Injured transient found on Trinidad roadside

Woman was cold and unresponsive, now in critical condition

Humboldt Sentinel staff
6/30/09

Trinidad

A woman is clinging to life in a local hospital after a passing motorist spotted a comatose body on the northbound side of Highway 101 this morning.

Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the call at 6:30 a.m., and found an unnamed woman alive, but cold and unresponsive. When she was hospitalized, the 48-year-old transient showed significant bruising which may have been several days old, according to the HCSO release.

Deputies and California Highway Patrol officers are working to determine how the woman sustained her injuries, and anyone with information is asked to call (707) 445-7251.

Attempted murder in Hoopa

Sheriffs looking for Chevy pickup truck

Humboldt Sentinel staff
6/29/09

Hoopa

Deputies are looking for a Chevy pickup truck involved in a late night attempted murder which left a woman shot in the face.

According to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office release, deputies were called to a residence on Masten Flat off of Pine Creek Road at 11:30 p.m. yesterday, where they discovered a woman lying in the yard with a single gunshot wound in her face.

The victim, Kodi Elainna Downs, was hospitalized in critical condition -- but not before speaking to deputies about the incident. She reported hearing a woman’s voice from the passenger side of a truck which pulled up alongside her as she was walking to a friend’s house on Masten Flat. Downs was shot before being able to identify the woman, however, and the truck pulled away.

The HCSO is looking for a tan or brown four-door Chevy pickup, with the model year somewhere between 1998 and 2002. Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call sergeant Wayne Hanson at (707) 268-3639.

Budget cuts could cause ‘public safety emergency’

State crime lab funding on chopping block

Emily Witt, ProPublica
6/28/09

Sacramento

As California lawmakers tackle their state's $24 billion deficit, one little-known proposal on the table is a $20 million cut to the state crime lab.

That may not sound like much alongside the hundreds of millions in proposed slashes to the state's education, prison and health care systems. But it's half the lab's budget and would likely halt or delay the testing of rape kits, DNA and other crucial crime scene evidence in many counties, law enforcement officials warn.

The $20 million cut was approved by the state's budget committee last week and now goes to the entire legislature for approval. If it is passed, the lab would have to charge law enforcement agencies for tests it has always provided for free, even though many of those agencies are facing budget cuts of their own. Last year, the state lab tested evidence in about 50,000 cases, including more than 1,400 containing DNA.

Advocates for crime victims are urging lawmakers to reject the proposal, because they worry that delays in testing evidence will allow rapists, murderers and other violent criminals to remain on the streets.

"It's a public safety emergency," said Gail Abarbanel, who heads the rape treatment program at the Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center. "The last thing that should be cut is public safety. I don't know what they're thinking."

Hundreds of police departments and district attorneys' offices in 47 of the state's 58 counties currently rely on the state lab to test their crime scene evidence. The other 11 counties, mostly concentrated in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas, have their own labs to test forensic evidence.

But many law enforcement agencies in small or rural counties doubt they'll be able to afford the new charges, which are likely to run about $215 an hour. If the agencies can't pay, the lab will have to close some of its branches and lay off some of its scientists, said Jill Spriggs, the lab's bureau chief.

The agencies also could be forced to shelve thousands of DNA samples, bullet casings and other pieces of evidence used to identify violent criminals. There are already more than 350,000 untested DNA samples nationwide, according to federal government statistics.

Ultimately, some police chiefs said they might have to choose: pay to process evidence, or lose more cops on the streets. More than 1,000 police officers were eliminated statewide in the past year.

"I think that most law enforcement agencies would not be in a position to pay for those services," said Jerry Dyer, the police chief for the city of Fresno and past president of the California Police Chiefs Association. He estimated that the state lab's assistance to Fresno, which has some facilities of its own but relies on the state to process DNA evidence, amounted to approximately $1 million worth of testing last year.

Joe Grebmeier, a police chief from Greenfield, Calif., said his budget is already so tight that detectives are paying for crime scene supplies, including cameras, out of their own pockets.

"Decisions on how to proceed with investigations will now include, 'can we pay for it?'" said Grebmeier. "We might have to go to the public and have a fundraiser just to process a rape case."

Even in Los Angeles County, where the Los Angeles Police Department and the County Sheriff's Department have their own labs, DNA testing is in danger. Since May, the cash-strapped and understaffed Sheriff's office hasn't tested DNA evidence from thousands of rape and sexual assault cases, according to news accounts.

State budget officials acknowledged the danger the cut poses but said it is needed to keep the state from plunging even deeper into debt.

"We have had to make many difficult decisions to close our budget gap this year," said Noreen Evans, D-Santa Rosa, chair of the Assembly Budget Committee.

Dan Carson, of the state legislative analyst's office, which has recommended cutting the lab's funds for the last few years, agreed that "the easy choices are gone."

But Carson also defended the cuts, saying that it's unfair to allow 47 counties to get free services while others pay for their own crime labs. He said a state law already allows the lab to charge for testing.

"If this is a priority, one would assume they'll work out a way to do it."

But it could take years for a county to build its own lab or secure enough funding to pay the state. In the meantime, police and prosecutors could find it more difficult to send violent criminals to prison.

"Juries expect forensic evidence," said Spriggs, the state lab's chief. "When it's not there, cases could be lost."

Spriggs also noted that her lab "provides a very important service" to people wrongfully accused of crimes—those who rely on DNA testing to prove their innocence.

The proposed cut could go into effect between July 1 and Jan. 1, she said. It's unclear if it would be permanent. The entire state budget is likely to go to the full legislature for a vote on Wednesday.

When lawmakers debate the budget this week, Grebmeier, the police chief from Greenfield, suggested that they keep crime victims in mind.

"It's an academic discussion about these cuts and what we can afford and not afford until you look into the eyes of a victim or a family that's lost a loved one."

Madoff Client Jeffry Picower Netted $5 Billion

Big winner likely made out with more than Madoff himself

Jake Bernstein, ProPublica
6/27/09

New York

It is rare these days to see Bernard Madoff's name in print unaccompanied by the word "Ponzi." Yet recent allegations raise the possibility of one key difference between Madoff's crimes and those of legendary con artist Charles Ponzi. While Ponzi's scam was under way, Ponzi himself was its biggest beneficiary. It now appears that the biggest winner in Madoff's scheme may not have been Madoff at all, but a secretive businessman named Jeffry Picower.

Between December 1995 and December 2008, Picower and his family withdrew from their various Madoff accounts $5.1 billion more than they invested with the self-confessed swindler, according to a lawsuit filed by the trustee who is trying to recover money for those Madoff defrauded.

In contrast, shortly after he confessed, Madoff declared his household net worth to be between $823 and $826 million, according to court documents. While the Madoffs clearly lived opulently, no evidence has emerged that their combined assets and expenditures approached the amount the Picower family is alleged to have withdrawn from the scheme.

In an era when billions of dollars are being tossed about in financial collapses and government bailouts, remarkably little attention has been paid to Jeffry Picower's extraordinary success with Bernie Madoff. If Picower has penetrated the popular consciousness at all, it is as a Madoff victim. The victim narrative is buoyed by testimonials from the nonprofits who received funding from his charitable foundation – which quickly closed on the heels of the swindler's confession. For this reason, ProPublica decided to take a closer look at both Jeffry Picower and the complaint filed against him by Madoff trustee Irving Picard.

Fortunately for the trustee and the federal investigators presently swarming over the case, Madoff apparently kept detailed notes of communications between his office and his clients. But despite this documentary evidence, which is cited but not provided in court documents, Picard's complaint raises more questions than it answers. Above all, what was the exact relationship between the two men? The complaint is larded with the legal catch-all phrase, "knew or should have known," to describe Picower's cognizance of Madoff's fraud, but the intricacies of the relationship are left to the imagination.

