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November 16, 2000
The
state of voting
No matter who they voted for,
Humboldt County citizens can look at the recent controversy over
confusing punch card ballots in Florida with a certain satisfaction:
It couldn't happen here.
"Humboldt County used to
use the punch card ballots, but we don't do that anymore,"
said County Administrative Services Director Lindsey McWilliams.
The punch card system is more
prone to error than other systems, a problem that is "compounded
when you use a butterfly ballot" like those used in Palm
Beach County, Fla., he added.
About 4 percent of the votes
in Palm Beach County had to be disqualified because they were
filled in (or punched out) incorrectly. By comparison, only about
0.5 percent of the ballots were disqualified in Humboldt County.
Measure
G for Humboldt?
Mendocino County voters passed
an interesting ballot initiative Nov. 7 -- one that could be
coming to a voting booth near you. Measure G, sponsored by the
Mendocino County Green Party, allows individuals to grow and
harvest up to 25 marijuana plants for personal use.
It is the first recreational
marijuana decriminalization law in the United States -- but both
the district attorney and sheriff of Mendocino County have said
they will continue to enforce state and federal marijuana prohibitions.
Lisa Reiser, spokesperson for
the Humboldt County Green Party, said trying such a measure in
Humboldt County "has not been discussed but is not outside
the bounds of possibility."
Humboldt County District Attorney
Terry Farmer echoed his Mendocino counterpart and said that impossible
was exactly what such a law would be.
"As an expression of public
opinion, it's valuable. But until state and federal prohibitions
change, our hands are tied."
County's
teens vote 3 parties
If you thought Nader posed a
threat to the Democratic Party this election, just wait till
today's Humboldt teens can vote.
The results are in from TeenVote
2000, a comprehensive mock election organized by KEET-TV and
the League of Women Voters.
Teens from across Humboldt County
gave Green Party presidential candidate Nader a whopping 22 percent.
It was a Democrat's worst nightmare, with Gore scoring a meager
32 percent and Bush winning with just 41 percent of the vote.
While teens seemed to vote to
the left of their parents in the presidential contest, they were
more conservative in one local race.
They chose Walt Giacomini as
1st District county supervisor over Jimmy Smith, who is seen
as the more liberal of the two. In the actual vote Smith won
with 53 percent of the vote.
In the Arcata City Council race,
the teens chose Connie Stewart, Bob Ornelas and Dwain Goforth
-- close but not the same as the adult vote. In the actual election,
Michael Machi was elected instead of Goforth,
Eurekan teens reinforced the
wisdom of their parents' choices by duplicating them: They elected
Chris Kerrigan and Virginia Bass-Jackson to the two City Council
seats up for election.
Only 479 teens voted in the
mock election, although more than 2,200 were registered.
Amanda Tobin-Schlef, spokesperson
for KEET-TV, said that she thought it might have been due to
some confusion because this was the first time for the project.
She said TeenVote organizers were focused on increasing participation
during the next elections.
Unemployment
at all-time low
Several economic indicators
suggest Humboldt County will experience an unusual upturn in
the economy during the fourth quarter.
Humboldt State University Professor
Steve Hackett, who publishes a monthly Index of Economic Activity
for Humboldt County, said the county normally experiences
a downturn at this time of the year. But September data show
"all the indicators are pointing towards more economic activity
in the next few months."
Employment figures led the way
with help-wanted ads increasing 18 percent over August. That
not only represents a short-term employment rally but also seems
to be part of a trend.
Help-wanted ads were up 13 percent
over last year, 54 percent over 1998 and 66 percent over 1997.
There were 18 percent fewer claims for unemployment insurance
in September than in August, which Hackett uses in the Index
as a barometer of newly unemployed. Preliminary data for
October shows Humboldt County with just 4.6 percent unemployment
-- an all-time low.
