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September 13, 2001
Yakima
Inc. sold again
Seek and ye shall find.
This spring Yakima Products
Inc., one of the North Coast's more successful nontimber manufacturing
concerns, made it known it was shopping for a new owner and a
capital infusion. It got both late last month.
Yakima's parent corporation,
Kransco, sold Arcata-based Yakima -- one of the two largest producers
of cartop carriers for sports equipment in the world -- to Watermark
Inc. of South Carolina. The sale price was just over $91 million.
"We see this as a platform
for growth," said Duncan Robbins, Yakima president and chief
executive officer. "The new owners will be looking at us
to grow substantially, adding assets and new products lines."
One of those product lines will
be the manufacture of top-of-the-line personal flotation devices
(PFDs) manufactured in Boise, Idaho. The Boise division was added
to the company manufacturing and assembly plant in Tijuana, Mexico,
and shipping facility in San Diego. The company's headquarters
-- with 135 employees including engineers, marketing and sales
personnel -- is expected to remain in Arcata.
The company began in 1979 when
two Arcata residents, Don Banducci and Steve Cole, bought a mom-and-pop
company that manufactured foot braces for kayaks from a couple
in Yakima, Wash. (hence, the name). Once relocated in Arcata,
the company added car racks and other gear to its product line
and grew to more than $20 million in annual sales when it was
purchased by Kransco in 1994.
Homebuilders
sue school
The Northern California Association
of Home Builders filed a lawsuit last week against Pacific Union
School in Arcata over a new construction fee the school imposed
this spring.
Effective May 13 anyone building
or remodeling within the school district's boundaries is assessed
an additional fee. For residential construction, for instance,
the charge is $2.05 per square foot.
The lawsuit charges that the
fees are based unjustly on the premise that the school is experiencing
overcrowding as a result of new construction.
"We know that 43 percent
of Pacific Union's students are transfer students [from other
districts]," said Bob Higgons, representing the builders'
association.
"We're not opposed to the
state law [that allows the imposition of construction fees].
We pay them in McKinleyville," he added.
In fact the builders' association
sued the McKinleyville Union School District 10 years ago. The
case went to mediation and the builders settled for a 75-cents-per-square-foot
fee on new construction.
The lawsuit cites as an example
a couple in the district who are building a 2,100 square-foot
house. Their school fee charge was $4,321.
McKinleyville is the only district
collecting the fee, which was intended to mitigate additional
expenses to the school from population increases. Hydesville
has fees on commercial projects only, but the rural district
in fact has no commercial construction.
Higgons said the case make take
several years to resolve.
Economic
indicators grim, grimmer
Although there is one bit of
good news for the local economy (see In the News story on Yakima),
the short-term indicators are bleak, according to this month's
Index of Economic Activity for Humboldt County.
Lumber manufacturing, a vital
source of income for Humboldt's economy, dropped 4.7 percent
during July (the latest month for which data is available). Declining
lumber manufacturing has become a trend in Humboldt County. July's
figures were 11.5 percent less than 2000, 14.9 percent less than
1999, 19.7 percent less than 1998 and 23.4 percent less than
1997.
Although timber's contribution
to the local economy has dwindled in recent years, often other
sectors have risen. Home sales, retail, and tourism have all
grown in importance over the last five years.
Not so last month. All three
sectors showed a decline in comparison to their June performance.
Retail sales dropped 6.1 percent during June, reflecting consumers'
lack of confidence in light of recent economic weakness. The
sector is still performing better than it had in past years --
it is 9 percent more active than in 2000 -- but mounting consumer
debt and a tougher job market mean the downward slide is likely
to continue.
Home sales decreased 8.9 percent
in July, although Humboldt County homes still fetched high prices.
The median price for a home in Humboldt rose 15.6 percent over
the last year.
Economists have theorized that
the price increases are due to refugees from the San Francisco
Bay Area's overheated real estate market. When homeowners cash
out their equity in homes there, they can afford to buy relatively
inexpensive homes here. That's great for sellers, but rising
real estate prices in a declining economy will make it harder
for natives to buy a home.
Most disturbing is the sudden
decline in the tourism sector. Tourism as measured by occupancy
rates at local hotels declined by more than 10 percent during
July. It was the worst July since 1997.