One question is the role that Picower's charitable giving played in all of this. The amount Picower withdrew for his foundation is separate from the quarterly withdrawals for his personal accounts. During the 1995-2008 time span, Picower took out about $291 million from Madoff for the foundation account. During the same period, the foundation doled out more than $235 million in donations, according to tax forms.

Perhaps the most pertinent question: If Picower withdrew $5.1 billion in "profit" from Madoff, where did all the money go? The Picowers own a home in Palm Beach that is appraised at a little over $28 million. They also have a 28.4-acre compound in Connecticut valued at $4.5 million. A search of numerous online sources, both aggregate databases and county property records for the couple, their daughter, and the companies named in the complaint, reveals few other major assets. If someone needed the skills to hide billions of dollars, few would be better equipped than Picower, an attorney and accountant who has been described as a "tax shelter expert." Even so, it's curious our search did not even uncover a boat or plane under the Picower name.

Messages left for Picower and his wife Barbara requesting comment for this story were not returned. Their lawyer, William Zabel, declined to comment to ProPublica on the Madoff matter. Earlier, Zabel told The Wall Street Journal that the couple "were in no way complicit in" Madoff's scheme.

Emailed questions to David Sheehan, an attorney at Baker & Hostetler who is working alongside Picard on the case, went unanswered.

Picower, 67, began his career as an accountant and lawyer in New York but seems to have made much of his fortune as an investor in the medical industry. He has avoided media interviews and, with a few notable exceptions, succeeded in keeping a low profile. If the Picowers were recognized at all, prior to their Madoff notoriety, it was through praise for their philanthropy. Yet even here, their ties to Madoff loomed large. The growth of their largest foundation was attributed to their Madoff investments. Madoff himself served as a trustee on another Picower foundation.

The court-appointed trustee makes a powerful, albeit still largely circumstantial, case in court filings that Picower knew Madoff's fund was illegitimate. Although Madoff ostensibly produced eerily consistent 10-12 percent annual returns for his clients, the returns he provided Picower were other worldly:

■In 14 instances between 1996 and 2007, a group of Picower trading accounts experienced annual returns of more than 100 percent. On 25 occasions, the annual return exceeded 50 percent. During this same period, the biggest annual gain in either the Dow Jones Industrial Average or the S&P 500 was 31 percent, for the S&P in 1997. The S&P 500's annual average for that period was slightly under 9 percent.
■The annual rate of return for two of Picower's regular trading accounts in the four years between 1996 and 1999 ranged from about 120 percent to more than 550 percent annually.
■In 1999, one account earned 950 percent.

Each quarter, the Picowers would withdraw various sums from Madoff from different accounts. Usually the total for each quarter’s withdrawals amounted to round numbers. Click to see the full listing of the Picowers' withdrawals from Madoff accounts. [5]Picower belonged to a select group of Madoff investors who received souped-up returns. A Wall Street Journal story [6] published in May cited unnamed sources saying that prosecutors were looking into eight investors who appear to have received special treatment from Madoff. Among the eight named, Picower seems to have withdrawn the most money, with the bulk of it coming from an account called "Decisions, Inc." According to the Madoff trustee's court filings, "the account reflected little trading activity and relatively few holdings," yet Picower took hundreds of millions out of it. At the time of Madoff's arrest, the account had a reported negative net cash balance of more than $6 billion.

At the beginning of each quarter, the Picowers received sums that grew from an annual total of $330 million in 1996 to $1 billion in 2003. These withdrawals were divided into odd numbers spread over various accounts. Added together, they usually equaled large even sums. For example, on January 2, 2003, Picower withdrew $1,378,852 from his account Jln Partnership. Yet when withdrawals across all accounts were totaled for that day, they amounted to precisely $250 million.

Picower's quarterly withdrawals reached their zenith in 2003 and then decreased by half the next year, eventually dropping to their lowest point in 2006. For some reason, the quarterly withdrawals totaled an uneven $16,975,422 in 2006, only to rebound to exactly $40 million in 2007.

Picower's extraordinary gains do not appear to have been achieved at random. The trustee's complaint details how Picower, often acting through a subordinate, ordered up "returns" which Madoff's office then delivered. In some cases, Picower is alleged to have requested backdated returns for trades or sales of securities.

■On April 18, 2006, Picower wired $125 million to Madoff to open a new account. Madoff's office began "purchasing" securities in the account, but "it backdated the vast majority of these purported transactions to January 2006" when the stock market was at its lowest for the period, according to the complaint. Twelve days later, the net equity value of the account was $164 million, a gain of $39 million – or more than 30 percent – in less than two weeks.
■The complaint details conversations between Picower associate April Freilich and Madoff's office beginning around May 14, 2007, when Freilich stated that the Picower Foundation needed gains during January and February of 2006, a year earlier.
■On May 18, Freilich specified that the foundation needed "$20 mil in gains" and "want[ed] 18% for year[] 08 appreciation" for January and February of that year. Five days later, Freilich changed the amount to $12.3 million. Subsequent statements reflected gains of $12.6 million.
■On December 22, 2005, Picower or Freilich allegedly faxed a letter to Madoff dated December 1, directing him to sell specific holdings. The statement for that month reflects that the sales were finalized on December 2, a process that typically takes three days. The clues that the letter was back-dated: A fax with the tell-tale December 22 date and an attached portfolio appraisal dated December 16 that included the positions that were supposedly "sold."
■On or around December 29, 2005, Freilich allegedly faxed a letter to Madoff asking for $50 million in gains across certain accounts. Subsequent statements generated by Madoff for the accounts show stock sales, presumably to satisfy the request, that were supposedly recorded around December 8 and 9, 2005, approximately three weeks prior to Freilich's letter.
Who is Jeffry Picower?

The Picowers' generosity to deserving charities, particularly in New York, Florida, and Massachusetts, has earned them admiration and respect. However, the image belies a more complex reality.

The Picowers gave to a host of worthy causes from the Children's Aid Society to the New York City Ballet, but Jeffry Picower's passion centered on health issues, particularly funding for medical research. On December 1, 2005, the couple made a rare public appearance at a ceremony at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to dedicate a new center to study the brain, the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory. The Picowers' gift of $50 million, spread over five years, was the single largest from a private foundation in the school's history. In a video of the ceremony, Nobel Prize winning Japanese scientist Susumu Tonegawa told the crowd that without the Picowers there would be no institute. The Picowers stood by silently as Tonegawa unveiled a portrait of the couple to conclude the ceremony.

The gift to MIT was the largest single donation to an outside entity the Picower Foundation had ever made, according to tax forms the foundation filed. Prior to late 1995, when Madoff trustee Picard's records start tracking Picower's Madoff activity, the Picower Foundation was relatively small in size and scope. At year's end in 1994, it had assets of just under $75 million and had donated $375,754. By 2007, it was reporting about $958 million in assets and about $23.4 million in donations for the year.

Picower's attention to cutting-edge medicine was the sole focus of a second foundation, The Picower Institute for Medical Research, created to find cures for human diseases. He launched the Institute in 1991 with a $10 million donation from the Picower Foundation. Madoff served as a trustee of the Institute.

In 2001, the St. Petersburg Times revealed that Picower used both his foundations and a private corporation called PharmaSciences, of which he was the majority shareholder, to gain control of a potentially lucrative medical discovery. In 1999, Picower merged PharmaSciences with a for-profit spinoff of his institute called Cytokine Networks, essentially negotiating with himself. The merged company called Cytokine PharmaSciences had the rights to develop a new drug that could help minimize such illnesses as arthritis and multiple sclerosis. The newspaper raised the question of whether Picower had shortchanged his nonprofit in the deal.

