News

Former U.S. Secretary of State, Senator, Democratic Presidential Nominee and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton spent some time in Humboldt County over the weekend, and even hit up a local food truck.

Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal confirmed that Clinton was in town for a couple of days and left Sunday, saying his department provided her U.S. Secret Service detail with “some assistance.”

While plans initially included a trip up to Del Norte County where Clinton had “some business with the Yurok Tribe,” Honsal said, they ended up taking care of that in Sue-Meg State Park north of Trinidad.

Rumors of Clinton’s visit started spreading after her crew placed a sizeable order to South G. Kitchen, the food truck parked over at Redwood Curtain Brewing Co. in Arcata. Danny Emmenecker, the truck’s owner, says it got a $600 order from Left/Right TV on Dec. 11 to be picked up Dec. 12. When an assistant swung by to pick up the food, they said it was for Hillary Clinton who’s in town with her daughter Chelsea filming a documentary.

The Clintons recently started a television company, HiddenLight Productions, and are reported to be working on a number of projects, having optioned several books. Among those, is a docuseries Gutsy Women, based on a book the pair wrote titled The Book of Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience.

Honsal says he knows the Clintons were in town filming some kind of documentary and believes it involved Yurok Tribal Court Chief Judge Abby Abinanti, who seems she would certainly fit the Gutsy Women profile. The first Native member of the California State Bar, Abinanti grew up on the Yurok Reservation and has served as the tribe’s chief judge since 2007, earning renown for her work to bring the justice system in line with Native values.

The Journal reached out to the Yurok Tribe, Hidden Light Productions, Left/Right TV and Hillary Clinton’s office seeking additional information about her visit but received no immediate replies.