In response to his daughter receiving a swastika on social media, a California Jewish lawmaker is pushing for a bill that would give school administrators authority to suspend or expel students if they cyberbully fellow students away from school and outside of school hours.
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Crime / Education / Government
Cal Poly Humboldt Closed as Protesters Occupy Building
Posted By Thadeus Greenson on Tue, Apr 23, 2024 at 11:20 AM
The Cal Poly Humboldt campus is closed today, as dozens of protesters continue to occupy Siemens Hall, having barricaded its entrances, while calling on the university to divest from entities they say fuel Israel’s ongoing war on Hamas in Gaza.
“The message from inside is that, first of all, they feel the university is complicit because of the campus’ investments with weapons companies and Israeli companies,” said Ryan Connelly, a junior biology major who identified himself as a spokesperson for those occupying the building. “Their conditions for release of the building: Divest, and then we’ll talk.”
“The message from inside is that, first of all, they feel the university is complicit because of the campus’ investments with weapons companies and Israeli companies,” said Ryan Connelly, a junior biology major who identified himself as a spokesperson for those occupying the building. “Their conditions for release of the building: Divest, and then we’ll talk.”
Monday, April 22, 2024
Judge Rejects Changing Trans Youth Ballot Measure's Name
Posted By Carolyn Jones on Mon, Apr 22, 2024 at 2:31 PM
A group working on a fall ballot initiative that would limit the rights of transgender students lost a round in court Monday when a judge sided with the state in its description of the measure.
Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Stephen Acquisto ruled that Attorney General Rob Bonta’s title, “Restricts Rights of Transgender Youth,” is a fair description of the initiative, which would require schools to notify parents if a student identifies as transgender, ban gender-affirming care for those under 18 and place other limits on students who identify as a gender other than what they were assigned at birth.
The ruling is a setback for the group, dubbed Protect Kids California, as it tries to meet a May 28 deadline to collect 550,000 signatures to qualify for the fall ballot. The group has so far raised just over 200,000 signatures, organizers said.
Protect Kids California, led by Roseville school board member Jonathan Zachreson, put forth the initiative in November, calling it the “Protect Kids of California Act,” but a day after the group filed its paperwork with the Secretary of State, Bonta gave the initiative a new name and summary. The new name, Restricts Rights of Transgender Youth, and description made it harder to collect signatures and donations, Zachreson said, leading the group to sue for a name they said would be more reflective of the initiative’s goals.
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
State Bill Aims to Address Cyberbullying Off Campus
Posted By Ryan Sabalow/CalMatters on Tue, Apr 16, 2024 at 1:12 PM
But Long Beach Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal’s Assembly Bill 2351 is coming into conflict with California’s recent reforms intended to prevent students of color from being expelled and suspended at disproportionate rates.
The ACLU and other social justice organizations oppose Lowenthal’s bill. The bill’s critics told the Assembly Education Committee earlier this month at the bill’s first hearing that giving school administrators authority to punish students for behavior that occurs off campus could result in the return of “racially biased and disparate” punishment that puts students on a “school-to-prison pipeline.”
Lowenthal told the committee that as a socially-conscious Democrat, he previously couldn’t “imagine a scenario where I’m on a different side” from the ACLU, but he said his daughter’s experience highlighted why the law needs to change.
“Only a decade ago, school bullying ended once you got home and were safe,” he said. “Today, many of these activities are now taking place online, off campus, in the digital ether, and outside regular school hours, and there is nowhere and no time that our kids are truly safe.”
Monday, April 15, 2024
California Salmon Fishing Banned for Second Year in Row
Posted By Rachel Becker/CalMatters on Mon, Apr 15, 2024 at 11:27 AM
In a devastating blow to California’s fishing industry, federal fishery managers unanimously voted to cancel all commercial and recreational salmon fishing off the coast of California for the second year in a row.
