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STORY | FROM
THE PUBLISHER | CALENDAR
August 29, 2002
Nightmare
on Erie Street
by ANDREW
EDWARDS
 TWENTY-ONE
THOUSAND POUNDS OF RAT-INFESTED TRASH have been removed from
the driveway of 2504 Erie St., Eureka, the building that used
to be known as the Band of Mercy Animal Rescue. The animals are
gone but the yard and the inside of the house are still filled
to the brim with refuse (earlier this week, junk could be seen
literally spilling out of one window).
The owner, John Martin, is considering
tearing down a wall of the house so that he can go in with heavy
equipment to clear the house out or possibly just demolish the
building altogether. His ex-wife, Linda Sue Martin, and Larry
Lawson Decker, who together ran the Band of Mercy, are out on
bail, living in Eureka. But only now is the story behind the
degradation coming out: how an animal shelter went bad and managed
to slip through the cracks in county law enforcement for years.
Eight years ago Myra Mintey
and her husband moved into the house across the street from Band
of Mercy. According to her it was bad back then and steadily
got worse until she felt she had to report it to the authorities.
"I would call animal control
every single day for months at a time," Mintey said. "It
was like pounding your head against a brick wall."
At times, the county responded
-- most notably when a videotape made by a neighbor of rats exiting
the house through an upstairs window led to the first of several
trash cleanups on the property. But the county did nothing to
address the real problem: the deplorable living conditions inside
the shelter itself.
The most obvious issue was the
stench.
"The smell on a warm night
got so bad that it was just overpowering," Mintey said.
"You couldn't even walk down the street."
According to Richard Hutchison,
whose accounting office shares an alley with the Band of Mercy,
one tenant refused to move into the apartment above his office
because she couldn't handle the smell.
Then there were the animals.
"I never saw animals abused,
but I saw sick animals," Mintey said. "The cats always
had diarrhea. They always had sores all over them."
The Band of Mercy also had dogs
and other animals, including a pig, chained in the front yard.
The dogs, which Mintey described as pitbull mixes, would bark
at passers-by, causing neighbors to worry they would get out.
"I used to carry a little
pipe in my purse, but what would that do against a dog?"
Mintey said. "I ended up carrying a can of Mace."
 In
addition to everything else, automobiles were abandoned in front
of the house on numerous occasions.
Neighbors repeatedly asked the
county to do something about the shelter, but the answer always
came back the same: "Our hands are tied." That answer
was reiterated by officials interviewed for this article.
"To go into a private residence
we need warrants, court orders," said John Falkenstrom,
Humboldt County's agricultural commissioner and head of Animal
Control. "My staff are not peace officers, they're public
officers. We have to follow a procedure called due process. It's
slow, it's cumbersome, and to the public it can be incomprehensible,
but it has to be followed."
Head of County Environmental
Health Brian Cox echoed that thought.
"There were definite concerns,
the rat population for instance, but it's like I said, we weren't
invited into the house," Cox said.
Cox and Falkenstrom's claims
do not completely jibe with the law. A section of the state penal
code titled "Animals in specified places without proper
care or attention" empowers animal control officers -- not
just police officers -- to go onto private property to seize
animals they believe are being abused or neglected. It reads:
"When the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that
very prompt action is required to protect the health or safety
of the animal, the officer shall immediately seize the animal."
The statute says nothing about warrants or court orders.
The county's arguments are similar
to those made by Eureka animal control after a young female dog
was found near death last spring after being forced to spend
all of its life in an outdoor cage. Complaints about that property
were also made, but to no avail. The dog, named "Phoenix"
by those who tried to save its life, later died.
According to Falkenstrom the
reason the situation on Erie Street couldn't be dealt with was
that Humboldt County doesn't have a "humane officer"
-- a specialized animal abuse investigator who would be empowered,
much like sheriff's deputies, to enter a building based on probable
cause and fully investigate any suspected violations.
 The
county hasn't had a humane officer for over 10 years. To make
matters worse, it couldn't hire one if it wanted to since only
humane societies and nonprofit organizations are allowed to employ
them.
