Delta Airlines is giving up on the Arcata-Eureka airport. A press release from the Humboldt County Department of Public Works this afternoon announced the bad news.

The Atlanta-based carrier started twice-daily regional service from here to Salt Lake City, Utah, just 15 months ago. They were enticed here via a concerted effort from the Redwood Region Economic Development Commission — an effort that included $500,000 in Headwaters Fund-backed revenue guarantees for the first year of service as well as several hundred thousand dollars worth of pre-purchased travel from local businesses.

Delta ultimately lost money during its first year of service, and so the $500,000 in Headwaters Fund money essentially disappeared. “Well, that depends on how you look at it,” said RREDC Executive Director Gregg Foster. “Either it disappeared or it got us 15 months of service.”

Foster attributed Delta’s decision to structural changes at Delta and to the fact that “they just don’t get the local market here.” In June of last year, citing the slow economy, Delta half-bailed on us, announcing it would suspend service during the fall and winter.

Now they’re gone completely and indefinitely. Foster said Delta officials ignored advice on how to make the most of our local market, instead focusing only on the red ink on the bottom line. Delta did ask for local airport officials to continue providing them with passenger data and other market info, but I wouldn’t suggest holding your breath.

The sound of one big-ass shoe dropping…

PLF sues Coastal Commission for blocking cleanup of contaminated Balloon Track property

PLF attorneys represent organization of Eureka citizens promoting environmental cleanup and protection

WHAT: Press conference announcing PLF’s lawsuit against the California Coastal Commission for blocking plans to clean up the Balloon Track property along Humboldt Bay near downtown Eureka, a former railroad facility that is contaminated from years of industrial use. The lawsuit contends that the Coastal Commission has no legal authority to interfere in the matter, because the cleaup plan has been approved by the regional water quality control board (the Eureka City Council has also approved). In the lawsuit, PLF attorneys represent Citizens for a Better Eureka, an organization of a cross-section of Eureka residents, formed to promote environmental protection.

WHO: PLF attorney Damien Schiff, lead attorney in PLF’s lawsuit against the California Coastal Commission. Gary E. Bird, president of Citizens for a Better Eureka (the organization represented by PLF attorneys in this lawsuit), and other members of Citizens for a Better Eureka, an association of environmentally concerned local citizens.

WHERE: 34 Waterfront Dr., Eureka (near the corner of Commercial and Waterfront; adjacent to former Go Fish building).

WHEN: Tuesday, February 9, 2010, 11:00 a.m.

About Pacific Legal Foundation
PLF (www.pacificlegal.org) is the nation’s leading litigator for limited government, property rights, and a balanced approach to environmental regulations. For three decades, PLF has litigated successfully against abuses of power by the Coastal Commission, at all levels of the judiciary, including the landmark U.S. Supreme Court property rights victory, Nollan v. California Coastal Commission (1987). Watch a video about PLF’s history and mission, with comments by former U.S. Attorney General Edwin J. Meese II, and a description of the Nollan case: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnBSlRQwxKU.

Graciously leaping into action after seeing our crappy stock photo of Paul Hagen earlier in the day, the candidate’s campaign team sent us a copy of their man’s official portrait.

Thanks, guys. But we gotta say, we can’t for the life of us understand what it is you’re trying to accomplish, here.

Tom Hagen

Paul Hagen