An IRS audit concluded that the Picower Foundation had not jeopardized its tax status or incurred extra liability during the period in question. The Foundation's lawyer William Zabel provided ProPublica with a letter from the IRS dated September 2006 that he said "cleared the Foundation." Addressed to Barbara Picower, the letter is from the IRS' Office of Exempt Organizations and formally accepts the Foundation's tax returns. Zabel also said that shares Picower received from the merger were given to other charitable organizations.

The publicity-shy Picower is no stranger to lawsuits or regulators, a trip through several decades of legal and regulatory filings reveals. In 1984, the SEC cited him for a late disclosure over how much he owned in a company called Bradford National Corporation. The SEC filing alleged that Picower was part of a scheme to take over the company.

A year later Picower had to pay out a $21-million settlement when shareholders sued over the collapse of Physicians Computer Network. Picower controlled 45 percent of the stock and chaired the company before it went belly up. In 1989, Picower paid an undisclosed settlement over a questionable tax shelter he helped set up years earlier for a client. In 1990, it was Picower's turn to recover money – from a settlement involving infamous insider trader Ivan Boesky. Picower had been one of his investors.

Perhaps the most revealing case against Picower was a lawsuit filed for failure to pay for renovations on his New York office. Picower alleged that general contractor McHugh, DiVincent Alessi had done such a bad job on his office that the toilets didn't even flush properly, according to Jeremy Morley, the firm's lawyer at the time. Rather than take Picower at his word, the judge decided the jury members should see for themselves. Arriving by city bus from the courtroom, the judge, with jury in tow, made a surprise visit to Picower's office.

"The jury wandered around, looking at the office, testing the toilet," Morley said. "They quickly realized that the case was full of crap in more ways than one."

The judge awarded Morley's client what Picower owed them and some of their attorney fees, according to the lawyer.

Picower's legal and regulatory history was outlined in an article by Forbes Magazine. The 2002 article, which didn't mention Picower's activities with Madoff, said Picower was "worth at least $300 million." That same year, the trustee reports, Picower's quarterly withdrawals from Madoff totaled $895 million.

ProPublica Research Director Lisa Schwartz and Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.

California commercial fishing in jeopardy

New data shows many fisheries running losses

Paul Mann, Humboldt State University
6/26/09

Arcata

Many California fisheries are running losses, the number of licensed commercial fishermen is plummeting and the port and harbor infrastructure that supports them is underfunded as the industry shrinks, according to an in-depth economic analysis commissioned by the California Department of Fish and Game from Humboldt State University.

The findings suggest that without major management changes, commercial fishing could meet the same fate as Santa Clara County’s extinct truck produce and processing industry and Sonoma County’s withered apple sector.

Commercial salmon fishing, which has suffered recently from limited seasons and outright closures, is far from alone in the industry’s plight, according to statewide data analyzed by Humboldt State Economics Professor Steve Hackett, his research associate, Doreen Hansen, HSU undergraduate researchers and the Maryland consulting firm King and Associates. Although Dungeness crab fishing is strong on a cyclical basis, money-losing operations include such fisheries as harpoon/spear, hook and line, near shore and ground fish trap, sea urchin and southern California trawl.

Persistent revenue losses have shrunk the industry dramatically. Department of Fish and Game sales of commercial fishing licenses of all types sank 31% from 2000 to 2008, dropping from 26,049 to 18,052, according to Terry Tillman, a senior biologist and fisheries economist at the department.

Correspondingly, Hackett said, “The number of vessels in the industry has shrunk substantially across the whole state, the average age of commercial fishermen is getting older and a lot fewer people are engaged in commercial fishing. All this results in a struggle for funding to maintain the harbor and port infrastructure the industry is dependent on.”

Strong competition is in play as well. The commercial sector duels for catch with private sport fishermen, intensely so in southern California. Meanwhile, competition for fishing grounds is heightened by marine protection initiatives and the likelihood California will deploy wave energy conversion systems at sea to gain alternative electrical output.

“What you have is a constellation of policy challenges besetting commercial fishing,” Hackett emphasized, noting a corrosive feedback effect. “When it’s so hard to fish commercially and you don’t have enough fishermen, then the fish processors begin to fall by the wayside. And without them, you can’t have a commercial fishing industry. It’s very similar to what happened with truck produce and processing in Santa Clara County, which was completely eliminated by urbanization. Same thing with apple processing in Sebastopol and Sonoma County: the industry shrinks, you lose the processors and then eventually the rest of the industry goes away.”

Tillman said the new economic analysis could be a crucial underpinning for bold management actions to restore the industry’s health. “In some instances, bold action may even be for [state and federal] management to let the industry operate with more flexibility, as an unfettered or unencumbered business enterprise,” he said in an interview. “Of course, there have to be biological constraints that the department, as a custodian of a public resource, needs to keep tabs on. But as long as we have acceptable fishing practices and sustainable levels of fish, there may be room to allow the fishing fleet to operate more profitably.”

Many other states and countries have taken that direction under fisheries quota programs, he said, but California has not been in the forefront.

The analysis and companion files are titled “The Economic Structure of California’s Commercial Fisheries,” available at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/economicstructure.asp

Arcata cops raid 215 grow

Daniel Carbonneau popped for cultivation despite doctor’s recommendation

Humboldt Sentinel staff
6/25/09

Arcata

A local man was arrested today at the scene of a moderate-sized marijuana grow in Sunny Brae by Arcata Police Department officers acting in concert with the Humboldt County Drug Task Force.

A search warrant was served this morning at a residence and storage building on the 1100 block of Old Arcata Road by APD, DTF and agents of the Drug Enforcement Unit run by the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office. According to the APD release, the warrant targeted a “criminal marijuana growing operation” following complaints from unnamed members of the public -- although the presence of doctor’s recommendations under the auspices of Proposition 215 were apparently ignored.

Arcata resident Daniel Carbonneau, 38, was arrested without incident at his home, and booked into the county jail on illegal cultivation charges. Police estimated the catch at approximately four pounds of cannabis bud, and 275 growing marijuana plants were also seized.

APD officials alleged that the electrical wiring in the buildings was faulty and had been modified in such a way as to create a significant risk of fire, and used their assessment to bring in building code officials from City Hall. Their inspection resulted in a request to Pacific Gas and Electric to cease service to the address due to unsafe electrical conditions, and power was cut off shortly thereafter.

Gunshots inflict major damage on comm tower

State parks building also vandalized, suspect remains elusive

Humboldt Sentinel staff
6/24/09

Shelter Cove

Construction workers at a new U.S. Coast Guard communications tower returned to work Tuesday morning to discover severe damage to the facility and the neighboring State Parks building.

Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies are looking for information about those responsible for firing several high-powered rifle rounds into the radio tower, damaging one of the support legs. The construction company manager estimated damage at $100,000; several shots fired at the State Parks building caused an estimated $10,000 worth of damages.

The 120-foot tower, located within a fenced compound at the intersection of Kelly and Toth roads in Shelter Cove, is on federal property. The State Parks building houses radio communication systems for state and local fire and law enforcement agencies.

The attack probably took place after 9 p.m. Monday, as construction workers were on site until sundown. HCSO deputies recovered about 25 shell casings nearby, and are looking for more information -- the public is urged to come forward with any details by calling the HCSO at (707) 445-7251.

Transportation chiefs talk turkey

RCAA decries lack of ongoing support for bike trails

David Courtland, Humboldt Sentinel
6/24/09

Eureka

Regional state and county transportation officials talked about funding challenges to projects at a Wednesday town hall meeting in the Eureka Marina’s Wharfinger Building.

The California Transportation Commission held the well-attended meeting, hosted by the Humboldt County Association of Governments, to hear public comments as well as presentations by officials.