"To me it's ridiculous,"
said County Supervisor John Woolley. "We have to examine
why that law was written and try to find some group that can
combine law enforcement and animal control."
Joan Biordy, an attorney who
participated in the Band of Mercy rescue, was critical of the
county. "It's a sad commentary that this county's leadership
has such disregard for the pain and suffering of innocent animals.
My pleas and others went unheeded. Many of those animals had
to suffer more than if [the county] had done its job."
Falkenstrom said that nuisance
complaints are the lowest priority at animal control.
"Our priorities are bite
complaints, dogs on school grounds, dogs harassing individuals.
Way down, further down and probably last are noise problems,
odor problems," Falkenstrom said, adding there are 640 dog
bite complaints in the county each year and only three animal
control officers.
One thing appears indisputable:
The violations at the Band of Mercy shelter were "egregious,"
as Falkenstrom put it.
Inside the house and the fenced
back yard, human and animal feces were piled up with layers of
newspaper reaching as high as six feet in some places, totally
covering the floor, burying the sink. The one piece of
furniture in the house, a bed, was surrounded by piles almost
up to the level of the sleeping surface.
In the back yard, hemmed by
massive blackberry hedges, dogs were kept in ramshackle kennels
overflowing with filth.
Twenty-five dogs, 45 cats, three
turkeys, a rabbit and eight chickens were rescued from the residence,
and so far the clean up crews have trapped more than 84 rats.
Of the 25 dogs, only five survive.
The rest, beyond hope, were killed by euthanasia.
"The dogs weren't euthanized
just because of mange," Miranda said. "They had medical
problems, open sores and aggression. As they (Martin and Decker)
brought them out they bit at them. I don't know what they were
doing to them in there, but it wasn't just neglect."
He said that some of the dogs
were so mangy that they had almost no hair at all, and that they
were so covered with fleas that it looked like their skins were
crawling.
Of the cats, 14 had to be put
down, mostly because of the presence of feline AIDS and other
illnesses, as well as general bad health.
How could it have gotten like
that?
Over the years Band of Mercy
Animal Rescue deteriorated into the stuff that an animal lover's
nightmares are made of, but it wasn't always like that.
"Linda and those guys (at
the Band of Mercy) worked their fingers to the bone and nobody
was helping them," said Patricia Shear, formally of For
Pets' Sake, a Eureka charity that promoted spaying and neutering
pets and worked with Band of Mercy.
Harriet Willard, who was also
involved with animal charities in Eureka, said that she knew
of times where Martin and Decker had gone without food in order
to provide for their animals.
There is a general consensus
that Martin always had a soft spot for animals and was compelled
to take them in.
"Up until the day she was
arrested she probably thought she was doing good," Falkenstrom
said.
Mintey spoke of a time when
a neighbor's cat had a litter of kittens under their porch and
Martin went around the neighborhood trying to collect them and
take them to Band of Mercy.
She would also, according to
Miranda and others, take in cats she found in Dumpsters behind
supermarkets and dogs that she found on the street. No creature
was refused, and eventually it got out of control.
"I think they just got
senile. They were overwhelmed and there were no contributions.
I know it was disgusting, but how many years did she do this
before it went bad?" Shear said.
That doesn't seem to hold much
water with other members of the animal rescue community, however,
or with the neighbors.
"You can chain a child
to a bed and feed it too, but what good is that, what kind of
quality of life?" Mintey said.
Miranda stressed that whatever
Martin and Decker had done in the past, they had broken the law
and should pay the price.
"People say `Why get mad
at her (Martin), she tried,' but it was not a [shelter], it was
an animal dungeon," Miranda said. "It's criminal what
they did in there."
Forest
to be rededicated
In 1952 the Rotary Club of Eureka
purchased 80 acres of coastal redwoods and turned over the deed
to the state of California to become part of Prairie Creek Redwoods
State Park. A dedication ceremony was held that year on Labor
Day.
