On September 18, 2023, Loran Parker passed away at St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka with his loving son, sister-in-law and cousins by his side. Loran had been fighting health issues for several years and ultimately succumbed to those health issues.
Loran was born to Jacqueline and Harold ‘Jay’ Parker on November 19, 1956 in Eureka. Loran had five brothers and one sister, also born and raised in Eureka. Loren lived most of his life in Eureka and was married to Janet Porter on March 3, 1978.
Loran was initiated in to the Clampers in 1979, when a chapter was made in Eureka, and will be honored next month at their BBQ. Loran was a truck driver/ mechanic. In the 1980s he drove truck for Arcata Salvage, taking metal to Oakland and dropping it off. Then he started hauled logs here in Eureka for few years for Bear Logging. Then, in 1991, his kids Jackie and James were in a car accident. James broke his back and ended up in a wheelchair, so Loran stayed home and helped him and worked on cars for friends.
In 1999 he got sick was told had six months to live, but fought it for 24 years.
Loran is survived by three brothers and one sister — Donald Parker, Vernon Parker, Guy Parker and sister Linda Bullock-Clowers. He is also survived by one son and one daughter — James Parker (and Kelsey) and Jackie and Brad Raines, and his three grandchildren, Kyle Raines, Matthew Raines and James Raines of new Albany, Mississippi. Loran’s mother- and father-in-law also hailed from Eureka (Delores and Alfred Porter).
Loran’s celebration of life will be announced at a later date.
###
The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Loran Parker’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.
Daisy Mar, longtime resident of King City, passed away September 28, 2023 in McKinleyville. Born in 1926 to parents Young and Yip Shee Mar in Monterey, she lived in King City for 80 years. Daisy worked throughout her youth at Mar’s Cafe on Broadway in King City, the family-run business, leaving school at midday to work in the restaurant, helping to manage the lunch rush. After graduating from King City High School she continued to work in the family business until it closed, then worked as a tireless caregiver to her elders, siblings and youngsters over the years. She was a reliable and steady volunteer, including at the Red Cross, March of Dimes, and community events.
Daisy loved to socialize, and her laughter, wit, and charm were endearing to everyone she met. She was friendly, chatty and clever, and loved to tease. She knew everyone “downtown,” including their family members and often their extended family members. She was truly interested in people’s lives and their accomplishments, celebrating with them, and offering encouragement when needed. Many will miss those hours long “chat fests” in person or on the phone with Daisy.
Daisy loved babies and kids, and family was the most important thing in the world to her. She was known for cutting out newspaper articles, comic strips, and magazine recipes and mailing them to family members. Receiving a chubby envelope from her was like opening a gift on Christmas morning. She was an avid gardener and had a bountiful garden, from which she generously shared cutting and starts with her family and friends.
Daisy leaves numerous nieces and nephews and their families, including Valerie Green, also of McKinleyville. She was predeceased by brothers William, Ed, and Davis Mar and sisters Alice M. Mar and Clara Mar Senter.
A celebration of life will be held at 10 a.m., Saturday, November 18th, 2023 at Eddington Funeral Services in King City. Donations may be made to the Multiple Sclerosis Society or your favorite charity.
###
The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Daisy Mar’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.
Warning: Fish and Wildlife is advising confirmed mountain lion sighting at the Fortuna Sunrise Cemetery, 3315 Newburg Road in Fortuna.
Fish and Wildlife has requested this information be shared with the public and if there are any questions they can be directed to Ian Keith at the Fish and Wildlife Unit, (707) 445-6493.
On Wednesday, October 18th 2023 Fortuna Police received a report that Fortuna Middle School staff discovered
a written threat written on an exterior school wall threatening to “blow up the school on 10-19-23.”
Officers responded to the school and began working with school officials to investigate the threat.
A safety plan was put into place for school on today’s date, October 19th 2023. Fortuna Middle School
Administrators sent notice to parents, and officers conducted searches of the school campus throughout the
night and before school. Fortuna Police were present on campus before school and during the school day. In
addition, the school campus was secured and arriving students were searched prior to entering the school
grounds.
