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Dec. 9, 2004
A PLUS FOR LNG
TERMINALS?: A little-noticed provision
in the federal year-end spending bill, sent by Congress to President
Bush on Monday night, says that federal regulators -- and not
the states -- should decide where liquefied natural gas terminals
are built, according to a Dec. 3 story in the Los Angeles
Times. The Times says the provision was apparently
aimed at California, and quotes Carl W. Wood, a member of the
California Public Utilities Commission, as saying the language
"shows a complete contempt for the people of California
and their representatives." The provision declares that
the facilities "need one clear process for review, approval
and siting decisions," which reflects the Bush administration's
intent to increase energy supplies, the article says. The bill
would appear to make it easier for companies to set up LNG facilities,
as San Jose-based Calpine Corp. looked into doing on the Samoa
Peninsula.
PALCO FRAUD CASE: On Monday, Humboldt County Superior Court Judge
Christopher Wilson granted Assistant District Attorney Tim Stoen,
the lead prosecutor in the county's lawsuit against Pacific Lumber
Co., additional time to prepare arguments on the company's motion
to have the case dismissed. Meanwhile, Stoen may be pursuing
a measure to get Wilson removed from the case. Earlier this year,
an out-of-town judge ruled that Wilson should be disqualified
on the grounds that the judge had the "appearance of a conflict
of interest"; a state appellate court later reversed the
decision. Stoen said that over the next few weeks he will decide
whether to appeal the issue to the state Supreme Court. He said
that the alleged judicial "appearance of a conflict"
in the matter is important because there will be no jury trial
in the case -- it will be up to the judge alone to decide the
case and determine penalties. "If he makes a decision, he
can choose a penalty of a penny per tree or $2,500 per tree,"
he said. "So it's very important that the public have a
sense that there's no appearance of bias." Arguments on
the Palco motion are now scheduled for Jan. 10.
TRAILER CAUSES FATAL ACCIDENT:
After crashing their truck into
an abandoned boat trailer that was pushed into a Eureka roadway,
two young men are dead and another injured. Timothy Robertson,
21, and Cody Wertz, 19, of Eureka were killed just before 2 a.m.
on Saturday, Dec. 4. Timothy's brother, Scott Robertson, 19,
the driver of the 1994 Ford pickup, collided with the trailer
while southbound on Myrtle Avenue in Eureka near the Ryan Slough
Bridge, according to the California Highway Patrol. Scott Robertson
reportedly saw the trailer at the last minute, swerved to avoid
it but still struck the frame, sending his vehicle off the road,
flipping it onto its roof and submerging in the slough. Scott
escaped from the wreck, was brought to the hospital and released
with minor injuries. Residents had complained about the trailer
to the CHP and Humboldt County Sheriff's Department beginning
on Oct. 15, but both agencies said that the trailer was not posing
a roadway danger and therefore would not be moved immediately,
citing a backlog of abandoned vehicles. Police believe it is
possible that someone took matters into their own hands early
on Saturday morning, pushing the trailer into Myrtle Avenue near
the Ryan Slough Bridge to intentionally cause a hazard that police
would be forced to take care of. The CHP and Sheriff's Department
are continuing an investigation to find the trailer's owner and
the person who pushed it into the road. The trailer has since
been hauled off by CHP and impounded.
EUREKA PEDESTRIAN HIT:
A 46-year-old Eureka woman remained
in a coma Tuesday after being hit by a car during Monday's rainstorm.
At 11:15 a.m. Monday, Erica Upton, a prominent wine sales representative
and wife of Humboldt State fisheries biology professor Terry
Roelofs, was walking in the crosswalk northbound at Harris and
K streets in Eureka when she was hit by a Pontiac Grand Am driven
by Dallas Jackson, 20, of Eureka, police said. Upton sustained
major head injuries and broken ribs, and was taken to St. Joseph's
Hospital, where she underwent surgery Tuesday, police said. Eureka
Police Sgt. Mike Hislop said that Jackson was not speeding or
drug-impaired, but that Upton apparently darted into the busy
street, hit the side of his car, was bounced to the windshield
and then thrown to the curb.