This Labor Day, Sept. 2, that
same old-growth forest will be celebrated by a rededication ceremony
and a visit by Richard King, of Fremont, Calif., the immediate
past president of Rotary International.
King will join area Rotarians
at the grove in the morning. He will be the featured speaker
at the Rotary Club luncheon in Eureka.
One boss
By the end of the year, the
more than 1,500 caregivers who provide in-home services to the
elderly and disabled in Humboldt County will finally have a single
employer -- the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors.
By a 4-0 vote Tuesday (with
Supervisor Bonnie Neely absent), supervisors took the first step
toward establishing a public authority for in-home support services.
The ordinance is expected to be adopted on Sept. 3. Under Assembly
Bill 1682, adopted in 1999, counties must establish an employer-of-record
ordinance by the end of 2002.
Many of those who provide in-home
care receive no benefits and are often paid around $6.75 an hour,
California's minimum wage. With the supervisors serving as the
employer, caregivers will no longer have to enter into individual
private agreements with clients to deliver services. The end
result will mean many employees will no longer be part of the
working poor, said Beverly Morgan Lewis, director of the county's
Social Services Department.
John Inman, who served on the
advisory committee looking at the issue, said it's a disgrace
that people are working without an employer of record.
"Who, for minimum wage,
would want to change an adult diaper?" he asked.
The program could cost the county
upward of $5.3 million a year, depending on the wages and benefits
of employees and staff, and how many people use the service.
The county would be responsible for conducting background checks
on prospective employees.
County
fears budget cuts
by GEOFF
S. FEIN
WHILE LEGISLATORS IN SACRAMENTO
HAMMER out the state's fiscal year 2002-03 budget, Humboldt County
officials are hoping the state doesn't look to the counties to
solve its budget woes.
But should the state decide
to withhold funds that it normally provides to counties, an array
of public programs and services here could be in deep trouble.
The greatest fear is that the
county's health and human services department could be severely
affected, said Karen Suiker, assistant chief administrative officer
for Humboldt County.
"The state is talking about
reductions," Suiker said.
The concern is that the state
could limit the county's ability to claim expenditures for programs
that the county is mandated by law to provide. Such programs
include those aimed at curbing drug and alcohol use, assisting
low-income children, preventing sickness in the elderly and tracking
the incidence of AIDS.
In the past, the state has covered
part of the cost of providing these services. But with the budget
crunch in Sacramento, the "reimbursements," as they
are called, may shrink or dry up altogether, leaving counties
solely responsible.
The county's budget fears are
not limited to health and human services. Almost every department
is operating at a deficit. But because of a $5.5 million carry
over from last year, and a contingency fund of $1.5 million,
departments such as the District Attorney's office will operate
with a balanced budget.
"There is an imbalance
in almost all (departments), but we'll make that up from general-purpose
revenues," Suiker said.
Those revenues include property
taxes, sales taxes and vehicle license fees. Humboldt County
receives about $9 million annually from the state due to license
fees.
Another frightening scenario
is that the state may stop providing that money.
"If that is shaved, every
general fund department will be affected," Suiker said.
"We'd have to make up the imbalance from other general fund
sources."
Among the departments funded
from the general fund are the Sheriff's Department, the Parks
Division and the District Attorney's office.
The county library system is
in particular trouble. In part because of the state's willingness
to shift property taxes toward schools, libraries are in "dire
straits," Suiker said.
The county's 11 libraries will
continue to operate their normal hours, but any further reductions
in state funds could mean a change in those hours, she said.
While the library will be able
to maintain current
services and staffing levels,
its budget for buying books has been depleted, Suiker
said.
Another concern is that the
cost of providing services is outpacing the amount of money brought
into the county by property taxes (property taxes are not soaring,
thanks to the county's relatively low -- 2.5 percent -- annual
growth rate).
Like every other employer, the
county is also struggling to cope with the rising cost of health
insurance. Additionally, salaries for county employees have increased
by 5 percent compared to last year.
