It is with great sadness that we announce that wife, mother, grandmother, sister and daughter Peggy Loraine Garrison passed away on September 18, 2022 in the early morning hours at St Joseph Hospital in Eureka. She will be greatly missed.

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

A mass of Christian burial will be held for Vivian La Mont at 10 a.m. on October 14, 2022 at St. Bernard Catholic Church in Eureka.

Vivian was a wonderful loving mother of nine children and a passionate teacher at St. Bernard’s Elementary School for more than 30 years. Vivian loved teaching her students and was especially known for encouraging a love of reading, diagramming sentences, dressing up for all occasions to the amusement of her students, hosting her famous Mother’s Day Tea, and wearing her legendary charm bracelets. Every student learned cross stitch – a valuable lesson in discipline, precision, and patience. She was a patriot, a wife of a USAF officer and a mother and grandmother of Marines. She had her students memorize the Gettysburg Address to be recited at Grandparent’s Day. She delighted in staying in contact with many of her former students.

She is preceded in death by her husband, James La Mont, USAF retired; and three children, James La Mont, Jr, Captain Andrew La Mont USMC, and Cynthia Silvers. She is survived by her daughters Susan Irani, Mary Loudy, and Kathleen Roberts, sons Jonathan La Mont, Christopher La Mont, and Thomas La Mont, son-in-law Ken Silvers, sister Elizabeth Helfrich, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews and friends.

Friends who have photos or special memories they would like to share, please send them to kroseroberts@gmail.com. We would like to print as many as possible.

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

Above: A fence goes up around Halvorsen Park on Thursday

You want a free concert? These are the rules, courtesy the City of Eureka: 

Thousands of attendees are expected for the Sara Bareilles at Halvorsen Park concert on Sunday afternoon and there is a lot of excitement building locally. Enclosed is information that both attendees and the general public should know:

Location and Road Closures:

Sunday’s concert will be held at Halvorsen Park in Eureka, just off Waterfront Drive near the Humboldt Aquatic Center and Samoa Bridge. 

Waterfront Drive will be closed for the next three days to accommodate event set-up. The community should take care to avoid this route. 

Event Timing and Capacity: 

Gates will open at Halvorsen Park at 1:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon. 
The community should be aware that even though tickets were free, this is now a sold-out event and capacity for the venue is expected to be quickly reached. Only valid ticket holders should plan to make their way to Halvorsen Park on Sunday afternoon. 

Expect crowds, and stay both patient and neighborly as they select their ideal viewing location within the park. 

Music is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. Bareilles is expected to take the stage between 4 - 4:30 p.m. The entire event is expected to conclude before sundown. 

Safety and Security:

Protection of the community is the city’s top priority. The event will be secured by the Eureka Police Department, the United States Coast Guard, and a highly trained private security team experienced with managing concert events of this style and scale.  

Tickets Required:

This is a free event with limited capacity. Tickets are required and attendees should come prepared to show their tickets on their phones or in a printed format to gain entry. Tickets should be shown before boarding shuttles and at gate entry.

At this time all tickets have been reserved and capacity for the event is expected to be reached.

Attendee Access and Parking:

This is a large-scale event and attendees should expect a high volume of traffic in downtown and Old Town on Sunday. Traffic levels may be like those during annual fourth of July firework festivities. Attendees should pre-plan their access route and parking plan accordingly.
On-street parking will be available throughout Old Town, Downtown, and the Bridge District, as well as city parking lots, including the large gravel lot at 1st and D Streets. 

Attendees parking in these locations can walk to the venue, arriving by Waterfront Drive from the east or west or L Street from the south. 

Readmittance:

Once inside the concert area, there will be no readmittance allowed for anyone who exits the secured area. 

Bike Parking: 

Biking to the event is ecologically friendly and encouraged. The lot at the northeast corner of 2nd and L Streets will be available for monitored bike parking throughout the day.

Shuttles: 

To ease event access and help attendees avoid more congested areas of town, shuttles will be provided to and from remote parking locations at Humboldt Plaza (2440 6th Street), Sequoia Conference Center (901 Myrtle Avenue), and Redwood Acres (3750 Harris Street). 

