Report reveals 28% of North Coast children continue to live in poverty
Humboldt Sentinel
News 10/27/08
By Sentinel Staff
ARCATA -- Combating poverty’s blight on Redwood Coast health care requires comprehensive child coverage and ensuring that youngsters have medical and dental ‘homes,’ according to a survey by the California Center for Rural Policy (CCRP) at Humboldt State University.
The new report, “Rural Poverty and Its Health Impacts: A Look at Poverty in the Redwood Coast Region,” acknowledges that sweeping coverage is “probably a long way off.”
But it underscores that preschool and early school age children are at the highest risk of poverty-related ill health: Close to 28 percent of children under five live in poverty in the four county region of Del Norte, Humboldt, Trinity and Mendocino.
The report shows that the prevalence of childhood poverty in the region rose between 1990 and 2000 and that poverty rates are highest among single women with children, as well as children in general.
“It is very concerning that nearly one of every three children under the age of five in our communities is living in poverty, said Dr. Jessica Van Arsdale, director of CCRP’s health research. “This puts these children at risk for numerous poor health outcomes, including problems with growth and development, asthma, lead poisoning, poor oral health and malnutrition.”
At the other end of the spectrum, Redwood Coast elderly—those 65 and older—suffer a poverty rate of 7.5 percent, slightly below California’s 8.1 percent and the nation’s 9.9 percent.
Rates among the elderly in Humboldt and Trinity Counties did not change significantly between 1990 and 2000, according to the report, but they rose fractionally in Del Norte and Mendocino Counties.
The center’s latest report recommends hiking Medi-Cal payments, allowing rural hospitals to operate medical practices, increasing area enrollment in existing public programs, such as nutrition and public insurance, and widening broadband access.
On the Medi-Cal front, the CCRP found that recipients overuse emergency services because only a limited number of health care providers will accept such patients. Yet, emergency treatment is more expensive than preventive care and the burden on society is heavier. The study found that Medi-Cal recipients were significantly less likely than those with private insurance to have received recommended screenings for breast cancer, colorectal cancer and diabetes.
Last August, a federal court reversed a 10 percent cut in Medi-Cal payment rates imposed by the Department of Health Care Services in July, concluding it would “irreparably harm” access to health care for almost seven million Californians. The state has appealed the ruling.
The CCRP recommends rethinking California’s statutory ban on hospital-run medical practices. The ban is rare nationwide and lifting it “would allow hospitals to provide primary care as well as specialty care,” the report says.
This would allow health care providers to serve in rural areas without the set-up costs of private practices. The study points to a national trend showing doctors are opting for salaried positions.
Del Norte County is weighing a pilot project to equip Sutter Coast Hospital with a medical practice, but it is subject to legislative approval. The CCRP concluded that medical practice flexibility would buttress recruitment and retention of health care providers in under-served locales.
Concerning improved enrollment, the study pinpointed under-utilized public programs like nutrition. By one estimate, the Redwood Coast loses more than 32 million federal dollars annually in under-used school lunch, food stamp and summer food aid.
Ease of access is essential. The report highlights Humboldt County’s nascent efforts to enroll children in Health Kids Humboldt via a single web-based system named One-e-App. Currently the number of public sector health programs available on One-e-App is limited, but it has potential to provide eligibility determination for Food Stamps, WIC, CHDP and others.
Regarding broadband, the report says the GIS maps derived from the CCRP’s recent Rural Health Information Survey can be used to identify areas with low access, both to health care and the Internet. Telemedicine access points could be created, extending services to people who are geographically isolated.
Finally, the CCRP proposals embrace broad steps to assist the four-county poor: a higher minimum wage, an expanded earned income tax credit, increased education and job training and a focus on sustainable employment.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
HSU Hosts Veterans Day Events
Richmond to cut ribbon at Veterans Enrollment and Transition Services center
Humboldt Sentinel
News 10/26/08
By Sentinel Staff
ARCATA -- Humboldt State University’s new Office of Veterans Enrollment and Transition Services (V.E.T.S.) will host a full roster of events for Veterans Day week.
They begin Monday, Nov. 10 at 2 p.m. in Goodwin Forum with San Francisco’s Sword to Plowshares’ program “Cultural Competency,” geared specifically for veterans and service members.
Later in the same building, a student-faculty panel will explore “Diversity Within the Veteran Demographic” at 4 p.m.
Nov. 10 events conclude with a screening of the Academy Award-winning movie “Saving Private Ryan” at 8:15 p.m., with a discussion to follow in Harry Griffith Hall, Room 106.
A ribbon-cutting to inaugurate the new V.E.T.S. Office happens Wednesday, Nov. 12, at 2 p.m. in the lower library. Speakers include HSU President Rollin Richmond, Vice President Steven Butler and Registrar Hillary Dashiell. Arcata Mayor Mark Wheetley will present a proclamation to Richmond.
Also Wednesday, an “Appreciation of American Veterans” by local vets Gayle Olson-Raymer and Travis Holt is set for 4 p.m. in Founders Hall, Room 118. A second movie, “We Were Soldiers,” will be screened at 8 p.m. in Harry Griffith Hall, Room 106.
HSU Vets Week will wrap up on Thursday, Nov. 13, with two events: “How to Make Humboldt State More Military-Friendly,” a Goodwin Forum discussion at 2 p.m., followed by a screening of “Jarhead” for non-veteran students at 8 p.m. in Harry Griffith Hall, Room 106.
Humboldt Sentinel
News 10/26/08
By Sentinel Staff
ARCATA -- Humboldt State University’s new Office of Veterans Enrollment and Transition Services (V.E.T.S.) will host a full roster of events for Veterans Day week.
They begin Monday, Nov. 10 at 2 p.m. in Goodwin Forum with San Francisco’s Sword to Plowshares’ program “Cultural Competency,” geared specifically for veterans and service members.
Later in the same building, a student-faculty panel will explore “Diversity Within the Veteran Demographic” at 4 p.m.
Nov. 10 events conclude with a screening of the Academy Award-winning movie “Saving Private Ryan” at 8:15 p.m., with a discussion to follow in Harry Griffith Hall, Room 106.
