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Jan. 20, 2005
HEART PATIENTS GET MORE
MONEY: The Redding Record-Searchlight
reported Jan. 13 that four surgeons alleged to have performed
unnecessary procedures on hundreds of heart patients at the former
Redding Medical Center have agreed to pay $24 million to settle
lawsuits brought by the patients. The doctors are Chae Hyun Moon,
Thomas Russ, Walter Fletscher and B.V. Chandramouli. Other physicians,
including Fidel Realyvasquez, the hospital's former top cardiac
surgeon, have not settled. If no agreement is reached, the lawsuits
are scheduled to proceed to trial on July 25. The news of the
settlement comes after the former owner of the hospital, Tenet
Healthcare Corp., offered $395 million to settle the suits. A
number of Humboldt County residents are among more than 700 who
alleged that their heart procedures were unnecessary.
See also:
Nov. 20, 2003: COVER STORY - In their hands -- Humboldt heart
patients say Redding doctors betrayed their trust
LOCALS ATTEND BUSH
INAUGURAL: Republicans from around
the country have descended on Washington, D.C., where President
George W. Bush was scheduled to be sworn in for his second term
Thursday morning. Among the locals in attendance: developer Steve
Strombeck, Security National's Rob and Cherie Arkley, and Mike
Harvey, the outgoing chair of the local chapter of the Republican
Party. "We're excited, we're honored and we look forward
to having an exciting and interesting time," said Harvey,
who went with his family and planned to attend one of the many
official or non-official balls and parties associated with the
inauguration. It has been widely reported that tickets to the
main event are hard to come by in much of the country, but both
Harvey and Strombeck secured theirs through the offices of Rep.
Mike Thompson. Meanwhile, citizens less sanguine about the recent
election's outcome will stage inauguration protests in Trinidad,
Garberville and Eureka, and some are calling for local residents
to participate in the national "Not One Damn Dime Day,"
in which citizens spend nothing in protest of the war in Iraq.
See this week's "Calendar"
for details of the protest gatherings.
VETERANS CENTER BACK TO
COUNCIL: Humboldt County Superior
Court Judge Marilyn Miles ruled last week that the city of Eureka
broke its own zoning regulations when it approved a new housing
facility for veterans last November. The ruling was a victory
for Eureka businessman Don Davenport, who protested the decision
and filed suit against the city over the issue. The decision
places the project, which would have been located at the old
Fireside Inn, in limbo; the Eureka City Council was scheduled
to discuss the matter in closed session Tuesday evening.
YUROK FISH KILL SUIT DISMISSED:
The Yurok Tribe suffered a defeat
in federal court in Oakland last week when U.S. District Court
Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong threw out a lawsuit that sought
redress for the fall 2002 fish kill on the Klamath River. The
lawsuit aimed to demonstrate that the federal Bureau of Reclamation,
managers of the upstream Klamath Project dams, caused the fish
kill by not delivering sufficient water downstream. Armstrong
ruled that the courts had no jurisdiction to hear issues concerning
"tribal trust" -- the responsibility of the federal
government to manage natural resources to fulfill the traditional
needs of Native American tribes. "It's a very poor decision
for Indians all over the place," said Troy Fletcher, executive
director of the Yurok Tribe, on Tuesday. He added that tribal
leaders will meet with attorneys to discuss whether to appeal
the decision. In a series of press releases, the Klamath Water
Users Association -- an organization representing upstream farmers
-- lauded the decision.
RADIOLOGY CENTER DELAYED: Humboldt
Radiology's new outpatient imaging center was originally scheduled
to open its doors about now, but the wet weather has delayed
construction crews currently putting the finishing touches on
the Buhne Street facility. Dr. Greg Holland, a Humboldt Radiology
partner, said that his group now hopes to have the center opened
by late February or -- at worst -- mid-March. "Nobody wants
it open sooner than we do," he said. "For the time
being, we're just limping along in our old office."
See also:
Nov.