SODA BAN SIDESTEP: A neighbor of Eureka High School has found a handy
way to profit off the school's on-campus ban of soda sales. At
a home on Del Norte Street, just a stone's throw from the school,
a resident removed slats in his fence to install a Coca Cola
vending machine. No one was at the soda solicitor's home when
the Journal came knocking this week, but Principal Bob
Steffen said that thus far the soda dispenser does not seem overly
popular with students. Steffen has been keeping tabs on activity
at the machine since it became a campus-side fixture after Thanksgiving
break. "If we see a problem developing at the machine, we
intend to talk to the people who live there and let them know
that we are trying to encourage students to make nutritious choices,"
he said. Last year, Eureka City schools banned soda sales on
high school and middle school campuses (elementary schools do
not have the machines) during school hours, and restocked vending
machines with water, juice and milk in an effort to combat rising
obesity rates among students.
BACK TO COURT: It's back to the courtroom for forest activists
and the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department for a third go-around
in the pepper spray case. After the jury was deadlocked 6-2 at
the recent trial in San Francisco, U.S District Court Judge Susan
Illston set a new trial for April 11. Illston seemed to side
with the county when she ruled Nov. 30 to disallow punitive damages
against former Humboldt County Sheriff Dennis Lewis and current
Sheriff Gary Philp, who was a deputy during the 1997 pepper spray
incidents. According to the forest activists' Web site, nopepperspray.org,
they intend to petition the judge to reconsider her ruling and
will appeal if she does not.
VIGILANTE PHOTO SHOOT:
Three young thieves were caught
after a digital camera-wielding neighbor snapped photos of the
boys as they left a Eureka home they had allegedly robbed. Eureka
Police said that on Sunday afternoon a woman in the 3800 block
of F Street saw three boys, who were unknown to her, walking
in and out of a house next door. Suspecting foul play, the neighbor
took photos of the boys, then tailed them for close to a mile
before calling the police. Officers found the house unlocked
and left a note. The next day, the resident called the police
and said that a loaded .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun he
owned was missing. EPD used the photos to identify the boys,
all of whom are juveniles who admitted to stealing the gun that
police later recovered, police said. The boys, the youngest of
whom was 13, were booked into Humboldt County Juvenile Hall.
An investigation is continuing.
GET THOSE TAXES IN: The first installment of 2004-05 property taxes
is due Friday, Dec. 10, at 5 p.m. (A Dec. 10 postmark will keep
you from getting penalized.) Late payments are subject to 10
percent penalties. Anyone who has not received their tax bill
or has questions should call the Humboldt County Tax Office ASAP
at 476-2450 or 877-897-5692. Those with questions about assessed
values or exemptions should call the Assessor's Office at 445-7663.
NO GANJA GIFTS THIS XMAS:
Two people have been arrested and
police are looking for another man in connection with a marijuana
and methamphetamine operation in Fortuna and Rio Dell. On Dec.
2, Chanclynn Pettit, 24, of Rio Dell, and Janine McKay, 51, of
Clear Lake, were taken to jail after police raided their Rio
Dell residence and discovered crystal meth and 10 pounds of pot,
which was in boxes with Christmas wrapping, Fortuna Police said.
According to police, the drugs were to be distributed in Clear
Lake. The day before the arrest, Fortuna Police were alerted
to two storage units on Fortuna Boulevard suspected to have marijuana
in them. On Dec. 1, FPD -- with assistance of a California Highway
Patrol K-9 cop -- sniffed out concentrated cannabis, crystal
meth, 12 pounds of pot and an assault rifle with ammunition.
The raid of the storage units led police to the Rio Dell home.
Police are seeking Frank Edward Dyball, 60, for questioning.