A ribbon-cutting to inaugurate the new V.E.T.S. Office happens Wednesday, Nov. 12, at 2 p.m. in the lower library. Speakers include HSU President Rollin Richmond, Vice President Steven Butler and Registrar Hillary Dashiell. Arcata Mayor Mark Wheetley will present a proclamation to Richmond.
Also Wednesday, an “Appreciation of American Veterans” by local vets Gayle Olson-Raymer and Travis Holt is set for 4 p.m. in Founders Hall, Room 118. A second movie, “We Were Soldiers,” will be screened at 8 p.m. in Harry Griffith Hall, Room 106.
HSU Vets Week will wrap up on Thursday, Nov. 13, with two events: “How to Make Humboldt State More Military-Friendly,” a Goodwin Forum discussion at 2 p.m., followed by a screening of “Jarhead” for non-veteran students at 8 p.m. in Harry Griffith Hall, Room 106.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
HSU Scientists Spot Unusual Eddy
Water flow suspected of interfering with flow of nutrients and marine species
Humboldt Sentinel
News 10/25/08
By Sentinel Staff
ARCATA -- Marine scientists at Humboldt State University and University of California, Davis have uncovered a large eddy southwest of Cape Mendocino that they suspect interferes with the flow of nutrients and marine species to waters farther south.
Dr. Greg Crawford, HSU’s Department of Oceanography chair, describes the eddy as the largest, most consistent feature on the California littoral from August through October of this year. The eddy is about 110 miles across.
“This is exciting in scientific terms because it has received relatively little examination in the past,” Crawford said.
“We suspect this could play a big role in determining larval dispersion in a region of the ocean that is relatively highly productive,” Crawford continued. “Fish and crab larvae and small plankton species don’t swim very well, so they get pushed around by the currents.
The eddy has complex circulation structures that can modify water pathways, possibly interrupting the flow of nutrients to the south.
“We’re not sure yet about the eddy’s impact on species propagation and feeding patterns, but it could be considerable,” Crawford said.
The eddy was first observed in the early 1990’s, when Dr. Gary Lagerloef of Earth and Space Research reported evidence of the eddy using satellite and shipboard observations.
Eddies—immense, swirling masses of ocean water usually seen near continents—have been observed along the coast before, but the Cape Mendocino phenomenon appears to be a resilient feature.
Some eddies are highly productive—bearing voluminous marine life—while others are considered “watery deserts,” more or less devoid of species, Crawford said.
The eddy’s discovery is a major benefit of a long-range radar installed in mid-August at Shelter Cove by Crawford’s lead engineer on the radar project, Dr. Shannon Stone, and HSU Oceanography alumna Laurie Roy, the project’s research technician.
The installation bridged an extensive gap in coverage provided by the Coastal Ocean Current Monitoring Project (COCMP), a network of small radars stood up in recent years at key points along the California coast.
Humboldt State’s role in the project, which keeps tabs on coastal currents continuously and will provide crucial information to fishermen, ocean resource managers and pollution response teams, is the installation and maintenance of five radar outposts from Crescent City to Shelter Cove.
Named CODAR (Coastal Ocean Dynamics Application Radar), and manufactured by Codar Ocean Sensors, Los Altos, the high-frequency instruments enable scientists to track surface currents in near-real time.
“They work a little like police radars,” Crawford said. “In this instance, we bounce radar signals off very small ocean waves that get moved around by the currents. We can scan in different directions automatically.”
Crawford, Stone and two collaborators on the eddy, Dr. John Largier and Dr. Chris Halle of the Bodega Bay Marine Laboratory at U.C. Davis, will present their findings to the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco in December.
The COCMP network allows continuous ocean monitoring of roughly 1,200 miles of the western United States continental shelf, from south of Tijuana, Mexico and north to the Columbia River.
The radar system will also likely be a key part of monitoring the marine protected areas (MPAs) mandated by California’s Marine Life Protection Act of 1999.
Similar to land-bound wildlife reserves, the MPAs are designed to protect natural diversity and abundant marine life, maintain the integrity of marine ecosystems and manage them carefully.
The marine environment is constantly threatened by coastal over-development, pollution and excess fishing. State-of-the-art monitoring is crucial to limiting human impact.
MPAs already exist in central California. Designs are in place for north-central California and being developed for southern California, after which the effort will turn its focus to the North Coast.
The radar network gives assessments of the connectivity and effectiveness of MPAs. It also gives unique information—like the Cape Mendocino eddy—to the managers of California’s national marine sanctuaries who monitor the health of some of the state’s coastal ecosystems.
The COCMP program is a key component of both the Central and Northern California Ocean Observing System (CeNCOOS) and the Southern California Ocean Observing System (SCCOOS).
For example, when the Cosco Busan spilled 53,500 gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay in November 2007, the authorities relied on surface current patterns from CeNCOOS high-frequency radars to track the spill’s trajectories, particularly outside the bay.
Likewise, ocean monitoring can be a literal lifesaver when Coast Guard search and rescue teams are hunting urgently for missing people. Surface current patterns can help pinpoint the trajectories of people and vessels that have been adrift for hours or days.
The COCMP is also a component of a strategic monitoring array, the Pacific Coast Ocean Observing System. PaCOOS provides vital information about the impact of climate change on the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem.
The network is part of a nationwide federal initiative to protect marine life, manage fishery resources and gauge the impact of climate change on an ongoing basis.
A glimpse of the latest surface current maps is at http://cordc.ucsd.edu/projects/mapping.
Humboldt Sentinel
News 10/25/08
By Sentinel Staff
ARCATA -- Marine scientists at Humboldt State University and University of California, Davis have uncovered a large eddy southwest of Cape Mendocino that they suspect interferes with the flow of nutrients and marine species to waters farther south.
Dr. Greg Crawford, HSU’s Department of Oceanography chair, describes the eddy as the largest, most consistent feature on the California littoral from August through October of this year. The eddy is about 110 miles across.
“This is exciting in scientific terms because it has received relatively little examination in the past,” Crawford said.