The April 10 decision is designed to protect California’s dwindling salmon populations after drought and water diversions left river flows too warm and sluggish for the state’s iconic Chinook salmon to thrive.
Salmon abundance forecasts for the year “are just too low,” Marci Yaremko, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s appointee to the Pacific Fishery Management Council, said last week. “While the rainfall and the snowpacks have improved, the stocks and their habitats just need another year to recover.”
State and federal agencies are now expected to implement the closures for ocean fishing. Had the season not been in question again this year, recreational boats would likely already be fishing off the coast of California, while the commercial season typically runs from May through October.
In addition, the California Fish and Game Commission will decide next month whether to cancel inland salmon fishing in California rivers this summer and fall.
The closure means that California restaurants and consumers will have to look elsewhere for salmon, in a major blow to an industry estimated in previous years to be worth roughly half a billion dollars.
“It’s catastrophic,” said Tommy “TF” Graham, a commercial fisherman based in Bodega Bay who now drives a truck delivering frozen and farmed salmon and other fish. “It means another summer of being forced to do something you don’t want to do, instead of doing something you love.
Friday, April 12, 2024
UPDATE: Artillery Shell Deemed Safe in Ferndale
Posted By Thadeus Greenson on Fri, Apr 12, 2024 at 11:22 AM
UPDATE:
Ferndale Police Sgt. Robert Lindgren says the artillery shell that prompted the evacuation of a building and the partial closure of Main Street this morning while the county bomb squad responded was empty.
Lindgren also corrected some inaccurate information initially disseminated to the Journal by police amid the dynamic events of the morning. Lindgren says police were notified this morning of a possible explosive ordnance at a book store on Main Street and he responded, taking some pictures of the device to send to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office bomb squad, which then asked him to evacuate the building and cordon off the area while it responded.
The device was ultimately removed using the bomb squad’s robot and then determined to be empty.
Lindgren says it was subsequently determined the book store’s owners acquired several boxes of what they thought were books about a month ago from some kind of estate sale. When they began going through the boxes today, Lindgren says they came across the antique artillery shell, were concerned and contacted Fortuna Police Chief Casey Day. The device was then reported to police dispatch, prompting Lindgren’s response.
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Tuesday, April 9, 2024
County Preps Measure S Enforcement Action on Hundreds of Cannabis Farms
Posted By Thadeus Greenson on Tue, Apr 9, 2024 at 6:49 PM
The Humboldt County Planning Department will soon be suspending the permits of hundreds of cannabis farmers who failed to enter into a payment agreement for owed Measure S taxes by the March 31 deadline, Planning Director John Ford told the Journal.
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted in October to give cannabis farmers until March 31 to enter into payment plans for a total of $14.1 million in unpaid excise taxes, and until March 31, 2025 to pay their bills in full. Ford said his department is awaiting a list from the Humboldt County Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office of farmers who have owed taxes but failed to enter into a payment plan.
According to Whitney Morgan, the county’s revenue and tax manager, 318 cannabis farmers have agreed to payment plans with the county that, if paid in full, would make good on a combined $4.2 million in taxes owed. But Morgan says farmers associated with another 401 accounts with balances due totaling $6.1 million failed to reach payment plans with the county by the deadline.
The numbers Morgan provided total $10.3 million — $3.8 million less than the amount staff said was owed in Measure S taxes back in October. Morgan says $2.8 million of that was deemed “uncollectable” by planning staff due to permits being “approved or withdrawn before cultivation,” while it was also discovered some accounts had been over billed due to misclassifications. Some accounts were also simply paid in full, she said.
Those who failed to enter a payment plan will have their permits suspended for 90 days, Ford said. Farmers can then use those 90 days to enter into a payment plan and pay “what should have been paid within the first 90 days,” in which case the suspension will be lifted, Ford said. Those who fail to enter a payment plan and come current on it within 90 days will see their permits scheduled for revocation, he said.
Ford said he expected the notices of suspension to be mailed out by the end of this week.
