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This is a life story of a man who has been in the grocery business in Eureka for 78 years, a man well-known and well-liked by a great many people.

Ernest Burger was born Jan. 15,1898, in Bern, Switzerland, to Johann and Rosina Burger. The couple owned and operated a restaurant in Bern where Rosina enjoyed a reputation as a very fine cook. Johann worked at the restaurant and on the railroad as well. They had four sons: Hans, Ernest, Walter and Herman.

Ernest attended school in his home town in Switzerland. His father bought him a piano and Ernest learned to play music at an early age (at age 96, he can still play, although his eyesight is not quite as good as it used to be). After graduating from high school, Ernest attended a business college in Bern.

A good friend of the family, Rudolph Messerle, lived in Eureka. The grocer wrote to Ernest inviting him to come to America. Messerle was once a neighbor of the Burgers in Switzerland, many years prior to his coming to Eureka. Ernest was anxious to go. He obtained the necessary passports and papers and, in March 1916 at the age of 18, booked passage on a large French passenger liner, the Rochambeau. After many days at sea, they landed in New York harbor. Ernest remembers leaving the ship near the Statue of Liberty. Emigration inspectors interviewed a group of Swiss people on board, whose papers were all in order. The Swiss group was allowed to go ashore, where they stayed overnight.

The following day, Ernest left by train for Oakland, Calif. After about one week’s worth of travel, he arrived at midnight, and decided to wait until the next day to get to San Francisco. He found himself in a very large crowd of people, all unable to speak English, all uncertain as to what to do. Luckily, a woman with the traveler’s bureau noticed Ernest was stymied. She helped by putting him on a streetcar and telling the conductor to let Ernest off at the Y.M.C. A. There he got a room on the top floor, but the next morning he went to the desk and asked the clerk about a Swiss hotel. There happened to be a Swiss man standing nearby and, upon hearing the talk, spoke to Ernest, welcomed him, took him to breakfast and then all around the city in his Model-T Ford. The man showed Ernest the Golden Gate Park and other places of interest. They then went down to the Ferry Building on Embarcadero Street where this man helped arranged for Ernest’s ticket to Eureka. He then took Ernest to his home where they had supper. Afterward this man took Ernest to a movie, then back to the Y.M.C.A. for the night.

The next morning Ernest found a restaurant, where he had something to eat. He then walked down Market Street to the Ferry Building. He got on a ferryboat to Sausalito, where a train would then take him on to Eureka. While on the train, Ernest became acquainted with Harry Boise, owner of the Sweet Pea Dairy Lunch, 305 G St. It was an all-day trip to Eureka and quite dark when they arrived. After waiting around the depot awhile, Messerle showed up, introduced himself to Ernest, then took the young man in his new Buick car to his home at 145 West Clark St. They had supper and, after talking for awhile, Messerie showed Ernest where he could sleep.

The next morning, after breakfast, Messerle told Ernest to come with him to his grocery store, as he had a job for him. The Store was Messerle Waldorff & Marcussen, No. 8, Fifth St. It was located on the southeast corner of Fifth and A streets, and the building is still standing today. Ernest started work and his employer apparently liked him. He signed up at C.J. Craddock’s Eureka Business College, 212 E St., where he attended evening classes. He learned to speak English quite rapidly.

Ernest lived with the Messerles for about a month, when the store owners fixed up two rooms for him upstairs over the store. He was very happy there, but also boarded at Mrs. Jennie Sellers house, 609 E St. Waldorff also boarded there. Later, Jennie Sellers moved to 720 E St., but continued to feed her guests three times a day, seven days a week, for $25 per month.

Ernest primarily delivered groceries around town with a horse and light wagon, but sometimes used a Model-T Ford delivery truck. He also helped with cleanup and clerking. After a few short months, he began going around taking orders from people.

One day Aurelio Rosaia approached Ernest and told him he would pay $60 per month for the young man to do the bookkeeping at his fish market. Messerle was paying Ernest $40 per month. Ernest told Rosaia he would have to ask Messerle first. Messerle told Ernest to take the job, so Ernest went to work for Rosaia at his fish market on the northeast corner of Sixth and F streets, where Partrick’s Candy Store stands today.