Humboldt County public works director Tom Mattson said that like every county in Northern California, Humboldt needs much more money for current projects than is available.

Mattson said about every two years the department has to deal with declared disasters like floods, on top of maintaining 1,207 miles of roads and 167 bridges at an annual cost of $100 million.

Asked how proposed county budget cuts will affect his department, Mattson said it could continue with its current projects for about a year.

“The current budget proposals call for deferring funds, we’re fighting that diversion,” said Mattson, adding his department has about $900,000 in reserve. “That second year, I don’t think I can get through it, I don’t think any county can.”

Jennifer Rice of the Redwood Community Action Agency said that while she is generally able to get grants for community projects such as bicycle trails, there is virtually no ongoing state mechanism for funding non-motorized transportation.

Arcata mayor Mark Wheetley presided over the forum, which also included presentations from Del Norte, Trinity, Mendocino and Lake county officials. Wheetley suggested holding transport-focused town hall meetings more often in Humboldt County, as the area’s unique challenges have less to do with traffic congestion as compared to the rest of California.

Three busted for roadside heist

Marijuana sale goes south when guns get pulled

Humboldt Sentinel staff
6/23/09

Redway

A Southern Humboldt man’s plan to sell some marijuana went horribly wrong Saturday when his prospective buyers brandished firearms and led him on a high-speed chase, catching the attention of law enforcement.

Shortly after a 12:45 p.m. report of gunshots being fired on Redwood Drive in Redway, Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputies were sent to help California Highway Patrol officers.

Deputies joined the CHP officers at the Mendocino and Humboldt county line, where they were talking to Robert Anthony Mendez, 23, of Redway.

Mendez said that during a marijuana sale on Oakridge Road at Redway Beach, one of his buyers pointed a handgun at his head and another holding a rifle took his wallet—and the marijuana—before leaving in a car driven by a third suspect.

As Mendez chased them in his car the driver hit her brakes near Dean Creek on Redwood Drive, causing Mendez to rear-end the car. The passenger with the handgun fired several shots at Mendez’s car.

Mendez continued to chase his assailants, who were throwing things from their car. His car broke down on Highway 101 near Dean Creek as Mendocino County deputies and the CHP had already stopped the suspects’ car and arrested them for robbery.

Mendocino County deputies busted the thieves, Nicholas Bradford Brown, 19, of Sherman Oaks; Rayshaun Antowina Brock, 28, of Inglewood and Amber Capri Wendorf, 20, of Chatsworth. All three were taken to the Mendocino County jail and will be transferred to the Humboldt County jail later.

Deputies could not find the semi-automatic rifle, but several pounds of marijuana tossed from the robbers’ car were found along the roadside. Two civilians found Mendez’s wallet in the roadway and turned it in. No injuries were reported.

Driver flees, passenger arrested at traffic stop

William Lee Nicholson of Eureka sought for parole violations, new charges

Humboldt Sentinel staff
6/23/09

Eureka

At about 5:30 p.m. Friday, June 19, an Eureka police officer stopped a white Buick sedan near the intersection of Hawthorne and A streets for a traffic violation. The driver, William Lee Nicholson, 29, of Eureka, gave a fake name and seemed nervous. Hearing the officer ask for backup, Nicholson suddenly fled through the passenger door.

The officer chased Nicholson but lost sight of him when he ran into an alley about a block away. The officer returned to his patrol car just in time to see Nicholson’s passenger, Katrina Marie Gerace, 23, drive away eastbound on Hawthorne.

Gerace was stopped a short time later near Carson and G streets, where she was busted for not obeying an officer. Searching the Buick, officers found several Vicodin and methadone pills, some marijuana and a stolen digital camera.

Gerace was taken to the Humboldt County jail and booked for felony possession of stolen property, possession of a controlled substance and failure to obey a traffic officer.

Officers were unable to find Nicholson, who is on parole for drug violations. A warrant for his arrest is being sought for possession of stolen property, possession of a controlled substance, driving on a suspended license and providing a false identity to a peace officer.

Anyone who knows Nicholson’s location is asked to call the Eureka Police Department at 441-4044 or 441-4060.

HSU geographer named top scholar

Steve Cunha recognized for Central Asia expertise

Paul Mann, Humboldt State University
6/22/09

Arcata

Humboldt State University President Rollin Richmond has accepted a faculty panel's recommendation of award-winning Geography Professor Stephen Cunha to be the 2009 Scholar of the Year.

In accepting the recommendation, the President said, "Professor Cunha is a natural choice. While he is an internationally known and respected scholar with a fascinating background, he is also a teacher with a real passion for his discipline. Humboldt State students recognize his commitment, and his classes here are much in demand."

The Advisory Board for Research and Creative Projects, appointed by the Academic Senate, called Cunha "an internationally known expert on the geography of Central Asia and a national leader of K-12 geographic education."

"The real honor," Cunha said, "is to be included among Humboldt State's finest teacher-scholars. Their collective erudition in science, art, humanities and social science defines and supports our educational mission. The field work, writing and professional meeting presentations kick my work with students up a notch. Scholarship is the score, teaching and student advising are the performance."

Cunha added, "I've always felt lucky to turn a youthful passion into a lifelong career, and to work with motivated HSU students who share that interest."

As for the Outstanding Scholar Award itself, Cunha said, "My cartographer wife Mary deserves at least 51% of it."

Prior to joining HSU in 2001, Cunha served 10 seasons as a park ranger in Yosemite and Alaska and four years examining the potential for a national park and biosphere reserve in the Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan in Central Asia. They are famed as Marco Polo's "Roof of the World."
A graduate of UC Berkeley and UC Davis, Cunha is the director of the California Geographic Alliance. Under his leadership, the organization has involved more than 75,000 of the state's teachers in various instructional activities in a concerted drive to offer more effective geography education. He and his alliance partners have secured more than $3 million in grants in the last 10 years to advance geographic literacy and education in the state. In 2007, the alliance and its partners won a $1 million start-up endowment from the David & Lucille Packard Foundation and the National Geographic Society to allow the alliance's efforts to continue in perpetuity.
Cunha himself has received many major grants for his scholarship, including funds from the Bechtel Foundation, the California Department of Education, the University of California and the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund.

Since the inception of the National Geography Bee in 1989, Cunha has worked closely with the National Geographic Society to expand the contest, and California now has the largest bee in the nation. More than 100,000 of the state's fourth through eighth graders compete each year, led by Cunha as state coordinator. He assists schools, presides over the state final each spring and, with HSU's Mary Hackett, maintains the state office in Arcata. This July, he is the backup to Jeopardy host Alex Trebek at the National Geographic World Geography Championships in Mexico City. The three-day competition involves student winners from 21 countries.

A prolific author, Cunha writes for diverse audiences-children, young adults, the general public and scholars-in textbooks, journals, encyclopedia entries, government reports and book chapters. Often they are illustrated with photographs from his frequent world travels. This year he is a contributor to the five-volume Encyclopedia of Asia.

Both of his National Geographic books, Our 50 States and The Official National Geographic Bee Study Guide, reached Amazon Children's best seller list. He has co-authored social studies and science textbooks for grades two through high school, and consulted on more than 75 National Geographic Society books, maps and magazine articles.

Cunha was one of five 2007 recipients of the $20,000 California State University Wang Family Excellence Award, which recognizes outstanding faculty and administrators. That same year, he won the Hilda Taba Award from the California Council for Social Studies for outstanding and enduring contributions to social science education in the state. In 2001, he was selected for the Distinguished Teaching Award of the National Council for Geographic Education.