“We suspect this could play a big role in determining larval dispersion in a region of the ocean that is relatively highly productive,” Crawford continued. “Fish and crab larvae and small plankton species don’t swim very well, so they get pushed around by the currents.
The eddy has complex circulation structures that can modify water pathways, possibly interrupting the flow of nutrients to the south.
“We’re not sure yet about the eddy’s impact on species propagation and feeding patterns, but it could be considerable,” Crawford said.
The eddy was first observed in the early 1990’s, when Dr. Gary Lagerloef of Earth and Space Research reported evidence of the eddy using satellite and shipboard observations.
Eddies—immense, swirling masses of ocean water usually seen near continents—have been observed along the coast before, but the Cape Mendocino phenomenon appears to be a resilient feature.
Some eddies are highly productive—bearing voluminous marine life—while others are considered “watery deserts,” more or less devoid of species, Crawford said.
The eddy’s discovery is a major benefit of a long-range radar installed in mid-August at Shelter Cove by Crawford’s lead engineer on the radar project, Dr. Shannon Stone, and HSU Oceanography alumna Laurie Roy, the project’s research technician.
The installation bridged an extensive gap in coverage provided by the Coastal Ocean Current Monitoring Project (COCMP), a network of small radars stood up in recent years at key points along the California coast.
Humboldt State’s role in the project, which keeps tabs on coastal currents continuously and will provide crucial information to fishermen, ocean resource managers and pollution response teams, is the installation and maintenance of five radar outposts from Crescent City to Shelter Cove.
Named CODAR (Coastal Ocean Dynamics Application Radar), and manufactured by Codar Ocean Sensors, Los Altos, the high-frequency instruments enable scientists to track surface currents in near-real time.
“They work a little like police radars,” Crawford said. “In this instance, we bounce radar signals off very small ocean waves that get moved around by the currents. We can scan in different directions automatically.”
Crawford, Stone and two collaborators on the eddy, Dr. John Largier and Dr. Chris Halle of the Bodega Bay Marine Laboratory at U.C. Davis, will present their findings to the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco in December.
The COCMP network allows continuous ocean monitoring of roughly 1,200 miles of the western United States continental shelf, from south of Tijuana, Mexico and north to the Columbia River.
The radar system will also likely be a key part of monitoring the marine protected areas (MPAs) mandated by California’s Marine Life Protection Act of 1999.
Similar to land-bound wildlife reserves, the MPAs are designed to protect natural diversity and abundant marine life, maintain the integrity of marine ecosystems and manage them carefully.
The marine environment is constantly threatened by coastal over-development, pollution and excess fishing. State-of-the-art monitoring is crucial to limiting human impact.
MPAs already exist in central California. Designs are in place for north-central California and being developed for southern California, after which the effort will turn its focus to the North Coast.
The radar network gives assessments of the connectivity and effectiveness of MPAs. It also gives unique information—like the Cape Mendocino eddy—to the managers of California’s national marine sanctuaries who monitor the health of some of the state’s coastal ecosystems.
The COCMP program is a key component of both the Central and Northern California Ocean Observing System (CeNCOOS) and the Southern California Ocean Observing System (SCCOOS).
For example, when the Cosco Busan spilled 53,500 gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay in November 2007, the authorities relied on surface current patterns from CeNCOOS high-frequency radars to track the spill’s trajectories, particularly outside the bay.
Likewise, ocean monitoring can be a literal lifesaver when Coast Guard search and rescue teams are hunting urgently for missing people. Surface current patterns can help pinpoint the trajectories of people and vessels that have been adrift for hours or days.
The COCMP is also a component of a strategic monitoring array, the Pacific Coast Ocean Observing System. PaCOOS provides vital information about the impact of climate change on the California Current Large Marine Ecosystem.
The network is part of a nationwide federal initiative to protect marine life, manage fishery resources and gauge the impact of climate change on an ongoing basis.
A glimpse of the latest surface current maps is at http://cordc.ucsd.edu/projects/mapping.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Arcata Mainstreet Hosts Kids For Halloween
Event features costume contest and a Marching Lumberjacks parade
Humboldt Sentinel
News 10/24/08
By Sentinel Staff
ARCATA -- Everyone is welcome to join Arcata Main Street for the Annual Trick or Treat On & Around the Arcata Plaza at 4-6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31. Come down to the Plaza in costume and help infuse the downtown with the Halloween spirit!
Bring your ghosts, goblins and ghouls to the Arcata Plaza for a safe and neighborly trick or treat experience. Children and all members of the family are invited join our Halloween costume contest. Winners in four categories (two years and under, three to four years, five to eight years and nine to 12 years) will get treats and great prizes from downtown merchants.
New this year: Crowd favorites the Marching Lumberjacks will lead the parade of lions, tigers and bears (oh my!) around the Arcata Plaza at 5 p.m., giving children a chance to show off their costumes. At the close of the parade, everyone is invited to indulge in a sweet treat on the Plaza’s center, courtesy of Arcata Main Street and Safeway.
For more information call Arcata Main Street at 822-4500 or visit www.arcatamainstreet.com.
Humboldt Sentinel
News 10/24/08
By Sentinel Staff
ARCATA -- Everyone is welcome to join Arcata Main Street for the Annual Trick or Treat On & Around the Arcata Plaza at 4-6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31. Come down to the Plaza in costume and help infuse the downtown with the Halloween spirit!
Bring your ghosts, goblins and ghouls to the Arcata Plaza for a safe and neighborly trick or treat experience. Children and all members of the family are invited join our Halloween costume contest. Winners in four categories (two years and under, three to four years, five to eight years and nine to 12 years) will get treats and great prizes from downtown merchants.
New this year: Crowd favorites the Marching Lumberjacks will lead the parade of lions, tigers and bears (oh my!) around the Arcata Plaza at 5 p.m., giving children a chance to show off their costumes. At the close of the parade, everyone is invited to indulge in a sweet treat on the Plaza’s center, courtesy of Arcata Main Street and Safeway.
For more information call Arcata Main Street at 822-4500 or visit www.arcatamainstreet.com.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Davies Rebuts "Hit Piece" On Water Board Race
Candidate claims North Coast Journal resorted to blatantly misleading tactics
Humboldt Sentinel
News 10/23/08
By Sentinel Staff
EUREKA -- The role of the area's media in shaping, or slanting, public opinion on local election contests has arisen once again.