The economic downturn is already
having effects on the employment picture. There were 1,100 fewer
people employed in Humboldt in July than June, a decrease of
1.9 percent. That includes a 4.7 percent decrease in the normally
robust service sector. The only ameliorating factor was a 1.7
percent increase in manufacturing employment, driven by seasonal
increases in logging and agriculture that will evaporate this
fall.
And the kicker? The worst is
probably yet to come. Help wanted ads, an indicator of how the
job market will look in the near future, declined 13 percent
during July. Again, this July was the worst month since the mid-1990s
for this indicator.
The Index is compiled by Steve
Hackett, a professor at Humboldt State University.
Deputy to
challenge sheriff
A 28-year veteran of the Humboldt
County Sheriff's Department announced his intention this week
to challenge his boss, Sheriff Dennis Lewis, in next year's election.
Gary Philp, chief deputy and
head of the Humboldt County Correctional Facility, said his decision
stems from his lack of confidence in current leadership of the
department.
"One thing I think we've
lacked [in this department] was we never really had a strong
focused leader at the top," Philp said in a telephone interview
Monday.
Philp, a fifth generation resident
of the county, joined the force in 1973 and has served under
the last three sheriffs.
"Sheriff [Gene] Cox was
an old-time sheriff and a man of integrity," Philp said.
Cox was shot and killed in 1982
while off duty, coming to the aid of a friend. Dave Renner was
elected to succeed him. Philp said he had backed Renner's opponent,
Ray Shipley in that close race, but had been promoted several
times under Renner. Renner served until 1994 and later went to
prison after pleading guilty to charges involving missing funds
and destruction of records.
When did he notify his current
supervisor he was going to run?
"We had a conversation
a couple of months ago. He wasn't happy," Philp said.
Lewis, who has not announced
his intention to run for reelection or not, had a particularly
controversial first term, 1994-1998. He was the primary law enforcement
officer who approved the application of liquid pepper on the
eyelids of anti-timber demonstrators in 1997, a case that gained
the county negative international media attention and is still
in the courts. It was also the year Lewis sideswiped a passenger
car and failed to stop on his way to a call in Southern Humboldt,
an incident that was covered up by local media for six months
before it surfaced during the election.
Lewis won reelection in 1998
against a former deputy from Southern Humboldt, Gary Holder,
who was on medical retirement from the force.
Housing
on the head?
The view might be spectacular
but the Coast Guard housing facilities on Trinidad Head are getting
old and are not too conveniently located. Those are two reasons
being cited by Coast Guard officials who are looking to swap
the units for some closer to its base in McKinleyville.
The Coast Guard's desire certainly
caught the attention of Trinidad Mayor Dean Heyenga.
"We're definitely interested,"
said Heyenga, who is planning to ask the council this week to
authorize a letter expressing that interest to the Coast Guard
and to Sen. Barbara Boxer. Boxer sits on the Commerce Committee
which oversees the Coast Guard.
The federal government deeded
40-plus acres of the head in the early 1980s to the city of Trinidad.
The Coast Guard retained two acres, one that had radio and equipment
and another with two multiunit houses.
HSU sniffs
out scholar of year
William Wood, Humboldt State
University's Scholar of the Year, doesn't want to be known as
the skunk man.
But that's how he's best known
-- as the man who identified previously unknown compounds in
skunks' defensive spray and devised a home remedy for neutralizing
the smell on pets.
During his 25 years at HSU,
the chemistry professor has also investigated a natural athlete's-foot
remedy found in deers' hooves and how mushrooms deter slug attack.
He stands as a pioneer in the field of chemical ecology -- the
study of how plants and animals use chemicals to convey messages.
Wood will present a free lecture on the subject Sept. 13 (see
this week's calendar for details).
And the skunk-spray remedy?
One quart hydrogen peroxide, a quarter cup baking soda and a
teaspoon of liquid detergent. Lather, rinse, repeat if necessary.
Just don't store the stuff in a closed container -- it releases
oxygen and might explode.
Career night
coming up
Humboldt County high schoolers
who wonder what life after graduation holds can find some answers
Sept. 17 when Eureka High School hosts the annual Humboldt/Del
Norte College and Career Night.
Representatives of more than
50 colleges, universities and vocational schools will be there
to make their pitches, as well as recruiters from the armed services.