Ernest stayed there several months. The workers would dump fish heads and trimmings out the back door in the gulch behind the store, a chore which resulted in an awful odor (the gulch is still there). Ernest finally got fed up with the embarrassing smell of fish, both on himself and on his clothes. He asked Waldorff if he could have his old job back, and he was told he would be welcomed. So back to his old job he went, the first of the month. Ernest stayed there for another three years.

Once again Rosaia came to see Ernest, telling him he needed a bookkeeper at his Diamond Fruit Store, 416 F St.. He offered $125 per month. Ernest accepted and remained there for several years until it closed due to family troubles (along with much fighting amongst family members). Ernest then went to work for Henry Borneman for a few months; Borneman told him he would make him a partner.

In the meantime, Ernest met a young lady, Miss Frances Cabrera, an employee of Daly Brothers. They fell in love and decided to marry.

Ernest and Frances Burger were married Oct. 18,1925.

On Sunday, Oct. 18, 1925, Father Ryan married the couple at St. Bernard’s Church. Soon after, they went to the “big city” of San Francisco for a week’s honeymoon. While there, they purchased furniture for their home Ernest had bought at 2807 J St. When they arrived home, Ernest went down to work at the store, but when he arrived, Borneman told him he no longer had a job there.

That was quite a blow. Ernest told a friend he had no job and wondered what he could do. This man told him to see Frank Heath, the man running the neighborhood store on Harris and California streets; the grocer reportedly wanted to sell the business. Ernest did go and asked Heath if he would sell. Heath said, “Make an offer for the stock.” Ernest made a deal to buy the stock for $2,000, with so much being paid a month. Ernest and Frances went to work and made the store look much better. The couple began to make it pay. After about two years, they later made a deal to purchase the building from its owners, the Dolf family. This deal was made through Bert Pettengill Real Estate.

The upstairs happened to be vacant, so Ernest and his wife got busy, cleaned it up and moved in. Later they sold their home on J Street.

The California streetcar came to the end of its line at Harris Street. The trolley would be “changed around,” then the car would head back downtown. A good many people would wait for the streetcar in front of Ernest’s store; this helped business. Lincoln Elementary School was one block away and, as a result, the couple did a big business with the children: Cracker Jacks, jaw breakers, all-day suckers, licorice whips, chewing gum, marbles, etc.

Several men would come into the store in the mornings to sit around the big old stove, smoke and spin tales of days gone by. One good customer, Joseph L. O’Conner, a carpenter, offered to build Ernest and Frances a new home on a vacant lot adjacent to their store. They accepted the offer and a new home was built. They rented this house out for a few years. During the 1950s, they had the house moved to 2860 C St., where they reside today. They have enlarged the structure and turned it into a beautiful home. The area by the store was made into a parking lot for the customers.

Ernest and Frances opened their store at 6 in the morning and closed it at 10 at night. They worked hard keeping this store open and made many changes to keep up with the times. They also gave credit to most of their customers. Most people paid their bill once a month when they got paid, though some never paid. The couple went through both good and bad times there, and can tell many stories of things that happened over 40 long years. They have seen Harris Street when it was a graveled and dirt road traversed by horses and wagons. Once there were redwood plank sidewalks on one side only.

In 1968 Ernest and his wife decided to retire. They offered their daughter. Rose Ann Hurst, and their youngest son, Tom Burger, the store. The two took over the store and kept it going until 1993. The store building is now rented to a Youths Service Bureau.

The Burgers had four children: Rose Ann, Arthur, John and Tom. They now have 20 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. These off-spring have all done well and made the Burgers very proud.

Ernest has been very active in his church, as well as the St. Vincent DePaul store. He credits his longevity and good health to his active life, his decision not to smoke or pick up other bad habits, and his daily walks of two miles or more, weather permitting.

I am grateful to know such a couple and have them as friends.

