PREVIOUSLY: 

• Local Weed Growers With Emerald Family Farms are Embracing Legitimacy and Taxation
• Once Poster Boys for Legal Weed in Humboldt, Emerald Family Farms is Being Sold for Parts

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Beware, all you moms and pops in the hills. The big money is coming to town.

In a press release issued this morning, the financial firm Pelorus Capital Group, which offers loans to folks the cannabis industry, announced that it has entered into a Managed Service Agreement with the publicly traded, vertically integrated StateHouse Holdings Inc. — owners of brands such as Smokies, urbn leaf and Kingpin and operators of Harborside dispensaries, among others — to operate cultivation facilities here in Humboldt County.

According to a story published last week on the financial website Benzinga, the facilities include “a 150,000 square foot greenhouse production facility with an additional acre of field production, in addition to nursery licenses that are split between two facilities, including a 1,500 square foot tissue culture laboratory.”

Today’s press release offers slightly different figures, saying StateHouse will complete “an expansive 118,000 square foot greenhouse production facility and plant tissue culture lab” before “commercializing and scaling production” through its own “full range of services including human resources, legal and compliance, post-harvest production and processing, contract manufacturing, distribution and safety management.”

That’s a lot.

We can’t be certain, but it would stand to reason that these are the same facilities that once belonged to Emerald Family Farms, a group of local boys who fell on hard times and defaulted on an $18 million loan from Pelorus, having put virtually all of their assets up as collateral. Those assets were auctioned off at the county courthouse in April.

Here’s the press release from Pelorus:

Pelorus Capital Group (“Pelorus” or “the Company”), the leading provider of commercial real estate loans for the cannabis sector, announced today that it has entered into a Managed Service Agreement (the “Agreement”) with StateHouse Holdings Inc. (“StateHouse”) (CSE: STHZ) (OTCQX: STHZF), a California-focused, vertically integrated cannabis enterprise to construct and manage the operations at the Company’s cannabis cultivation asset located in Humboldt County, (collectively, the “Humboldt Facilities”).

The first phase of construction at the Humboldt Facilities will include the completion of an expansive 118,000 square foot greenhouse production facility and plant tissue culture lab. Under the terms of the Agreement, StateHouse will assist in finalizing construction of the Humboldt Facilities in addition to commercializing and scaling production through the implementation of its full range of services including human resources, legal and compliance, post-harvest production and processing, contract manufacturing, distribution and safety management.

“Commercializing and scaling up these operations is the first step in stabilizing this previously inactive site and driving strong yields for our investors,” said Travis Goad, Pelorus Capital Group. “Statehouse is one of the largest vertically integrated platforms in California and they are uniquely positioned with the cultivation expertise, operational knowledge, and distribution capabilities to help us generate maximum value from this site. We are excited to partner with a seasoned operator and existing Pelorus borrower to turn around a distressed asset, build a new source of sustainable revenue, and future real estate value.”

About Pelorus Capital Group

Pelorus Capital Group (“Pelorus”), the leading provider of commercial real estate loans for the cannabis sector, and its Pelorus Fund, a private mortgage real estate investment trust (“mREIT”), are changing the commercial real estate lending landscape in the cannabis sector. Pelorus Fund offers a range of innovative transactional solutions to address the diverse needs of real estate investors and portfolio managers, and its flexible acquisition and bridge lending programs are the direct result of the firm’s involvement in more than 5,000 transactions of varying size and complexity. Since 1991, Pelorus’ principals quickly understand an opportunity, structure a logical solution, execute a timely close and have participated in more than $5B of real estate investment transactions using both debt and equity solutions. To date, Pelorus has completed 70+ commercial real-estate loan transactions and deployed more than $500+ million to cannabis businesses and real estate owners, comprising nearly 4,200,000 sq. ft. in eight states across the U.S. With the ability to fund approved construction draws for reimbursement with a single agreement covering the financing of the entire project, the Pelorus Fund helps to stabilize cash flow for its clients, so they are able to remain focused on their core business goals and objectives. For more information, visit https://pelorusequitygroup.com/.