Attendees will need to present valid event tickets to ride the shuttles. To help smooth and expedite access for everyone, please have your tickets pulled up and ready to show to both shuttle drivers and gate agents as you enter the event. 

One small folding chair and soft sided cooler per person is allowed on the shuttle. Strollers must be compact and foldable. Wagons and handcarts are not permitted on shuttles or in the park due to anticipated space constraints. 

Shuttles will begin operation at 12:30.

Prohibited Items and Bag Checks:

To accommodate and protect the large audience anticipated at this event, attendees should expect bag checks and scans with magnetic wands, and adhere strictly to the following guidelines:  
ALLOWABLE ITEMS

• Small soft sided coolers (12 pack size, no outside alcohol allowed)

• One portable chair per person

• One small bag per person similar in size to a school backpack (16” X 16” X 8”)

PROHIBITED ITEMS

• NO firearms (even if attendee is a CCW holder)

• NO knives or weapons of any kind

• NO glass

• NO outside alcohol

• NO illegal substances, drugs, or drug paraphernalia

• NO smoking or vaping inside the venue

• NO animals (except certified service animals)

• NO fireworks

• NO bicycles, skateboards, and scooters inside the venue

• NO drones

• NO tents or canopies

• NO wagons, dollies, or handcarts

• NO umbrellas

Prohibited items found during bag checks must be returned to vehicles or be confiscated and disposed of by event staff. No prohibited items will be held at the gates or stored by event or public safety personnel.

Event Accessibility & Special Accommodations:

Halvorsen Park is ADA accessible and event planners have designated an ADA accessible viewing area available for wheelchair access and similar special access accommodation requirements. Attendees who qualify for entry can also bring one companion with them into this designated space. 

ADA accessible portable restrooms will also be available onsite. 
Limited parking for attendees with valid disabled plates or placards will be available in the two lots across the street from the Adorni Center at 2nd and L Streets.

Shuttle buses are standard Humboldt Transit Bus System vehicles and will accommodate a wide variety of transportation accommodation needs. 

Food and Beverage:

There will be approximately 15 vendors inside the event offering a selection of food and beverage for purchase. 

Attendees are also invited to bring their own food and non-alcoholic beverages into the event. Picnics can be brought in using soft sided coolers and hand-carry bags only. Hard sided coolers, wagons, dollies, and alcoholic beverages are not permitted. 

Attendees should be prepared for bag checks and should avoid attempting to bring prohibited items into the event. Prohibited items cannot be held during the event. If found, attendees can return the item to their vehicle or choose to have it confiscated. 

Restrooms:

There will be a designated portable restroom area inside the park. Handicapped restrooms will also be available. 

Waiting List & Additional Tickets: 

There has been an enthusiastic response to tickets to the free concert, and all tickets were reserved in less than 12 hours. 

Community members who may be holding tickets they are not planning to use are encouraged to return them using this form: https://forms.gle/MEtT4LGPwJB54Jum9. Doing so will allow members on the waitlist to receive tickets as space allows. 

If additional tickets become available, members of the active waiting list will be notified via email. Unfortunately, it is widely expected that not everyone on the waiting list will be able to get tickets.

To help maximize enjoyment of this special event for the entire community, attendees are encouraged to share space, to remain respectful in their choices, and maintain patience with each other throughout the event!

Boating Access: 

Many people have expressed interest in listening to the concert from the bay. Tickets will not be necessary to do so, nor will sound quality be guaranteed. 

The Coast Guard will be monitoring the area to ensure the active waterway is not blocked. There will be a 50 ft. buoy area around the docks, and mooring will not be permitted along the waterfront. 

During the event, the boat ramp under Samoa Bridge and the boat ramp at the Aquatic Center will both be closed. Access to Woodley Island will also be restricted during the event. 

The launch at the foot of F and C Streets, and the Eureka Public Marina will be open and have parking. 

Merchandise: 

Limited Sara Bareilles concert merchandise will be available for sale on site during the event. Community members wishing to purchase merchandise are strongly encouraged to do so online here.