18, 2004: COVER STORY - Split image: Radiologists break with
St. Joe's to take county into 21st century
LOCAL AUTHOR HONORED:
McKinleyville author Barbara Kerley
was awarded a prestigious Sibert Honor for her book Walt Whitman:
Words for America on Monday. The book -- an illustrated non-fiction
story for children -- retells poet Walt Whitman's experience
as a nurse in the Civil War. Reached at her home, Kerley, 44,
said that she was drawn to the story through her love of Whitman's
expansive, generous work; she said that the poet's Civil War
years set the stage for his literary career. "He spent his
life trying to heal the country," Kerley said. "I thought
that it really encapsulated who he was." The Association
for Library Service to Children -- the group that also chooses
the annual Newbery and Caldecott Medals for children's literature
-- named three books as Sibert Honor recipients this year, recognizing
excellence in children's non-fiction. Kerley told the Journal
that her next book will be on the person she called "America's
first female celebrity" -- Alice Roosevelt, impish daughter
of President Theodore Roosevelt.
HUNTER RANCH SOLD: A 16,123-acre ranch on the Mad River whose asking
price was $9 million sold this month. Realtor Jim Redd, a "ranch
specialist" with Four Star Realty, and Kevin Sullivan negotiated
the sale. Information about the sales price and the buyer was
not available by press time on Tuesday.
THOMPSON SNAGS GRANT:
Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Napa) was
instrumental in securing a $750,000 congressional State and Tribal
Assistance grant to the city of Eureka for the Martin Slough
Interceptor project. The project, when complete, will result
in improved water quality for Martin Slough, Swain Slough, Elk
River and Humboldt Bay by reducing sanitary sewer overflows,
according to a statement from the city.
RESTORATION AT LITTLE
RIVER: The California State Parks
will begin habitat restoration efforts, specifically removal
of European beachgrass with excavators and bulldozers, at Little
River State Beach. The northern portion of the beach will be
closed from Jan. 19 through early March.
FARMERS WANTED: The UC Cooperative Extension office in Eureka wants
to link retiring and aspiring farmers so that they can work together
for their mutual benefit. The office is looking for farmers who
may want to explore the idea of mentoring or creating new business
partners to farm their land. Call Deborah Giraud at 445-7351.
NOT TOO LATE FOR SHOTS:
The bad news: Flu season is not
over. The good news: Flu shots are still available at doctors'
offices throughout the county, Humboldt County Public Health
Officer Dr. Ann Lindsay announced.
Planned Parenthood:
new building, broader mission
by
EMILY GURNON
It was 30 years ago when two
Humboldt County women decided that this rural area needed a place
that would provide a range of family planning services.
Six Rivers Planned Parenthood
has changed quite a bit from when Michele McKeegan and Judy Webb
first founded the organization in 1975. Its client base has grown
exponentially, it now serves many men, and it has outgrown its
reputation as simply an abortion clinic for pregnant teens.
But some things have stayed
the same, said Executive Director Tina Mackenzie.
In the 1970s, "There was
a real need for family planning," Mackenzie said. "That
need has never gone away. We fill a real niche in this community."
Services are provided at low or no cost, or the clinic will bill
insurance.
As it prepares to celebrate
its thirtieth birthday at a party Jan. 29, the nonprofit organization
also is planning for the next 30 years: This spring, it plans
to break ground on a new $2.3 million clinic.
"It's a way of saying to
the community, we're a fixture, we're part of the fabric of this
community," Mackenzie said.
A two-year fund-raising effort
has already netted half the required amount from major donors,
including board members. The other half is expected to come from
community donations within the next six months, if all goes as
planned. The new building, which will be located off Harris Street
in Eureka, will be double the size of the Harrison Avenue clinic
that has been the organization's home since 1984.
"This building is going
to provide so much for the community," said Keta Paulson,
49, a board member, staff member and early client of Planned
Parenthood. "We're really stifled in what we can provide
because of the space."
The extra breathing room will
allow the clinic to double the number of providers and thus the
number of clients -- and to see clients more quickly.
"Right now, patients often
have a very long wait before they can get in for appointments,"
Mackenzie said.
It will mean that the organization
can advertise its services more broadly to let the public know
that it treats women of all ages as well as men. And the extra
space will mean the clinic can expand its educational services,
such as parent-child workshops, and have more outreach to Hispanics
and other groups.