QUAKE RATTLES HUMBOLDT:
An earthquake measuring 4.3 on
the Richter scale gave Humboldt County a pulse-quickening little
ride Saturday evening. Residents in Eureka and Arcata reported
feeling their homes shake and pictures falling from the wall
as the temblor, which was centered just east of Maple Creek,
struck at 5:48 p.m. Dr. Lori Dengler, a professor with Humboldt
State University's geology department, said the quake was typical
of its kind. It resulted from the offshore Gorda Plate, which
is slowly creeping beneath the land we stand upon, slipping a
bit and releasing some pent-up energy. That energy is considerable,
Dengler said -- sometime, probably within the next 500 years,
it will give completely, resulting in a shake-up that will likely
be closer a 9.0. "All that accumulated strain will suddenly
be released," Dengler said. "It will be rather exciting."
According to the United States Geological Survey, people from
as far away as Crescent City and Redway reported feeling the
quake.
STOCKMAN DENIED PAROLE:
The District Attorney's Office
announced last week that former Washington resident James Stockman,
who in 1984 was convicted on first-degree murder in the stabbing
death of Eureka resident Lloyd Copelin, was denied parole. Stockman,
who is incarcerated at Solano State Prison, may reapply for his
release in 2006.
DON'T LEAVE IT IN THE
CAR: A Eureka man is offering a
$500 reward for information leading to the return of a 1977 Gibson
model 335 guitar that was stolen out of his locked car in the
2000 block of Summer Street last week. J.P. Reese, a nurse at
St. Joseph Hospital, said a bass also was stolen, but he's most
concerned about the valuable guitar, which belonged to a good
friend. Anyone with information should call Eureka Police.
CORRECTION: An item about new Native American services offices
opening in Humboldt County ("The
Weekly Wrap," Dec. 2) incorrectly stated that the offices
would help low income Native Americans get food stamps. The offices
will provide help with TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families)
cash assistance, but food stamps and Medi-Cal are available only
through the county social services office. The Journal
regrets the error.
A win-win on GMOs?
Dairies could enhance image by dumping
biotech
by JIM
HIGHT
IT WAS JUST AFTER DAWN WHEN
THE DAIRYMAN milked the last cow. Sweaty and tired from three
hours of heavy labor, he led his 160 Holsteins back out to pasture,
where they'd graze until the afternoon milking.
He said he didn't mind the hard
work and the long, strange hours. "I get the satisfaction
of knowing that I'm working hard and supporting a family in agriculture,"
he said. What wore him out was the financial stress. The prices
he received were low, while his costs kept rising. He worried
about the future of the dairy, which had been in his wife's family
for 80 years.
That morning occurred about
five years ago, and this dairy farm, like a handful of others
on the North Coast, went under in 2002 during a long slump in
raw milk prices.
The survivors have lately enjoyed
higher prices, but prices are expected to decline next year,
too soon to relieve the dairies' chronic economic distress. Faced
with mounting debt and declining profits, dairy operators look
for ways to control or reduce their costs. And, as Journal
readers know, some dairies have begun planting genetically engineered
Roundup Ready corn to save money on the herbicides and diesel
fuel they'd otherwise use in spraying and tilling their fields
to control weeds. The biotech corn variety also produces higher
yields per acre.
For an individual dairy owner,
planting this crop, already in widespread use around the world,
can make a lot of sense, as much sense as it makes for a PC user
to upgrade to Windows XP. But in planting genetically modified
organisms (GMOs) on local dairy ranches, these farmers may be
inadvertently downloading an economic virus that could damage
the local industry's market position as a supplier of natural
products. The market risks are so serious that members of one
local dairy association say they will probably seek a ban on
GMO planting by members.
While the typical California
dairy is a large, polluting industrial facility that confines
cows 24/7, the North Coast's 100 dairies keep their cows grazing
on pastures most of the time, like herbivores were meant to do.
Their fields are also friendly to birds and wildlife. Additionally,
all North Coast dairies have sworn off the controversial growth
hormone rBST.
These characteristics have become
selling points for Humboldt Creamery, Loleta Cheese Co. and Rumiano
Cheese Co., the three dairy processors that buy raw milk from
dairies in Humboldt and Del Norte counties.