In 2003 the county could face
an even more drastic situation. Suiker said it's possible there
won't be any carry-over of funds while at the same time the county's
share of the cost for the state employees retirement fund will
increase (the county contributes to the fund because county employees
are under the state's retirement plan).
"We (will be) looking at
huge budget impacts," Suiker said. "It's going to be
challenging."
It won't be clear what the impacts
are to the county this fiscal year until state legislators stop
wrangling and finally approve a budget (it's two months overdue).
Any additional cuts pushed by state officials would mean the
county would only have nine to 10 months, instead of a full year,
to make up the difference.
The Board of Supervisors, meantime,
is expected to approve the county's $201 million budget on Sept.
24.
Cracking
down on wine and song
by ANDREW
EDWARDS
THE KEG CLOSED NOT LONG after
one biker blew a hole in the chest of another with a shotgun.
Flinn's Inn burned. So did Marino's. Jennifer's Jazz Bar became
Sacred Grounds. And the Jambalaya is now just a restaurant.
For live-music venues in Arcata,
it is only the non-violent, the strong-willed and the fire-retardant
that survive. Which is another way of saying that there are hardly
any places to go in Arcata these days if you want to listen or
dance to music that doesn't come out of a stereo speaker.
"Arcata is, as far as I
know, the only college town in the state that doesn't have a
club with music, dancing and alcohol," said Jack Golden,
who owns the south-side-of-the-Plaza building that used to house
Cafe Tomo, yet another defunct nightclub. "I wouldn't have
rented to anyone who wouldn't have done music and dancing; that's
the one thing that's missing in Arcata's circle of night life."
After Cafe Tomo shut down in
late November last year, Mazzotti's, an Italian restaurant in
Old Town Eureka, acquired the lease. It also acquired Cafe Tomo's
"conditional permit," which allowed late operating
hours and dance bands.
In December the city, under
the auspices of Alcoholic Beverage Control, a state agency, issued
a letter adding six new restrictions to the building's long-standing
alcohol permit, restrictions that would make it nearly impossible
to keep the building as the music venue it once was.
Among them: cutting back the
hours of operation to 1 a.m. rather than 2 a.m. on weekends,
and from midnight to 11 p.m. on weekdays; limiting sound levels
to what can only be heard in the building; requiring the policing
of the surrounding area to prevent crowds from gathering outside,
ostensibly to prevent the sidewalk from being blocked; requiring
the owners to secure a permit from the city each time they "occasionally"
allow dancing ("The key word is occasional," Golden
said. "On the occasions they allow it."); and requiring
that food be served until closing.
Golden feels that last requirement
in particular is an economic hardship. On a weekend it means
the kitchen would have to remain open until 1 a.m., something
that is not required of other restaurant/bar establishments in
Arcata such as the Humboldt Brewery, and the Alibi, which both
stop serving food at 10 p.m.
"We felt that we were being
punished for some of the problems that Cafe Tomo brought with
it," said Jason Hodges, one of Mazzotti's four owners, which
opened Tuesday without a liquor license.
The Arcata Police Department
has come out in direct opposition to Mazzotti's being a regular
venue for music.
"They can have bands, but
it can't be their primary function," said Chief Chris Gallagher
of the Arcata Police Department. "What I didn't want was
a repeat of Cafe Tomo's. People would drink to excess, and we'd
have nothing but problems with fights and drunk folks hanging
around all hours of the night."
Which isn't to say that the
chief is opposed to music altogether. "I'm a musician, and
I love being able to hear good music, too. We just have to find
the right place and the right mixture."
Mazzotti's owners initially
were planning a restaurant/dance club along the lines of Cafe
Tomo. But when faced with opposition from the city, they backed
down, not wishing to derail the restaurant's opening.
"Our main thing is selling
pasta not booze," Hodges said. "We didn't get what
we wanted but that is part of the deal."
Hodges said that no music is
scheduled "for the foreseeable future."
The city's stand in the Mazzotti
case is part of an overall plan to reduce the amount of alcohol-related
incidents. According to Arcata police, there were 1,100 alcohol-related
arrests in the city last year. That statistic was cited when
the city applied for a $62,000 state grant to combat alcohol
abuse through a combination of education and enforcement. The
grant came through in early July.
