilmember Alex Stillman even presented Diamond with an honorary key to the City.
“I wanted to have an opportunity to be able to thank Nancy Diamond for being the city attorney for the City of Arcata,” Stillman said during the meeting. “And I wish to give her the key to the City in appreciation of the services to this community between 2001 to 2023.”
“I am speechless,” Diamond replied. “A key to the City? I didn’t even know there was such a thing! It’s been just such a pleasure. This is bittersweet, but I love the new city attorney that will be coming in and I think you’ll all enjoy working with them.”
For more than 20 years, local non-profit Friends for Life has helped keep shelter animals healthy and housed through its foster program, spay/neuter program and Emergency Medical Fund (EMF). And now this organization really needs our help.
A puppy found on the side of the road, suffering multiple wounds | Photos provided by Friends for Life
“Pets impounded at the shelter often need life-saving treatment that can be very expensive,” Shannon Townsend-Bettis, a Friends for Life board member, wrote in an email to the Outpost. “The county only allots approximately $300 per animal for vet bills in their budget. Pets that go over that would historically be euthanized.”
That’s where Friends for Life comes in. When Humboldt’s animal control rescues a pet that needs treatment and the bills are too high, the non-profit uses the EMF to cover the remainder to prevent these animals from being euthanized. But now the EMF is in “dire need of funds,” Townsend-Bettis said, adding that the fund is so low that the shelter will soon have to start euthanizing pets that come in with injuries and ailments that need treatment. And, unfortunately, animals in need of extensive medical treatment come in fairly often.
Humboldt County Animal Care and Control recently posted on its Facebook page about one such animal – a young pup that was found on the side of the road in Alderpoint and had suffered multiple wounds, likely from being dragged behind a vehicle.
“Our Emergency Medical Fund supports our ability to save these animals and get them the treatment they need,” the post goes on to say. “The fund is running low and donations are needed so we can continue to help these animals in need.”
Denise Rogers, president of Friends for Life, said that the EMF is completely funded through donations and that, because the number of animals coming into the county shelter has drastically increased over the past couple of years, the donations have just not been enough to keep up with the costs. So the amount of money in the EMF is dwindling.
“A majority of those animals come in with injuries, illnesses – you name it, and they need treatment,” Rogers said in a phone interview Thursday. “Three hundred dollars doesn’t go very far, and it also has to cover the cost to spay and neuter the animals.”
Exactly why the number of abandoned animals has been increasing recently Rogers could not say for sure, but she imagines that it is a variety of factors, including people suffering financially and becoming overwhelmed by caring for the animal. One of the biggest factors is that many people don’t get their pets spayed or neutered and they continue breeding offspring that end up on the streets.
A closer look at the puppy’s injuries.
If you would like to help this sweet doggo and other injured animals like her, you can donate online at www.dogrescuers.org and specify in the “designation” window that you’d like your donation to go toward the emergency medical fund or EMF. You can also donate via PayPal @friendsforlife707, mailing a check to Friends for Life (PO Box 962, Eureka, CA 95502).
And as for the injured puppy in the photos, Rogers said that she is still at the vet, having her bandages changed regularly. Because her wounds are so painful, she needs to be sedated each time the bandages are changed and the costs are really adding up. Rogers is not sure what the final bill will be, but she said that Friends for Life will do “whatever it takes” to keep this animal alive and eventually find her a good home.
“She has a long way to go, but she’s hanging in there,” Rogers said.
Screenshot of Wednesday’s California Coastal Commission meeting in Eureka.
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Big changes are coming to the old Brainard Mill Site. This week, Sequoia Forest Products LLC — which is in the process of buying the site from the California Redwood Company — got the green light from the California Coastal Commission to revamp the 78-acre property, located along the eastern shoreline of Humboldt Bay across Highway 101 from Mid-City Motor World, to make way for industrial development and manufacturing.
The project proposal includes demolition and removal of 16 industrial buildings, as well as several improvements to the existing lumber mill “for continued use in lumber production as an ultra-high fiber recovery sawmill producing redwood fence boards,” according to the staff report. “Internal modifications are planned within Building FF to support use of the site, including remodeling of a restroom, and the installation of a lunch/break room, a programmable logic control (PLC) room, and small office spaces. These improvements require no additional foundation work or expansion of the building envelope.”
Aerial view of the Brainard site. Image: County of Humboldt
The project will not interfere with the construction of the Humboldt Bay Trail South, which will connect the gap between the Eureka Waterfront Trail and the southern end of Humboldt Bay Trail North, near the Bracut Industrial Park. One of the conditions attached to the application – Special Condition 9 – stipulates that the Coastal Development Permit for the project will “not waive any public rights or interest that exist or may exist on the property or on adjacent public access trails and public waters.”
