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April 26, 2001
Sheriff
won't return pot
Chris Robert Giauque, a medical
marijuana patient, provider and advocate, made the news again
last week as he was arrested minutes before his pot give-away
on the courthouse steps.
Giauque planned to distribute
half a pound of marijuana to anyone who could produce a medical
marijuana prescription at 4:20 p.m. on April 20 4/20 but was
arrested 20 minutes beforehand. About 50 people stood outside
the courthouse to promote marijuana, medical and otherwise. Giauque
was released on bail later that day.
420 is slang for smoking marijuana
and April 20 has become an unofficial celebration of the drug.
It isn't the first time Giauque
and law enforcement have tangled over Giauque's use, distribution
and cultivation of marijuana. He was arrested two years ago for
the transportation of one ounce for which he had a medical prescription.
He has since been trying to have that pot returned.
Sheriff Dennis Lewis has refused
to return the pot, even though Giauque was exonerated at his
trial and Judge Bruce Watson ordered the drug returned. Lewis
claims the conflict between federal and state law leaves him
no choice but to keep the pot. Watson addressed the issue during
Giauque's trial and ruled that in the case of medical marijuana,
there is no conflict.
Lewis was due in court April
24, after press time, to face a motion by Giauque's attorneys
to have him declared in contempt of court.
Ward's to
become Target
Target, a national department
store chain based in Minneapolis, has announced plans to take
over the Montgomery Ward's site at 2525 4th St. in Eureka.
Target, a self-described "upscale"
chain retailer, will be filling in one of the big holes in Eureka's
retail market. The other is JC Penney, which is closing its store
in the Bayshore Mall.
Ward's closed in March following
the company's announcement in December that it was filing bankruptcy.
Klamath
symposium set
Humboldt State University is
presenting a symposium on issues surrounding the Klamath River
May 22-25. The symposium will span the spectrum of Klamath issues,
from water use rights to tribal concerns to environmental contaminants
and the effect of all on the several threatened species that
rely on the Klamath.
The timing couldn't be better.
A recent decision by the Bureau of Reclamation not to divert
water from the river to farmers in eastern Oregon and northeastern
California has come under attack from both farmers and some government
groups.
The farmers have filed a lawsuit
alleging that the bureau's decision was illegal in that it ignored
the impacts on them. Environmental and commercial fishing groups
who have intervened on behalf of the government were joined last
week by the Yurok tribe; the farmers have been joined by the
county of Klamath in Oregon and Modoc and Siskiyou counties in
California.
Representatives of all those
groups will be present at the May symposium and will have access
to scientific expertise and an open forum to discuss the complex
issues. Parties interested in taking part in the symposium should
call HSU at 826-3731.
Midwives
program axed
Eureka's only midwifery service
with 24-hour coverage received notice last week that it would
soon be forced to close.
The Midwives of St. Joseph Hospital
clinic, which employed four midwives, was told April 17 that
it had one month left to operate. Sources inside the clinic speculated
the closure may be due to concerns about profitability or the
lack of doctors willing to provide medical backup. Backup had
been provided by Dr. Scott Gavin of the Center for Women's Health
Care, but Gavin is retiring.
St. Joseph Hospital said in
a press release that the hospital supports midwifery but thinks
the current structure of how midwives are providing care puts
them in a "difficult position." The press release said
that the "preferred model" was for midwives to be independent
with affiliated physicians or part of a physician's practice
not working directly for the hospital.
The closure comes months after
St. Joseph divested itself of a number of physicians' groups
throughout the county it had purchased in recent years, including
the Center for Women's Health Care. Most of the groups, like
the midwifery clinic, proved to be a financial burden on St.
Joseph's, which has lost money in recent years.
Marshes
in McKinleyville?
The world-renowned marsh system
used to treat Arcata's waste water may get a sister in McKinleyville.
The McKinleyville Community
Services District is investigating the possibility of building
wetlands as a means of dealing with wastewater quality problems.
Tests have shown that McKinleyville's treated wastewater, or
effluent, has increased concentrations of ammonia. The increased
toxicity could be due to the dry weather this winter, which reduced
the amount of rainwater flowing into MCSD's treatment ponds.
The MCSD owns land adjacent
to the treatment facilities that could be used for the construction
of treatment wetlands but has not yet formally studied the idea.
An assessment of wetlands may be part of this year's action plan,
which will be voted on in May.
Manufacturing
in the squeeze
In the long run, Humboldt County's
economy is in the process of diversifying, spreading into new
and expanding sectors like tourism and high-tech services. But
in the short run, the county is still dependent on manufacturing
for its economic well-being and manufacturers, especially timber
concerns, are in a tough spot.
"Manufacturing up here
has been squeezed," said Steve Hackett, professor of economics
at Humboldt State University and executive director of the Index
of Economic Activity for Humboldt County. "Demand for
their products is declining and their costs of production are
going up," he said.
"Their profitability is
suffering. You might have firms that limp along in the short
term, but how long are they going to make it?"