The number of building permits
increased 84 percent during September, suggesting that the construction
industry will have plenty of work. Hackett said the increase,
which was mostly due to residential building in unincorporated
parts of the county, was probably due to "low mortgage rates."
Even manufacturing orders, which
had been on a downward slide, showed some signs of recovery.
The orders for future manufacturing production, which indicate
how much manufacturing activity we will see in the near future,
increased by almost 1 percent in September.
The manufacturing sector in
Humboldt County seems to be slowly diversifying. There were 400
more jobs in manufacturing this September than in 1999. Of those
new jobs, 200 were in the lumber and wood products, the traditional
heart of manufacturing in Humboldt County. But 200 more were
in new manufacturing ventures, "companies like Wing Inflatables
or Kokatat," Hackett said. Humboldt County will help insulate
itself from the roller-coaster ride of timber prices by diversifying
into other sectors, he added.
But it's not all good economic
news.
"The tempering factors
are what's happening at Eel River and high oil prices,"
Hackett said.
Eel River Sawmills announced
Oct. 30 that it was laying off as many as 130 workers -- which
is not reflected in the most recent Index. And high oil
prices have a profound effect on Humboldt County, he said, because
our remote location makes us dependent on shipping.
Fewer
students, fewer schools
In the face of declining student
population, the Southern Humboldt Unified School District is
forming an advisory committee to consider school closures.
The sprawling district's eight
schools cover the area from Blocksburg to Shelter Cove and from
Piercy up to Dyerville, a total of 773 square miles.
Over the last six years enrollment
has fallen almost 25 percent -- from 1,657 in 1995 to 1,277 in
2000 -- compared to a countywide decline of about 2 percent a
year, said Janet Frost of the Humboldt County Office of Education.
"We have to do something
to remain fiscally sound," said Susie Jennings, principal
of Whitethorn School and district assistant superintendent. "We
have fewer students and that means fewer dollars."
How much less money is coming
in? There have been an average of 76 fewer students per year
over the last five years. Since base funding is about $4,000
per student, that means on average about $300,000 less each year.
Cynthia Grover, assistant to
the district superintendent, said Southern Humboldt is an area
where it is likely student numbers will continue to drop since
there is little new housing being built and not much job growth.
The district's board of trustees
has begun recruiting members for a Citizens' Advisory Committee
on School Closure/Restructuring.
The committee -- which will
include parents, teachers, classified staff and community members
-- will have the task of deciding which school or schools to
close. Jennings said that ideally the board would like to see
a report by January to plan for changes in the 2000-2001 school
year.
Superintendent Clif Anderson
has suggested that the committee will be looking closely at the
K-5 Whitethorn School; Agnes Johnson Elementary, a K-6 school
in Weott; and Ettersburg School, a one-teacher K-3 school west
of Garberville.
These tiny schools have a slight
funding advantage in that they fall under the state's Necessary
Small Schools program. More controversial is the possible closure
of Miranda Junior High School which serves 85 7th and 8th graders
from all over Southern Humboldt.
"The board has been looking
at creating K-8 schools throughout the district for several years,"
said Jennings. "But no decision has been made yet. That's
why we're having a committee look at it.
"If they find another way
to deal with the funding issue, that would be great."
Movie
theater reopens Friday
The Fortuna Theater, closed
since the beginning of the year, reopens Friday night with a
special event. The city of Fortuna will celebrate the completion
of the project with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 6:30 p.m., followed
by a screening of the box office hit Charlie's Angels
with proceeds benefiting the Fortuna Fire Department's Santa
Sleigh project supplying toys for needy children.
The theater has been renovated
by Dave Corkle's Petaluma-based company, Cinema West, with assistance
from the Fortuna Redevelopment Agency. The agency supplied a
$10,000 facade grant and a $65,000 loan that helped purchase
the movie house. Corkle created a triplex by dividing the balcony
into two screens and restoring the 45-foot screen downstairs.
It will be the largest screen between Santa Rosa and Portland,
according to City Manager Dale Neiman.
