California will fail to meet its ambitious mandates for combating climate change unless the state almost triples its rate of reducing greenhouse gases through 2030, according to a new analysis released last week.
Thursday, March 21, 2024
UPDATE: Humboldt Community Services District Lifts Boil Advisory
Posted By Thadeus Greenson on Thu, Mar 21, 2024 at 4:43 PM
UPDATE:
The Humboldt Community Services District has lifted the boil advisory issued yesterday in several local areas due to a burst main.
“The Humboldt Community Services District Public Water System in conjunction with the State Water Resources Control Board has determined that, through abatement of the health hazard and comprehensive testing of the water, your water is safe to drink,” reads an cancellation notice sent this afternoon. “It is no longer necessary to boil your tap water or for you to consume bottled water.”
See the full notice at the bottom of our original post.
PREVIOUSLY:
The Humboldt Community Services District is advising customers in the areas of Mitchell Road, Myrtletown, Ryan Slough and Freshwater that they should use boiled or bottled water for drinking and cooking until further notice.
The problem stems from a transmission main break near Indianola and Old Arcata roads in the city of Eureka’s system, which supplies some water to the community services district, on the evening of March 20. After the transmission line failure, the district was notified around 1 p.m. today that “some cloud water” may have been delivered into its system and that it could possibly contain mineral deposits and soil from the area where the breakage occurred.
As a result, the community services district has issued a boil advisory “out of an abundance of caution” to ensure the “health and wellbeing” of the community, according to its notice.
“We have been testing our water quality and flushing the affected areas,” the district’s notice states. “We have found no evidence of contaminated water within our system. We will continue to monitor and test our water quality for the next three days. If we discover any contamination, we will be reaching out to notify you. If we do not encounter any contaminated water, we will be reaching out to lift the Boil Water Advisory.”
Until further notice, residents in affected areas are advised that before drinking water from the system or using it for cooking they should first bring it to a rolling boil, let it boil for one minute, then let it cool before use. Alternatively, they can use bottled water.
The district anticipates the issue to be resolved within three days.
The Humboldt Community Services District has lifted the boil advisory issued yesterday in several local areas due to a burst main.
“The Humboldt Community Services District Public Water System in conjunction with the State Water Resources Control Board has determined that, through abatement of the health hazard and comprehensive testing of the water, your water is safe to drink,” reads an cancellation notice sent this afternoon. “It is no longer necessary to boil your tap water or for you to consume bottled water.”
See the full notice at the bottom of our original post.
PREVIOUSLY:
The Humboldt Community Services District is advising customers in the areas of Mitchell Road, Myrtletown, Ryan Slough and Freshwater that they should use boiled or bottled water for drinking and cooking until further notice.
The problem stems from a transmission main break near Indianola and Old Arcata roads in the city of Eureka’s system, which supplies some water to the community services district, on the evening of March 20. After the transmission line failure, the district was notified around 1 p.m. today that “some cloud water” may have been delivered into its system and that it could possibly contain mineral deposits and soil from the area where the breakage occurred.
As a result, the community services district has issued a boil advisory “out of an abundance of caution” to ensure the “health and wellbeing” of the community, according to its notice.
“We have been testing our water quality and flushing the affected areas,” the district’s notice states. “We have found no evidence of contaminated water within our system. We will continue to monitor and test our water quality for the next three days. If we discover any contamination, we will be reaching out to notify you. If we do not encounter any contaminated water, we will be reaching out to lift the Boil Water Advisory.”
Until further notice, residents in affected areas are advised that before drinking water from the system or using it for cooking they should first bring it to a rolling boil, let it boil for one minute, then let it cool before use. Alternatively, they can use bottled water.
The district anticipates the issue to be resolved within three days.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
California is not Close to Meeting its Climate Change Mandates
Posted By Alejandro Lazo/CalMatters on Tue, Mar 19, 2024 at 10:05 AM
After dropping during the pandemic, California’s emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other climate-warming gases increased 3.4 percent in 2021, when the economy rebounded.
The increase puts California further away from reaching a target mandated under state law: emitting 40 percent less in 2030 than in 1990 — a feat that will become more expensive and more difficult as time passes, the report’s authors told CalMatters.
“The fact that they need to increase the speed of reduction at about three times faster than they’re actually doing — that does not bode well,” said Stafford Nichols, a researcher at Beacon Economics, a Los Angeles-based economics research firm, and a co-author of the annual California Green Innovation Index released today.
