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September 14, 2000
HSU
drops Daly building plan
After two years and
$30,000, Humboldt State University has pulled the plug on a project
that would have renovated the old State Theater, part of the
Daly complex in downtown Eureka, into a music venue for live
performances.
In a press release
Friday, university officials said, "No single factor led
to the decision to terminate the project." However Don Christensen,
vice president for development and administrative services, said
Monday the biggest reason was the failure to receive commitments
from major donors.
"With any major
capital campaign, you have to have a core group that gives you
at least 60 percent of the funding up front," Christensen
said. "If you can't identify those donors -- I'm talking
about gifts in the seven figures or at least high six figures
in this case -- you can't go to the community and announce that
you want to raise $10 million."
Eureka city officials
were caught off guard by the announcement when they were notified.
"We were surprised
primarily because a couple of months ago, we had a presentation
at the council meeting," said acting City Manager Dave Tyson,
who was in Anaheim Friday at a meeting for the California League
of Cities. "It was a status report and we were shown drawings
of what the project might look like."
At the presentation,
Christensen said nothing about fund-raising difficulties, Tyson
added.
The HSU Foundation,
which accepts and administers grants on behalf of the university,
purchased the historic State Theater building, four adjacent
buildings and a parking lot at 4th and G streets in 1998 from
the Daly family with a $700,000 interest-free loan from the city
of Eureka. HSU then transferred title to the parking lot to the
city as a payment on the principal and has been making regular
monthly payments ever since. A balloon payment of the principal
balance is due in five years.
Christensen said the
plan was that, once the building was renovated and operational
with an endowment for maintenance, the building would be turned
over to the university.
Although it was not
part of the written agreement, Tyson said the city had made a
commitment to HSU to see that adequate parking was available
for performances. That may have included a new parking structure
on Fourth Street and use of the city lot half a block away fronting
Third Street.
"Parking should
not have been an issue," Tyson said.
Christensen said considerable
effort had been expended by the university in the past 24 months
on the project. HSU hired engineers to assess the need for hazardous
cleanup and the seismic retrofit of the buildings -- the theater
was the only building that had been previously retrofitted. After
a nationwide search, the architectural firm of Hardy, Holzman
and Pfeiffer of Los Angeles, specializing in music performance
venues, was hired. The firm produced conceptual drawings to be
used in searching for donors.
Christensen said with
so many competing fund-raising efforts in the community already,
it was decided that the university would approach alumni to support
the project initially.
"We felt we needed
$6 million to start. We weren't able to get it," Christensen
said.
Other capital campaigns
in progress are the ongoing Carnegie Building endowment drive
to fund maintenance for the newly restored Morris Graves Museum
of Art, the Humboldt Botanical Gardens Foundation public garden
and others, including the effort to restore the Eureka Theater.
Christensen and Ken
Combs, HSU director of physical services, both said confusion
over the Eureka Theater project figured into the decision.
The public perception
was that the projects were similar -- and also competing for
community support -- a perception that was false.
The Eureka Theater
was considered for purchase years ago by HSU and rejected because
it was "more of a movie house, not suited for live performing
arts," Christensen said.
"The size and
shape (of the Daly Building's State Theater) was very well suited
for music," Combs said. "In our mind, it was to be
strictly a music performance venue."
The Eureka Theater
restoration underway is a much smaller project -- roughly $1
million, said Rob Arkley, businessman and major donor. He said
he was willing to donate to both and saw the two projects as
compatible and complementary.
Several members of
the Daly family, who chose to sell the property to HSU in hopes
of it becoming a performing arts center, declined to comment
publicly.
Ted Mason, chief executive
officer of Humboldt Bank Corp., which was one of the rejected
buyers two years ago, said, "It's a darn shame. Now we have
to find someone to occupy that building in the heart of the downtown."
Humboldt Bank is completing
a $4 million project at Mall 101, to be renamed Humboldt Bank
Plaza, on the north end of Eureka, for its company headquarters.
"At the time
(1998) the Daly Building was a solution for us," Mason said.
"It's too late."
Christensen confirmed
that one option the university is considering is to sell the
property now that the project has been abandoned.
Former city
manager dies
Rory Robinson, Arcata
city manager from 1981-88, died Sunday at his home in El Sobranto
at the age of 57.
Robinson, a 30-year
veteran of public administration, served as city manager for
the city of San Pablo from 1988 to the present. He held a similar
position for the city of Cotati prior to coming to Arcata. During
his tenure in Arcata, Robinson won a national award from the
International City Management Association for excellence in city
leadership.
According to a report
in the Tuesday West County Times, Robinson is credited
with turning the economy of San Pablo around. With severe financial
troubles, some city leaders were considering allowing Richmond
to take over San Pablo government before Robinson backed a plan
to open Casino San Pablo.
"It took a lot
of work for people to understand and be convinced that the casino
could be an asset rather than a negative, and Rory did that,"
said Ron Kiedrowski, assistant city manager, in the article.