Passed by voters in 2016, Measure S imposes taxes on farms of up to between $1 and $3 per square foot of cultivation space, depending on whether its outdoor, mixed light or indoor. Supervisors voted to suspend the tax entirely for two years in 2022 but opted to reimpose it at a 90-percent reduced rate beginning for the 2024 cultivation year, with payments due in Spring of 2025. At the same time, they voted to begin cracking down on farms with unpaid tax bills.
It's uncertain of how much of the $10.3 million owed the county will be able to collect, as some have estimated the bulk of the $6.1 million owed by those who have not reached payment plans is for farms that have gone out of business, with their owners having left town and the properties involved having changed hands.
The bills coming due is also a point of anxiety for the local cannabis industry, which is already struggling amid statewide oversupply, low wholesale prices and what farmers deem excessive regulatory and compliance costs. The Humboldt County Grower’s Alliance (HCGA) has warned that the county’s effort to collect on owed Measure S taxes, coupled with the state no longer granting provision licenses beginning next year, could result in a “deck clearing” in 2024, with many farms going out of business.
“I’m hearing from a number of farmers who don’t have the money, who just still don’t have the money,” HCGA Executive Director Natalynne DeLapp said.
Editor's note: This story was updated from a previous version to correct the date by which owed Measure S taxes need to be paid in full. The Journal regrets the error.
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted in October to give cannabis farmers until March 31 to enter into payment plans for a total of $14.1 million in unpaid excise taxes, and until March 31, 2025 to pay their bills in full. Ford said his department is awaiting a list from the Humboldt County Treasurer-Tax Collector’s Office of farmers who have owed taxes but failed to enter into a payment plan.
According to Whitney Morgan, the county’s revenue and tax manager, 318 cannabis farmers have agreed to payment plans with the county that, if paid in full, would make good on a combined $4.2 million in taxes owed. But Morgan says farmers associated with another 401 accounts with balances due totaling $6.1 million failed to reach payment plans with the county by the deadline.
The numbers Morgan provided total $10.3 million — $3.8 million less than the amount staff said was owed in Measure S taxes back in October. Morgan says $2.8 million of that was deemed “uncollectable” by planning staff due to permits being “approved or withdrawn before cultivation,” while it was also discovered some accounts had been over billed due to misclassifications. Some accounts were also simply paid in full, she said.
Those who failed to enter a payment plan will have their permits suspended for 90 days, Ford said. Farmers can then use those 90 days to enter into a payment plan and pay “what should have been paid within the first 90 days,” in which case the suspension will be lifted, Ford said. Those who fail to enter a payment plan and come current on it within 90 days will see their permits scheduled for revocation, he said.
Ford said he expected the notices of suspension to be mailed out by the end of this week.
Passed by voters in 2016, Measure S imposes taxes on farms of up to between $1 and $3 per square foot of cultivation space, depending on whether its outdoor, mixed light or indoor. Supervisors voted to suspend the tax entirely for two years in 2022 but opted to reimpose it at a 90-percent reduced rate beginning for the 2024 cultivation year, with payments due in Spring of 2025. At the same time, they voted to begin cracking down on farms with unpaid tax bills.
It's uncertain of how much of the $10.3 million owed the county will be able to collect, as some have estimated the bulk of the $6.1 million owed by those who have not reached payment plans is for farms that have gone out of business, with their owners having left town and the properties involved having changed hands.
The bills coming due is also a point of anxiety for the local cannabis industry, which is already struggling amid statewide oversupply, low wholesale prices and what farmers deem excessive regulatory and compliance costs. The Humboldt County Grower’s Alliance (HCGA) has warned that the county’s effort to collect on owed Measure S taxes, coupled with the state no longer granting provision licenses beginning next year, could result in a “deck clearing” in 2024, with many farms going out of business.
“I’m hearing from a number of farmers who don’t have the money, who just still don’t have the money,” HCGA Executive Director Natalynne DeLapp said.