This time, the allegations are centered on the Arcata-based North Coast Journal, the county's most widely-circulated "alternative" news weekly, and their coverage of the three races for three seats on the board of the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District. Their article, "Water Boarding," appeared in the Oct. 16 issue of the Journal and was written by Heidi Walters.
While these are, by far, the most contested elections in the history of the district, with nine candidates vying for three seats in divisions centered on Eureka, McKinleyville and Humboldt Hill, First Division candidate Stephen Davies thinks this is no excuse for what he alleges are unfounded allegations.
"With my real world experience in hydro and morphological engineering aspects of watercourse diversion and Department of Fish and Game Watercourse Protection, as well as advanced training in underwater scientific research, I believe my qualifications compared to those of my opponent speak louder than any hit piece," Davies said in a release. "It's unfortunate to see the Journal resort to such blatantly misleading tactics to prop up my opponent, especially given the lead story in the Times-Standard last week which exposes how the Green Party has gone into a steep decline under the intolerant leadership of Kaitlin [Sopoci-Belknap] and her boyfriend David Cobb."
The Times-Standard report Davies referenced pointed to the statistical free fall the Humboldt Green Party's registration numbers have dove into since the ascension of a handful of activists loyal to failed presidential candidate David Cobb. Green Party numbers in Humboldt have suffered a drop of over 20% in the last year alone, and by nearly a third of the total membership since June 2006. Meanwhile, other "minor parties" such as the Libertarian Party and the Peace and Freedom Party have seen increases in voter registration numbers during the same time frame.
Given the refusal of the Humboldt Green Party to support any actual Green Party candidates in Humboldt County beyond Kaitlin's re-election bid, her defeat would mean the end of Green Party representation in local office for the first time since the election of Bob Ornelas to the Arcata City Council in 1990 (Ornelas was actually the first registered Green Party member elected to office in California). The Journal has yet to report on any of the internal dissension in the local Green Party since Cobb's takeover of it two-and-a-half years ago.
As far as the errors in fact are concerned, Davies lists several. Specifically, Davies,who is a registered Democrat, refutes the allegation that Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap was in any way endorsed by the Humboldt County Democratic Central Committee, which is prohibited in its bylaws from endorsing Green Party members such as Sopoci-Belknap -- a refutation backed by the HCDCC chair, HSU professor Milt Boyd in a follow-up letter to the Journal.
"I sure do miss the editorial supervision of Howard Seeman at the North Coast Journal!" Boyd stated. "He kept you guys on a straight and accurate path of professional journalism that seems to have slipped a lot in recent times."
Also, Davies refuted the allegation that he had never attended any meetings of the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District's board prior to last week -- in fact, Davies said he was in attendance at the quagga mussel infestation hearing the board held last month. Davies also noted that he had taken the time to review all board meeting minutes since 2005 and was also briefed by district general manager Carol Rische on the operations of the district well before the Journal article came out.
For the Journal's part, they ran a lengthy correction penned by editor Hank Sims in this week's issue, where they admitted to their error in claiming that Davies' opponent, Sopoci-Belknap, had been "unofficially" endorsed by the local Democratic Party.
"We concede both the grammatical and procedural points raised by Milt Boyd in the letter above, though we do maintain that the committee’s failure to endorse a candidate in the race was worthy of note," Sims wrote.
Sims also took the time to correct his reporter's misstatements concerning the Second Division water board race, where Walters had written that candidate Ben Shepherd had lost five elections to the board of the McKinelyville Community Services District. As Sims corrected, Shepherd actually won every one of those elections, and is age 66, not 68.
"I read with shock your article on the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District, Division 2, where Ben Shepherd’s past experience is wrongly reported. Ben was elected to five consecutive terms to the MCSD Board," Helen Edwards wrote in a letter to the Journal this week. "Anyone who can be elected to five terms certainly had the support of our community. I am a member of the board of the MCSD and I endorse Ben because I know of his outstanding record as a past member of the MCSD Board."
Sims also corrected an error associated with Shepherd's leading opponent, Edward "Buzz" Webb, who Walters had claimed was endorsed by Six Rivers Planned Parenthood. Webb is a longtime member of the SRPP board, on which he serves as board president.
"The organization is a non-profit entity and therefore does not endorse candidates for office," Sims wrote.
Also, longshot Second District candidate Jake Pickering did leave publicly-accessible contact information with the Humboldt County Elections Office, contrary to what the Journal had stated.
"The Journal deeply regrets the errors, and offers its sincere apologies to all parties concerned," Sims wrote.
Humboldt Sentinel
News 10/23/08
By Sentinel Staff
EUREKA -- The role of the area's media in shaping, or slanting, public opinion on local election contests has arisen once again.
This time, the allegations are centered on the Arcata-based North Coast Journal, the county's most widely-circulated "alternative" news weekly, and their coverage of the three races for three seats on the board of the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District. Their article, "Water Boarding," appeared in the Oct. 16 issue of the Journal and was written by Heidi Walters.
While these are, by far, the most contested elections in the history of the district, with nine candidates vying for three seats in divisions centered on Eureka, McKinleyville and Humboldt Hill, First Division candidate Stephen Davies thinks this is no excuse for what he alleges are unfounded allegations.
"With my real world experience in hydro and morphological engineering aspects of watercourse diversion and Department of Fish and Game Watercourse Protection, as well as advanced training in underwater scientific research, I believe my qualifications compared to those of my opponent speak louder than any hit piece," Davies said in a release. "It's unfortunate to see the Journal resort to such blatantly misleading tactics to prop up my opponent, especially given the lead story in the Times-Standard last week which exposes how the Green Party has gone into a steep decline under the intolerant leadership of Kaitlin [Sopoci-Belknap] and her boyfriend David Cobb."