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A little over a year ago, the Outpost posed a question to our readers: Who has proven that they are worthy of running Eureka’s first rooftop restaurant and bar space? Well, folks, we finally have an answer.

Local restaurateur and sushi chef Joe Tan plans to open a sushi and sake bar in the brand new space at Second and E Streets in Old Town Eureka by the end of this year.

“It’s really exciting,” Tan told this Outpost during a recent phone interview. “It’s going to be a rooftop restaurant – the first one in Humboldt – and the view up there is awesome. It’ll be nice being back in Old Town and along the waterfront. I’ve missed it.”

For years, Tan managed the kitchen and helmed the sushi bar at Bayfront Restaurant in Eureka before partnering with the restaurant’s co-owner, Jack Wu, to open Nori in Arcata. Just last year, Tan opened his second restaurant, Curry Leaf, a Malaysian-Chinese restaurant at the north end of Eureka. 

The soon-to-be rooftop restaurant, which has yet to be named, will have a similar vibe to Nori, Tan said. The menu will feature “all different kinds of sushi,” including nigiri, sashimi, specialty rolls, ramen and a wide selection of sakes. 

“We have a lot of competition here,” Tan said, referring to Bayfront and Sushi Spot, which opened its Eureka location a little over a year ago. “But people love sushi! I think people are really going to enjoy it – especially with the view.”

Tan hopes to open the new restaurant in the coming months, hopefully by the end of November. 

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PREVIOUSLY:

• Who Says Eureka’s Not Hip Enough for a Rooftop Bar? A New Multi-Story Building is Slated for Old Town
• Who Has Proven That They Are Worthy of Running Eureka’s First Rooftop Restaurant/Bar Space?

Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

Nathan Rhodes Russell Booking Photo | Humboldt County Correctional Facility

On Aug. 28, 2023, at about 7:24 p.m., a Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputy on patrol in the area of School Road in McKinleyville attempted a traffic stop for a vehicle code violation. The vehicle failed to yield, and a pursuit ensued.

The deputy pursued the vehicle onto Highway 101 for approximately three miles, with the pursuit coming to an end at a business on the 5000 block of Valley West Boulevard in Arcata. The driver of the vehicle, 52-year-old Nathan Rhodes Russell, was taken into custody without further incident.

Officers with the Arcata Police Department arrived to assist and conducted a DUI investigation. Officers determined Russell to be over the legal Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) limit.

Russell was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on charges of flight from a traffic officer (VC 2800.1(a)), driving without a license (VC 12500(a)), driving with expired registration (VC 4000(a)(1)), driving under the influence of alcohol (VC 23152(a) & (b)). 

The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the Arcata Police Department for their assistance with this investigation.

Anyone with information about this case or related criminal activity is encouraged to call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251 or the Sheriff’s Office Crime Tip line at (707) 268-2539.

Psychedelics are having a moment. A nationwide push to bring magic mushrooms and other psychedelics into the mainstream is gaining traction, and some Californians want in.

While hallucinogens are often associated with the drug culture of the 1960s, today’s movement on psychedelics is largely about using them to help treat the nations’ ballooning mental health crisis. Growing research portrays the drugs as a promising tool in helping people heal from various mental illnesses, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Now several proposals floating around in California seek to make psychedelics more accessible for therapeutic and personal use. These include one legislative proposal that would decriminalize use of certain natural hallucinogens and two pending initiatives for next year’s ballot, one that would legalize the use and sale of psilocybin mushrooms and a second that would fund a $5 billion agency to research and develop psychedelic therapies.

One recent UC Berkeley survey offers a glimpse of where the public currently stands on these types of reforms. For example, more than 60% of those surveyed supported psychedelics for therapeutic use. Seventy eight percent supported making it easier for researchers to further study psychedelics. Meanwhile, 49% said they supported removing criminal penalties for personal use.