Editor's note: This story was updated from a previous version to correct the date by which owed Measure S taxes need to be paid in full. The Journal regrets the error.
Friday, April 5, 2024
Judge Rules Arcata Can't Put Earth Flag on Top
Posted By Kimberly Wear on Fri, Apr 5, 2024 at 8:10 AM
The Earth flag’s future at the top of three municipal flagpoles in Arcata is in question after a judge found this week that voters there “do not have the power to exempt” the city from following state laws mandating the U.S. flag fly above all others.
Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Timothy Canning’s ruling on Measure M comes a year and a half after the citizen-led initiative directing the placement was approved in the November 2022 election with a final vote of 3,051 to 2,781, with around 52 percent having cast ballots in favor of putting the Earth flag on top.
Canning noted the principle question under his consideration at the request of the city was whether Arcata voters could impose the change through the local ballot measure process.
“There may be very strong policy reasons to fly the Earth flag above the national flag, as Measure M sets forth, but those policy reasons are insufficient to excuse the city from complying with mandatory state law on flying the national and state flags,” he wrote in the April 2 ruling.
Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Timothy Canning’s ruling on Measure M comes a year and a half after the citizen-led initiative directing the placement was approved in the November 2022 election with a final vote of 3,051 to 2,781, with around 52 percent having cast ballots in favor of putting the Earth flag on top.
Canning noted the principle question under his consideration at the request of the city was whether Arcata voters could impose the change through the local ballot measure process.
“There may be very strong policy reasons to fly the Earth flag above the national flag, as Measure M sets forth, but those policy reasons are insufficient to excuse the city from complying with mandatory state law on flying the national and state flags,” he wrote in the April 2 ruling.
Tuesday, April 2, 2024
Records Document Another Eureka City Schools Brown Act Violation
Posted By Thadeus Greenson on Tue, Apr 2, 2024 at 3:02 PM
Eureka City Schools appears to have violated more open meeting and public records laws in its handling of the former Jacobs middle school property exchange than previously known, the Journal has learned via a new batch of public records disclosed in response to the paper’s request.
While the Journal already reported that the district erred in not listing on its meeting agenda the specific address of the property the district would be acquiring through the agreement — which has the district giving 8.3 acres of its long-shuttered middle school campus to AMG Communities-Jacobs LLC, a newly formed corporation, in exchange for two small residential units on I Street and $5.35 million in cash — recently released records document another violation of state sunshine laws.
In putting together the agenda for the Dec. 14 ECS board meeting, district staff included two separate items regarding the property exchange. The first was a closed session discussion that listed negotiating parties as AMG and the California Highway Patrol, which had long sought the site and reportedly had a $4 million purchase offer on the table for the property. That item was to allow the board to discuss the “price and terms of payment” behind closed doors before an open session item would allow the district to formally approve a resolution authorizing the property exchange with AMG.
While the Journal already reported that the district erred in not listing on its meeting agenda the specific address of the property the district would be acquiring through the agreement — which has the district giving 8.3 acres of its long-shuttered middle school campus to AMG Communities-Jacobs LLC, a newly formed corporation, in exchange for two small residential units on I Street and $5.35 million in cash — recently released records document another violation of state sunshine laws.
In putting together the agenda for the Dec. 14 ECS board meeting, district staff included two separate items regarding the property exchange. The first was a closed session discussion that listed negotiating parties as AMG and the California Highway Patrol, which had long sought the site and reportedly had a $4 million purchase offer on the table for the property. That item was to allow the board to discuss the “price and terms of payment” behind closed doors before an open session item would allow the district to formally approve a resolution authorizing the property exchange with AMG.
New Plan Could Help Humboldt Foster Kids Afford Extracurriculars
Posted By Ana B. Ibarra/Calmatters on Tue, Apr 2, 2024 at 2:48 PM
Foster kids often miss out on Little League or music lessons. That’s one of the consequences of changing homes, or living with a family on a tight budget.
