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Oct. 19, 2000
Co-op receives award
Strom-Martin raising funds
Focus on giving in Humboldt
Unemployment hits a new low
HSU still building
Library grants to tribes
in-home care aid arrives
Co-op receives
award
More than 1,900 California businesses
applied for the state's Waste Reduction Awards this year, but
only 10 were chosen.
The North Coast Co-op, with
locations in Arcata and Eureka, joins the likes of Apple Computer
as an award recipient. The Co-op was commended for its efforts
to recycle paper, plastic and compostable materials -- and for
reducing the amount of packaging in general by encouraging reuse
of bags and boxes.
State Sen. Wesley Chesbro, an
Arcata resident and former member of the Integrated Waste Management
Board, which administers the award, said he was pleased to see
the award go to the Co-op. He said the grocery stores had pioneered
waste reduction techniques like bag refunds that are now commonplace.
"These strategies are widespread
now, but the Co-op started using them 20 years ago," he
said.
The announcement was made during
a Waste Management Board meeting held Tuesday in the Eureka City
Council chambers.
Strom-Martin
raising funds
Assemblymember Virginia Strom-Martin's
campaign stands to make a little money when she throws her fund-raising
party Saturday.
The event will fete five individuals
who will be honored for contributing to the North Coast community.
Tickets for the event, dubbed "North Coast Community Builders,"
start at $25 and range up to $500 for a group of 10, and there's
a silent auction to boot.
Thing is, she doesn't need it.
She is running for reelection, but her Republican opponent, Michael
Lampson, has announced she will not actively campaign.
So why the fund-raiser? David
Hickman, manager of Strom-Martin's Eureka office, said, "Most
of the proceeds will be donated to races elsewhere in the state."
See this week's Calendar for
details or call 825-6832 to reserve tickets.
Focus on
giving in Humboldt
The new wave of philanthropy
may be making a shift from gifts of money to gifts of time, according
to a recent article in Chronicle of Philanthropy.
That supposition was confirmed
in a recent project by Channel 13, KEET-TV. The public television
station asked for nominations for individuals and groups that
best represent philanthropy. The nominations came back not with
the names of big-name donors, but with the names of volunteers.
A public television program,
"The Spirit of Giving," honoring those nominated will
air Wednesday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. The documentary-style program,
hosted by Dennis Leonardi, shares lesser-known stories of children
and adults.
Many of those featured have
personal connections to their causes. Nyle Henderson of Eureka
spearheaded a project to identify bone marrow donors after his
own son died of leukemia. Recent Eureka High graduate Jon Byington
worked to prevent youth suicide after a schoolmate took his own
life.
Also honored are the Braille
Transcribers of Humboldt; Blue Lake resident Terra Tolley, for
her work with cancer patients; the Jefferson Family Group that
raised money for a school playground; Jayna Fendrick of McKinleyville
for a project assembling personal care bags for local foster
children; the Builders Club of Winship Junior High for fund-raising
for the Sequoia Zoo; and Marjorie Lauritsen of Eureka, a 25-year
volunteer at General Hospital.
Halfway
to the garden
The Humboldt Bay Botanical Gardens
Foundation announced this week it has raised a little more than
$2 million -- half of the funds it needs for the Humboldt Botanical
Garden. Supporters are now launching the second phase of the
capital drive with an appeal to the public.
Karen Angel, executive director
for garden development, said the first half of the capital campaign
was considered the "quiet phase." The foundation wanted
to make sure there was adequate support for a botanical garden
before appealing to the public.
Now that the first $2 million
has been raised, there will be higher profile fund-raising efforts,
including campaigns to sell Garden Pavers -- engraved bricks
to be used in the garden-- and pins with a picture of a native
iris.
There is a chance the foundation
will get a large portion of the fund-raising done all at once.
Assemblymember Virginia Strom-Martin has promised to introduce
a "member's request" for $1 million in state funding
for the garden early in 2001.
Angel said that the foundation
wasn't counting on the request being included in the budget --
a similar Strom-Martin attempt last year failed -- but she was
happy to note that Strom-Martin "is very into gardens herself"
and had pledged her support.
The garden, to be located on
the College of the Redwoods campus, will include native gardens,
a temperate woodland stream and a lookout.
Unemployment
hits a new low
In another indicator that Humboldt
County's economy remains healthy, unemployment dropped to 4.9
percent during September. That's the lowest rate the county has
experienced this year. There are 2,100 more jobs in the county
now than a year ago, which has helped offset an increase in the
number of people looking for work.
It isn't just the seasonal variations
to which the economy is so vulnerable that have brought the rate
down, said Steve Hackett, an economics professor at HSU who publishes
a monthly analysis of the Humboldt County economy.
"I don't think it's just
logging," Hackett said. He believes the rise in employment
was "broad based" and a sign that "some of the
strength of the national economy is washing into Humboldt County."
"The rate, 4.9 percent,
is really good for Humboldt County, even considering the season,"
Hackett said.
HSU still
building
Humboldt State University's
plan to turn the Daly Building into a performance space may have
been placed on permanent hold, but other construction plans are
moving forward.
Two new projects costing approximately
$6.5 million are in the works --boating instruction and safety
center on the waterfront in Eureka and expansion of the University
Center on campus.
The boating instruction and
safety center will provide a home to HSU crew teams and boating
safety classes. HSU Center Activities, which has been offering
the safety classes for about 20 years, hopes to be able to move
into its new 17,000-square-foot digs next to the Adorni Center
in about three years.
"This will allow us to
have a home and offer better programming," said Center Activities
Director Dan Collen.
The University Center is a multi-function
building with office space, dining areas and the Kate Buchanan
Room -- used to hold performances, seminars and conferences.
While the entire building is slated for renovation, the Buchanan
Room will receive the most dramatic work, including improvements
to the room's ventilation, acoustics and aesthetics.
Construction on the University
Center will begin next spring and take about a year.
Library
grants to tribes
Three Native American tribes
have received grants totalling $294,831 from the Institute of
Museum and Library Sciences. The grants are to help preserve
Native American culture in library archives and to lessen the
"digital divide" by providing Native Americans with
Internet access. The three grants were among 11 given nationwide.
The Wiyot tribe will use the
funds to try to preserve language and culture through a website.
The Yurok tribe plans to put its tribal archive online, and the
Hoopa tribe will reestablish a community library.
Wiyot Chairwoman Cheryl Seidner
said in a statement that she was "excited to have the opportunity
to record our elders and to help forge a stronger link with those
who have gone before us."
In-home
care aid arrives
The Area I Agency on Aging's
new in-home caregiver program, funded by a $643,484 grant from
the California Endowment, will increase the number of qualified
caregivers, establish a registry of trained and screened workers,
and support family members who provide care.
The program will facilitate
the hiring of in-home caregivers to assist families caring for
elderly members. In-home care can be a positive and less costly
alternative to institutional care.
"The whole issue of in-home
care has been on the table for 20 years and we're real excited
to be able to do something about it," said Sandi Fitzpatrick,
executive director of the agency.
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