HSU Forestry Awards $33K In Scholarships

Academic achievement, logging sportsmen honored

Humboldt Sentinel
5/20/09
By Paul Mann

ARCATA -- Humboldt State University’s Department of Forestry and Wildland Resources awarded more than $33,000 in scholarships at its recent 11th annual spring banquet, which drew approximately 100 people, including students, faculty and scholarship donors.

Twenty-two students received scholarships from the department and supporting organizations. Jonathan Karp, 3.95 GPA, received the Academic Excellence Award for graduating forestry students. Logan Peterson, GPA 3.95, was named Most Outstanding Student in Wildland Soils and Fletcher Nelson, GPA 3.67, was honored as Most Outstanding Student in Rangeland Resources. Carrie Capra received the Professional Promise Award in Forestry.

Donors Joan Pierson, Jerry Partain and Jim Brown announced student scholarships bearing their names. Lisa Perry, College of Natural Resources and Sciences recruiter, reprised two scholarships on behalf of the Redwood Region Logging Conference (RRLC) that were conferred in mid-March on Jesse Bode and Brent Saulsbury.

Cindi Petrusha awarded the North Coast Chapter of Women in Timber scholarship to Sally Gay.

Perry presented RRLC plaques to Justin Kostick, HSU Logging Sports Team coach, and Jarrod Follmar, HSU Logging Sports Team president, for organizing the Association of Western Forestry Clubs 71st Logging Sports Conclave. It was held in conjunction with the omnibus RRLC gathering in mid-March at Redwood Fairgrounds.

Bipartisan Measures Crushed By State Voters

Bipartisan Measures Crushed By State Voters
Constitutional Convention, recalls against Governor and Legislature proposed

Humboldt Sentinel
5/20/09
By Charles Douglas

EUREKA -- As polls and pundits widely expected, the bulk of the budget-related ballot initiatives -- crafted by a deeply unpopular Governor and an equally scorned Legislature -- were soundly defeated by California voters yesterday, ending a campaign marked by voter disgust and dismal turnout.

With election night final results posted in all jurisdictions, every single proposition was crushed by landslide margins of 25 points ore more; only Proposition 1F, which was widely regarded as a ‘sweetener’ initiative with little practical budget effect, won with nearly 74% in favor. From now on, state lawmakers will be unable to raise their own salaries, or those of other elected officials, during deficit years.

"Tonight we have heard from the voters and I respect the will of the people who are frustrated with the dysfunction in our budget system," Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stated in a prepared release after election results were in yesterday. “We must move forward from this point to begin to address our fiscal crisis with constructive solutions."

Yet the slate of measures were billed by both the Republican Governor and the Democrat-dominated legislature as constructive and bipartisan, weren’t they?

The numbers tell the tale: Prop. 1A, to create a budget stabilization fund, defeated 34-66; Prop. 1B, to shift around education funding, defeated 37-63; Prop. 1C, to extract more revenue from the state lottery, defeated 35-65; Prop. 1D, to de-fund the First Five child health care programs, defeated 34-66; Prop. 1E, to de-fund mental health care programs, also defeated 34-66.

“Voters saw through these two propositions, despite efforts to dress them up as pain-free or even beneficial,” stated Dave Fratello, campaign manager for No on Prop. 1D & 1E, in a post-election release. “Both 1D and 1E sought to cut programs that the voters themselves demanded. Once they realized that, voters forcefully rejected them.”

“Clearly,” Fratello added, “voters do not want to try to balance the budget on the backs of children and the mentally ill.”

Even with these landslide figures, the real landslide was the level of voter apathy. Voter turnout reached a record low for the decade, with only 23% turning out statewide. Only in tiny Sierra County did a scant majority (53.6%) go to the polls; in the deserts of Imperial County, voter turnout barely broke 15%.

Humboldt County voters also stayed home in numbers not seen since the district elections in November 2001, just after the 9/11 attacks; in all, 28% of Humboldters turned out, according to figures released by Clerk/Recorder Carolyn Crnich.

Community leaders outside of Sacramento circles pointed to the rejection of these measures across all party lines as proof positive that the state’s political class has lost touch with reality.

"Democrats and Republicans are offering no fundamental fixes. There are billions of dollars in savings if we employ single payer universal healthcare, decriminalize pot and hemp, reform the prison industry and convert to green technologies. Until they are willing to do that, these 'leaders' cannot be taken seriously," said Tom Bolema, a Sonoma County Council member.

The Courage Campaign (couragecampaign.org), a multipartisan alliance of California progressives, is calling for popular action to fill the credibility void in the state Capitol with proposals to wipe out the supermajority budget requirement, to re-index taxes towards the wealthy, and to call a state Constitutional Convention. Although this might lead to yet another slate of ballot measures, Courage Campaign chair Rick Jacobs seems to think the initiative process may the only way to achieve reforms to the initiative process itself.

“The Courage Campaign trusts the people of this state to convene a convention and effectively hit the “reset” button for state government -- to clean the slate and start over,” he said. “California’s best days are ahead. We have the most diverse population of any state in the country. We have plenty of wealth, plenty of smart, hard-working people, and plenty of resources to meet the challenges that face us. If we trust the people to engage California’s problems, we can build a bright and prosperous future for our progressive state.”

Populist-minded conservatives are also looking for a shock to the sclerotic political system, in the form of mass recall elections launched against both the Governor and legislators, regardless of whether a ‘D’ or an ‘R’ appears after their name. Total Recall 2009 (totalrecall2009.com) has already started to collect recall signatures against Schwarzenegger, and backers are encouraging community organizers to file similar petitions against their representatives in the Assembly and State Senate.

They will need approximately 1.1 million valid signatures collected and submitted over the next five months -- which would like result in yet another special election for California voters.

May Brings Focus On Underage Drinking

High school and college graduations focus of police attention

Humboldt Sentinel
5/6/09
By Sentinel Staff

SACRAMENTO -- The California Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) has joined the National Liquor Law Enforcement Association (NLLEA) in its effort to get communities across the country to participate in Operation Save a Teen during the month of May, 2009.

In 2007, 188 persons under the age of 21 were killed in alcohol-related crashes that occurred in California.

In the month of May, NLLEA officers will focus on underage drinking enforcement with a goal to save one teen at a time, one incident at a time and one day or night at a time. In each of the 50 United States, it is illegal for persons under the age of 21 to use alcohol and it is illegal for persons to provide or furnish alcohol to persons under the age of 21.

ABC Director Steve Hardy says ABC investigators will be working throughout California to enforce the law and hopefully prevent alcohol-related tragedies.

“May is a month when families should be celebrating landmark events such as high school and college graduations and a wide variety of outdoor community events,” Hardy said. “Everyone needs to work together to keep those events from being marred by alcohol-related tragedies. We are committed to enforcing the law, creating safer communities and saving the lives of teens in our communities.”

For more information about this effort and about the National Liquor Law Enforcement Association, go to the website at www.nllea.org. If your agency is not a member of the NLLEA but would like to participate in this national effort, please contact Elizabeth Mattfeld, Executive Director at (240) 483-8922, or at bmattfeld@nllea.org.

ABC is a department of the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, which is under the direction of Secretary Dale Bonner, a member of the Governor’s Cabinet.

UPD Reports On-Campus Sexual Battery

Two men sought in early morning groping incident

Humboldt Sentinel
5/6/09
By Sentinel Staff

ARCATA -- Humboldt State police officers are searching for two men who reportedly groped an 18-year-old woman near one of the dorms early Wednesday, May 6.

The men are described as a white man and a black man in their early 20’s, both about 5’10” to 6’ tall and wearing dark shirts and blue jeans. The white man was wearing white athletic shoes.

The alleged groping happened near the gate connecting Granite Avenue to the Arcata Community Forest, but police said there are no indications the men were campers. They may have been students, but the woman didn’t recognize them.