That question has been answered
for Eel River Sawmills. The Fortuna-based firm has publicly stated
that it will shut down May 31 if it is unable to sell some of
its assets. A decline in the market for wood products and increased
costs for the logs the mill uses have driven the company into
debt, according to President Dennis Scott in an interview in
the April 19 Humboldt Beacon.
Manufacturing jobs are important
because "they pay better" than other jobs, Hackett
said. "A manufacturing worker might make $30,000 plus health
and retirement benefits, whereas a retail worker might only make
$12,000 to $18,000. Those high-paying craft jobs are very important
in an economy like this," he said.
They're also important because
they inject new money into Humboldt's economy, he said.
"Income comes into the
community from the sale of goods or services that are exported
out of the community," he said. When that new money is spent
at local merchants, it helps pay the wages of the people who
own the shop, the people who work in the shop and the people
making the product.
That's why it's important to
buy local, Hackett said.
"When I buy groceries,
part of that money becomes someone else's income. When they spend
that money locally, some of it stays locally," eventually
making it back to the person who originally bought the product.
The broader effect of Humboldt's
manufacturing problems has yet to be felt because employees are
still receiving paychecks even Eel River's crisis won't ripple
through the local economy until after the closure. Unemployment
actually dropped during March to 6.7 percent from February's
7.2 percent. The job market was led by increases in hospitality,
farm work and financial services.
There's still a significant
new drain on the Humboldt economy, Hackett said PG&E. The
utility's problems are having several negative effects on Humboldt
County. The company owes power generators, including Eel River
Sawmills, for electricity delivered months ago and it hasn't
paid all its taxes to the county.
"But the biggest factor,"
Hackett said, "is the month-to-month loss of spending power
by people who have to spend a lot on their energy bill. That's
money that would have been spent on the local economy that's
now being exported."
There is some good news for
Humboldt's future. The tourism industry looks to be on track
for another record year (In the News, April 5). And if
the national economy continues it recent cool performance, that
could actually help North Coast tourism, Hackett said.
"You'd think vacations
are a luxury good, so that it would be the first thing people
give up," he said. "But we're a more modest vacation
destination," and as people give up their trips to Tahiti,
they may point their SUV toward Humboldt.
Capitol Steps to arrive
![[photo of Capitol Steps comedy truope]](news0426-capitolsteps.jpg) ELAINE NEWPORT,
PRODUCER OF THE POLITICAL COMEDY troupe the Capitol Steps, describes
herself as a "raging moderate" -- but she admitted
she did have a favorite in this year's election campaign.
"We were
sort of rooting for Bush because we thought he'd be funnier,"
she said in a telephone interview from Washington.
The Capitol
Steps, a troupe of former congressional staffers who have turned
against their bosses and now make a living ridiculing them, will
perform next week at Humboldt State University.
"Both sides
in politics get a little ridiculous at times," Newport said,
but "one side is funnier than the other a lot of the time."
That's why the troupe (which contains roughly equal numbers of
Republicans and Democrats) was secretly pleased by Bush's win.
"He has
a lot of potential because he's turning out to be more of an
ideologue than we had thought. Anyone who stirs up controversy
and conversation is fun," she said. "And he has the
whole potential for the malapropisms and the wild college days
coming back to haunt him."
Not that they
would have spared a Democratic president -- or have been sparing
former President Clinton. Newport said Clinton was a godsend
during his tenure, quipping that several of the new jobs Clinton
liked to boast about creating were as comedians making fun of
him. "And fortunately he hung on in the news for a while
afterwards," Newport said.
In fact, there's
very little that they can't make fun of, Newport said.
"Some things
are tough -- wars, floods, stuff like that. But in almost every
story there's a politician that's tripping over their words or
trying to grab the camera."
The Capitol
Steps will be in Arcata May 3. See this week's Calendar for details.
Low-income
housing grants
Humboldt County has received
more large grants for low-income housing.
Two grants totaling $650,000
were awarded by the California Department of Housing and Community
Development. The county received $500,000 to promote owner-occupied
homes while the Redwood Community Action Agency will have $150,000
to spend on mobile home repair. Both grants will be administered
by RCAA.
"This is the first time
in many years that we have had money to repair mobile homes,"
said Kermit Thobaben, director of planning and programs for RCAA.
Utility
tax change
A bill working its way to the
floor of the Senate has many city governments worried about their
financial future. Senate Bill 62X, authored by Sen. Charles Poochigian
of Fresno, would change the way utility users' taxes are computed.
Currently, cities charge utility
users a percentage of their bill. As PG&E bills have doubled
or tripled, the amount cities receive from the tax has also multiplied.
SB 62X states that the tax would be based on the amount of energy
used, in kilowatts or therms, rather than on the energy's cost,
eliminating the "windfall" that cities are reaping
from the crisis.
That windfall is sorely needed
at the municipal level, said Dan Hauser, Arcata's city manager.
He said that while the city hadn't anticipated the increased
revenue it's been getting from the utility users tax, "We
also didn't anticipate we'd be paying double to keep the streetlights
going."
Hauser estimated that the city
will get an extra $50,000 from the tax this fiscal year but will
face around $250,000 in additional energy costs.
