August 10, 2000

Rose given 30 days

Let the races begin

St. Bernard to open

Battle at the beach

Hospice opens two satelites

There's bears in them hills

Rose given 30 days

It took almost three months, but last week the other shoe dropped. A troika of Eureka City Council members -- Maxine Hunter-Meeks, Jack McKeller and Jim Gupton -- voted to fire City Manager Harvey Rose, effective Aug. 31.

The move angered many in the audience who had come to the hearing to defend the embattled administrator, especially after the same three council members voted to limit discussion of Rose's contract to three speakers on each side of the issue with three minutes each to speak.

A recall effort was immediately launched against Hunter-Meeks and McKeller with citizens gathering signatures at the meeting. The earliest such an election could take place is January.

Rose escaped termination in early May when Gupton put the issue on the ballot, saying he had lost confidence in Rose. (McKellar and Meeks had earlier expressed no confidence.) But before that meeting, Gupton suffered medical problems and the controversy has been simmering ever since.

Rose defenders -- Council members Cherie Arkley, Connie Miller and Mayor Nancy Flemming, a non-voting member -- were outraged.

Gupton declined to be intereviewed Tuesday and in a dramatic announcement the next day said he would not seek reelecton in November afterall.

Miller is the only other member on the November ballot. Hunter-Meeks and McKellar each have two more years.

Let the races begin

Horseracing fans are well aware that the ponies are running every day except Tuesday throughout the 10 days of fun at the 104th annual Humboldt County Fair, which opens today. But at noon Sunday, Aug. 13, another fair arena will fill with a different group of race fans on hand to watch trainers and their dogs -- including one that is an international superstar. For the third year the fair will feature dog agility, a sport that's growing in popularity with regular exposure on cable television shows such as Animal Planet and ESPN. "Dog agility is a dog sport where dog and handler teams race through an obstacle course," explained Katherine Leggett, who took first in the American Kennel Club National Championships and fourth in the world competition last year with her dog, Heather, a blue merle Sheltie (photo at right).

"It's like a military working dog course where the dog has to jump, climb and scale obstacles, and weave through a slalom of poles. It's all done with voice and hand commands with no physical connection between the handler and the dog," she said in a telephone interview from Sacramento. Leggett and Heather are surprise competitors in Sunday's event. The judge is Kathleen Pavlich, another champion trainer, one who works with a breed not usually associated with the sport -- foxhounds. For the complete fair schedule, see humboldtcountyfair.org.

St. Bernard to open

"In 1996-97 we had 237 students in the elementary school alone, plus 210 in the high school," said Edie Young, a teacher at the St. Bernard's Catholic School. By comparison, those were rosy times.

This year St. Bernard's has only been able to count 275 students enrolled between both schools and those lean numbers made it uncertain whether it would even be operating this year.

Three weeks ago the school board voted to open on schedule.

Young said that the teachers have all been hired back and the school will be offering a full curriculum -- at least this fall. The real issue is whether St. Bernard's will remain open in years to come. "That's hard to predict, it really is," Young said.

Students have begun pitching in to try and boost enrollment numbers by throwing parties where they show their friends how much fun Catholic school can be. A new principal will be chosen within a week, ending months of uncertainty about who would head the school. The former principal left in April.

With declining enrollment in all elementary and high schools in Humboldt County, Young said the fate of the parochial school will depend on the families it serves.

"I think the value of a Catholic education to a community has to be determined by that community -- and expressed in enrollment numbers."

Battle at the beach

Pipe bombs, SWAT teams and a renegade semi truck? The battle for Freshwater Spit sounds like a summer blockbuster instead of a land-use dispute.

The fight over closing vehicular access to beaches in the Redwood National and State Parks is very real -- just ask Ed Salsedo, an Orick businessman arrested July 18 while protesting the closure of Freshwater Spit.

When those gates were installed, long-simmering tensions between park staff and some residents erupted. Salsedo, owner of the Lumberjack Saloon in Orick, was arrested because he refused to move his pickup truck, which was blocking a crew from installing a gate.

The arrest was only the latest incident in a bitter fight in which allegations of intimidation have been leveled by both sides.

Bob Martin, chief ranger of the park, said that there had been pipe bombs left around the park and that the park service had a heightened sense of security about bombing attempts. Carol McCall, public affairs officer for the park service, said that a logging truck "took a swing at us" while speeding through the gravel parking area along the beach.

"It came within 12 inches," she said.

For their part, Orick residents claim that their town is being attacked by the park service. In an open letter published Aug. 1 in the McKinleyville Press, the Save Orick Committee claims that Orick is "under siege."

Beach closures are cutting off the town's economic lifeblood, the letter reads. It further claims that a SWAT team has been called in to enforce the new regulations.

McCall said that the SWAT team is a figment of the residents' imaginations. There were five extra people there for the beach closure, but "They're regular law enforcement officers," she said.

Salsedo, who said he hasn't been arrested for anything in more than 30 years, denies knowledge of pipe bombs or threats. He characterizes himself as a "law-abiding citizen" duty-bound to hold his ground.

"We have nothing else in this community," he said.

Beach access is still available for vehicles of commercial surf fishermen as well as Native Americans for ceremonial purposes at Gold Bluffs Beach.

The parks system will begin charging overnight camping fees next year and will phase out camping within three years.

Hospice opens two satellites

Hospice of Humboldt, a private non-profit organization that provides services to the terminally ill, has opened two new locations in Garberville and Willow Creek.

"Through various conversations with people throughout the years, there was a gap in those kinds of services," said Raeann Bossarte, public relations director for Hospice.

Hospice provides palliative medicine, medicine meant to make a patient more comfortable, rather than heal their physical injuries.

The new locations will provide nurses, chaplains, social workers and nutritionists, all payable through Medicare. For more information on Hospice, call 445-8443.

There's bears in them hills

When Sky Murphy had a bear enter his campsite in the King Range National Conservation Area, he yelled, banged pots and pans together, and threw sticks and stones. Murphy, who is a Bureau of Land Management backcountry ranger, was able to scare it away. But the bear didn't leave empty handed.

"It left all of our grains, the rice and beans -- but they got the granola."

Those kind of confrontations have been happening with increased frequency over the past month. That's why the BLM, which manages the King Range, is warning that bears are becoming significantly more aggressive in pursuit of human food in several areas of the park. Big (Hadley) Creek, Big Flat and Shipman Creek have all seen more potentially dangerous human/bear encounters.

The BLM recommends that campers always hang their food in trees or store it in a bear-proof cannister, available at local outdoor outfitters. Dried food is preferable to fresh; toothpaste, deodorant and shampoos are best left at home; and never put your food in your tent.

For more information on bear-proofing a campsite, call the BLM at 986-5400.

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