The woman was walking alone back to her Creekview Hill Residence Hall at about 1:15 a.m. after attending a social gathering at a Canyon Residence Hall. As she paused at the base of Creekview Hill, she was grabbed suddenly by the two male suspects. One held her while the other allegedly groped her through her clothing, which constitutes misdemeanor sexual battery. No weapons were brandished or seen.

University Police Chief Thomas Dewey said his department has made the assault its top investigative priority and is continuing to seek information to help identify and prosecute the suspects.

“Although the crime itself was over in seconds, the impact on the (victim) and other students is incalculable,” Dewey said. “It is an extremely important crime to solve.”

A “Crime Alert” flyer with safety tips to avoid personal risk has been distributed around campus. All members of the campus community are advised to walk with a friend or in groups at night. Anyone who observes suspicious behavior can call UPD at (707) 826-5555 on one of the campus’ blue light phones.

Anyone with information about the case is also urged to contact UPD, either by phone, or by e-mail at hsupd@humboldt.edu. Anonymous information is accepted.

Bill Introduced To Tax Bailout-Related Bonuses

Mike wanted 100% tax rate, settled for 90%

Humboldt Sentinel
3/18/09
By Sentinel Staff

WASHINGTON -- The House Ways and Means Committee introduced a bill by Congressman Mike Thompson (D-Napa Valley) yesterday to charge a 90 percent tax for bonuses paid by businesses given rescue money from the government, such as AIG.

”It’s outrageous that some of the same bankers who helped create this economic mess are now going to be rewarded for their failures with taxpayer dollars,” said Congressman Thompson in a release on Tuesday. “By taxing all bonuses paid out by companies that received money to help them stay afloat, we’ll send a message to these folks that business as usual is no longer acceptable. I would prefer to tax these bonuses at 100 percent but that level is considered confiscatory and doesn’t pass legal muster.”

Currently the IRS keeps 25 percent of bonuses less than $1 million and 35 percent of bonuses more than $1 million dollars. Thompson’s bill, H.R. 1572, the “Taxpayer Protection Act,” raises the rate to 90 percent of bonuses paid by companies given bailout money through the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.

“It goes against the ideals of capitalism to reward the people that helped create this economic mess,” stated Thompson yesterday. “It’s even more outrageous that taxpayers are footing the bill. Congress should quickly pass this legislation that will effectively eliminate the bonuses being paid out by companies who received help from the government.”

Thompson is a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over all tax-related matters coming before Congress. House leaders have indicated that passing legislation to address the bonuses will be a high priority for Congress this week.

Congressman Thompson Warns Homeowners

Foreclosure assistance scams abound, HUD offers help

Humboldt Sentinel
3/18/09
By Sentinel Staff

WASHINGTON -- Congressman Mike Thompson (D-Napa Valley) is urging constituents to contact a free local government-approved housing counseling agency instead of companies that charge money for foreclosure assistance.

“As more families struggle to pay their mortgages, predators are trying to take advantage of people who don’t know where to turn for help,” said Congressman Thompson. “There are resources out there to help people stay in their homes, and I urge folks who are struggling to contact government-backed organizations for assistance.”

Families facing foreclosure can get free assistance from agencies that have been approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Treasury. A list of these organizations can be found at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hcs.cfm?webListAction=search&sear chstate=CA or by calling toll free (800) 569-4287 on weekdays between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time) or call 1-800-CALL-FHA.

Thompson also warned people that some scammers are using names and Websites that use variations of HUD’s name to mislead people, and urged constituents to call his district office if they are suspicious about an offer that seems too good to be true. He reminded homeowners that the only official HUD website is at http://www.hud.gov/ and sites that end in hud.us-gov or hud.com or hudgov.us or any of a number of other addresses are not official HUD Websites.

Tiny Universe Funks Out Today And Tomorrow

Former Kravitz sax-man Karl Denson defies categorization

Humboldt Sentinel
3/18/09
By Sentinel Staff

That powerhouse of funk known simply as the Tiny Universe headlines back-to-back shows this evening and the next at the Red Fox Tavern in Downtown Eureka.

Karl Denson, the former saxophonist for funk rock superstar Lenny Kravitz, spun off his Tiny Universe project in 1998, and has defied categorization ever since with a dynamic sound and an unstoppable energy. While they’ve only released one album-length recording, The Bridge in 2002, Tiny Universe has nonetheless been the beneficiary of critical praise with rhythm-and-blues hits like ‘Because Of Her Beauty’ and ‘The Answer.’

As Passion Presents promoter Eric Kinnally boasts in his release, Denson has “built a reputation as a groundbreaking musician equally potent as a masterful collaborator and an innovative solo artist, following in the footsteps of funkmasters Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley.”

He started touring with Kravitz during his height of popularity in 1989, spending years between the road and the recording studio, contributing to platinum albums Let Love Rule and Mama Said, also finding time to collaborate with DJ Greyboy on ‘Unwind Your Mind’ which hit the top of the European charts.

“Denson's drive to continually innovate and push the musical envelope drove him to form the Tiny Universe,” according to Kinnally, and KDTU is pushing forward in their latest tour to come up with new material for a forthcoming release. You can check Denson’s tracks at www.globalimaging.us/kdtu or by visiting their MySpace page.

Both shows at the Red Fox start at 10:30 p.m. and are 21-and-over only. Music fans can pick up their tickets at the Tavern, located at 415 Fifth Street in Eureka, for $25. For more information, contact Kinnally at promo@passionpresents.com.

Sixth Anniversary Peace March This Saturday

Protesters to confront Obama on Afghanistan escalation

Humboldt Sentinel
3/17/09
By Charles Douglas

EUREKA -- The Bush presidency may be history, but his overseas wars of occupation continue to incite demonstrations the world over, with the sixth anniversary of the Iraq conflict also marked with the sixth annual peace marches in communities across the US.

On the North Coast, Eureka will again be the scene of a protest procession through the Downtown and Old Town districts, beginning at 1 p.m. at the Humboldt County Courthouse at Fifth and I Street. The protest continues to be organized by Communities for Justice and Peace, who claim that a culture of militarism transcendent of the two-party façade is responsible for the bipartisan aggression with both Democrats and Republicans continuing to vote in favor of continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“While it's true how millions have been lulled into passivity (and active patriotic complicity) with the Obama victory, it's also true these long months helped build people's hopes that the democratic process would ‘self-correct’ the horrors of the bush regime,” stated peace activist Jack Nounnan in a release. “The anti-war movement acknowledges all this, wanting positive signs, but seeing the necessity to hold firm against Obama and the regime, an extension of our long history of habitual wars for expansion under any number of labels…surely it must be dawning for more of us [as we] become aware of how such hostilities not only grind on and on, but even escalate.”

Nounnan and Communities for Justice and Peace draw a connection between the mounting expenses of these wars, already in excess of a trillion dollars, and the economic calamity engulfing the US under both Bush and Obama.

“For many generations this has been too harsh to bring up and consider, but more Americans are aware not only that America is overextended again, but breaking so many of us financially here at home, so much of our needs ignored with monies drying up...a kind of machine running on, almost oblivious of us running down at home,” Nounnan stated. “This translates quickly into a no-nonsense militarism and control of as many of the worlds resources as possible…then having to learn to live with those post-war years of grinding poverty.”

Along with similar demonstrations in city centers up and down the West Coast, the Eureka march will also coincide with the March on the Pentagon endorsed by Voters for Peace, which begins in downtown Washington, D.C. and also includes the offices of Boeing, Lokhed Martin, General Dynamics and KBR, a former subsidiary of Halliburton.

“The plan to withdraw troops from Iraq is a slow withdrawal that will take nearly as long as all of World War I,” stated Kevin Zeese, executive director of Voters for Peace. “At the same time the war in Afghanistan is escalating with 17,000 troops (so far) planned for deployment, attacks in Pakistan are increasing and saber rattling continues with Iran with threats of an attack on that country as well.”