Closing Thoughts: 

This is a very special, first-of-its-kind event in the city of Eureka. The concert was made possible by the tremendous generosity of Sara Bareilles and her team, and many volunteers and professionals who have spent the last several weeks planning for this unique community celebration. 

The city wishes to thank everyone who has worked so hard to make this day possible and encourages the attendees to arrive ready to celebrate Sara Bareilles and all of the tremendous talent that hails from this special place. 

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With just 26 days before Election Day, Tiffany Hunt Nielsen and Juan Pablo Cervantes squared off under the bright lights of the KEET TV studio on Wednesday for a candidate forum hosted and moderated by the League of Women Voters of Humboldt County.

The two candidates find themselves locked in an occasionally testy runoff election for the position of Humboldt County Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters, and at the outset of last night’s proceedings moderator Nancy Kay outlined what’s at stake.

The four-year term of office comes with an annual salary of $150,592, plus bennies, and the job can broadly be divided into two categories. The clerk-recorder’s role involves registering all births, deaths and marriages within the county along with filing various authorized documents and maps. The registrar of voters, meanwhile, is tasked with ensuring that all eligible residents have the opportunity to exercise their right to vote and conducting elections in a fair, accurate and efficient manner.

Addressing their qualifications, Hunt Nielsen said she has 20 years of experience working with recorded documents, including the past three and a half in the clerk-recorder’s office. 

“I have also worked in the elections office during a few of the elections,” she said. “I was a liaison in the call center for poll workers to verify voter registration status and party information, and I have worked in the Hart voting system, adjudicating ballots to verify voter intent.”

Cervantes said he has administrative experience in both offices, helping the clerk-recorder’s office with board items and personnel issues while serving as the county’s election manager. 

“I feel like I bring a strong skill set in that I can make the office more efficient and accessible for voters and residents,” he said.

Asked how best to balance the dual roles, Cervantes said the key is viewing them as one office by “bringing the teams together [and] ensuring that there’s cross training available for both sides. But ultimately,” he added, “I think it’s the creation of solid processes. Developing policies that are consistent and well-crafted going forward is the way that both offices get balanced.”

Hunt Nielsen said the two offices are very different and that being visible and available for open communication is important. 

The two candidates expressed confidence in local elections management, with both saying they believe election fraud is not an issue here in Humboldt County. But when asked about the importance of this election, Cervantes invoked larger cultural matters — namely, the perception that local election officials have corrupted the integrity of the democratic process.

“[A]cross this we’re seeing an attempt to not just disenfranchise voters but to cause doubt in the process … ,” he said. “The institution seems to be under attack, and it’s critical to make sure that we elect officials and representatives that will uphold this process and govern without interference from outside parties.”

Hunt Nielsen agreed that voter turnout has been reduced by doubts about election integrity, and she again emphasized the importance of open communication as well as participation.

“When your name is on the ballot you have a lot of friends and family that invest in your campaign, and I’ve learned that through this election,” she said. “And I think that that helps grow the passion for voting.”

The candidates were asked to list their endorsements. Cervantes said the one that makes him feel most confident in his own candidacy is that of former Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters Carolyn Crnich, who he described as a person who “understands the complexities and difficulties of overseeing both offices.”

He also listed State Assemblymember Jim Wood, State Senator Mike McGuire, the Humboldt and Del Norte County Central Labor Council and AFSCME Local 1684 (the union that represents most county employees).

Hunt Nielsen said she has “many endorsements from those who [I] have worked with and served over the years, [including] election leaders and the hard-working men and women who live and work in our community and help make this county great.” She also listed the endorsements of the Humboldt Association of Realtors and the local survey association. 

As for their respective educational backgrounds, Hunt Nielsen said she has hands-on experience working with records and title searches as well as a land surveying certificate she used in the field, assisting a surveyor for two and a half years.

Cervantes said he has his bachelor’s degree from Humboldt State University (now Cal Poly Humboldt) and has taken graduate-level coursework for a master’s in public administration. “Beyond that, I’ve attended the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center [for] what they call Battlestaff Bootcamp for addressing emergencies during elections,” he said.

Later in the forum, Cervantes said he’d like to enable more voter outreach beyond Eureka’s city limits, noting that San Bernardino County employs a mobile outreach van to provide clerk-recorder and registrar services throughout the county.