Throughout the school day, the Fortuna Police Department’s School Resource Officer and school staff
continued to investigate the identity of the student responsible for the written threat and they eventually
identified the culprit using CCTV footage. The student who wrote the threat on the school wall was taken into
custody by Fortuna Police after providing a confession to school administrators. The student was transported to
and booked at the Humboldt County Juvenile Hall. The student faces felony charges of section 422 of the
California Penal Code - Criminal Threats.
As a follow-up effort, officers conducted a search of the student’s residence and no further evidence was
located.
It should be noted, during the evening of October 18th 2023 after the schools parental notice was released, the
department received reports of the same threat being circulated through social media and students. During the
investigation it was determined that there was no evidence to suggest that the student arrested was responsible
for the social media portion of the threat. This determination was made as police confirmed that the arrested
student had no access to the proper electronic devices needed to spread such a threat.
The Fortuna Police Department is committed to public safety.
Arcata City Councilmembers (from left) Stacy Atkins-Salazar, Meredith Matthews, Sarah Schaefer and Alex Stillman (Kimberly White absent) | Screenshot from online meeting video
###
During its regular meeting on Wednesday night the Arcata City Council unanimously voted to oppose the controversial Cannabis Reform Initiative, or Measure A, a ballot measure aimed to impose stricter regulations on cannabis cultivation in unincorporated Humboldt County.
David Loya, Arcata’s community development director, began by giving a bit of background on the ballot initiative and explaining staff’s recommendation for the council to formally oppose it. Though the initiative would not affect the City of Arcata’s cannabis cultivation regulations, Loya said, he does believe that it would have “secondary effects, particularly on our manufacturing sector that we’ve worked to try to cultivate and keep together as cannabis has suffered many market shocks since it was first made legal. ”
The 38-page initiative, if passed, would dramatically restrict the size and number of permitted cannabis cultivation operations in the county, increase government oversight and add new rules for water storage, well-drilling, access roads, generators and more. Many local farmers and the Humboldt County Growers Alliance are adamantly opposed to the measure and even filed a legal challenge last week alleging that the proponents of the initiative, Mark Thurmond and Elizabeth Watson, “intentionally misled” the public while gathering signatures to place the initiative on ballot. Unless the suit is successful in getting the measure removed, it will appear on March 2024 ballots.
Several people, including local farmers, members of HCGA and local dispensary owners, urged the council to oppose the initiative, voicing concerns over the potential negative effects the initiative could have on our community, particularly small cannabis farmers who would be unfairly impacted.
“I think the crux of the issue for us is that this has been presented as an initiative that’s about restricting large-scale cultivation and that’s not true,” Ross Gordon, policy director for HCGA, said to the council during public comment. “The restrictions that are contained in these 38 pages are applicable – almost all of them – to farms of every single size within the county. “
Mark Thurmond, one of the initiative’s proponents, called into the meeting to ask the council members to wait to take a stance on the initiative until they had a chance to review it further. Thurmond defended the initiative, saying that the purpose of Measure A is to address environmental concerns, including the impacts of cannabis farms on our local watersheds and rivers.
“I think it’s important to bear in mind that a vote against Measure A would appear, at least for some, to be a vote against our environment, which might be considered a big poke in the eye for a couple thousand Arcata residents who signed the initiative,” Thurmond said to the council.
But the council wasn’t swayed by Thurmond’s plea and all four present councilmembers (Kimberly White was absent) agreed that they did not support the initiative, which they fear would negatively impact our local economy, unfairly impact small farms and be very difficult to amend if it were passed, since voter initiatives can only be amended through more voter initiatives.
“In my mind, and from what I’ve heard from farmers and members of this cannabis community, honestly, this [initiative] is gonna be the nail in the coffin for the cannabis industry in Humboldt County,’ Arcata Mayor Sarah Schaefer said during the meeting.
U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler made herself a lame duck a little more than two weeks into the job and solidified the contours of the U.S. Senate race in 2024.