“All of this is occurring at a time of economic collapse and with a military worn out by the Iraq war. More war will create greater instability and more threats to U.S. national security. The U.S. has more effective tools to resolve these conflicts.”

While not officially on the march’s procession map -- the full details of which have not been released as of press time -- some protestors want to include Congressman Mike Thompson’s (D - Napa Valley) Eureka office at Third and D Street on the hit list.

While Thompson voted against initiating the Iraq conflict in late 2002, he has voted for nearly every major appropriation to fund both wars, and has refused to join other House Democrats on legislation to mandate the full withdrawal of US forces or on bills seeking criminal investigations concerning the initiation of the war or the conduct of military personnel and their commanders for war crimes.

For more information on the Humboldt County peace march, call CPJ at (707) 442-8733; Voters for Peace can be reached at their website, www.votersforpeace.us.

St. Patrick’s Day Checkpoint On Tuesday

Federally-funded papers check at undisclosed location

Humboldt Sentinel
3/16/09
By Sentinel Staff

EUREKA -- Police officers will conduct a sobriety and driver license checkpoint within the city limits of Eureka on Tuesday, March 18.

Motorists approaching the checkpoint will see warning signs, traffic control patterns and officers contacting drivers on the roadway checking driver licenses and screening drivers for signs of intoxication. Drivers can shorten the delay by being ready to show an officer their driver’s license.

This papers check will occur at an as-yet undisclosed location, although judicial precedent requires the Eureka Police Department to disclose this at least one hour prior to its operation.

According to their release today, the EPD is dedicated to getting impaired drivers off the road roadways. So far this year officers have arrested 72 people for drunken driving.

Funding for the checkpoint comes from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. For information call Senior Traffic Officer Gary Whitmer at (707) 441-4232, or e-mail him at gwhitmer@ci.eureka.ca.gov.

Eureka Robbery Suspect Arrested In Ukiah

Police also search home of William Mulligan in Stafford

Humboldt Sentinel
3/16/09
By Sentinel Staff

UKIAH -- An investigation into the hold-up at the Harris Street Market in Eureka last Monday has led to the arrest of a Stafford resident who had left the county in violation of his probation.

William Eugene Mulligan, 22, had a search warrant issued for his home at the behest of the Eureka Police Department after officers obtained eyewitness testimony, surveillance footage and evidence processed from the scene of the crime. Upon service of the search warrant in Stafford, more items believed to have been used in this robbery were located, and a further warrant was issued for his arrest.

Not long afterward, Mulligan was located in Ukiah by the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office and taken into custody. He is being held in the Mendocino County Jail on his arrest warrant, as well as for a federal warrant for violating the terms of his probation.

The possible connection between the Harris Street Market and Liquor robbery and a secondary armed robbery last Thursday at the Patriot Gas Station is being investigated due to several similarities, according to EPD public information officer Murl Harpham in a release issued this morning.

EPD also identified David Joel Shields, a 23-year-old Fortuna resident, as a person of interest in both of these robberies. He is also wanted for the violation of his parole conditions.

The investigation is ongoing, according to Harpham, and anyone with information regarding these two robberies, or the whereabouts of Shields, is asked to call the EPD Criminal Investigations Section at (707) 441-4300.

Drug Dealer Arrested At Arcata Motel

Joshua Gillette already on probation for 2005 hash fire

Humboldt Sentinel
3/15/09
By Sentinel Staff

ARCATA -- Last Friday evening, trouble once again caught up with a man previously convicted of destroying part of an apartment building when his hash manufacturing lab blew up and started a fire.

Joshua Gillette, a 30-year-old Iowa resident, was taken into custody at about 11 p.m. last night, when the Arcata Police Department was tipped off that a probationer with a felony arrest warrant was at the Motel 6 on Valley West Boulevard. He was taken into custody without incident, and according to APD officials, offered no resistance.

On his arrest, Gillette was found in possession of hash, a substance suspected of being methamphetamine, hypodermic syringes, unlawfully possessed prescription medications and materials for drug sales. He was charged with drug possession, drug sales and probation violation.

Balloon Tract: “It’s Time To Build”

Security National foresees final public review stage this summer

Humboldt Sentinel
3/15/09
By Sentinel Staff

EUREKA -- According to the would-be developers of the Marina Center, sited on top of the remains of the Union Pacific train depot on the Eureka Waterfront, the current economic crisis is no impediment to their plans.

Information on ground-breaking at the Balloon Tract will be the primary focus of a speech and a question-answer session for Security National vice president Randy Gans when he appears at the Eureka Republican Women Federated meeting on Thursday, March 19.

Gans, who reports directly to Security National head and ex-billionaire Rob Arkley, has been involved with the project since its inception in 2002. His stated topic is “The Marina Center -- It’s Time To Build” and in this speech, Gans intends to espouse the premise that the final state of public approval will be reached early this summer.

The Marina Center proposal for a mix of commercial and residential development has drawn fire from environmental organizations for its “capping” of industrial pollution on the site.

Currently the 550-plus page document of the project’s environmental impact report is in public circulation, but will return to the Eureka City Council for another round of public hearings this spring.

The ERWF now meets at the Elks Lodge, 445 Herrick in Eureka, where members, guests and interested persons gather at 11:30 a.m. for a buffet lunch, including coffee or tea, for $12.50, including tax and tip. For those only wishing a beverage and to cover the speaker fee, the cost is $4. The ERWF also asked in their release for attendees to bring a postage stamp to mail a letter to President Barrack Obama.

High Speed Chase Results In Three Arrests

Suspects in Mar. 6 home invasion crash into former Pizza Hut

Humboldt Sentinel
3/14/09
By Sentinel Staff

EUREKA – A suspicious vehicle report early this morning led to the arrests of suspects Waymond Kelly and Michael Johns wanted in the home invasion robbery of just over a week ago.

EPD officers were dispatched to the 100 block of West Seventh Street at about 4:35 a.m. by an unnamed reporting party, which claimed that there was a white sedan parked and occupied by at least two subjects with hoods pulled up over their heads.

As units arrived on scene, they located a vehicle matching the description leaving the area, and when a traffic stop was attempted on the vehicle, the suspects fled. When it reached Fifth Street, EPD Public Information Officer Murl Harpham claimed in a release that it sped up to over 100 miles per hour.

The suspects’ quick get-away was cut short, however, when it tried to negotiate a “no brakes” turn onto R Street at such speeds. The vehicle swerved off the street and impacted the vacant building which once housed Pizza Hut. Three subjects fled from the vehicle, but were taken into custody a short distance away by responding units.

Kelly and Johns were booked into the county jail on parole holds. In addition, Kelly was charged with possession of a controlled substance. The driver, Nathan Aaron Ruptak, a 27-year-old Eureka resident, was booked on charges of evading the police, resisting arrest, and also kept on a parole hold.

Harpham noted the active status of the investigation into the home invasion on Mar. 6, and asked anyone with information on either incident to contact the EPD Criminal Investigations Section at (707) 441-4300.

HSU To Hold Writing Education Conference

Workshops center on writing in the 21st Century

Humboldt Sentinel
3/13/09
By Paul Mann

ARCATA -- The Redwood Writing Project and Humboldt State University will host "wrt 2 lrn: Writing in the 21st Century," on Saturday, March 28 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Founders Hall.

The conference is aimed at kindergarten through college-level educators who teach writing.

wrt 2 lrn is a follow up to the Redwood Writing Project's (RWP) summer conference in which educators share their knowledge and explore collaborative ways of developing training for their colleagues. This year, the RWP fellows have organized their findings from the summer meeting and will share them at Saturday's conference.