By differentiating many of their
products as "natural," "pasture-based" and
"rBST-free," the processors have been able to gain
loyal consumers in California, Oregon and elsewhere. These attributes
have also helped them obtain contracts to supply other manufacturers.
One manufacturer supplied by
Humboldt Creamery, San Francisco-based Double Rainbow, highlights
North Coast dairies on its cartons: "Their natural environment
enables us to provide you with the finest ice cream possible."
Consumers drawn to such claims
are a minority of buyers, but they make up a large portion of
the people who buy products made with North Coast dairy milk,
local industry sources say.
And while opinion polls show
that most Americans support genetic engineering in agriculture,
these natural-food consumers tend to be viscerally opposed to
GMOs.
After the news broke about Roundup
Ready corn growing on local dairies, a prominent organic farming
educator declared in a letter to the Times-Standard that
she would no longer buy Humboldt Creamery milk. Other local consumers
will probably follow suit, and word could spread quickly via
the Internet, potentially affecting the everyday buying decisions
of thousands of consumers and the annual purchase contracts of
several manufacturers like Double Rainbow.
People in the dairy community
have told me that they see both sides of the issue. On one hand,
they respect the rights of other farmers to use whatever growing
methods they deem most effective.
But they also think that the
GMO issue has real potential to damage their collective market
position.
I've also learned that the Humboldt
Creamery cooperative -- which incorporates about two-thirds of
local dairies -- will probably consider whether to ban GMO planting
by its members because of the potential impacts on its market.
The dairies that supply Rumiano and Loleta, although not a cooperative,
may consider a ban as well.
Such a policy would follow the
successful precedent set when the dairies and processors became
rBST-free in the 1990s. Given the risks involved, enacting a
collective ban on planting GMOs may be the best course for the
industry to take.
For the farmers who have planted
biotech corn, however, abandoning a technology they've found
useful and cost-effective would certainly be tough to swallow.
Perhaps anti-GMO activists could
make the medicine go down more easily by reaching out to these
and other dairy operators, acknowledging the economic pressures
that have led farmers to plant biotech corn, and offering something
in the way of compensation for returning to conventional seeds.
They could promise to organize
a campaign urging local consumers to choose North Coast dairy
products over competing brands. They could also use their activist
networks and media contacts to generate statewide and national
news coverage of a voluntarily adopted policy against GMO planting
in the North Coast milk producing areas. That would boost the
profile of the North Coast dairy industry in wider markets.
Such a collaborative strategy
could achieve results much sooner than another anti-GMO ballot
measure, which is many months, if not a year or more, away.
Furthermore, it's not clear
that a county measure to ban GMOs would survive a lawsuit by
farmers intent on resisting such a prohibition.
In the three California counties
that have passed GMO bans, Mendocino, Marin and Trinity, as well
as the city of Arcata, there were no GMO crops when the measures
were passed.
In Humboldt County there are
several hundred acres planted by seven or eight dairy operators
and at least one commercial forage supplier. If an anti-GMO measure
passes here, these farmers may be able to make a legal case that
the county has no right to circumvent the federal regulations
that have allowed GMOs in agriculture.
If, on the other hand, the dairies'
cooperative and commercial partners adopted a voluntary ban,
they would probably have to go along grudgingly.
Whatever becomes of a second
anti-GMO ballot measure, a voluntary ban on GMO crops supported
by the dairy industry and local consumers and activists would
be a win-win for the North Coast.
In addition to being a former
Journal staff writer, Jim Hight
has written for Capital Press, a weekly farming trade
publication, and authored special reports on local agriculture
for farm associations and public-interest groups. He can be reached
at [email protected].
Local
welcome for Sally Army
Ban by corporate chains spurs other
stores to sign on
by HANK
SIMS
A move by some national retail chains to ban the
annual Salvation Army bellringers from their store entrances
may be paradoxically boosting the drive's efforts in Humboldt
County.
Capt. Ramón Ocaño,
pastor of the Salvation Army's Eureka Corps, said that locally,
nearly two dozen locations have offered to host the bellringing
Salvation Army volunteers that last year raised $58,000 for local
charitable programs.