The Coastal Commission reviewed the Coastal Development Permit application during Wednesday’s meeting, held in the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors Chambers in Eureka.
Before closing out the brief discussion, Commissioner and Humboldt County Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson said he looked forward to seeing the improvements at the new mill site.
“I think there’s some great mural opportunities there,” he added. “Looking forward to the new owner maybe considering that for the future.”
The item was moved to the commission’s consent calendar at the beginning of the meeting and was approved with conditions in a unanimous vote.
Ongoing Closure of Van Wycke Trail
The commission also considered an appeal to a four-year-old decision by the City of Trinidad to temporarily close a 165-foot-long segment of the Van Wycke Trail. The city implemented the six-month closure in January 2019 after reviewing the findings of a risk management assessment report prepared by the city’s insurance provider that found increased erosion had led to unsafe conditions along the trail. Nearly five years later, the trail is still closed to the public.
Close-up of the northeastern part of the Van Wycke Trail Closure taken Aug. 11, 2023. Image: California Coastal Commission
Speaking during Wednesday’s meeting, the appellant, Trinidad resident Kimberly Tays, criticized the city for failing to fix the trail in a timely manner. “We want the trail repaired and reopened so we can continue to enjoy the trail without worries of being harassed, which is what has happened in the past with property owners coming out and chasing people off the trail,” she said.
To avoid the closed section, trail users must deviate from the path and walk along Edwards Street, which, Tays said, can be extremely dangerous for pedestrians.
“Who wants to give up the beautiful coastal trail for a busy road?” she asked. “We have to worry about getting hit and injured – or even killed – by a speeding or distracted driver. … Many of the vehicles on Edwards [Street] are oversized trucks. Studies have shown that pedestrians are more likely to die if struck by a truck.”
Local attorney Bryce Kenny added that the City of Trinidad “has already abused the concept of a temporary closure for over four years.”
“Over four years! That’s not a temporary closure,” he said. “I’m afraid that if the appeal’s not given a hearing, it will be another four years, another temporary closure, and pretty soon nobody [will] even remember there was a trail there.”
Trinidad City Manager Eli Naffah explained that the city tried to find a way to reopen the trail immediately following its closure but was unable to come to a consensus with community members.
“We were able to secure a $700,000-plus grant [from Caltrans] for what was called the ‘Van Wycke [Bicycle and Pedestrian Connectivity] Project’ that … would have made Van Wycke accessible to pedestrians and bicyclists by doing a retaining wall, and then also would have made improvements on Edwards [Street],” Naffah said. “In January 2020, at a council meeting to address this issue, a number of people came and spoke against the project … and a number of them were from either the Tsurai Ancestral Society or from the Yurok Tribe. … They said that they didn’t want the retaining wall because it would be on, I guess, sacred ground.”
The Trinidad City Council agreed to explore alternatives to the retaining wall, Naffah said, but wasn’t able to come to a consensus. Eventually, the city decided to return the grant funds to Caltrans.
Shana Gray, deputy director of statewide planning for the commission, acknowledged the complexity of the issue but spoke in support of staff’s recommendation to find “no substantial issue” and deny the appeal.
“To either open the trail or to formally close the trail [the City of Trinidad] need[s] to come back with an actual permanent action or inaction, something,” she said. “This really is just for the six months from today. … We are recommending no substantial issue in this case.”
Gray added that Edwards Street “is not a comparable alternative” to the Van Wycke Trail. “I don’t want anyone to walk away thinking that’s what we’re saying,” she said
After a bit of additional discussion, Commissioner Roberto Uranga made a motion to approve staff’s recommendation, which was seconded by Commissioner Wilson. The motion passed unanimously.
Last Chance Grade Project Update
The commission also received a brief update on the Last Chance Grade Project in Del Norte County. If everything goes according to plan in the next couple of weeks, Caltrans will be able to open both lanes of Highway 101 at Last Chance Grade, between Klamath and Crescent City, for the first time in nine years.
“While we take a pause on the short-term job, the long-term project continues,” Last Chance Grade Project Manager Jaime Matteoli told commissioners.
Caltrans has sought a permanent fix for Last Chance Grade for years. In recent years, Caltrans has whittled its ideas down to two alternatives: an inland tunnel bypass (Alternative F) and end-to-end re-engineering of the highway (Alternative X).
“Based on criteria that our stakeholders gave us in 2021, we were able to reduce those [options] to focus on the alternatives that were performing the best and using our resources the best way we could. Both those alternatives improve access for cyclists and pedestrians,” Matteoli said. “Next year, we will select the preferred alternative and we begin coordinating with all of the permitting agencies, including Coastal Commission. We expect to apply for a coastal development permit early in the design phase, which would begin in 2026.”
The commission agreed to accept the report but did not take further action on the item.