An array of workshops will feature timely topics and themes that will include Writing with English Language Learners, Technology Trends and Today's Writing Classroom. The workshop Textists vs. Textperts will feature a panel discussion of local K-16 educators and students. They will lead participants in addressing two underlying questions: can the language of text messaging be used in an academic setting and what are the effects of text language on today's writing?

Attendees have a choice of four workshops from fourteen options. Lunchtime will feature two alternatives: an open mike poetry read or a "read around," in which writers share feedback and writing techniques.

Pre-registration fee for the conference is $45.00 and includes a box lunch. Those wishing to earn one-half unit of university credit will have a total registration/tuition fee of $60.00. To register online, visit www.humboldt.edu/~rwp or call the RWP office at 826-5109 for details.

HSU And CR Name Top Book For ‘09

Three Cups Of Tea explores poverty in Pakistan

Humboldt Sentinel
3/12/09
By Paul Mann

Humboldt State University and College of the Redwoods have chosen as 2009 Book of the Year Three Cups of Tea, the best-selling account of new schools established in the remotest areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan, particularly for girls.

Co-authored by mountain climber Greg Mortenson and journalist David Oliver Relin, Three Cups is the fourth annual selection of the HSU/CR partnership, which provides a forum to promote literacy and the free exchange of ideas. The forum's precept is, "A community that reads together shares a uniquely human experience."

Both the HSU and CR campuses will host group sessions in Fall 2009 to examine the book's themes. Faculty are encouraged to incorporate the book of the year in their classes.

A fall one-unit book club class at HSU will be open to the general public as well as students. It is titled English 480 and sign-up is available on WebReg, Open University and Extended Education. Small discussion groups meet evenings four to five times during the semester.

The New York Times number one best-seller chronicles Mortenson's failed attempt to scale the world's second highest mountain, K2. Exhausted afterward, he wound up separated from his party in a desperately poor Pakistani hamlet. He was nursed back to health there and he learned that the community could not pay a dollar a day to hire a teacher.

Moved by this, Mortenson launched a humanitarian campaign, laboriously collected funds in small amounts-right down to pennies-from the grassroots and went on to establish 78 schools. He emphasizes community-based education and literacy programs that cater to girls.

Tom Brokaw, the first and initially only donor, commented, "Greg Mortenson's dangerous and difficult quest to build schools in the wildest parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan is not only a thrilling read, it's proof that one ordinary person, with the right combination of character and determination, really can change the world."

The highly regarded Pakistani journalist, Ahmed Rashid, best-selling author of Descent into Chaos, said, "Pakistan and Afghanistan are both failing their students on a massive scale. The work Mortenson is doing, providing the poorest students with a balanced education, is making them much more difficult for the extremist madrassas to recruit."

Mortenson is slated to make an appearance on the Redwood Coast at a date to be announced.

Further information about Humboldt State's one-unit book club class this fall is available from Erin Sullivan in the English Department at erin@humboldt.edu or (707) 826-3128.

Grafitti Suspect Arrested In Old Town

Eric Scott Howe caught in the act on Third Street

Humboldt Sentinel
3/12/09
By Sentinel Staff

EUREKA -- “When I get out of jail I’m going to spray paint my town again,” Eric Scott Howe boasted after being caught spray painting Old Town buildings, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage.

Howe was caught near Third and H streets shortly after midnight Thursday by Sgt. Rodrigo Reyna-Sanchez, who saw Howe, 28, spraying the building at 731 Third Street

Rodrigo-Reyna was sent to that address after the building’s owner reported spotting someone in dark clothing with a backpack in the alley behind the building, after being alerted by the rattle of a spray can.

“What you consider illegal, I consider art,” Howe told officers, although he had damaged a mural on the Times Printing building on Third Street. Officers describe the graffiti as tagger or crew; Howe isn’t known to belong to a gang.

Officers discovered Howe spray-painted at least a dozen commercial buildings and PG&E power poles as well as municipal signs and dumpsters.

The vandalized buildings were spread across four blocks between Second and Third streets from F through I streets.

Howe has been jailed for felony vandalism and carrying a concealed weapon, also a felony. He had a hunting knife with a six-inch blade and two cans of spray paint.

SWAT Serves High Risk Warrant In Hoopa

One arrested, two others cited but Alvin Wingo remains at large

Humboldt Sentinel
3/12/09
By Sentinel Staff

HOOPA -- Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office deputies called in the help of their Multi-Agency SWAT Team in the service of a warrant on Rice Lane yesterday, resulting one arrest, two citations and the subject of the warrant still at large.

Hoopa Valley Tribal Police joined in the manhunt for Alvin Lee Wingo Jr., a 49-year-old Hoopa resident, who is sought for an alleged assault with a deadly weapon offense, which occurred last Saturday evening. Wingo is alleged to have pointed a loaded, pistol grip shotgun at two other men, chasing one of them as they fled -- although there was no exchange of fire, the two men who escaped were afraid for their safety.

While Wingo wasn’t home when the army of law enforcement officers arrived yesterday, HCSO deputies did discover three persons, ten firearms and drugs on the scene. These included methamphetamine, hypodermic syringes, marijuana, five rifles, three handguns, one sawed-off shotgun and one converted assault rifle. Two of the weapons recovered were reported stolen in late 2008, according to the HCSO release.

Michael William Logan, 29, was arrested for possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana for sales and a parole violation.

Juanita Wingo, 47, was issued a felony “Notice to Appear” citation for possession of drug paraphernalia, marijuana and illegal firearms inside her residence and within her control.

A female juvenile was issued a misdemeanor citation for providing false information to law enforcement regarding her identity. Her identity was not released by law enforcement due to her age.

According to Deputy Marsh at the HCSO, Alvin Wingo is a convicted felon and is prohibited from having access to or control of firearms -- which means he isn’t allowed to have them kept at his home, whether he was present or not. Law enforcement describes him as a Hispanic male adult, 49-years-old, 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighing about 235 pounds. He has brown hair and brown eyes. He has multiple tattoos on his arms, legs, back, and chest, including the word “Indian” tattooed on his left arm and “Pride” tattooed on his right arm. Anyone with information regarding the location of Alvin Lee Wingo Jr. is asked to contact the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251.

HSU Unit Inaugurates Klamath Newsletter

Publication focused on water quality issues such as fish health

Humboldt Sentinel
3/11/09
By Sentinel Staff

ARCATA -- Humboldt State University’s Klamath Watershed Institute, a think tank devoted to Klamath Basin preservation, has inaugurated an official newsletter, The Klamath Current. It is the official publication of the Klamath Basin Water Quality Monitoring Coordination Group, and is available at www.humboldt.edu/~kwi/.

The premier issue includes articles about Klamath River fish disease research, Salmon River monitoring, dam removal and tribal health risks posed by the Klamath’s contamination.

Since mid-2007, the institute has worked with the coordination group to enhance water quality monitoring throughout the Klamath Basin.

The direct link to the Klamath Current news page is www.humboldt.edu/~kwi/?content=current.

Hold Up On Harris Street

Masked men pull gun on market clerk, steal cash and smokes

Humboldt Sentinel
3/11/09
By Sentinel Staff

EUREKA -- The Harris Street Market was held up Tuesday night by two masked men who took undisclosed amount of money. Both robbers wore hoods and bandannas over their faces but appeared to be light-skinned.

One of the men approached the clerk at the cash register and pulled a handgun from his waistband; the clerk stepped back and the suspect emptied the register.

The men also grabbed several packs of Marlboro cigarettes on display near the register before leaving on foot.

Anyone with information about this robbery is urged to call the at the Eureka Police Department at 707-441-4300 and ask for the Criminal Investigation Unit.