The California State University
system, of which Humboldt State is a part, signed a "memorandum
of understanding" with Alcoholic Beverage Control earlier
this year vowing to reduce student boozing.
So far the police department
has run only one operation with the grant. It targeted liquor
stores by sending in minors to try and buy alcohol or get others
to buy alcohol for them. Police have also been monitoring the
bars, overseeing ID checks at the doors and generally looking
over the establishments.
Bar owners say they feel harassed.
They say the only violation of state liquor laws on record for
an existing Arcata bar was a citation for failing to display
a "no one under 21 allowed" sign at Sidelines several
years ago.
"I could understand if
there was a huge problem of underage drinking," said Michael
Castanzo, owner of Sidelines. "But it's kind of like a family
over here, and we really try to keep minors out of our bar."
Overall, the owners expressed
the opinion that the police department as well as city staff
and the City Council are out of touch with what the citizens
want.
"We're getting to be like
that town in the movie Footloose. Don't go and have fun,
don't go drink and have a good time with your friends, and no
dancing," said Justin Ladd, 38, owner of Alibi and who has
lived in Arcata his entire life.
Golden plans to take his case
before the council as soon as possible.
"A Taliban mentality is
falling over Arcata," Golden said. "Here we are fighting
for the freedom to do what we want and these people in the city
think that they can take it away from us? This is not some little
Bible belt town in the Midwest, and nobody wants it to be one."
Former staff writer Arno
Holschuh contributed to this report.
Stayner
guilty
Motel handyman Cary Stayner
has been found guilty of the 1999 slayings of Carole Sund, 42,
her daughter Juli, 15, both of Eureka, and Silvina Peloso, 16,
a friend from Argentina.
A jury deliberated only five
hours before reaching its verdict on Monday in the highly publicized
case.
Stayner, already serving a life
sentence with no possibility of parole for the decapitation of
naturalist Joie Armstrong in Yosemite National Park, could face
the death penalty.
The defense pleaded for a lesser
conviction of second-degree murder, arguing that Stayner was
insane at the time he committed the killings (a three-hour taped
confession left little doubt as to his guilt). The prosecution
said Stayner knew right from wrong and carefully planned the
murders and then took steps to cover up his crime.
A not so
foggy summer
In case you haven't noticed,
it's been a bit sunnier than normal this summer around Humboldt
Bay. The ever-present fog has been, well, less ever-present.
The reason? Probably the fires in Oregon.
According to Kelly Redmond of
the Western Regional Climate Center in Reno, Nev., the entire
California coastline, from San Diego to the Oregon border, has
been cooler than is typical for this time of year.
"In the last three to four
weeks Eureka has been three to four degrees below normal,"
Redmond said. "Often when it's cooler it's foggier; but
(we have) no reports of above normal fog (conditions)."
Redmond said the scarcity of
thick fog may be due in part to the Biscuit Fire that has burned
more than 500,000 acres in the Kalmopsis Wilderness Area in southwestern
Oregon. As of Tuesday, the Forest Service reported that the fire
is 90 percent contained.
Fog may have difficulty forming
because of smoke and ash from the fire, Redmond said.
"(There are) a significant
number of smoke particles in the air," he said. "It
could interfere with the way fog forms."
The smoke particles also are
intercepting sunlight, hence the cool weather.
Things should change next month.
September is expected to be warmer than usual, while the rest
of the year will have normal temperatures, according to Nancy
Dean, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Eureka.
Meteorologists are predicting
a mild El Nino this winter, but Humboldt County most likely won't
be affected.
No annexation
The Arcata City Council has
put a damper on a housing development planned for the Arcata
bottoms.
Though some elements of the
plan -- the brainchild of developers Joyce Plath and Dan Johnson
-- were lauded as innovative, the city drew the line at the developers'
requests to annex six acres of land that the city's General Plan
had designated for agricultural purposes only. While no official
action was taken at a meeting last week, the council made clear
what direction it would like the development to take.