Some researchers, doctors and parents urge caution around personal use because psychedelics aren’t for everyone and potential risks are still not all that well understood. Use of these substances should be done with safeguards in place, they say.

The bill to decriminalize plant-based psychedelics faces a key test this week at a hearing that could determine whether it moves forward this year. Senate Bill 58, by Sen. Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat, would ensure that people do not get arrested for possessing and ingesting specified quantities of psilocybin and psilocin, the psychoactive ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms; mescaline, found in peyote; or ibogaine and dimethyltryptamine, or DMT.

The bill does not, however, legalize the sale of any of these substances.“A huge number of people right now in California are using psychedelics, despite the fact that it is banned,” Wiener said during an Assembly Health Committee hearing last month.

Decriminalizing these substances, he argued, promotes responsible use. “If you think you’re doing something wrong, you’re less likely to seek information or talk to someone about how to be safe,” he said.

His bill would also order the state’s health agency to form a workgroup that would make recommendations regarding supervised medical use of these psychedelics — although any psychedelic-assisted therapies first need approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

This is the second time Wiener has tried to decriminalize psychedelics; the first failed last year. This time around his bill is more narrow in that it excludes synthetic psychedelics, such as LSD.

If Wiener’s bill makes it through the Legislature and across the governor’s desk, California would follow Oregon and Colorado, where voters have already decriminalized psychedelics. Some cities in the Golden State are a step ahead — Oakland, San Francisco, Santa Cruz and most recently Berkeley, have already passed measures that order law enforcement to back off arresting people for using plant-based psychedelics.

Benefits and risks of psychedelics

Supporters of decriminalization point to promising data about some psychedelic-assisted therapies now in end stages of clinical trials, such as the use of MDMA (commonly known as ecstasy) to treat symptoms in patients with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Additionally, psilocybin, found in hallucinogenic mushrooms, is being studied for treating depression. For example, early data from The Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, has shown that psilocybin therapy can reduce major depressive disorder symptoms for up to a year.

Wiener has taken combat veterans and retired first responders to testify before the Legislature about their “transformational” experiences using psychedelics to help relieve suicidal thoughts and PTSD symptoms.

According to the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department, about 6% of the U.S population will have PTSD at some point in their lives. About 1 in 5 adults live with a mental illness, according to some national estimates.

Researchers believe public attention on the worsening mental health crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic may also play a role in this renewed interest in psychedelics.

“Suddenly you’ve got this discussion about mental health issues in a way that, at least in American culture, we really hadn’t been discussing,” said Jennifer Mitchell, a neurology professor at the University of California, San Francisco who has been working on the development of psychedelic therapies and collecting safety data.

Mitchell opposes Wiener’s decriminalization bill because she believes access to psychedelics for therapeutic use should come before personal use.

“If you take a drug and think you can fly, you’re capable of self harm. If you take a drug and think you can breathe underwater, you are capable of self harm.”
— Jennifer Mitchell, UCSF neurology professor

Currently, psychedelics are only allowed for clinical research. If and once therapies are approved by the FDA, those lessons, she argues, could then help inform safety guidelines for personal access.

“[Psychedelics] are actually exceedingly safe physiologically; psychologically, is where we get into trouble,” Mitchell said. “Because if you take a drug and think you can fly, you’re capable of self harm. If you take a drug and think you can breathe underwater, you are capable of self harm. And those are the types of reasons why when you take a psychedelic, we want you to be in a facilitated environment where you’re being watched and well maintained.”

A California mother’s campaign

One powerful voice opposing Wiener’s bill is a coalition led by mothers who have lost a child to an adverse reaction after ingesting psychedelics. Kristin Nash, for one, has widely shared the story of her son who died 21 months before his college graduation. In blogs and Op-Eds, Nash has shared that in 2020, Will took two grams of psilocybin mushrooms and in his altered state mistook a jar of protein powder for a water jug and suffocated.