"So many more places stepped
up this year," he said. "Last year we only had 14 or
15 spots."
Ocaño said that some
of that increase was due to local business owners calling up
and requesting that the Salvation Army post bellringers at their
locations this year -- some of them after hearing about the Target
Corp.'s decision not to let the Salvation Army use its sites
this year. The ban has received a good deal of attention in the
national press.
[Photo at right:
Salvation Army worker Chris Sekerak said
business was brisk outside Arcata's Longs Drugs]
Mary Barber, owner of Eureka's
Grocery Outlet, said that she was moved to ask the Salvation
Army to use her store for the kettle drive after becoming angered
when she saw a television news story on Target's ban.
"I called up the captain
and said, `I have a brand-new store. Send them here,'" she
said.
Barber said that she felt that
supporting organizations like the Salvation Army was an important
part of doing business in a community that must struggle to address
problems like homelessness and poverty.
"I have 10 brothers and
sisters," she said. "I didn't grow up a rich person,
and I'm still not a rich person, but we've been very blessed.
It absolutely amazes me how much the community supports us, and
I think you need to give back."
Target isn't the only large
chain to have banned the bellringers from their premises. Locally,
both Costco and WinCo have long followed corporate policies that
prohibit solicitation at their stores. Mervyn's (which was once
owned by Target) announced earlier this year that it, too, would
ban the Salvation Army, but the chain quickly reversed itself
when the decision received bad press.
Safeway still allows the Salvation
Army to use their stores for the drive, but has placed some restrictions
on the hours and number of days that bellringers may work.
Ocaño said that many
large retail chains work out deals with the Salvation Army's
national headquarters before the Christmas shopping season begins.
He added that he bears no ill will toward local store managers
whose hands are tied by their bosses.
"If it was up to them,
I think they'd have done it," he said. "It's a small
town, and we like to take care of each other."
A member of the management team
at the Target store in Eureka said that she could not comment
on the issue, adding that she had been directed to refer all
queries on the subject to the chain's corporate headquarters.
The company stated in a press release that it felt it unfair
to allow the Salvation Army to ask for donations at its stores
while banning other charitable groups.
Ocaño said that all money
raised locally during the kettle drive stays local. It is used
to fund programs such as meals for seniors and after-schools
activities for youth. In addition, he said, the Eureka Corps
was hoping to retire some $450,000 in debt it had accumulated
in recent years due to sluggish thrift-store sales.
Radio
auction madness
FCC permit auction fails to find
purchaser for Blue Lake frequency
by
BOB DORAN
"Crazy."
That's how Hugo Papstein, head
of the local radio group Eureka Broadcasting, described Auction
No. 37, the first open auction of FM broadcast frequencies held
by the Federal Communications Commission since 1997. That's when
Congress mandated the use of a competitive bidding process for
commercial broadcast station licensing.
The bidding battle for FM broadcast
construction permits, potentially new radio stations, ran through
most of the month of November, putting 288 "vacant FM allotments"
on the block. Those were basically unused FM frequencies, many
of them in rural portions of western states.
Among them was permit FM026,
a license to build a radio station in Blue Lake.
Before it was over the bidding
for FM026 soared to more than $1 million, but by the time the
auction ended on Nov. 23, after 62 rounds of bidding,
that high bid had been withdrawn, and the local frequency was
one of 30 nationwide that went unsold.
Bidding for the Blue Lake frequency
began at $90,000, which instantly made it "just too much"
for Pat Christensen of Redwood Broadcasting, formerly known as
Miller Broadcasting, who saw "no economic justification
for the bid," he said.
Christensen was one of 456 initial
applicants for the auction and the only other local radio station
owner beside Eureka Broadcasting who showed interest in the local
frequency. Papstein was among 40 bidders who felt that FM026
was worth at least $90 grand. In fact, at one point early on
in the proceedings, Eureka Broadcasting bid $398,000 for the
frequency.
"It wasn't worth more than
that to me," said Papstein after a company called Bigglesworth
Broadcasting upped the bid to $478,000.