Information will be available to help seniors decide what kind
of further education is right for them and how to achieve it.
A booth on college admissions testing will explain the SAT and
ACT tests.
For more information, call 441-2595.
$1.2 million
for tribes
Two Humboldt County tribes will
receive more than $1.2 million in grants to improve law enforcement
as part of a program from the federal Department of Justice.
The Yurok Tribe Department of
Public Safety has been awarded $547,000; the Hoopa Valley Tribal
Police Department will receive $733,000. Both will use the money
to pay for new police officers, training and equipment.
The Community Oriented Policing
Services program, or COPS, targets areas with high crime rates
and limited resources. Over the past two years, the program has
provided more than $62.4 million to tribal law enforcement agencies
nationwide.
County's
budget improves
The perennially cash-strapped
Humboldt County government is finding itself a little better
off than expected this September. Windfall yields and unexpectedly
low costs over the last year combined to give the county a $4.2
million boost.
Half of the money isn't additional
revenue or savings at all, but just a matter of timing. The county's
Department of Social Services filed for reimbursements from the
state earlier than usual this year and is getting its funds in
time for inclusion in this year's budget -- meaning that money
won't be there next year as expected, said Karen Suiker, assistant
county administrative officer.
"That money is not a net
gain," she said.
Other sources include lower
than expected utility bills and costs for indigent defense, salary
savings caused by unfilled staff positions and a surge in timber
and sales taxes. None of those factors are expected to repeat
themselves, Suiker said.
And the extra money won't plug
the hole in the county's budget by itself -- it represents just
a little more than 2 percent of this year's $185 million budget.
"But in the grand scheme
of things, it helps," Suiker said. "We can go a long
way toward positioning ourselves for next year," when costs
for health care are projected to increase dramatically.
It can also be used to start
paying down the county's debt, Suiker said. Her office recommends
that part of the money be used to increase contingency and reserve
funds. The board of supervisors must adopt a final budget by
the end of September.
SAT, STAR,
students
Looking at their performance
on the Scholastic Assessment Test, you'd think everything was
fine in Humboldt's high schools. Students' average scores are
significantly higher than state or national averages. There was
even a slight improvement over last year's numbers.
"But sometimes you look
at these tests and they don't tell the whole story," said
Janet Frost, spokesperson for the Humboldt County Office of Education.
In the case of the SAT tests,
the rest of the story lies with the majority of Humboldt County
students who don't even take the voluntary college entrance exam.
"When you look at SATs, you're looking just at kids who
plan to attend college," Frost said.
The state's STAR tests, on the
other hand, test a broader group of students. And the story there
isn't quite so rosy: While STAR scores for local high schools
have improved slightly, they aren't nearly as strong as SAT scores.
That's at least partially because
while wealthier students and schools seem to be doing well, their
less fortunate peers are not.
"When we see printouts
where they've broken down test results according to socioeconomic
factors, students from affluent families do better," Frost
said. STAR scores at Arcata High, where only 10 percent of the
students are poor enough to qualify for free or reduced-price
lunches, were 20 to 40 points higher than those at Hoopa Valley
High, where 86 percent are eligible for the free lunch program.
That disparity will become even
more important when the high school exit exams come into effect
in the 2003-2004 school year, Frost said. Because low-achieving
students could have their high school diplomas withheld, "schools
need to have intervention programs so that students don't just
move through the grade levels," she said.
"We need kids who come
from homes where the parent hasn't been highly educated to move
up and be able to achieve and be successful as adults."
A key may be reducing class
size. Class sizes for elementary students were reduced for the
1996-1997 school year. Elementary school STAR scores have improved
dramatically.
High school classes have not
received the same treatment. But that may change now, Frost said.
"I think that with the
new high school exit exam in place were going to see more legislative
interest in high schools."
Senior friends
needed
If you know someone who deserves
recognition for their efforts to better the lot of senior citizens
in Humboldt County, speak up. Nominations are being accepted
for the 2001 Senior Friend Awards.
Both organizations and individuals
are eligible for the awards and age in not a criteria. The person's
(or group's) contribution can be voluntary or a professional
duty. For information contact Suzy Smith at 442-3763.
-- reported by Judy Hodgson
and Arno Holschuh
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