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The piece above was printed in the Summer 1994 issue of the Humboldt Historian, a journal of the Humboldt County Historical Society. It is reprinted here with permission. The Humboldt County Historical Society is a nonprofit organization devoted to archiving, preserving and sharing Humboldt County’s rich history. You can become a member and receive a year’s worth of new issues of The Humboldt Historian at this link.

James Amador Peña, 74, of Eureka, passed away peacefully in his sleep on April 7, 2026. James was born on July 22, 1951, in Edna, Texas, to Virginia and Amador Peña.

As a young boy, his mother, Virginia Young, and stepfather, Al Young, moved him to Ukiah, where he later graduated from Ukiah High School. After high school, he joined the United States Navy, serving as an ordnance mechanic.

Following his service, he attended Chico State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. He went on to work as an accountant in Oakland. Eventually, seeking a quieter life outside the city, he began a long career with Caltrans, where he worked his way up from surveyor to transportation engineer.

He is survived by his two children, Spencer Peña and Tyler Peña.

Jim loved adventure and was always traveling to new and exciting places. He enjoyed scuba diving and camping, often camping year-round. He was also very involved in both Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, dedicating much of his time to supporting those programs.

In his younger years, he enjoyed running and cycling and was an active member of the Six Rivers Running Club. He even completed the Tour of the Unknown Coast. In his later years, he devoted much of his time to volunteering and was an active member of the Knights of Columbus.

A memorial service will be held at the Fortuna Volunteer Fire Department on May 23 at 1 p.m.

“May the roads rise to meet him, and the winds be always at his back.

“Well, hi there, friend!” a young boy says, his grasp on a southern accent a little loose. “Hi, friend!” Metal clangs and kids shout. “I was climbing up, and I couldn’t find a way, so I just jumped,” added another. He tacks on a little Ugandan Knuckles and an a capella rendition of Dinge Dinge Dinge a few seconds later. He screams.

The wind whistles. 

“What is he doing?” one of them asks the other. “Oh! He’s recording us! Well, hi friend!” 

They scream again.

For 20 seconds on May 7, 2026, Stewart Park sounded exactly like this; it will never sound exactly like this again, and if someone hadn’t been recording, no one would ever know what it sounded like to be in Stewart Park on May 7, 2026, on a windy day, packed with kids spouting off a reference to a meme a few times a minute. There are an infinite number of these moments, every day. Why don’t we preserve more of them?

Playhouse Arts aims to. From the beginning of May through August this year, the art agency is inviting visitors to five different parks around Arcata — Redwood, Larson, Stewart, Greenview, and the marsh — to take a 30-second to 10-minute audio recording of the park and send it in. The Playhouse is calling it the “Hear Here!” project. All of the recordings people send in are publicly accessible. 

Anyone desiring access to a library of sounds can do whatever they like with the recordings, Humboldt Hot Air director Neroli Devaney told the Outpost. They’re meant to be a public resource. She envisions ambient artists turning them into experimental music, into albums that incorporate the identity of a place into song. (She’s not super into that genre, but she grew up listening to it — her dad was a fan.) There are only a few submissions so far, but she’s optimistic that there will be more. 

The program is part of Playhouse Arts’ Outside Art project, a campaign that endeavors to entice people to check out parks around Arcata they may have never been to before. There are lots of little parks that don’t get a heavy amount of foot traffic. One of them, Mountain View Park, is basically just a spot of green lawn off of Haegar Avenue on the west end of town; in November, two people told stories in the park. In January, the Playhouse hosted an “exploration” of middle-of-winter light and dark in Shay Park. 

Directing people to these underutilized public spaces is a big focus of the program, Devaney said. Residents have “every right” to go and picnic in the park, lay down in the sun and enjoy themselves, she said, and they should know where they are and how best to enjoy them. Asking them to sit and listen and share a fraction of their experience benefits everyone. 

“It’s really grounding to pause and breathe,” Devaney said. “When you’re having a panic attack, you’re supposed to do that, right? Look around and count how many blue things you see — you know, count the number. I think it’s a really similar thing, where you’re like, ‘Okay, stop what you’re doing, and ground yourself in your surroundings,’ and I hope that people feel calmer and less anxious after they do it.”