Mackenzie said she continually
meets people who think of Planned Parenthood as serving only
teens, or providing only birth control and abortion.
Teens do make up a quarter of
the clientele, and abortions number between 450 and 500 a year.
But 62 percent of its clients are between 20 and 34, abortion
clients make up only 4 percent of total clients, and men -- seeking
vasectomies or treatment for sexually transmitted diseases --
make up 9 percent of total clients, Mackenzie said.
The numbers of men have more
than doubled in the past couple of years, she said. Part of that
is because of the clinic's "Taking it to the Streets"
outreach program, in which providers go to locations such as
the California Conservation Corps in Fortuna or Humboldt State
University's Health Center.
The clinic is also popular with
women who may be uncomfortable discussing family planning issues
with their family doctor, or may feel more at ease with a female
provider, Mackenzie said.
"Planned Parenthood really
takes the time that a client needs to give them the medical care
as well as the encouragement and the counseling and the sensitivity"
that they need, Paulson said.
The organization has also begun
doing what Mackenzie calls "international work," to
increase access to reproductive services worldwide and raise
awareness locally about how the U.S. government restricts international
family planning services, Mackenzie said.
Six Rivers Planned Parenthood
will hold its annual Roe v. Wade Celebration Breakfast at 7:45
a.m. on Friday, Jan. 21 (see Calendar).
On Jan. 29, it will hold its thirtieth birthday party. Call the
Planned Parenthood office for details (442-2961).
Tsunami
relief efforts
LOCAL BUSINESSES AND RESIDENTS
continue to join in the worldwide effort to help in the
aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami. On Thursday, Jan. 20,
starting at 5 p.m., Six Rivers Brewery in McKinleyville holds
a benefit show featuring Kulica and Moses Lincoln Johnson, and
Dutch and silent auctions for tsunami victims in Sri Lanka. $15.
The Jitter Bean Coffee Company will donate 50 percent of its
Jan. 30 profits to tsunami relief organizations.
Internews, an international
news agency that operates from Arcata, has assisted the Indonesian
city of Banda Aceh to restore radio transmission, and is helping
build an emergency media center there.
World Shelters, Arcata makers
of all-weather, temporary shelters, are accepting donations to
ship huts overseas. Call 822-6600, or visit www.worldshelters.org.
Sun Valley Floral Group, the
Arcata bulb farm, donates 100 percent of its `Sumatra' lily sales
through January to the American Red Cross.
Sacred Grounds, Arcata coffee
house on F Street, matches funds donated by customers to send
to Sumatra, where they buy coffee beans.
Robert Gearheart, an HSU engineering
professor, headed to Sumatra for one month to help with sanitation
work.
The North Coast Co-op's Arcata
and Eureka grocery stores collect funds for international relief
programs UNICEF, CARE and Oxfam.
The Humboldt County Chapter
of the American Red Cross accepts donations at 443-4521.
Will
is stay or will it go?
Industry, enviros react to pulp
mill news
by HANK
SIMS
Following the shutdown of the
Stockton Pacific pulp mill last Thursday, speculation continued
early this week about whether or not the closure would be permanent.
By press time Tuesday, 100 employees
had been laid off and negotiations were continuing, but it was
not yet clear whether the mill would find a new buyer in Hong
Kong-based Lee & Man.
The closure has resulted in
a readjustment in the local timber industry, of which the mill
is an integral part. At the same time, for other residents, it
represented default victory in a decades-old battle over the
mill's environmental record.
Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing
Ltd., one of the largest paper producers in Asia, is the only
entity maintaining an active effort to purchase the mill's assets
and resume production.
Company representatives were
negotiating a possible buyout on at least three fronts last week
-- presenting proposals to the unionized employees of the mill,
the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District and the Chicago-based
investment firm PPM Finance, Inc., Stockton Pacific's creditors.
Doug Gingerich, president of
the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers Local 49, said
that Lee & Man last week offered a very favorable deal to
the mill's approximately 130 unionized workers.
"It's a four-year contract,
with no concessions." Gingerich said. "I'm sure that
it will pass."