“As we get closer to that 2030 goal, the fact that we’re further off just means that we have to decrease faster each year.”
Friday, March 8, 2024
The Klamath River Salmon Die-off Was Tragic. Was it Predictable?
Posted By Rachel Becker/CalMatters on Fri, Mar 8, 2024 at 8:32 AM
A recent large die-off of young salmon released into the Klamath River shocked and dismayed state biologists, reinforcing that human efforts to restore nature and undo damage can be unpredictable and difficult to control.
The tiny Chinook salmon turned up dead downriver just two days after they were released from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s brand new Fall Creek Fish Hatchery, built to supply the Klamath River as it undergoes the largest dam removal in history.
The $35 million state hatchery, on a tributary just upstream of Iron Gate dam in Siskiyou County, was constructed to help the river’s threatened coho and dwindling fall-run chinook salmon, a mainstay of commercial and recreational fishing and tribal food supplies.
The hatchery’s first release ended with an unknown number of the 830,000 young Chinook salmon found dead, their eyes bulging, in a federal sampling trap about 9 miles below the dam.
State officials called it “a large mortality,” but said there’s no official count yet and released no additional details about the size of the die-off.
California’s fish and wildlife officials said they suspect “gas bubble disease,” a condition similar to decompression sickness in scuba divers, is to blame — likely caused when the salmon traveled through a 9-foot-wide tunnel out of Iron Gate dam to reconnect with the Klamath downriver.
Gas bubble disease in fish is caused by “environmental or physical trauma often associated with severe pressure change,” officials said.
Jason Roberts, inland fisheries program manager with the state agency, said it’s an outcome that state, federal, and tribal scientists involved in the decision didn’t anticipate.
“The basin co-managers made the best decision they could with the information that they had, and unfortunately, it did not go well,” Roberts said. “I don’t think anyone thought water going through this tunnel would cause gas bubble disease, or we obviously wouldn’t have done it.”
Wednesday, March 6, 2024
Election Night Roundup: Incumbent Supervisors Cruise, Judge Kreis Falls
Posted By Thadeus Greenson on Wed, Mar 6, 2024 at 8:42 AM
Election Night in Humboldt County was low on drama, and low on turnout, too. It is unclear how many ballots remain to be counted, as will likely be the case for another week, but the Elections Office counted 20,258 ballots in its final election night report. That’s 42 percent of the final tally from the primary four years earlier.
Even with scores of ballots remaining uncounted, no local races appear in doubt.
The Humboldt Cannabis Reform Initiative, known as Measure A, which sought to overhaul cannabis cultivation regulations countywide, was resoundingly rejected by 73 percent of voters. While proponents of the measure cast it as a way to protect small farms and add teeth to existing environmental and neighborhood protections, opponents, including much of the cannabis industry, argued it was bad policy and would have dire consequences for local farms.
Embattled Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Greg Kreis’ efforts to win a second term on the bench, meanwhile, seem to have fallen decidedly short, with challenger April Van Dyke leading the race with 60 percent of the votes cast thus far. Appointed in 2017, Kreis faces a bombshell ethics complaint filed against him by the Commission on Judicial Performance about a month before Election Day. He's denied the allegations.
On the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors’ front, incumbents ran away with the races early and didn’t look back. In the First District, three-term incumbent Rex Bohn has a commanding lead over challengers U.S. Coast Guard veteran Gordon Clatworthy and Fields Landing resident Jerry McGuire, having taken 64 percent of the vote, trailed by Clatworthy's 24 percent and McGuire's 12 percent.
In the Second District, incumbent Michelle Bushnell fended off challenges from Fortuna school board member Jeana McClendon and cannabis entrepreneur Brian D. Roberts, taking 58 percent of the vote to McClendon's 36 percent and Roberts' 6 percent.
Up in the Third District, meanwhile, incumbent Mike Wilson cruised to his third term, taking 81 percent of the vote to challenger and dispensary owner Roy Gomez Jr.’s 19 percent.
The race for the Second District state Assembly seat being vacated by the retiring Jim Wood, meanwhile, remains too close to call, with Arcata-based state Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks (18.9 percent) and Santa Rosa City Councilmember Chris Rogers (19.6 percent) vying to join Republican Crescent City school board member Michael Greer in a November runoff. Incumbent North Coast Congressmember Jared Huffman, meanwhile, is cruising into his November runoff having taken 72.5 percent of the vote to Republican Chris Coulombe’s 17.4 percent.