Having a sound library of dozens of moments in time could be a valuable resource for historians and archivists as well, she said. Photos are cheap, often “mindless and quick,” Devaney said. Having a trove of sounds in addition to the countless images people snap every day adds a new layer. One person sent in a recording of sword fighting practice at Redwood Park; the clash of steel on steel, the wren’s cry in the background, would have been lost. 

Noise changes how people interact with the world. Hanging out at the D Street Linear Park is a way different experience than hanging out at Redwood Park, Devaney said; listening to highway drone instead of bird song can make someone feel totally different, but just paying attention to it makes a difference. 

“There’s something to be said for just closing your eyes and listening to a place,” Devaney said. “It’s a way to relate to a place in a way that isn’t visual. It’s an additional way to relate to a place, to understand a place. I am here, and this is what here means.”

On May 7, to be here in Stewart Park was to be serenaded by a child with the Labubu song for three seconds before another one lamented some unforeseen woe.

“I’m cooked,” he said. “I’m cooked, I’m cooked, I am COOKED!” 

Now we can listen to it, forever.

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The Betty Kwan Chinn Foundation has secured $130,000 in community donations to expand Betty’s Blue Angel Village, a 30-unit transitional housing project made up of retrofitted shipping containers at West Washington and Koster streets in Eureka. 

The donation, which includes a $50,000 contribution from Eureka Natural Foods and another $80,000 from community partners, will allow the Betty Kwann Chinn Foundation to add 30 new independent units to the village.

Local leaders and city officials gathered at the Betty Kwan Chinn Day Center this morning to celebrate the news, which just so happens to coincide with Chinn’s 46th anniversary of service to Humboldt’s homeless community. 

“We are blessed, Betty, to have you in our presence and serving [our community] the way that you have,” said Chuck Petrusha, foundation board president. “We’re all just so grateful. I know you don’t want [this announcement] to be about you, but it is, and it’s about the selfless giving that you’ve always done and the way that you do it without any judgment — I think that’s the part that I’ve learned from the most.”

Chinn vowed to serve the community “until the day I die.”

“We’re gonna provide more services for the people who need it, like a little tiny houses,” she said, referring to the Bayside Village transitional housing project on Hilfiker Lane, which began welcoming residents last summer. “I will keep going, and then I have [my staff] behind me and the board behind me. … And I want you all to know it’s not really about Betty, it’s community and unity that make it work.”

The fundraising campaign was largely organized by Kathleen Lee and Julie Fulkerson, who were able to raise $80,000 through monthly donations from local contributors. Fulkerson thanked Chinn for her commitment to the city’s most vulnerable community, and shared a story to illustrate “what Betty’s about and what Betty does.”

“About 20 or 30 years ago, I was in San Francisco at a conference having a very lovely dinner at a very lovely restaurant, and we were sitting behind these big glass windows having very delightful meals,” she said. “On the other side of the glass, literally inches away, were people asleep on the sidewalk or eating out of little food bags. … What I know about Betty is she takes that thin sheet of glass away between the differences. She doesn’t see the differences; she sees everyone as a real living human being.”

Slattery

Eureka City Manager Miles Slattery credited Chinn for being “instrumental” in connecting the unhoused community municipal social services, including Pathway to Payday, a free four-day workshop that builds interview skills and connects applicants with potential employers. 

“It’s not a typical thing that cities get into providing social service programming,” Slattery said. “Betty’s been crucial for that.”

Eureka Natural Foods owner Rick Littlefield told the Outpost that he has long-admired Chinn’s approach to housing the homeless because she’s able to balance compassion with accountability. Betty’s Blue Angel Village emulates those values, he said, because it gives residents a safe place to live while they get back on their feet, but encourages them to take responsibility of themselves.

“The thing with Betty, and what’s very different than a lot of the homeless outfits, is that she requires that the people that participate to follow through on their commitments,” Littlefield said. “She works with them and tries to be helpful, but if they don’t [follow through], she cuts them loose. That’s the reason she has so much success, I think, because there are consequences, and in life there are consequences. … We want to help, but they have to do their part.”

