News

While Rep. Mike Thompson is not planning on attending the local Tea Party Patriots Town Hall, he is hosting his own. Sources at his office confirm he'll be taking questions on health insurance reform on Wednesday, Sept. 2, at Redwood Acres.

The official 4-W's press release is finally in:

 ADVISORY:  Congressman Thompson to Host Town Hall
 
Congressman Thompson will host an in-person town hall meeting on health care reform Wednesday, September 2, 2009, from 5:30 – 6:30 pm.  The forum will be held at Redwood Acres Fairgrounds, Home Economics Building, 3750 Harris Street, in Eureka.  All constituents are invited to attend, seating will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.
 
“I am interested in hearing ideas from our community on how to improve health care in our country and how to make it more accessible for everyone,” said Congressman Mike Thompson.
 
WHO:  Congressman Mike Thompson
 
WHAT:  Town Hall Meeting
 
WHEN:  5:30-6:30pm; Wednesday, September 2, 2009
 
WHERE: Redwood Acres Fairgrounds
             Home Economics Building
             3750 Harris Street, Eureka

For those who'd like to brush up on Rep. Mike's views, there's a FAQ about Health Care section on his site.

For those on the go, here's a compressed version:

Has Congressman Thompson read the bill?

He has read and was involved in drafting the bill he voted on.

Will health reform force all Americans out of their private insurance plans and into a one-size-fits-all government plan?

No.

Does page 16 of the bill require me to join the public plan if I lose my private insurance coverage?

No one will be required to join the public plan. 

Are Members of Congress exempt from changes that are being proposed for the rest of the country?

No.

Will proposed legislation provide free healthcare to illegal immigrants?

No.

Will all small businesses be forced to provide coverage to their employees?

This bill exempts small businesses with a payroll of less than $250,000...

What does this bill do to stop fraud and abuse in Medicare?

This bill strengthens existing compliance and enforcement tools for Medicare...

Can our nation afford healthcare reform?

We can’t afford not to....

How much will this bill cost?

The CBO’s latest estimate puts the price tag at $1.042 trillion over 10 years...

Will this plan lead to rationing of healthcare? Will Congress be legislating what care my doctor can or must give me?

  No.

Why is this bill being “rushed” through Congress?

This bill is not being rushed – it is long overdue.

 

Finally! The North Coast Journal's "Best Of Humboldt County" Poll has acquired enough critical mass to bring in the cheaters!

We don't mean to tamp down your enthusiam, but if we catch you at this -- and we will, in all likelihood -- then your secondary and tertiary and centenary votes will be deleted. That means you, O enthusiastic fan of Fortuna Music Mart and The Looking Glass! And you, dedicated devotee of rock band St. John and the Sinners!

Look, we're not frowning upon get-out-the-vote efforts (and the eponymous St. John, son of Watergate figure E. Howard Hunt, would seem to be something of a natural at this) but we're not going to let one person sit and refresh their Web form over and over again. If you want to throw this thing, you're going to have to want it a little more than that! Don't insult our intelligence!

And you, who haven't voted yet? Get to it! Call your boss or guru and have them tell you how to vote! And if you've misplaced his or her cell phone number, you could roll the dice and just do it off the top of your head! Get crazy with this! We won't mind!

Our Heidi Walters was at the press conference earlier this afternoon, and can confirm that Humboldt County has indeed seen its first death from the H1N1 virus.

The decedent -- a middle-aged woman -- was admitted to Redwood Memorial at the end of July. She tested positive for the virus on Aug. 9, and died on Friday. County public health officials reported that the woman had serious preexisting medical conditions, which the flu presumably exacerbated.

Hers was the fifth case of the new virus to hit Humboldt County since it emerged earlier this year. To date, there have been 7,983 hospitalizations and 522 deaths resulting from the disease nationwide.

Public Health is scrambling to prepare for an intensive vaccination outreach campaign in advance of the coming flu season. Overall, they expect that without action as much as half -- 50 percent -- of the county's could contract the virus in the coming months. Those most at risk include schoolchildren, pregnant women and people with certain preexisting medical conditions, especially obesity and respitory problems.

There'll be more on the story in this week's Journal.

The HumboldtCHP twitterbot has been kind of hit-and-miss, because Twitter sucks. Tweets go mysteriously missing, hashtag searches fail, all without rhyme or reason. Things will be running smoothly for a day or so, then the service starts to hiccup.

Everything's working swell on our end, which is why I can bring you this sad little story of death and misunderstanding from about an hour and a half ago. It vanished into Twitter's maw and might never have been seen again had not our faithful little bot recorded it. You'll want to read it with the CHP glossary in hand.

Traffic Hazard, US101 JNO INDIANOLA CTO. #Aug24CHP0198

SEMI TRK TC D AN EGRET. #Aug24CHP0198

1144/1125 EGRET. #Aug24CHP0198

CHP Unit Assigned. #Aug24CHP0198

REMOVED 1125 PELICAN #Aug24CHP0198

US101 JNO INDIANOLA CTO: Incident closed. #Aug24CHP0198

Capdiamont)

Received from the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services a few moments ago:

Dr. Ann Lindsay will meet with the media at 12:30 p.m. ... A person with H1N1 has died ... Dr. Lindsay will have details.

Patrol.Wiggins Bows Out: The Press-Democrat reports that a "tearful" Sen. Pat Wiggins announced today that she will not seek reelection in 2010. Wiggins' speech at a Santa Rosa fundraiser follows the P-D's long report earlier this week about the senator's erratic behavior and probable ill health. Assembleymember Noreen Evans will likely run instead, the P-D says. (h/t

@HumboldtCHP is FOLLOWING you: North Coast Journal Twitter Enterprises© is proud to bring you real-time incident reports from the Humboldt County office of the California Highway

 

Who wouldn't park his truck by the side of Samoa Road, unload the sticks and skins and serenade the bay? On a warm summer day?

That's what Zach Lewing -- last seen playing with White Manna -- has been doing all summer long. "I'm just working on my music," he says.

Margorie Burgess, whose son Christopher was shot and killed during a confrontation with Eureka police officers in 2006, was arrested by Humboldt County Sheriff's officers at her Fields Landing home Wednesday for allegedly striking another son, a juvenile, in the face with an iron, in the head with a shot glass and biting him, according to a press release. Burgess was arrested and transported to the Humboldt County Correctional Facility where she was booked on one count of inflicting unjustifiable pain on a child, a felony. Her bail was set at $50,000 and she is expected to be arraigned today, according to the release.

The Wiggins Story: The Santa Rosa Press Democrat publishes a massive 2,700 word article on Sen. Pat Wiggins' odd behavior and apparently serious health problems. To its credit, the P-D goes into some detail on the mechanics of the cover-up undertaken by friends and associates, including the incredible allegation that Senate President Darrell Steinberg has gone so far as to ban hearings of the Senate Local Government Committee, which Wiggins chairs, from broadcast on the state public access channel.

If true, Steinberg's actions seem to be a result of an incident familiar to Blogthing readers -- the time that Wiggins freaked out on a pastor in the middle of his testimony. Then as now, a sizable portion of the party apparat said "Hey, that's just Pat! She calls 'em like she sees 'em!"

This article is a must-read. Wiggins will run for reelection in 2010. Dems: Be afraid.