The Times-Standard report Davies referenced pointed to the statistical free fall the Humboldt Green Party's registration numbers have dove into since the ascension of a handful of activists loyal to failed presidential candidate David Cobb. Green Party numbers in Humboldt have suffered a drop of over 20% in the last year alone, and by nearly a third of the total membership since June 2006. Meanwhile, other "minor parties" such as the Libertarian Party and the Peace and Freedom Party have seen increases in voter registration numbers during the same time frame.
Given the refusal of the Humboldt Green Party to support any actual Green Party candidates in Humboldt County beyond Kaitlin's re-election bid, her defeat would mean the end of Green Party representation in local office for the first time since the election of Bob Ornelas to the Arcata City Council in 1990 (Ornelas was actually the first registered Green Party member elected to office in California). The Journal has yet to report on any of the internal dissension in the local Green Party since Cobb's takeover of it two-and-a-half years ago.
As far as the errors in fact are concerned, Davies lists several. Specifically, Davies,who is a registered Democrat, refutes the allegation that Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap was in any way endorsed by the Humboldt County Democratic Central Committee, which is prohibited in its bylaws from endorsing Green Party members such as Sopoci-Belknap -- a refutation backed by the HCDCC chair, HSU professor Milt Boyd in a follow-up letter to the Journal.
"I sure do miss the editorial supervision of Howard Seeman at the North Coast Journal!" Boyd stated. "He kept you guys on a straight and accurate path of professional journalism that seems to have slipped a lot in recent times."
Also, Davies refuted the allegation that he had never attended any meetings of the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District's board prior to last week -- in fact, Davies said he was in attendance at the quagga mussel infestation hearing the board held last month. Davies also noted that he had taken the time to review all board meeting minutes since 2005 and was also briefed by district general manager Carol Rische on the operations of the district well before the Journal article came out.
For the Journal's part, they ran a lengthy correction penned by editor Hank Sims in this week's issue, where they admitted to their error in claiming that Davies' opponent, Sopoci-Belknap, had been "unofficially" endorsed by the local Democratic Party.
"We concede both the grammatical and procedural points raised by Milt Boyd in the letter above, though we do maintain that the committee’s failure to endorse a candidate in the race was worthy of note," Sims wrote.
Sims also took the time to correct his reporter's misstatements concerning the Second Division water board race, where Walters had written that candidate Ben Shepherd had lost five elections to the board of the McKinelyville Community Services District. As Sims corrected, Shepherd actually won every one of those elections, and is age 66, not 68.
"I read with shock your article on the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District, Division 2, where Ben Shepherd’s past experience is wrongly reported. Ben was elected to five consecutive terms to the MCSD Board," Helen Edwards wrote in a letter to the Journal this week. "Anyone who can be elected to five terms certainly had the support of our community. I am a member of the board of the MCSD and I endorse Ben because I know of his outstanding record as a past member of the MCSD Board."
Sims also corrected an error associated with Shepherd's leading opponent, Edward "Buzz" Webb, who Walters had claimed was endorsed by Six Rivers Planned Parenthood. Webb is a longtime member of the SRPP board, on which he serves as board president.
"The organization is a non-profit entity and therefore does not endorse candidates for office," Sims wrote.
Also, longshot Second District candidate Jake Pickering did leave publicly-accessible contact information with the Humboldt County Elections Office, contrary to what the Journal had stated.
"The Journal deeply regrets the errors, and offers its sincere apologies to all parties concerned," Sims wrote.
Benbow Drive-by Injures One, Assailants At Large
SUV pulls up to sedan on southbound 101, fires, speeds off
Humboldt Sentinel
News 10/23/08
By Sentinel Staff
BENBOW -- Just before 1:00 p.m. today, the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office received report of a drive-by shooting between vehicles near Benbow on the southbound lanes of Highway 101.
HCSO deputies and California Highway Patrol officers responded to the scene, where they discovered a white sedan occupied by three Hispanic males, one of whom had been shot.
The victims informed officers that a second vehicle occupied by four white males pulled up next to the sedan and opened fire, injuring one of the occupants before pulling ahead headed south on Hwy. 101.
The injured victim was transported to a local hospital, where he is reported to be in stable condition at last report.
According to eyewitnesses, the suspect vehicle is a white or beige sport utility vehicle, possibly a Chevrolet Tahoe.
The case is under active investigation and HCSO officials say additional information will be released as it becomes available. Anyone with information about this case should call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251.
Humboldt Sentinel
News 10/23/08
By Sentinel Staff
BENBOW -- Just before 1:00 p.m. today, the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office received report of a drive-by shooting between vehicles near Benbow on the southbound lanes of Highway 101.
HCSO deputies and California Highway Patrol officers responded to the scene, where they discovered a white sedan occupied by three Hispanic males, one of whom had been shot.
The victims informed officers that a second vehicle occupied by four white males pulled up next to the sedan and opened fire, injuring one of the occupants before pulling ahead headed south on Hwy. 101.
The injured victim was transported to a local hospital, where he is reported to be in stable condition at last report.
According to eyewitnesses, the suspect vehicle is a white or beige sport utility vehicle, possibly a Chevrolet Tahoe.
The case is under active investigation and HCSO officials say additional information will be released as it becomes available. Anyone with information about this case should call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251.
Police Brutality Protesters March Through Eureka
Residents also mourn anniversary of controversial slaying of Chris Burgess
Humboldt Sentinel
News 10/23/08
By Charles Douglas
EUREKA -- A small group of local residents took to the streets today to mark the National Day of Action Against Police Brutality, as well as commemorate the two-year anniversary of the death of Chris Burgess at the hands of Eureka Police Department officer Terry Liles.
"Shame on you," Margorie Burgess, Chris' mother, repeatedly shouted at plain clothes EPD officers standing just outside their headquarters as protesters carried banners, chanted slogans and banged on various instruments. One man, none other than Arcata Council candidate Geronimo Garcia, took to banging on the door of EPD headquarters, to which there was no response from officers on scene.
The protest march of about 30 people continued northbound on Seventh Street before arriving at the county courthouse for a final rally. No arrests were reported, although the march, which took over both lanes of several downtown streets during lunchtime today, was not permitted, with vehicular traffic only diverted at the last moment.