“Beyond that, I’d like to see more stakeholder engagement, whether it’s with our local tribal members [or] different stakeholders in the community, like the Association of Realtors. I’d like to see our office engage more with people,” he said.

Hunt Nielsen echoed that sentiment, saying she’d like to open up communication. “My biggest vision for the recorder’s office is to let everyone know that we are available on our website,” she said. “We have our documents available there. We get phone calls about that every day.” She added that she’d like to improve the efficiency of ballot counting.

The candidates gave conflicting answers about department funding. Hunt Nielsen said she believes the clerk-recorder’s office brings in money that helps the elections office, saying, “that’s one of the reasons that the offices are together, so that we can assist them fiscally.”

Cervantes sought to correct that, saying the elections office is funded via the county’s general fund, like most county offices. “One department isn’t necessarily funding the other,” he said.

Hunt Nielsen said she does not have experience advocating for more resources while Cervantes said he’s done so at HSU and Access Humboldt and has also pursued grants with other organizations.

“I’m willing and I have the skill set to make sure that we get our fair share of state dollars and I’m looking forward to doing that kind of work,” he said.

Both candidates spoke to the importance of improving accessibility for marginalized groups. Cervantes said that as the child of immigrants, he often served as a translator and interface between his parents and the government. “And as I’ve done this work, one of the important things I take into it is that I’d like for our office to treat people like I want my mom to be treated,” he said. “I think having that greater customer service, having that greater care and treating people like humans rather than processes is key.”

Hunt Nielsen said the recorder’s office has improved accessibility during the COVID pandemic, making a variety of documents available online. She added that staff in the office, which is on the fifth floor of the county courthouse, have gone downstairs to help people with accessibility issues. 

In his closing statement, Cervantes said he looks forward to making the office more accessible and building on the foundation of the two previous people to hold the position. 

“Customer service is a thing that we talk about a lot, but we can’t just pay lip service to it,” he said. “We need to talk about what it means to give good customer service, and the core component of that is respect — respecting your time, respecting your part in the process and ensuring that whether you’re a business person or a community member, when you come into our office you get what you need in a timely fashion.”

In her closing statement, Hunt Nielsen went after her opponent, saying he only became the county’s election manager after he began his campaign. “All of [his] other experience is as a seasonal poll worker, primarily in another county,” she said. “My 20 years of experience with recorded documents often included 50 to 60 hours a week of hands-on, professional and employee experience under the tutelage of veteran professionals with high standards — all in Humboldt County.”

You can watch the entire forum below.

Six Rivers National Forest release: 

Six Rivers National Forest fire crews and partners are continuing to make headway on containment of the Big Bar Fire about 3 miles south of Orleans.

The fire is 60% contained and is 12-acres in size. Forest Service law enforcement officials and fire officials have determined the Big Bar Fire is human caused and have identified the location where it first ignited.  Officials do not believe the cause of this fire was an accident.

The Big Bar Fire ignited sometime on the evening of Tuesday October 11th , 2022, on the east side of the Klamath River near the Big Bar access point off Highway 96.  This location is not accessible by any roads; however, motorists passing by the area witnessed flames several hundred yards from Highway 96 on the far side of the river and reported the fire to authorities.

Forest Service investigators continue to investigate to determine the person or people responsible. 

If anyone has any information, please contact Forest Service law enforcement at 530-627-3336.

It’s Medicare enrollment period and Humboldt County is now a target of both United Health and Western Health Advantage, a Sacramento-based, also for-profit insurance group. Between the two of them 14 upcoming “informational” meetings are planned in Fortuna, Eureka and McKinleyville to recruit seniors from traditional Medicare into a for-profit, “Medicare Advantage” plan. The plans offer low or no premiums and some help with dental, hearing and vision bills, even gym membership may be included.

But beware — Medicare “Advantage” is not traditional Medicare. These two groups are corporate health insurance companies that depend on profit to exist. This can put patient priority at risk. If you receive an invite from these groups, we recommend attending a meeting and cordially asking for details about accessibility and ultimate cost to taxpayers and traditional Medicare.