Robinson, who was
described as an avid pilot "and adventure seeker,"
was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus in May and had recently
begun chemotherapy. He is survived by his wife, Carol Robinson,
and his 16-year-old son, Michael.
Coastal
Commission meets
Want to build something
on or near the coast? How about tear something down?
The California Coastal
Commission, the state's watchdog agency charged with enforcing
California's coastal land use policy, is meeting in Eureka this
week discussing matters ranging from the construction of 4,000-square-foot
homes in Malibu to a change in zoning in Del Norte County.
Of local importance,
the commission discussed the planned demolition of the Simpson
Timber Co.'s facilities on the Samoa Peninsula. As of press time,
the commission had not voted on a request by Simpson to demolish
a sawmill, power plant, drying kiln and other equipment that
made up the lumber mill, but Commissioner John Woolley said that
he didn't foresee any problems.
Woolley, who is also
District 3 county supervisor, said, "The only query that's
come my way is about the taking down the dock" that served
the mill. Woolley said the concern was that removing the dock
would lessens the value of the land as a industrial plot. But
he admitted that the dock was dilapidated and in need of rebuilding.
"And you'd need
a permit to rebuild it," he added.
The commission isn't
the only state regulatory body in town this week. The Regional
Water Quality Control Board will be touring the Louisiana-Pacific
Corp. pulp mill in Samoa Sept. 21 and meeting in the Arcata City
Council Chambers Sept. 22.
Gas prices
up, motorists gripe
With prices for a
gallon of 87 octane unleaded fuel climbing as high as $2.26 per
gallon, it's getting easier and easier to hate your local gas
station. That's especially true when gas is cheaper almost anywhere
else in the state -- even in urban, affluent markets like San
Francisco.
"Are any of the
local distributors making money? No, I can assure you they are
not."
So says Rex Bohn,
operations manager at Renner Petroleum, which supplies much of
the diesel fuel to Humboldt County. Bohn said that the cost Renner
pays per gallon of diesel fuel has risen 60 cents in recent weeks,
even more than gasoline. And in order to survive, his company
has had to pass that increase on.
The result? "Diesel
is costing more than $2 a gallon now. Last year at this time
it was $1.35."
Jim Seiler, vice president
of Humboldt Petroleum, a major gasoline supplier, said that the
increase could be traced back to the price of crude oil. "It's
almost three times as much per barrel as it was just a year and
a half ago," he said.
Fuel prices could
eventually have a more profound effect on the county economy
than gas prices. Much of what Humboldt County consumes and produces
must be trucked in, and increases in fuel costs could theoretically
lead to increases in the price of many other goods in the long
run.
Expert goes
presidential
The good news is that
they're both good guys.
That's according to
Katie Darden, a Trinidad handwriting expert who reviewed samples
of both George W. Bush's and Al Gore's handwriting. She said
in a statement that she found them both to be "solid in
terms of personality," without "a lot of warning signs
or major flaws."
"They are both
friendly, expressive, empathetic and like to be around people.
Both men are intelligent and can easily express their ideas to
others. They feel good about themselves and are also proud of
their families' contributions."
So how is one to choose
between the two? Darden suggests that voters pick their candidate
on the basis of "how you feel about the politics of the
party that has nominated him."
Darden's analysis
was included in the Sept. 11 issue of the U.S. News and World
Report as part of their "Washington Whispers" column
and on MSNBC, the cable news channel. You can find the column
on the web at www.usnews.com.
Adult education
begins
Just because you aren't
a kid anymore doesn't mean you can't learn from school.
Northern Humboldt
Adult Education fall session classes are beginning soon and offer
the chance to do something as momentous as finish high school
or as lighthearted as cake decorating.
There are four campuses
to choose from -- McKinleyville, Orick, Arcata and Manila --
and each offers night and weekend classes. And if you feel like
using your new-found skill on the job, the Job Market has a location
at the McKinleyville campus. Call 839-6450 for more information.
Litigation
update
Humboldt County environmental
activists don't all sit in trees. Many sit in courtrooms or at
computers -- and they have been particularly busy recently.
The Stafford landslide
case, in which residents of the small community allege that irresponsible
logging practices by Pacific Lumber Co. caused landslides that
destroyed their property, took a dramatic turn last week. Presiding
Judge John Feeney was disqualified from the case. Plaintiffs
claimed that Feeney was biased because of work that he had done
for the defendant, Pacific Lumber, while still a private attorney.
Judge Galen Hathaway of Mendocino County ruled that "a reasonable
person would entertain doubts concerning Judge Feeney's impartiality."
The only two other
eligible Humboldt County judges disqualified themselves shortly
thereafter -- not that it mattered, as Frank S. Petersen, a retired
Del Norte County judge, had already been chosen to hear the case.
A status conference is set for Sept. 29 at 9 a.m.
A new lawsuit filed
by the Lost Coast League, a non-profit citizens group, against
the California Department of Forestry saw its first substantive
action on Friday, Sept. 1. The California Court of Appeals in
San Francisco issued an emergency stay that temporarily prevents
Pacific Lumber from logging timber harvest plans along the Mattole
River. The stay is only in effect until the courts can rule on
the plaintiff's request for a restraining order that would stop
logging until the case had been decided.