Nash now runs a foundation named after son, William, through which she works to raise awareness and advocates for harm reduction efforts, such as better tracking of adverse reactions and training for college campus responders. Nash said she is not against allowing veterans and others to use these substances for treatment, but she’d like to see Wiener’s bill amended so it includes safety measures for personal use.

Nash, who also has a background in public health and most recently worked at an AIDS nonprofit, is a participating author in a Stanford-led study (yet to be peer reviewed), that showed emergency room visits in California linked to hallucinogens jumped 84% from 2,260 in 2016 to 4,161 in 2021. But that data includes a spectrum of substances, from plant-based psychedelics to MDMA and ketamine. Authors note that currently data is collected in a way that makes it difficult to comb for specific substances.

“I don’t believe people should be arrested for possessing and using mushrooms,” Nash told CalMatters. “These are being used whether we legalize them or not. And so I would argue that we need these safeguards. When we make this policy shift, we know that use will increase further, that adverse events will increase further, and so I feel like we don’t have to choose between social justice, equitable access and safety, we can do all of those things.”

Mushrooms on the ballot

California voters may hear more about psychedelics next year even if Wiener’s bill fails as advocacy groups attempt to qualify ballot initiatives for the November 2024 election.

One group, Decriminalize California, is looking to legalize hallucinogenic mushrooms. Its proposal goes further than Wiener’s bill by legalizing not only possession, but also the sale and commercialization of these substances. If approved by voters the measure would go into effect in January 2025.

“Originally we wanted to go for all psychedelics, but the problem was there wasn’t enough public comprehension about what else was out there,” said Ryan Munevar, campaign director at Decriminalize California. Noting that voters are a lot more familiar and likely more comfortable with magic mushrooms than any other psychedelic drug.

A separate measure would ask voters to approve $5 billion in bonds to create a government agency that would focus on psychedelic research with the goal of developing therapeutics. The idea, according to proponents, is to dedicate more resources to research that shows promise but has for long been underfunded.

Dr. Jeannie Fontana, the chief executive officer of TREAT California, who is spearheading this initiative, said California’s lead on innovation makes it the ideal location for this type of research. TREAT stands for Treatments, Research, Education, Access and Therapies.

“The federal government is not there yet. They recognize the problem, but they just don’t know how to deal with this psychedelic hangover from the ‘60s and ‘70s,” Fontana said. “California is a progressive citizenry. We are innovators and leaders in many things.”

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CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

Travis Michael Jones was born May 23, 1983, at General Hospital in Eureka as the eldest son of three boys to Michael and Nanette Jones. Travis passed away at Enloe Medical Center in Chico on June 26, 2023, with his mother and two younger brothers by his side. A lifelong Humboldt County resident, growing up in Arcata and living in McKinleyville for the last two decades, Travis loved nothing more than spending time with his family and playing or watching sports. As a youth, Travis fell in love with sports. He had a competitive spirit that drove him to spend countless hours on the baseball field or more likely, shooting buckets on the basketball hoop in the driveway until the sun went down. Travis’ favorite teams were the Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco Giants. He relished in the torture of watching the Vikings each and every Sunday alongside his father, grandfather, uncle and brothers.

Beyond sports, Travis loved the outdoors. When he was 8 years old, his parents bought a boat and began spending every weekend of every summer camping at Wyntoon Resort at Trinity Lake. He and his brothers spent many hours riding bikes, listening to their parents’ stories around the campfire and fostering a love for the lake that would last their entire lives. Whether it was early morning fishing with his Dad, backpacking trips into the Trinity Alps or snow skiing trips to Mt. Shasta and Mt. Bachelor, Travis was happiest when spending time outdoors with the ones he loved.