The protest was organized by Redwood Curtain Copwatch, one of many groups associated with Kim "Verbena" Starr and the People's Action Resource Center located on Second Street in Old Town Eureka. Organizers claimed people attending would be given an opportunity to voice their concerns about law enforcement, although one Arcata man told the Sentinel that was not allowed to speak when he approached the communal bullhorn, in rotation at the time on the steps of the courthouse.
Chris Burgess was fatally shot on October 23, 2006 after allegedly brandishing a weapon against probation officers attempting to apprehend him on a probation violation. The shooting occurred when Burgess, then evading law enforcement on foot, ran to the bottom of a ravine near Lincoln Elementary and allegedly threatened EPD officer Terry Liles, who had been chasing him, with a knife. Post-mortem blood tests later showed a measurable amount of methamphetamine in Burgess' system.
The demands for police accountability vocalized by Copwatch protesters were not the only outcome of the string of officer-related deaths which plagued EPD between 2005 and 2007. While Copwatch and the alphabet soup of other Verbena-related organizations have all dropped out of the Coalition for Police Review, an alliance of local civil rights organizations supporting independent review of law enforcement policies, practices and procedures, the CPR agenda of installing civilian police review systems for EPD and the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office has made substantial progress in recent months.
The Humboldt County Human Rights Commission, a CPR-affiliated group appointed by the Board of Supervisors, has formed a task force with representatives from local government and local law enforcement to develop a system incorporating advisory review committees with an independent police auditor who would have the authority to review police records and internal affairs investigations. Last month, the Eureka City Council approved an application seeking grant funding to cover the staffing costs involved in hiring a full-time independent police auditor, although the position would be shared between the city and the county, according to Councilmember Larry Glass.
In addition to the HRC, other member organizations of CPR include the Civil Liberties Monitoring Project and the Redwood Chapter, ACLU. No members of CPR were present at the protest, and the divergence of strategies undertaken to respond to police brutality are evidently breaking between confrontational protest and institutional reform.
Humboldt Sentinel
News 10/23/08
By Charles Douglas
EUREKA -- A small group of local residents took to the streets today to mark the National Day of Action Against Police Brutality, as well as commemorate the two-year anniversary of the death of Chris Burgess at the hands of Eureka Police Department officer Terry Liles.
"Shame on you," Margorie Burgess, Chris' mother, repeatedly shouted at plain clothes EPD officers standing just outside their headquarters as protesters carried banners, chanted slogans and banged on various instruments. One man, none other than Arcata Council candidate Geronimo Garcia, took to banging on the door of EPD headquarters, to which there was no response from officers on scene.
The protest march of about 30 people continued northbound on Seventh Street before arriving at the county courthouse for a final rally. No arrests were reported, although the march, which took over both lanes of several downtown streets during lunchtime today, was not permitted, with vehicular traffic only diverted at the last moment.
The protest was organized by Redwood Curtain Copwatch, one of many groups associated with Kim "Verbena" Starr and the People's Action Resource Center located on Second Street in Old Town Eureka. Organizers claimed people attending would be given an opportunity to voice their concerns about law enforcement, although one Arcata man told the Sentinel that was not allowed to speak when he approached the communal bullhorn, in rotation at the time on the steps of the courthouse.
Chris Burgess was fatally shot on October 23, 2006 after allegedly brandishing a weapon against probation officers attempting to apprehend him on a probation violation. The shooting occurred when Burgess, then evading law enforcement on foot, ran to the bottom of a ravine near Lincoln Elementary and allegedly threatened EPD officer Terry Liles, who had been chasing him, with a knife. Post-mortem blood tests later showed a measurable amount of methamphetamine in Burgess' system.
The demands for police accountability vocalized by Copwatch protesters were not the only outcome of the string of officer-related deaths which plagued EPD between 2005 and 2007. While Copwatch and the alphabet soup of other Verbena-related organizations have all dropped out of the Coalition for Police Review, an alliance of local civil rights organizations supporting independent review of law enforcement policies, practices and procedures, the CPR agenda of installing civilian police review systems for EPD and the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office has made substantial progress in recent months.
The Humboldt County Human Rights Commission, a CPR-affiliated group appointed by the Board of Supervisors, has formed a task force with representatives from local government and local law enforcement to develop a system incorporating advisory review committees with an independent police auditor who would have the authority to review police records and internal affairs investigations. Last month, the Eureka City Council approved an application seeking grant funding to cover the staffing costs involved in hiring a full-time independent police auditor, although the position would be shared between the city and the county, according to Councilmember Larry Glass.
In addition to the HRC, other member organizations of CPR include the Civil Liberties Monitoring Project and the Redwood Chapter, ACLU. No members of CPR were present at the protest, and the divergence of strategies undertaken to respond to police brutality are evidently breaking between confrontational protest and institutional reform.
Advocate, Writer Tackle Race Issues
Campus dialogue to focus on institutionalized racism, white privilege
Humboldt Sentinel
News 10/22/08
By Sentinel Staff
ARCATA -- Diversity activist Frances Kendall and award-winning author Nalo Hopkinson will headline Humboldt State University’s 2008 Campus Dialogue on Race, Friday, Oct. 31 to Nov. 9.
Kendall, a long-time organizer against institutionalized racism, will discuss “Leading Whites to Challenge Whiteness” on Saturday, Nov. 1, at 10 a.m. in the Behavioral and Social Sciences Forum 162. Her theme is “taking responsibility for our white privilege.”
Kendall is a nationally known consultant who has pursued communication and systemic change across racial divides for 30 years.
“Whites sometimes think racism isn’t present until a person of color walks into the room,” Kendall told a Northampton Community College audience in 2007.
In fact, race shapes every experience a person has, but they aren’t always aware of it, Kendall explained.
“We need to internalize that racism is about us, as white people, and to understand the depths of white privilege,” she said.
Jamaica-born Hopkinson has written four novels and a short story collection and is the editor and co-editor of fiction anthologies. She will make the Book of the Year presentation for the late Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower, and discuss the new voices of black women authors in futuristic fiction.
The presentation will take place in the University Library Lobby on Thursday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. The program will include a question and answer session and a book signing sponsored by the HSU Bookstore.