Now California has a new plan to give them opportunities for the kinds of extracurricular activities that can build character and community.
It’s included in a proposed revision to how the state pays for foster care that’s intended to make more money available to high-needs kids. Youth advocates are especially enthusiastic about the funding for extracurricular activities, which would come in the form of a monthly stipend of at least $500.
“These kids are always underfunded,” said Brian Blalock, senior directing attorney at the Youth Law Center. “And especially when the kids are with grandma and the kids are with relatives, often on fixed income. It’s where we most want these young people as a system, and as a consequence, grandma’s maxing out credit cards to keep the grandbaby in basketball and dance and tutoring.”
The California Department of Social Services put forward the proposal last month, as part of a restructuring to the state’s foster care payment system that was prompted by a 2015 law. Lawmakers are expected to consider it in budget deliberations this spring. By law, the state must adopt updated foster care pay rates by Jan. 1, although the changes would not roll out until 2026.
If implemented, the restructuring could have an outsized impact in Humboldt County, which has some the highest rates of children in foster care in California, with 13.8 children in foster care per 1,000 in 2018, per the nonprofit kidsdata.org. And while the number of children entering foster care had declined steadily statewide between 2000 and 2018, it almost doubled in Humboldt County over that timeframe, reaching more than 400 youth aged zero to 20 living in foster care in 2018, the last year for which data is available on the site. According to the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services, though, the local foster youth population peaked in 2019 at 432, the highest point in 23 years, but had decreased 35 percent by July of 2023.
One Killed, Another Injured in 101 Crash
Posted By Kimberly Wear on Tue, Apr 2, 2024 at 10:00 AM
The California Highway Patrol is investigating a single vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 101 north of Fernbridge on Sunday that left one man dead and another with major injuries.
According to a news release, emergency personnel arrived just before 5 p.m. to find the overturned Ford F150 truck down the side of an embankment and actively burning.
The 19-year-old passenger, identified as Jozef Borges, was able to exit the vehicle and was taken to Providence St. Joseph Hospital with major injuries. The 59-year-old driver, John Borges, was fatally injured. Both are from Tracy.
“It is unknown what caused the Ford to travel off the roadway, however, impairment is not considered to have been a factor at this time,” the CHP release states.
The CHP extended its condolences to the family and thanked responding agencies for their assistance. The crash remains under investigation and anyone with information is asked to call (707) 822-5981.
According to a news release, emergency personnel arrived just before 5 p.m. to find the overturned Ford F150 truck down the side of an embankment and actively burning.
The 19-year-old passenger, identified as Jozef Borges, was able to exit the vehicle and was taken to Providence St. Joseph Hospital with major injuries. The 59-year-old driver, John Borges, was fatally injured. Both are from Tracy.
“It is unknown what caused the Ford to travel off the roadway, however, impairment is not considered to have been a factor at this time,” the CHP release states.
The CHP extended its condolences to the family and thanked responding agencies for their assistance. The crash remains under investigation and anyone with information is asked to call (707) 822-5981.
Recent Comments
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Re: Cal Poly Humboldt Closed as Protesters Occupy Building
OnTime, Where do the protesters expect Israel's Jewish citizens -- the ones who were born…
- on April 24, 2024
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Re: Cal Poly Humboldt Closed as Protesters Occupy Building
Hi Thatwasmint, How do you know the young people in Siemens Hall are misled and…
- on April 24, 2024
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Re: Cal Poly Humboldt Closed as Protesters Occupy Building
The demands seems to imply the college is directly tied to Israel, or Israel companies,…
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on April 23, 2024
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Re: Cal Poly Humboldt Closed as Protesters Occupy Building
I wish they would also protest the fact the School wasted over a million dollars…
- on April 23, 2024
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Re: Cal Poly Humboldt Closed as Protesters Occupy Building
Nothing much has changed except the issue. We protested outside Siemens Hall about the cutting…
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on April 23, 2024