There were, of course, also presidential races on the ballot, with Republican Donald Trump taking 1.1 million votes and incumbent Democrat Joe Biden notching 1.6 million votes statewide in their party primaries along percentages that tracked in Humboldt County.
Humboldt County Registrar of Voters Juan Pablo Cervantes told KMUD on Election Night he believed the county was “looking at a pretty low voter turnout” compared to 2020. Cervantes said elections staff would continue to tabulate late-arriving vote by mail ballots (and those that arrive before March 12), those dropped off at the polls and provisional ballots cast on Election Day, an effort that will extend for weeks. Post-election reports will be issued weekly until official results are certified no later than April 4.
Even with scores of ballots remaining uncounted, no local races appear in doubt.
The Humboldt Cannabis Reform Initiative, known as Measure A, which sought to overhaul cannabis cultivation regulations countywide, was resoundingly rejected by 73 percent of voters. While proponents of the measure cast it as a way to protect small farms and add teeth to existing environmental and neighborhood protections, opponents, including much of the cannabis industry, argued it was bad policy and would have dire consequences for local farms.
Embattled Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Greg Kreis’ efforts to win a second term on the bench, meanwhile, seem to have fallen decidedly short, with challenger April Van Dyke leading the race with 60 percent of the votes cast thus far. Appointed in 2017, Kreis faces a bombshell ethics complaint filed against him by the Commission on Judicial Performance about a month before Election Day. He's denied the allegations.
On the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors’ front, incumbents ran away with the races early and didn’t look back. In the First District, three-term incumbent Rex Bohn has a commanding lead over challengers U.S. Coast Guard veteran Gordon Clatworthy and Fields Landing resident Jerry McGuire, having taken 64 percent of the vote, trailed by Clatworthy's 24 percent and McGuire's 12 percent.
In the Second District, incumbent Michelle Bushnell fended off challenges from Fortuna school board member Jeana McClendon and cannabis entrepreneur Brian D. Roberts, taking 58 percent of the vote to McClendon's 36 percent and Roberts' 6 percent.
Up in the Third District, meanwhile, incumbent Mike Wilson cruised to his third term, taking 81 percent of the vote to challenger and dispensary owner Roy Gomez Jr.’s 19 percent.
The race for the Second District state Assembly seat being vacated by the retiring Jim Wood, meanwhile, remains too close to call, with Arcata-based state Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks (18.9 percent) and Santa Rosa City Councilmember Chris Rogers (19.6 percent) vying to join Republican Crescent City school board member Michael Greer in a November runoff. Incumbent North Coast Congressmember Jared Huffman, meanwhile, is cruising into his November runoff having taken 72.5 percent of the vote to Republican Chris Coulombe’s 17.4 percent.
There were, of course, also presidential races on the ballot, with Republican Donald Trump taking 1.1 million votes and incumbent Democrat Joe Biden notching 1.6 million votes statewide in their party primaries along percentages that tracked in Humboldt County.
Humboldt County Registrar of Voters Juan Pablo Cervantes told KMUD on Election Night he believed the county was “looking at a pretty low voter turnout” compared to 2020. Cervantes said elections staff would continue to tabulate late-arriving vote by mail ballots (and those that arrive before March 12), those dropped off at the polls and provisional ballots cast on Election Day, an effort that will extend for weeks. Post-election reports will be issued weekly until official results are certified no later than April 4.
Tuesday, March 5, 2024
Final Election Night Report Leaves Races Unchanged: Incumbents Lead Supes Contests, Van Dyke Ahead for Judgeship
Posted By Thadeus Greenson on Tue, Mar 5, 2024 at 8:39 PM
THIRD UPDATE:
The final Election Night report added more than 2,000 ballots to the ongoing tally, bringing the total counted so far to 20,258, but did not move the needle in any local race.
The county’s supervisorial incumbents all continue to hold comfortable leads, with Rex Bohn currently holding 64 percent of the vote in the First District, Michelle Bushnell leading with 58 percent of the vote in the second district and Mike Wilson running away with 81 percent in the Third District.
The race for a seat on the Humboldt Superior Court bench, meanwhile, has embattled incumbent Greg Kreis trailing challenger April Van Dyke with 40 percent to Van Dyke’s 60 percent.