The newly-appointed senator announced today she will not run for a full six-year term, avoiding an already crowded 2024 field that includes three fellow Democrats: U.S. Reps. Barbara Lee, Katie Porter and Adam Schiff.
“I’ve always believed elected leaders should have real clarity about why they’re in office and what they want to do with the responsibility and power they have,” she said in a statement. “I’ve spent the past 16 days pursuing my clarity — what kind of life I want to have, what kind of service I want to offer and what kind of voice I want to bring forward. After considering those questions I’ve decided not to run for Senate in the upcoming election.”
“Knowing you can win a campaign doesn’t always mean you should run a campaign.” Butler added. “I know this will be a surprise to many because traditionally we don’t see those who have power let it go. It may not be the decision people expected but it’s the right one for me. California voters want leaders who think about them and the issues they care most about. I now have 383 days to serve the people of California with every ounce of energy and effort that I have.”
While her decision might indeed come as a surprise to some, if Butler had decided to run, she would have also faced multiple challenges. She would have only had less than five months to assemble a competitive campaign before the March 5 primary and catch up in fundraising. As of Sept. 30, Schiff’s campaign had $32 million in the bank, whereas Porter had $12 million and Lee, $1.3 million.
Butler was also behind in name recognition, and some labor unions — which could have been a key ally to Butler — were already endorsing other candidates and were unlikely to change their minds. Schiff has received the most endorsements from statewide unions among all four Democrats, but several major labor organizations — such as the California Labor Federation, SEIU California and the California Teachers Association — have not decided yet.
“Nobody was looking for a fourth candidate,” said John Burton, former chairperson of the California Democratic Party. “It wasn’t like they were looking for another person to run in a weak field. It’s a very strong field.”
Her choice means that California voters will choose a new senator next year to serve out the final two months of the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s term from November to January, as well as who they want to serve the full six-year term.
Spokespersons for Democrats already in the race said they looked forward to continuing working with Butler.
“Senate Butler took on the enormous responsibility of filling an open Senate seat with grace, integrity, and a deep commitment to delivering for the people of California,” said a spokesperson for Lee, who pushed Gov. Gavin Newsom to appoint her instead.
Butler, 44, grew up in Magnolia, Mississippi, and graduated from historically Black Jackson State University. She currently resides in Maryland, but re-registered to vote in California after Newsom tapped her on Oct. 1 to replace Feinstein. Butler made history as the first Black, openly LGBTQ person to serve in the Senate.
Butler was a longtime leader in the labor movement in California, serving as the president of the Service Employees International Union Local 2015 — a union representing long term caregivers in the state. She also led the SEIU State Council, the political coordination arm of the union. She was also the president of EMILY’s List, a national fundraising machine supporting female Democrats running for office.
She is known for representing both corporations and unions. In 2015, she successfully brokered a deal with then-Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers to raise California’s minimum wage to $15 an hour — the highest in the nation at the time. But she also advised Uber in 2019 as the company fought against legislation to allow independent gig workers to be counted as employees.
Butler’s bid could have further split Democratic votes in the primary and boosted the likelihood of a Republican candidate emerging from California’s top-two primary, although the chance would have been slim, said Thad Kousser, professor of political science at the University of California San Diego.
Butler’s run could have also further splintered Black votes as well as labor union support, political experts say. It would have given voters who want to see a Black woman in the Senate a second option — a potential setback for Lee’s campaign, said Wesley Hussey, professor of political science at the California State University, Sacramento.
The Republican field is far less crowded. Former Dodgers star Steve Garvey announced Oct. 10 he is joining the race, and a poll last month put him ahead of Attorney Eric Early and Coast Guard veteran James Bradley.
If a Republican makes the November ballot, Kousser said it could “change the game.” Democrats could be more relentless in attacking their fellow Democrats during the primary campaign without worrying about losing those voters for the general election, since a Democrat would almost certainly win against a Republican in November, Kousser said.
###
CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.