Travis went to Pacific Union Elementary from Kindergarten through eighth grade and graduated from Arcata High School in 2001. During high school he started a job where many Humboldt County residents would come to know and love Travis. He began working at Murphy’s Westwood Market. At 17, he started at the grocery store part time to help fund the sound system in his Nissan and his desire to upgrade to a Ford Mustang ASAP. Little did he know he’d spend the next 23 years developing friendships and making memories at the five different Murphy’s locations across the northern county. If you’ve shopped at any of the Murphy’s locations in the last two decades, chances are you’ve seen or met Travis hustling around the store. Whether a customer, a fellow employee or a distributor, Travis had a knack for making friends and earning people’s respect. People truly loved working with Travis and shopping at his stores. As a store manager, he took pride in his work and his ability to be a man of the people. He will be missed greatly by those that worked alongside him.

Along the way, Travis started a family of his own, having a daughter, Harper and son Wyatt. Both Harper and Wyatt were the apples of his eye, and he loved nothing more than spending time with them. Travis and their mother passed along their love for camping and the outdoors to the kids and have continued the tradition of camping at Trinity Lake every summer. Travis also enjoyed taking the kids and their yellow lab, Ace to the beach on sunny afternoons. Mostly, he loved cheering Harper and Wyatt on from the sidelines of their many soccer, baseball, softball and basketball games as well as dance recitals and countless school activities. He was a proud father who loved his children very much.

Travis was proceeded in death by his father, Michael Jones, his grandfather Clarence “Bud” Jones, his grandparents Mark and Elaine Nelson and his Aunt Nikki Moxon. He is survived by his two children, Harper Jones and Wyatt Jones, their mother, Erin McCann, his mother, Nanette Jones, his brothers and sister’s in-law Tyler and Angela Jones as well as Jordan and Jessica Jones. He is also survived by his nieces and nephews Sophia and Michael Jones and Madison, Jackson and Bailey Kelly as well as his Grandmother Leota “Tokie” Jones and many Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and family friends that loved him dearly.

Travis, you are loved and will be missed by us all. May you enjoy watching the Vikings and Giants kick butt forever more.

Services will be planned for and communicated out at a later date.

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

Press release from the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom:

Governor Gavin Newsom today proclaimed a state of emergency in Del Norte County due to the Smith River Complex fires and in Siskiyou County due to the Happy Camp Complex fires. The proclamations support the ongoing emergency response to the fires, which have destroyed homes, caused power outages, and driven the evacuation of residents.

Among other provisions, the proclamations waive certain licensing requirements and fees for out-of-state contractors and others working with California utilities to restore electricity. The proclamations also support impacted residents by easing access to unemployment benefits and waiving fees to replace driver’s licenses and records such as marriage and birth certificates.

The text of the Del Norte County emergency proclamation can be found here and the text of the Siskiyou County emergency proclamation can be found here.

Press release from the Arcata Police Department:

On August 29, 2023, at 6 a.m., Arcata Police Detectives, with the assistance of the Humboldt and Mendocino County Sheriff’s Department SWAT teams, served an arrest and search warrant for Arcata homicide suspect Gregory Nelson Mattox, in the 13000 block of Bald Hills Road Orick, CA.

Mattox was wanted for the July 2, 2023, killing of 36-year-old Joshua Gephart, in the 5000 block of Boyd Road in Arcata. Mattox was taken into custody without incident and was booked at the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on the following violations of the California Penal Code:

• 187(a)-Murder
• 29800(a)(1)-Felon in Possession of a Firearm
• 1203.2-Violation of Probation
• 148.9-Providing False Identity to a Peace Officer.

The Arcata Police Department would like to thank the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department SWAT, Major Crimes Division, and Crisis Negotiation Team, as well as the Mendocino County Sherrif’s Departments SWAT, Arcata Mad River Ambulance, and Cal-Fire for their assistance.

Anyone with information about this investigation is encouraged to contact the APD Investigations Unit at 707-822-2424, or the anonymous tip line at 707-825-2588.  

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PREVIOUSLY:

• Arcata Police Name 24-Year-Old McK Man as Suspect in July 2 Valley West Homicide
• ARCATA HOMICIDE: 36-Year-Old Fortuna Man Shot and Killed; APD Seeking Suspect