Measure A, the Humboldt Cannabis Reform Initiative, meanwhile is being rejected decisively, with 73 percent of ballots counted so far falling in the no column.
Monday, February 26, 2024
NCJ's Greenson Wins Free Speech and Open Government Award
Posted By Jennifer Fumiko Cahill on Mon, Feb 26, 2024 at 3:16 PM
The First Amendment Coalition has announced its Free Speech and Open Government Award winners for 2023, honoring the work of the Journal's own News Editor Thadeus Greenson alongside journalists at The New York Times, Bloomberg and MuckRock. The annual award recognizes "outstanding contributions to the advancement of free expression or the people’s right to know about their government."
"Following a single tip, Thadeus Greenson of the North Coast Journal obtained, through several public records requests, more than 2,000 pages of internal police reports and court filings to write 'The Soeth Files,' which details years of 'questionable decisions and uses of force' by law enforcement officer Maxwell Soeth," states the FAC press release. It also notes Greenson's pursuit of video footage, eyewitness accounts and other records as part of a small, local newsroom.
Read the full release below:
"Following a single tip, Thadeus Greenson of the North Coast Journal obtained, through several public records requests, more than 2,000 pages of internal police reports and court filings to write 'The Soeth Files,' which details years of 'questionable decisions and uses of force' by law enforcement officer Maxwell Soeth," states the FAC press release. It also notes Greenson's pursuit of video footage, eyewitness accounts and other records as part of a small, local newsroom.
Read the full release below:
Saturday, February 24, 2024
Kreis Files Answer to Ethics Charges, Denying Most Allegations
Posted By Thadeus Greenson on Sat, Feb 24, 2024 at 1:01 PM
Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Greg Kreis filed an answer yesterday to the ethics complaint lodged against him, offering a full-throated defense and denial of almost all the myriad of allegations brought forward by a state oversight agency.
In official response to the notice of proceedings brought forward by the Commission on Judicial Performance earlier this month, Kreis contends that many of the allegations contained within the 19 filed against him are based on lies or distortions, while other conduct was appropriate given the full context of the situation. Kreis charges that some of the more salacious allegations contained within the notice stem from his bitter divorce, while others come from two disgruntled former colleagues, one of whom blames him for being passed over for a promotion and the other who “made up these allegations” to bolster a wrongful termination lawsuit against the county.
In official response to the notice of proceedings brought forward by the Commission on Judicial Performance earlier this month, Kreis contends that many of the allegations contained within the 19 filed against him are based on lies or distortions, while other conduct was appropriate given the full context of the situation. Kreis charges that some of the more salacious allegations contained within the notice stem from his bitter divorce, while others come from two disgruntled former colleagues, one of whom blames him for being passed over for a promotion and the other who “made up these allegations” to bolster a wrongful termination lawsuit against the county.
Tuesday, February 20, 2024
Experts: Eureka City Schools Violated Open Meeting Law with Jacobs Property Swap
Posted By Thadeus Greenson on Tue, Feb 20, 2024 at 1:53 PM
When the Eureka City Schools Board of Trustees convened the Dec. 14 meeting at which it would vote unanimously to enter into a secretive property exchange in hopes of unloading its former Jacobs Middle School campus, it violated state open meeting laws, according to two experts interviewed by the Journal.
Immediately following the board’s vote to forego the California Highway Patrol’s $4 million offer for the Allard Avenue property and instead enter into an agreement to give the property to a mystery LLC in exchange for $5.35 million in cash and a small residential property on I Street, much of the discussion focused on whether the district violated the Ralph M. Brown Act by failing to publicly release a draft resolution authorizing the agreement in advance of the meeting. A subsequent Eureka City Schools press release insisting the district had adhered to the act and is “committed to transparency” similarly focused on whether the district was justified in withholding the resolution until after its closed session meeting.
But experts recently interviewed by the Journal say the district failed to meet a basic provision of the act when it put together the public agenda for the meeting by neglecting to specify the properties that would be under negotiation.
Immediately following the board’s vote to forego the California Highway Patrol’s $4 million offer for the Allard Avenue property and instead enter into an agreement to give the property to a mystery LLC in exchange for $5.35 million in cash and a small residential property on I Street, much of the discussion focused on whether the district violated the Ralph M. Brown Act by failing to publicly release a draft resolution authorizing the agreement in advance of the meeting. A subsequent Eureka City Schools press release insisting the district had adhered to the act and is “committed to transparency” similarly focused on whether the district was justified in withholding the resolution until after its closed session meeting.