Daly
Building sold -- again
by BOB
DORAN
The Humboldt State University
Foundation announced on Wednesday that it has entered into an
agreement to sell the historic Daly Building complex to developer
Don Murrish.
The deal, now in escrow, would
bring to a close the university's failed effort to transform
the downtown Eureka landmark into a performing arts center. The
foundation bought the property in 1998 using a $700,000 interest-free
loan from the Eureka Redevelopment Agency.
The university said Murrish's
plans include selling the Sweasey Theater portion of the building
to Plays-In-Progress, a community group that has announced plans
to renovate it as a venue for theatrical performances.
The announcement from the HSU
Foundation suggested that "the remainder of the property
would be developed for a variety of uses," but did not specify
what. Murrish was unavailable for comment at press time.
Eureka developer Dan Ollivier,
who owns the Gross Building next door, had previously offered
HSU $550,000 for the property -- minus the old Daly parking lot
across G Street which was traded to the city as part of HSU's
purchase.
Ollivier`s plans called for
development of the portion of the structure next to the Sweasey.
He wanted the city to demolish the building on the F Street side
to make way for a parking lot.
Murrish is a North Coast developer
who has been involved in numerous projects from Fort Bragg to
Bend, Ore. Local Murrish projects include the Broadway Cinema
in Eureka, the Mill Creek Shopping Center in McKinleyville and
Walgreens on Broadway.
In announcing the sale, Humboldt
State University President Rollin Richmond said, "We are
pleased that the development of the Daly Building complex will
accomplish some of the objectives sought both by the city and
Humboldt State University. We are very pleased that Mr. Murrish
and Plays-In-Progress are committed to a vision that, in its
own way, will add vitality to this neighborhood."
Richmond also thanked the City
of Eureka and the redevelopment agency for their support at the
outset of the project and for their patience when time came to
chart a different course. Officials with the redevelopment agency
have criticized the university for its lack of attention to the
Daly complex.
"Humboldt State believes
that an important part of its mission is to contribute to the
economic and cultural strengthening of our community," Richmond
said. "We look forward to other opportunities to work with
the City of Eureka to develop mutually beneficial projects. Indeed,
Humboldt has a legacy of addressing the social, cultural, economic
and environmental needs of the North Coast in ways that are consistent
with our educational mission."
Less than
green
How green could a candidate
be who allows a billboard advertising his environmental credentials
to be posted in a national wildlife refuge?
That's the question some have
raised after Doug Thron, Green Party assembly candidate in the
upcoming November elections, decided not to remove the billboard,
located in a protected wetlands along Highway 101 just north
of Eureka.
Thron said that originally he
didn't know the area was part of the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife
Refuge. Once he found out, he decided to let the billboard stand
-- he figured it would only be up for a couple of months and
couldn't do much damage. There was also a monetary consideration
-- he's spent about $7,000 for advertising and has raised only
$12,000 to date.
Still, it would seem that Thron
has stained his green reputation, at least a little -- after
all, Viacom, the company that he bought the billboard from, is
being sued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for illegally
using federal land for its billboards.
Language
comes alive
A new Web site, "Karuk
Language Resources on the Web," will give visitors links
to two language collections where they can hear a Karuk word
or phrase and get its English equivalent.
The new site grew out of the
increasing demand for more information on the Karuk language.
In 1999 the Karuk language class of Hoopa Valley High School
set up a Karuk language Web site. It averages about 200 visits
a month.
The new site was designed by
Happy Camp High School students along with Susan Smith, a student
and teacher of the Karuk language and a member of the Karuk Restoration
Committee, and Diane Oliver, advanced multimedia technologies
teacher at Happy Camp High School.
The Karuk have lived along the
Klamath River for several thousand years. They were officially
recognized by the U.S. government in 1979.
Today there are approximately
2,700 Karuk, mostly living in northeastern Humboldt County.
The address for the "Karuk
Language Resources on the Web" is: http://www.karuk.org.
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