Corkle is working toward expanding
the complex by adding another three screens. Neiman said the
redevelopment agency is considering a loan request of $450,000
for the project. Corkle has already purchased the adjoining property,
two single-family houses behind the theater. One house has been
donated to the redevelopment agency. The plan is to relocate
it for sale to a qualified low or moderate income family.
Loaning Corkle another $450,000
would have several benefits, Neiman said. Since the loan would
be at the current rate of 9 percent, it is 3 percent more than
the 6 percent the city is currently earning.
The additional benefit comes
from an increase in market share projected as a jump from 60
percent to 85 percent of Fortunans attending movies.
"That will mean more people
will be shopping and going out to dinner in Fortuna," said
Neiman.
PL
vs. water board
A decision on the fate of a
large portion of Pacific Lumber's timberland is in the hands
of the state Regional Water Quality Control Board -- and it's
going to stay there for a while.
A water board meeting that could
have profound effects on what PL is allowed to do on watersheds
that make up a fifth of its land has been postponed from Nov.
16 to Feb. 15.
The land in question consists
of five watersheds -- Stitz Creek, Jordan Creek, Bear Creek,
Freshwater Creek and the north fork of the Elk River. According
to a report by the water board staff, Pacific Lumber harvesting
practices have caused damage in the watersheds and would continue
to do so even if operating under the environmental guidelines
of the Headwaters agreement.
The staff report documents how
the company "significantly increased the rate of harvest"
in these watersheds starting in 1987. It alleges this harvesting
corresponded with "adverse impacts to surface waters,"
specifically increased levels of silt. That siltation has made
the water unfit to drink and contributed to flooding in the watersheds.
(See "Muddy waters in Elk River," In the News, June
8).
The report has been attacked
by PL, which claims that the Habitat Conservation Plan it operates
under as part of the Headwaters agreement is sufficient to protect
water quality. PL spokesperson Mary Bullwinkel said water quality
issues related to harvest practices were normally addressed by
the forest practice rules.
"Here at PL, our HCP exceeds
the forest practice rules, so we feel water quality will be protected,"
Bullwinkel said.
The policy options put before
the board by staff include limiting the rate of harvest in the
watersheds; requiring more intense monitoring of the streams;
accelerating a complex analysis and watershed recovery process
called the Total Maximum Daily Load process; or taking no action
at all.
Staff expects to have policy
recommendations by early December.
PL
logging in Mattole
Logging operations began last
week on Pacific Lumber land in the Mattole River Valley. Opponents
of the logging announced in a statement Friday that "all
legal remedies have been exhausted" and attempts to stop
or curb the logging were now in the hands of activists in the
woods.
Activists report that as of
Monday, only one tree has been cut. There are no tree-sits, but
a road blockade has been set up. Sheriff's deputies removed protesters
from the site Friday, allegedly using pepper spray on two individuals
who were not apprehended.
NPR
host to visit HSU
Bob Edwards, the voice of National
Public Radio's "Morning Edition," speaks at Humboldt
State University Thursday, Nov. 16. The event is presented by
KHSU, 90.5 FM, which airs his program Monday-Friday from 5-8
a.m.
As host of the newsmagazine
"Morning Edition," Edwards conducts more than 800 interviews
each year covering politics, international affairs, education,
labor, economics, sports, the arts and entertainment.
Edwards began his career at
NPR in 1974 as a newscaster on the afternoon show "All Things
Considered." He later served as co-host and helped in the
transition toward news and away from entertainment.
When "Morning Edition"
debuted in 1979, Edwards was brought in for 30 days as a "temporary"
host -- and he ended up staying. The daily radio show grew to
become the most listened to program on public radio, with 8.4
million listeners each week.
Edwards will speak to HSU journalism
and political science students in the morning. From 3 to 4:30
p.m. he will give a lecture in the Kate Buchanan Room.
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