Union members held a series
of meetings to vote on the proposal Monday and Tuesday. The final
tally of the vote was not available at press time, but Gingerich
said that the membership's response at the first meetings had
been positive.
On Tuesday, management at the
Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District met with Lee & Man
CEO Raymond Lee and David Tsang, a Vancouver-based businessman
acting as the company's go-between, to discuss the potential
terms of a water contract if it succeeds in acquiring the mill,
said water district General Manager Carol Rische.
There will be a special meeting
of the district's board of directors at 9 a.m. today (Thursday,
Jan. 20). The board will decide whether to shut off water to
the mill if Stockton Pacific continues to default on the $300,000
it owes for past deliveries.
But the success or failure of
Lee & Man's bid will likely hinge on negotiations with PPM
Finance, which holds a $30 million note on the mill. Lee &
Man will presumably seek to buy out PPM's interest for something
less than the $30 million the Chicago company is owed; Lee &
Man has some leverage in the matter, as they are the only potential
buyer on the horizon and PPM Finance runs the risk of losing
its investment entirely if the deal falls through.
According to Gingerich, Lee
& Man representatives told him they were flying out to Chicago
immediately after they struck a deal with union leaders late
last week. There was no news by press time whether the company
could conclude negotiations with PPM. Neither Tsang nor representatives
of Stockton Pacific returned calls Tuesday.
Since the closure, the area's
timber industry has been scrambling to find ways to dispose of
its wood waste. The mill had been the region's principal buyer
of chips and scrap wood, unavoidable by-products of the manufacturing
of lumber. Locally, the Fairhaven Power Co. and the Pacific Lumber
Co. -- operators of biomass electrical generators -- also buy
chips, but in much smaller quantity.
Henry Appy, general manager
of the Simpson Timber Co.'s California operations, said that
so far he has been able to send chips from Simpson's local mills
to Fairhaven Power. He said that he has been pursuing other options
-- such as barging chips up to Simpson pulp mills in Oregon and
Washington -- but he didn't believe it would come to that.
"We anticipate the Chinese
will buy our mill, and we will resume our shipments to them then,"
he said.
Gary Alto, co-owner of Eureka's
Alto Brothers Trucking, said that he, too, was hoping for the
best while preparing for the worst. As recently as a couple of
weeks ago he was sending 12 trucks full of chips a day to the
pulp mill -- a figure that amounted to about a third of his business.
"If the mill does not run,
I lose six to seven drivers," he said. "I have to park
their trucks, and they're going to be on unemployment."
But Alto said that what worried
him most was the domino effect a permanently closed mill would
have on area timber producers. Currently, he said, the small
mills he contracted with were adopting different strategies to
deal with the chip pile-up -- none of them sustainable in the
long-term. He said Eel River Lumber Products was hiring him to
haul its chips to a vacant lot, where the company was stockpiling
them for the day that the mill reopened. Schmidbauer Lumber arranged
a temporary deal to haul its chips up to Coos Bay, Ore., where
they were being loaded onto barges for export.
"Before, it was just around
the bay, a 10- to 15-minute trip," Alto said. "Now
it's taking 10 to 12 hours." Alto said he feared that the
increased costs could threaten the survival of several smaller
mills -- which would probably put him and his 45 employees out
of work.
Despite the economic hardships,
though, some local residents found it difficult to mourn the
pulp mill's hardships. Among them was Mark Cortright, a Blue
Lake resident who battled the mill's environmental practices
in the late `80's and early `90s, when it was owned by timber
giant Louisiana Pacific.
"Am I sorry to see it go?"
Cortright said Monday. "Ha, ha, ha -- that's a good one."
Cortright said that air pollution
from the mill was not as bad as it was a decade ago, when it
and the next-door Simpson pulp mill made Eureka a no-go zone
for people with sensitive noses or respiratory problems. But
he said that the mill's current method of disposing of waste
water -- by pumping it out into the ocean -- was still far from
an environmentally acceptable solution.
Stacey Loeser, a long-time resident
of Humboldt Hill -- the area which, given the prevailing winds,
has often been most exposed to pulp mill air pollution over the
years -- said that she was considering mounting some sort of
political action to help insure that the mill stayed shut.