Eureka business owner and “Housing for All” initiative proponent Mike Munson. | Screenshot.
###
On Tuesday night, the Eureka City Council unanimously opted to submit the pro-parking lot “Housing for All and Downtown Vitality” initiative to voters at the next municipal election, which, despite claims to the contrary by the initiative’s backers, is scheduled for November 5, 2024, not March 5, the date of the next statewide primary.
The only other option available to the council, per the rules of qualified citizen initiatives, would have been to adopt the measure then and there, during the meeting, and no one on the council was inclined to do so.
Earlier on Tuesday, proponents of the initiative Mike Munson and Michelle Costantine-Blackwell had filed the latest in a series of lawsuits against the city, this one alleging that the Eureka personnel were “improperly” trying to postpone the measure’s appearance on ballots by five months. In an apparent misreading of the state Elections Code, they argued that the city was obligated to place the initiative on the next statewide general election, rather than the next municipal election.
Munson and Costantine-Blackwell also allege that city staff should have placed their ballot initiative on the agenda for the previous city council meeting, on October 3, though Assistant City Manager Pam Powell said that the October 3 agenda had already been published and publicly notified by the time staff received the necessary verification from the county Elections Office.
At any rate, the conversation about this measure began with such calendar quibbles. During the public comment period, Munson asked the council to adopt the initiative itself or place it on the March primary ballot.
”Downtown business owners have been attending public and city council meetings for many years to express our concerns about removing the parking spaces that are vital to our businesses … ,” he said. “You have continued to ignore the requests to work on a better plan, and so you’ve left us with no choice but to let the voters of Eureka decide this. We support housing downtown but not to the detriment of the businesses.”
Fellow downtown business owners Linden Tyler Glavich and Roy Gomez also spoke in favor of retaining the parking lots, as did Kenny Carswell, an employee of Security National Properties speaking on behalf of the company, which has supplied funding for the “Housing for All” initiative.
Caroline Griffith, director of the Northcoast Environmental Center (NEC), spoke in support of the city’s plans to build affordable infill housing in Old Town in downtown and said the initiative contains false and misleading information.
“Specifically, I’m talking about the misleading information about the [former] Jacobs campus and the assumption that simply rezoning that site will result in housing being built,” Griffith said, referring to property at the south end of the city owned by Eureka City Schools, which has been negotiating a sale to the California Highway Patrol.
She also noted that people who’d be eligible for the proposed low-income housing on city-owned lots include grocery store clerks, city maintenance workers, health care professionals and even some employees at Security National, where a few current job listings start at $18 per hour.
“[A]nd they wouldn’t even need to worry about parking because they would live so close to work,” she quipped.
Speaking via Zoom, Costantine defended the initiative, describing it as “pro-housing” and criticizing members of the council for spreading alleged misinformation.
“The initiative allows the city voters to decide where housing developments should be built and if parking [capacity] should be reduced, maintained or increased,” Cosstantine said. “Our voters should make these decisions based on current and verified information, not flawed parking studies and the threat of not meeting the RHNA [Regional Housing Needs Allocation] criteria established for Eureka.”
Following the public comment period, Councilmember Leslie Castellano said that the initiative, if passed, could create “some serious problems for the city” by compromising its compliance with state law, costing taxpayers money and jeopardizing millions of dollars in grant funds.
“And so, you know, I definitely support continued education and access to public process around this issue so that we can really ensure that people have a deep understanding of what they’re voting on,” Castellano said.
Fellow councilmembers Renee Contreras-DeLoach and Scott Bauer said they wouldn’t be comfortable passing an initiative signed by only about five to 10 percent of the city’s residents, so they advocated putting it on the ballot.
Councilmember Kati Moulton said, “I really wish this ordinance did what it says it wants to do and made housing more accessible in the city of Eureka. I wish that that was true. If we could just vote to make housing appear on the Jacobs campus, as the representative of the Second Ward I would really like that, but that is simply not an option no matter what this ordinance says.”
The vote to send the measure to voters next November was unanimous.