Today’s announcement comes almost exactly 10 years after Chinn first established the retrofitted shipping container village, which began as a partnership with the Humboldt Coalition for Property Rights to help transition the city’s homeless population into temporary housing amid a newly declared shelter crisis and ongoing concerns over the homeless encampment in the Palco Marsh known as “The Devil’s Playground.” 

At the time, the proposal drew criticism from local business owners who worried that the camp would exacerbate ongoing issues with crime and drug user in the heart of Eureka’s downtown business district. But one month after people started moving into the container village, Chinn announced that most residents had already found full-time employment and several others were on their way to securing permanent housing. A few months later, the village was moved to its current location on West Washington.

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PREVIOUSLY:

• WHOOPS: Humboldt County Elections Office Discovers 596 Ballots From the Last Election That Were Not Counted

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Press release from the Humboldt County Office of Elections:

The Humboldt County Office of Elections would like to share that the ballots discovered earlier this month inside a locked drop box from the November 4, 2025 Statewide Special Election will be counted.

Background

On May 4, Humboldt County Office of Elections staff discovered 596 uncounted sealed ballots from the November 4, 2025 Statewide Special Election inside a locked ballot drop box. Under Section 2.5 of Article II of the California Constitution, these ballots should have been counted before election was certified on Dec. 5, 2025.

Following the discovery, elections staff worked to ensure proper protocol was followed. It was confirmed the ballots had not been tampered with, as the drop box was locked and the ballots remained sealed. The Office of Elections then worked with the California Secretary of State to determine the appropriate process to have the ballots counted.

It was determined that the error occurred due to a miscommunication among election workers about whether the drop box had been fully emptied. To prevent this from happening again, the Office of Elections has implemented a new physical verification procedure requiring each drop box to be confirmed empty and secured before election results are finalized.

While the Office of Elections and the state both confirmed that counting these ballots will not change the result of the November 4, 2025 Statewide Special Election, it was important for the county to explore every available option to have the votes counted. 

Under Elections Code §17302, ballots from the November 4, 2025 Statewide Special Election must be destroyed six months after the election was certified. However, the County of Humboldt secured the uncounted ballots and filed a petition with the Humboldt County Superior Court requesting to count the ballots and recertify the election. The court made the determination to grant the county’s petition. 

“I am grateful to the court for granting our petition to count these votes so that every eligible ballot will be reflected in the final election results,” said Humboldt County Clerk-Recorder & Registrar of Voters Juan Pablo Cervantes. “While we are relieved by this outcome, I want to be very clear that my entire team takes the circumstances that led to this situation with the utmost seriousness. I am deeply sorry this error occurred. We have strengthened our procedures, implemented additional safeguards, and remain committed to maintaining the integrity, transparency and accountability our community expects and deserves.”

The court order authorizes the Humboldt County Clerk-Recorder & Registrar of Voters to open and count the ballots and include the results in the final vote totals for the November 4, 2025 Statewide Special Election. A supplemental certification must be issued by July 31 and will be backdated to the original certification date of Dec. 3, 2025. The ballots must also be destroyed by July 31.

About Humboldt County Elections Office

The Humboldt County Office of Elections is committed to ensuring all eligible residents have an opportunity to exercise their right to vote, conducting elections in a fair, accurate and efficient manner, providing reliable information and the best possible service to voters, districts, candidates and other interested parties. For more information, visit HumboldtGov.org/Elections.

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This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

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Amid tech layoffs, anxiety around artificial intelligence, and a forthcoming run for president, Gov. Gavin Newsom today signed an executive order that calls for state agencies to explore ways to mitigate job losses stemming from the use of AI.

The order, among other things, requires a report on the impact of AI on the California labor market and ways to help displaced workers, including through severance policies and subsidized employment.

It also calls for increased job training , stock compensation and cooperative business ownership for workers and a review of how unions are negotiating over AI.

Newsom previously signed executive orders last month and in 2023 simultaneously putting in place AI protections and encouraging state agencies to use the technology.

