A judge today sentenced a local biologist to serve 10 months in prison for his role in conspiring to embezzle nearly $1 million in federal funds from the Yurok Tribe over a three-year period beginning in 2007, according to Yurok Tribal Chairman Thomas O’Rourke. Mad River Biologists founder Ron LeValley pleaded guilty in February to […]
Courts
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Prosecutors Weighing Death Penalty in Murder Case
The Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office is still in the process of deciding whether to pursue the death penalty against a 22-year-old man accused of brutally stabbing a man to death in a wooded area outside of McKinleyville last year. Police arrested Michael Raymond Youravish June 19, 2013, hours after finding the body of Forrest […]
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Harbor Commissioner to Stand Trial in Poaching Case
A superior court judge ruled today that there is sufficient evidence to hold Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District Commissioner Aaron Newman to stand trial on poaching and perjury charges. Newman was arrested June 8 and has pleaded not guilty to a total of eight charges in the case, which alleges that he lied […]
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McKinleyville Man Facing 8 Life Sentences Granted Mistrial
A McKinleyville man was sitting in the proverbial executioner’s chair last week when the power went out. Timothy Floyd Littlefield was facing eight life sentences in state prison without the possibility of parole stemming from convictions on 11 child molestation charges when he stood before Humboldt County Superior Court Judge John Feeney last week at […]
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Del Norte School Board Extends ACLU Settlement
The Del Norte County Unified School District Board voted unanimously this week to extend its settlement agreement with the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, which stemmed from a lawsuit brought against the district alleging a pattern of racial discrimination against Native American students. The district has made progress under the settlement agreement adopted […]
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Fur Flies at 12th DA Debate
Humboldt County’s field of district attorney candidates sat down last night for what was their 12th debate in the race and, boy, things escalated quickly. The gloves came off, the nails came out and the fur flew. Held at Humboldt State University and put on by the nonprofit Humboldt Center for Constitutional Rights, the forum saw the […]
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Council Meeting Prayers OK with SCOTUS
Despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this week upholding a town in upstate New York’s right to open its public meetings with a prayer, a local attorney is moving forward with his case alleging the Eureka City Council violated the law when doing the same. Eureka attorney Peter Martin brought the suit last year on behalf […]
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Court Changes Probation Report Policy
The Humboldt County Superior Court has completed a review of its policies and procedures governing the unsealing of a defendant’s prior probation reports when they are charged with a new crime. Court CEO Kerri Keenan said today that judges and court staff are all in agreement that, under the law, the court should make a […]
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Publisher: Court docs unsealed
Curiosity. It’s a critical trait for a reporter. In January Gary Lee Bullock was sitting in jail charged with the horrific crime of breaking into the rectory of St. Bernard’s Parish on New Year’s Day and murdering Father Eric Freed. Digging through court records, News Editor Thadeus Greenson learned that Bullock had been deemed “ineligible” […]
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CSU Settles HSU Brutality Case
The California State University system has settled a civil lawsuit brought by a Fieldbrook man who alleged he was the victim of a “brutal” assault by Humboldt State University police in January 2012, agreeing to pay the man $135,000. CSU spokesman Mike Uhlenkamp said the payment will come out of HSU coffers, noting that the […]
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Gallegos: No Death Penalty in Arcata Double Murder Case
Prosecutors will not seek the death penalty in the case of alleged double-murderer Bodhi Tree. Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos said that, after carefully reviewing the case, he has decided not to purse capital punishment against Tree, who stands accused of gunning down two people at a house on Arcata’s Eye Street in May […]
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Candidates Spar at first DA Debate
The four candidates vying to become Humboldt County’s next district attorney gathered for their first debate Thursday. The candidates — Deputy District Attorney Elan Firpo and former prosecutors Allan Dollison, Maggie Fleming and Arnie Klein — spent the better part of two hours in the Eureka Veterans Building, answering questions composed by the hosting Humboldt […]