The League claims
that CDF's analysis of the potential effects of logging on a
sensitive watershed was insufficient. PL and CDF both claim that
more than adequate measures were taken to protect the land and
forest.
And, the Californians
for Alternatives to Toxics (CATS), along with other environmental
groups, filed a lawsuit against the EPA on Aug. 31. The suit
claims that the agency has not lived up to its obligation to
study the effects of herbicides, specifically forestry herbicides
used to control unwanted vegetation after a clearcut.
At the same time as
these three lawsuits were making their way through the courts,
a law aimed at temporarily stopping the practice of clear-cutting
died in the state Assembly. Assembly Bill 717 would have imposed
a two-year moratorium on the practice, to be extended indefinitely
if a commission of scientists deemed the forestry method harmful
to the environment. AB 717 made it out of committee just in time
to expire on the floor along with several other bills that the
Assembly didn't have time to hear. The bill died when the legislative
session ended at midnight Aug. 31.
$8 million
for county roads
The deteriorating
roads and bridges of Humboldt County will get some additional
help this year.
More than $8 million
in state gas tax revenues will be dispersed to the Humboldt County
Association of Governments, a group comprised of the county of
Humboldt, cities and special districts.
The money comes from
the State Transportation Improvement Program, which takes federal
gas tax monies and gives them to the states. Historically, CalTrans
has kept most of the funds for repairs on its own roads. This
year a significant portion was passed on to local governments.
The additional funds
will help a little, said District 3 Supervisor John Woolley.
But clearing the county's backlog of road maintenance would cost
"something on the order of $60 million.
"This touches
the problem but it will take this kind of momentum for several
years before we make real headway."
Test scores,
more test scores
Humboldt County's
high school STAR tests scores may have fallen, as reported in
the Journal two weeks ago, but the good news is that our Scholastic
Aptitude Test (SAT) scores are just fine.
Statistics released
last week by the Humboldt County Office of Education show that
the county's college-bound students exceed state and national
averages by a wide margin.
"There has been
steady progress in student achievement," said Humboldt County
Superintendent of Schools Louis Bucher. "The SAT is one
indicator of how well we can expect our students to do in colleges
and universities. This year's scores, and those of past years,
show us that local students are capable of making a smooth transition
to higher education."
While the scores show
that the 44 percent of the county's high school students who
take the SAT's are doing better, STAR test results have dipped.
Does this indicate a gap between those on the college path and
those who are not?
"We've been looking
at that ourselves," Bucher said. The difference in scores
may be attributed to the difference in the tests. The SAT tests
have more direct impact on a student's future.
"Part of what's
going on is that up until recently students didn't seem to take
the STAR test that seriously," he said. "Until recently
they didn't get individual scores. I think they felt like, `Well,
we have to do this because the state requires it.' Because they
weren't being judged as individuals, the amount of effort was
insignificant."
Bucher said that some
districts have started including STAR scores in student transcripts
to stress the importance of the scores. Additionally the governor
has proposed that those who score in the top 5 percent on STAR
should receive scholarships.
Gaston Caperton, president
of the New York-based College Board that administers the SATs,
pointed out that SAT scores have been rising nationwide, particularly
in the math portion.
"The significant
increase in this year's math score, and the overall upward trend
of the last 10 years, must be due at least in part to changes
in the courses students take in high school," said Caperton
in a statement. "To sustain this momentum, we must increase
the availability of rigorous courses, including Advanced Placement
(AP) courses, especially in inner cities and remote rural areas."
A bill introduced
by the Assembly Education Committee Chair Virginia Strom-Martin
would do just that.
"There are nearly
300 schools in the state that don't have sufficient programs
or means to develop honors courses -- many of them in my district,"
said Strom-Martin. "This is simply unacceptable, especially
since we are raising the bar for kids to graduate and go to college."
AB 2613 has passed
the Assembly unanimously and is on the governor's desk. It will
establish a grant program to fund development of UC-accepted
honors courses, teacher training and instructional materials.
Another bill, SB 1689, will provide funding specifically for
course development in schools that do not offer AP classes.
Arcata and Eureka
high schools, the county's largest schools, each offer 10 different
AP courses. McKinleyville High offers six courses, Fortuna High,
five and several honors courses (which do not count toward extra
college credit). South Fork offers honors English classes, but
has no AP classes.
"Some of the
smaller high schools don't have enough students to make up an
AP class," said Bucher, "but if there was a teacher
on the faculty with special training, they could offer advance
placement courses or they could use remote learning."
"It's hard to
provide AP classes in a school our size," said Susie Jennings,
associate superintendent for the Southern Humboldt Unified School
District. "We're hoping to tap into some of the online classes
being developed by the university."
Jennings said the
district is applying for a $30,000 grant to develop four new
AP programs at South Fork High School.
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