The latest order comes a day after Facebook owner Meta laid off 8,000 workers, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg citing AI in a memo to staff after the cuts. It also comes two days after the California Senate passed the No Robo Bosses Act, which prevents businesses from using decisions made by AI and other automated systems as the sole reason a person gets fired or disciplined. Newsom vetoed a similar bill last fall.

In February, AFL-CIO president Liz Shuler, members of the California Labor Federation and labor leaders in Democratic primary states pledged to pull support for a Newsom 2028 presidential campaign if he didn’t take steps to protect workers from artificial intelligence. Newsom’s veto of the predecessor of the No Robo Bosses Act was named as a reason for that pledge.

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

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In the face of the nation’s highest gas prices, California lawmakers approved a bill to ease restrictions on E85 conversion kits — devices that let conventional gasoline cars run on a cheaper, mostly ethanol fuel blend.

Assembly Bill 2046, dubbed the “Access to Affordable Gas Act” by its author, Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom, a Stockton Democrat, advanced through the Assembly on a 59-0 vote with no debate or opposition.

The measure is the latest example of Sacramento lawmakers scrambling to respond to gas costs that have soared amidst the Iran-Israel war, which has rattled global oil markets and pushed California pump prices above $6 a gallon. It now heads to the California state Senate and would need Gov. Gavin Newsom’s approval before it becomes law.

“Californians consistently pay more at the pump than drivers from other states, and gas prices are once again climbing across the state,” Ransom said on the Assembly floor Thursday. “For commuters and working families, (the proposal) offers a practical way to save money.”

If approved in its current form, the measure would exempt manufacturers of E85 converter kits from an approval process by the state’s primary climate regulator, the California Air Resources Board, which requires companies to demonstrate the devices do not increase a vehicle’s emissions. The bill would leave in place a separate federal certification process run by the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Members in Sacramento are looking for ways to try to reduce costs — or appear to reduce costs of driving — and so this is a way to do that,” said Aaron Smith, a UC Berkeley economist and fuels expert.

The converter kits, which cost between $800 to $1,250, according to a legislative analysis of the bill, would let drivers convert their cars to run on both gasoline and E85 fuel.

E85 is a blend of up to 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline; the share of ethanol typically is between 55% and 85%, said Smith, the Berkeley expert.

Jeff Wilkerson, government affairs manager for Pearson Fuels, the largest E85 fuel provider in the state and a bill supporter, said E85 — much of which is made from Midwest corn — is largely insulated from overseas oil shocks that drive California gas prices. The ethanol blend has sold for $2 or more less per gallon than gasoline during recent price spikes.

While E85 is typically priced lower than gasoline and can reduce petroleum dependence and carbon emissions, it delivers 20% to 30% fewer miles per gallon, according to the air board, meaning drivers only save money when E85 is priced at least 20% to 30% below gasoline.

About 1.3 million vehicles in California can currently use the fuel, which is sold at about 640 stations statewide — just 3% of the state’s more than 15,000 fuel pumps, according to the bill analysis.

Ransom said more E85 pumps would be built if the state loosened restrictions and encouraged demand for the fuel blend. She stressed that her bill would present E85 as an alternative.

“For some people, it may not be a wise choice, but at least now it’s going to be a choice,” she said.

Environmentally, the fuel is rated cleaner than regular gasoline by California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard. But that rating has critics. Smith, the Berkeley economist, said the benefits of ethanol are likely overstated. Official numbers likely understate emissions from land use as rising corn demand for ethanol pushes farmers to clear forested land.

The state’s own certification record offers a cautionary tale. Lindsay Buckley, a spokesperson for the board, said the agency has received only five applications from companies for E85 conversion kits since 2008 and that none has cleared the certification process, which is designed to ensure modified vehicles still meet their original emissions standards. Supporters of the proposal argue the board moves slowly and its regulations are burdensome.

But loosening that standard carries its own risk, cautioned Aaron Kurz, senior consultant on the Assembly Transportation Committee, especially now.

As the federal government has stripped scientific expertise from regulatory decisions, he wrote in his analysis, “this committee should consider if the state should cede authority over an inherently scientific process and set a precedent for transferring approval authority to the federal government.”