Water board
meets
The North Coast Regional Water
Quality Control Board will meet at 9 a.m. April 26 in the Eureka
City Council Chambers.
On the agenda are items related
to the wastewater from the PG&E Humboldt Bay Power Plant
and the city of Fortuna's wastewater treatment plant. Conspicuously
absent is a discussion of Pacific Lumber's harvesting activities
in five Humboldt County watersheds. The board had scheduled a
meeting to decide on the fate of timber harvesting in those watersheds
for November of last year.
The meeting was postponed to
February and postponed again, this time indefinitely. The board's
staff has recommended curtailing PL's harvesting activities in
the watersheds as a means of protecting water quality for residents.
About those
$1 checks
California residents who paid
too much for their vehicle license fee in 2000 which is pretty
much anyone who owns a car since motorists were systematically
overcharged should recently have received a rebate check from
the Department of Motor Vehicles.
The checks are at times comically
small, with rebate amounts often around $1 or 50 cents. And when
postage and printing costs are totaled was it even worth it?
That won't be the case next
year, however. Senate Bill 22, by 1st District Sen. Wesley Chesbro,
abolishes the rebate and mandates the DMV simply reduce the fee.
The bill, which passed last week and was signed by the governor
April 19, saves state government $22 million in administrative
fees.
"There is no reason taxpayers
should be inconvenienced by putting money out and then have to
wait to get a rebate check back," Chesbro said.
Grand jury
wants you
The Humboldt County Superior
Court is looking for applicants to serve on the 2001-2002 Grand
Jury.
The jury is a publicly funded
government watchdog that observes and investigates county and
city governments. An official arm of the Humboldt County Superior
Court, the grand jury publishes an annual report card on local
government.
Citizens interested in becoming
Grand Jury members may call 269-1270.
Afternoon
with authors
More than 15,000 adults in Humboldt
County are functionally illiterate, according to a U.S. Department
of Education Survey. But you can help; All you need to do is
sit back, eat some baklava and listen to literature.
The Humboldt Literacy Project
will be holding its first fundraiser April 29 at the Morris Graves
Museum. Four Humboldt County authors will be reading their works
and signing books Joan Dunning, Jerry Martien, Roy Parvin and
Neb Roscoe.
Martien, who writes both poetry
and prose and teaches writing, said he was happy to help when
he was approached by Humboldt Literacy.
"This fundraiser is excellent
because it requires the group to go out into the community and
tell them about what they're doing here," he said. See this
week's calendar for details.
AEDC wins
award
The Arcata Economic Development
Corp. has been recognized by the California Association of Local
Economic Developers for its Microenterprise Assistance Program.
The Economic Development Program
Award of Excellence highlights a program that effectively fosters
business growth. The MAP program brings together groups of similar
businesses for mutual problem-solving and training.
Called peer consulting, this
strategy was behind the woodworkers guild and a successful but
now financially troubled food business incubator. AEDC has been
in negotiations with the city of Arcata to sell Foodworks.
Bicycle
library?
![[photo of Bill Burton]](news0426-bike.jpg) THESE
BIKES ARE ALMOST ALWAYS AIMED AT THE landfill," Bill Burton
said as he ran his fingers along the rim of a slightly beat-up
bicycle wheel. (photo at
left) Around him in the dark garage
are donated and salvaged bikes in various states of assembly,
from a piles of spokes and gears to a recently reborn 10-speed.
Burton is at the heart of the
Community Bicycle Project, which provides bicycles to citizens
in Arcata to pedal around the city free of charge. The program
has been around for four years, but recent changes may increase
its use and success.
The project is now loaning out
what are called library bikes. Anyone can put down a $20 deposit
and borrow a bike for as long as they'd like. After the bike
is returned, the money is refunded. Library bikes are available
at Redwood Yogurt Shoppe in Northtown, the Humboldt State Cycling
Center on campus, every Saturday at the farmer's market and beginning
this week, at the Arcata Co-op.
The bicycle project became known
for its "green bikes," restored bicycles simply left
unlocked around Arcata for anyone to use. The concept was that
you could pick one up, use it and then leave it at your destination
for someone else to use.
But Burton said that idea was
flawed. People were either negligent or purposefully abusive
to the bikes. An old green bike sitting in the corner of the
garage during the interview serves as evidence with its front
wheel has bent in on itself -- "tacoed," as Burton
puts it.
"My guess is it was dropped
from an overpass," he said.
But Burton said repair was a
minor problem compared to the difficulty obtaining liability
insurance. California insurance law makes it nearly impossible
to fully shield the program from liability connected to the green
bikes and neither the city nor the state wanted additional exposure.
The project was dropped from Arcata's budget this year for the
first time.
But with the new structure in
place, Burton is confident the project can continue and at a
cost of $4,000 a year, the price for the city is affordable.
"In four years we haven't
even yet spent the price of a good car on this program and we've
turned out hundreds of bikes," he said.
People interested in helping
with the project should look for members at the Arcata farmer's
market this summer.
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