HSU’s annual Campus Dialogue on Race offers a full roster of events that will kick off on Friday, Oct. 31, at 8 p.m. with “The Colored Museum,” a theater production that explores different facets of African-American life and culture. It will be presented in Gist Theater, Gist Hall.
Subsequent discussions and workshops will delve into race and the November elections, the history of hate in the United States, crime policy and Native American efforts to achieve civil and religious rights.
Humboldt Sentinel
News 10/22/08
By Sentinel Staff
ARCATA -- Diversity activist Frances Kendall and award-winning author Nalo Hopkinson will headline Humboldt State University’s 2008 Campus Dialogue on Race, Friday, Oct. 31 to Nov. 9.
Kendall, a long-time organizer against institutionalized racism, will discuss “Leading Whites to Challenge Whiteness” on Saturday, Nov. 1, at 10 a.m. in the Behavioral and Social Sciences Forum 162. Her theme is “taking responsibility for our white privilege.”
Kendall is a nationally known consultant who has pursued communication and systemic change across racial divides for 30 years.
“Whites sometimes think racism isn’t present until a person of color walks into the room,” Kendall told a Northampton Community College audience in 2007.
In fact, race shapes every experience a person has, but they aren’t always aware of it, Kendall explained.
“We need to internalize that racism is about us, as white people, and to understand the depths of white privilege,” she said.
Jamaica-born Hopkinson has written four novels and a short story collection and is the editor and co-editor of fiction anthologies. She will make the Book of the Year presentation for the late Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower, and discuss the new voices of black women authors in futuristic fiction.
The presentation will take place in the University Library Lobby on Thursday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. The program will include a question and answer session and a book signing sponsored by the HSU Bookstore.
HSU’s annual Campus Dialogue on Race offers a full roster of events that will kick off on Friday, Oct. 31, at 8 p.m. with “The Colored Museum,” a theater production that explores different facets of African-American life and culture. It will be presented in Gist Theater, Gist Hall.
Subsequent discussions and workshops will delve into race and the November elections, the history of hate in the United States, crime policy and Native American efforts to achieve civil and religious rights.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Measure T Faces Defiance From Corporate Chocolate
Humboldt Sentinel
News 10/22/08
By Sentinel Staff
Democracy Unlimited head faces Water Board challenger willing to test waters
FIELDS LANDING -- Is chocolate sweeter when it’s tasted in defiance of an unconstitutional ballot initiative?
Humboldt Bay Water Board challenger and local attorney Stephen Davies hopes so, as he holds his first fundraiser in his bid for the Division 1 seat held by Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, who is the executive director of Democracy Unlimited.
Davies has garnered a non-monetary contribution of chocolate from a gourmet manufacturer in San Francisco, and plans to serve it up at his Blind Water Taste Testing event on Friday at 4:00 p.m. at Has Beans Cafe in Eureka.
“We have plenty of light and dark chocolate from a non-local corporation to share with you,” Davies said in a release.
Such a contribution, of any amount, was rendered illegal by Measure T, which sought to prohibit any monetary or non-monetary contribution, of any kind, of any amount, to any local candidate from a non-local corporation -- with “non-local” being defined as having a single employee or a single shareholder residing beyond Humboldt County. This ban has since been lifted with the federal court injunction issued against Measure T by Judge Susan Illston last month, and Davies’ declaration is the first open flouting of the now nullified measure.
All candidates in Humboldt County received a demand letter in September from Democracy Unlimited insisting on their support for Measure T, even if it were nullified by the judicial review process, as well as querying their level of support for the DUHC doctrine of undermining constitutional equal protection standards in dealing with corporations. Davies’ case was unique since the letter was sent by his very opponent, who predictably answered in the affirmative to the questions she had herself issued. Davies declined to fall in line.
“The incumbent of this water board position, Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, has a record of blocking public input on important issues before the water board and has wasted taxpayer money with a poorly drafted Measure T initiative,” Davies said.
The Friends of Stephen Davies campaign committee also intends for their event, as the name implies, to gauge whether local residents can tell the difference between non-local bottled water and local tap water, as a way of raising public awareness about local water supply issues.
The event is free and undecided voters are welcome to attend and ask the candidate questions. For more information, call 
707-496-9666
or e-mail turnerlit@gmail.com.
HSU Joins Statewide Solar Partnership
Humboldt Sentinel
News 10/22/08
By David Courtland
Environmental Resource Engineering students to help install new systems
ARCATA -- Humboldt State University has established two solar energy initiatives, part of a joint program reduce the human carbon footprint.
HSU is installing 300 kilowatts of solar panels on the roof of the University Library and issuing a contract to install a demonstration 12.5 kilowatt photovoltaic panel system on the roof of the Old Music Building.
The solar panels atop the Library will be installed, operated and maintained under a Sun Edison agreement with the California State University system.
The building was chosen for its flat roof, which allows safer installation. Further, the building’s solar window is considered one of the best on campus’s flat-roofed structures, providing superior solar exposure with little shading from trees or adjoining buildings. The installation has a projected life of 25 years.
“Construction is scheduled to begin in a few months,” Tim Moxon, Director of HSU Plant Operations, said. “This is an outstanding proposal partnering students, contractors and the University.”
Power will be sold to the campus under the agreement. The university expects to derive $36,000 in cost savings each year from the energy conservation effort.
Moxon said the roof panels will offset 219 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year.
The Humboldt State solar projects are fused with counterparts at 15 other CSU campuses to bring eight megawatts of green power on line, offsetting almost 9,500 metric tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to mothballing almost 49,000 cars.
According to the Chancellor’s Office, the system-wide project ensures that more than 20 percent of all CSU power comes from green sources.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Thieves Escape In Beamer After Rash Of Burglaries
Humboldt Sentinel
News 10/21/08
By Sentinel Staff
Fire Department called to shut down multiple power meters due to hazard
EUREKA -- EPD officials warned the public today of a string of major burglaries in the Eureka area, with several different suspects at large and wanted for questioning.
Among the crimes, one burglary resulted in over $50,000 of items stolen from one home, including jewelry, computers, cameras, several Rolex watches and a safe, according to EPD officials.