But experts recently interviewed by the Journal say the district failed to meet a basic provision of the act when it put together the public agenda for the meeting by neglecting to specify the properties that would be under negotiation.
Monday, February 12, 2024
Legislators Unveil Measure to Ask Voters for $1 Billion Offshore Wind Bond
Posted By Alejandro Lazo/CalMatters on Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 11:56 AM
In a step toward building the first massive wind farms off California’s coast, three Assemblymembers on Feb. 8 proposed a $1 billion bond act to help pay for the expansion of ports.
The bill, if approved, would place a bond before voters aimed at helping ports build capacity to assemble, construct and transport wind turbines and other large equipment. Long Beach and Humboldt County have plans to build such expansion projects.
Port expansion is considered critical to the viability of offshore wind projects, which are a key component of the state’s ambitious goal to switch to 100 percent clean energy. The California Energy Commission projects that offshore wind farms will supply 25 gigawatts of electricity by 2045, powering 25 million homes and providing about 13 percent of the power supply.
The first step to building these giant floating platforms has already been taken: The federal government has leased 583 square miles of ocean waters about 20 miles off Humboldt Bay and the Central Coast’s Morro Bay to five energy companies. The proposed wind farms would hold hundreds of giant turbines, each as tall as a skyscraper, about 900 feet high. The technology for floating wind farms has never been used in such deep waters, far off the coast.
An extensive network of offshore and onshore development would be necessary. Costly upgrades to ports will be critical, along with undersea transmission lines, new electrical distribution networks and more.
Friday, February 9, 2024
University Police Investigation Clears CR Baseball Players of Assault Allegation
Posted By Thadeus Greenson on Fri, Feb 9, 2024 at 11:16 AM
Cal Poly Humboldt police have determined a Palestine supporter who alleged she'd been assaulted near the Arcata Plaza in October lied about the incident, according to a press release from the university.
Gihane Hyden had alleged that she was leaving a rally on the plaza around 2 p.m. on Oct. 28 when men she identified as members of the College of the Redwoods baseball team engaged her in conversation about the pro-Palestine signs she was carrying. Hayden alleged one of the men made critical comments before hitting her with his car as he pulled out of the university campus store parking lot "with such force that she ended up on the hood of the car." She alleges a coach then threatened her and pinned her in a chokehold in an effort to prevent her from leaving.
But UPD has determined this was not the case, according to the press release.
"According to UPD's investigation, the evidence does not support Hyden's allegations, and that Hyden vandalized a player's windshield by breaking it with her fist and prevented that player from exiting the parking lot in his vehicle," the press release states.
UPD has submitted its investigative report to the Humboldt County District Attorney's Office, recommending Hyden be charged with vandalism, false imprisonment and making a false police report, according to the release, which is copied below.
Gihane Hyden had alleged that she was leaving a rally on the plaza around 2 p.m. on Oct. 28 when men she identified as members of the College of the Redwoods baseball team engaged her in conversation about the pro-Palestine signs she was carrying. Hayden alleged one of the men made critical comments before hitting her with his car as he pulled out of the university campus store parking lot "with such force that she ended up on the hood of the car." She alleges a coach then threatened her and pinned her in a chokehold in an effort to prevent her from leaving.
But UPD has determined this was not the case, according to the press release.
"According to UPD's investigation, the evidence does not support Hyden's allegations, and that Hyden vandalized a player's windshield by breaking it with her fist and prevented that player from exiting the parking lot in his vehicle," the press release states.
UPD has submitted its investigative report to the Humboldt County District Attorney's Office, recommending Hyden be charged with vandalism, false imprisonment and making a false police report, according to the release, which is copied below.
Recent Comments
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Re: Kreis Files Answer to Ethics Charges, Denying Most Allegations
Wow greg, Thats a lot of denying, everything can be explained away, where you did…
- on April 15, 2024
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Re: NCJ's Greenson Takes Second Freedom of Information Award
Mr. Greenson well deserves the recognition he has earned.
- on April 2, 2024
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Re: Huffman, Haaland to Visit Humboldt Bay Amid Growing Tribal Offshore Wind Opposition
Now it’s 5,000 jobs? For how long? Sure.
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on March 28, 2024
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Re: Turmoil Continues in SoHum School District
End of an era makes me sad
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on March 23, 2024