"You felt a huge sense
of relief to not see that water vapor coming out of the stack
-- to realize how much nicer it would be without it," she
said. "It's definitely a lot better than it used to be,
but just because you can't smell it doesn't mean that it doesn't
have a bad effect on our health."
On Dec. 7, the Humboldt County
District Attorney's office and numerous state, local and federal
agencies executed a search warrant at the mill, after a whistleblower
alleged that Stockton Pacific was willfully and illegally dumping
proscribed chemicals into the ocean. The investigation is still
ongoing, and no charges have been filed to date.
Humboldt
ranks high in sex offenders
by HELEN
SANDERSON
Humboldt county ranks eighth
per capita among 58 counties in a statewide list of sex offenders,
according to the Megan's Law database, now available online.
The database, available through
the California Attorney General's office Web site, lists the
names, mug shots and addresses of sexual criminals throughout
California -- allowing North Coast residents to find out a lot
more about the guy next door with just the click of a mouse.
Unveiled in mid-December, the
database at www.meganslaw.ca.gov
has information on 63,000 registered sex offenders in the state,
33,000 of whom have their home address included. According to
officials, 22,000 convicted offenders in California are excluded
from public disclosure by law and are not on the site.
According to the Web site, Humboldt
County had 309 sex offenders as of Jan. 13. (The site is updated
daily by the Department of Justice and therefore subject to change.
)
The Web site lists 136 registered
sex offenders living in the Eureka area, 28 in Arcata, 25 in
McKinleyville, and 19 in Fortuna. Transients and those with unknown
addresses total 17.
Among the top 10 counties are
Trinity, Del Norte, Shasta, Siskiyou and Lake.
Each registrant has a list of
offenses, aliases, a physical description including any tattoos
or scars, and a photograph. Of the 309 Humboldt County offenders
listed on the site, the addresses of 230 are available online.
The remaining 79 are listed by zip code only.
The Internet accessible database,
which officials say has received 50 million separate hits in
the past month, has been touted by Attorney General Bill Lockyer
as a tool to protect public safety. However, some fear that opening
up the Web to showcase sexual predators may be a virtual Pandora's
box, exposing registered offenders -- some of whom may be rehabilitated
-- to harassment or violence.
Already, the Humboldt County
Sheriff's Office has gotten calls from concerned parents and
teachers who have visited the site and want the police to take
some action against the molesters who live near their homes or
schools.
"For law enforcement this
is a troubling issue, because there is really nothing we can
do," said Brenda Gainey from the Sheriff's Office. "These
people are sex offenders, but they are still within the right
of the law to reside in our neighborhoods."
Gainey went on to add that some
convicted molesters -- also called "290 registrants"
by police, referring to the penal code for sex crimes -- cannot
live within a certain distance of a school.
Humboldt County Sheriff Gary
Philp admits to feeling some uneasiness that upset residents
might wage a personal war against nearby perpetrators.
"People think that if you
are a sex offender you give up your rights. We tell people that
it is illegal to use this information to perform criminal acts,"
Philp said. "We haven't had any problems of that kind, and
we want to be diligent to make sure people do not take the law
into their own hands."
Nathan Barankin, communications
director for the Attorney General's office, said that
while the possibility of retaliation was considered before launching
the site, there have been no such instances reported.
Megan's Law makes it illegal
to use the information on the site inappropriately. It may only
be used for personal knowledge or to warn someone who might be
at risk.
Humboldt County's hefty share
of sex offenders is no surprise to Philp, who said that his department
has been aware of the issue for years. However, Philp speculates
that the grim statistics could be artificially high because rural
communities with smaller populations, like Humboldt, might be
more aware of the activities of their neighbors than people in
metropolitan areas, resulting in a higher instance of reporting
sex crimes. The sheriff also credited child welfare services
and related agencies that are vigilant in reporting crimes against
children.
Aside from a higher instance
of reporting, Philp could not speculate on the reasons for the
relatively large number of sex offenders here.
Before the Web site was launched,
the Megan's Law registry was available only through a 900 number
for $10 per call or at county and city law enforcement agencies.
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