Read, for example: the opening paragraph in an April 29 New York Times article on MA: “Medicare Advantage Plans Often Deny Needed Care, Federal Report Finds”:

Every year, tens of thousands of people enrolled in private Medicare Advantage plans are denied necessary care that should be covered under the program, federal investigators concluded in a report published on Thursday.

And check out the recent, Oct. 8, NYT article, “‘The Cash Monster was Insatiable’: How Insurers Exploited Medicare for Billions,” by Ableson and Sanger-Katz. Notably, Medicare was fraudulently overbilled by MA some $34 billion in 2018-19, according to a former federal health policy researcher from UC San Diego.

This January, privatization and deconstruction of Traditional Medicare is proceeding rapidly with the onset of other, MA-inspired programs that exceed even MA’s adept plundering of the Medicare Trust Fund. The 15% that MA is allowed to keep for profit and overhead will be expanded to up to 40% by new, ACO-REACH (Accountable Care Org.-Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health) programs. These are not only for-profit health insurance companies, but can be investment banks, venture capitalists and anyone with the wherewithal to invest and cash in on our Medicare Trust Fund. Recall that traditional Medicare operates on a 2% overhead budget with no profit.

Please join us for more details on how to protect and improve our current Medicare program.

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Patty Harvey
Corinne Frugoni, M.D.

Co-Chairs, Humboldt Chapters, Health Care for All/Physicians for a National Health Program

healthcareforallhumboldt@gmail.com

Video: Stephen Bohner

They made it. And they rocked it.

Driving into Hoopa Valley on a clear and unseasonably warm morning on Wednesday, October 12, things seemed normal.

If you stopped at the overlook on Highway 96 and glanced down at the town, a smattering of buildings where 3,500 or so residents live and work alongside a stretch of the Trinity River, you would never guess that a legendary rock band that sold out Levi Stadium in San Francisco earlier this summer and played to a crowd of more than 50,000 people was scheduled to hold a concert there that evening.

Flea (bass), Anthony Kiedis (vocals), John Frusciante (guitar), who recently rejoined the band after a 10-year hiatus, and long-time drummer, Chad Smith came to Hoopa as promised, met with community members, then rocked the usually quiet valley.

The band took time out from their Global Stadium tour in between gigs in Austin, Texas to perform the concert in Hoopa. During the show, lead vocalist Anthony Kiedis said no matter what happened before or what’s to come, “This is my favorite show of the entire year, without a doubt! Without a doubt!”

Mattz Gymnasium, also known as the Warrior Dome, heated up like a sweat lodge when familiar songs such as “Snow” and “Soul to Squeeze“ rolled out and soon the entire crowd was arms up and starstruck. 

The band members, who are all pushing 60 except for Frusciante, moved around the stage like 20 something year-olds, like they could have been on their first tour only they wore more than socks this time. Their contagious energy lit up the young, middle and older-aged crowd. Older fans joined in singing the lyrics while newly minted fans lifted their faces to the stage awestruck.

During the performance, they left out all of the songs from the albums, “The Getaway” and “I’m with You”, which were produced when John Frusciante wasn’t a band member. They left out many of their 90’s era hits too, playing a set list that they enjoyed. During the familiars “Zephyr Song” and “Dani California” most of the crowd sang along with the band.

A crowd favorite was “Black Summer,” which was the first single on their April 2022 album “Unlimited Love.”

Throughout the show, Flea and Kiedis threw area-specific references into their conversation with the crowd. Ferndale and Hoopa’s long-standing rivalry, the Trinity Alps Wilderness and woodpeckers (a bird sacred to the Hupa) were mentioned on stage.

The Peppers closed up their hour-and-a-half show with their hit “Give it Away Now”.

Drummer Chad Smith threw dozens of autographed drumsticks to the crowd at the end of the show and said, “Thank you, guys. We love you so much. Thanks for having us. It’s been an honor and a privilege. We love you, be safe, bye!”

They exited stage right and even though the crowd shook the dome, the Peppers did not return for an encore.

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This story first appeared on the Two Rivers Tribune here.

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Above: Flea weighs in on high school sports.