WHAT WOULD IT DO?

Prop. 26 would allow tribal casinos and the state’s four horse race tracks to offer in-person sports betting. At race tracks, sports betting could only be offered to people 21 or older. Age restrictions on sports betting at tribal casinos would need to be negotiated by California’s governor and each tribe, and written into each tribe’s compact with the state.

The proposition would also allow tribal casinos to begin offering roulette and dice games, including craps.

It taxes sports bets placed at horse race tracks. It doesn’t tax tribes, which are sovereign nations, but it requires tribes to reimburse the state for the cost of regulating sports betting.

The proposition also creates a new way of enforcing some gaming laws, allowing anyone to bring a lawsuit if they believe the laws are being violated and the state Justice Department declines to act. Any penalty and settlement money that results would go to the state.

State analysts say the proposition could generate as much as tens of millions annually for the state. It’s difficult to know the exact amount for a few reasons. New tribal-state compacts might require tribes to pay more to local governments, for example, and it’s unclear how much money will result from the new private lawsuits. The revenue would first be spent on education spending commitments and regulatory costs. If there’s any money left over, it would go to the state’s discretionary fund, as well as to problem gaming and mental health research, and the enforcement of gaming rules.

WHY IS IT ON THE BALLOT?

Tribes have long had the exclusive right to offer certain forms of gambling in California, including slot machines and certain card games, such as 21 and baccarat. But sports betting — besides horse racing — isn’t legal in California currently.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could legalize sports betting in 2018, 35 states plus Washington D.C. have made the leap. In California, lawmakers tried to negotiate a deal on sports betting in 2020, but weren’t able to work it out in time to get a measure on the ballot.

Elsewhere it’s proven popular — and lucrative. Americans bet more than $57 billion on sports in 2021. The massive expansion has also concerned advocates, who say that gambling addiction will increase, and that research into the long-term effects of legalizing sports betting has fallen short.

Two different sports betting measures made it onto the ballot for the 2022 election. Prop. 27 would allow online sports betting across the state, while Prop. 26 would allow in-person sports betting only at tribal casinos and horse race tracks. If both pass, both could go into effect, but in all likelihood a court would decide.

ARGUMENTS FOR:

Supporters argue it will increase tribal self-sufficiency by bringing more business to tribal casinos. Tribal casinos create jobs, and help tribes pay for services like health care and education. Supporters also say it will protect against underage gambling by requiring people to be physically present to make bets, and by prohibiting advertising to people under 21. They also say it will also generate money for the state of California.

Supporters

• Yes on 26 committee
• 27 tribes and tribal organizations, led by tribes with casinos including Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, Pechanga Band of Indians, Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation
• NAACP, California-Hawaii state conference
• Labor leader Dolores Huerta, and Communications Workers of America
• Lieutenant Gov. Eleni Kounalakis
• Treasurer Fiona Ma
• California Young Democrats, and many local Democratic committees
• California District Attorneys Association

ARGUMENTS AGAINST:

Opponents argue the new gaming law enforcement mechanism will be used by tribal casinos to sue competing card rooms and drive card rooms out of business. If that happens, they argue, it will lead to lost jobs and tax revenue, often in communities of color. Some casinos allow 18 year olds to gamble, so opponents argue the initiative could lead young people to develop gambling addictions. They also argue it will revive the shrinking horse racing industry, which they say endangers horses.

Opponents

• No on 26 committee
• Cities including Clovis, Commerce, Compton, and Huntington Park
• California Republican Party
• American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees California
• Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals chapters and local humane societies
• California Black Chamber of Commerce and California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Born in January 26, 1994 in Kingman, Arizona to Marlene Fowler and Keith White, Tyler James White was a super-loving and caring father/man.

Tyler’s favorite things to do were work for Beacom, watch “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” work on vehicles with his wife, do his woodworking and spend time with his family.

A very hardworking employee of Beacom Construction in Fortuna for seven years. Super-shy when you’d first meet him but when you got to know him Tyler was a funny character.

Tyler is survived by his mother, Marlene White; his brother and his brother’s wife, Ryan and Natasha White and their children Ambroze Robert Lee White and Jade Pearl White; his wife, Olivia White; the mother of his children, Skye Davison; his three children Azaria Davison, Lyla Everly Lynn White and Granger Keith White. He was preceded in death by his father, Robert Keith White, and his sister, Kristina White.

His celebration of life is pending. All his friends and family being able to make it to Humboldt County. For more information please contact his wife, Olivia White tealolivia015@gmail.com.

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

Lora Carswell passed away in her home September 27, 2022. 

Lora was born February 22, 1935 to Roy and Viola Hemphill in Wallace, Idaho. She moved to Spokane, Washington in 1942 where she lived until 1955 when she married the love of her life Bill Carswell. After she married, they moved to Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada. 