A few rounds later the bid for
FM026 had doubled; by round 19, two firms were dueling with Radioactive
LLC's $933,000 bid in round 21, topped by College Creek Broadcasting
Inc., which bid over a million -- only to withdraw its bid 10
rounds later.
Prior to 1997, radio frequencies
were not sold. They were awarded to those who showed they could
best serve the community. That has changed.
"We are in new territory
with this groundbreaking auction, introducing new owners into
the radio market and bringing increased diversity through new
FM radio stations to cities and towns that have not had their
own local stations," FCC Chairman Michael Powell said in
a press release.
"By placing small businesses
on equal footing with other bidders at the auction stage, our
policies ensure that more owners have the opportunity to become
pioneers in the dynamic media marketplace," Powell said.
While it's true that a number
of smaller companies came away with new stations, the overall
results seem to paint a different picture regarding "equal
footing." As the auction drew to a close, the 288 qualified
bidders had been whittled down to 110 "players" as
an FCC spokesman described them, with relatively small companies
like Eureka Broadcasting falling by the wayside.
At the end of the auction, with
winning bidders due to submit payments of $147.4 million, over
half of the money bid is promised by just five major players,
who between them accounted for $91 million in bids.
"Some of the frequencies
went for way over what was anticipated," said Papstein,
who saw the whole process as "crazy" in that, "the
auction took an unusual form. I've never heard of an auction
that doesn't go to the high bidder."
If the highest bid is withdrawn,
only active bidders -- those who had not dropped out of the bidding
for one or more of the 288 licenses up for grabs -- could continue
to bid. But in the case of the Blue Lake frequency, the high
rollers weren't interested.
What happens next with the unsold
frequencies? Lauren Patrich from the FCC Wireless Department
explained, "They are still in our inventory. We will sell
them eventually," adding that another FM construction permit
auction "could happen as early as next year."
'Interesting' Humboldt residents make the big time
on Leno show
by
HANK SIMS
Arcata artist
Duane Flatmo rode a custom back-steering cycle onto the Tonight
Show stage wearing one of his big-head Cubist masks last
Wednesday night. He serenaded Jay Leno with a flamenco number
on his guitar, effortlessly reproducing the rapid-fire strum
of the genre's masters with the assistance of an electric mixer.
Then he took a bow and was officially
named "The Most Interesting Person in California" --
the fourth person crowned in a 50-state search that the show
is undertaking in cooperation with shock comedian Tom Green for
American's weirdest and wackiest.
During the show, Green -- who
is visiting each of the states in alphabetical order -- explained
to Leno the rationale for focusing on Humboldt County in the
California segment.
"There's a lot of weird
people in Los Angeles -- we thought that would be too easy,"
he said. "So we went up to Eureka, California, and met some
more weird people there."
Flatmo's live appearance was
preceded by a short video of Green visiting with other local
residents who were vying for the award. Ornithologist Rob Hewitt
took Green on an owl-hooting expedition, allowing Green to indulge
in some of his trademark animal humor. Eureka resident Bob Brown
cooked up some garden snails for the comedian in his kitchen
and explained the best way to prepare banana slugs for the table.
Scott Cocking twirled a ball of fire tied to the end of a long
rope at the Old Town Gazebo, briefly catching Green's leg on
fire when he attempted to skip over it.
The show's crew visited "Willow"
-- the tree-sitter formerly known as "Whisper" -- in
his perch in an old-growth redwood near Greenwood Heights Road.
The occasion marked the second time this year that a comedian
has teased the tree-sitter on national television. In the spring,
Sascha Baron Cohen of "Da Ali G Show" upbraided Willow
and Earth First! activist "Shunka" for the "crap
songs" associated with the movement.
Both comedians took the opportunity
to muse about better uses to which the tree could be put, riling
the activists in the process. Cohen fantasized about a "hot
tub full of honeys"; the usually dependable Green could
only come up with "a redwood deck."
Though the cast of characters
featured on the segment no doubt caused much of the nation to
scratch its head, at least one local was nonplussed. "It's
just the people you meet every day," she said.
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