These items were loaded into the victim’s BMW sedan in their own garage, and this very vehicle was sighted at noon today, only a few hours after the burglary.
Police warned of other burglars who they allege are operating from a motive of breaking into residences and stealing everything of value except guns -- and police also suggested another set of thieves who break in looking only for guns, with many guns stolen in the last two weeks found discarded. Both sets of break-ins occur in the daytime and police claim those responsible are staking out their targets and monitoring their movements.
EPD officials cautioned citizens to secure their homes and property, and to avoid picking up any found weapon so that fingerprints can be obtained. Anyone who discovers a gun, or has information related to these cases, is asked to contact the Crime Prevention Unit of EPD at 707-441-4321, or to approach them at the Police Annex at the Bayshore Mall during afternoon hours.
Arcata To Pull The Plug On Corporations Committee
Humboldt Sentinel
News 10/21/08
By Charles Douglas
Multiple vacancies and repeated failure to hold regular meetings cited
ARCATA -- Ten years after the passage of its ballot initiative to create a City of Arcata committee to “address issues of democracy and corporations in an ongoing way,” Democracy Unlimited of Humboldt County is losing one of its “current projects.”
On the consent calendar of tonight’s special meeting of the Arcata City Council is a staff recommendation to accept two vacancies from the Arcata Committee on Democracy and Corporations, leaving it with only three out of its seven seats filled, and to “suspend” all meetings and activities of the DUHC-inspired committee indefinitely. All items on the consent calendar are typically approved with a single motion, unless a member of the Council or public pulls an item for further discussion.
The last meeting of the Corporations Committee was on June 17. According to committee staffer Mike Mullen’s letter to the city manager, CDC Chair Sean Armstrong verbally stated that he would resign at the June meeting, but never did actually submit a letter of resignation, and in the mean time, the absence of CDC member Eric Surber, as well as Armstrong, resulted in a lack of a committee chair or a quorum. This means the committee conducted no business at its regularly scheduled meetings in July, August and September, with its monthly meeting for October, scheduled for 4:00 p.m. today, cancelled.
”Sometimes circumstances change and I regret the CDC had to come off my plate,” Eric Surber said in a letter to the city.
Even though the handling of committee vacancies, even multiple ones simultaneously, is routine for the Council to deal with, the act of actually suspending a city committee has not previously been proposed by city staff in modern Arcata political history. Senior city officials suggest it may be connected by the repeated rejection over the last year by the Council, the Economic Development Committee and the Planning Commission of attempts by the Corporations Committee to slap a cap on the number of retail stores in the city.
Although the Corporations Committee is supposed to be an organ of the city government, the CDC has undertaken a number of activities outside its Council-approved which could fairly be described as electioneering. Typically these activities, such as the use of city resources in 2006 to support Measure T (since enjoined by the federal court over constitutional issues), are on behalf of projects hatched up by Democracy Unlimited, which claims to have “helped provoke” the creation of the CDC via the Measure F ballot initiative in 1998.
The website for DUHC still claims the taxpayer-funded Corporations Committee as one of its current projects, to which the Eureka-based Democracy Unlimited “provides resources and advice.” DUHC also considers the city committee to be a project which “falls within our Building Alternatives Program and our Shifting Culture Program.” In its ten-year history, the CDC has only been chaired by someone who identified as a member of Democracy Unlimited, blurring the line between local government and this obstensibly non-profit organization -- although DUHC itself is not a 501(c)3 corporate entity, but rather a "project" of the California Center for Community Democracy, a non-profit which operates out of a P.O. Box in Albion (Mendocino County).
Measure F, the “Arcata Advisory Committee on Democracy and Corporations,” originally called for two town hall meetings on the subject, which were held in 2000. The measure also called for the creation of a committee to consider questions of corporate power -- but neither the initiative, nor the Council with their mandate approved later in 2000, granted authority to the CDC to draft commercial restrictions or engage in electoral activities on the city’s dime.
Councilmember Michael Machi, running for a third term this fall, told the Sentinel in an interview earlier this month that he would like to consider merging certain city committees to achieve cost savings, the CDC and the Nuclear Weapons Free Zone and Peace Commission topping the list.
DUHC has provided no public statement on what role they would play in relation to the Corporations Committee in the event that it ceased to operate.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Eureka Cops Shut Down Weed Operation
Humboldt Sentinel
News 10/20/08
By David Courtland
Fire Department called to shut down multiple power meters due to hazard
EUREKA -- Eureka police officers investigating a commercial marijuana growing operation took about 800 plants from three apartments at 1026 Pine St. last Wednesday morning.
Officers serving a search warrant found plants ranging in height from six inches to three feet. There were indications more marijuana had recently been harvested.
Eureka Fire Dept.’s fire marshall and PG&E personnel were called to turn off all three apartment’s power meters because haphazard growing techniques were creating a fire hazard.
Two people at the apartments when police arrived were released. The case is still under investigation.
Vandals Burn Truck, Damage Heavy Equipment
Humboldt Sentinel
News 10/20/08
By Sentinel Staff
Humboldt Bay Forest Products in Fields Landing hit hard
FIELDS LANDING -- Witnesses are being sought by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office in connection with an incident in Fields Landing last week which resulted in felony vandalism and arson.
On Oct. 7, the owner of Humboldt Bay Forest Products reported to the HCSO that during the previous night, one of his company’s trucks had been stolen and several other vehicles had been moved and damaged, including a Caterpillar 988 loader which had been driven over the company’s scale, resulting in approximately $20,000 worth of damage alone.
Another tractor-trailer had a damaged drive shaft and trailer, and a second tractor-trailer had been driven with its trailer brakes engaged which damaged all ten of its tires, according to HCSO spokesperson Brenda Godsey.
Just as the company owner was making his report to Sheriff’s deputies, the California Highway Patrol recovered the stolen truck, a Ford F150, which had been set on fire and destroyed near Loma Ave. in Eureka.
According to officials, the evidence technician for the HCSO processed the vehicles for evidence and the case is under active investigation. Anyone with information about the incident should call the HCSO at 707-445-7251.
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