They took a giant leap of faith and moved to McKinleyville in 1965. They then moved to Eureka where they raised their two boys.  They then moved to Sonora and then back to Eureka for a short time before moving to Burney. From there they moved to Myrtle Creek, Oregon, then retired and settled in Port Angeles, Washington. With her husband’s line of work they lived in a lot of places.

 Lora was very active in Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts with both of her sons. She was a den mother for both. She said “I sewed a lot of patches and badges” with both boys going all the way through Boy Scouts. She also spent a lot of cold Humboldt County days and nights in the stands watching her sons play a variety of sports, from Pee Wee sports to high school sports.

Lora worked at the unemployment office with her good friend Shirley Moore.  They were such good friends that they took an unforgettable cruise to Alaska in their later years. Lora was an avid gardener. She loved her flowers. In Lora’s later years she began following the Seattle Mariners. She would have the game on while doing things around the house. When she didn’t have that on,  she loved to play her Christmas music year round, much to her son Roy’s chagrin. She also didn’t mind taking money from him when they played cribbage.

Lora is preceded in death by her parents Roy and Viola Hemphill, her husband Bill Carswell and her oldest son Ron Carswell.  She is survived by her sister Joan Fager, son Roy (Nancy) Carswell, daughter in law (Verla), and grandsons Joe, Tyler, Kenny and Bryan Carswell.

Lora was a loving wife, mother, sister and grandmother.  She will be greatly missed by everyone that knew her.  A celebration of life will be held at a later date in Eureka.

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

PREVIOUSLY: Arcata High on ‘Modified Lockdown’ This Afternoon, After Discovery of Threats Posted to Instagram

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Arcata Police Department release: 

On Wednesday, October 5, 2022, at approximately 11:00am, the Arcata Police Department responded to Arcata High School to investigate school threats posted to social media. School staff and investigators identified a 14-year-old Arcata High student as the subject who posted the threat. APD took the juvenile into custody, off-campus, without incident. He was booked into the Humboldt County Juvenile Hall for a violation of Penal Code section 422-Criminal Threats.

The Arcata Police Department would like to thank Arcata High School staff, the FBI Fortuna Field Office, and the Fortuna Police Department for their assistance in bringing this incident to a successful resolution.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation, or any known school threats, is encouraged to contact the Arcata Police Department’s Investigations Division, at 707-822-2424, or the law-enforcement agency of jurisdiction where the threat is occurring.     

PREVIOUSLY:

• Arcata City Council to Discuss Big Water/Sewer Rate Hikes, Coronavirus-Related Grant Applications and Oh So Much More Tonight
• TONIGHT at ARCATA CITY COUNCIL: Council to Review Request for ‘Gateway Plan Advisory Committee’, Receive Update on Wastewater Treatment Plant
• Coastal Commission OKs Critical Improvements to Keep Arcata’s Wastewater Treatment Facility Up and Running; Staff Have Five Years to Develop Long-Term Strategies to Address Sea-Level Rise

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After years of discussing and planning for upgrades to Arcata’s Wastewater Treatment Facility – the part of the Arcata Marsh that treats the city’s wastewater before pumping it into the nearby wetlands – the City is finally ready to begin Phase 1 of the improvement project. The Arcata City Council will consider awarding a $54,584,700 construction contract to Wahlund Construction, Inc., for competition of the first phase of upgrades during tonight’s council meeting. 

The treatment facility is badly in need of these upgrades. The infrastructure is old, parts of it are failing and Arcata has been cited multiple times by the Regional Water Quality Control Board for failing to comply with state-mandated discharge requirements. On top of that, sea level rise is a looming threat to the facility.

Phase 1 of the improvement plan includes a long list of upgrades, just to keep the facility up and running and bring it into compliance with state requirements. A few of the major upgrades include replacing the current chlorine disinfection system with an ultra-violet disinfection system, laying a new discharge pipe into the brackish marsh and construction of a new electrical building. Plans also include raising the levees to meet FEMA and City requirements to plan for sea level rise. 

Map of the treatment facilities from the City of Arcata

The City received two bids for construction – one from Wahlund Construction, and the other from North Coast Constructors. Staff recommends going with Wahlund Construction, which estimated the total cost of construction at $51,495,000. As part of tonight’s discussion, the Arcata Council will be asked to approve increasing the contract amount to  $54,584,700, to cover unforeseen costs and additional work that may be necessary. The costs would be covered by a combination of state grant funding reimbursement and city sewer funds. 

If the contract is awarded tonight, construction could begin as soon as Oct. 24, the staff report says, and would be complete in about three years. 

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Prior to the wastewater treatment facility discussion, the council will open a public hearing to receive comments on the community’s unmet transit needs. The hearing is part of HCAOG’s annual unmet transit needs assessment, during which the agency tries to gather as much public feedback as it can and determines how to distribute Transportation Development Act (TDA) funds to help improve our local public transit services. 

So, if you have complaints about our public transportation system, now is the time to share them! If you can’t make it to tonight’s hearing, there will be several other meetings over the next month or so. You can see a full list here. You can also submit comments by emailing stephen.luther@hcaog.net or calling 707-444-8208. Or you can fill out this online survey. Comments must be submitted by Dec. 31. 

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The Arcata City Council meets tonight (Wednesday, Oct. 5) at 6 p.m. at Arcata City Hall – 736 F Street. You can view the full agenda and directions on how to participate here.

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Garberville business owners appeared before the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to “sound the alarm” over a precipitous decline in revenues, a drop they attributed to existential struggles in the region’s renowned cannabis industry.

“I personally have seen a 40 percent drop in sales year-to-date,” said Jolan Banyasz, owner of Garberville clothing store Sweet Grass Boutique. “This last month, September, I saw a 60 percent decrease in sales. I cannot operate at these losses.”

Banyasz recently had to let go a seven-year employee who has since been unable to find another job in the area.

“Across the board, every single business is not really hiring because nobody is thriving,” she said. Banyasz added that she’s heard from other local business owners who are hanging on by a thread, paying bills out of their savings.

She was followed at the podium by Charlotte Silverstein, who has owned and operated the Garberville bead store Garden of Beadin’ for the past 38 years. Silverstein said that mail-order transactions are keeping her business alive, but her revenues are still down 20 percent this year and the whole town is suffering.

“I’ve moved recently and so I’m on street level, and people say, ‘How do you like your new spot?’ Well,” she said, “I love the spot, but then I get to see what goes on in Garberville, which is a lot of vagrants and a lot of poor people. I feel like for years since legalization, before the supervisors made the price of permits so expensive, it put a lot of people into into bankruptcy. So now everybody’s either leaving or they’re broke.”

Reached by phone on Wednesday, Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell said she agrees with the women who spoke and sympathizes as a fellow Garberville business owner.

“I own the largest clothing store down there,” she said, referring to The Bootleg, “and my business, for eight months, has been in a decline.” Sales have dropped by about 45 percent she said, the worst decline in the business’s 41-year history.

Bushnell bought the business in 2011, and she said the first time she noticed a big decline in sales was in 2016 and 2017, a period flanking the passage of Prop. 64, which legalized recreational cannabis. That caused a lot of anxiety among local growers, impacting the county’s economy.

“But then it bounced back,” Bushnell said. “[However], in the last eight months it’s been terrible. I normally employ seven full-time people. Right now I’ve had to cut down to two … plus [one who works] four hours on a Sunday.”

Both Banyasz and Silverstein mentioned the recent revelation from Pacific Gas and Electric that it has nearly reached the limits of its ability to transmit electricity across Southern Humboldt, with transmission lines and substations in need of some $900 million-worth of upgrades.

“[T]hat’s going to severely affect any development in our community, along with the issues that we have in the water districts with antiquated infrastructure,” Banyasz said. 

Silverstein echoed those concerns. “You know, you guys are all happy with what’s happening up north in Arcata,” she said. “You got Cal Poly, but here in Southern Humboldt, we’re the place where people come to first and it’s gonna look like a ghost town. How are you going to help us support this and fix it?”

Bushnell said she has spoken about these issues with the county’s economic development director, Scott Adair, as well as County Administrative Officer Elishia Hayes.

“We need to bump up tourism,” she said. “Cannabis, it’s in the toilet. It’s terrible. There’s panic across the board. But we need curb appeal. We really need to sell [SoHum] as the gateway to Humboldt County.”

Standing at the podium on Tuesday, Banyasz told the board that she grew up in the community and would love to stay. But at the moment she doesn’t know if she’ll even be in business by the beginning of next year, and she fears that other storefronts will become empty, too, leaving the gateway to Humboldt County “barren.”

“I want to see it thriving,” she said. “I want to see our community members being able to support our businesses. I’m not seeing any economic opportunities now that the cannabis industry industry is collapsing.”

Bushnell said she plans to bring Adair down to speak with local business owners so at least they know the county is paying attention.

Below is video of Tuesday’s meeting queued up to time when Banyasz speaks. She’s followed by Silverstein.

Arcata High School is on “modified lockdown” this afternoon, after administrators discovered a threatening message posted to Instagram.

There is a strong police presence at the school, administrators say, and the incident is being investigated.

The following message was just sent to parents with children on the Arcata High campus:

Dear AHS, Six Rivers, and Pacific Coast Parents and Guardians, We apologize for the late notice as this is a rapidly developing situation.  Recently we were informed of an anonymous threat posted to an Instagram account that is followed by many AHS students.  This threat included a countdown to “not come to school,” with the countdown zeroing out at 1:30 PM today. 

We have been working closely with APD and there is a strong police presence on campus.  When students return from lunch, we will be on a modified lockdown for the last block of the day (modified lockdown is doors locked, curtains shut, and students being escorted one at a time by admin if they need to use the restroom); however, we understand if you prefer to pick up your student early — we just ask that you call in their absence to the office so that we know who went home (leave a message if needed). 

We will update you as more information becomes available.

Sincerely, Roger Macdonald